Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Build a room update part 1

I thought that since there has not been a great deal of creating being done here lately I'd show you part 1 of the build-a-room saga.
The outside is pretty much finished now, maybe just a few little things to finish off and I can't wait to get moving on the interior.
It feels like it has been ages since we started and it will be great to not have dangerous power/sharp tools around (makes playing out the back a little risky for the little fishes) so I'm hoping the next phase doesn't take as long.
I'm quite good at using a saw and a caulking gun and have discovered that air compressor tools are pretty cool. Next I'll be learning how to line a ceiling! We have done all the work ourselves so far with help from my dad (thanks dad!) and if nothing goes badly wrong we should be able to do the rest ourselves as well.
we found the 3 windows at a secondhand shop but had a lot of trouble finding a door. Mr Fish really wanted a sliding door and we were going to have to settle on a normal door as they are as rare as hens teeth around here (possibly rarer), then he decided he really, really wanted one so we ordered a new sliding door and I'm glad we did as it lets a lot of light in to the room. The door along with the big windows along the same wall make it almost an entire wall of glass so the light will be lovely and the view out to the backyard will make it easy to keep an eye on the little fishes.
We made sure to have a decent amount of wall between the windows as that's where the TV and cabinet are going and we didn't want to have it squashed in. So the view from the lounge (when it finally goes in!) will be out towards the garden as well as the tele!
My next job will be painting the outside (yup I'm the painter at this place) and eventually the whole house will get a fresh coat but the new cladding needs to be done soonish and then the rest will get done in good time.
I have been doing a bit of sewing and am halfway through a square table topper for a friend. The princess dress for little fish is all sewn up (I did a trial with some test fabric as the pattern has not been sewn before and the trial one is quite nice so she can wear that too!)
Will try to remember to take some pictures ;)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

What the?!!!

This funny red thing is a starfish! We hit the jackpot at the beach this morning and found not one but two lovely starfish. We have seen them on the beach before but they are not something you come across very often. There is a particular spot that is exposed at low tide where the more interesting creatures seem to gather. As well as getting to check out these beauties we found quite a few large sand dollar shells (none of them had anything in them, they hide in the sand when alive) and an interesting looking sea slug. It was really exciting for the little fishes to see the starfishes and we watched the star shaped one bury itself back in the sand without noticeably moving, it just seemed to magically sink before our eyes. This was definitely a special beach walk.
Now for something completely unrelated, a cot quilt for a new little baby that was born recently!
Little Ebony arrived a few weeks ago and had to have a pretty quilt for her cot so out came the rotary cutter and the ruler and this little beauty was put together. It didn't take long to make and is a simple 9 patch block alternated with a feature block. It was nice to sew something again and a princess dress has just been requested by oldest fish so it looks like a bit more sewing will be done!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ain't Life Grand!

The weather has been quite lovely and we have been spending a bit of time at the beach enjoying the sunshine. The sea was sparkling yesterday and looked like lots of little glittery dots were dancing on the surface. We had a big play and littlest fish decided to have a faceplant in a puddle so since she was all wet they ended up having a nice little swim. (luckily I am a most talented see into the future type person and had spare clothes and a towel in the car)
The park that we like to go to is right on the beach so we normally go and have a few slides and swings before heading down onto the sand for a bit of treasure hunting. Then on the way back we have to stop again for another play. We are back to normal today after having some time off over the school hols to play with our visitors and hopefully after some cleaning and boring housework type stuff is taken care of the painting and rearranging can recommence!

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Hallway is complete!

The hallway walls have been painted and the trims all finished for a few weeks but because it is a hallway and is rather boring to look at I have been waiting til it has something in it to make it more interesting before I show you!
There have always been 3 holes in the wall at the same distance apart and on a slope and because someone took the time to measure them and get them lined up I figure I'll take advantage of that and keep them where they are! So thank you previous house owners, you've made hanging things a little bit easier. There used to be 3 little wall hangings in the hall but they were a bit not beachy and a little bit daggy (I can say that as I made 2 of them).
I wanted to hang some different things after painting and decided to do one frame and two other things (not that I knew what the other things were when I decided this - details, details)
The framed picture is one we were given last xmas from Sand (little fish calls her that so she shall now be known as Sand, plus it fits with the beachy theme!) It is a very nice photo of us (the Fishes) at her wedding and as we don't have that many photos with all of us in (someones got to take the picture!) it is nice to have on display. It is also a good reminder that we scrub up alright when we bother to get dressed up, despite Mr Fish being the only one to have any shoes on, well it was rather muddy! The frame was a standard 8 by 10 that I painted with a brown paint then one called shell white which was rubbed back giving it a distressed old timber kind of look.
The other 2 things turned out to be a lovely "shells hanging in a net" type of thing that I found at a shop called Inner Labrynth (I was nearby at the bank doing some Kindy banking and it kind of beckoned me over to look at it). It clearly wanted to come home with me as I had to take the two little fishes into a store that should only be ventured into alone (lots of lovely but breaky items that little fishes should not stand close to, or even breathe on). They managed not to break anything, though there was some touching of some items and I held my breath for the duration of time we were in the shop.
And the other thing that was to hang in my hallway thus making it interesting again was a driftwood hanging made on the front lawn with Poppy's drill (or a driftwood xylophone as little fish proclaimed) which was very easy to make. I'm still not sure what I am going to do with the wheelbarrow load of sticks left over so I forsee some more projects (maybe another mirror?) to use them all up. The little hanging is made from some short sticks and is hanging off a curtain rod bracket in the kitchen (the curtain was taken down for painting and I kind of like not having one there now, though the brackets can stay as they make good hanging spots.
So there you go, now I just have to figure out if I can make a toilet look interesting enough to show you! (that's the other room that has been painted recently)

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Winter? What Winter?

Apart from a chilly breeze that had us looking for a jumper this morning it has not been very cold here yet. We're still waiting for our winter to turn up and give us a chill. The beach has been lovely lately and there is still a bit of driftwood left that hasn't been washed away after the cyclone left us a giant stack to sift through. So we'll keep enjoying the mild weather and hope all you folks down south can manage to keep warm somehow! (some driftwood creations are in the making and will be posted soon!)