TV inspiration

I'm loving The Block this year, especially because one of the couples seems to have a similar style to mine. What do you think of the week one winning room?

Laying turf

If you read my previous post you will remember that last weekend we set about cleaning up one of our side yards. The results were amazing, even the bare soil was a vast improvement on the jungle that existed there before.

This weekend we set about planting a mulberry tree and turfing the area. It's come up a treat don't you think?

 Before...

 The first thing I wanted to do was put my 'money tree' back into position. We purchased this on a whim from someone we had intended to purchase something else off about 5 years ago. I've neglected it ever since but I was told to place it in a certain spot in the garden and it would bring in money to our home. I have never once watered it and it's thrived in this spot so I insisted it be moved back first thing today.

 And here's the after shot!

View looking down the hill to the pool.

And the after shot. (Note very happy small boy.)

View to the top of the area.

And after.

We ran out of turf so the area isn't 100% finished but it's near enough and I love it. What a huge difference it has made.

Earthworks

Finally we have movement at the station!

We have an area at the side of our house that has been a nightmare for years. The previous owners built a system of ponds in the area that flowed nicely downhill. Unfortunately by the time we purchased the house the ponds were leaking, the plumbing not working and the ponds themselves were so close to the house they were causing wood rot. It was pretty clear to us that they had to be removed. It was at that point that we decided on the best course of action - do nothing and hope it one day fixes itself.

The area was very overgrown and despite a yearly weeding and pruning it was just out of control and horrible. When it rained the ponds filled with water prompting the frogs (and mosquitos) to move in. That part I loved however the neighbour hated it and complained often about the noise. Thankfully, due to the leak, the ponds also emptied quickly after rain. The most worrying part was the depth of the ponds, they were more than deep enough to drown a child and we think they were probably quite illegal given current council laws.

Here was the area during last year's annual attack of pruning and weeding.

This is how the area looked this morning.

Eight hours later after rock removal, jack hammering and a lot of mini digger action we were left with this:

The next step is topsoil, turf and a few well selected plants. Hooray for progress.

Naming your house

Does your house have a name? Ours does, it's known as:

'WOODROYD'

We inherited the name of our house and we know very little about what it actually means. There is some suggestion that it hails from an area of England where one of the former owners must have lived at some stage. I've never been able to find anything to confirm this though.

It's nice having a name for our home, it feels special. Our house insurance had room on the form for 'House Name' so whenever I receive mail from them to comes addressed to me at 'Woodroyd.' It makes me feel quite regal, like I live in a stately home.

An old boyfriend of mine used to tell me the story that his grandparent's home was called 'Kenverosa'- an amalgam of their names and the fact that they grew roses. I've never forgotten that story. If we ever move again I think I'll name my home. I think houses deserve it.

Does your place have a name?

Love this home

How gorgeous does this look? My sister's sister in law posted this on her FaceBook. Sadly the inside is less spectacular. For $1.2M you can have this plus the acreage that comes with it.

Our View

Our town has a local show each year which we just love. I've been going to it for (oh my goodness!) more than 20 years. The show has a fireworks display each year and we live right behind the show grounds so we have a prime viewing position right here at home.

This year both the kids were scared of the noise so we watched from our bedroom, simply opening the curtains for a look. Something must have changed slightly in the set-up this year because this time we could actually see the fireworks being lit and igniting- that's how close we are.

We took some pictures which don't really show how close we are but worth sharing all the same. So here's the view from our back door- could we be any luckier?

Lovely new look blog

Do you love the new look of the blog as much as I do? Once again the wonderful Katrina Chambers has done a fabulous job of blog transformation. You can check out Katrina's own website here. I think I came across Katrina initially after discovering the wonderful Decorating Forum.  I highly recommend both Katrina and the forum so if you haven't already checked it out you should get to it.

Thanks so much Katrina, I love working with you!

Sick

I've been sick for a week now. The diagnosis is colitis, probably triggered by something I ate or caught from someone else. Last week the doctor told me I needed to go straight onto a strict, bland diet. I wasn't very good at following instructions and I ate a whole lot of food on the weekend that I shouldn't have.

I am now paying for that decision in a big way. And this time I'm really on the bland diet. I can only consume easy to digest foods, preferably runny in texture. So far I've lost about 2 kilos which is an added bonus I guess. Here is a snapshot of what my meals look like.

And here's what I'm having for dinner, probably flavoured with another cuppa soup.

Frustrated Friday!

Well yes I know it's not Friday but I'm thinking of making this a regular feature. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling totally and utterly frustrated with the renovation process. In fact I've been so frustrated that I couldn't even be bothered blogging about ALL THE THINGS THAT NEVER GET DONE AROUND HERE!


Righteo then. Things that I am currently frustrated by:

1. I want the bookcase upstairs so that I can paint the laundry cupboard white and use it in the lounge room. The entire decorating process that I have planned has the movement of this cupboard at the top of its list. Until it gets moved I'm stuck looking at a cupboard that shouldn't be there.

2. I want the rest of the house painted. Which can't happen until the cornice is on. Which can't happen until it is manufactured. Which can't happen until goodness knows when.

3. I want my newly painted bathroom to be joined by a freshly painted bathroom door. This is necessary as someone under the age of 3 decided it would be fun to draw all over the door in permanent marker while I was showering.

There are more frustrations, many more, but this will do for today.

See you on Friday for the next installment.