Coffee, the country and life as we know it …..

Believe it or not this post has been sitting in drafts for two months waiting to be posted but with two kids under the age of three I find my blogging time has been sweetly sabotaged. Even now I  am typing this with one hand to get it done – I guess I get full marks for perseverance.

During the last holidays (hubby is a teacher) we often tried to sneak off for a coffee when the two new additions to our family (our foster boys) went off to access with their parents. It is our time alone to dream and chat and connect. Usually our bunch are not up and awake when we sneak out as they tend to sleep in during their holidays. We headed up into the hills to a small village called Emerald.  It has such a lovely small friendly community feel about it and the simple country lifestyle appeals to me more and more. Hubby and I often joke that when we are older and all the kids have left we could end up in a caravan touring the countryside (I think I get that from my Mom and Dad). Anyway I digress as I dream….. we found this amazing coffee shop and bakery in Emerald. I can’t believe we haven’t discovered it sooner. It was the hub of the village – the atmosphere was wonderful and buzzing but we just loved the decor. We acted like total tourists and were snapping photos of everything inside. This is my kind of decor – a bit of industrial, a bit of rustic charm, a bit of country meets vintage – I LOVED everything!!!

We couldn’t believe it when our coffee arrived. They came in these glass jars with handles – how cute and original is that? We sat on an old leather brown couch and enjoyed our coffee,

Three days later we headed back for another fix – this time armed with our laptops – I could get used to writing in a place like this. As usual the place was cooking. The food is good there too but really it is the atmosphere that makes the place so wonderful. Here are a few of the snaps I took – not great photos as they were taken on hubby’s iphone but you get the idea.

We are rapidly heading for the end of the year and my head is spinning at all there is to do before we get there. Michaela has completed her first year of Uni which makes me feel ancient in some ways and Ethan is going into Year 12 next year. We are delighted that he can do his Certificate 3 in Fitness while completing his Yr12 as this will be a good start for him.

I have booked our camping holiday for a week in December and looking so forward to getting away from it all. Camping with a baby who will probably be walking by then and an almost  3 year old will certainly have its challenges and keep us busy, but hopefully some sun, sea and a change of scenery will make us feel relaxed nonetheless.

I have had the urge to tackle some creative tasks again and Michaela has done her first renovation project which turned out so well. She has wanted an old roll top desk and eventually we found an old one that needed some work. She did a great job – I will hopefully have a chance to take some photos this holiday.

Then I have been itching to paint my boring old hat and coat stand for a while – eventually decided on a bright green paint and I am delighted with the results. Aaron (my youngest) referred to me as arty farty the other day – well I guess I am a bit  – still love the green though – now it stands out against the wooden cupboard doors instead of blending into it.

This is how it looked before:

This is how it looks now:

Yes you probably noticed that I painted the dresser too – was getting a bit bored with the wood look!!

Summer is showing itself tantalizingly every now and again and I am so looking forward to it – there are so many reasons I love it so much – sun just makes me happy – Hubby and I were commenting how even the kids come to life when the weather is beautiful – they get outdoors and actually play basketball/soccer with one another and it is so good to see them doing this as often teens have a tendency to hive off in their own rooms attached to their technology devices. I am just loving watching them as it won’t be too many years left till they fly the coop and we won’t have them with us. The days are longer and even that cheers me up. Our kitchen vegetable garden is looking fantastic – we are enjoying some broccoli and lettuce at the moment but soon hope to have tomatoes, capsicums,egg plant, spinach, beans, strawberries as well as some corn. Our flowers are looking really pretty too.

Michaela has been taking driving lessons – we decided it was the best way to go as we have not got the time to spend every day teaching her. Already she is making nice progress and as soon as she has finished her lessons we will be able to get her hours up on the roads. It takes about five years to get your full license here in Victoria – a long process!! Recently we bought a new little car as our Nissan Maxima needed a new clutch – it would have cost us about $2000 to repair and being 17 years old we really felt it wasn’t worth the spend. Instead we have bought a very fuel efficient Hyundai Getz – this is also a perfect little car for Michaela to learn in and runs on the sniff of an oil rag.

