A blog post a week 4/52 - School holidays are nearly over

Another week has flown by.

The boys had a dentist appointment on Monday.  They were very good and their teeth are pretty good.  Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to be up for braces for Michael and Rhys.  Ben hopefully will be ok **fingers crossed**.  Time will tell.  Anyway, we have a couple of years before anything needs to be seriously looked at/done.  I'm blaming Greg for that one - none of us kids in my family needed braces but Greg had them as a teen.  I forgot to take a photo while they were there!

I went up to Gympie for a very brief visit on Tuesday.  There was a shop up there that I wanted to buy some paint from.  Yes, it's a long way to go for a small container of paint, but I had never been to Gympie before - so I thought why not?

Again, I forgot to take any photos!!!!  But it was a fleeting trip to the shop and back.  It was hot and I  wanted to get back.  Anyway, here is the paint I got.

Of course, they didn't have the stain that I wanted........ why does this always happen to me? (one day I might learn to call first hmmm).  Anyway, Mum and I went for a drive on Saturday to Marcoola and picked up the stain and a brush.  All up it cost me about $100.

The reason for the paint?

This is our bedroom setting

I got this off my sister years ago, but it needs an update

Basically, it's mostly honey stained pine and is really looking dated.  I got it about 15 years ago and I didn't have much $$ so this was all I could afford.  The bed is not honey pine and I'm still undecided about that actually - I think I may leave it the way it is but polish it up with my wood restoring polish.

I suppose I could go and buy us a new bedroom set, but I thought I'd have a go at painting it for a little more modern look.  Revamp and recycle etc - we need to be doing more of this I think, we have such a throw away society.

Anyway,  I have joined some sites and found this American Fusion Mineral Paint that is specifically created for furniture restoration/revamping so thought I would try it.  I did consider the latest chalk paint craze BUT with chalk paint you have to seal it with a wax.  I just kept thinking "what a freaking nightmare - you finish painting the darn thing and then you have to go over it AGAIN to seal it!!"  NUP.  (plus if you want to paint it a different colour later OMG you have to remove all that wax - no, no, no).

So this stuff is, as I said before, specifically make for furniture restoration and you don't have to wax or seal it.

Downside - it's bloody expensive.  But apparently a little goes a long way and it's wayyyyyy cheaper than a new bedroom suite.  I actually found it very easy to apply and coverage was very good.  A little does go a long way.  It has a matt finish which I quite like.

Here are some progress shots:

My bedside table top was in pretty bad condition

Fully sanded back (forgot to take a pic) and stain stuff painted on

Stain on top finished and 1st coat of paint - it is a dark grey colour and matt finish

I was going to stain the drawer fronts, but I have now decided that it doesn't look as good as I thought it would and as it is a massive amount of work to do it (heaps of sanding and finishing work required) I can't be fagged with all that, for IMO, a look that is fairly average.  Plus, it's not "good" wood or anything - cheap pine.  Better to paint I think.

Wasn't 100% fussed on this look so decided to paint the drawer fronts instead

Here it is with the second coat and drawer fronts painted.

Now to get some new handles and it is done.  

I'm very happy with the look and I think it will be a great transformation for the room.  It looks 100% better than before, so I will do it all in this scheme.

I think even Greg thought it looked ok too (he was a bit skeptical I think)

I'm getting into the rest of it and will put up progress shots.

I'm still drinking my smoothies for breakfast.  They are yummy.

My favourite is 

Ice, little bit lite soy milk, cold water, chia seeds, frozen banana, blueberries, pineapple slice, rolled oats, vanilla yoghurt and some vanilla smoothie mix.

Really nice and because of the oats (keep cholesterol down) and chia, it makes you feel quite full for a long time.

It's been very HOT here and we desperately need some rain.

We're swimming in the pool every day.

