Happenings, bit of a mixture

The new floor is down and it looks fabulous,

and in just over a week it will be polished. 

I can't wait, it's going to look great. 

 

                        The dining/family room is getting a fresh coat of paint.  

The kids bathroom was finished yesterday and it looks fantastic.

 

I had to laugh when all their 'stuff' was put into the vanity.

You can tell which side belongs to the boy!!

On Friday I swapped my work day to have a day of sewing. My local shop Foothills had a workshop with Sue Daly from Patchwork with Busy Fingers. The workshop was on English paper piecing, it is something I have avoided as I put myself off when I was about 16, my sister and I made a hexagon tablecloth for mum(will show it to you when I find it).

Sue had some gorgeous quilts all done using different shapes.

This is the start of my new loooooong term project, its called Antique Sampler. I'm going to have a go at making with reproduction type fabrics. Very different for me, but I have found that over the years I have really enjoyed playing with things out of my comfort zone. I am no longer stuck in the 'whatever I do HAS to match my house/furniture etc' rut. I am quit happy to try new colours and styles.

Here's Dianne with her first finished block.

Spring is definitely here, today is just gorgeous. The cherry blossoms have today 'popped' a few blooms with the warm day we have had.

And the Azalea is more than happy.

The washing on the line has dried very quickly, which is a lovely change from days! So I'm off to bring it all in and enjoy the last of today's sunshine.

Till next time, whatever you may be doing

 Enjoy it, Live it, Love it 



This is sooooo cool!!!

I am soooo impressed with my niece Jenny and her SIL Madonna.

But hang on a tick, I have to fill you in first.
Remember last year I made a Mrs Perkins (see my post from December 2009 'I've been Busy')aka Mrs Jenkins for my new great niece Paige,
Well she recently turned 1 and had her Christening at the same time,
so her mummy, Jenny and her Aunty Madonna made her a cake!!!!

Let me just tell you Jenny is VERY gifted in a lot of areas, not necessarily in the crafty department ;-D





So what do you think????

I just love it!!!

It's Brilliant!!

Who would have thought to make a cake out out of a softie!! Definitely way out of my league, I don't do cakes very well. Actually, I don't do cakes at all, I do 'food' but not cakes.

What ever you are doing today, Enjoy.

Let's Continue......

It's been a few weeks since a progress report, but, things are again happening.
We had a couple of weeks there where things had slowed a little, GtB(Graham the Builder) had other jobs to go to and DH had to go back to work for a couple of weeks.
Now that the extension part of the project is finished-ish, just a few trimmings to be done, we've ventured into the old part of the house, so that means renovations. Mainly the dining room, the floors were...........ugh.......beyond description.
In a nutshell, what we thought were beautiful baltic pine floors, were in fact, all bogged up baltic pine floors. Not to mention the wavy factor!!

Over the years the bog has been vacuumed, swept, mopped out, to leave a floor which is quite thin and rotten, not to mention ugly. Laura and I have even managed to put our heels through the floor!!! So DH pulled it all up. GtB confirmed our suspicions that the stumps were totally..... blaah, my good dinner set and crystal that were in the dresser used to clink every time someone walked through the room. I had to put cardboard between all the plates to stop them clinking. So he and DH replaced all the stumps. 40 of them, that took the best part of a week, geez, I'll tell you what its a 'blaah' of a job!!! Anyone who does that for a living, YOU deserve a medal!!

So, with the particle board down

 it was time to put the new floor on top........Tassie Oak and they look just gorgeous! Can't wait till they get polished, but that's still a few weeks down the track .

Looking good

 When I was looking for something a few weeks back I found this.......

Bring back memories?? Well, I decided to plug it in, and it still works, and I can hear it ring over the noise of all the banging etc. The kids think it's hilarious!!! putting your finger in the holes to dial!! And the fact that it actually works.

Till next time Enjoy it, Live it, Love it!

Sewing??

