WW #26: - My ETSY purchase, Isaac

A few words...

This is my latest purchase from Etsy, and his name is Isaac. He is handmade, continuing on my handmade theme for this year... Thanks morninglori

Isaac

wordless wednesday

prince charming and prints charming

It has been so long since I have posted here, thank goodness for B keeping the posts coming, and also thank you B for loading the following photos of a cushion I stitched up and stuffed over a couple of nights in front of the TV. The cushion was a kit I purchased from Prints Charming around easter time, it came as a silk screened linen fat quarter, backing fabric and perle threads. The whole process was very theraputic from the random running stitch, so much so that I had to force myself to stop before over embellishing, overstuffing with polyfill, to fraying the edges. It was good fun. I am now fully addicted and am looking for more running stitch and polyfill projects.

Prints Charming Cushion
I am also obsessed with silk screening so it is just my luck that Prints Charming are running their silk screening classes again. I am booked for one in August with 'the next sister down' and my mum. This time round we will be creating our own designs using the paper cut method, and will walk away with 1.5 metres of printed fabric. Oh the hours of running stitch that could be had, but for now the pressure of thinking up some designs.

Prints Charming Cushion on chairLooking at these photos, I have got to get me some more of those kits, I think they might make a nice gift and I did pledge homemade for gifts this year. Prints Charming have a new blog, go take a look.

The next project...

Now that the laundry & bathroom are complete what's next to do in the burntofferings house? Well that's easy, no resting that's for sure!!

Well, the gazebo we are doing for the spa (on order) is underway. We 'won' this wonderfull gazebo on an online auction website, and after an inspection on the day of it finishing, we placed our bid... Then came the fun part, the dismantle works began with the FIL on Friday marking ALL of the pieces of wook and the removal of the roofing and the BIL on the Saturday for the final dismantle of the structure.

Gazebo 'Before'

Gazebo 'Before'
These next shots are of the two day dismantle works...

Gazebo 'Roofless'

and a little further along...

Gazebo dismantle
Now, the question remained, that whilst we now have to dismantle the old shadehouse, what do we do with Wally?

'Wally' on Shadehouse

Old Shadehouse
So, we now have a spa, a gazebo and the old shadehouse removed, what else is there to do but to do a slab! A quick call to a concretor and an electrician saw a length of conduit installed and the slab down within 24 hours!!! WOW!

Slab formwork

Our SLAB
Now all we have to do is make sure both Jasmine & Macc STAY OFF!!!!

Pelican Post

Pelican Post

WW #26: - Pelicans on a post...

Sleepy Pelican Post

Two Pelicans

Two Pelicans

I was on my way home from work the other day, saw these, and HAD to get a shot... Enjoy!


wordless wednesday

Mother's Day 2008

Well, it's all over for yet another year... Mother's Day! This year, the festivities were to be held at our place, where all were treated to a feast of butterflied lamb leg (roasted, and then finished on the BBQ); BBQ Plum Chicken Kebab skewers and to many salads to mention!

We were also treated to two Sri Lankan dish's that went down a treat (they were also extremely HOT!).

Both mother's were here for the day, as with L's sisters and sister in law with their children, AND L's grandmother at 93 years young! Here are a couple of photo's of the day, the cake:

Mothers Day 2008 Cake

And the family:

Mothers Day 2008

Hope you had a great day mum...

100yo Dracaena draco... RIP

Last week, our 100+ year old Dracena draco fell over... May she rest in peace...

Last photo of Dracaena standing

How sad...

WW # 24: - A "Silver Princess"!

Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"

Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"

Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"

Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess"

This is a flowering gum (Eucalyptus caesia "Silver Princess") that is in our front yard. It is 'supposed' to flower in spring, but we are in the middle of autumn here, so I think it is a bit confused!

wordless wednesday

Our 'New' bathroom...

Well, after such a long time, we now have two fully functional bathrooms... Remember this?

Bathroom Reno: - before

Well, we now have this:

Finished Bathroom 18-04-2008

All we did, was having the tiles 'Repaired & Painted' thanks to Bathroomwerx, they also re-enameled the bath, and a new screen for the shower that replaced the curtain. We also added in a new end glass screen as well, as the old brown one looked... well... UGLY! Both of these came from the RenovationBoys.