Little Ben who is Daddy's clone

The plants I replanted unfortunately didn't make it.  They absolutely died and went crunchy and started dropping said crunchy leaves.  We threw them out 😭

The kids start back at school this week so we are getting organised for that right now!


Thoughts for the week:

True for me (& my Mum apparently!)

Have a happy week 💗

Love Rach xxx

A blog post a week 3/52 - Just call everyone Ralph....... (but not me!)

Well what a week it has been!

Firstly, we didn't win the $100 million Powerball.  Bummer.  Didn't win a sausage - zip, zero, nada.

As I mentioned last blog, the sickness bug had come to Ben and then Rhys.  Just as we were thinking we were over that, at 11pm on Tuesday night, Michael came out heaving.  Another all nighter of vomit 😳😰😷

Then on Wednesday night - BAM - Greg started up!

Now, Greg was sure that I was going to start chucking

BUT

I'm not the weaker sex 💪💪💪😁👍 HAHAHAHA

I believe I've made it through  

YAY ME!

As a result of all this sickness (and no sleep for me & Greg - numerous nights in a row) we haven't been doing a whole lot during these school holidays.

The tooth fairy came x2 teeth from Ben - he was very excited to get $4 for both teeth

We sold some single beds as we have moved the twins into their own rooms now and changed their beds to doubles.  This means no fighting over who has a bigger bed and if anyone comes to stay we have lots of room 😍

Lots of good stuff on FB Marketplace.  We got Rhys a brand new bed and mattress for $130.  I sold the two single beds for $150.

We also got this tallboy for $100 off Marketplace

I think Boo approves of Ben's new bedroom!!!

We took out a couple of shrubs from the pool area as they were starting the spread and we didn't want that type of growth in the area.  I repotted them into some large pots.

Bad leaf curl from shrub which is looking very sad after removal and re-potting - I have watered the leaves as well as the pot to hopefully perk it up.

Unfortunately they both don't look so good after that transition.  I will put them in a shady area and keep the water up to them and fingers crossed they come good.  If not, oh well I tried.  *Update* - I don't think they're going to make it - not good at all 😢

I fixed up the other plants and these ones are ready now to go out the front.

We haven't had any rain now for a while and everything is getting a bit dry.

Ben helping me with the watering

It has been quite hot too (although not as hot as Sydney).

The kids are enjoying swimming in the pool and while I'm watching them I'm enjoying working on this baby blanket.

And after a looooong week of sickness and blah, I treated myself to a yummy lunch of Singapore Noodles on Friday 

OMG it was delish

While I was away in Sydney, Greg got me a blender that I wanted after my old one died.  It is really powerful and I'm really enjoying smoothies for my breakfast some mornings.

Nom nom nom

Mum and Dad went for their annual holiday in Tamworth this last week and went for a day trip to Nundle.  At Nundle they have this fantastic store called Odgers and McClelland 

I haven't been there, but I would love too (and will one day I'm sure).

Anyway, I asked them to buy me this GORGEOUS enamel vase (this one isn't on the website as it's too big to post I assume)

It's huge, was expensive and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it or where I'm putting it, but I love it LOL

I also had a busy week of appointments on my days off.  

No rest for the wicked!

Thoughts for the week
(for a few people I know who are going through some tough times)

Have a happy week 💗

Luv Rach xxx

A blog post a week 2/52 - Celebrating!

It would have been nice to win the $80 million Powerball but unfortunately that wasn't to be (but it's now $100 million!!!), so we're not celebrating that BUT

It was Summers 2nd Birthday on 11 January.  Now that is a celebration.  Everyone put up some lovely photos of her - here are a few:

Isn't she just gorgeous.  She is a little terror but is so lovely.

Happy Birthday Summer

I was also celebrating some bargains at Bunnings this past week.

I got these plants in the clearance part:

2x standards for $10 each!  Normal price was about $53.99 each.  They were dry and water resistant/repellent, but I put some special granules in when re-potting and they are now all good.  I'm settling them in and they will go at the front door.

