DIY - word art

For a while now I've admired some of the word art I've seen on Pinterest. And you already know I have this thing about chipped paint, old stuff and the shabby look.

So I when I found this big old frame at a tip shop, I knew I had to have it. It was just what I needed to try out a new technique for 'chippy' paint I'd seen here.

This is what the frame looked like when I bought it. More or less. I'd already removed some of the mess. There had been something on canvas in the frame originally, it had been ripped off and this painting was done on the plywood backing. Hm. Interesting.

I removed the plywood and undercoated it so it wouldn't show through the fabric. I cleaned the frame, then I used vaseline to create areas which would remain black when I spray painted it white.

I don't usually use spray paint for my projects. For one thing its just too expensive. For another, I prefer to paint. This project called for flat white spray paint, and given that a brush would have smeared the vaseline, I had no choice.

Plus I was itching to try the technique.

While the frame was drying, I covered the plywood with some fabric I'd accidentally found on a trip at Spotlight. Uhuh. I was NOT shopping. I was just walking past and it called out at me!

I used the hot glue gun to attach the fabric to the ply, then put it back into the frame. The finished product looks fantastic!

I have taken it to Fentonbury where it now hangs above the bed in the main bedroom.

I had some fabric left over so here's something I whipped up last night: I thought a cushion would add something to the room. I think its cute.

(Ok, so I'm not a great sewer, alright?)

Not bad for an old frame someone threw out huh?

z

in the trenches

It was a disaster waiting to happen. I mean, we knew it was coming... we just stuck our heads in the sand and hoped that if we pretended everything was fine, that it would be fine.

When we first moved in over a year ago now, we had a problem with the plumbing. The shower started to back up, the sink wouldn't empty and we got smelly as we waited to the plumber to come fix the problem.

It turned out the pipes under our house were all 1/2 the size they needed to be to carry away grey water from the house. We found a nice plumber who came and replaced all the pipes under the house for us and said he'd be back to replace the rest when we dug them up in the yard to the sullage pit.

Obviously, we didn't do that. We thought 'if it ain't broke' and carried on like ostriches till the water started to back up again. Last week I timidly said 'Wayne, if I tell you something, will you promise not to yell?' Of course he yelled. Words I can't repeat for fear of being sensored.

But the fact is, we knew it was coming.

So, poor Wayne spent 2 days outside digging up our entire yard. This time, for once, he didn't accidentally hit a water pipe - he was actually looking for water pipes!

What he hit this time was the phone line.

I wouldn't have minded, but imagine all the calls from New Delhi telling me I won a cruise to Atlantis if I just buy $50,000 of aluminium siding I missed!

Wayne tried to tell me it was my fault. He said it was all the long distance phone calls I made which stretched the line and wore it out.

This afternoon it looked like WWI in our front yard, trenches everywhere. We had 2 Telstra trucks here as men crawled over the yard trying to find the fault in the line.

Its fixed now, so thats a relief. I would have missed the call from a nice man trying to sell me a new mobile phone otherwise.

z

just one more armchair...

You know what they say? The best laid plans and all that?

Well, I had a plan for today. I was going to get up late, have a leisurely breakfast while I checked mail, had a 2nd cup of coffee, then moseyed on down to pay for 1/2 a lamb (the pre-chopped up bits for the freezer kind) on the way to meeting Merrill and picking up furniture to take up to Fentonbury to my house.

I got as far as the sleep in and the breakfast. From there the plan was derailed in a major way.

Merrill called to say Kuta (her dog) was sick and could I go help get him in the car and go to the vet with her for moral support. Kuta is an old boy with health issues, so every time something goes wrong we instantly go into 'this could be it' mode. Luckily for Kuta, today wasn't the day. It was just the day for Merrill's wallet, since dogs always get sick on weekends and public holidays.

But he's fine, some antibiotics and maybe some minor surgery if the pills don't do the job.

By then I was already running 2 hours late. Not that I had a timeline, but I did just want to get things done. We dropped off Kuta, I went home to get the trailer and returned to pick up Merrill to help with the furniture moving. And almost amputated her thumb with the handbrake. Don't ask me how ... one minute I was parking and cranking up the break, the next Merrill is screaming and I'm like 'WHA????'

Thankfully, no permanent damage was done. We were able to load a couch, a cast iron single bed, a mattress and 3 armchairs onto the trailer. Not only that, we made it to Fentonbury with the load intact - looking rather like something from the Beverly Hillbillies, we had that sucker piled up so high.

I love my tie down straps!

Once there, we set about unloading, somehow harder than loading up considering we were already tired by then. Luckily one of my neighbours helped. Made the world of difference.

I love the way the house looks. Its so comfortable and cosy and welcoming now. Once the heater is replaced and we can have warm fires it'll be wonderful.

We didn't need a fire today though - the weather was glorious and it was so lovely being there... the fresh air, the peace and quiet, the trees. Ahhh.

There's still a few things to take up, some small bits and pieces to do, and of course a bit of cleaning still left to do. But the feel of the place is right again.

We mainly worked on the living room and kitchen, only touching onto 2 of the bedrooms and dining room. The living room looks great though I somehow managed to lose the power cable to the tv. The coffee table is still in the casita - I haven't finished it yet - but I rather like the living room without it...

We created a cute little sitting area between the living room and kitchen which I love. I've used an old cabinet I had a go at revamping a while ago. More on that soon.

The dining room is only partly finished, but its feeling right.

