Living with It.

Since Chloe started Kindergarten a few weeks ago, I have been blessed with a rather abundant amount of "me time".  Now I'm not telling you to make you jealous (although I would have been if I read that sentence a year ago!), nor any other reason.  I've embraced me time, and have avoided doing anything remotely close to housework as much as I can.  Except for laundry.  There's just no avoiding that.  Especially when there's six loads of it piled high in your living room......

I said to a friend last week "the silence is deafening".  Right now, all I can hear is the rumbling of our most attractive brown in-wall air conditioner.  That's it.  This morning, whilst wandering aimlessly around the grocery store, I started to think of all the things here at home that we are just "living with".  You know, things that you really should do something about, but you really just can't be arsed?  Yeh, them.  Here's just a few.....

Look familiar?  These are gorgeous ready made curtains from Spotlight.  But the stooooopid curtain rods have a join in them where you can extend them - and there lies the problem.  The curtain hooks get caught on the join, and they end up looking like this.  In three separate bedrooms......

When we were moving house, and renovating, we had many a discussion over where children would be sleeping and where I would be sewing.  I very gracefully begrudgingly gave up the 5th bedroom so the kids would all have their own rooms, which meant I have the shoebox (which is actually named storeroom on the plans).  I suggested at the time that I could use the upstairs living room, but Andrew said NO he would like my sewing room to be closed off when it needed to be.  Well........this is the entry to my sewing room.  It is one of the downstairs living rooms.  Fail.

When we built the new deck, we asked the builder for a quote on a gate so the dogs couldn't get up.  If my memory serves me correctly, his quote was over $1000.  For a gate.  So since June last year, we have tried a number of tactics to keep the dogs off.  This being the latest.  You may note the top left hand corner of the timber is broken?  Yeh - one of the dogs chews through it when there's a thunder storm.  Really need to get that gate built......really need not to be charged a fortune for it.

And the most hilarious thing we live with?  This.  The entire staircase was the colour of those stairs, and we decided we would paint them white and then carpet them.  Back in June, when the carpet was laid, the carpet layers made a mistake thinking we wanted it on the stairs, but after I explained that we needed to paint the staircase first, he told me he'd already put the spiky wooden strips down.  "Not a worry" I say.  "We'll paint it soon" I say.  June............March.  Eight months of avoiding spikes in your feet, warning small children, and hearing yelps from unwilling victims.

In our defence, we planned to get the painting done over the Christmas holidays.  But three people decided to get chicken pox, which meant my planned trip to the beach with them so Andrew could paint, got shelved.

Sooooooo, what are you living with that really does need to be done?

W.I.P. of a Different Kind

I don't know if you have noticed (If you're on FB) that Mr FB now asks "What's happening ................?" in the blank status space.  I've been giggling on and off about this for a couple of days now, because I'd really love to just blurt out what's happening here every time I see it, but know that the couple of hundred friends I have really do not want to know that Chloe just asked me to wipe her bum, or Cadyn is commentating his Playstation game.  They don't want to know that I'm stuffing my face with chocolate and sloshing down a Pepsi Max chaser.  And I certainly don't think I should bother sharing that I have just cleaned the shower or read more articles on Mamamia??

Well, tonight, in fact only minutes ago, I looked at it again and was about to give a spiel about what was happening here at home.  And I thought, No, I'll share it on the blog.  So here I am - raspberries to you FB!

So what IS happening??  A very strange thing is happening........my husband - he of the "not a home maintenance kind of man breed"- has all of a sudden become Mr Handy Man.  Before we went on holidays, I went to Bunnings and spent a small fortune on all matter of crappola in an effort to create motivation for finishing off a few things around the house.  One very hot day whilst at work, I called to see how his Sunday was going, and he was huffing and puffing.  "What are you doing?" I ask.  "I'm in the garden".........

