Cluttered House, Cluttered Mind...Means..Emptying The House....

I'm blocked this morning, I want to write and have a hundred things going through my head but my mind is fuzzy. I believe in part it's due to the fact I need to declutter the house and it's sitting in the back of my mind and therefore is not letting me concentrate on anything other than getting this clutter out of my house. I can't even focus on my study and that's a problem because I have an assignment to do and I love design. There's only one thing to do.....it's all got to go today!! Now some of it will have to wait until Chris gets home from work because I just can't lift the couches myself or the big t.v for that matter but I'll get it all organised to go.

It is amazing to me how one household can acquire so much 'stuff' (for lack of a better word) that just sits around and does nothing. Admittedly a fair bit belongs to James and Lauren and they will be home on Sunday to take the rest of their stuff with them back to the city.....thank goodness. However I'm thinking I need to either have a garage sale to get rid of the rest or just call the Salvo's, Lions Club or Vinnie's to pick it up. I have no problem donating to charitable organizations as they're are so many people who just can't afford to buy new furniture. I know I've been there and I've always been glad to know I can go to one of my local op shops and find what I need when funds are low. The old adage that 'one mans junk is another mans treasure' is so true and there is nothing better than to recycle and know that our 'stuff' is helping someone else.

So I'm culling, no more cluttered house and no more cluttered mind....to the cupboards I go and I bet I find more than what I'm thinking that I can either sell or give away.

Fridays Photography Post 3

I'm a little late with Fridays Photography as I have thrown my back out and it was 39 degrees here yesterday so way too hot to go out looking for things to take pictures of, plus we had an emergency vet run to make for our kitten Milly but thankfully she's ok. So I'm sharing a few slightly older photos I took not long back.

Two very different pictures but I love both.

Trinny and Susannah at Whitfords. I went to see them live
with my girlfriend Katie and it was such a fun day. 

Spikey and Marmalade planning escape from the house. Marmalade has now
technically escaped because Lauren has taken her back to Perth but Spikey is
still in retirement with us here in Busselton. 

The Desk.....First of Many Projects....Or Is It....

Well I have to say this project is not going as I expected. Talk about obstacles. Wednesday I decided would be a good day to strip back my desk which I've been meaning to do for the last few years and revamp it so it looks like new. Bec was at Bumble Bee for the day, Luke was at Intework for the day as well so I had all day to get it done. Everything started out great, went to Bunnings to get some more sandpaper and paint and then came home and made a start. Sanded back the desk and drawers which took a while and even though it was quite a hot day it was surprisingly cool under the carport, stopped and had some lunch about 1pm and then started the painting. The painting.....that was an experience! I haven't worked with gloss paint before and I had heard it could get tricky and that sure is right. I decided to do the drawers first because they're small and wouldn't take too long and I have to say they look amazing in their Antique White U.S.A Dulux colour. So with the drawers done and drying I moved onto the desk itself. (I'm still shaking my head) I now realise why the lady at Bunnings said I may need 3 coats of paint. While the first coat went on ok I can definitely see that working with gloss is a lot different to working with low sheen paint which is what I'm used to. Luke arrived home just as I was finishing the first coat on the desk and by this time it was 3pm, my back was really starting to ache from bending to sand the desk and then sitting on the driveway (which is extremely uneven, damn cobblestone paving) to do the actual painting as I didn't have anything to raise the height of the desk so I didn't have to sit on the ground. So being that it was 3pm, I decided I'd better start packing up and go and pick Bec up from Bumble Bee as by this time it was now 37 degrees and very hot. As I was packing up Luke was asking me about something that I can't even remember now because as he was talking to me I picked up the tin of paint to move it and guess what happened.........yep you guessed it...I dropped the tin and lost about three quarters of the paint!! Needless to say I was not impressed after sweating my butt off all day, the drawers look great, the desk looks...like it still needs a lot of work and I'm not happy with the way it is at the moment and now I've lost almost all of my paint. So I put the lid on the tin while cursing under my breath and trying not to turn into my Dad, packed up, washed what paint I could off myself and went to get Bec.

So now my desk has been sitting under the carport for the last two days because I've ended up throwing my back out big time and just simply can't bend over any more, plus I don't have enough paint to finish it now so I'm still not happy with the way it's looking. Now I really understand why Sarah (from Sarah's House) sends things out to be done by the professionals, no frustration from doing stupid things like dropping the paint, no throwing your back out from sitting on the ground and bending over half the morning and no wanting to hurl the drawers and paint down the driveway because things aren't working out!! (that's doing a John Bergeron, my Dad.....I'm turning into him the older I get I swear...) So now I'm trying to decide do I finish it, partly because it's an old desk any way and is a bit banged up and partly because I now have an incredibly sore back to the point I could barely sleep last night. However I don't like leaving things half done but am now wondering if the cost is going to be more (due to paint spillage grrr and the fact I may never stand upright again) than if I went and bought a new desk. Think I will have to think on it a bit more.

