wood...or not too wood?

 so room....we meet again. prepare to met your maker...

the lounge.

i have been waiting since the day we moved in 3 years ago to give you a facelift.

and with the grossest most health hazardous carpet in the neighbourhood....it was it or me.

so here she is in all her 'before' picture glory.

so here's the deal. we want to rip the carpet up in the large foyer and sitting room too...but with this house that has been moved here we don't know what state the floorboards will be like.

so worst case scenario is we re-carpet. 

best case is we sand those suckers and have wooden floors.

(either a light stain or i REALLY love bleached floorboards...but the jury is not out yet)

so with a beer in hand and a huge deep breath we started pulling...and by we....i mean the Lars...

and we discovered....

yuss....step one. 

only 50 metres of carpet to go...

bearded Lars....a.k.a Al Borland.

so far...so good.

although a fair ammount of the floor is jackson pollock-like with the same delightful cream paint on the walls...oh how i love cream. (i don't love cream)

so...we made it to the other end of the room with only a few boards that need some attention. not bad for a 103 year old home!

and this. this i am hoping has the biggest makeover. 

might be a case of getting a bit artistic on it.

a little helper.

so there you go. let the madness ensue.

we have a huge tin of paint, a new buffet/t.v cabinet from freedom furniture (retro styles baby!) and a new tele sitting in it's box as motivation.

anyone for some old red velvet drapes? no..? no takers?

van hoofies.

i have not been this excited about shoes since i was 13 and got my first pair of cherry doc martins that i slept with for a week.

i saw these vans online and having been a chuck taylor girl for years i took a leap of faith and ordered these puppies. they are 'mens' shoes. but with a bit of emailing back and forth with the skate shop they reassured me that a) i wouldn't look like a gump wearing blokes shoes and b) i had the right size (an 8 instead of 9 for my big hooves)

(underground skate if any one is interested. they have an online shop but also a facebook where they post lots of other goodies...with free courier over 100 buckaroos. score)

so the courier guy threw the parcel at my door this morning. thanks for your gentle caring hands dude. not.

and in true fashion my girls ripped the parcel apart before i had a chance to blink.

and then i lost one in the toy bin. (thanks destructive daisy)...

they are Dane Reynolds Aloha hi-top vans.

but here we are. and i shall rock them around the house wearing my pj pants and Lars hoodies. don't be jealous at how amazing i must look.

light love.

we have one of our industrial lamps up.

this is a big deal people.

big.



there is another one to go up in the dining area still...but i shall celebrate this small accomplishment.
nearly two years of being light-less here.

so many photo's of it will ensue.

with a gorgeous model. (aka...a stubborn 1 year old that wasn't moving.)

Little D's thinking face. 

hrmmm....i wonder if i could do a triple back flip off this sucker?

such a goon

(oooh look a whole lotta crap under the side table. keeping it real peeps)

a bit of thursday morning table dancing? ... don't mind if i do.

okay. a pic where the light is actually in the frame.

alright alright alriiight.

still have that gapping space on the wall.

keep watching it maybe something will happen.

or not.

zee light.

...oh look. old stripey sloth pillow just hangin. chillin. maxin. relaxin.

in other non-light related news. i am attending the Porirua Expo on the 4th May to sell my wares. and by wares i mean paintings and hopefully prints of those paintings. 

it's gonna be good good time. and soooo much going on for the kiddos. and free. and the last weekend of the school holidays. ah yes please.

here is one of those pretties.

also so happy that in this wee country girls can marry boys, boys can marry girls, girls can marry girls and boys can marry boys. 

happy days. X

this too...

one of those weeks people.
one of those emotionally draining, kick in the teeth, sticky-hot, moody children, hubby's first week at new job with long hours, baby night waking weeks.
that feels like it. just. won't. let .up.


honestly. i have been moping. letting the blues take over. pity party for one.

so i gave myself a great big metaphorical (because...if only was that flexible!) kick in the arse.

