The Final Touches – Master Bedroom

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Jacinta

Hello my dear readers, that is if you are still with me.  We have been so busy getting this house ready to put on the market, that my little space here has suffered.  We officially signed the papers today to initiate the sale of our house. By this time next week it will be for sale.  It is both exciting and nerve racking as we are still unsure of the road ahead, but it will be an adventure if nothing else!  The house is looking lovely.  Our bathrooms are finished, although I still need to take final pictures during daylight hours (there are never enough of those).  Alas, I managed to snap some pictures tonight of our bedroom.  It’s looking lovely and every time I walk into this space, I feel like I am walking into a fancy hotel, minus the room service of course!  It’s our own little sanctuary to retreat to after a long and tiring day.

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I will endeavour to take more photos this coming week to show you how our house has come along.  I need to dig up some before photos too, as I can’t believe at times, just how different everything is now.

Hoping to be here on a more regular basis, I’ve missed you all.  Jacinta x

For those interested in where to buy:

Duvet cover is from Adairs
European pillow covers from Adairs
Small decoration cushion from Target
Bedside tables from Ikea
Print above bed from Ikea
Bed was purchased on Ebay a few years ago

Posted in Renovations (Renos 101!) | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Renovations Continue

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Jacinta

The bathrooms are coming along beautifully.  The tiling should be finished tomorrow, fingers crossed.  We have had the shower screens measured up and now just waiting for the company to custom make them.  I will wait to show you photos now until the bathrooms are finished.  Which will hopefully be Friday week, if all goes to plan.  I’ll promise to post photos as soon as the glass goes in.

The weekend was filled with another renovation job, the removal of our pergola and wisteria.  Thankfully Greg had a mate help him.  There is no way my chicken arms were going to be of any help!  This was one of those decisions that wasn’t made lightly, in fact, we thought about this 6 months ago, but we didn’t have the heart at the time to take out the nearly 30 year old wisteria vine.  Our decision was hastened when the pergola started collapsing a couple of days before Tenneille’s party.  It was a little hairy, but Greg was able to shore it up at the time.  The cost to replace the pergola was not an option, as it was just too expensive.

It was a big job, taking most of the weekend to clean up, but I cannot tell you how much lighter it is inside the house now.  Our lounge room has never been so lovely and bright.  It has totally changed the whole feel of the house.   We can now appreciate the original design concept of the house, that allows you to be at one with nature.  We can even see the sun setting now over a distant ridge.  I often find myself standing at the window admiring the glorious views that we previously had to step outside to see.

The front before pergola was removed.

The front before pergola was removed.

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Panorama of the front of our house.

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Looking left from the deck.

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On the deck looking to the right.

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View (or should I say, lack of) from deck.

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The pergola is staring to come down.

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The mess!

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Panorama after the pergola and wisteria were removed.

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Without the wisteria blocking the view, look what we can see now! This was taken the morning after. Not long after sunrise.

We just need to scrub the bricks down where the beams were attached, but other than that, the hard work has been done.  We will have gardeners coming in in the next few weeks to help us get the garden sorted.  It’s getting to the exciting part of renovations, where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  After nearly 4 years, the renovations are almost complete!

Jacinta x

Posted in Renovations (Renos 101!), The Garden | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Tenneille’s Birthday and Bathroom Renovation Day 3

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jacinta

Today has seemed like a week!  We got a call from school yesterday to say that Tenneille was feeling unwell and to come and pick her up.  Greg went to collect her.  The sweet little poppet looked so very sad and got all teary when I greeted her at the door.  She had a high temperature and said her head was aching.  She didn’t sleep very well last night of course and I worried about her and kept checking her during the night.  It seems all the kids were restless as Scarlett was up at one stage and Jairah came into our room not long after 5am.  To say my eyes were hanging out of my head this morning was an understatement.  At least Tenneille woke up feeling much better!  I kept her home, which she was most disappointed about, as she really wanted to go to school on her birthday.  Suffice to say she got to stay in her pj’s all day and watched a DVD of her choice.  I’d promised to make an ice-cream cake, but it wasn’t ready in time, so thankfully I was able to make a sponge cake at the last minute.  I can hardly believe she has turned 7.  Of course baby pictures can be found here.

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Meanwhile, we are on day 3 of bathroom renos.  They are coming along, albiet slowly at the moment, as there has been concrete that had to set before shower bases were fitted.  The plumber was here today too, fitting the new pipes for the tap ware.  We are going with flick mixers for both the showers and the bath, which I think will be lovely.  We now have tiles around our ensuite vanity and already it is looking lighter and it’s not yet finished.  I’m really glad we picked the white now.  I have go shopping tomorrow for the shelving that will go in the showers.  Not sure what to go for at this stage.  We kind of over looked that aspect when we were choosing the tap ware.  Oh my, another decision to make.  I’m sure I will survive though.

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A sneaky peek at the tiles. Lighting wasn’t great today due to rain, as the tiles are much whiter.