So that is all my catch up news – not much has happened in two months (which is a good thing as then this post would never have been finished!!) – better start my next post as it may be awhile before I get it posted. So from me, enjoy summer!!

Nesting ….

I have been so busy over the last few months since we began fostering that I haven’t had time to be creative or the energy to work on projects. Just keeping my living room floor clear of toys and toddler gunk has been a mission. I have also been looking for another house for us to rent that has more space but to be honest I have not found what we are looking for. So now I have settled in my heart that we will stay where we are unless something amazing comes up that is affordable. For now we have good, manageable space and a great size yard and a very good rent. The owner of our property is also making some long needed improvements that will make a difference. After settling all the yearnings to move I got this crazy nesting urge – that is I felt the creative bug bite and I wanted some things done – NOW, TODAY, IMMEDIATELY. I am not the patient type when an idea comes to mind – lucky for me Hubby is the same and so off we went shopping and spent some of our tax return. I think too it is the start of Spring that has got me going – sunshine just makes me happy and feel energised.

I started with my veranda – Moved one of my paintings out there as a statement and added some cushions to the bench.

We have been eyeing out a giant canvas from IKEA for two years now but we have never splashed out on it because it was a luxury for us. Last year I was planning to get it for Hubby’s birthday but as usual some expense came up and we never quite got there. Yesterday we decided to just splash out and get it. It has been placed over our mantel and covers that horrible seventies arch brickwork. Although it covers almost the whole wall we love it because it is a picture with such depth and perspective and it draws you in creating a feeling of space. We just love how the rope  bridge  almost looks like an extension of our jute rug on the floor. The problem though was that the brick work was still ugly and seemed to diminish the beauty of the canvas so I bought some mdf and painted it with Taubmanns suede finish in a green colour. Then I put the two strips of green mdf down the side of the canvas covering the brickwork. I must say we are quite pleased with the result as the picture stands out more now.

The next thing I have been wanting to do for a while is to change the lights in our living room. Firstly the lighting was so poor  as the glass shades are yellow and secondly they are just plain UGLY!!!

I wanted to modernize the look a little without spending too much money. Initially I had my heart set on certain lights from IKEA but then Hubby and I were a little concerned they would be too dull again. Also they were more than I wanted to spend as this is a rental property. Eventually we settled on two large shades to hang from the ceiling at a very affordable price.

Since the boys have arrived to stay with us we have re-configured our home slightly. We have blocked off the doorway from our hallway into the living room so that you get access to the living room from the dining room and kitchen. The reason for this was to prevent the toddler using the circuit as a running track constantly and also because he gets very stressed when someone walks out the door – this was becoming stressful every time someone went out the front door. Now he is not always aware when someone leaves. We blocked off the door with a hutch in the entrance. Although this works it is not the prettiest sight in the living room as again the doorway is arched brickwork. I came up with a plan to  add texture to the wall and to cover the back of the hutch with a blind that hangs from ceiling to floor. I got this at an op shop for a few dollars.

For the longest time ever I have wanted a console table to hold some items in my lounge. I have been looking on Ebay for something I could restore but even the worst ones have been too pricey for my liking. As I was wandering through IKEA I spotted some metal trestle table legs that were going for a song so I snapped them up. I wanted my table to be very rustic in appearance so we popped into Bunnings and picked up three sleepers that had beautiful texture and colour. In no time Hubby had constructed my quick and easy console table for me. I had thought of wrapping the metal legs in jute twine to make it more rustic but I actually like the contrast of the metal and rough wood so for now it will stay the same. I still need to sand the table top and get it looking beautiful as at present it is still rough and ready.

We have picked up some very lovely pieces over the last few months from Op shops and specials. This standing lamp has a bit of an industrial feel/ movie set feel and we got it for $17 from Target on a clearance sale. Our deep red shag rugs that match my cute little sofa were a buy on sale again for $30.

I have been collecting old suitcases for ages – they have become quite fashionable again and so are not always reasonably priced, but these babies were going at various stores for a few bucks.