Sewing??? YES, I have done a little sewing and boy did it feel good!!

I went away with a few friends for a weekend of stitching, relaxation and fun. It was everything. Three of us loaded into one car, the boot was full!! And we still had room to spare......

I finished the Bedford Mystery quilt I started back in April, I'm not really into scrappy, this was my first, but I was happy with the result.

Also finished stitching two blocks of the 

Advent Angels Quilt by Rosalie Quinlan Designs. I'm not doing this quilt,

just sampling a couple of blocks in a different colour way

for the girls at Foothills.

I was too lazy to unpack that night we arrived back(MasterChef final was on.....priorities??), so the suitcase was just left, and this is what one would call an opportunist??...... the photo speaks for itself!!

Looks like he needs a holiday too!!

On the weekend, DH was been watched while he was painting outside.

This cheeky kookaburra didn't even flinch when I walked past, I didn't even notice him till DH said something.

As you can guess we're still ticking along slowly with the renovations, the extension part is sort of finished, just a few more details to be done, but renovation side is a bit more time consuming. It's starting to look great, the new floors go in in the next 2-3 weeks, the kids bathroom should get done too. I tell you what though I am sooooooo over dust!! The plaster dust gets into everything, no matter what you do to cover things.

That's it from me for now, till next time

Enjoy it, Live it, Love it.

Still going.....

Things have slowed down a bit here, it's now the small things that are keeping us busy. Painting doors, finishing off walls, fitting things out, etc. We still have a few big things to do, redo the floors in the exisiting(they are really bad), railing on the decking......But, It will be done and it will be FANTASTIC!! I just have to be patient!!

Below is a photo of the house 2 winters ago, yesterday I thought I'd go out and take another from the same spot. I love my new roof!!!

Justin has sort of moved into his room,

Laura too,

DH (Theo) doesn't like the colour of the loo, I thought I'd get adventurous!!!

                       

                 

The front garden has been trimmed back, so it really looks bare, but on closer inspection I've noticed that the bulbs are starting to push through, which means spring is just around the corner.  No rush though, I'm really enjoying the winter weather.

 

Hopefully this coming weekend I'll get a little sewing done. I'm running away with some friends for a patchwork/stitching retreat,....... yes, that means sewing ALL weekend!!! Something I haven't done for months.

Whatever you do this week, Enjoy!!

Progress.....

Yes we have progressed, the new roof is just about finished, we redid the whole roof and it looks fabulous. DH just needs to finish the painting up there, (when the weather is a bit finer). We have the new deck too. Just have to decide on the railing now.

 Here is Michael (BIL), he did some of the plastering for us.

 

This is the new family room. The opening at the far end will open to what will be the walk through study when its finished.This will be the connecting room between new and old, currently its Justin's bedroom. The rooms on the left are Justin's room and the laundry which goes into the loo. On the right is my sewing room and Laura's room. I'll put up a floor plan of the old and new.

DH sanding and undercoating the plaster

Adding colour.....Laura has chosen a purple feature wall and very very light mauve walls. I'll be sponging the wall tonight.

Justin on the other hand has gone for a very vibrant and loud ORANGE. Not quite what I would have chosen but........

He'll be very bright and cheery every morning!!!

Below the old laundry which was off the kitchen. It was very narrow and small, it was just an add on. It was referred to as a hutch!!

The loo used to be off that too. Now the laundry has also been demolished.

Tomorrow the carpet is going in so that's exciting, then we move into the next phase, breaking into the dining room and doing the kids bathroom.

Whatever you will be doing,
Enjoy!!

I forgot to tell you what it was

I put this little thing up in my last post and told you I'd tell you what it was.

You all probably knew what they were any way.

They're Toadstools. They grow in circles where my parents live.

I've also been told it IS where the fairies live.

The house is moving along nicely, things came to a little standstill for a couple of weeks, but are now moving along again. Will do an update for you later.

Till next time,
Enjoy whatever you are doing