Check out the photos below and tell me what you think.

My desk/work space area on Wednesday morning.

The beginning of the revamp. 

Half way through, completely sanded, ready for painting.

This morning, still just first coat of paint.

The drawers that come out fantastically. You can see where
paint was spilled because it ended up in the middle drawer.

Maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking and it's just the sore back talking and the heat getting to me but I'm just still disappointed with the way the desk looks (and yes I know it's not finished), this is where I can be a perfectionist. I don't like things half done and if it doesn't go how I want it to then I usually start all over again. Starting again isn't really an option so it'll either be finish it or find a new desk, will keep you posted.

Dream A Little Dream........

Lately I keep dreaming of the same thing over and over again....houses. Not just houses themselves as inanimate objects but designing houses, building houses and decorating houses, it goes on and on. I suppose the fact I'm studying interior design and watching a lot of one of my favourite design shows 'Sarah's House' for ideas and inspiration doesn't help but what can I say, I love interior design/decorating. You see I've also been trying to decide between buying a brand spanking new couch or buying one structurally sound but 'ugly' (in other words, one you wouldn't normally dream of buying  because the upholstery is just gross) and having it reupholstered in a fabric I love. I'm leaning very much toward saving a few dollars and buying 'ugly' and having it reupholstered. Have you all noticed (especially here in Australia, not sure about elsewhere) that when you go into major department stores like Harvey Norman, Bed Shed, Furniture Spot, that ALL couches are solid colours?? You just cannot buy a couch in a patterned fabric these days yet I remember growing up that just about everybody's couch had patterned fabric, what happened to it? I can tell you what happened, it was the 70's and early 80's and all the fabrics were by anyone's standard now, horrible! Hence those of us who grew up with these awful couches decided we wanted plain colours for our couches when we moved out of home and that became the demand. People moved away from pattern and into solid colours which saw pattern fabric couches virtually disappear. However I plan on bringing some patterned chairs back into my home as I love nice pattern fabrics. I stopped in at an upholstery shop I found by accident last week and they had the most beautiful polk a dot fabric I've ever seen, hence I was inspired even more to buy an 'ugly' couch. When I finally purchase an 'ugly' couch I'll make sure I take a before and after picture so you can all see just what can be accomplished with some gorgeous fabric.

As most of you know Chris and I are on the baby track and while some of you think we're crazy, others have been extremely supportive and we appreciate it. And this is the other thing I keep dreaming of too....BABIES...but they're not necessarily my baby in my dream. This summer in our little tourist town there have been and incredible number of pregnant women around, I mean I'm not imagining it, every time you turn a corner there's a pregnant woman. And my friend Peta tells me in late December she's having a baby in April, how she managed to keep it a secret for 25weeks of her pregnancy I don't know because I wouldn't have been able to. As someone who's trying to conceive and nothing so far is happening it's frustrating to see so many pregnant women around as it's a reminder that I am not pregnant. I'm happy for anyone and everyone I know who is having a baby as it's something exciting to look forward to but when you are constantly dreaming about babies and they're not always yours it can get a bit beyond the joke. When we're not worried about whether we fall pregnant or not, especially in our teens or 20's, that's when it happens but once you get to that horrible age bracket of 35+ it seems to be harder than ever.

I was beginning to feel like a pregnancy magnet for everyone but me at one point, first my sister finds out she's pregnant, then Peta, plus a couple of other people I know are expecting their first and second babies. If you want to fall pregnant ladies just spend an afternoon around me because it seems like everyone around me is falling pregnant, just not me. Hopefully it'll happen sooner rather than later. For now I guess I'll keep myself occupied by studying, searching out bargain finds for ugly furniture, rearranging this house and getting back in my garden which has suffered a bit lately with all this hot weather. And I guess I'll continue to dream away until those dreams are a reality and then there really will be something to write home about.

P.S If you have an interest in interior design like I do and want to get some great ideas and excellent advice check out Sarah's website, you can also watch her show online if you don't have foxtel.

http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahshouse/


                       
                  Sarah Richardson, Host of Sarah's House.