I decided to improve our entrance hall at the same time. It is still a work in progress but this is what I have done so far. Hubby  bought me a coat stand for the entrance hall ( I have been coveting one of these for years). He picked it up at an op shop for $6. I have plans to spray paint it a really funky bold colour – maybe a deep turquoise.  I was really bored with the look of the pine hutch so I  decided to paint it in antique white and then sand it so that the wood showed through in places. The knobs  will eventually be replaced by some colourful ceramic ones.

I have also been looking for a chair for the entrance hall. Finally I found this red vinyl chair for $10. It has been nick-named the “Thinking Chair” because the toddler gets put there regularly when he has tantrums. Seems to be working a treat.

Our dining room has also had a makeover slightly. The table needs to be sanded again and I plan to keep it lighter this time by simply applying some Danish Oil rather than a stain. Hubby brought home some high backed leather style dining chairs that were far more sturdy and comfortable than the set we had. He picked them up with a table for $30 from an op shop ( yes and you thought I was the op shop queen – he is fast usurping that title from me – I have trained him well). We didn’t need another table but we did want a small one for the computer so hubby quickly got our his saw and cut that table up to make a smaller one (Clever man!!).

Some other changes – I have moved my ladder from the bookshelves in the living room (as I feared a toddler would be squashed by falling ladder) and put it in my bathroom as a towel holder for when we shower.

This weekend has been spent getting our home back into some semblance of normality and order ( except for my laundry that is piled with washing as usual -SIGH…..) and I have loved being creative again – I have missed the satisfaction that comes from creating and making something/ re-purposing something. Hubby has been busy too out in the kitchen garden. New winter veggies are growing – broccoli and cauliflower and sweetpeas planted. We are trying out some new ideas we have recently seen too – growing plants on a trellis – so we have a passion fruit plant and an olive tree growing this way – can’t wait to see how they turn out. Roses are pruned and ready for spring/summer. Hubby found a whole lot of beautiful terracotta pots thrown out to plant so slips getting planted.

All in all this nesting spree has been very productive and the best part is that it has not cost us an arm and a leg (other than our beautiful canvas we treated ourselves to.

 

Creativity

I go through moments where I am feeling very creative and I just want time to sit down and CREATE. Usually these times are when I have my schedule jam packed with the mundane routine things that need to be done. This can leave me feeling frustrated and grumpy. The other side of the coin is probably more frustrating – needing to get creative tasks done with zero motivation or inclination. This has been me this week. I am so focused on my book right now and getting it completed that I haven’t wanted to tackle any creative tasks around the home. I have been working on my cover design for my book and it has taken many hours. I promised Michaela that I would make her a cover for her laptop as she needs to take it to Uni with her but she didn’t want a chunky bag as she already has a bag she carries her books in. We chose some fabric and it has been sitting on my dining room table for days. Eventually I knew that I could procrastinate no more. So feeling very uninspired and uncreative I set to work. Due to my lack of enthusiasm there is no tutorial for this – just a completed picture (which is probably just as well as I winged it and had no idea what I was actually doing). I quilted the fabric with a layer of batting and calico as the inside lining. I tried going around the butterflies to make it hold together and give them some definition. Then I made an envelope flap and attached it to the bag. To close it I sewed on some leather cord to make a loop and added a button to hook it over. I must say I was quite pleased with the result even though I had zero enthusiasm for the project. Take a look.

 

 

 

 

Once I have designed my covers for my book I am thinking of getting your help to decide which you think is best – I thought a little give away might inspire you to give me your opinion. More about that later.

A week ago Hubby, Aaron and I took a drive up to Emerald Lake. I absolutely love Emerald – it is in the hills and is a quaint little village – we are always on the lookout for a house to rent there with a bit of land. It is only an extra ten minutes drive for hubby to work although further to get the kids to school but would be so worth while being able to live a little more in the country. So far nothing that works for us has come up but I continue to look and dream.

We had a walk around the lake and enjoyed the sunshine.

 

Don’t you love the picture of the tree trunk in the middle – I felt like I was in an enchanted wood – it looked just like a tree face to me. (or maybe I just have a vivid imagination). What do you think??

 

Hubby reminded me that in my last post I asked what you thought of Zoe’s curtains – then I forgot to add a photo – here is a photo of the curtain print.

 

 

I also made an art work with two canvases covered in a bright, funky  fabric for her room.

