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

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.