*****Crickets*****

It turned out that he was in the garden for quite a few hours and also managed to oil the gate between the garage and house and also used the high pressure water machine I bought, to clean the front concrete path.  I was astounded, and very pleased.

When we returned from holidays on Saturday, as we were coming around the corner to home, he says "It's nice to come home to your own home".   O.K. then.  

Last night I informed him that we would be having a BBQ here in a couple of weeks, when my London bestie arrives in Melbourne.  She's moving back here after 15 years abroad, but will only be here for one night before going on holidays.  So a bunch of friends will be coming over.  A look of befuddlement greeted me, and he says "We'll have to buy a BBQ".  Yes, yes, we will have to buy a BBQ - because the husband I used to have left our BBQ out in the elements and is now rusty and dodgy.

Today, he calls me during his lunch break to say he's found a BBQ, and it's half price!  I've taught him everything he knows.  So proud.  He brought it home with him tonight and I helped him lug all of its 45 kilos in to the garage.  He then proceeded to tell me that before dinner he was going to clean to deck off, and then after dinner would be making another trip to Bunnings (this post is NOT sponsored by Bunnings) to get a couple more supplies, and would be punching the nails in that the builder never came back to fix, and would put a coat of oil on before bed.  O.K. then.

This is NOT the man I know!  But I LIKE him!

The "before" shot....

It really is so very, very lovely to see him so house proud, and actually getting amongst it..... Our home is one big work in progress!

Oh, and whilst I have your attention - Is there an easier way of getting those bloody dandelions out of the lawn other than digging them out one. by. one.????

The bane of my gardening existence!

The Door

I'm sure that tantalising title just made you rush right here to read?  Thought so!

Yep, this door.  Our toilet door.  After living in this house for three and a half months - we finally got our new toilet door hung today!  In the scheme of things, I know it's no big deal.  But we had every single door replaced in this house before we moved in, all except this one.  This very special door was also apparently a huge pain in the ass.  It was measured and ordered multiple times before the correct size was finally delivered.  And then we waited patiently frustratingly another few weeks to have it hung.  Which was Monday just past.  After a couple of hours of banging, drilling and getting high on the smell of putty, the builder came to declare he was finished.  But instead asked us to come and see why - in his words - he is a dickhead.  He'd hung the door on the opposite side of the door jam - and right on finishing hanging and beginning the painting,  discovered it was on THE WRONG SIDE.  Which just happened to cover the light switch......

Fast forward to this morning when it was correctly hung, painted and left in peace for the day.  Joy!

You may remember my post months ago when I announced we had bought our first house?  Well, the last few months have been met with much excitement, frustration, phone calls, money and tradesmen.  And we're nearly there!  We've I've finished decorating a few of the rooms, so thought I would share......

The all important laundry.  Somewhere I spend way too much time.  I just bought those drawer thingies from Ikea to see me through until I decide on what sort of cabinetry I need in there to solve my throwing things around in a tanty......

Kid's bathroom.  Boring but functional!

Chelsea's bedroom!  I love love love her room - and so does she!  I made her rag quilt and am pleased to say she uses it all the time.  I also made her cushion and put together those painful pom poms hanging from her ceiling!

And I covered a cork board for her to use to hang her crap on - but I need to get longer thumb tacs to use!

Terrible lighting = shit photos.  But this is our front lounge room.  The mirror was bought to hang in our bedroom, but was too damn big for where I wanted it.  I'm glad it was because I love it on that wall!  My other favourite thing is the big turquoise cushion - I bought it from Ishka and Andrew is not a fan.  Which makes me love it even more!  You can't see in this photo, but to the right is a gorgeous big bright red floral print canvas!  Yet another of Andrew's favourites.......

I picked this heavy timber sign/hanging up from one of those daily deal email things that pop up - it was $26!!!  It hangs in our back living room - which is currently doubling as my laundromat so did not get featured in tonight's post!