Jacinta x

Posted in Celebrations, Renovations (Renos 101!) | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Bathroom Renovations Day 1

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jacinta

I never thought the day would arrive, that our bathrooms would ever be renovated.  Our tradie has been held up on a few jobs and after a few false starts, he arrived this morning to relieve us of our dated bathrooms.  We are putting a new shower in our ensuite and tiling around the vanity and in the main bathroom, a new shower and retiling around the existing bath and vanity.  It took us 11 months to try and decide what kind of tile and colour to go with.  In the end we decided on rectangular white tiles.  We felt it was best to stick with a neutral colour.  I can’t wait to see them on the walls.  Fingers crossed the job won’t take too long.

Our ensuite. Before.

Our ensuite. Before.

 

Smoked glass shower screen is gone in ensuite.

Smoked glass shower screen, be gone!

I could never get those horrid tiles clean!

I could never get those horrid tiles clean!

This is the current state of the ensuite shower. Much improved I say!

This is the current state of the ensuite shower. Much improved I say!

This is the shower in the main bathroom. Before.

This is the shower in the main bathroom. Before.

This should be my Keepin' It Real post. We never use this shower, so it was my hiding place for all those things that I would get to one day. One day has come :)

This should be my Keepin’ It Real post. We never use this shower, so it was my hiding place for all those things that I would get to one day. One day has come 🙂

This is the main bathroom shower currently. I have now dealt with all the crap that was hiding out in there.

This is the main bathroom shower currently. I have now dealt with all the crap that was hiding out in there.

The big news is, we are actually doing the house up to sell.  Maybe as soon as next month, if all goes to plan.  We are looking to have a big change, but where to, we are uncertain.  Greg is wanting to have a shift in career, still in IT, but in different direction.  He wants to get more involved in writing Apps for phones and other mobile devices.  It’s kind of scary and exciting at the same time.  I’ll keep you posted as to what eventuates.  I still have to share our New Zealand adventure with you too!  Ah, blogging, it’s either feast of famine isn’t it!

I’ll be sharing more bathroom updates as the adventure continues.  Jacinta x

Posted in Family Life, Renovations (Renos 101!) | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Sweet Tenneille

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Jacinta

Our dear Tenneille is turning 7 this week.  We started her birthday celebration a little early with a party over the weekend.  We were blessed with the presence of her dear little school friends.  It was quite a hot day in the 30’s, but that didn’t curb the children’s spirit.  We had them well scheduled with a treasure hunt, pass-the-parcel, pin the horn on the unicorn and a piñata, with yummy food in between to keep them going.

I made her a yummy dairy free/gluten free chocolate cake and used some lovely vegie based food colouring for the frosting which made the most gorgeous shade of blue.

I have spent the past week making her a party dress, foxes of course.  She was so excited to wear it (I’ll write another post about it later in the week).
sweettenneill2 sweettenneille sweettenneille5 sweettenneille4 sweettenneille3 sweettenneille6_edited-1It really was a lovely day and we are so glad Tenneille is surrounded by such lovely school friends.  Although I must admit my feet and I are rather happy tucked up in bed!  Hope your weekend was gorgeous too.  Jacinta x

 

Posted in Celebrations, Family Life | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Cacao Nib Biscuits

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Jacinta

I thought I would bake up a special treat for the kids after school and came up with this recipe.  I buy coconut sugar and cacao nibs through health food stores, but you should be able to purchase them online too.  Coconut sugar is low GI and has a really lovely caramel flavour, similar to brown sugar, but not so sickly sweet.  Cacao nibs are a great substitute for choc chips and have so much goodness in them.  Best of all, my kids don’t notice the difference.

Cacao Nib Biscuits
 
Author:
Recipe type: Biscuits/Cookies
Cuisine: Sweet Treat
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Print
 
Thermomix instructions - If you don't own a Thermomix, just follow the instructions using your preferred method of mixing.
Ingredients
  • 100gm butter or non-dairy equivalent
  • 100gm coconut sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 240gm cups spelt flour
  • 45g cacao nibs
Instructions
  1. Pre heat oven to 160ºC
  2. Place the butterfly insert in the Thermomix
  3. Add butter and coconut sugar to the Thermomix and beat on speed 3 until butter and sugar are combined, scraping down the sides at least once.
  4. Next gradually add the egg and mix on speed 3 until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the flour and mix on speed 3 until just combined.
  6. Pour in cacao nibs and mix on reverse and slow speed until nibs are evenly distributed.
  7. Dollop teaspoon full amounts of the biscuit mixture onto oven trays lined with grease proof paper.
  8. Bake @160ºC for approximately 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  9. Let stand a couple of minutes before transferring biscuits onto a cake rack to cool.
  10. Makes approximately 30 biscuits.

