Showing posts with label ugly house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ugly house. Show all posts

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Around here...

Around here....


To the beach! It's still warm enough for a swim- personally I'm hanging out for a bit of Winter...


Feet up in my favourite spot. Might need to tidy the bookcase.


I sanded and re-covered the second chair - only took six months or so to get round to it..


Our hibiscus is still flowering like mad, this pic doesn't capture the true startling pink of the flowers!


Some locals picked on a walk


A nice cup of tea - what I'm planning to do right now :)

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Number 12

I got a bit carried away painting our house number on the electric meter cover by the front door...


Sunday, 19 January 2014

The Less Ugly House!

So sometimes it's a good idea to go away for three weeks and leave your husband at home with a list of jobs.
Because sometimes he will surprise you by doing all of the 'suggested' jobs!

Here is a (very much) Before photo of The Ugly House.



This is the estate agent's photo that really sold the house to us - it's gorgeous isn't it?

Now, this is the house that we came home to last week... ready?



It's still not the prettiest house but I am so happy! 
Now I can pull in the driveway without checking that no-one's looking.
Our over the road neighbours have been over several times to congratulate Mark on adding thousands to the value of their house...



Now I've got a lot of planting to do to fill up those flowerbeds.



Saturday, 14 December 2013

Australian Advent Calendar Day 14

                      

Just made my annual Christmas wreath- it's a bit wonky and dangly but it'll do.
Itchy all over now from all the tiny creatures that crawled out of the greenery...

Friday, 13 December 2013

Around here...


My flegeling Peanuts mug collection!



A grumpy face in the kitchen...


 A paper pompom I borrowed for research purposes and which is now hanging above my desk...


The new bumper edition of Frankie...


Stripes...


The balcony beckons!


Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Balconies and Boats


It suddenly feels like summer here - I'm sat in my favourite spot - on my balcony. 

Cane chairs - secondhand shop $50 for three.
Table - op-shop $30 for the table and two chairs.
Kicking back with a glass of wine and a breeze in the trees - priceless.


We picked up our big impulse purchase at the weekend....


Yep - we bought a boat.
It started with that fatal phrase, 'Let's just go and have a look at it...'
I should know better - last time I fell for that one we came home with a puppy... (I got suspicious after we drove for three hours to look at said puppy...)

This time however, I quite fancied looking at the boat as the sun was shining and the seller said he'd take us out for a sail.

Yep, it's a sailing boat.




And no, we can't sail.




But we've got a book so we should be OK...

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Feels like home to me...




Yesterday was our First Year Oziversary (took me a while to think of that word, and then to work out how to spell it)
I can't quite believe it's been a whole year - I feel completely at home here, although because my mum just flew home on Sunday I'm currently prone to crying at random songs while driving along... (I mean really random songs..)

I haven't really written a blog post about emigrating - I always meant to but then we just got busy doing it - building our new life. All I really need to say is it really isn't that hard to do. 
A little over a year ago it seemed like the biggest, hardest thing to do - I couldn't imagine leaving my family and friends. I do miss them every day.

What has surprised me though is how much I miss England, the green - really green - countryside, proper trees, Autumn leaves, windy beaches, drivers who know how to merge properly and give way to you at junctions. (And say thankyou when you give way to them.)
Being able to walk through fields of long grass without worrying about being bitten by a snake - decent television, marshmallows that don't taste like soap, real genuine liquorice allsorts. 
You know - the important things in life. The things you take for granted whilst sitting on a radiator moaning about the weather..

But really, there's nothing to complain about here. Apart from the right wing politics and downright racist attitudes of a certain section of Australian society, apart from this town's loyalty to the mullet and belly button length beard combo, apart from a certain newsreader who yesterday pronounced Zurich with a 'ch' sound on the end... Apart from all of this I love living here.
We can hear the surf while lying in bed, our neighbours are lovely (and they seem to like us although our house looks worse by the day). The school run is now fun, compared to living in a tiny village in Gloucestershire where all the other mums were related to each other...
It was a really little village.

So what I'm saying is I'm happy! The boys are happy, Mark is really happy - even Molly is happy!

Just one thing that still niggles - we still haven't found a decent curry. We've found some incredibly awful ones... But tonight we're acting on a tip from Mark's sister in law - fingers crossed for a proper Prawn Balti....

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Five Star Accommodation

I've spent the day preparing our luxury guest accommodation (caravan) for my mum who arrives from England tomorrow!


Nice bunch of flowers...


Good selection of reading material...


Mementos of North Devon..


Newly brushed decking with motley assortment of rescue plants...


The view from the door... (including grumpy dog) (and half painted wall...)


Pair of bunnies


Snazzy doormat!

All ready!

Monday, 9 September 2013

A small friend

I was sat eating my breakfast just now when a very small lizard popped up through the gap in the kitchen window.

We're both quite happy that he's stuck on the other side of the flyscreen!

I think he might become a regular visitor - just chilling out in the sunshine, catching a few flies..




Monday, 2 September 2013

Around here...


Spring is in the air and the mozzies are biting already...
Some bits and bobs at home -









Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Squally


Wet and windy here...


Sticker frenzy..


Air drying clay village..


A glimpse of blue.

Saturday, 6 July 2013

Prevaricating...

Mark and I seemed to wake up with the same idea today. To put off the important but boring jobs by appearing to be busy all day doing something else...
It worked well.

Instead of flattening the garden and covering over our new septic tank lids (exciting..), Mark tidied his shed.
It took all day and he's now out there in the dark fitting a new light. (He's jealous of our next door neighbour's Man Cave.)

Instead of cleaning the carpet and hanging out yet more washing, I....decorated the toilet window.

Yes, it really needed doing.

Here is the Before - perspex with handy ventilation holes to let the mozzies in to bite you whilst sat on the loo in the middle of the night.


One roll of white contact paper later...


Here is the After:


Yes - it look so long to do it was dark outside when I finished.


The outside view is even better than the inside! Pity no-one will see it apart from our resident frogs.


Job done. My sense of satisfaction is marred slightly by the pile of washing still in the machine....

Sunday, 23 June 2013

Crossed wires...

Our broadband just came back on - yay!
It's been missing in action this weekend due to this wire...


That's what a telephone cable looks like after it's been chopped in half by a grinder...

Naming no names but...... when you unearth a pipe that looks like this....


DO NOT assume that the wire inside is not important.

Rant over.
Thank you.

Friday, 14 June 2013

Today....


Today I finished our blackboard wall - 






I'm thinking about painting...


And reading this - a must-read for any Salinger fans out there.