holiday bits and pieces

I'm watching the tennis and trying not to think about the fact that school is back tomorrow

and I'll have to face the morning routine of cajoling and lunch making with only a few hours sleep.

By rights, being Scottish I should be supporting Andy Murray, but I've been a Roger fan for a long time. 

It's still only the first set and it's a nail biter so far. 

I had a big list of house related stuff I wanted to get done over this past week.

Needless to say most of my little jobs didn't get done, but none of those jobs are going 

anywhere. 

 I did find time to visit the lovely Black and Spiro where I 

bought this bedspread - blue, white, red, and polka dots -

what's not to love?

 holidays are always a good time for some 

sleepovers

 crafty stuff at GoMA

 the rules get relaxed when the man of the house

isn't home....

We went camping for a few days in the second week of the holidays. Friends were 

generally incredulous when they heard of our planned adventure.

The comments I heard the most were all along the lines of  

 "mmm, never quite saw you as a camper".

One friend said to me (in mock seriousness, but of course there's

always a grain of truth in these comments): "but how will you manage

without your GHD?" What can I say, my friends know me well.

Anyway, I am pleased to report we had a great time. Thanks

B for including us in your trip  xx

 perfect weather

 how blue is that sky?

 tolerant guinea pigs at the camp site.

they were on the receiving end of a lot of 

love from all the kids - whether they 

wanted it or not

 beautiful weather for a bush walk

 nothing beats a fire, red wine and conversation

I even managed to make it to the finders keepers

markets today and picked up some 

lovely ceramics.

I'm not back at work until Tuesday so am aiming to tackle some of those 

jobs tomorrow. First on the list is trying to finally sort out the window coverings 

in the bedroom. 

As I finish this, Murray has just won the first set. I hope I have 

the stamina to stay up and watch this match as it's going to be a cracker.

Caffeine will be my friend tomorrow.

Night all x

happy camping

our spare room slowly taking shape

School holidays are almost upon us, and I think we are all looking forward to the end

of the week when we can exhale. It's always nice to have a break from the routine of homework, 

and the nagging in the morning to get ready. Though I have to say that by the end of the holidays

 I'm usually really glad to have that routine back again and for school to resume....

We are going camping with some families over the holidays. I'm looking forward to this but

I'm also filled with slight trepidation - you see, I am (hushed tones) - a camping virgin. 

Shocking I know. How have I escaped it for so long? 

Most of my trepidation actually relates to how cold it's going to be.

 You'd never believe that I lived for 23 years in Scotland. We had a trial run 

in the back garden of putting up the tent. We have borrowed all the gear from

 some friends which is fab - but they are a family of five so it's like the Taj 

Mahal of tents for us. The man of the house and 

I only swore at each other a few times and were still talking to 

each other once the tent was up so I guess that was a success. 

let's hope it all goes this easily in the real world rather than

our back garden

I've had the past two days off work and have been domestically pottering around the house, 

cooking and baking and enjoying being in the house during the day. 

There is a different feeling in the house when the sun is up and it's quiet - I love it.

Wish I got to enjoy it more but work gets in the way.

I'm training him early - nice to see he is thorough and is vacuuming

the inside of the storage cupboard. Love that Dyson.

Have a good week everyone 

xx

kitchen

The kitchen is my favourite room of the house. We spend most of our time here and the space

works just as we had hoped it would.We wanted lots of bench space,
somewhere to sit, higher bench tops and a space that was warm and inviting.
We chose white cabinetry and after much deliberation

grey benchtops - thinking that otherwise it would be too white for us.

 looking down into the kitchen with my much

loved antique scales in the foreground

 looking back down towards the front of the house.
we chose Corian over Caesarstone as it comes as one solid
block rather than having to have joins.

 searched high and low for these lights and

found them at Ici et La in Sydney.

 behind the stools we have a row of bi-fold doors that open

up to the deck. It makes entertaining so easy

as you can feel part of everything while still working in

the kitchen

 view from the deck looking back into the kitchen

 both the man of the house and I are tall, and so in addition to

higher benchtops, we wanted a wall mounted oven. I know

ovens underneath the stove top look lovely, but I was sick of bending

down all the time. We chose a Neff oven.

 this was one of the main selling points for me for

the Neff. It has castors and you can slide the

trays out very easily to check on what is

cooking

 the magical "Slide'N'Hide" door was the second selling point.

Going.....

 going........

 gone!

I seriously love this and it is so convenient.

If the man of the house was reading this (he doesn't read the blog)

he would harrumph loudly and grumble under his breath

"you'd want to seriously love it for the amount of extra money

that door cost".

Our builder talked us through a few rough ideas for the kitchen and then

sent us to his cabinet maker who spent a lot of time with us, finding out what was

important to us and then guiding us in the right direction. I'd be very happy
to recommend them (and my builder) to anyone in Brisbane.

We chose

2Pak cabinets painted in Lexicon

Corian bench top in Lava Rock
Dorf Kytin mixer
Waden reverse osmosis water filter
Highland gas stovetop
Neff oven
Miele dishwasher

Boy of the house was home sick from school today.

