tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149518582024-03-13T23:41:43.621+11:00Blog on the LandscapeTalking out my Yass.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-71757592845046134372010-04-30T10:37:00.000+10:002010-04-30T10:37:46.117+10:00MovingNow at yassblog.wordpress.com. Warning: don't expect miracles, or like actual posts or anything.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-58201709520054630152009-06-09T12:26:00.004+10:002009-06-09T12:50:42.044+10:00CupcakesA cautionary tale.<br /><br />Mister 6 discovered the <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/spotlight.cfm?SBN=9780143004943">Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook </a>in the pantry a few weeks ago and has been desperate to make cupcakes ever since. Being the long weekend I thought, why not it will give us all something to do. So I looked at the cake recipe and went and stocked up on some more flour and butter and food colouring for the icing, we had enough eggs so we are good to go, or so I thought.<br /><br />So I put the large bowl onto the mixer and put in the butter (which I had tried to soften by putting it on the stove near a pot that I was cooking pasta in but all it did was melt a little bit all over the stove) and sugar to cream it. But the bowl was to big and the butter just stuck to the sides. So I transferred it all to the little bowl which seemed to work a bit better.<br /><br />Now usually I'm pretty good at reading and following a recipe. But not this time. Somehow I ended up adding all the flour and then the milk instead of alternating them. Then I read the bit that said "Don't overbeat or mixture will become tough". Bugger. But it was too late so we went ahead anyway. Then Mister 6 and I had a heated discussion about not taking out all the double patty cake papers that I had put into the muffin tins (I like to uses doubles because it helps stop the bottom of the cakes burning). He was difficult to persuade but gave in eventually. Then the cakes went into the oven, came out and rested and cooled for 30 minutes. So far so good.<br /><br />Then the icing. OMG the icing. When looking at the recipe for the cupcakes, I forgot to look closely at the recipe for the icing. I got enough butter, but didn't look far enough to see that I needed pretty much a bucket load of icing sugar. So when it came to making the icing, I only had about half the icing sugar I needed. Necessity being the mother of invention I threw in the best part of a packet of baking marshmallows that I had been wanting to get rid of for ages and hoped. It's not the best butter cream icing of all time, in fact it's not even really that good, but it's there.<br /><br />So I decided to make the icing a lovely shade of purple, just like the ones on the cover of the book. I looked at the chart of my food colouring 3 x red to 1 x blue. No worries. In went three drops of red followed by 1 of blue. The result was a dirty looking pink. Ok, a little more blue. Now it was a dirty looking blue. Some more red, oh bugger I picked up the wrong one that's yellow. Well, the only colour I haven't used is green, there is no way we are getting back to purple from here, so lets throw in some green. Right. Lets call it "sea foam". It does look a bit like a pallet of marshmallows were lost overboard (if you are being kind) or a pile of sludge with marshmallows.<br /><br />Anyway, see for yourself:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZ34eFgHbP-61LgRRhXYHLBgu_bYKsU416_VG2Vxy5SGsKPhPcjt4Mw_njeZpgYYUdXPi2ILD9Ej-rThE7D89tf_pvb6GSocVaUD3-Tc0lWQPSqsz6rfeAWBVFmMtvn2EYiU7Xw/s1600-h/0608091611-00.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZ34eFgHbP-61LgRRhXYHLBgu_bYKsU416_VG2Vxy5SGsKPhPcjt4Mw_njeZpgYYUdXPi2ILD9Ej-rThE7D89tf_pvb6GSocVaUD3-Tc0lWQPSqsz6rfeAWBVFmMtvn2EYiU7Xw/s400/0608091611-00.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345153020416233906" /></a><br />This is not the recommended colour<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rzxlyJXGJWymy2Rf89LtnjQmJRoRolBcR1NEviwnpSnR6KK1KuXQJ74qtrTcooQEatXgjS-e06XsfuyfZOax6gATKEeKlHgMBZktTeOZrmqWaeboKrbIXOTXEQJJkzdLBtqWHw/s1600-h/0608091612-01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rzxlyJXGJWymy2Rf89LtnjQmJRoRolBcR1NEviwnpSnR6KK1KuXQJ74qtrTcooQEatXgjS-e06XsfuyfZOax6gATKEeKlHgMBZktTeOZrmqWaeboKrbIXOTXEQJJkzdLBtqWHw/s400/0608091612-01.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345153023410709858" /></a><br />The finished product, which despite appearances do taste pretty good.<br /><br />Apparently the Crabapple Bakery has closed but the book is still available. It has some lovely recipes, and if you look <a href="http://theotherandrew.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-made-cupcakes.html">here</a> you can see how good they can look. This was my inspiration to buy this book in the first place. As you can see my apprenticeship still has some way to go.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-22033482579732989472009-05-11T10:56:00.002+10:002009-05-11T11:15:41.402+10:00Mothers Day and the pergolaMy kids went all out on Mothers Day. All out creating a never ending series of messes unfortunately. I'm not sure if it's just that I noticed it more, or whether they really did make more of a mess, but I seemed to be cleaning all day. I told myself that I wasn't being sucked into the whole "We value mothers, see you have a whole day just for you / mothers are only valued once a year" dichotomy by not doing anything and insisting that it was Mothers Day. I know there should be an apostrophe in there somewhere, but it's Monday and I couldn't be bothered. I did get breakfast cooked for me, but I'm spoilt and get that most Sundays. I still did some, although not all, of the cleaning up after breakfast was cooked. When told that it was Mothers Day, my children reacted by looking at me through beady eyes for a few seconds, then loudly repeating whatever demand they had just made. I did get a lovely laminated photo of my son under which is said Happy Mothers Day, love C. It even has a magnet on the back so it can go on the fridge, which is a brilliant idea. G gave me a bar of soap, that had a label with her hand print in paint, and a little poem which the lovely girls at Daycare had done for all the Mums of the kids in her room. It was orginally wrapped in red cellophane, but G unwrapped it just in case there was chocolate inside. When she found the soap she told me I could have it. It almost made up for her getting paint all over the clothes I expressly told her not to paint in. Water based house paint doesn't seem to come out that easily.