Kitchen renovation - almost there

I've been a bit slack about posting lately but on a positive front, things have been progressing around the house. The kitchen is finished!!! Sort of. The bench tops are back, the cupboards have been relined and painted, shelves have been made and painted and most of the kitchen paraphernalia is back in the cupboards. It looks good and we are happy with the result. I would post some photos but my son has 'borrowed' the battery out of my camera.

Its bliss to work in a kitchen where there is now space and running water. The plumbing had to be redone so there were a couple of days where the water was off for quite a while. Everything works now but there are still a few small jobs to do. I'm still sorting through the stuff from the cupboards. Everything needs to be washed and put away. Thats a lot of dishes to do. Anything I don't use regularly, is cracked or missing a lid is being thrown out. There is no point in keeping stuff you don't use.

We keep asking ourselves "why didn't we do this years ago?". The renovation hasn't cost much (less than $500) and has made a huge difference to both the looks and the workability (is that a word) of the kitchen. We seem to put up with stuff for years but when we decide to sell we fix it for someone else.

The garden is almost there as well. We've cleaned up rubbish piles, put edging around gardens and pulled out huge amounts of blackberry. Some garden beds have been weeded and mulched but a few still need doing. The garden is finally looking good and we are selling the house. It always seems to work that way, we get a place established the way we like it and then move on. The new house doesn't have a garden. There a few succulents planted along one side of the house and a couple of bushes by the front door and that is it. It will be a challenge to get a garden started.

I'll post some photos when the camera battery is returned. I had better go and do the dishes so the kitchen looks good for its photos.

Have a great day,
Lynda

Eggs, eggs, eggs

Our chooks have been laying well, really well. Every time I turn around there seems to be another lovely fresh egg in the laying box. I really appreciate their enthusiasm but I just can't keep up with their production rate. A quick peek in the fridge this morning revealed over 6 dozen eggs!

I've given them away, cooked quite a few (omlette anyone?) and even let the dogs have the odd one as a treat. The chooks are producing faster than I can use them. I'm not complaining, too many is a lot better than none at all. Its Spring and the chooks are doing their spring thing.

I need some new egg recipes. Something that doesn't look too eggy as our son will be home next week and he doesn't like eggs. I have a fritata recipe to try out, it uses 4 eggs - now what to do with the other 70 eggs in the fridge?!

Lynda

Garden up date

Another wet day today, good for the water tanks but not so good to get all the work done outside. Maybe the sun will poke its face through the clouds later in the day so some action can happen outside. The garden is starting to come together. I've completed lots of jobs we have had on the 'gunna do' list, you know stuff that you are 'going to do one one day'. For us 'one day' always seems to be just before we sell a house. The next owners get the benefit of our hard work. Never mind, I like to leave a property a little better off than we first found it.

The vegie garden has been ignored which is a bit sad but lots of work has happened in the general cleaning up category and weeding and mulching. Old bricks have been used as garden edging, this makes the garden look better and cleans up the piles of old bricks.

Quite a bit of bush fire preparation work has happened as well but there is still more to do. Its a never ending job. There is one more major area of blackberry to clear and then we are pretty much blackberry free.

If the rain keeps up we will work on the kitchen. Things have come to a standstill there and we really need to get it finished.

Have a great day,
Lynda

Its that time of year again

Its that time of year again - Christmas is approaching. School is finishing up, my son has less than two weeks of uni before holidays and my daughter has about 4 weeks of school left. Before we know it Christmas will be here.

I had ambitious plans to make most of my Christmas gifts this year. Its time to revise the plans. We are moving house at the end of the year and still need to sell our existing home so time is going to be short. I'll still make some gifts but I think I might be kind to myself and purchase a few. I've already started making a couple, a cuddly blanket for a baby and some tea towels for an aunty. We will see how I go over the next few weeks. I would prefer to make a few gifts as I think home made is nicer and it would be great to use up some of the materials I already have here.

Money is a bit tight at the moment which is definitely another consideration. I've begun sorting through my craft/sewing supplies and its amazing what is there. I'll make what I can from the materials already here. I've banned myself from going to craft stores. I can't be trusted once I enter the wonderful world of the large fabric/craft stores, there is always something I just have to have.

Our new home is smaller so there won't be a spare room for me to fill with craft supplies. Its a bit sad but it will only be short(ish) term. We have plans to extend the house.

Have a great day,
Lynda

Settlement Day

Today is settlement day. At noon today, all going well, we will own our new home. Finally. It seems to have taken a while. In some ways it is a bit on a non event as we are not moving today. The house is leased to tenants and we will remain here until next year. The bank will do its stuff, we will have a home loan again (sigh) and that's it. And we will become landlords for the first time ever.

Normally when we purchase a new home there is much excitement as we are selling our old home and moving into the new. This time there is a time delay before moving day. We need to give our children time to finish school and then move. I'll have to be patient, something I'm not terribly good at.

Last week we had visitors, the inlaws came to stay, so I was inspired to make deserts. Deserts are reasonably rare in our home. Inspired by a glut of eggs and lemons I made lemon meringue pie. It was surprisingly easy to make and tasted yum. It looks pretty impressive too so it will definitely go on the make again list.

There are some bananas that need using in the kitchen, I can smell them everytime I walk in the door. They will be become a lovely hummingbird cake today. At least that is the plan.

Lynda

Cleaning Up

Where has the week gone? I had planned to be well on my way through the cleaning up and sorting for our trash and treasure sale but somehow things have not gone to plan. I've sorted through our books and managed to get everything on to one bookshelf. There are now three boxes of books to go. I donated some of the almost new hard cover novels to the library. They were happy to receive them. The rest will be sold or given away.

There were books all around the house. Books in boxes, books on shelves, books beside beds. I was amazed how many books turned up when I really went looking for them. My daughter has two very full book shelves in her room, she gets the job of sorting through them. Our son has a more modest amount in his room. From now on we will be relying on the library more and buying less.

We also have boxes and boxes of books for work. We haven't even started on those. The new house we are moving to is less than half the size of this one so we need to be ruthless and get some stuff out of the house. I'm sure it will feel better when some of the clutter is gone but its not much fun sorting through it all.

I heard a decluttering expert on the radio last week. He says that if you get rid of the clutter from your home you will feel better, be healthier, more organized and happier. Wouldn't that be nice?!

Lynda

End of an Era

Yesterday I went with my daughter to parent - teacher interviews. There is nothing unusual in that, I've been twice a year for about 14 years. I've rarely missed an interview (there was that incident in primary school where I completely forgot, sorry Mrs Green). What was different about yesterday is it was my last lot of parent-teacher interviews for my children - ever. Our youngest is finishing secondary school this year, in a few short months actually. It is the end of an era.

It seems a little strange not to be doing the normal end of year stuff - paying next year's school fees, receiving a horrendously long book list, helping the kids choose subjects for next year. Its also nice to be moving on. A fresh start, something different. Next year both kids plan to attend university. There won't be any parent - teacher interviews.

It will be a new era for our family but one I'm looking forward to. The kids are growing up, making decisions for themselves, that's what is supposed to happen.

Its a beautiful day here, hopefully I'll be able to get out into the garden. I hope the weather smiles upon you today wherever you are.

Lynda