Big Boy's room

I have a bit of an obsession with linen; doona covers and quilts specifically. I get very excited when the latest catalogues come out and I'm always planning a new colour scheme to go with the latest gorgeous cover I spy.

Recently Pillow Talk had another clearance so I dragged a very unco-operative Big Boy to the shops after school. I came out with a stripey quilt cover, matching pillow cases and a funky cushion. It's altogether a little too much green but I think it looks great and Big Boy loves it.

Before and after- rescued table

The story of our newest acquisition is a few posts down. Here are the before shots again.

Now imagine the twinkling sound played on TV when the after shots appear....

More paint questions- feedback please!

We've painted a few of the panels in the kitchen with three paint options. We have some opinions based on how they have turned out but I'd love to hear your opinion too. What do you think?

Green on the left, Antique White USA on the right.

White on the left, normal unpainted panels on the right.

Sunday find

Aside from Christmas and my birthday my favourite day of the year has to be council clean up day. Throughout the year our council allows residents two days when we can leave our larger rubbish on the side of the road for them to pick up, free of charge. This always prompts people to throw out things that they think are past their used by date. Thankfully not everyone thinks alike.

While we were heading off to the hardware store today I noticed this little side table poking out from behind a pile of other items. I pleaded with The Gas Man to screech to a halt so we could inspect the pile of rubbish treasures and work out whether the table was as good as I thought it was.

Of course I am far too posh to be picking through other people's garbage, so as usual The Gas Man did my dirty work for me and came away with this little beauty. It's already been painted so tomorrow I'll show off some after pics. Ahh garbage day, you never fail to deliver!

How could you let your kiddies ruin this lovely piece?

The ugly duckling just waiting to be turned into a swan.

Gardening for dummies

Tiny Girl and I have been making the most of the wonderful weather the last few days. Typically, now that the holidays are over everyone is finally well. So to make up for being shut inside for weeks I've been pottering around the yard and enjoying the sun.

I love the garden and I have tonnes of creative ideas in my head for what I would like it to look like. Unfortunately that doesn't transfer into practice as I am rarely able to create what I imagine. I'm also often frustrated by my lack of strength. If only I had the strength to be able to dig out some plants, move things around and lay turf, my garden would be a lot nicer than it is.

So this week I've done what I could to live a little of my vision.

I started with digging out two of my neglected roses and re-potting them.

I swept the concrete and cleaned up the door as best I could.

And I carried these two garden chairs down from the front yard so that we all have a nice little corner to sit in and have a cuppa.

I'm happy with the little I was able to do but some days the pile of tasks still seems way too high.

Green or white?

I have a rule that I never share pics of my kids on my blog. But all rules are meant to be broken right?

I'm sharing this one for two reasons:
1. Because Tiny Girl looks so lovely
2. Because we are going to be painting the kitchen this weekend and I'm having an internal debate with myself about colours. At the moment the kitchen walls are bare and the lounge room is green. I'm tossing up between painting the whole house a creamy-white (more white than cream) or just using the green and continuing that colour scheme into the kitchen.

What do you think? Do you like the green?

Beautiful Brisbane

Although I love being at home I also love the occasional adventure out of the 'burbs. A few times a year I deliver training at an inner city venue and often the room I am allocated has a great view. Monday and Tuesday were no exception.

The picture (again taken on my phone) is the view from the heights of Edward St in Brisbane. It was peak hour at the time I took the photo yet there is very little traffic on the road. You can also see the view down to the Brisbane River if you look hard enough.

I love the way the city looks in this picture, I'm not sure if it's the early morning Winter sun that appeals to me or the sense of peace and quiet that comes from looking at the city but hearing no noise.  Either way I thought it was worth sharing. Alas I'm back to suburban reality for the rest of the school holidays.

My award

Wow I got an award! Thanks so much 'Elements' from http://elementsathome.blogspot.com/. It's so exciting to actually receive an award, you made my day.

Although I've tried very hard to make this blog about everything but me it's still hard to think of 7 things to add here. I'm thinking these things should be very interesting, classy and noble but you might have to stick with reality instead.  And before I give you my 7 I thought you'd like another Teaching Tale which this award has reminded me of.

I recently worked with a corporate group of people who had all known each other for some time. It's always hard with groups like this to challenge their existing points of view and get them out of their comfort zone so I always try to get them to reveal a little something about themselves that their colleagues may not already know. Well I've heard many wonderful answers and people often reveal that they are closet horticulturists or that they have travelled to exotic places. However on this occasion one charming man decided to blurt out the first thing that came into his head. Much to his (and our) embarrassment he revealed that he was in fact circumcised. Just when you think you've heard it all ...

So onto my 7 shall we.

1. The numbers 7 and 5 have occurred in my life way too frequently for my liking. In fact my mobile phone number, tax file number, home phone number and old AGS (government service) number all feature many repeated 7s and 5s.

2. I live in Queensland yet hate the heat. The only time in Summer I will go to the beach is late afternoon and the worst day out I can imagine would involve sitting on the beach or swimming during the heat of the day.

3. I love the smell of coffee yet can't drink it, it makes me sick. Sometimes I slip up and have a cup only to be bitterly disappointed soon after.

4. I don't like talking on the phone and could easily live without ever making a call. If my friends and family don't call me then we don't speak. Luckily we now have Facebook and texting.

5. I only found out last year that my grandfather died from Huntington's Disease and that potentially I could also have it and have passed it on to my kids. I still can't get over that my mother purposely hid this from me and my siblings until I found out.

6. I have three degrees (Bachelors, Post Grad and Masters.) I don't work directly in any of the fields in which I'm qualified though.

7. I have a not-so-secret desire to finish this house and produce a home that people love and admire. I'm constantly moving furniture around because I'm never sure I've explored all the possibilities with our existing furniture.

So there they are, my lucky 7. I'm going to tag my fellow Brisbane house bloggers:
A-M
Fun and VJs
Restoring the Old Girl

And my friend Lauren from http://www.sparklingadventures.com/.

Great blogs of the www?

Just like last year I have two sick kids for the June - July school holidays. Last year Big Boy got well in the final week before going back, this year looks set to be the same.

As a result I haven't blogged. What's worse is that except for two doctors visits and two quick trips to the supermarket I haven't left the house for five days. Last night I even committed the cardinal sin of wearing ugg boots under my jeans to duck out to the shops because I couldn't be bothered to get dressed properly. I feel like a prisoner here at the moment, though at least the surroundings are nice.

If that's not enough The Gas Man had a car accident last weekend. The other driver was in a cement truck (the Gas Man doesn't do things by halves.) So we have an insurance claim in process and a written off car. Joyous.

So onto the subject of my post. While I'm sitting here bored silly I'd love some new blog fodder. So if you have a blog you want me to follow or you think I'd like one that you also love please let me know. I love house blogs, design blogs and easy to read blogs. My one stipulation is that the background is not black because it plays havoc with my eyes. Got something in mind? Let me know!