Nearly there!

Ok ok ok - my lounge is nearly done. 4 years after I bought this place. A few little adjustments here and there.

Here is a recap



Bad, baaaaaad blue and some-sort-of-stony-colour. After much shenanigans, it looks like this -



I like the softness of this shot....that I forgot to put the flash on for...




So I just have to faff around with the curtains a little and it's nearly there.

Yay!

Curtains - a year in the making

And still not finished.

Here is the godawful window 'treatment' before


Bluuueergh. Vertical blinds should be illegal. 100 lashes for peach tints.

You would be able to see the lovely big windows if it wasn't for these wretched things.

What was that you say? Draw them back? Umm, no they are broken like they ALL end up. Broken, random verticals fell down and Cyclone managed to rip most of the weights out of the bottom the first week we moved here. And I let him.

So this is what I did. Got awesome fabric. Cut several lengths, mucked around with it then got bored and stuck it all under my bed for 10 months.

Finally got 4 hours to myself so I dragged everything out and started again.

I'm so bloody talented that I can sew a straight line. I can also wind a bobbin - with swearing and have read the instruction book so I vaguely know what the dials on the sewing machine are for.

****Warning - if you actually have some sewing ability or knowledge of curtain making, continue at your own risk. Your eyes might burn at the Lulu "technique".



I just sewed all the lengths together, and after realising every bloody hook or whatever was going to be too heavy for the fabric, I attached black binding across the top.
Then I found those (tee hee) rings with the alligator clips on the bottom, clipped them on and voila!



and yes, it looks bloody terrible but I'm off to get more rings because they need to be spaced way closer.

Will update you when I'm done. The Hummingbird is coming over tomorrow to inspect my work so I have to go polish the television...

Dinner at the House of Turk

So off we all went to see Turkish Delight and sample her awesome hospitality. I was very much looking forward to a) a meal I didn't have to cook b) using a knife and fork at the same time and c) a whole lotta lovely turkish fare and ouzo to boot.
I was intending to have several pictures taken of us all, looking glamourous and serene around a table like grown ups.
That was totally blown out the window by a note from the Turk insisting we wear comfy clothes and NO makeup. Now - the Turk is lovely but she is also mad and has a screwdriver she is not afraid to brandish at those who piss her off. I'm not joking.

However I DID gather the courage to disobey and wear makeup for the occasion. There is something not right about going out for dinner looking like a schlep. Supermarket is fine. Dinner with friends is a no no.

However I was mercilessly teased by everyone else all the way to bloody East Bicycle or where ever she lives and it was then I realised there would be no glamour shots of the girls that night.

So I had to settle for the kitchen. The shiny, shiny kitchen.


Forgive my fascination with tiles that don't fall off and places for everything.

Here is some of the food


There was heaps more, the entire table was full and every single mouthful was a dream. I ate myself stupid.

Then came the ouzo and I can't remember much more except for laughing my ass off for the rest of the night.

Oh and waking up the next morning and generously offering The Expat a nice hot cuppa. In which I put salt instead of sugar. Yep on the morning after a big night on the ouzo a nice hot cup of SALTY tea is just what you want.

So she kept my camera hostage for the rest of the week. I think I got off lightly....

My bad

Still neglecting mah blog - but I have excuses!

Real good ones - first off...well I went out for a sumptuous dinner at a friends. She pulled out the ouzo, we all got perfectly plastered and I left my camera behind. I cannot blog without my pics. More on this later.

I've been buying doors for my bedroom from my secret wreckers yard. More on this later.

I've nearly finished making curtains for my lounge room. More on this later.

I had to oil my outdoor furniture and clean my gutter for fire season. Less on this later.

And just the general stuff that happens when you live in a zoo. I think it;s best to get used to the fact I won't be conscientiously blogging every day. More like a verbal spew every 5 days or so.

Top 5 questions I ask myself on a regular basis

1) What day is it?
2) Where is my mobile?
3) Why are the Cruskits in the bathroom?
4) Why can I only keep half the house tidy at one time?
5) Why are the nail clippers in the car?
6) How much hair can a Labrador shed in one day?

Ok so it's six, the last one occurred to me when I noticed a 6 foot furball/dustbunny roll across the floor when I swept 2 hours ago....

MORE lemony goodness

This is Lemon Sherbet. Yuummmeeeeeeeeeee!
Turns your mouth inside out but who cares - that's what lemons are all about, right?

I'll be trying this with other citrus fruits soon too, cos it's so damn easy.

Woooo lemons!

Here is my LONG awaited Lemon Curd!

I have this awesome neighbour that regularly throws the delights of his garden over the fence. It's a game between him and The Cyclone - he calls over the fence "Boy, Boy!" and Cyclone goes running to try and catch what he can as various fruits and veg - including chillies and persimmons - rain down upon his head.

I called Miss Neurotic for the slow cooker (read EASY) recipe - but when she mentioned such phrases as "double boiler" or something my eyes glazed over, but not before we both wondered since all large slow cookers appear to be OVAL and most good bowls appear to be ROUND how that was to be achieved.
Feeling the IMMENSE pressure of my Limey friend, I knew I had to press ahead, but buggered if I was looking for an OVAL bowl.

So I did it in the microwave. And here are the delicious results! Yes, I love Indian food (go Pataks!) and if I was a decent craftyass I would have dressed the jars in perfect pinking shear edged rounds of some twee fabric before taking pics for you. But I can't be arsed.