<br /><br />The paint she covered herself in was a test pot for the pergola Uncle Kev bought for us. I wasn't planning on buying a pergola, but it is something that we have been planning for a while, and the muse to build it hit hubby right at the time the stimulus hit the bank account (he didn't know this, it was just lucky) so it was meant to be. I realised last night that I should have taken some more photos in between part way up and having the first coat painted. Bit late now. After putting the chooks to bed hubby came in and said we definitely need to grow something over it, as in the dark it tends to loom a bit. Kinda like a giant open mouth. How welcoming. We are thinking a decorative grapevine. Unfortunately the style of pot I really like are $135 each. Even if Uncle Kev went mad and did the stimulus all over again (which he won't cause there's no money left) I still don't think I could bring myself to spend that much on one pot. <br /><br />We also argued about fencing off the house yard. He wants white posts. I think they would look weird. "It will look like we've pinched all the white posts from the side of the road and made a fence with them" I said. "That's funny" he laughed "that's where I got the idea from". We are so not doing that. Everyone else around here has a star-picket fence. I'm happy to do something a bit different across the front of the house, but around the rest of the block a farm fence will do just nicely. Doesn't have to be fancy just has to keep in a potential sheep or alpaca or two. I can see us never being able to leave this place because of the menagerie that we will have collected. But somehow, that's not so bad.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-84240903165884283092009-02-27T11:34:00.003+11:002009-02-27T11:51:18.929+11:00I love these quizzesThey seem to bear absolutely no relation to (my) real life and I think that's why they are so fun. <a href="http://yassblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-my-sofa-says-about-me.html">Like this one </a>I did previously.<br /><br /><strong>Take the test of discovery</strong><br />1. Which items would you most likely accessorise your home with?<br />a Sea shells<br />b Key designer pieces<br />c Artefacts from travels<br />d Items inspired from nature<br />e Lots of pieces inspired from the past<br /><br />I need an f - things your children have brought home from school/preschool and insist on displaying, eg the green tissue box with strategically placed patty cake papers and paddlepop sticks.<br />Failing that I thought e might best cover it.<br /><br />2. Which of the following activities would you ideally like to do?<br />a Walk on the beach<br />b Dress up<br />c Make things<br />d Anything outdoors<br />e Shop for antiques<br /><br />All of the above. Preferably without a child around my ankle or with foot poised above the pedal of the sewing machine while I'm trying to thread it. I've never had a needle through my finger, but it's something I really suspect I wouldn't enjoy. As I had to choose, I went for a since I could theoretically do that for free. Although on second thoughts it could be quite stressful pulling children out of the surf, getting the sand out of everything and spending a king's ransom on icecreams.<br /><br />3. Which colour would you most likely find in your home?<br />a Neutral palette<br />b Metallic palette<br />c Warm palette<br />d Earth palette<br />e Cool palette<br /><br />All of the above scribbled on the walls in crayon? I think we have a bit of everything in our house. I think I finally went for e. Maybe I just like the delusion that I was cool.<br /><br />4. Which of the following movies would you rent first?<br />a Something's Gotta Give<br />b Lost In Translation<br />c The Notebook<br />d An Inconvenient Truth<br />e Casino Royale<br /><br />Well I've seen Casion Royale on TV, I can't remember what Something's Gotta Give is about and I'm too lazy to google it, I've heard about the Notebook being soppy, I think someone lent us An Inconvenient Truth once or am I getting confused with a Mike Moore? I don't know. I rather read a book, but since I have to choose I went with a. At least I might get a nice surprise.<br /><br />5. Which colour are you most attracted to?<br />a White linen<br />b Charcoal<br />c Coffee bean brown<br />d Rainforest green<br />e Ripe cherry red<br /><br />This one was easy b, charcoal. Hides sticky finger prints really well. And cat hair. I'm seriously starting to think that whoever wrote this quiz has never seen a real child. They probably don't believe in them.<br /><br />6. Which of the following best describes where you buy your clothes from?<br />a Department stores<br />b High Street boutiques<br />c A mix of places<br />d Eco-friendly/socially responsible retailers<br />e Shopping centres<br /><br />Another easy one e. Although I'd hesitate to call downtown Yass a 'shopping centre'. Again I needed an F option - chain store.<br /><br />So I ended up with an e,a,e,a,b,e. So mostly e's. <br /><br />ANSWERS<br />Mostly As: Hamptons White Wash<br />You don't live by the sea, you live with the sea. You like a calm and balanced environment. Your home is treasured and a temple to all you love. You fill it with loved memories, often with pieces that have a story to tell. You love details (sea shells, raffia) and you create your home to be a central meeting point - an environment for people to come together and spend time. Rooms go beyond their initial function (eg, the kitchen is used not only to prepare food).<br /><br />Mostly Bs: New York Loft<br />A global trendsetter. You believe the built environment is more spectacular than the natural one and you're hooked on architectural detail. Your style remains distinctive, yet ever-evolving and true to your own self - you don't buy off the shelf. High ceilings, open-plan, rich and luxurious are key components. You pick up on trends but integrate them into your life. While you enjoy the finer things in life, you fill your home with loved memories and key pieces collected over time. A balance of function and excess.