Roman Blinds and Christmas in ....... August

Some of you may remember me posting a while ago about my dilemma

over blinds or window coverings in our main bedroom.

I love the look of the Plantation blinds, but had some issues around the door handle 

of the French door getting in the way.

Turns out I had some husband issues too - when broaching this topic the man

of the house decided that "We don't live in a beach house. Or the Hamptons. So I don't like 

those Plantation blinds". Ok, I may have made up that Hamptons bit, 

I'm pretty sure the man of the house doesn't know about the whole Hamptons vibe, but

if he did, he wouldn't like it.

So I turned my mind to Roman Blinds.

After much discussion, and patience on the part of the lovely people

here, we now have some beautiful Roman blinds.

It's hard to photograph them as the light is very bright in the bedroom, but

we love them. They are a white linen (look creamy in the photos but 

they are white) with a grey linen trim at the sides 

and along the bottom. 

And I can safely say this as the man of the house never reads the blog - 

I think these blinds are a softer look than the Plantation blinds would 

have been, and I like them more. 

Where did the weekend go? I love this time of year so much, everything 

is coming alive again but it's not too hot and humid yet. I was in David Jones at Carindale

 on Friday and was shocked to see their Christmas displays and store were up and running.

In August! I took a photo as evidence and very quickly someone scurried up to me telling

me I needed management approval to take photos in the store. I deleted the photo as I

didn't want to argue with this poor person who was no doubt only acting on orders from

above - but this must be some sort of record surely? Christmas in August ?!?

I've been reluctant to have any personal photos here on the blog - but

we went to our babysitter's 21st party this weekend and I thought I'd share this

one. The dress code was "Masquerade". We had a great time and it was lovely

seeing our babysitter - who we have known since she was 12 - as a beautiful young woman

celebrating with her friends and family. I had a tear in my eye at the speeches.  

so here we are, the man of the house and I

in all our masked finery. I will say that the 

man of the house was a bit too keen on the sparkly 

 spiderman mask for my liking......

white picket fence

It's been a beautiful weekend here in Brisbane. It really

feels as if spring is here - and I feel much more energised and motivated

to get things done in and around the old girl. 

I've been channeling Brismod this afternoon and have started painting our fence. 

It last had some attention in the late 90's when the palings were undercoated.....

Somehow I never got round to painting the fence properly. We've just had our front gate 

fixed (it closes properly for the first time in about 12 years), and with the now mismatched 

palings, it was high time to tackle the job. We are using a Resene colour,
White Pointer, in quarter strength. 

 there's a lot of fence to cover

 functioning front gate at long last

 man of the house putting in some hours with the paintbrush.
I noticed he didn't quite look the part the way Brismod's Jason does - 
but thought it prudent not to mention this given this paintbrush outing was 
the first in a long time...

I've been sprucing up other areas of the old girl too. Boy wonder's bedroom 

has been in need of a de-clutter and I started doing that with him this weekend. 

I found a great bookcase at the WAC, and went to Freedom to buy a bedside table

for him. They didn't have it in stock which was fine, it can wait, but the relief of

the staff was palpable when I said I didn't mind waiting for 10 days. I asked them

surely people understand that you can't keep everything in stock? 

They said that most of the time customers get very rude and impatient

if the furniture they want is not in stock and available 

there and then. Made me wonder what the world is coming to.

 wonder if boy wonder will keep it this tidy.....

Boy wonder had a friend for a sleepover this weekend and we all went for a bike ride

via ferry over to New Farm Park. Too early for the Jacarandas but it won't 

be long.

 boardwalk at Tenerife

 Most Brisbanites will recognise this "flood" sign

12 months ago we had moved out of the old girl and were about 6 weeks into our

renovation. There's still lots to be done, but in some ways it feels like we've been in

the house forever. I guess that means it feels like home. 

 back of the house taking shape

Have a good week everyone

xx

perth

It's been ages since I have written a blog post. We have been really busy with 

day to day life, and I've been just a little bit obsessed with really enjoying

Instagram in lieu of blogging - much more instantly gratifying. 

We have been doing some work around the house and in the garden - (actually I use "we" loosely 

for the garden work - both the man of the house and I have two left thumbs when 

it comes to anything vaguely handy) - we now have a small vege patch and 

a Taj Mahal style chicken coop and run - I'll have some visuals soon.

Boy wonder and I have just returned from a week in Perth visiting my brother and his 

family. We had such a great time catching up with 

them all, and the boy of the house had lots of quality time with his cousins.

 Perth turned on the nicest weather for us - lots of dry, sunny days.

There is something about the light and the space over there that is very special.

Not to mention all the older cottages of weatherboard and brick. I loved it, along with 

the plants and flowers that you see in their more Mediterranean climate: roses,

camellias, lavender, rhododendrons, all fabulous.

My brother lives near the beach - how fantastic would that be?

I wonder if you tire of that if you see it every day..... they still love

it after almost three years there.

We left the man of the house to his own devices in the old girl for a week.

I was a little bit apprehensive about what I would find on our return - he is great in the kitchen

but the more mundane domestic tasks tend to fall to me.

this was our bed before we left - I have to admit I am just a
bit particular about making the bed in the morning......

some poppies I bought just before I left for Perth not
really thinking I wouldn't be around to enjoy them

the bed when we got back - looks hastily made
methinks just before we arrived home! And the cushions
on the floor of course......

my poor poppies after a week