Just around the corner...

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

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.

A spot of rearranging

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

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?

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.

Old Lady

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

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.