Blog
-
Kitchen Reveal
It’s time for the great Kitchen Reveal 🙂 To be honest I’ve been waiting for it all to be ‘perfect and complete’ but as it’s still not I believe you’ve all patiently waited long enough. When I recall what my kitchen was and gaze upon what it is now, well it’s just too incredible for words. Some days I just stand looking and smiling, then become inspired and become creative trying new recipes, it has that effect on me much to my family’s pleasure. Let’s take a tour around the room. All cupboards under the benchtop are drawers (except for below the sink). There are three drawers on two sides…
-
My Daybook: 6th October, 2016
Outside my window… it’s promising to be a beautiful Spring day, my favourite season of the year I am thankful… for small but steady signs of improved health with a loved one. It’s been a long, hard journey but we’re inching forward I am thinking… about hosting a High Tea party. I often meet interesting women whom I’d like to know more, but in our busy lives today there aren’t many opportunities to stop and pause, relationships take time. So I’m thinking one big party could kickstart/deepen some friendships. A Mother/Daughter/Grandaughter High Tea seems rather appealing. First though we need to undertake a massive cleanup around here, the building supplies on our…
-
Kitchen Coming Together
‘Behind the scenes’ here, kitchen progress has been moving along. Two weeks ago our cabinet makers delivered our flat pack, oh the excitement! First task was sorting and matching cabinet pieces, rather a large task undertaking that Michelangelo(17) took care of. Bass(5) was excited to be given the job of sorting the huge pile of screws into ‘like together,’ he was happily occupied for an hour. Constructing all the cabinets took several afternoons and nights, a project made easier thanks to the preciseness of the cabinetry. Michelangelo impressed us with his diligence, often working in the afternoons by himself whilst PC was at work. The floors had to be checked…
-
10 Things To See in Sydney On A Budget
A few weeks back PC had the opportunity to attend a seminar in the Big Smoke, he was rather excited as this meant he could stay with, and spend time with our City sons. Always keen to spend time with their Bros, our next three oldest also headed down with him. As our City sons were working both days and PC attending his course, the question was, how should our teens and tween use their time in Sydney? Suggesting this could be an educational opportunity for ‘Country goes to the City,’ I armed our 17, 14 & 12 year old with a list of potential places of interest within reasonable distance of…
-
Laying The Kitchen Floor
Many steps have been undertaken over the past two months in preparation for our new kitchen. Back in July we ripped up the lino in the kitchen and found a second layer underneath, wasn’t it hideous? The lino was glued to a sheet of masonite which in turn was secured down with hundreds of tacks, all of which had to removed. We then selected and prepared the boards to fit the space. We glue the boards down and then secret nail them into place. Perhaps you’re wondering why we’re nailing over existent timber boards, the timber flooring doesn’t continue all the way through the room, nor through the house. This ensures we have…
-
Our Sunburnt Country: European Discovery Of Australia
Our Sunburnt Country is one of our favourite core books of Australian history, it covers Australian History from pre-European contact through till the end of World War 2(see pg 7). As the consumption inclusion of living books form the basis of our learning I have collated a selection of complementary picture and chapter books to accompany each chapter of Our Sunburnt Country to broaden understanding and capture interest, on the request of one of our readers. My complementary booklist for the first chapter, Land of the Dreamtime is already available. ‘New Visitors To An Old Land,’ the second chapter of Our Sunburnt Country, focuses on the several European contacts with Australia prior to European settlement in 1788. The majority of European discoverers…
-
Painting Up A Storm
We’ve been ‘painting up a storm’ here this week. Preparing our kitchen space in anticipation for the arrival of the flat pack has meant not only one room needed to be painted but three, the kitchen and the rooms that ‘flow on’, the dining and learning rooms. Bass(5) was so eager to assist that we decided he was ready to become an apprentice. Michelangelo (17) has become a master at painting ceilings, which is fortunate as I simply don’t have the upper body strength required. It always astounds me as to how a coat of paint, even undercoat makes such a difference to the lightness of a room. Michelangelo truly did a…
-
Kitchen Takes Shape
The countdown is on as the arrival of our flatpack has been promised for next week, therefore our energies have been firmly on kitchen renovations and making final kitchen choices. ETA: A flat pack is when the cabinet maker draws up the plans and then cuts all the pieces for the kitchen and we then assemble it. All these pieces will arrive flat in packaging, hence a ‘flat pack.’ We’ll save thousands of dollars doing it this way. Once the kitchen’s external walls were up, we turned our attention to the internal walls. We began with measuring and screwing on the ceiling battens. Whilst the battens were going up, my task was to measure, cut…
-
Our Sunburnt Country – Land Of The Dreamtime
One of the pleasures of blog writing is ‘meeting’ people I would otherwise have never ‘met’. I particularly love when readers email me and we end up striking up a friendship as Sherelle, a regular commenter and emailer from Queensland and I have. When Sherelle emailed me with a request for “ideas for complementary activities/worksheets to go with Our Sunburnt Country – Arthur Baillie,” I was keen to assist and offered to organise a booklist of complementary picture/chapter books. Our Sunburnt Country is one of our favourite core books of Australian history, it covers Australian History from pre-European contact through till the end of World War 2(see pg 7). I have chosen a selection of recommended picture and chapter…