<br /><br />Mostly Cs: Nostalgic Nest<br />Like a bower bird, you collect bits and pieces. You are earthy, sentimental, individual and your home is rich with detail. You treat your home as a gallery filled with happy memories, photo albums, unique souvenirs from travels and your own made treasures. Displaying your true self on the walls, your collection tells a story. Spending time away from the home - outdoors and exploring - is just as important as spending time in the home. You are not concerned with what your neighbours' homes are like: you are true to your own style.<br /><br />Mostly Ds: Sleek "New Earth"<br />You love the outdoors and bring that into your living environment. The technological side of the environment is considered. You evaluate trends and bring those that complement your lifestyle into your home.<br /><br />Mostly Es: Sophisticated Retro<br />You recognise and respect good design from the past and present (<em>but have none of it in your own house</em>). You pick up key pieces (<em>and take them off your children carefully and put them back in the shop</em>) over time and enjoy making them work together. While you are aware of innovations, you do not necessarily follow trends (<em>because who has the time or the inclination, really</em>). As you are both confident and authentic, you have been collecting pieces for years and you display them with pride in abstract ways in your home. <em>I have been collecting pre-school art for years now, so this last bit is actually true!</em><br /><br />This quiz was developed by the International School Of Colour And Design to show people the various styling trends available to them. It is not a determiner of a definite style but is intended to open your eyes to the manifold different decorating styles. These five decorating styles are the most relevant for our current lifestyle.<br /><em></em>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-30108652853881854742008-08-26T12:44:00.002+10:002008-08-26T12:50:08.081+10:00This is getting ridiculous<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UcNHJFEhWjzPkfOgBLf8RvGfnayMLlEnQakdWdNWY9sZXNK1awsSfOCPGLy4C5HAw6QPadMPI7dGIjx6_DCpO8xBp_GZgDIy0kd5z5y5g_M_cgUW4xbLUmBZwZWyjJnK4A9IWA/s1600-h/Garfunkel.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5UcNHJFEhWjzPkfOgBLf8RvGfnayMLlEnQakdWdNWY9sZXNK1awsSfOCPGLy4C5HAw6QPadMPI7dGIjx6_DCpO8xBp_GZgDIy0kd5z5y5g_M_cgUW4xbLUmBZwZWyjJnK4A9IWA/s400/Garfunkel.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238653218463441538" /></a><br /><br />His new record is 6 weeks. We gave him up for deceased about three weeks into that. Then, on the morning when I was seriously late for work, the phone rang and it was the local vet to say "We think we have your cat". The cat they named was asleep on the lounge at the time, so I asked what colour, was it a not-boy-cat anymore etc. and it turned out to be Garfunkel. Needless to say I was really late for work that morning. But he's home now, with a lovely new collar, and a tag with his name, address and phone number on it. Which he will probably manage to loose 5 minutes before buggering off again. <br /><br />I have no idea where he was for those 6 weeks, but wherever it was he was bloody well fed.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-19651258094505322612008-08-26T12:40:00.004+10:002008-08-26T12:43:43.790+10:00BookshelvesFinally we have somewhere to put most of the books. Pretty swish huh? And they only took a few hours work after all that. Himself not me, which was even better.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju732CbU96H_YG9bFqLmi3se3aVIRxHvSlh6RkNrsxlPOVGJfSyWrG7CmVuOf-Ot7ZRPovyabeAAWMp9Sz47BEQDET00OWwfw4Q-68-NapDtlhnVTJFc7URxRBw_LL4jzGYEMQxw/s1600-h/bookshelves.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju732CbU96H_YG9bFqLmi3se3aVIRxHvSlh6RkNrsxlPOVGJfSyWrG7CmVuOf-Ot7ZRPovyabeAAWMp9Sz47BEQDET00OWwfw4Q-68-NapDtlhnVTJFc7URxRBw_LL4jzGYEMQxw/s400/bookshelves.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238651137487643650" /></a><br /><br />The shelves are now full, some with books behind and books in front. When I get the toys in the lounge/rumpus/kids make a huge mess in here room sorted we will put some bookshelves in there too.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-78486698364356335582008-08-11T12:00:00.005+10:002008-08-13T11:28:00.604+10:00It's cold out thereThe heating doesn't seem to be working, and it's 2.5 degrees outside. Yesterday, it was even colder. It doesn't snow here often, but it was cold enough to on Sunday. The sound you can hear is the water running down the pipes and into the tank.<br /><br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-e3f09f9524750337 height=266 width=320 contentId="e3f09f9524750337"></OBJECT><br />originally uploaded by MindyMindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-44888234936416089102008-06-19T12:55:00.003+10:002008-06-19T13:03:11.428+10:00Reunited and it feels so goodLast week I forgot to lock Madge and Beryl up at night a couple of times and on the weekend I discovered that Beryl had gone AWOL. A quick wander around the paddock failed to find her, so I went out at dusk when all good chookies head for bed to see if she had come home. A check of the chook house revealed a lonely Madge fluffed up on her nest for warmth, but no Beryl. I had heard a loud "Buck" while walking over to the chook house, so I decided to check the neighbours windbreak/chook run to see if Beryl had somehow gotten in there. And there she was, so excited she was nearly jumping up and down on the spot. I tried to pull the wire of the fence up so she could squeeze under but she was too busy pecking my fingers to notice. I told her to go under the fence several times, and was up to 'go under the fence you silly bloody chook' before she took any notice of me. Once she saw that the fence was pulled up high enough for her to squeeze under she was out of there like greased lightning and running to her chook house as fast as her little drumsticks could carry her. I was very relieved to have found her, her being a special pet chook and all, and was a little teary when she stuck her head into the chook house, clucking quietly to see if Madge was there. Of course the next day they both acted as if nothing had ever happened. But I know they missed each other.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-28019661017618776172008-05-26T17:27:00.002+10:002008-05-26T17:45:41.270+10:00We have a new couch, not new children.Note to self: just because we have a new couch, doesn't mean that the kids will automatically know not to climb on it with chocolatey hands, or spill drinks on it or draw on it with textas. Thank the gods for fabric protection.