Now I just need to hang them straight heehee.

My hubby is the best – I love this man to bits!! He was away last week on a school camp down in the bay. He made the effort to go into some little gift shop and buy me a present – not just any old present but one that is just my taste. He found this big white jug that had Milk printed on it and it looked a little rustic and countryish – just made for me. Then he bought me flowers to put in it – what a sweetie!! Really made my week. I took some photos of my lounge as I finally have made some new curtains from fabric I bought from the Op shop – the ugly green lounge curtains are GONE….. I can’t tell you how happy I am!!

 

So considering I haven’t felt too creative this last week I guess I did get some things done!!

 

 

All Things bright and Beautiful ….

At the start of every new year I get the urge to change things – my nomadic tendencies coming out I guess. If I want change I cannot break down walls or paint as we rent, so I have to find  some ways to make cosmetic changes to our home. I long for the day we can put our own stamp on a home that belongs to us. So I decided to shuffle up some things at home and re-arrange some of our furniture and add some other touches. Soft furnishings are a great way to add colour, pattern and texture to your rooms.

The first room I decided to tackle was my bedroom. I did not want to make major changes but I did want to introduce a little more colour and pattern. I started by buying three really cheap frames from the Reject Store and framing some vintage prints which I also purchased from the same store a while ago. I framed them and put them up over my bed to add a bit of colour to my room – I must say I love how they turned out. Hubby was a bit naughty – he was taking photos of my rear end as I struggled with the frames. Needless to say I had to forgive him as hanging three pictures meant that levels and spacing was very important and to get them accurate  I did need his help. The sweet man obliged!

Then I moved my cute red/burgundy sofa into my bedroom and made a comfortable corner to read/relax. Added to that I put the two yellow cushions I bought from the Op shop on my bed with my Union Jack pillow I made. Now my room is not just white and taupe as it always was but has a bit of colour in it. One thing I will never move away from is my white linen – I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything (except maybe some new, crisp beautiful white linen!!).

In my lounge I needed some furniture – the big mustard coloured sofa has served us well but it was definitely time to go. I quickly found a home for the couches which left me able to  shop on Ebay. I managed to buy two similar colour sofas to my previous couch for $20 and they fit into the space so much better. I decided to add some more pattern and colour into my lounge by making cushion covers for the cushions I had to otherwise the mustard furniture   dominated the room. The fabric came from a big recycle store  and I paid $5.99 for all different designer quality off-cuts. Then I simply ran up some covers and hey presto a whole new look in my lounge. I really was pleased with how the cushions turned out. All that needs replacing now is the ugly green curtains in my lounge. I have moaned before how much I hate them and truly they do not improve with time. Curtains are extremely expensive here, so I am always on the lookout for curtains at the Op shop. Because my window is so huge it is difficult to get enough of the same curtains this way. I will persevere though!! I moved my painting of the Greek Village and replaced it with my Tuscan sunset painting. Goes beautifully with all the colours in the cushions.

I even made a cushion from an old jumper I found at the Op shop – truly people you can use ANYTHING to be creative.

Part of my decorating pleasure always comes from the fact that I will not spend a lot on making our home nice. My bedroom redo cost me $18 and my lounge cushion covers cost me time and about $4 in fabric. Add $20 for the two new couches and the total for the two rooms was $42. If I had purchased new items it would have cost me 8 x $10 = $80 for cushions, A new lounge suite about $1000 and frames $18 giving me a total of $1098. I saved a whopping $1056. Now who wouldn’t want to re-purpose furniture?

I also kept the really ugly square coffee table that matched our old mustard suite – I am hoping to re-purpose this baby and make an ottoman for the centre of our lounge – more about that when I tackle the project. I also need to re-upholster my dining room chairs as they are so tired but first I need to find the fabric I want to use.

Another tip for great ideas is Pinterest – I find this site so inspiring – all the creative ideas people have are amazing – check it out if you haven’t already. So we continue to find creative projects to tackle. Michaela wants to redo her bedroom this holiday – I have an idea for a lovely headboard made of doors – watch this space in the future.

In the meantime … Happy recycling!!

