School holidays and another week up at Inglewood with Mum, Helen and her kids.
And this time I had a specific project in mind, no not more weeding, or planting (although I did this too). I wanted to finish off (at least superficially) the little room that I had started stripping wallpaper from way back in the February heatwave
Remember - it used to look like this - at least 6 different wallpapers on the walls and ceiling
In February I had started the wallpaper stripping, and then finished off the rest of it at Easter when we hired some scaffolding so that I could get the wallpaper off the 3.9m high ceilings.
And then a week or 2 ago I had borrowed Michael's scaffolding to start filling in the cracks, and I borrowed it again this time to fill in the rest of the cracks and to then to do the sanding.
I know it's only a small, and in the scheme of things insignificant room, but it's currently my favourite room, as I have great ownership of it.
But first, what we did on Monday.....Michael was out until later in the afternoon, so yes, I did do some weeding with my trusty helper Xavier
I also had to unload some old red bricks from the ute that I'd brought up from Melbourne. It was a win win scenario in that these bricks had been piled by the back door for quite a while - in case we needed them (we didn't), so I brought them to Inglewood where we will use them for tree surrounds or saw tooth edging etc.
It's silly, but I also like the fact that I can just drive into the back garden and park the ute where I want to drop off the bricks
Mum put most of the bricks around the lilly pillies, and Fraser ended up finishing off the job
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| the encircled Lilly pillies |
Helen elected to make dinner on the Monday night - tuna "pasta". Pasta in inverted commas because it was actually long strips of zucchini which Helen made by using some purpose built contraption.
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| Helen making the pasta #1 |
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| Helen making the pasta #2 |
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| Helen making the pasta #3 |
Mum also assisted as sous chef
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| Mum chopping more vegies |
Started on the room on Tuesday, filling the large gashes and gouges in the concrete skirting board, which I would like to point out had been originally painted over - ie the skirting board was far from pristine when originally painted - therefore anything I did surely had to be an improvement
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| The filled wall, and Michael's scaffolding |
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| The gouged skirting board |
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| close up of the above skirting board |
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| the filled skirting board - it's got to be an improvement |
As a diversion from filling, I advised Mum how to make pizza dough in the bread oven
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| Mum - making he first pizza dough |
But I was soon back to my walls - with help from a little friend too
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| Me - sanding the walls |
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| More sanding with Xavier |
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| a surprise kiss #1 |
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| a surprise kiss #2 |
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| a surprise kiss #3 |
Sanding on the ceiling was a bit awful, so I attempted to wear the mask and goggles - but I found them quite restrictive
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| ready for action #1 |
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| ready for action #2 |
I of course generated a lot of dust, looked like icing sugar on the floor, and it was murder to sweep up
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| plaster dust |
I also looked an absolute fright after sanding the ceiling as I had dust all over me, my face, my hair etc. The kids said I looked like a ghost. Michaela took a photo of me with her little camera, so hopefully I'll get a copy and put it on this blog at some stage. Given that I was so dusty, the best thing was for me to go outside and for the kids to pat me down, they did so quite enthusiastically, and proceed to whack me quite vigorously which they thought was very funny. Plumes of dust came off me and were blown away by the wind.
Had a welcome shower after this and washed my poor hair, as I was having my haircut by Michelle the next morning.
And after this, dinner was of course pizza, I got the dough ready in the pans, and Helen and the kids put the fillings on top
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| Mum doing some more chopping - this time for the pizzas |
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| one of the pizzas |
There were 4 pizzas - 2 vegetarian ones, and 2 meat. I cooked them to perfection outside in the pizza oven - and they were a great success.
Wednesday, and the moment of truth.....painting. I have never really painted much before, as Justin is very much the painter in this partnership. Sure he's let me paint a couple of insignificant things ie undercoat for the skirting board in the red room etc, but I've never painted unsupervised....
But luckily I've watched the master many times, so knew the first thing to do was the cutting in around the window sill, door frame, skirting board etc. However to maybe put if off a little longer I thought it a good idea to clean/polish some the fittings ie the central bakelite light base, the air grating, the servant bell and the electric wire tubing
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| air grate - pre blacking |
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| air grate - post blacking |
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| servant bell board pre polishing/cleaning |
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| servant bell board post polishing/cleaning |
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| servant bell board pre polishing/cleaning |
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| servant bell board post polishing/cleaning |
And yes, I did finally start painting - firstly the skirting. Note Justin had said to paint then skirtings the same colour as the walls, as it could always do as an undercoat etc. However when he ended up seeing it, he said we should probably paint it a more contrasting colour. Oh well
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| the first bit of painting |
And the around the ceiling
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| an audience |
And I finally started with the roller on one wall - which I found curiously exciting. The only thing was that with the scaffolding in the room ( I still needed it for the 2nd lot of cutting in). It made it difficult to wield the rather long stick that the roller was attached to. Especially when I was painting the long side of the room. It ended up being easier to to take the roller off the stick and just paint at arms length, and then go up the scaffold for the higher areas.