Fridays Photography Post 2

So for my first lot of Friday photos I've opted to go black and white. I love black and white photos, personally I think they capture the mood or the moment better to some degree because you don't have the distraction of bright colours detracting from what you were originally trying to capture. For instance, my first picture is of a massive rock they've put down the foreshore and the shear size of it and the texture was what caught my attention. However because I originally took the picture in colour I found the bright, beautiful and vivid blue sky we had here today very distracting so I changed it to black and white and it looks much better, I think. Here's hoping you all like the first installment of Fridays Photography of which all pictures were taken down the foreshore.

I don't usually photograph inanimate objects but today
I found this amazing rock.

 If this amazing rock doesn't catch peoples eyes then it  
 goes  to show we are living to fast a pace life. I saw this
 rock from a way off and immediately it caught my
 attention, so much so I just had to get a picture of it.

Originally from the city like myself.

This water slide was originally in the city when I was in my teens. Now it's been here in Busselton for quite a few years. Ironic that  me and this water slide should now be living in the same town.

A monument to the man who helped find part of  Australia.
(have forgotten his name but will find out who he is)

I have seen this statue for years when I've gone to the foreshore and I have asked my family if they know about it and to my surprise they've all said 'what statue?' and they have all lived here a lot longer than I have. I actually took a photo of Luke and Lauren standing either side of this statue not long after we moved to Busselton.

And The Bed Goes Where......

I have this habit of constantly moving furniture around in my house and it seems to bother everyone but me, probably because no one else is aware of it until they get home from work, school etc. Take this morning for example, I woke up and thought 'this room really isn't functioning to it's best ability.' So at 6:30am this morning I moved all the bedroom furniture (Chris is already at work by this time). Our bed was under the bedroom window but the main problem with this is that it makes it very difficult to open the window and in this weather I have to have that window open as it's just too warm to be able to sleep.

So first I swept the floor, because you know once you move that bed the dust bunnies are going to come out and get caught underfoot. Moved the dresser down to the other side of the room, moved my bed side table into the new corner, turned the bed around (be careful if you use your legs to move furniture like I do because the last time I did it this way I dislocated my knee....not fun in the end), moved Chris' bedside table to his side of the bed and then finished moving the dresser so it's opposite the foot end of the bed. How I did all this without waking anyone up I don't know. Our house is tiled not carpeted and that bed and dresser make a lot of noise but somehow everyone slept through the interior designer working on another make over, as I do about every six months.....hehe.

When Chris got home I was talking to my friend Susan and didn't have a chance to tell him I'd moved the room around, yet again. After Susan left I said to Chris 'did you notice the room?' Stupid question really as you'd have to be blind to not see as soon as you walk in everything's not where it was. Chris' response, 'yeah, good thing I looked because I was about to go flop on the bed and I would have hit the floor.' That's the response I get after moving all the furniture myself!! Men just don't get the need to move furniture to the point your happy with it and the room is functional. Men could live in a tent and never move a thing in it yet a woman would still find a reason to move the whole tent around just so it's facing west instead of north.....men really are from Mars, aren't they.

Any way that's one room down in the house and a bunch more to go plus we're getting ready for a garage sale and the kids are finally coming home to take the rest of their stuff back to the city with them....yey...more clutter gone.....I loath clutter in the house it makes me feel closed in and claustrophobic.

P.S how do you all feel about clutter? If you're like me and hate it but sometimes don't know where to start then check out this website my lovely friend told me about, it's got heaps of useful hints and good easy ways to get things done. I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do.

http://www.flylady.net/

Fridays Photography Post 1

So I've decided my photography page is suffering and not really getting the attention it deserves from me, so I've set myself a mission. Friday's will now be the day I go out with Bec and take some pictures and post the one I like best and I may even post some older pictures I've taken weeks, months or even years ago. We live in a town where there is always something to take a picture of and admittedly I keep forgetting my camera when I leave the house, so with my camera now planted in my bag there's no excuse, as long as the battery doesn't run out....then I've always got my phone for back up.

I've always loved photography and while I'm no expert photographer I've managed to capture some beautiful pictures over the years. For me photography is more about the fun of it and capturing something in the moment, such as the kids playing at the beach or the way the landscape looks at a particular time of day or year. It's not about a perfect picture it's about the meaning behind the picture. I have a photo of James, Luke and Lauren sitting on a back doorstep of our old house that I carry in my purse, it was taken when they were only 7, 5 and 3 years old at the time and I can never bring myself to take it out. It's one of those photos that you look at and wish you could keep them that small and young forever.

Shadow pic.