Christmas Cheer

Well Christmas has come and gone – boy does it happen fast~!!  We had a family Christmas Eve dinner at home with glazed Ham and Turkey and vegetables. The baby carrots were grown by my sweetie and were delicious. Dessert was made by Michaela – a chocolate cheesecake with Ice cream, mince pies and brandy custard. I think we all overate. Now we are ploughing our way through the leftovers all week!!

Every year we try and take an updated photo of the family to send back to family in South Africa. This always causes some groans and moans but I must say the family are getting better at it. This year was probably the most successful self-family portrait we have done – teenage son is over his puberty grumpiness and has come out of his shell so he was happy and the girls have no problem having their photos taken so all was well. We decided to do some serious photos followed by some silly season photos. What fun we had – the giggling was intense.

A number of people here in Australia put reindeer antlers and a red nose on their cars – this has had hubby in stitches all December  and he has not been able to get over how ridiculous it looks. Michaela and I were in the store the other day looking for props for our silly photos when we spotted the car reindeer kit. It was marked down to a $1.50 so we couldn’t resist. We wrapped it up and gave it to Hami as an early Christmas gift. The shrieks of laughter when he opened it had us all rolling on the floor. Eldest son vowed that if he put it on the car he would not travel with us. In the end hubby attached the antlers to his hat and put the nose on for our silly photo. Here are the photos we took.

Then our real family photo

Christmas morning was a great success. Everyone got what they wanted – and all were happy. Teenage son wanted a Onesie (this is like an all in one babygro for adults – apparently all the rage – to be honest I had no idea what it was until I ordered it online.) he chose a bear and was very happy with it – great for winter I believe – now Michaela wants one for her birthday.

 

We hope you all had a Happy Christmas and that the New Year will bring new adventures for you all.

What are we looking forward to in 2013:

• Michaela starts University
• Fostering children in our community.
• Completing my Graphic Design studies.
• Publishing my first novel (this has to be done in 2013)
• Making a difference wherever we are.

There are so many more things I would love to write but can’t just yet so I’ll leave my list as is – I have way more expectations for 2013 but don’t want to share them all just yet.

As Dr Seuss says, ”

 “Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all.”

Mornington Beach and Frozen Coke….

The weather yesterday was beautiful – not too scorchingly hot (as it can get here) but perfect for the beach. We headed down to Mornington which is a 45 minute drive from our home to soak up the sun and sea. The kids had a great time. We did miss our eldest son as he was in the city with some of his friends yesterday. Hubby and I lazed and read our books while the children paddled and swam. We had to have a chuckle though at how empty the beach was despite being summer. The reason for us chuckling is that we saw a friend from South Africa post a picture on Facebook  of the beach there. I had to put the two next to each other to give you an idea of what I am on about. I had forgotten that the beaches get crazy in Durban in summer.

I love the beaches here in Australia. We had “dirty” sand on some New Zealand beaches and even black volcanic sand which would get blistering hot, but here the sand is either very white or golden and the water crystal clear. It’s almost like swimming in a pool. Aaron and Zoe found this huge starfish too and had to take it further out into the water as they kept standing on it.

Another favourite of mine is the brightly coloured beach huts that line the beach. I would love to own one, but at about $80 000 for one I think I would rather have a caravan, a boat and an SUV for that price.

 

Our morning ended when we all got too hot and so we headed for Hungry Jack’s as they are having a $1 Frozen Coke  special. $5 later we were all slurping merrily and feeling nice and cool.

An excellent day all in all – gotta say I LOVE summer!!

Yr 12 Formal

Last night was Michaela’s formal. She looked lovely as ever and her dress was perfect for her. Don’t worry I am not going to wax lyrical about her – done that already!! Enjoy the photos.

Fostering

It has taken me a while to post this post as I know it will be met with varying reactions. Some people will think it is an amazing thing to do while others will react with “Are you nuts. Why would you want someone else’s problems?”  The truth is that for a few years now both Hamilton and I have been asking God where we can make a difference in this world. Yes we sponsor a child in the Philippines and we give money to various orphanages every now and again, but actually this doesn’t require much from us – it certainly doesn’t impact our lives in any way. We want to make a difference in our community. Part of our journey out of structured church meetings to a more missional and organic type of Christianity has been questioning this very thing. How were we making a difference. We had no answer.

