18/52

a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 via Che and Fidel

He : has found moving house both exciting and difficult. In response he has built duplo and colour coded his Enid Blyton collection into a rainbow formation, both of which seem to be very soothing!

She : only took three days to discover that the new house has a very long steep driveway, perfect for stunt scootering. If it is too steep and scary to stand, one must simply sit to enjoy the thrills.

Going, going, gone....

See this kitchen, this is my old kitchen featuring in her own glamour expose. Consider this picture the equivalent of a magazine cover shot, all flaws conveniently airbrushed and photoshopped away.    My disaster of a kitchen never actually looked this good in the harsh light of day, actually the harsh lack of light in a south facing position with a view onto the carport gutter. But hats off to Legoman who managed to take a picture that actually made the kitchen look good enough for someone to want her for $850. Woohoo!

This is more the reality. While the cabinetry was all structurally ok, there was no where near enough storage, the glam looking stove barely worked, the dishwasher kept popping its rollers out every time you opened it and the light fittings had all corroded, hence that sexy Bunnings task light clipped onto the one section of usable bench.

The biggest issue was really that this kitchen had been poked into a skinny spot, wedged between two bedrooms in a south facing position and was dark all the time. (See my portable stove on the bench that has been performing the real actual cooking for the last five months while the glamour puss freestanding supermodel just stands around looking fab).

If you opened the windows in an attempt to get more light, you would be greeted with the spectacular view of leaf detritus in the carport gutter.

I knew a coat of white paint would not fix the biggest flaws in this kitchen and also thought the kitchen would be easier to sell as is. While wood kitchens are not at all my cup of tea, they are apparently easy to match and the man who bought the kitchen is going to reconfigure it all completely differently, and add some extra cupboards. I am really pleased that this kitchen is going to a good home and not to  landfill. And I am super excited to see this new space.

And the kitchenette?

Yep, it's gone.

And what about the carport, I hear you murmuring?

Yep, it's gonski too. The two mates who drove 5 hours from Lismore to remove it reminded me of Legoman and I when we attempt to assemble something from Ikea. There was much swearing, abuse and public ridicule. Now you see it,

Now you don't.  I guess even though it took the pair of them about 5 hours to pull it all down, for $530, it was a bargain. Our builder had planned to just demolish and dump it so it's a win win for everyone really. We were both a little surprised that it actually sold but there were several other people interested so it shows that second hand is the way to go.

Meanwhile, we have been dealing with mountains of these.

Can I add that moving house with small children is positively gruelling. I'm firmly remaining in denial over the fact that we will be doing it all again in a matter of months. Choosing instead to focus on all the empty rooms, a hot shower and the coma like sleep I plan to fall into very soon.

Never the same

We moved house yesterday, into the lovely house two streets away that will become our home for the next few months. As I spent the last two weeks packing our life into boxes, it occurred to me that Betsy will never be the same. She will never look just like this again. All the bits and pieces that my two small children create and bring home from school and kindy have been pulled down from the walls and many may not go back up there again. There will be new creations, new school awards, new interests and fads and the entire feel of our house will be different.

So with every box packed, pauses were made to snap pictures of all these colourful memories of the little children we have had living in this house. Roboboy was four and Liongirl was 18 months when we first moved into Betsy and there are so many memories of early childhood tucked up into the rooms of this house.

When we move back into the new improved Betsy, my little children will not be so little anymore. Roboboy will be seven and a half and Liongirl will be almost five. When we unpack their treasured items, some of them will not be wanted anymore. Will Roboboy still have all these favourite stuffed animals sharing his bed every night? I can only hope we have a few more years yet, especially for that vintage wallpaper dresser that makes me happy every time I walk past it.

Liongirl's room will be quite different when we move back as these big windows will no longer be there, instead there will be a set of high louvres. No doubt she will want considerable say in how we decorate her new room.