I'll have more photos when things are all in place. I'll have to go put my wrist on ice, but I feel good!

Meanwhile, just thought I'd share: I LOVE my new Facebook! Man! Now I finally get it! Now I understand why people like it! I'm finally actually reading news from my close friends!

Better go. Another big day looms tomorrow - Montana has her stitches out, a date with the bank regarding the extra money I have to now fork out once a week, dogs to groom, and, well... STUFF to do!

z

streamlining

Its only Saturday night and the weekend already seems too short.

This morning Wayne, Merrill and I made a trip up to Fentonbury in two cars and a trailer loaded up with furniture and 'stuff'. Tomorrow we'll be going up again with more stuff. Its exhausting.

On the positive side, things are coming along nicely. Soon there'll be enough stuff in the house to live there! The new/refurbished wood heater is going in this week sometime so once thats done it'll be like home again.

Its been really fun furnishing the house with less. You know how you accumulate way more than you need and homes end up looking cluttered? Well this has been an opportunity to furnish a house and only pick and choose what I want to take up and put in the house. I'm really enjoying it.

I'll be taking more photos to share soon as the house is looking decent. Right now there are boxes all over and unmade beds and the benchtops are full of things that need putting away. Not to mention the yard which needs a major cleaning up.

However, once the new photos are taken I'll share them on here and update the real estate listing as well. The trees and bushes have grown immensely since I moved out over a year ago so I'd like to show what it looks like now. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, the yard so lush... I was giving in to the ol' regrets... The 'I wish we hadn't bought elsewhere and stayed there' regrets.

But what's done is done. We love it here. And I lived in Fentonbury for 8 years - it took a long time to get it to where it is now. We've only been here a year. Imagine how great this place will be in 8 years!

Wayne is watching football and I'm on the computer trying to tidy things up. I have a ton of things to do but I'm tired... I've spent HOURS on Facebook.

You know, I never really understood the purpose of FB. Its handy, sure, and its fun to look in on friends occasionally... but I never really got it. I still can't totally figure out how it works.

For instance, I've always wondered how come I never heard news on FB the way other friends seem to. I'd get calls saying 'Did you see...?'.

No.

Yes, I'm their friend on FB, but I didn't see.

You know why? Cause I only just realised that you can chose who's updates you want to appear on your timeline! How was I to know this?

I've got about 700 FB friends and I get reams of updates from people I don't know from a bar of soap - except they also own/love poodles or horses or a related to me. Yeah. I have a rather big extended family. I have relatives I've never met...

So, I've spent hours tidying up my FB friends and turning off 'show on timeline'. I'm not sure if thats the solution, but fingers crossed. Problem is I accidentally click on a name when I'm trying to switch off the updates and then I have to wade though pages of friends to find where I was.

I bet that once I go through 700 friends manually I'll find a way to do it with one click...



Anyway, somewhere in between loading stuff into the ute and writing lists, I found time this morning to stick some upholstery tacks onto the kitchen chair. It looks great. Though naturally I didn't buy enough tacks. I got one pack and it turns out I needed 1.5 packs.

Oh well. What's another visit to Spotlight?

I actually love visiting Spotlight. Then again, I love so many places... hardware stores, tip shops, IKEA...

I even enjoy grocery shopping. I think its all the possibilities... When I wander around a tip shop or a hardware store I can always see the possibilities in things. 'I can do xxx with that' or 'I can do xxx to this'. When I wander around Spotlight its the same. And IKEA... well, I just love that place! I feel rather deprived since they didn't open a store in Hobart as they'd promised.

Supermarkets are also about possiblities. The possibility of food to cook, recipes to try out... new ice cream flavours...

Speaking of food possibilities, this week I got this sudden urge to revisit favourite Dutch foods. I found a recipe for klets koekjes (lace cookies) and eagerly made them.

Total disaster.

Not even the dogs will eat them.

Plus I burned them...

I'm not new to disasters though. I read the sequel to Julie & Julia a few months ago and Julie Powell raved about Ukranian banosh. So I made it.

YEECH.

Maybe it wasn't the recipe. Maybe it was me. Whatever. The chickens didn't mind it.

I got the urge to make a mashed potato dish with sauerkraut, bacon bits and pineapple. Yeah, wierd I know, but I'd had it in Holland many years ago and remembered it fondly. That worked out alright and even Wayne (who dislikes pineapple in food) admitted it was good.

Next I'll make hutspot. Another Dutch mashed potato dish... mmmmm.

Lately I've also been nostalgic for greek food - stuff my mom used to make. Comfort food.

Last weekend I made halva - a semolina pudding with honey and almonds. Yum. And tonight I made kolivozoumi - a kind of porridge made with whole wheat and topped off with nuts, cinammon, sesame seeds and sultanas. YUM.

This dish is actually somewhat of a rarity even among greeks. Mom used to make it all the time, but very few greeks actually know what it is. Back when we first moved back to Greece we had an old wood heater you could cook on. Mom would make a vat of this stuff and keep it on the side of the heater so it was always warm. We could just go help ourselves - breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mmm-mm!

When I wanted to make it I asked all over for someone who could not only give me a recipe, but tell me where I could buy the wheat and what to ask for. I ended up finding a page on FB all about greek food. They didn't have the recipe but were kind enough to find it for me.

I'm thinking I might try to cook something different once a week from now on. Not necessarily new (though that would be nice) but different - something I haven't cooked for years maybe.

See how that goes, but if you want any recipes, just let me know and I'll share them in a blog.

z