I would say the idea of fostering came from our own children. I had mulled it over occasionally but like many others thought it would be too disruptive to have children with issues in our home so I dismissed it as not viable. One day Michaela and Zoe asked us, “So when are we going to foster a child?” This caught me by surprise but for the first time a little light went on. Ethan was not initially keen, not because he didn’t like the idea of more kids in the home, but rather he couldn’t understand why we would want more kids at our age. Aaron warmed to the idea quickly as he wanted to be a “big brother” to someone. So the idea was sown and I found myself researching the process. They are desperate for foster carers in Australia. There are too many children that come from abusive, drug dependant, mental illness homes and not enough carers for them. I further realized how much our kids have grown up with a heart for others – Michaela mentioned to me the other day that someone had bought a dress for $800 for some or other function. Her response to me was this: “Mum how can anyone think of spending that much for one occasion (not a wedding dress) when that much money could buy drinking water for a village in Africa.” I was speechless – even she recognises the need for people to care for the poor and homeless.

So I enquired about fostering. The long and the short of it all is that we have undergone our police checks, foster care training and now we wait for an assessment in the home as to furthering the process. We are not obliged to take difficult placements and can have a break when we need it. We have decided to take children from birth to about 4 years as we can’t deal with more teens in the home and we want Aaron to feel secure and not intimidated by an older child. Michaela is going to be studying midwifery and she adores babies so this will give her real practice too.

For those of you who worry about the financial aspect, we are helped by the government as we are helping them in return. I have been trying to get a job for over a year now and honestly after numerous applications it simply has not happened. I believe that God was giving me time to wake up to this thing and if I had been employed then this would not have been an option for us. Even hearing people’s stories of difficulties or heart-wrenching goodbyes has not deterred us – both Hami and I feel this is the right thing for us to do – we are very excited about it. It will be lovely to have a little person in the house again!!

So all going smoothly we hope to be fostering by about April next year. I have started collecting some items as we will need clothing of all sizes and both boy and girl items (this is where my love of op shopping will be indulged!!). I began by making a quilt from some fabric scraps the other day. I have never made a real quilt before and I had no pattern – just a basic idea, but I was delighted with the way it turned out. A couple of months ago I made this little fabric teddy in the same fabric so it is a cute matching combo. Not sure whether to give the bear eyes and a nose or to leave it as a neutral bear. What do you think?  This is a girly quilt so I will need to find some more scraps and make a boy quilt too. Sorry there are no photos or step by step instructions as my camera has died and Michaela is away in Queensland with her camera and my mobile phone. I did take a finished photo on hubby’s iphone though. The best part is that this particular quilt only cost me under $10 to make as I bought most of the fabric from op shops.

What do you think people??

 

 

Fishing Tales…

I love the holidays – I can’t quite believe that they are coming to a rapid end and Monday is school again!! Nonetheless we are on the home stretch towards the long summer holidays. We went back to the lakes today to catch fish. It was lovely lying in the sun soaking up the rays. Initially nothing was happening as we had chosen a new spot to fish – our usual spot was full of Mums with their toddlers feeding ducks. After awhile we noticed our spot was empty so we high-tailed across the park to get there before anyone else arrived. Not even 10 minutes after we threw our lines in we had a BIG bite. It was like deja vu, except this time hubby was there to grab the rod. Because we lost a fish there a couple of days ago we were more crafty this time round (actually it was probably because hubby had the rod and not me and he is far more experienced in these matters than I am). He managed to keep our large fish away from the reeds and bring him in to the “beach”. By this time there was a crowd of curious Mums and dog-walkers watching on. We could see it was a big carp. As hubby got it right to his feet the line snapped. No way was it going to get away a second time. Hubby leapt into the water (the second time in two days in pursuit of fish) and grabbed it before it swam away. It was quite comical actually. Picture this: everyone oohing and aahing as he brings in the fish with me proudly watching on. Line snaps and everyone goes “Oh no!!!” Hubby leaps into the water like a crazed person.He scoops the fish out the water and spectators erupt into applause. I kid you not – that is what happened. So it was good to see how big it really was as it gave me some idea of the one that was on my line. My man is so sweet – he says he still thinks my fish was bigger – now if that isn’t love….