We were also the lucky recipients of a Council Clean Up (Kerbside Garage Sale; take it if you want it before it gets collected as rubbish) Vanity. After replacing the bowl and giving it a paint, it also came up a treat!

Pumpkin Barrow

Pumpkin Barrow

WW #23: - A Country Road Trip

Sorry, but this will need a few words...

Last Sunday, we took a break from bathroom renovations to go for a 'road trip' down to the New South Wales, Southern Highlands town of Berrima.

Berrima Country Church

Berrima Autumnal Colour

Vintage Cars

Farm Gate

Pumpkins

wordless wednesday

Whats happening??

So what's happening in your 'neck of the woods'??

Here, we have been busy doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The laundry, as you may recall, has been updated into a second bathroom. This is now finished and we have done the bathroom. It is waiting now for the over bath shower screen to be installed and over this coming weekend, I will hopefully have the new door hung.

Last night saw us go shopping straight after a seminar we both went to about water. The shopping centre that we went to, Macquarie Shopping Centre, was chosen for its location to the seminar, and had a great little Tea shop called T2. L had been there last week with the MIL and was still raving about its atmosphere and little goodies on offer. But when we got there, the goodies on offer looked a little boring so we decided not to have anything.

We then went to Myer to have a look at a new pair of PJ's for me. But at the price on offer, I thought it was a bit expensive! So finally, we went to BigW to get a new, slow closing toilet seat for the newly renovated bathroom.

The bad side to all of this was, that we now had to get into the peak hour traffic to get home! We spent longer in this traffic than the time we spent in the shopping centre just to get home!!!

So now, when we got home, I quickly installed the new toilet seat, L had a nice hot shower, and I cooked dinner (Pork steaks with mashed potatoes and veges) and relaxed to a nice night at home in front of the tele...

So, what are you up to?? Any plans for the weekend??

Our cat: - Jasmine

OK, I know it has been a while since posting, but here is our little 'angel' (NOT) sitting in the Mondo Grass, in our back yard.

Bathroom Renovation begins...

OK, so after doing the laundry, and converting into a second bathroom, it is now time to start doing the bathroom. So, here are some shots of the bathroom before we started. Things to note are the unmovable staining along the bottom of the tiles (no matter how much bleach/cleaner we have put on, it has not changed in the nearly three years we have lived here), the dangerous soap holder and the simply UGLY excuse for a vanity.

Bathroom Reno: - before

Dangerous soap holder

Bath before being sprayed
We did, however, have the "Chief" Inspector observing it being dismantled, and making sure that anything that can be recycled is separated. After all, we are putting in a vanity that the FIL found out a Council Clean up, oh I mean, Roadside Garage Freebie/sale!

"Chief" Inspector
It is now repaired and painted, the cracking walls have been repaired and painted and I am currently waiting for some filler to go off, so as I can rub it back and paint the ceiling before installing a new Energy Efficient light.

WW # 22: - A Mantis in the Dining room!

I needed to be quick to get this, thus the focal point is not quite right :(




wordless wednesday

Happy Easter...

Late I know, but...

Here is what 'L' baked (which, by chance, happened to work out...)

These were absolutely delicious to by the way!

Wordless Wednesday # 21: - A visitor...

The other night, L came home from work VERY late, and to our surprise, this is what was greeting her at the front door...

And, a close up of his head...


wordless wednesday

circles and squares: yet another quilt!

L has been somewhat busy of late, fulfilling some of her "New Year's resolution's" listed here.

So, here is a bit of an update of her progress...

1. Make a Picnic Rug, the store bought one we used for NYE, is ugly and uncomfortable. This is now underway, thus the title of this posting on a lovely very warm Autumnal afternoon.

   
   circles and squares quilt
2. Laundry Conversion to be complete by the end of February. DONE! (well almost, we just have to have the shower screen installed...)
3. Bathroom Makeover to be completed by the end of June. This is about to go, here is the vanity we picked up on a 'Kerbside Pick-up Sale!
   

