My English bunting

I have had these William Morris postcards carefully stored in a box since my time in England in 1992 when I visited his house – gosh 20 years! William Morris is arguably the single most influential designer of the nineteenth century.

Well I cut loose today and put holes in them and made them into bunting (of sorts), ready for hosting our street Christmas party in a few days. They were intended for an inside wall but nowhere looked quite right so...

A little bit more (home-made) Christmas

Continuing my natural, 'use-what-u-got' theme, here is some more simple Christmassy stuff I created this week.

Hanging rusty wire reels with led xmas lights - the photo doesn't do them justice at all - one will soon double as a bird feeder. 

And a rather wobbly bay leaf wreath on our lovely new black front doors – simple and recyclable in the kitchen.

My recycled wrapping.

Artichoke stalks which may become table decorations.

A tennis ball bought for the dogs to fetch has become a Christmas tree ball for a while with my favourite ribbon I have had for ages. I am sure the dogs know it is for them!

It's feeling a bit like Christmas

The tree is up! It's a monster at nearly 4m high. Thanks Ian for the tree and thanks Damien for wrestling with it. We had to make up for not having a Christmas tree last year due to building the extension. The decorations are mostly home-made with a natural green-brown theme this year. The scent of pine is lovely. I hope it lasts until the 25th.

My beautiful briars are back

It has been a while between posts. I thought I would resume with something cherie that I am so glad to see again... my rose blooms. The first few anyway for this season, and the early ones don't last long on the bush (snip, snip, snip)...

MY TWO-HEADED BEAUTY!! Has anyone ever grown one?

Pea flowers on the edge of the rose garden I let grow from the pea straw mulch!!

OK so this is not a rose! Just as sweet though! (when not rolling in cow ***)

It's not always so black & white

Another productive weekend of mulching, tiling, painting and creating.

I found a lovely old frame for $10 which perfectly fits the space for a rustic blackboard in the kitchen. A chunk of left-over ply, a few coats of blackboard paint and it's done. My new must-have cow paperclips hold the string (black & white of course), which holds the chalk. The brown string and black pebbles achieve absolutely nothing except I like them!

And we have all been sanding, staining, varnishing, painting...
a black stained floor for Sam coming along and a white lime washed floor for Eyreland.

Cute storage

Family suitcases never grow too old, they just become great for storage!

Our new (inside) bathroom

What can I say – it is a bit of a step up from the recent past! And no more treks through the mud in the middle of the night.

I was determined to create a bathroom that wasn't contemporary or felt like I was in a hotel bathroom, was unique, white and bright, but also earthy. And on a very tight budget!

The black and white is pretty bold but I think it works with the beautiful earthy stone wall which used to be our rendered old kitchen wall, and originally the back of the house.

The distressed vanity was an ebay pickup and didn't cost much so if I want a change from the black down the track I will ditch it. New knobs, taps and a paint job.

The mirror which I adore came off a deco chest of drawers I recently found for Damien. So glad it found its new spot without breakage or divorce. Painted it black. Love the etched patterns each side.

Now we just need to finish our en suite.


The (almost complete) new bathroom...

Some inspiration...

5 years of luxury...

A new resting place for the old basin - it is so sweet I don't think I can move it to the dump!

The old wall...

Vanity before...

Temporary luxury fit for a king...

You have to lift the lid Jack!

Our Beautiful Kitchen

Well it is about time I posted something about our extension which is sort of finished, well at least very, very livable.

In the beginning I had ideas of documenting the progress every week/day but it was all too hard and time consuming while working almost full time and supervising it all.

There is not much we would have done differently - the inside spaces are fantastic (and huge). So looking forward to proper BIG dinner parties when I restore our big dining table.

Our kitchen is in and I am really happy, especially when Damien is cooking in it!!

Here are some photos of kitchens I love, plus what we cherished for about five years, what we endured for 18 months, and what we are enjoying now.

I love my shelves above the stove to put my favorite things and change them around when I get bored.

I love having no slugs or leaking roof! Walls are a bonus too.

I love the island bench - the beautiful granite tops, the sink is very exposed so we have to be tidy, and the combination of cupboards and open shelves for my books and stuff is just right.

We have a huge white painted matchboard ceiling which matches the matchboard ends on the benches so it all seems to work.


ENGLISH INSPIRATION...

WHAT WE HAD FOR 5 YEARS...

WHAT WE ENDURED FOR 18 MONTHS...

NOW!!...

12 : 18

I have a few more wrinkles and get told I haven't changed, but what a difference 6 years at Flaxley can make to some - Sam.

And then there were three

Welcome little Seb (Sebastian) who is holding his own with the bigger puppy Jack and 'old' Biscuit, who are all giving us so much joy (and mopping practice).

Sit still will you!

Our new addition, Damien's Kelpie puppy Jack. Doing well as you can see!

Cook(e) love

Damien has been made redundant so now he has time to live up to his name in our beautiful new kitchen...

Delicious Egg & Bacon Pie from my wonderful Stephanie Alexander cookbook 'The Cook's Companion'. And it is so much nicer with real home-made shortcrust pastry and home-grown free range eggs from our happy hens.

The eggs will be in short supply soon as today is the equinox so it is downhill from here for daylight hours and so eggs laid from our motley bunch of girls - they need at least 12 hours of daylight per day to spit one out.

Damien also needs 12 hours of light a day to get through the list of jobs around the house... painting painting painting!

Mmmm I wonder what's for dinner tomorrow night?

Beautiful boy and his toys

Hay season done and dusted again

Damien loves hay season!

Vasse Felix

Pulled a cork on a wine in the 'do not drink' rack tonight because Damien thinks our 'cellared' wine may be stuffed.

Turns out he chose a 10 yr old wine called Vasse Felix and it is magnificent! Shit we should put it back in the bottle for a special occasion!! So now we are trying to justify why we are drinking such a beautiful bottle of wine on a work night for no important reason.

Maybe because we are back at work and need cheering up? Maybe celebrating our 9 months overdue extension? Maybe our big bike ride tonight which nearly killed me? Maybe because Damo and I met the year it was made (he tried to convince me it was 10 years today!)? Maybe because I was born the year the winery was established?

No... we are celebrating the birth of my client's baby son FELIX last year!

xxx