This picture here is strangely one of my favourites and taken completely by accident. Last year about 4 weeks before the wedding Chris and I decided on the spur of the moment we needed to do an over nighter somewhere because we were completely stressed out with planning the wedding. So we packed an overnight bag and headed down to Augusta. Augusta is beautiful and quiet and everything you could hope for when wanting a quiet weekend away. Any way we were walking around the Blackwood river and started walking along the jetty so I could get closer to some Pelicans sitting on a post in the river to take their picture. However as I was walking along the jetty with camera in hand I tripped on one of the boards, lost my balance and happened to press the button and click. Now I have this silhouette picture of me on the jetty and I look like I only have four fingers on my right hand but it doesn't matter because it was a wonderful night away, we had a great walk along the river and I got the pictures of the pelicans as well as myself. So while to some people this picture won't be appealing or look like much, to me it's a reminder of a wonderful quick trip with Chris and to watch where I'm walking....hehe.

To capture a moment in time is wonderful, to live a moment in time is precious. ~ Michelle

Pour capturer un moment dans le temps est merveilleux, de vivre un moment dans le temps est précieux. ~ Michelle

Blonde vs Brunette...The Hair War Within.....

For years I've been going between Blonde and Brunette hair and I can never settle on which one I want to be. I  am naturally a brunette but ever since I was little I wanted blonde hair to go with my blue eyes. Why is it we always want what we don't have? Brunettes always want to be Blonde and Blondes want to be Brunettes, go figure. A friend is a natural blonde but when she got her hairdressing apprenticeship she went to brunette and it really suited her yet most brunettes who go blonde have trouble finding the right tone of blonde to match their skin so they don't look washed out.

Me this morning as a Blonde.

Back to Brunette by lunch time today.

So this is not the best picture of me but it's the most recent I have with blonde hair. While I like the blonde it is a lot of maintenance and gets expensive where as going darker and keeping within my natural colour is easier to maintain. I'm off to the hairdressers at 11am believe it or not....to go back to a darker colour....this will not surprise my family as they're used to me chopping and changing my mind all the time. One thing I have noticed being brunette as opposed to blonde is brunette brings out my blue eyes more than blonde ever does. I don't have your usual light blue or sky blue eyes, they're quite a dark blue which you don't see on many blue eyed people.

And the brunette is back. I'm happy with the colour and would love to know what you all think, blonde or brunette? Let me know which you think looks better, I already know what mum will say...lol.

I know I'm not alone in this battle of the hair but it's funny to me how we women are prepared to change our colour so often pretty much from the time we hit our teens. I have to say though that I'm loving the new colour as it feels like home and is actually not quite as dark as it looks in this picture. I'm sure once the greys come through I'll be back at the salon saying 'colour them quick!!' It's a girl thing.

But for now any way I'm happy back as a Brunette and it should be interesting to see what Chris says as he has no idea I was going to the salon and is still at work. I'll let you know. Well blonde or brunette I'm happy, as long as I've got my health and my family what more could I ask for really.

P.S will be shopping tomorrow for Chris' anniversary present....mine was put on lay-by last Friday...Chris thought he'd sneak down to Prouds after work to lay-by the bracelet I liked but couldn't remember which one it was so came home and got me to go with him.....he's such a sweety....will let you know what I get him soon.....

A Rambling Mind....

I can hear the birds outside while I sit here typing and I have a thousand thoughts going through my head at once and don't really know which one to latch on to first. I need to go to town and do a few errands in a couple of hours and all I really want to do is stay home make some lovely coffee and study or write. Why is it when we have things we actually have to do we never feel like doing them yet when there's 'nothing' to do we get everything done? I say 'nothing' this way because there is always something to be done and yet some days motivation seems to vanish and if you knew me then you'd know that I'm a girl who likes to shop and for me to not want to go into town is not normal. I think in part it's because I know it won't be relaxing because as I said yesterday town is over run with tourists and I can't just stroll leisurely down the street to my destination because the streets are crowded and I'm too busy making sure I dodge around people who aren't watching where they're going.

I should go shopping however as Chris and I have our first anniversary coming up in five and a half weeks and I have no idea what to get him. Traditionally Paper is the first year anniversary present but do you think I can think of something paper for a guy?? No, I can't, it's impossible. I'm thinking I'm going against tradition and will get Chris something completely different. Now if I could afford it the perfect paper present would be two airline tickets to Paris. We both love Paris and plan on going there some day but it's not going to be just yet, we have too many other things going on at the moment. So back to the drawing board and thankfully I have a bit of time up my sleeve.