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| one completed section of wall - looks pretty good doesn't it |
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| a work in progress |
I was very pleased with my progress, although I knew that Justin would just shake his head and say, hmm that's very good darling in a slow and qualified way, really meaning that he would have done it that much better.
Xavier helped by putting out the rubbish bin on Wednesday afternoon
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| Bin boy |
And I went and had my haircut later on Wednesday afternoon, and was very pleased with the result. Can't remember what we did for the rest of the day.....
My dear friend Karen said she would come and stay on Thursday night, ( as it was school holidays) and she was surprised when her daughter Zoe said she'd come up if Madeleine came up, Mad said yes, so Zoe said yes, and Fraser, Basil and Justin also came along for the ride. Poor old Mark who had initially suggested the visit to Karen was the only one who didn't come.
Given that we were going to be quite a few mouths for dinner I went to the butcher to buy a 2kg piece of beef to cook in the slow cooker. My plan was to shred the beef at the end and eat it with coleslaw as per the delicious shredded pork I'd made a while back Once again Xavier was there to watch/assist
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| massaging some spices into the beef |
And then back to painting, this time the ceiling - and I got what felt like a huge blob of paint right in my eye. I rushed down the scaffold to wash it out (don't know if it could have damaged my eye or not, and better to be cautious than foolhardy)
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| ouch! |
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| not fun |
And finally finished all of the 1st coat before lunch - woo hoo. I was pretty pleased!
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| almost finished |
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| the last little bit |
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| all done! |
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| Xavier admiring my work with a bit of bling |
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| Michaela scaling the heights |
Following the painting, my friend Michael offered to get firewood with me, as he knew where the council had allocated firewood to be collected. And even better he was going to chain saw it up for me into manageable lengths. How good was that??
So, we had to go past Rheola - and I took photos of the nearby cross roads as a reminder, although perhaps next time it will have changed..
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| where we have to turn off to get the fire wood |
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| where we have to turn off to get the fire wood |
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| where we have to turn off to get the fire wood |
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| Michael and his chain saw |
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| bits of wood that Michael had sawn, and others that i had collected |
Got a good load of gum tree logs, and they were small enough that they didn't need to be split, and heavy/dense enough to make a good fire.
Karen and the kids had arrived by the time I got back, and she, Helen, her kids and I went to the pub for a beer at the pub later in the afternoon
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| Helen enjoying the fire |
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| Add caption |
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| Karen and Xavier having a cuddle |
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| Helen and Michaela #1 |
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| Helen and Michaela #2 |
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| Coming back from the pub #1 |
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| Coming back from the pub #2 |
Unfortunately the beef didn't tenderise sufficiently for me to shred it with a fork, in fact it still felt rather rubbery. Therefore we certainly weren't having that for dinner. Luckily Karen had already come to the rescue for the kids dinner earlier (as at that stage we still thought we might be eating the beef later) As she had gone to the supermarket and bought the kids some sausages and other bits and pieces and also a BBQ chicken.
So, Justin cooked up the sausages, the kids ate, and we still couldn't eat the beef, so the adults (except for Helen) had the BBQ chicken and vegies - which was actually very nice.
A post script to the beef is that Justin took it back to Melbourne and I cooked it for longer in the slow cooker when I got back, and by then yes, it was tender and able to be shredded with a fork - as I had refused to acknowledge culinary defeat
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| at last! The beef ready to eat |
Anyway, there was more painting to be done. Unfortunately I couldn't do a whole 2nd coat,as the walls had been thirstier than anticipated, and I had used up approximately 3/4 of the 10L tub. So I just did the cutting in again, and so won't need the scaffolding for the rest of the painting
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| me - cutting in again - 2nd coat #1 |
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me - cutting in again - 2nd coat #2
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As anticipated Justin's praise was tepid, particularly about the skirting boards, I could already see him sizing them up, and improving them. But remember, they were originally painted over in a poor condition. He also pointed out that I needed to get rid of some paint on the servant bell board. I had been so careful when cutting in with the brush, but then had been a little careless with the roller, had come too close, and splodged on the board. Oh well, I got most of it off again.
Karen & Zoe left before lunch, and Justin, Made, Fraser and Basil (and the beef) left after lunch.
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| Fraser - striking a pose |
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| Xavier & Fraser's back |
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| Xavier looking a bit cheeky |
After they left, I wanted to move a single bed into the little room - in preparation for the big surprise!!
But, I also had a bit more gardening to do, an old friend Vashti, had given me lots of white iris corms that I planted
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| it really is a big bag of iris corms |
And so, to the surprise.....I had organised for 3 of Helen's friends to come up for the weekend. Helen had no idea, I had used the ruse of Jill in Kingower inviting us for lunch on the Saturday to make sure that Helen would come up that weekend. I had organised it such a long time ago, that I wasn't sure if we would be here during the school holidays or not, so had to be prepared to just come up for the weekend.
Anyway, the plan was to meet them at the Empire around 6pm. Good old Mum muddled around for a while at home looking for a jacket etc to delay our going to the pub, as we didn't want to get there too early. And then when we arrived, the table had a booking for Lisa for 8 people! Helen noticed that, but I said it was a mistake of course, and left it at that. Helen was none the wiser. Got a call from the girls as we were getting up to order our meals, so I went outside to take it, and to usher them in.....
