i can't wait!

i'm off to Melbourne on friday for3 days for a bit of work and a bit of play and I can't wait. We keep talking about what we are going to do when we get there....ok, the work stuff we know about, visiting a few markets here and there, but just as important is the 'me' time I am so looking forward to. Coupled with the thought that the weekend will be child and husband free, I don't think it really matters what we do. For me the thought of a plane ride without children and packed food and dvd players is just the beginning of what will be a fabulous weekend!

white, white, white

image courtesy of pale and interesting

I'm looking for sheets and a matching quilt cover set, I'd love a marching sham and European pillowcases too.... but I want it in all white. I don't want grey fine stripes through it, or a red trim or anything else I have seen. All I want is plain white, nothing more, just white.
But do you think I can find it?

my clever friend

glass blown paper weights - taryn newland

yesterday I spent the day with my clever friend Taryn, and we enjoyed a belated birthday lunch, some stress free "just because shopping" and some lovely girly chit chat....thank you Taryn, I had the most wonderful day. Now yesterday was to celebrate Taryn's birthday, but last month for mine Taryn presented me with one of her gorgeous glass blown paper weights like the ones above. The weights are either filled with one of Taryn's stunning photographic images or gorgeous boutique paper. If you want one, you can visit her in a few weeks at the Boutique Christmas Markets on Sunday December 13th down at Portside Wharf.

uh oh!

my house - road at the bottom of the shot peeking through the shrubs

i had a tradie round yesterday afternoon and things almost turned disastrous.... i had done the usual be home between 12 and 5pm because they cannot give you an exact time they will arrive thing. He arrived promptly at 5.15pm, as a big storm was rolling in. For some reason he reversed 3/4 of the way up my drive and then said to me "hmmm, it's steep driveway you've got here!" Well of course it's made worse when you reverse up it????? he got up on the roof, got down and called out "looks like there's a storm coming!" I'll have to come back. No worries, I will schedule another afternoon in.... So I proceeded to show him the best way down the hill as he had bought his truck all the way to the top of the drive, incredibly maneuvering it past our front stairs. He gave that usual I'm a bloke kind of look I don't need help getting down lovey look at me. I'm used to it in relation to the driveway, so i went inside. Then an almighty screech, a few choice words from the tradie and one Ute teetering so close to being over the edge of the top of our drive....somehow i don't think he will be back for the appointment we made for Friday....

i've got plans!!!

existing upstairs plans

yes, you heard me, Santa answered my prayers early in the form of an email complete with plans attached. now, not as good as plans in the hand, but I will settle for a PDF file any day, as long as it means that we are finally on the right track... so let me quickly walk through our Reno with you. above is the existing house plans, our house is double story 4 bedroom home with external front stairs, and just 2 carport slabs underneath and a laundry. Currently my kitchen is in the middle of the house, which is just silly as their is the most gorgeous view off the front veranda to the state Forrest across the road, and it gets no breeze at all.

proposed upstairs plans

so here is how it will look when completed. The kitchen is moving from the centre of the house to the front, to catch the view and the cool breezes we get from the bay. Bedroom 2 (my son's room) is being knocked right through to create a passage to the soon to constructed rear deck which will house a 6 metre half sunken swim spa and outdoor built in BBQ and dining area. Bedroom 4 will be removed and will house our new internal staircase...can you see me jumping for joy!!! No more mad dashes down the front stairs in my PJ's with the washing basket! The front living room will become my daughters bedroom, as she moves out of bedroom 3 to make room for my son who lost his room to a passage. note to self...must repaint that purple wall in bedroom 3 or all hell will break loose! So that is upstairs, now follow me downstairs.