I'm also missing my friends in Perth who I haven't seen for so long, especially Lyn and Judith. In a way I feel homesick but not for the city and the noise and chaos, homesick for my friendships. Lyn and I used to catch up all the time when I lived in Perth and we'd always make time to go for coffee or have a meal at each others house at least once a fortnight and not being able to do that now makes me miss her because we had some of the best dinner parties with just the two of us and we love the same music, furniture, destinations and just enjoyed being in each others company. Lyn ran off to Paris last year right before Chris and I got married and I'm still dying to hear all about it in person. Though she did send me a clock from Paris which is taking pride of place in my kitchen and I love it. I so wish she could have been there for the wedding but we planned it quicker than most and Lyn's trip to Paris was already booked and ready to go so unfortunately she wasn't able to make it to the wedding but I told her all about it.

I miss Judith and our weird sense of humour together, especially when she'd relate the stupid things her husband Vince had done. Some men never grow up and get off skateboards...hehe. Judith is one of those people that when you make friends with her you just feel at ease, she's so down to earth and there's nothing pretentious about her at all and I think that's what I miss the most, just hanging out, having a conversation and laughing together, we always laugh together.

And my mind is wondering again and my head is muddled with 999 thoughts running through it now so maybe I need to go have my morning coffee, get dressed, tackle town and get these errands done, then come home relax and attempt to get some studying done for my Interior Design course, if Bec will let me that is.

There really is a lot to look forward to this year and I am happy our anniversary is just around the corner because I don't know what I'd do without my wonderful hubby now, I still can't believe I married my high school sweet heart sometimes after so long apart. We are making up for lost time though and are just glad we found each other again. Somethings are just meant to be.

My thought for the day:

         Ouvertement l'amour, amour entièrement, amour avec joie, mais jamais l'amour bêtement ~ Michelle
       
         Love openly, love wholly, love joyfully but never love foolishly ~ Michelle

Writers Block and A Town Over Run

So it's 6am on a Thursday morning and I'm blocked. Having writers block for someone who loves to write is not a good thing. To tell you the truth I have about 100 things running through my head and I just don't know where to start. Some things I'm dying to write about but can't as yet as it's top secret business for a while and I don't want to say anything until we know for sure what is happening. Now I feel I may get a bunch of emails from friends and family saying, 'ohh tell me what's going on, I won't say a word.' Well sorry people my lips are sealed, as my grandmother has said many times, (I'm sure it was her and if it wasn't then I can't remember who it was) loose lips sink ships, so for now all you get to know is that there are plans in the pipeline and as soon as I know what's happening I'll fill you all in.

2012 has started off pretty much how I expected, town is full of tourists who make it difficult to do the simple things like finding a parking space to do my weekly food shopping. Kids are on school holidays and all over the place (and the roads) and I can't wait for them all to be back at school. Generally life for us locals in our decent sized town has been disrupted as it is every holiday season when the tourists come but then I guess that's one of the small prices we pay for living in a tourist town, though I know a lot of locals love it when all the tourists leave and we can take back the streets and have a coffee at our favourite place without having to say, 'there's no chairs, we'll go home and have a coffee.' And to be able to actually get to the sales and not have everything already gone by the time you get into town, this year I didn't even bother going to the after Christmas sale at Target because with all the tourists here clothes, cd's, makeup, bathers etc have just been disappearing off the shelf before you can say boo! Now don't get me wrong I guess you could say I used to be a tourist who came to Busselton to visit my family before I moved here permanently but why do people go on holiday to shop?? If you're in Bali, Italy or beautiful Paris I can understand but if you live in Australia and you're travelling through Australia where everything is the same, then why shop so much? We have the same sales nation wide and the same products but I just don't get it, shop before you go on holiday people, you are here to relax and take in the sites and swim and have fun, you can shop when you get home, now stop it because for just once in the last 3 weeks I would like to be able to go to town and do my shopping without fighting my way to the check out and then waiting in line for 15 minutes.

I do have to say that I'm not as grumpy as I probably sound, I'm actually awake and functioning quite well so far this morning and looking forward to finishing off the house work I didn't get done yesterday so I can get on and study some more of my new Interior Design course I started last week. I just need to make a time to go and see Mum and discuss what she wants done to the house. All hypothetical of course because it's a test house for my course but you should have heard my poor Dad the other night at dinner, anyone would have thought I was going to start knocking out walls. He really doesn't like change much at all, it's got to be that HFA that most men in our family have....hehe. Any way I need to see what Mum wants 'done' and do up a proposal, so that should keep me busy for a while and out of town where I won't go mad but even to get to Mums', I'm having to go the back way to avoid all the crazy city drivers from Perth who are taking over town at the moment and there's still 3 weeks of holidays to go...argh.

Au revoir et profitez de votre journee. ~ (Goodbye and enjoy your day.)
French, my most favourite language.