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie6N7sRABwS-hOdKdfRctouA7iJpceAL0hipA1nDpDY_rUomRevte5yqJsrnyaMEYUiHPusd8dvHe69gdUZb4cRAq7yjs-MlidyBLtXT44Ohb-E6S8d9qiEPt6iODKHOBDaBfl9w/s1600-h/new+lounge.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie6N7sRABwS-hOdKdfRctouA7iJpceAL0hipA1nDpDY_rUomRevte5yqJsrnyaMEYUiHPusd8dvHe69gdUZb4cRAq7yjs-MlidyBLtXT44Ohb-E6S8d9qiEPt6iODKHOBDaBfl9w/s400/new+lounge.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204589497418312242" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-2488613352609281222008-04-01T09:53:00.000+11:002008-04-01T09:57:07.954+11:00Prodigal Son returns home...againAfter an abscence of two and a half weeks this time, Garfunkel has returned home. We had of course given him up for dead, so were quite suprised to see him trotting up the paddock toward us last night. He hasn't been living it large with the neighbours this time and is quite skinny, but still in surprisingly good shape with a nice glossy coat. He took things slowly last night and only ate small amounts about every ten minutes. He then spent the night snoozing on G's bed, until she came in with us then curled up at my feet for the rest of the night. Today he is locked in so he can't leave again, at least for a couple of days. I am thinking of changing his name to Prodicles.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-68352583843633633342008-01-24T16:12:00.001+11:002008-01-24T16:14:12.351+11:00From the garden<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9I0g9txYQfIKEty1n1rD9EIyKebiyu9iPsbz_6qTDpKNfRmdUZqJfg6MGhvFa6mSPiP7r2GS5yf8ujH3AZoXFQrym5YVsvSJ3CmSAeJVc8voodTKivZgOTCNVwDKY8lUKxpE5w/s1600-h/vegies1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9I0g9txYQfIKEty1n1rD9EIyKebiyu9iPsbz_6qTDpKNfRmdUZqJfg6MGhvFa6mSPiP7r2GS5yf8ujH3AZoXFQrym5YVsvSJ3CmSAeJVc8voodTKivZgOTCNVwDKY8lUKxpE5w/s400/vegies1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158906999280936098" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk739FBmzSTG8M8Hjkk1vJDYBTtg7qbkpYGyZ0W6-1d_lDYbO3AwxjgXGW54Nch79GGn0zaoRaYBwgVWUIH4fD5F7kGhnVUS4pNOH96MFy4Hs-GKzvVcFXmbffcYa9isCKC_-nCg/s1600-h/vegies2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk739FBmzSTG8M8Hjkk1vJDYBTtg7qbkpYGyZ0W6-1d_lDYbO3AwxjgXGW54Nch79GGn0zaoRaYBwgVWUIH4fD5F7kGhnVUS4pNOH96MFy4Hs-GKzvVcFXmbffcYa9isCKC_-nCg/s400/vegies2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158907003575903410" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-91630854521598182552008-01-10T14:13:00.000+11:002008-01-10T14:25:50.845+11:00Missing, one muse.I thought the blog might be feeling a little dejected since it's been about two months since I last put finger to keyboard here. Just doesn't have the same cachet as pen to paper does it. Anyway, I suspect my muse may be down the back of the lounge somewhere and since it's a sofa bed, it's quite possible that it's slid down to the floor underneath the lounge by now. And what a magical mystical wonderland that is. In the past looking for various objects I have moved the lounge and found, in no particular order, marbles, dead lizards, small coins (where are the $50 when you need them?), various snack foods quickly vacuumed up by toddlers if I'm not quick enough to confiscate said foods, combs, puzzle pieces, sultanas, dried rice, and the list goes on. I even found a complete sausage under the armchair the other day when we were looking for the tv remote. I think we'd had sausages a week and a half before. Luckily I found and binned that one before any keen eyed toddlers noticed. It took us almost a week to find the remote. Someone had put it next to the tv in the tv cabinet, so a casual glance missed it. So we turned the tv on and off at the set, and changed channels, all week with the remote inches away. We assumed that one of the kids had taken it to regions unknown in the house so once we looked in what we thought were the obvious places we gave up. <br /><br />Anyway, so what's been happening with the house. D has made the man hole in the ceiling all nice by lining it and putting up cornicing. We need to paint it, but are waiting for a cooler day because we need to take down the man hole cover which means that a lot of heat could chimney down from the roof. We need to re-oil the verandah but are too slack to do it. We are hoping to have some drainage in the backyard before the next lot of rain floods the backyard again. There are some plans to hire boy toys to do this. The vegie patch is full of flowering plants, but whether anything will eventuate remains to be seen. Oh, and we bought a new meat shrine which we hope to christen soon. It's a hooded one that we tell ourselves we will use for Sunday roasts. Possibly we are deluded, but it's best to live in hope.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-84432860974247326452007-11-07T13:27:00.000+11:002007-11-07T13:37:35.821+11:00Spring has sprung, about 3 weeks ago.Or possibly longer. I can't remember when I took these photos now, but the iris have pretty much finished for this year it seems, and the daisies all need dead heading, but the violas are still looking good. Hopefully they will self seed like crazy and go all over the garden next year. Might help if I did some weeding, fertilising and stuff. It is entirely possible that the picture of the iris is in fact upside down. No, wait, looks like you can see the stem at the bottom. Phew. In other house news we are looking at Ikea this weekend for a bathroom cabinet. Aren't you glad I told you that. I know I am. The test will be getting out of Ikea with, if there are any, a bathroom cabinet, two children (preferrably my own) a husband (ditto) and my temper without <strike>a whole heap of other stuff that we don't really need</strike> impulse buying. Wish me luck.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN9s1KD5VceH64SL8mjzu8HWtBCw179BkFZ9V9M0Bc-3LLU3a5T4BZbpGZiIQY61PSNR-3k7xN1w89-IXi95CE72je4H3K60ThnQHE8HJiOfIdpSaHMbnmTvpnJAalYjzHAEphw/s1600-h/pansy.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129920136288811746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLN9s1KD5VceH64SL8mjzu8HWtBCw179BkFZ9V9M0Bc-3LLU3a5T4BZbpGZiIQY61PSNR-3k7xN1w89-IXi95CE72je4H3K60ThnQHE8HJiOfIdpSaHMbnmTvpnJAalYjzHAEphw/s320/pansy.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdSCjhYAp1XQBBhNtvF3nhNw4KX-H6TStkvpeT3wPr4zK7kV9al-zDJptlQ1JZlurFkZ-dCBjBswBz81StIA3SLzMcRmr5Rv1rP5nr944_nWFWY-nnqMi30uB4niI2ZA0RlOftQ/s1600-h/daisies.