We still have a long way to go.  Next week, we are hoping to get our new driveway done - weather permitting.  The staircase has been sanded and under-coated and is awaiting its gloss (which will take weeks of painstakingly tedious work) and the deck and backyard are yet to be completely sorted.  But all good things come to those who wait - so I'll try and be patient!

And on a completely different note - my Out To Sea Market Night went relatively well last week!  I declared I would donate 10% of the night's sales to Foundation 18 - so I'm chipping in $35!  Doesn't sound like a huge amount, but every little bit helps.  If you're feeling charitable - pop over and chip in a few dollars for their fabulous funding for the kids of Indonesia.

Is your home a work in progress?  Do you have a toilet door?

Bigger is NOT Best?

I love an epiphany.  Actually I love the word EPIPHANY!  Rather catchy I think.  I had myself an epiphany a few days ago.  Friday night to be exact.  And it happened in the most unusual of places - Harvey Norman.  For those of you outside the realm of Australia or anywhere else this big chain store has planted itself, then it is literally a big chain store selling all variety of goods for one's home.  From batteries to fridges, lounges to cameras.  They've got the lot.  And no, this is not a sponsored post - although, hey, I wouldn't knock it back!

So the family and I toddled in there, the aim being to find a new fridge and TV for the new home.  Which, if you haven't been following, you can catch up HERE and HERE.  Our new kitchen has a much smaller fridge cavity, which means our humungous, kick ass, LEAKING fridge cannot come with us.  Sad, I know.  Anyhow, found the fridge no worries - my new best friend, Vonnie, was very helpful in giving me an even cheaper price than the already reduced one plastered on the front of said appliance, so I was a happy camper.  Next stop - TV's.

This is where it gets tricky.  Remember only a few years ago when you went to buy a flat screen TV and it was a million dollars????  Well, times have changed my friends.  You can now get yourself a ginormous extension of your husband's penis plasma/LCD for under $1000.  The one that was on special was $696.  Great brand, great quality....blah blah blah.  Down the back of the entertainment section was the "little" 31" flat screens.  For half the price.  Given that this TV was going to be put in the kid's playroom, and its only purpose was going to be for them to play video games and watch "normal TV" - not foxtel - I was quite happy with the smaller version.  My husband - not so much.

To cut a not so long story short - he left the decision up to me.  Approximately two minutes later I told Vonnie that it actually made me feel sick to think that we would have THREE big screen televisions in our house!  THREE.  I thought it was rather extravagant, and really did not feel it necessary......so directed her to the 31" at the rear.  When I rallied the kids to head in that direction, Lochie saw what I was getting and his reaction was:

"Is that all we're getting?  That little TV?  What about when we play split screen?"

----------crickets-----------

I turned to Vonnie and said "Well that just confirms my decision."

I was actually quite horrified to think my kids just "expected" we would get a whopper with the lot.  All the bells and whistles.  I don't want my kids to think they need the biggest and best of everything in life to lead a happy one.

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE IS TRACKED DOWN MY OLD PLAYROOM TV AND PRESENTED IT TO THEM WITH A GOLD RIBBON!  SHAME IT WOULDN'T HAVE BLOODY WORKED ANYMORE!

I relayed my epiphany via Facebook and was further miffed to hear people's opinions.....  All saying I should have got the bigger one!

So - is BIGGER better??  Do you worry about your kid's expectations?  Does a TV's size mirror your husband/partner's penis size?

Out of Whack

That would be Me.  Out of whack.  My world of routine, roster and all else that goes with it, has gone straight out the window!  This time last week we were finally "home owners".  Papers - signed, sealed and delivered.  A very surreal feeling.  I may have owned a home before (in my past marriage life), but this time round it is about five times more expensive, with four more little and not so little people in the gang.  Which in turn means there is four times as much SHIT to pack.  Or throw out.  Or pass on to others.  Lots of that going on here.  Re-homing I like to call it.