 3x Grevilleas for $5 each!  Normal price about $15 each.  They were also water repellent/resistant and looked a bit droopy.  Again, I got the granules out and they are fine now.  I'm also settling them in and one they are strong we will replant up the back of the yard.

I was pretty happy with all that.  I got some other things too but they were the bargains.  While I was potting up, I had a beautiful red geranium that Greg's mum had bought me when she was here on holiday and it needed potting up.  So I did that and it is going great guns!

I was looking for a tumbler composter recently and there was nothing around.  Then one came up on Marketplace for $30.  Yay, I bought it and picked it up.  

When we were at Bunnings, we saw them for $130!!!  Another celebration had there.

We worked on my Kitchen Garden which had become a weed garden.

Soil looked good but was completely and utterly water repellent - really bad!

We got some soil delivered from our local hardware.  It looked really good when we went there but once we had put it all the the garden beds and I watered it in - OH NO!!! It was SEVERELY water repellent/resistant 😠  I was NOT happy (we paid a lot for that soil).

Anyway, Greg didn't want me calling them up and saying something (sigh) so he said he would get it fixed.  Again my granules were used and he got 5 bags of local horse poo (the beauty of living semi rural in a horsey town).  It will take probably about a month for it all to settle down and be usable, so we are watering every couple of days and turning it all once or twice a week.  That should allow it to become good soil again.

I went back to work this week (hmm not sure that that is a celebration - but I am celebrating that I have a wonderful part-time job and I work with really lovely people).  I got lots done as it was fairly quiet.

Quiet at work and OMG look how big Mr Huntsman was!!!!!

I had this little (big) visitor in the lunch room at work 😟 Lucky for me our site services guys came and relocated it out to the garden area.  Eeeeeekkk.

I got home from work on Friday afternoon and poor little Ben was not in a good way.  He had a yukky vomit bug and was feeling very, very, sick.  Poor little man.

Given that little Ben wasn't 100% we had a fairly quiet weekend.  However, he was feeling back to himself by the afternoon on Saturday.  On Sunday he was back to normal.

And then on Sunday night

Poor little Rhys vomited all in his bed (and continued through the night)..............

Oh NO!!!!!!

Fingers and toes crossed that no one else gets it.  

Thought for the week

That was week 2 of our life  😬

See you next week

Love Rach xxxx

A blog post a week 1/52 - Happy 2019

Got my hair cut off!! YAY (and Snapchat always makes you look beautiful LOL)

Hello world - is anyone out there?

Here I am, back to me again - feeling much better 😀

I debated if I should continue Blogging......... considering I haven't done very much for the past few years and all that.

But, this is my record of me and my family.  And although I have not posted much I really want to.

So, I am going to commit to one blog post a week for 2019!!!

There is a "bit" to catch up on...............

Here we go!


The biggest and best news is :

Little Blaydon - so gorgeous

Summer and Blaydon <3

OMG I am the luckiest person in the world!

I am a Nannie again!

Yes my eldest daughter Alex had a beautiful little boy on Wednesday 24 October at around 4pm.

He is very lovely and his name is Blaydon.

Unfortunately, when he was born, he had a collapsed lung and had to go into NICU for a few days.  They put a tube in his side to get the air/fluid out and allow his little lung to inflate.

It was quite stressful, especially for Alex and Ben.  But after very good care and some time in hospital he is home now and all is good on the health front.

On the sleep front.............. well that's another story!!!!

I went up there for a bit over a week in November and is was fantastic.  They are coming back in February and I can't wait (I will be doing Nannie duties whilst Alex and Ben go to a concert).

The beautiful Alex and Summer

Christmas

This was a quiet affair after the madness of last year when everyone came to our place.  We just had Mum and Dad over for lunch.  Very nice.