That meant I got a day off work to mop his

fevered brow. Everything feels better after a

cup of chai tea in the big bed

 

loving this weather at the moment in Brisbane.

We have a Japanese maple in the front garden

which provides us with some glorious autumnal colours



just as we are heading into autumn here, everything is coming

alive in Germany - my Mum sent me this photo of

one of the peony roses in her garden. So lovely.

a singular sadness

boy of the house at about 11 months of age. In some ways

it seems like yesterday. He's now at school.

I haven't felt like blogging for a while. Some of that has been because I've been busy - in a good way.

Work has been flat out, I've been to Sydney twice in 2 weeks, and we've had lots of catch ups with

friends at the old girl which has been lovely.

I've been a bit sad though too. The cause of my sadness is something that may be hard to understand for a lot of people. The boy of the house is an only child - not by choice, but that's what happens when you leave it until your later thirties to have a baby. I know we were very lucky to have him, when so many people are not able to have children at all. While I had a lot of sadness a few years ago when we were in the thick of trying hard to have another baby - with the emotional roller coaster that comes with assisted fertility -  in more recent times I had come to accept, happily,  that our little family was complete. 

So I wasn't prepared this week for the emotional outpouring from the boy of the house.

He's not been himself these past 2 or 3 weeks, and it all came out on Sunday night when I was tucking him in to bed. He spontaneously started crying and asked me why he didn't have any brothers and sisters, how sad he was that it was just the three of us, and why couldn't it be different. "Friends are great mum, but a brother or sister is what I really want". The conversation went on for a long time, and it transpired that he has been sad about this for a long time and has been bottling it up. He is one of only two only-children at his school, and I hadn't realised how perceptive he was about the situation. Never under-estimate your children.

Of course in the grand scheme of things, we are such a lucky family, all living safely and healthily. On a daily basis at work I see children who are coping with acute or chronic illness, and am reminded constantly that good health and a loving family - whatever its size or composition - should never be taken for granted. However I think the thing that is making me especially sad about this is that it is a terrible thing to see your child so sad about something that no one - especially me -  has the power to do any thing about. This is one thing I can't make better for him. I'm all for promoting resilience in our children, but he can't change this situation by working harder at something, or by applying himself more. 

I am sure we will navigate this sadness, the boy of the house and I. In the meantime I've got plenty of house related things I can post about...... in due course.

some favourite corners of my home

 all the big names are here including Ruby

the wonder dog

 WAC bookcase with some birds made by Shannon Muir, 

a Qld ceramicist

 doors of our ensuite vanity

north eastern corner of our verandah complete

with Ruby the spotted dog

corner of our bedroom with old family photos and

my family tree

 my little brother with me in one of those old family 

photos (1972). Can't believe he is turning 40 next week

 my favourite spot

Plantation blinds?

I have posted before about the window covering situation in our bedroom.

We are still deciding what to do, but the man of the house is getting pretty grumpy about

waking as the sun rises every morning.

I love the look of the white Plantation shutters - but they are so expensive....

Also, I am not sure if there is enough space for them on our French doors at the side:

This is the current state of affairs. The doors open out onto 

the verandah and we are not using it at the moment as it's too

much hassle to keep moving the sheet out of the way :(

I think this old but functioning handle juts out too far so that the shutters

would not be in line with the wall, and would not be able to 

be attached to the inside of the window frame.

If anyone has recommendations for Plantation shutters let me know :)

Rain, rain, rain here. I'm so glad our friends got married last weekend and not today.

The boy of the house has a friend for a sleepover tonight so the usually

quiet house has been full of giggles and loud play. I love it.

Have a good weekend everyone

x

feeling the love ♥

I will state here at the outset that this post has nothing to do with Queenslanders

or renovation, so don't say you haven't been warned. 

It's been one of those weekends where you feel that everything in the world is as it should be, 

and I feel like sharing the love!

corner of our kitchen with the all important caffeine dispenser

I think all this warm and fuzzy talk has been prompted by the wedding on Saturday of a good friend of ours. He is a dear friend who went to school with the man of the house and they have remained close for all of these years despite us all being now in our (very) early 40's (anything under 45 is early 40's isn't it?). We all wondered over the years if he would ever find the right girl to get married to, and lo and behold about 7 months ago he got engaged to his now brand new and beautiful wife. It turns out they had known each other for over 20 years and romance blossomed all of a sudden last year, taking them both by surprise. Our group of friends has all been beyond excited about this wedding - weddings at our stage of life don't happen that often (or at least people taking the plunge for the first time at our age doesn't happen that often). A fabulous day and night was had by all, most importantly by the bride and groom. It was an evening filled with love, warmth, reminiscing, humour, tears and laughter, and none of us wanted it to end.

April is also the month that the man of the house and I got married in - back in 2003. We had a small

church wedding and then had our reception back in the old girl in the back garden. Time flies... 

the man of the house and I on our wedding day

From now until about October is the best time of year in Brisbane I think. It has been glorious weather these past few days - clear blue skies, without the searing summer heat. It's hard not to be happy walking in the dappled sunlight with a trusty canine companion by your side :)

the highlight of the day for the spotted dog is the her walk

Have a good week :)