Anyway we now have official pictures of this fish – yeah…  you thought I was exaggerating or telling a fishy tale I bet. Honest truth – the pics say it all!

This holiday has been very productive. I have my own “studio” to work in now. We realised that our second living room wasn’t being used much anymore (only occasionally when we have visitors) and so hubby suggested I use it as my studio. I have always wanted a space that I can leave my paint canvases out while I am working on a project and also somewhere my sewing machine can stay. Now I have an area. It still has to have a couch or two though and a TV because when we have visitors this is where the kids hang out. So although I get to work here, I still have to hide some of my things when we have socials. That is fine by me. There is still a lot to do but we will get there eventually. I made some cool vinyl record bowls to store bits and pieces in – don’t you love how wacky they look?

I am busy on a new painting I started today – nothing like a studio to get the creativity flowing.

We have also managed to get the garden looking good and hubby has planted some veggies. I really love our home – it has good bones and so much character.

Do you remember this light fitting I won on Ebay for 99c? It has sat on top of my laundry cupboard for 2 years. I had this really ugly light bulb hanging from the ceiling in our entrance hall. The other day I could take it no more so hubby pulled out my light fitting and put it up for me. What a sweetie. Looks so much better – I love it!!

 

Recycling and Re-purposing…..

I am passionate about recycling goods – I haven’t always been good at it, but the older I get the more I believe in it. This is not only because I want the environment to be a healthier, greener place to live where our landfill isn’t full of all sorts of rubbish, but because I think we are living in a throw away society today. Granted things aren’t made as well as in the past and seem to die a lot quicker, but then again we don’t make an effort to mend things as in the good old days. I love looking for things that someone else has tossed aside and has no use for. If I can re-use something and re-purpose it then I am one happy gal.

Today hubby and I took a trip to the city to pick up a couch that I won on ebay. I have been looking for something that will stand out but not break our bank balance at the same time. One of our current couches is too big and looking a little tatty now so this sweet baby was perfect. I absolutely love the colour. Hubby nearly choked when I told him it was burgundy, but as soon as he saw it he fell in love with it. It is now the stand out feature in our lounge which has cream couches. Now even though this couch was not thrown out, I consider this to be a part of recycling – it is taking someone else’s goods and loving them and using them until there is no life left in them. Buying this little couch made me feel good too because the young couple are moving back to Wellington in New Zealand. The guy was born in Cape Town, grew up in NZ and has lived here in Australia  – it felt a bit like our own story. I was glad that we were able to help them out and be blessed in return.

Isn’t she cute?

I think sometimes people find my passion for second hand shopping quite strange, but I would rather be scratching through an op shop pile of goods any day than queuing in a shopping mall for the latest and newest trends – that is just me. Part of the challenge is seeing purpose in the things you find and seeing potential to make bits and bobs into something quite unique – that is my joy.

My latest learning curve is something called Art Journaling – it is simply using a journal to put down thoughts but it is combined with creative art work. Since I love painting and writing this is a perfect way to express myself. Again I have chosen to re-purpose something. Instead of buying a new book to write in, I took an old book I was throwing out and turned it into my art journal. Now I get to re-use it and the print from the words make a lovely background to play on. Hopefully I will get to share a bit more of this another time.

So my project this holiday is to recover my dining chair seats as they are very scruffy and to complete a few other creative projects (I might just make another cushion cover or two…), Here are the photos of my lounge now that it has all been put together. Hubby has a new app on his phone that allows you take a panorama photo – very cool!!

The other thing I love about re-purposing things  is that there is history in every item. Things have stories and there is love in all sorts of goodies you find. To me it gives the opportunity of making your home unique and putting your own stamp on the the look you wish to achieve. I am not one for the catalogue look where all the furniture looks styled and designed to reveal a “showroom”. I would struggle to live like that. I think every home should reflect a bit of your personality and individuality.

The other project I have been working on is my new studio/ art room. More about that another time!! Hubby has been working very hard getting our vegetables planted – he has made a raised bed and it looks great. Feels like summer is on its way at last and I’m loving it!