Despite a tinge of sadness over the fleeting nature of childhood, there is high elation over the hopefully fleeting life span of my remaining custard walls. This is the last section of wall in the hallway that remains custard, it will be the first to go when I get stuck in there repainting my very empty house.

Back soon with some pics of a very bare Betsy, serious deck demolishing action and hopefully the arrival of some excavators to start the old girl's makeover.

17/52

a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 via Che and Fidel

He : Lest we forget. When I asked him if he new what ANZAC stood for, he paused, thought for a while, then said "Australian and New Zealand Army Corps" I was so proud, I managed to stifle my giggles when he pronounced Corps as Corpse. 

She : Has decided her new favourite colour is yellow, just like her brother. 

On the distractibility of husbands

So, the sun has been shining for a good week, the weather is warm and balmy and we have an entire house to pack up ready for our imminent move. Suddenly I notice that Legoman has been absent from the packing chaos for some time and is nowhere to be found. Then over the hum of the washing machine, I pause with the packing tape dispenser mid roll and hear the sound of thudding from the back deck. And yes, the house does appear to be shaking somewhat. It appears that Legoman could restrain himself no longer and he and Roboboy have started demolishing our deck. Two weeks before we move out.

Within the hour the Menace brothers arrive armed with hammers and crowbars and expressions of evil boy glee on their faces. They have been waiting for this day for months and answered the call of duty in record speed. They mate who was having a sleepover was dragged over as well, nothing better than random children in my yard wielding deadly weapons, with uncertain vaccination status and of course, parents who are lawyers. Needless to say, I was on high alert for the next few hours. Not to mention my valid concern that I would hang out a load of washing and discover that the entire back wall of my house had been ripped off with over enthusiastic gusto.

So after a few clear rules as to what could be ripped off and what needed to be left intact until after we move out, instructions on how to deal with all those rusty nails and the biggest Menace on Liongirl duty, I retreated to pack some boxes.

The boys (and men) were like pigs in mud. See that happy face.

Best of all we were able to take most of the wood to a mates place who is going to reuse it for his chook run. And that meant lots of rides in the garden wagon.

Now they are all excitedly plotting when they can pull the rest of it down. Me, I'm just packing up the entire house, you know, the work that actually needs to be done now, vs the fun but completely unnecessary jobs.  Men. Anyone else have a distractible husband?

Turquoise pyrex, vintage wallpaper and collaborative embroidery

There has not been much op shopping action around here of late. Decluttering will do that to a girl, but I must say I was missing having a good ferret. There is nothing better than stumbling across a bundle of Little Golden books that are all new to me, titles I have never found before. Only to be topped by four rolls of this amazing blue vintage wallpaper and some turquoise pyrex. Oh happy days.

Behind the scenes there has been some crafty action happening at school in preparation for the school fete. A call out for vintage doilies and embroidery talents. This amazing masterpiece is on show in the school foyer ( way beyond my talents I might add but oh so inspiring).

Having never embroidered before I was determined to have a go and trotted out a few simple ones (no I absolutely did not do those incredible birds, just the words). It is actually quite an addictive past time once you get started, I think I managed five in total. They are all going towards some master plan that a bunch of uber creative mums at school are hatching. I for one cannot wait to see the end results on display at the fete, even the junior school are involved with those amazing stitched hearts above.

And look what just appeared on the oval, now we have the doily tree sharing company with  the crochet tree  from last year. And it is so exciting to rock up to school and see all the new creative contributions being deposited daily at the office.

Goodness, I think Fete fever is starting to take hold. Now I just need to try and behave myself at the Trash and Treasure....

16/52

a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013 via Che and Fidel

He : like a pig in mud starting to demolish our deck with dada. Must hammer all those rusty nails flat (grammy-bot had given him a tool kit of his own for his recent birthday).

She : being the baby in the cot with her book and her snuggly. I will spare you all the pics of me being the baby squeezed into that tiny basket.