because. this is my job. no one else is going to do it.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

not only the shitty times. the times where i want for children to reach an age that is easier (hahahaha...no such thing)
but pass will these precious moments.
moments that amongst all the fog we miss.

here's trouble.
playing with Indie's french knitting.

i love Daisy's evil, head throwing back laugh.

muuwahahahaaaa.

such  concentration  little one.

and one more time .

cue evil laugh

the old boys retirement.

ha! bet you thought i was talking about the Lars then.

he's still got a few good years in him.

i have taken upon myself to lug the (9 ft 6...i think) atlas woods surf board down and out of the garage.
we have had dreams of restoring it back to it's natural glory (after some smart soul sprayed it with orange car paint to match their mates mark one cortina. it was the 90's. ahem.)

anyhoo. to restore him back it would cost a bazillion dollars.
and i quite dig the fanta-ry orange.
and the not so charming story behind the ownership...won't go there. may be incriminating to a certain someone.

so a decoration he shall be.
a very handsome one at that.

a cosy wee set up going on in the living room (with another two seater couch facing this one.
couch is about 7 years old from harvey norman. certainly survived the test of time with three little kiddos.
owl cushion free with a 'your home and garden mag'...my monthly vice.
teal felt cushion from my mum.
crochet nana blanket from the op shop.
shoe basket hand-me-down from my mum, as is the coffee table covered in cookbooks.

so now it's time to source some funky artwork for that massive blank space.
will fill you in when i do.

i'm think 4 white frames with some colourful somethings in them. hung in 2X2.
or maybe some record covers.

the haps over here.

yesterday. last day of holidays for Indie-mindie-bindie.

i think we are ready to be doing our own thing for a while.

the day was sticky hot.

exibit A of sweaty over-it child...

 and please don't you be jealous of my fluffy 'hot weather' hair and the 'i need to sleep for 1000 hours straight' face...

(i would have made this photo the same size as the rest...but the smaller...the less wrinkle giveaway...)

and there where some serious heat inflicted emotions running wild from us all in the afternoon. i needed to step out the back and focus on some good shizz.

new jandals. yes. i am a total jandal snob. the only thing i will shell out the big bucks for. since i wear them all through winter as well.
brazil blues.

the race is on between me and the birds for the toms.
speaking of birds.
check out these ducks!

they quack me up. (oh i am hallarious.)

summertime. yes.

what a crate day it is.
ba dom dom chi.
so many ideas for these beauties.
beds.
tables.
seating.

what cool things have you seen crates made into around the interwebs?
best idea gets a virtual hug.
now that's a competition.

watch this virtual space peoples.

salad of the week...and some fish action.

we are very lucky to have a Papa that goes fishing.

even luckier that he shares the bounty with us!

tenacious D loves her some fresh fish...big time.

oh yeah. love me some sea creature.

so glad this wee baba-ganoush is feeling better and eating again. 

(really need to sort that blank wall behind her noggin.)

oh and to go with the fresh crumbed fishy (other than peas...because the broccoli from the garden had a team of caterpillars inhabiting it and honestly my stomach couldn't handle if i missed one...)

..was my go to salad of the week.

so easy.

so don't be surprised if when you ask me for dinner i bring this puppy.

basil, sweetcorn, tomato pasta salad.

what i do...

bring a big pot of water to boil add salt, pasta and a corn cob...(huskless...of course)

while that is cooking chop some lil' tomatoes in halves or quarters, some spring onions and tear up some basil leaves.

when pasta is cooked. drain and take out corn cob and chop off kernels. add some olive oil to pasta to stop it sticking together (lordie i hate that) 

add some crushed garlic (about 2 tsp) and loads of cracked black pepper and some salt to taste. 

add toms, basil, corn, spring onions and grate over a generous amount of parmesan cheese.

the sweetness of the corn, tangy toms, and moreish parmesan. winning.