Hit PLAY

I've been meaning to get back here.

While I've pressed the pause button on this blog it has missed recording some really great adventures. Starting again now it will look as though our children have fast forwarded in time.

So imagine ... a fade out, and then...

- Two years later -

A major reason for the lack of posting has been our renovations. So, in order to kickstart things again, I present some of what we have been doing.

Starting with our new BATHROOM!

Remember this kitchen when we moved in? Bletch!

Then we did this?

Well. Now we have done this.

And this.

 

I love how the backlit window changes throughout the day. 

I love the gallery feel. 

We keep plodding. I'll keep pressing PLAY and hopefully I can record it all from now on.

Treasure Hunting

The Historian (who is possibly the BEST dadda in the whole world) arranged an adventure for us this weekend. We went on a mysterious treasure hunt around our own neighbourhood.

Are you ready for an adventure?

Read the clue. They're cryptic. For example, "I'm at the bottom of the hill and the top of the mountain"

Found it!

Are you right? Check the photo.

On to the next one.

The treasure? Hot chips and a Fire Engine (ahem, and red ale for some) at the local pub.

We finished the day with a little fossicking at the Angove Street Collective.

Then on the way home we spot another kind of Fire Engine.

Firies blocking one of the lanes of traffic to stop for their espresso fix...at of course, most poetically, "The Engine Room". Incredibly improper use of authority, made us smile even wider.

Love you my family. Love you North Perth.

Changing

It's really hard to know where to begin.

I've been thinking a lot about big things. Sustainability, harmony, health, education and making a space for me. To exercise, to read, to write and create.

Things have been pushing at the periphery. Like hard knuckles pressing and looking for where the weak spots are so that they can push through. Forcing me to face things. Urging me to make changes as I careen from week to frazzled week.

This is Cooper. We got him from the RSPCA. I accidentally saw a photo on an adoption site ( it really was an accident, I wasn't checking out adoption sites. I just clicked on a link from a news article) and his little face said, "I'm your cat. What are you waiting for?"... we have 3 cats already and so it was madness to get him but the knuckles were pressing me. They told me this was right. This had to be.

What could go wrong?

So far, nothing. He has settled in like he's always been here. And 2 out of the 3 existing cats have accepted him. The third is coming around.

I'm going to start changing. I'm going to start paying more attention to the knuckles.

One thing that has been pushing at me is this blog. I enjoyed it so much and I'm far too wordy for Facebook. So here goes. I'm resurrecting it. I'm going to make time for it and I'm going to make more time for all the other big things. Hopefully this blog will keep me committed.

Self Aware

Jennifer at Owl in the Rain recently wrote a post revealing some things about herself  that she was afraid to tell. It was in protest at the ridiculously high benchmark of perfectly, perfect perfection that blogs with their exquisite photos of idyllic lives set for us...well, that we set for ourselves, in truth.

We are our own worst enemies. Hoisted by our own petard, as it were.

I've tried to do the same. The problem is that I'm an Australian. Self deprecation is sort of our "thing". When someone asks, "How are you today?" We answer, "Not too bad." (Actually, I never say that. It irritates me when people do. I mean, really, "too bad"? What do you mean? "Yes, I feel bad but I'm not quite a puddle on the floor yet, so I suppose I'll struggle by until the next time you ask").

Anyway, I think I've revealed a lot of my failings in these pages already. And in fact, I started this blog (in part) to chronicle my life as it is. In all its pure and uncensored warty mess.

But the cause is awesome. There should be more honesty about how messed up we are out there. We're human and don't play to a script. There are naturally things that I'd rather not tell the world, things that if I put out there might give someone else courage to be imperfect. I'm a perfect role model for imperfection:

1. Sometimes, the sound of my family eating annoys me. It's all snuffling, snorting and slurping. Actually, I suspect my tolerance for what are probably quite normal sounds is directly related to a particular time of the month. And, this really annoys me. Because it means that I am influenced by my biology and I can't stand it when "pre-menstrual" is used to diminish an aggrieved woman's complaints...wait, what day is it? Perhaps now is not the best time for us to discuss these things, or on second thought, perhaps it is the perfect time.