So my house looks like the proverbial bomb has gone off - and nobody has survived.  Until the end of the day when they all return home to the bomb site and do nothing to help the situation!  Everybody quite happily sits amongst the boxes - whether they be packed or empty.  Chloe prefers to play castles with the empty ones.  Helpful.  But cute.  I thought we had packed all of Cadyn's toys and other crap, but NOOOOOO, his room still looks like nothing has left it.  And the girl's room..........beyond belief how two little kids can have so much STUFF, so you re-home half of it, and again - it looks as though nothing has moved.  Sigh.

The new house.  It's coming along in leaps and bounds.  Every single door in the place has been replaced, which makes a ridiculously big difference.  We have a new pergola/deck.  Gorg-wah.  And tomorrow - demolition day.  We have a couple of great friends and their boys who are going to give us a hand to rip out all floor coverings and window coverings and anything else that needs to go!  I think it may just be the therapy I need.  Because although I have not been living at the house whilst all this busy-bee work has been happening - I have had to schedule it ALL.  Making sure shit gets delivered before it it needed.  It's actually rather exhausting.  And mind-boggling.  But very rewarding when the results can be seen....

The kids finished up at their school today.  I felt kind of guilty, because I was so happy.  So happy to be leaving.  Is that bad?  No.  No, it's a good thing.  I'm leaving behind a wholelottabullshit and drama. And moving to a school where I do not know one.single.person.  And whilst that scares me just a little teeny bit - it's also very appealing.  

Chelsea and Cadyn were given a lovely send-off today, from their teachers and peers.  And I was blessed to spend the final assembly amongst the dearest of friends I have made there.  Women who have never bought into the wholelottabullshit sector of the school.  Women who have held me up and helped me get through some pretty shitty situations.  Women I will NEVER FORGET.

In precisely 11 more sleeps, we will be in our new house.  Our new suburb.  It's a strange but comforting thought.  Hopefully I will be back IN whack by then!

Ps.  Did I tell you school holidays begin today?  God give me strength......

Instant Gratification

It just dawned on me this afternoon that I am an "instant gratification girl".....this little lightbulb occurred as I was whizzing through making a quilt for one of my daughters.  God forbid I actually take my time and make a REAL QUILT.  Nope, I have taken the easy way out (well, some may not find them easy) and make a rag quilt.  I shit you not - this baby has only taken me a couple of hours to whip up, just have to finish it off now.

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I have also just finished THREE NOVELS in one week!  Noooooo, I couldn't take my time and savour the process.....I got caught up in the fabulous stories and wanted to know what happened - so quickly, that I am now twiddling my thumbs, a little lost without the books that have kept me company this past seven days.  

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A few weeks ago, we made a trip to Ikea.  Nothing too interesting in that you say?  Well - I present to you the best $4.95 I have spent in years:

Now all the apples in our house receive instant gratification also!  Cores and chops your apple in a matter of seconds!

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I feel as though I have spent the past 13 years negotiating with children - tonight I lost my shit spat the dummy!  NO MORE NEGOTIATING!  When I say I want something done - I want it done NOW!  Not after they've finished a drawing/finished a game/finished a tv show/finished picking their nose - NOW!  Why of why can't it be that simple?

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I made a visit to our new house this afternoon.  Its transformation has begun - and it's VERY exciting!  I wish with all my being that it was all finished and I did not have to hold my breath wondering if all the choices we have made are actually going to work?  I've already started doing "A Block" by changing my mind on the finish of one thing, and am wondering whether I will end up being a tradie's worst nightmare?

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Tomorrow, I have the WHOLE DAY in a first aid refresher course.  It will be the millionth tenth time I have had to spend a tedious eight hours with a bunch of numb-nuts valued employees, refreshing my brain about how to potentially save someone's life.  Yeh yeh, I know - it's part of my job.  But couldn't we just fill out a questionnaire and be done with it?  Instantly!

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I could bang on about all the other things that I wish would happen in an instant.....but I'm sure you've had enough!

What gratifies you?  Do your kids eat apples?  Do you detest cutting them up like I do - or am I just a terribly impatient Mother??