 

Posted in Gastronomic Explosions - aka Yummy Food/Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

12 Years Ago Today

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Jacinta

Greg and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary today.  Just seems like yesterday! Nothing like celebrating with leftovers for dinner, after a crazy busy day in the garden getting things organised after being away for a month.  We went to New Zealand to spend Christmas with Greg’s family.  A post to come about our adventures.  So many things to share, when I find the time.  I hope all my loyal readers have had a lovely festive season and you are enjoying the fresh beginnings of a new year.  I hope I won’t be too absent from this space, I’ve missed you all.

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Looking back at these pictures, I wish we could relive the day.  Was such a fun day surrounded by some pretty special people.  Jacinta x

Posted in Celebrations | Tagged | 5 Comments

Lost My Christmas Mojo

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Jacinta

I think my Christmas mojo up and left.  I am still feeling washed out from Jairah being sick last week and having the entire week written off.  Today was spent taking my car back to have the windscreen looked at as it was replaced the week before last and then started leaking.  They ended up replacing it again to day as there was a fault (not before they rang me while I was off waisting time waiting at the shops, to say they couldn’t initially find a problem!!), and of course it took longer than I thought, so yet another day is gone.  We have two whole days this week that are scheduled power outages, so not going to get much done this Tuesday or Thursday either.  Throw in a school Christmas concert on Thursday and a lunch at Greg’s work on Friday and my week is over.

I try to keep my blog rant free, but I feel I could scream at the moment with so much to do and seemingly no energy, time or power to get stuff done.  I think if given the chance I would crawl into bed and sleep for a week, but we all know that that is not an option.  I have all but given up on my list of crafting I had planned as it will only stress me more if I try to cling onto the hope of getting things finished.  However, I will endeavour to write Christmas cards tomorrow, as with no power, I’m sure to not have so many distractions.  Hmm, well see.

I hope your week is being kind to you.  Jacinta x

Posted in Family Life | Tagged | 5 Comments

St Nicholas

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Jacinta

I love the beautiful celebrations which come with this time of year.  We start our festive celebrations with a visit from St Nicholas.  The kids have left their ‘polished’ shoes out, on the window sill, ready for St Nicholas to visit during the night to leave treats for the them.  I think the tradition behind St Nicholas is just beautiful.  I haven’t come across a nice book, but I did print off this version of the story a few years back and read it to the children every year.

I made a naive style St Nicholas a few years back, whom I think is my favourite of all our festive decorations.  I love bringing him out every year to mark this special day.

 

Shoes at the ready!

Do you celebrate St Nicholas too?  Jacinta

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What a Week

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Jacinta

As soon as I think I am good to craft or start a blog post, something seems to pop up.  No biggie, I just think I will get on top of things the next day, yeah right!  Jairah was unwell on and off all weekend, by Monday, he couldn’t keep anything down and hadn’t really eaten in three days nor could he keep water down.  I rang our local doctor’s and the only appointment was at 4.45pm.  He was so unwell all day,  I had to ring Greg to get the girls from school.  By the time the appointment came around, the doctor took one look at Jairah and insisted I take him straight down to the ER.

We got to the ER about 6pm, Jairah was still really sick, a lovely lady gave me the death stare while telling her kids to keep away from ‘that boy’, as I am trying to catch puke and wait to be called up to the Triage, all the time I was thinking there were probably about 20,000 other things her kids had already come into contact with in the ER!

The nurse told me we were high priority (I was so thankful for the doctor’s referral), so we only had to wait two hours on a crazy busy night.  People were queued nearly out the door!  They gave him anti-nausea meds, which thankfully seemed to help.

By the time we got into be seen, they knew he was a very unwell boy.  He was pretty non responsive and very limp.  He hadn’t talked all day and could hardly keep his eyes open.  Thankfully we had a fantastic doctor who decided that he needed to be put on a drip.  Meanwhile, Jairah thought all his Christmases had come at once as they were letting him have hydrating icy-poles.  He was very cute falling asleep while desperately trying to eat his icy-pole.

Jairah didn’t cry once while they put the drip in and they took blood too.  By about 3am they wanted to admit him, as he still needed to be monitored.  I think by the time we got to the children’s ward it was 4am.  I think I managed about 1.5 hours sleep!  Thankfully by about 7am he was starting to get a bit of colour back in his cheeks and asking for something to eat.  He managed to keep his breakfast down, so I figured that would be our ticket out of there.

The doctor checked him over and said we could go, so we were out of there before 11am.  I can’t speak highly enough of the staff we had look after our little boy.  It can be a bit hit and miss with the public system, but the sick gods must have been looking down upon us and we had the best of care.  I’m happy to say that Jairah is back to his usual mischief today and has made a full recovery.  I however am dragging my feet today.  I think the lack of sleep and stress and worry have caught up with me.  My legs are so stiff from sitting for hours.  I certainly feel like I  have run a marathon and it’s only Wednesday!

Hoping you are all keeping well!  Jacinta x

Posted in Family Life | Tagged , | 6 Comments