   
   Bathroom Vanity
4. I pledge Handmade. This has been started, and will continue throughout the year...
5. I plan to 'Pay it Forward'. This is still continuing, so will update more on how this has been going!
6. Phone a friend a month, some of my friends have been so neglected, we didn’t even get out Christmas cards in 2007, this will not happen in 2008. Those of you who have stayed with us, I thank you. Now, who of you has had a call... hmm??? I guess this needs more attention!!
7. Cook more dinners, I hate to admit it, but B carries more than his weight in this area. And it makes me feel real bad. I am still waiting!!!
8. Work smarter, I gotta get this sorted for a more sane 2008. I don't think that she is wining here. The last couple of weeks, she has spent many a night at work until 9.30pm!

So, I guess she is doing sort of OK, albeit busy. Another thing, not on the list but certainly is going to happen, is getting a spa for the backyard. This is of course for therapeutic nature for my rehabilitation of my back injury and surgery. I got a great deal of relief from the spa's in New Zealand, so I can't wait!!!

Oh, have you ever see a cat that likes vegemite?

Vegemite

Having a 'clean & green' birthday!!!

I just thought I would share with you, my 'birthday' present... Well, sort of!

It is actually a replacement machine, as it predecessor decided to retire from active duty, after spending a couple of weeks resting out on the verandah! So, with this new, clean & GREEN machine, we will be saving more on Energy and Water!

Our old washing machine would work to a point; that is fill up, then stop! No washing was being done at all! This became very frustrating and was made worse by having to do the soaking load by HAND! And at 11.30 on a Sunday night!

So, on my birthday, there was a lot of calls to various shops to get the best deal, and to ensure that it would actually FIT into the back of my car! This was all achieved, with me arriving at the warehouse at 4:58pm when it shuts at 5:00pm!

So, Happy Birthday to me...

Washing Machine

STICKY: - 1968: - What a great year...

Oh dear, its now:

Its a '5 things' meme!!

Ok, I liked this a lot from ExPat Mom, so I thought I would do it as well...

Five things I didn’t see coming
Meeting my soul mate...
My accident resulting in spinal surgery!
Travelling overseas, I thought it would be impossible!
My engine blowing up in my car a couple of years ago.
Finding absolutely NOTHING wrong when doing the laundry renovation. We thought there might be something!

Five things I was doing 20 years ago
Performing on stage in an annual musical (singing AND Dancing, ekk!! and I have the videos to prove it!!!)
Doing both Trampoline and Gymnastics every night of the week...
Doing my apprenticeship as a gardener.
Going camping when I could.
Going on train trips as well when I could.


Five things on my to do list for today
Finish work!
Go to the gym and have a swim afterwards.
Finish preparing the door to the laundry, (sanding the underside and painting it).
Watch both LOST and Ramsey Kitchen.
Try and get a good nights sleep

Five things I will do when I am a millionaire
First Class to England flying either Japan Airlines or Emirates.
From Europe to Guatemala to visit Genesis!
Renovate the bathroom, paint the inside of the house (incl filling the cracks).
Get a new car!
Renovate the lawns with a topdressing and new turf (QLD Blue Couch of course).


Five things I will never wear again
Some of the costumes I once wore on stage!
Ugg boots in public...
Speedos when swimming (until I lose a bit of weight)
Flared Jeans.
A dress! (ok, it was for a fancy dress party, and I went as Dame Edna Everage!)


Five of my favorite toys
X-Box
Computer
Monopoly (ok, its a game, but it is a toy all the same...)
Playstation II
Jungle Party on PSII


Five banes of my existence
CSA. Only a couple more years to go...
Slow drivers in the fast lane! Don't you know there is a law against it!
People who mis-understand a light hearted comment, as something as being more than it is... Stay happy people!
Not being able to stay in touch with my friends as much as I would like to. I am sorry, I would like to see you, but we are sooooo busy at the moment...
Mowing the lawn then Macc does a you know what on it...

Ok, I have to tag someone new with this . . . YOU! If you´re interested, take up the challenge!