Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Christmas!

While I cluck disapprovingly at shopping centres and department stores that start putting Christmas decorations up almost before the second half of the year arrives, I secretly wish I could get away with it too. 

I love Christmas. Love, love, love. 

So it was perhaps somewhat inevitable that a rainy weekend resulted in us fetching the tree and decorations from our storage unit. They aren't all up. But they are here and can be put up whenever the mood strikes. I think the chances of holding out until December are slim. 

Perhaps a little more Christmas craft may push us over the line? So far we've just done wrapping paper but I think next weekend may involve baking and some hard core Christmas crafting. 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Just around the corner...


Spring is so close I can almost smell it. Blooms, beaches and a birthday. My favourite time of year.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Nell




On ANZAC Day we said goodbye to our precious golden fur child, Nell. It's hard to put into words how much we miss her. The house feels more than a little bit empty without her by our sides and in our laps.

As with every loss there's been a series of heartbreaking 'first' since she's been gone - the first walk without her, the first shower without her curled up on the bathmat, the first morning in bed without her, the first time automatically getting three treats out for the dogs, the first time not automatically getting three treats out...

She was utterly incomparable. Incomparable in every single way. What we wouldn't do for one more day of snuggles with our golden shadow.

Run free beautiful golden girl. In the words of Puddleduck, you'll be in our hearts forever.







Monday, July 8, 2013

A spot of rearranging

Some gratuitous living room pictures - because it's been a while and because I have been rearranging (again!).



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

One year in our nest

This last weekend marked one year since we first moved into our nest.

The bones haven't changed since I took the shots on our first night here, but as you can see from the shots I took on our 'anniversary' it's a little more finished one year on.

I wonder what another year will bring?









Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Gah!!

One of my pendant lights has started to give way at the top. Not quite as dire as it pulling the cord out of the ceiling (a very real fear we had when hanging them given the weight) but distressing nonetheless.

I've had a go at mending it today and will rehang it when Mr Puddleduck gets home - fingers crossed! I'd really prefer not to have to make a new one.



Friday, March 8, 2013

Old Lady

Look at this lovely old lady. Isn't she just crying out for some TLC?



Thursday, March 7, 2013

Project - Kitchen rearranging

The layout of the kitchen has been bothering me for a while. The benches running under the louvers just weren't quite right. I had to keep them totally free of anything in order for the kitchen to look decent when I looked through from the living area. They also blocked some of the view through to our deck.

I also didn't like looking back inside and seeing the pantry on the wall. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it wasn't quite right.

So it was time for a change.

The benches are now on the wall where the pantry was. I love them there for the main reasons. Firstly, if I don't clean up after dinner until the next day I can't see the mess on the bench from the living room. Secondly, I can use the far end of the bench for storing chopping boards as appliances. Finally, it looks better from the deck and gives us much more room. All it needs is a nice bright print for the wall.

The pantry is now next to the fridge and that's working quite well too.

You might also notice I have ditched the little blackboards. They were cute and I loved them, but they didn't cope well with the inevitable grease. So we've put up some glass to act as a splash back.

Having used it in the new layout for about a week, I think this is pretty close to the layout we will use when we get around to putting in a proper kitchen. I also really like the effect of the yellow in between the stainless steel of the fridge and oven. Definitely much better than just against a white wall.





Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Project (kind of) - Dollhouse

I had grand plans of making a dollhouse for Puddleduck over the holidays. My plan was something relatively minimalist - some Ikea Expedit bookcases forming the frame and internal walls. We even went so far as to get one of the units (Puddleduck chose the black-brown wood) and start sketching out layouts (do dolls need bathrooms?).

However, I then stumbled across this dollhouse reduced to just over $100 at Anthropologie. It was too good a bargain to pass up - especially when I realised not only would they ship it to Australia, it would only cost $25 to ship it!

So we waited patiently for it to arrive. I think I gave myself some sort of repetitive stress injury as I obsessively refreshed the tracking information. FINALLY it arrived.

The construction nearly did my head in - at least six hours all up. I came to the conclusion that while the Brinca Dada flatpack workmanship was far superior to any IKEA flatpack I have come across, they really could take a leaf out of IKEA's book when it comes to labelling and describing pieces.

Anyway. Here is the end result. It's a huge hit!









Lunch dates


Little Miss Puddleduck is heading back to preschool next week and will be there for three days this year, not two. When you throw in ballet, swimming and play dates it leaves precious little time for Mummy and Puddleduck to just hang out together.

We've had so much fun together over the past year just enjoying one another's company. I'm really going to miss that - especially after the lovely school holidays we have just had.

So she and I have decided that we are going to be ladies who lunch one day a week. We'll go somewhere together, order something scrumptious and just 'hang'. No phone, no ipad - just chatting. We went to the local pub last week for our inaugural lunch and it was lovely to just chat. She is so incredibly observant and insightful and her curiosity is insatiable (mummy, WHY are we warm-blooded?). I love that I get to spend time with such a special little girl.