2. I'm afraid that people will work out I'm not as clever as they might think I am.

3. I've had enough of "playing". I spent years having to be the "Fat Controller" in my eldest son's Thomas the Tank Engine games.

I've been dragons and unicorns and squirrels and aliens. I'm tired and I'd like to retire. Fortunately the Historian still loves playing, or does a better job at faking it.

4. I'm becoming a dreadful hypochondriac.  As I age, weird aches, pains, sensations appear and I spend far more time focussing on them than is healthy. I convinced myself a couple of years ago that I was getting all manner of hideous diseases. I blame Google.

5. Just as Jennifer confessed, I drink too much (wine) and eat too much (cheese and bread-like things) and move too little. I was secretly pleased when I gave up alcohol while pregnant (3 times), because it proved I "could" do it and therefore perhaps wasn't an alcoholic...yet. Unfortunately the flip-side was that pregnancy gave me the perceived right to eat whatever fatty thing I felt like with impunity and I'm still paying for that.

4. I don't like that I'm constantly using "parentheses" and ellipses...but I can't seem to stop.

There. They're out. For all to see. Or at least the 2 or 3 people who read my blog.

Next post, I'm going to tell you about all the things that are wrong with the complete nameless strangers that I have to deal with daily getting to work. That will be much more fun!..............for me.

Inevitability Strikes Again

Some things are inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible (tautology is my middle name, by the way).

First of all, at this time of year, there is the buying and giving of "stuff". Unavoidable.

And inevitably I become frustrated with the volume of plastic-y "stuff" that have a built in obsolescence set to expire and become landfill before the year is out so that they can be replaced with a shiny plastic-y thing-a-ma-bob du jour next Christmas.

And here (unavoidably) I become another in a long history of people worldwide to exclaim, "Why aren't things built like they used to be?"

This was literally brought home to me recently. Astrid had seen a waffle iron in a Christmas brochure that was (inevitably) placed in our letterbox. Shiny. Plastic. Junk. I remembered that mum had a Husqvarna waffle iron and so we've borrowed it for a while to sate Astrid (and, after being reminded of waffles after many years waffle-less, my) waffle cravings.

This beauty must be close to 50 years old! And yet, here it is going strong and turning out beautiful waffles.

Hard to imagine a single appliance that will be given to anyone anywhere this Christmas that can become a family heirloom.

The inevitable angst about presents starts. We try to make good choices. For the children: Lego (this is sanctioned plastic as far as we are concerned...and also heirloom material as the kids actually have Lego passed on from my brother and I in their box), art supplies and books, that sort of thing.

And this year, for the adults, we have decided as an extended family to give donations to charity.

Take that JUNK.

In other inevitable, unavoidable and irresistible news: I have once again missed the first of Advent and have to sneekily, secretly, covertly light the second candle during the week to make it look like I didn't!

I think perhaps that if I did actually remember to light the first candle on the actual first of Advent, we may all disappear in a POOF of unpredictability.

So it's probably better that things remain inevitable, unavoidable and irresistible .

TAH-DAH!

Before and After shots of our rejuvenated "free" deck sofa...

...of course what you can't see is that I pulled out a bazillion rusty staples and replaced the seat webbing and that I sanded and refinished the wood. Also, while the shape is really, really cute, it was a bit of a bugger to sew removable slip covers for. I cut up an old foam mattress for the base and the cushions are also recycled, so it's cleared up random junk as well as made a useful piece of furniture. Now on to the chair...and finishing the deck so I can do a really impressive before and after of that!

BEFORE

AFTER

So far the cats haven't claimed it as their own but they're lurking.

Productions

Finished Astrid's cardigan this weekend (pattern linky). It's still a little coolish in the evenings so she may get some wear out of it before it's put away all the long, long months of summer. There is not a hint of "itch factor" with this one as it's made from lovely Patonyle (sock wool). It's also blocked in shampoo, so it's passed Miss Fussy's stringent criteria for acceptable knit wearability.

I've also almost finished restoring the  found sofa. I'll get some pictures of it soon.

We went on a walking tour of some heritage sites around our neighbourhood yesterday. It was a bit like being tourists in your own backyard. It was fun and something we'll be doing more of now that I've made myself an early New Year's Resolution to do more family/community/free and low cost stuff next year.

Yep, all in all, it was quite a productive weekend.