Then I popped (drove!) down to Sydney and stayed with my very good friend Courtney and her family on their farm.  Had a great time and then dropped my old little buzzie car to Jemma to have.  We had a lovely lunch at Yum Cha and I met her boyfriend Reece.  Both Alex and Jemma have boyfriends with the same names as my twins - Ben and Rhys!!  How funny is that.

The beautiful Jemma and Reece

At the farm with Courtney - I LOVE IT

Of course there were lots of animals to see (and this isn't many of them!)

I drove around to our old house and it looks just the same (well not as perfect in the yard as Greg always had it).  I then drove down to Hornsby and was very saddened to see that Mt Colah, Asquith and Hornsby had become unit city - high rise units everywhere with the obligatory washing hanging on the balcony *sigh*.  Then when driving down my old street where I grew up, all the houses have been left to rot (due to waiting for developers to come in) or townhouses have gone up.  It looks nothing like when I was a kid and yes progress is a "thing" but this was just sad.  I felt like I wanted to cry really.  It's still a nice place, just different I suppose.

But, it just cemented that we made the very right decision to leave and move away.  Where we live is absolutely beautiful and I am so thankful that we made the big step to go (for all the reasons above).  I felt absolutely no regrets at all (which is good and I didn't think I would but hmmm, you never know I suppose).

Boo grabbing my hand, wanting more pats

Christmas fun

We celebrated Halloween 💀

When we were in Sydney, I had a very good friend Stacey who came from America.  We are still good friends but now live states away :-(  Anyway, Stacey celebrated and put on the BEST Halloween parties ever.  Just so much fun - we absolutely loved it all. 

Anyway, last year when we had just moved into our house, and we got HAMMERED by all the local kids for Halloween.  It was fantastic (but I ran out of lollies).

This year I was organised and I did a little display.  It was fun.  The boys went trick or treating and caught up with some friends from school and had an absolute ball.

So much fun.

And, lastly, I finally bought myself a new to me car.

Cleaning the car

I agonised over this purchase - it was so much money to spend.  I ummmed and ahhhed over getting a new car (aound $30K+ for what I wanted).  I think this caused some (a lot) of my stress.

Why?  Well, you see, I am not impressed by "things" and cars I am the least impressed by!  Such a lot of money on something that depreciates faster than an ice cream melting in the hot sun.

It wasn't sitting well with me, spending that much money on something that I didn't even care about or was impressed by.  Let's face it, any new car would like a second hand car very quickly with three little boys jumping in it!!!

But I couldn't procrastinate forever, so I was about to go and buy the one I picked out (it best suited our needs - and I looked at every SUV in the range going - took me days and days).  I thought I would check Gumtree and Carsales to see if anything suitable was for sale first.

BINGO!

Private sale car, less than 2yrs old, leather seats & Android car play, window tinting, mats etc.  Everything I wanted, in beautiful condition and a good reason for selling.  It was over $11K LESS than I would have had to spend on a new one.

I'll take it thanks very much.  Tick that box.

I bought it from a lovely young couple.  They had decided to buy a van, as they unexpectedly fell pregnant after buying the new car (it was difficult to fit 3 car/booster seats across the back).  They owed more on it than I paid for it.  I wanted to give them some tips about buying cars and how much money you lose (I suppose they guessed that one).  I felt like crying when she told me she had extra owing on it (we sorted it all out & the loan was paid out).   I didn't haggle because, honestly, I could afford to lose the extra $500 I was intending to knock them down - they needed it way more than me.

So, I probably paid a little extra than I wanted too, but I now have a great car and am very happy.  I love it and the fact that I didn't have to drop $30K+++ on a new one - it has everything I need :-)

A beautiful plant that Greg's mum bought me - going great guns

I still have lots more that I could talk about - Greg's Mum came up for a visit, Greg's brother came for a visit, lots happening around the house and so on..... But this is long enough and I will do a post a week for the year.

A chocolate hamper I made for a school raffle

See you next week.

Love Rach
xxx