It's too hot, and who cares what the jars look like, I'm not selling it, I'm eating it....

How to clean your kitchen in 3 minutes flat

Make an appointment for a stranger to come and change all your light globes and shower heads for more energy efficient ones.

If possible arrange for your child to be unwell, so you are exhausted from being up all night taking her to the toilet.
Endure a 45 minute tantrum from said unwell child because she can't have a 3rd icy pole at 11am.
Feed everyone lunch but do not tidy up afterwards, leave it piled up on top of last nights dishes.

When everyone is fed and actually quiet reading the library books you have the foresight to pick up in the morning, lie on the couch wearing only your underwear and congratulate yourself on the ability to ignore the mess.

When the man knocks on the door watch how fast you can get dressed, smile and direct him to the other end of the house (which of course must be covered in a clean clothes scatter bomb) whilst you clean the kitchen in RECORD time, pour him an icy cold glass of water and try to maintain the illusion of a 1950's housewife.
I think the sewing machine on the dining table helped - especially since there was a half bottle of brandy sitting next to it....

Keeping The Cyclone busy on a hot day

All for free! Just a collection of buckets, a ladder from the hard rubbish day and building materials. All the timber came from hard rubbish as well, and this is what I'm using to build a chook shed.

Add in a daddy - who is a large child himself, find a shady spot in the backyard and PRESTO. Keeps him busy for hours.

We are pretty good water savers, even though we don't have a tank. It's a bit sad the kids can't run around under the sprinkler like we all did but I make sure they don't miss out on water fun.

I have several large buckets lined up along the garage wall. The guttering there is useless and always overflows so that catches heaps of water for the kids to play with. I cover it over until it's sunny - but then again my two will be out playing in the water even if it snowed.

We also keep the bath water in the tub during the day so they also spend alot of time transferring the water to the backyard with their watering cans. When it's all finished with - all goes onto the garden!

Keeping Betty Boo busy on a hot day...

So it's starting to get hotter.

This is one of my favourite activities to keep Betty inside on a hot day.

RICE!

You need - an old sheet or doona cover, spread on the floor and rolled up at the edges.
Rice
Lots of little containers - I like to save the little yoghurt pots.
Plastic bits and pieces - measuring spoons, medicine cups etc.
Food colouring - optional.

If you are going for colour, separate the rice into different containers and add a few drops of colouring. Stir with a spoon to coat.

This keeps Betty Boo going for ages. She loves to make soup and cakes and cups of tea using the rice.


She also like to stick her head in the containers....


and when mummy has made the grave mistake of leaving her be so I can get some work done, this is the result. All over the couch. Under the couch. In between the cushions and all over both dogs.
I was in the same room, just down the other end and I STILL haven't learnt. Even after 3 children that silence does not really mean a child playing happily. Well it does but it also usually means a child playing happily getting up to NO GOOD!

Enemy, thy name is APATHY

I did something terrible yesterday and if I was caught I would have been de-friended by many.

Ok well probably just The Expat and Miss Neurotic but they count and they KNOW I should know better.
So it got a bit warm yesterday and that makes me whiney and saps my strength. I don't want to do anything - I had heaps to do but sadly for each project on the go I needed just one more thing.

A caulking gun to fill the gaps near the ceiling.
More ribbon for my sewing project.
Butter for the lemon curd.
Food for the children.

It was getting late and I knew I had to do something apart from lying on the couch prostrate with heat exhaustion. I could make an excuse for all the things on the list but the last one, the shopping needed to be done.

DAMMIT, I screamed inside my head. I grabbed the keys and ran out the door before I could justify presenting toasted sandwiches for dinner 2 nights in a row.

My attire was something do be desired but I DIDN'T CARE. Who on earth would care that I was wearing paint spattered tracksuit pants (that's a very formal description really), black thongs and wait for it....a blue bonds singlet. A truckie kind of singlet. I got addicted to them whilst pregnant for the comfort factor but usually a white one.

Apparently they are also known as 'wife beaters' O my god. But I DIDN'T CARE. Who is going to care, who would bother looking at me twice anyway, I don't know everybody in the world do I?

But it dawned on me as I parked the car, that each and every time I do the "I'm daggy but I DON'T CARE' thing I always, always see some biarch from school days that I hated with a passion. That looked down at me because my hair was blue and I didn't know the Lord's Prayer my first day at catholic school.

But I didn't see anyone I knew. It didn't stop me from internally sneering at those wearing denim mini skirts and heeled shoes (omg) though.

However, as I was pushing my trolley out to the car whilst thankfully remaining incognito I caught a glimpse of myself in the shop window.

I forgot I was wearing my hair Princess Leia style.



Awesome.

Our new guest

Meet the temporary addition to the clan. For purposes of this blog she shall be called Disco and she belongs to The Expat. There is no room at her mummy's new place so she will stay here for a little while.

The Expat is terrified we will want to keep her and no wonder. She really is a lovely pooch and the kind that gets under your skin really quickly. However, sometimes the shine is taken off when she jumps onto my head at 4.30am thrilled and excited about the possum relay on the roof or when she leans against a newly painted wall....

SEE, I'm sure she heard my fingers typing that because she has just looked up at me with those huge brown eyes saying - oh but you love me right?

Ah yes, we do.