proposed downstairs plans

So as I said, currently downstairs we have 2 single carports slabs, one housing at the end, my laundry. We also have a resident possum in our roller door and a bush turkey, plus a trio of swallows that have set up house. So once complete, we will have a lower level entry (no more front stairs...takers anyone??) a gorgeous new study for me, with a door...that i can close! A gorgeous foyer leading to the rumpus room on the left with french doors leading out to the yard, and the internal stair case to the left. Behind the scenes downstairs will be another 2 bedroom, one of which will be my studio, a large galley style laundry and an additional bathroom and toilet. We are also building a stand alone carport at the front of the house and completely redoing the top level of driveway to lessen the steepness of the slope, which you can see from the contour drawings below....the closer the lines are together, the steeper it is! the big winding thing at the front would be our driveway!

contour plans

and finally an image of the side elevation. our block when we first built was cut flat in the centre and we have large retaining walls in front of the house and behind. The master bedroom at the top left of the house, our en suite will connect to the rear deck, so that light night dips in the spa, will be made easier with a warm shower only a few steps away! The room directly below, which is my studio, will be perfect fro keeping one eye on the kids whilst they play in the garden.
Oh, I am SO excited!!!

all i want for christmas....

image pale and interesting

my husband asked me last night what i wanted for Christmas...... a heaved a huge sigh and then continued to scroll down in my mind the huge list of things that I can't purchase until our Reno is complete. I am an impatient person by nature, if I see something, I want it, and I want it NOW! (Sound a little like Veruka Salt don't I!) This last few weeks has been ups and downs with the reno, our plans went into the certifiers, and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face that day. Then after a real life viewing (and swim in) the intended size spa for our back deck, we realised a rethink was in order and have had to go back to the drawing board to have our back deck completely redrafted, to accommodate the new larger spa. I emailed them a few days ago, and it's not all smooth sailing....new walls, new roof size, new footings layout..... I'm hoping an email arrives in my inbox today with the subject heading..."all complete"!
so back to answering my husband question...what do I want for Christmas.... completed and submitted plans with suffice for now. I promise Santa i will be good!

weekend unwind

With the weekend all but a day away, I am compiling my list of jobs, and it's growing quickly. The builder said that any room that is having work done, needs to be completely cleared out. YIKES! That means my spare bedroom, which will house the stair case and currently there's no room in there for even a 3 rung stair case. One question has me stumped...where ever will I put everything?

pretty things

i have had in my cupboard for nearly 10 years a set of gorgeous green and gold drinking glasses, which I have struggled to use, as they always look odd when placed in a table setting. my husband had picked them up in an antique store in Canberra years earlier, and they have been filling space in my cupboard ever since.

so i was thrilled the other day when I spotted the most gorgeous green tinted glass jug, perfect for my lonely glasses, complete with 'bumpy bits' (as the kids named them).

i could hear my glasses shrieking with delight at the thought of getting out and about for the day, and since my purchase, those lonely glasses have not been put away!

my jug now sits pretty with it's new friend on the centre of my dining table, filled with Ice cold water and lemon, perfect for the summer weather!

in love with...

originally used in France, the glass cloche, or bell jar, was a solid piece of glass formed in a dome shape. The purpose was to protect an early garden from bleak cold and frost. today, i can' think of less useful, but much prettier uses for the cloche..... i recently bought a cloche, and have been searching for ideas on how to present it. currently it covers a collection of shells, but here are a few more ideas....

this gorgeous wire cloche shaped cover above is a favourite.

a version of the original use for the cloche

bleached white coral, saturated with lovely warm sunlight...just gorgeous.

friends....

so nice in this crazy time in my life to have such good friends. when the days are filled with kids and work and husbands and washing and homework and everything else in between, it's my friends that look past all the chaos and see me for me. offering a cup of coffee, a chat, a yummy lunch like the one above...
So thank you to my friends, you are comfort food for my soul.

if only...

if only my work space was as calm and serene as this! mine a miss match of piles of paperwork, cables and everything else in between. Today I am going to attempt to make it pretty. i will be back with more images soon.... I love a good DE-clutter, it's so good for the soul!

image - martha stewart