Sexy Sewing

Just a quick post this afternoon between eating chocolate freckles (everyone loves them yeh?), swigging Pepsi Max (they did not sponsor this post unfortunately, I'm just addicted), squishing orders into postal satchels and getting quotes for renovations!!  Here's some useful information for you......

Sexy huh?

The lovely Renee over at The Sewing Library is celebrating their First Birthday!  She has an amazing prize on offer - and it makes sewing look pretty damn sexy!  Great opportunity for everyone (well except me, because I am one of the sponsors of said sexy prize, now I know how Karl and Lisa feel when they can't enter Today Show comps!) who loves sewing, would love to sew, or knows someone who sews to win a beautiful machine!  Pop over there and let Renee know I sent you!


Who knew carpet was so freakin expensive??  I mean really.....it's just big rugs on floors yeh?  Seems I am taking a master class in "how not to get ripped off by big companies" during the infant stages of our renovating.  Today was the 3rd hour spent sitting around whilst a strange man wandered around with his measuring tape.  Let's hope the quotes get cheaper - please.....


I keep looking at the rather large amount of "stuff" we have, everywhere, and wonder how I am possibly going to get it all packed and moved?  Remedied some of the problem by emptying out our garage of all the useless shit we have been holding on to "just in case" on the weekend.  Hard rubbish collection has perfect timing this time round.  Seems our crap must be really, really crappy this time round.  Apart from a few random items, it's all still on the nature strip.  Unheard of in this suburb!  Some people must roam from area to area, trailer hooked on, picking through others crap in the hope of finding good crap to transfer to their own crappy garage?  Noice.


I've sort of, kind of, maybe decided that the kids will be changing schools next year.  Our moving date will be some time in July, so I will have at least half a year of travelling to their current school.  Yes, it may only be ten minutes each way, but given we have only had to walk 300 metres to school for the past five years, I'm guessing I will be over it by year's end?  I have a school in mind, and they just happen to be holding their open night later this month.  I'm already bribing Chelsea with the news that they have piano lessons during school hours!  Bribery 101 will be my best friend in the coming months.....


Bella the kitten has made herself well and truly at home.  She now flies from one piece of furniture to another, and scares the absolute bejeezus out of everyone at some stage during each day.  Found her on top of the printer this morning after hearing it turn on.  Printer lives on top of three filing cabinets.  Still trying to work out the logistics of how she ended there....


That's it.  Must go and look productive.  Husband just pulled in the driveway!

And We've Only Just Begun.....

The Brown House.  That is the best description I have for it at present.  Brown.  Really brown.  But we have a vision.  Sort of.  It's a bit of a blurred vision right now, but I'm hoping my little exercise book filling up with notes will soon make it clearer.

I have a gazillion more photos of our new home, but am too scared to look too closely, for fear of running!  This little big beauty is most definitely a work in progress.  It's going to take a whole lot of hard work and hard earned money to get it to look the way we want it to, but I'm shitting myself quietly OK with that.

You see - this big brown house is where my husband was brought home to after he left the hospital.  Back in 1979.  This is his childhood home.  Last year sometime, he suggested that when his Mum was ready to downsize (she has been living here by herself for quite a while now) it would be the perfect sized home for us and our tribe, and perhaps we should think about purchasing it?  He left the thinking up to me.  SO I thought long and hard about it.  And after about a week, I told him I agreed.  This humungous house was pretty much perfect for us.  Except of course for the carpet, painting, tiles, gates, doors, decking yadda yadda yadda......

Soooooooo............as we begin this journey into home renovation - bare with me!!  This is not my first rodeo renovation, my past life ended at the final stages of an extension.  My plan is to have THIS marriage outlast THIS house!  I will more than likely be committed at some stage, and will require you to tell me that it will all work out.  Please.  Thank you.

Am I crazy?  Do you have any tips for getting through a rather large renovation?