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129920114813975234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 309px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px" height="224" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdSCjhYAp1XQBBhNtvF3nhNw4KX-H6TStkvpeT3wPr4zK7kV9al-zDJptlQ1JZlurFkZ-dCBjBswBz81StIA3SLzMcRmr5Rv1rP5nr944_nWFWY-nnqMi30uB4niI2ZA0RlOftQ/s320/daisies.JPG" width="316" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w5Xz51rs72udxfBzG8sZjKTK8SDi_t9BZNOvSw0WyXnuJo8065kltf2uUwpduEboaBdJ8AOS_xbm51loZ0q_5hWAtC7U-Ry9ACPsEy9DGaN50AX0I4m1F_PrqyJMyzAyy7Ge3w/s1600-h/iris.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129920119108942546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w5Xz51rs72udxfBzG8sZjKTK8SDi_t9BZNOvSw0WyXnuJo8065kltf2uUwpduEboaBdJ8AOS_xbm51loZ0q_5hWAtC7U-Ry9ACPsEy9DGaN50AX0I4m1F_PrqyJMyzAyy7Ge3w/s320/iris.JPG" border="0" /></a></div>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-83767359593921458252007-11-06T17:23:00.001+11:002007-11-06T17:27:21.054+11:00Tara Dennis I ain'tSo here is the painted cat litter hider. As you can see Tara Dennis is quite safe from me taking over her job anytime soon. Especially since the first thing I managed to do was drop the paw stamp and make a mark on the background paint, which I then rubbed to cause a lovely smudge. Just to the left of the cat hole. But close up it doesn't look too bad. Well that's what I'm telling myself anyway.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh106Zm-YIkMjMPEQUuqZoQF_atRW1aKbXNxNNXq2R2m1gNFEmOWRgxGBgNAzM0EzQdcTas8NwByhHLXNrb8WM1WXAn5_sNKeYPl075Y8QUdZjc27Dng9cJgIDRArAUtpzx88zmAA/s1600-h/paws.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh106Zm-YIkMjMPEQUuqZoQF_atRW1aKbXNxNNXq2R2m1gNFEmOWRgxGBgNAzM0EzQdcTas8NwByhHLXNrb8WM1WXAn5_sNKeYPl075Y8QUdZjc27Dng9cJgIDRArAUtpzx88zmAA/s320/paws.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129609494189193890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXyTF1rVrEdqrcuUwKE5Dn7cWbwLa49BZmoWpzZcCrGIL8u_h1NEaKK54XD2eNhO0CRE0PpOuRnuv089H1K8gTMmTaokAbvZFBVtCyMV414lb0V_yZ0-2zESJazAxIVtcoLfBJQ/s1600-h/closeuppaws.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXyTF1rVrEdqrcuUwKE5Dn7cWbwLa49BZmoWpzZcCrGIL8u_h1NEaKK54XD2eNhO0CRE0PpOuRnuv089H1K8gTMmTaokAbvZFBVtCyMV414lb0V_yZ0-2zESJazAxIVtcoLfBJQ/s320/closeuppaws.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129609502779128498" border="0" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-87317443002019727782007-10-24T15:39:00.001+10:002007-10-24T16:11:23.994+10:00What my sofa says about me...Surprisingly it's not - "you have allowed me to be systematically destroyed by your cats over the last 10 years and you don't vacuum underneath me enough, you let the kids spill food and drink all over me (and worse) and don't mop up the spills in a timely fashion, you let them jump up and down on me, let your pissed mates sleep on me, allow cat hair to accumulate all over me and never once let me squish a cat using my sofa bed mechanism even though they were crying out for it. I hate you!"<br /><br />Apparently it's this <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/australian-capital-territory/what-your-sofa-says-about-you/2007/10/24/1192941127057.html">(plagiarised from the Sydney Morning Herald, which got it from the Herald Sun). </a> (click on link for quiz)<br /><br />Mostly Bs: Empire Builder<br />Family and status are of equal importance and this is reflected in your taste where tradition and comfort carry great weight. As an Empire Builder, your decorating style is elegant and refined, although it sometimes lacks creativity.<br />In your choice of fabrics and finishes, you aspire to five-star hotel luxury, which is always pleasing and comfortable but sometimes bland and never challenging. You are inspired by a range of classic styles including town and country, British colonial, French provincial and romantic Victoriana.<br />Empire Builders like fine furnishings, elegant window treatments, formal wallpapers, Oriental rugs and matching Far Eastern antiques (from reputable dealers in upmarket shopping districts with certificates of authenticity).<br />You keep a clean house and like nothing out of place. Your feminine side, however, makes exceptions for pretty textiles, wallpapers of toile, moires or ticking and lots of family photos.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Elegant, refined, 5 star hotel, luxury, Far Eastern Antiques? How did I end up with this? Perhaps it is my penchant for English Manor houses which I am never going to own, but perhaps courtesy of a National Heritage Trust membership may one day get to stickybeak in.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br />and<br /><br />Mostly Fs: Refuseniks<br />Refuseniks object to convention, so it's not surprising that in your approach to interior design and decoration, anything goes. You are a rule breaker, some say trendsetter, who may be an artist, a writer, an intellectual or a never-quite-made-it lazy bohemian bum.<br />Refuseniks love to explore the wellspring from which art and design is inspired. Their homes can be grand or modest, but a visitor will feel they have entered unfamiliar territory. The Refusenik decorating style is an exercise in extremes.<br />You are an adherent of chaos theory to the extent that it might provide a new way of dining, sleeping or entertaining. You're convinced that in a past life you lived in Prague Castle or Beijing's Forbidden City.<br />In a perfect world, Refuseniks would live in a sanctuary of unique furnishings, kind lighting and curious antiquities and art. At worst, your style is a conundrum; at best it's too cool for school.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Unfamiliar territory, chaos theory, well this is closer but probably not in the way they intended.</span><br /><br />Thinking back to the reality of my house as I left it this morning at speed<strike>so I wouldn't have to look at the mess anymore</strike> because I was running late it was more like this:<br /><br />Your ten year old sofa bed is displaying signs of being a scratching post and sleep station for your numerous cats over the years. Your children like eating sausage rolls as evidenced by the scattering of crumbs all over the loungroom floor. You are too <strike>lazy</strike> tired to pick up after them which is why there is a trail of discarded clothing, cutlery and plastic dinner ware strewn around the floor. Artwork is likely to be of the 'naive preschool' school and stuffed under the spare bed in the computer room. Attempts to call it a study only confuse the children. It too shows signs of sausage roll addiction, with added unidentifiable liquid stains on the carpet.<br /><br />Your hallway is a statement of why dark blood reds should only be used on feature walls that never have anyone even remotely close to them, and not in busy spaces where toothbrushes loaded with toothpaste, chocolately fingers, and sharp edged items can all damage the paint surface. The bedrooms all scream "for gods sake vacuum woman". The bathrooms say a bit of cleaning the shower and bog wouldn't go astray and maybe even a mop of the floor once in a while you lazy beast. The laundry has given up in disgust after being made recipient of the cat litter box.<br /><br />The pantry challenges you to find anything, anything at all and the green bags only look like they are multiplying until you try and find enough to fit the weekly shop in. Mostly they just look at you accusingly as you throw another batch of plastic bags onto the mound. The kitchen floor reproachfully shows off its multiple marks on cream tiles which you steadfastly ignore, knowing that any attempts to clean it will be quickly thwarted by a child with an a)iceblock or b) biscuit, c)a cat vomiting (because they will only vomit on clean tiles), or d) a husband.<br /><br />Your attempts to clean up the toys in the rumpus room, which you like to kid yourself will one day be a library/formal lounge, come undone when the children immediately start playing with all the toys you had slated for giving to charity because the children never play with them. You only have yourself to blame for not sneaking them out of the house immediately. Upon drawing back the curtains to let in the afternoon light you notice that the carpet underneath the curtains is white with cat hair from where the oldest cat likes to sleep in the sun all day, before retiring to your bed at night and trying to sneak between you while you sleep. You regret thinking this was cute when she was a kitten.<br /><br />The less said about the garden the better. The vegie patch could be quite good, if you were a <strike>cow</strike> bovine and able to eat all the grass growing in it. Realistically you will probably never dig up and eat the potatoes that are growing optomistically. You will probably never plant the seeds that are currently being irradiated next to the answering machine.<br /><br />Now that's much more like me.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-54298421099145100202007-09-23T18:20:00.000+10:002007-09-23T18:26:55.142+10:00Garage full of CrapSometimes it's not a bad thing to have a garage full of crap. Like those times when you decide that the current system for keeping the toddler out of the cat litter isn't working, and you are sick of the cats knocking it over in the middle of the night with a loud crash, and your hubby can knock up something like this in half an hour. We are still deciding if we are going to get all "Tara Dennis, Better Homes and Gardens" on its ass and paint it with stripes or something. Maybe not.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PSFpQLWM_cn_1wW0R708y1KGtl_IJWKaNxTPY28Jk001-JztsMGjnABqwMXits5YtPS7rrPDaS9NPZRakB2uRGsgZPD-jR0Pbwz49lKdGPnHryEe-kIpH5BuL6nrhpkuZ25hTw/s1600-h/catlitterhider.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113312322824295010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="222" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PSFpQLWM_cn_1wW0R708y1KGtl_IJWKaNxTPY28Jk001-JztsMGjnABqwMXits5YtPS7rrPDaS9NPZRakB2uRGsgZPD-jR0Pbwz49lKdGPnHryEe-kIpH5BuL6nrhpkuZ25hTw/s320/catlitterhider.JPG" width="303" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7F8CZxEtGTaiib31bhV7Tc_zSL-EWpzXLdivG3NqVnR9vZK-o5QQrgJvbRp2gPVV-ioulWjK6aqSfGQ7IrmfyMw0CrEOVP5Ey1tcMAWgsJl9Nm2qv6CqofXhUyJv2_YsSpvQmQ/s1600-h/cathole.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113312322824295026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7F8CZxEtGTaiib31bhV7Tc_zSL-EWpzXLdivG3NqVnR9vZK-o5QQrgJvbRp2gPVV-ioulWjK6aqSfGQ7IrmfyMw0CrEOVP5Ey1tcMAWgsJl9Nm2qv6CqofXhUyJv2_YsSpvQmQ/s320/cathole.JPG" border="0" /></a> There is even a cunning cat shaped hole for them to go through. I'm not sure if anyone has been brave enough to use it yet. Maybe they are just hanging on.<br /><div> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-35463889195445179922007-09-10T12:35:00.000+10:002007-09-10T12:36:30.053+10:00Rain beautiful rainI'm sitting here at work looking out the window at all the lovely rain falling. I hope it's raining at home.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-24256384191402859432007-07-21T16:47:00.000+10:002007-07-21T16:53:53.321+10:00Some photos, finallyGarage and southern end of the house<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2x18pEYX40vtOJrF0BbfI64TonBhwO9rJS5WdxuzRvYVwLanFfB_eXPnez-GsQz33jubcZmlKq2OdSh_kIr7vsB2siJCA8YVd15zcofYIbPxx2vJkt-xpPlqUm7Gl62MuizDe3g/s1600-h/House+and+garage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2x18pEYX40vtOJrF0BbfI64TonBhwO9rJS5WdxuzRvYVwLanFfB_eXPnez-GsQz33jubcZmlKq2OdSh_kIr7vsB2siJCA8YVd15zcofYIbPxx2vJkt-xpPlqUm7Gl62MuizDe3g/s320/House+and+garage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089538691448899506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Front of the house<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddvQFSOV5eQyQ40RZLiiarqpQWd9TspabFRG12Km_aPuTx8yHKwYnZkyrEbix1nC3TlYqhHctRYOmmRgpmWRaoHhrmwKj8IbfQPM5mOqPF_YiHL3lsstU7oAPGwyXBQoVOr3FlQ/s1600-h/House+from+front.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddvQFSOV5eQyQ40RZLiiarqpQWd9TspabFRG12Km_aPuTx8yHKwYnZkyrEbix1nC3TlYqhHctRYOmmRgpmWRaoHhrmwKj8IbfQPM5mOqPF_YiHL3lsstU7oAPGwyXBQoVOr3FlQ/s320/House+from+front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089538515355240338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Across the front of the house<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBxY6OYszUYQmZTXt7NkBQID6NUX-wJJ0bwGrT04rQFQCikKKcpIVeBxpFOVCE2xNFNNu-aegCrL51z0ORPD-72R8tOpOf9nMkZHyEFH8QlWFoKsJYqbLJOzQi1hkvdVGH3H7gA/s1600-h/House+front+oblique.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBxY6OYszUYQmZTXt7NkBQID6NUX-wJJ0bwGrT04rQFQCikKKcpIVeBxpFOVCE2xNFNNu-aegCrL51z0ORPD-72R8tOpOf9nMkZHyEFH8QlWFoKsJYqbLJOzQi1hkvdVGH3H7gA/s320/House+front+oblique.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089538519650207650" border="0" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-45505542004140263932007-06-26T16:58:00.001+10:002007-06-26T17:03:38.480+10:00You know it's cold whenpeople buying thermals in Darwin make the nightly news, and the landscape looks like this. Oh and the washing steams when you put it on the clothesline. You have to look carefully, but the greyness around the top of the shirt is actually steam. I do have some cool video footage of it, but posting that would involve experimenting with youtube and that is currently beyond me, or I'm too lazy, one or the other.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiwcF8K-7JZKvENMLZBoDXfZYv5VQwyWJ8jgIFXuAq5zRBxmz16czyDwlIap9sxAsRuJyyHNUbaWsVvxuQedk14Cb2WBpuBTqPWo35LlWafBzKGWSDU8_uiKwWcG22rmww3UYjg/s1600-h/jack+frost.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiwcF8K-7JZKvENMLZBoDXfZYv5VQwyWJ8jgIFXuAq5zRBxmz16czyDwlIap9sxAsRuJyyHNUbaWsVvxuQedk14Cb2WBpuBTqPWo35LlWafBzKGWSDU8_uiKwWcG22rmww3UYjg/s320/jack+frost.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5080264262284231010" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvKYoiRXpSY3IPPwR4_jWflIQ9AqjELp8CptWNT7M7yaBsI-nwLaK3I2xENIVwKnd8Q4qb1mhCruxaSlA2JBNLNFpvoLhW5GPF82abgvt4vOXzsbQ7YIKAYmlUGr0TkPBGCV_BA/s1600-h/steaming+clothes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvKYoiRXpSY3IPPwR4_jWflIQ9AqjELp8CptWNT7M7yaBsI-nwLaK3I2xENIVwKnd8Q4qb1mhCruxaSlA2JBNLNFpvoLhW5GPF82abgvt4vOXzsbQ7YIKAYmlUGr0TkPBGCV_BA/s320/steaming+clothes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5080264262284231026" border="0" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-89873654025401245572007-05-16T10:56:00.000+10:002007-05-16T11:00:21.814+10:00The painting is finished.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-d8SalUe2GpYJmEZ43kunFym9hWEPIrnG4NCtuPDGm-oEbnmQZq0HjJmRRLIDP63uywq92jULbNw0K4m1VBTKL5TWcJXi796giKcXAjReC_1F-b4H_k_oOHyO74dFwDq9DAC8Sw/s1600-h/last+brush.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-d8SalUe2GpYJmEZ43kunFym9hWEPIrnG4NCtuPDGm-oEbnmQZq0HjJmRRLIDP63uywq92jULbNw0K4m1VBTKL5TWcJXi796giKcXAjReC_1F-b4H_k_oOHyO74dFwDq9DAC8Sw/s320/last+brush.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064956201541221186" border="0" /></a>I was just in time to capture the last brush stroke for posterity. The house is painted. For about 10 years anyway. We have also finished painting the exterior of the garage and put up the little blingy bits that are supposed to make it look Colonial or Federation I can never remember. But they are up and not in the way in the garage anymore, so it's all good. All we need now is a cash injection, roll on June 30!, and then we can landscape a bit. Just enough to keep the Council happy, then we can get our completion certificate and it's all good. "oh my god what do we do with our weekends now" time is looming and I can't wait. I suspect it involves a lot of weeding.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-44671004832156636912007-04-30T08:01:00.000+10:002007-04-30T08:04:39.788+10:00On the cameraWhen downloading the latest lot of photos from the camera I found Charlie had been busy again. I thought this photo of the daisies shows nicely how well the daisies are growing, the newly painted front wall of the house, and the lovely grey clouds that brought the rain. Not bad for someone who is not supposed to have the camera. The next photo is one of me standing on the steps pointing down while saying 'Come here now!' . But I'm not posting that one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBUhHmCt6Ml9FmqPloU0orf_WeinqgdyfRxUBYO8zhmu6vxAjOuL_z6LUl0LtX1ZN0lQjJiQgIQvxsJOVEQrOZ5E5Y2-xZVn9UxsawDaAU4X4wHaC4JfS86F912m-3oAHXIQMGQ/s1600-h/Charlies+daisies.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBUhHmCt6Ml9FmqPloU0orf_WeinqgdyfRxUBYO8zhmu6vxAjOuL_z6LUl0LtX1ZN0lQjJiQgIQvxsJOVEQrOZ5E5Y2-xZVn9UxsawDaAU4X4wHaC4JfS86F912m-3oAHXIQMGQ/s320/Charlies+daisies.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058973776288819074" border="0" /></a>Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-75347468703012526202007-04-30T07:53:00.000+10:002007-04-30T07:59:25.524+10:00The Weather GodsMy sacrifice to the Weather Gods has finally been accepted, and we have had three days of periodic rain. I have found that the Mothers' of the Weather Gods won't let them rain on baby clothes, but my stuff is fine. Which I can live with.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIV88PvOsTf7eTJK8w5O60t3PgqwiDiziePsj67SbpSNOLOwLSuoH2ogkGuTLszkbZXdJVhN-8s9aP1QKvExKo9bnuDnfIl5EX-5j7iqHa8TAXp9n05Sp7_wnP3kMtyRxX1cjLQ/s1600-h/sacrifice+to+weather+gods.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIV88PvOsTf7eTJK8w5O60t3PgqwiDiziePsj67SbpSNOLOwLSuoH2ogkGuTLszkbZXdJVhN-8s9aP1QKvExKo9bnuDnfIl5EX-5j7iqHa8TAXp9n05Sp7_wnP3kMtyRxX1cjLQ/s320/sacrifice+to+weather+gods.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058971663164909426" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />On house news, the insides of the front and back doors have been painted so the inside of the house is pretty much completely painted. There is only a tiny bit of grouting to do in the main bathroom and laundry, and some work around the manhole in the ceiling and the inside is completely done. Three walls of the outside are painted leaving only the back wall to do, plus the outside of the front and back door. Finishing the actual house is really close now. Thank goodness.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-37333111456975200452007-04-18T14:03:00.000+10:002007-04-18T14:23:24.910+10:00Stealth PaintingActually it's more like when will he notice that I've been - painting, replacing the flyscreen with the hole big enough to fly a jet through, and adding onto the watering system that he's been meaning to do for months. All those little jobs that need doing and which I've decided I can't really fuck up, unless I try really hard, so I've done them myself rather than whinge to him about it. The fun part is waiting for him to notice. It took him five days to notice that I'd changed the screen on the door, interestingly it took Charlie two days. He noticed the watering system about four days after I'd done it, but then he usually gets home right on dusk or when it's already dark so it's not surprising he didn't notice until the weekend.<br /><br />However, I thought that the paint on me which he noticed last night and the fact that he was looking right at Charlie's wardrobe doors last night when he read the bedtime story might have brought to his attention that the painting had been done. He could also have noticed the hall cupboard doors, that he walks right past, had been painted but no. He said the other day that painting the wardrobe doors was his winter job. I didn't feel like waiting.<br /><br />I'm guessing he'll notice tonight that only one set of our walk through robe doors have been painted because the other set need some planing off so they fit properly. Now that I really could fuck up easily, so I'm leaving that to him. For some strange reason I procrastinated long and hard before finally finishing the wardrobe doors today. I painted the wardrobe doors in the hall, Gemma's, Charlie's and the guest room yesterday, so I only had to do one set in our bedroom today. I had the first coat finished by 10.30am. All I needed to do was wait two hours and paint them again. About 12.15 I decided to treat myself to lunch in town, then I came home and did some ironing, brought in the washing and folded it, put Gemma's car seat back together after washing the cover, and tidied up the loungeroom. Of course as is always the way, it only took about 15 minutes to complete the painting once I got started. For some reason getting started was really hard.<br /><br />In other news painting the outside of the house has begun. The front wall is completely finished and one side wall has one coat, and will be getting the second this weekend before we go to Sydney for the Dinghy's 1st birthday party. Hopefully another wall will get started on Anzac Day, and then on the weekend we might even be close to finished the outside painting.<br /><br />Then all we need to do is finish some grouting in the laundry, put some coloured caulking around the bottom of the wall tiles in the bathroom and ensuite and cover it with silicone, and plane and paint the remaining wardrobe doors and my god I think we're finished! I'm sure we'll find some little job we have neglected to complete that will be the bane of our existence. We still have to finish the garage as well, but it's a lot smaller and less fiddly than a house, and we don't have to do anything inside so it should be much quicker. Then we can start on the never ending landscaping job.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-54432668263368423242007-03-08T17:19:00.000+11:002007-03-08T17:23:04.966+11:00Since I'm here...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGnCjm2jlZyq6AK02mRJIIvzLPIbynj0QCRjMC9gK2eM99Z2JamLeLG7dGgooT7PxUxxOOrodrwgllIofOlIHKRCs-ap-vI94ocn-Zo7O1lVkjG3ogk_fr3Rv9LvThzMskXGfdg/s1600-h/kitchen1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGnCjm2jlZyq6AK02mRJIIvzLPIbynj0QCRjMC9gK2eM99Z2JamLeLG7dGgooT7PxUxxOOrodrwgllIofOlIHKRCs-ap-vI94ocn-Zo7O1lVkjG3ogk_fr3Rv9LvThzMskXGfdg/s320/kitchen1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039434749337739986" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHhlsUbJzx5hgNzVtOA4tx7-xDQQS1vlf8cH3HCZifu6BSbV-hD1HFkV7_QMYSZkVvh6dj12-arueYI3aXfq-ivRB0AYKTJtW9Cvwd_bUFXnt79zDVWl_CBtx9RYzYu1nBVvrSA/s1600-h/kitchen2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHhlsUbJzx5hgNzVtOA4tx7-xDQQS1vlf8cH3HCZifu6BSbV-hD1HFkV7_QMYSZkVvh6dj12-arueYI3aXfq-ivRB0AYKTJtW9Cvwd_bUFXnt79zDVWl_CBtx9RYzYu1nBVvrSA/s320/kitchen2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039434749337740002" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We've also finished the kitchen. It was a while ago, actually last year, but I thought better late than never. Who knows when I'll get the free time or inclination to update this again, so best to make hay while the sun shines and before the next thunderstorm rolls over and makes us turn off the computer.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14951858.post-23938311026344499142007-03-08T17:01:00.000+11:002007-03-08T17:15:22.900+11:00VisitorsSince we'll be having visitors over Easter we thought we should probably build some of these, so that our visitors didn't have to use the ingenious system of levers and pulleys that we have been using to get into the house*. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOqX-blnNdOu1VseTzJSepZI7eW5chJUY4rDvqHuf9ppMlLMwmonXqNRHHBmIvouoIok3VGDm61KGgFFQ45vUTwN8-o4OQCbpIOtADiYvjenBauuvQ5h9T0CAqTJ76tlPxU-ftw/s1600-h/front+steps+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOqX-blnNdOu1VseTzJSepZI7eW5chJUY4rDvqHuf9ppMlLMwmonXqNRHHBmIvouoIok3VGDm61KGgFFQ45vUTwN8-o4OQCbpIOtADiYvjenBauuvQ5h9T0CAqTJ76tlPxU-ftw/s320/front+steps+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039430351291228834" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><strike>I even had the little man in to paint them.</strike> The husband even painted them, in fact we painted them together. But I was taking the photo, so you'll just have to believe me.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41XnjnhtJ17V8xwcR268I6vOg9qASOnZSrHgRRGGKv1EZbvQYJa6Xua8GujDyXg_Fyt-tkKyr1kqQ_otSxeLzp2ayaMIue4MMVjS3gl_xWiywuxUDuECg7jvE8QkSRRd5ffZCDQ/s1600-h/painting+front+stairs.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41XnjnhtJ17V8xwcR268I6vOg9qASOnZSrHgRRGGKv1EZbvQYJa6Xua8GujDyXg_Fyt-tkKyr1kqQ_otSxeLzp2ayaMIue4MMVjS3gl_xWiywuxUDuECg7jvE8QkSRRd5ffZCDQ/s320/painting+front+stairs.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039430351291228850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Then, immediately afterward it rained so we found a cover for them. Then we went down town as it seemed likely to rain for a bit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8jW8gvTAY_MTkQTn3rcbiyeYDYwI41VwOwiT6rg47i1Ih_aY_4I_ZBt8X5oO-xs8O8eBFhxQweCEphAE0pGz70WjgijCcDshOlr_LCxG9I_FOLQyxKNUhP2qN986p783eg-JwQ/s1600-h/covered+stairs+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8jW8gvTAY_MTkQTn3rcbiyeYDYwI41VwOwiT6rg47i1Ih_aY_4I_ZBt8X5oO-xs8O8eBFhxQweCEphAE0pGz70WjgijCcDshOlr_LCxG9I_FOLQyxKNUhP2qN986p783eg-JwQ/s320/covered+stairs+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039430355586196162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />When we came back, we painted them again. Immediately after it absolutely pissed down and stuffed up the paint job. I swear the Weather Gods heard the noise of the paint tin being opened. So this afternoon, the front steps got their third coat of paint. This time it didn't rain and there was much rejoicing.<br /><br />* may bear no resemblance to reality.Mindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10634135486127575735noreply@blogger.com3