Helen was so surprised, and her friends - Jude, Robyn and Menka couldn't believe that she hadn't suspected anything. Unfortunately my photography left a bit to be desired....
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| Helen laughing in amazement & Jude |
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| Helen still can't believe it |
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| Robin holding Michaela, and Helen still beaming in the background |
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| Robin & Michaela again |
So had a great dinner at the Empire, and then home to settle the girls in, and have a roaring fire in the dining room. Robin had the room across from the red room, Menka had the "dormitory" and Jude had the newly painted little room
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| The little room - with a few homey touches |
On Saturday Helen was still keen to make her Italian ricotta cake which she had wanted to take to Jill's made up lunch. I had told he it wasn't necessary, but she still wanted to make it for our dinner on Saturday night. I did tell her that it wasn't necessary, that i had everything organised, but she was adamant.
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| Robin assisting in making the cake #1 |
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| Robin assisting in making the cake #2 |
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| Robin assisting in making the cake #3 |
After this Helen, Robin, Jude & Michaela went to play golf at the Inglewood Golf Club. In fact, Helen had played quite a lot these holidays, taking Michaela along with her. It was the first time she had played here, as I had suggested she bring her clubs. She was pleasantly surprised. Thought it was terrific, and so will certainly play again
I took Menka for a tour of the town - including the Empire where we stopped for a coffee
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| Menka having a coffee |
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| Xavier the bar fly |
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| Xavier, Menka, Mum & Denise |
Given that we didn't know what time they were getting back from golf, the rest of us had a casual lunch outside
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| Saturday lunch |
And Mum read her magazines outside in the sun
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| sunny reading |
We also went across to Bridgewater and visited WaterWheel
Now, I had told Helen that lunch at Jill's had been a ruse to make sure that she would come to Inglewood for this weekend, but when I told Jill, she suggested that we come anyway...I thought it best not to book anything in for the day, so counter suggested that we come in the afternoon. And I told Helen that I wanted them all out for 2 hours so that I could prepare dinner -a surprise Christmas in July!
We went up to Jill's around 4pm - and I was only going to stay a few minutes...
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| Xavier & Michael at Jill's #1 |
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| Xavier & Michael at Jill's #2 |
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| Robyn & Helen at Jill's |
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| Mum and Ridley at Jills |
Of course, I stayed more than a few minutes, how could I not?? Graham from Passing Clouds also dropped in and we had a nice chat. He told me that one of Justin's cousin's had done work experience at Passing Clouds. Small world!
Anyway, I got back home around 5.20 or so, and rushed and rushed...And of course I had written myself a running sheet of everything I had to do.First off I had to light the pizza oven for the fabulous pork rack, and get it to the right temperature/no smoke coming out before I could put the pork in.
So, from memory my running sheet and self imposed duties went something like this:-
1. Light pizza oven - and of course it was a bit temperamental with the fire taking a while to get established
2. Peel potatoes for roast potatoes
3. Take flesh/bones off smoked trout (that I had smoked back in Melbourne) and mix with sour cream, lemon juice, salt/pepper and chives, and put back in the skin
4. Put up Christmas tree and decorate. I also banged my head quite hard while taking the tree out of the under stairs cupboard, but now was not the time for concussion
5. Put wrapped presents under the tree
6. Set table beautifully
7. Close dining room door and barricade with a chair to stop them entering before I wanted them to
8.Back to the kitchen - chop up pumpkin,onions, fetta etc for the risotto.
9. Have one end of the kitchen table for me to continue working on, and the other with the pre dinner nibbles. Because who knew what time they were coming back. I had been going to make a couple of dips, but made a late decision not to, given that there were some store bought ones in the fridge already.
I guess they came back between 6.30 and 7pm and so I ushered them into the kitchen where we ate the aforementioned trout, grilled capsicum, my own little Inglewood olives, cheese, dips, and biscuits.
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grilled peppers and dips
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I was still doing a salad, and doing some more chopping etc up my end of the table, and so at this stage gratefully accepted some help with the cooking of the risotto. Put nearly a whole bottle of white wine into it. No wonder if tasted good!
Finally, I determined that the pork was ready, and had rested sufficiently, the potatoes were done, and I had also warmed up the caramelised onion tart that I had defrosted the night before.
I was now ready to let them into the dining room.
The kids were thrilled! They saw the Christmas tree, but more importantly the presents, and the Christmas crackers (courtesy of Denise) and party poppers by the plates
Dinner was a great success - good food, good company, a roaring fire, Christmas jokes from the crackers, a Christmas music playlist etc. Unfortunately no one took me up on my offer of a warming egg nog. And we didn't have the plum pudding and brandy butter either. Had the Italian ricotta cake for dessert. Note, we did have some Christmas cake with brandy butter after lunch on Sunday
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| pulling the crackers etc |
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| reading the cracker jokes #1 |
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| reading the cracker jokes #2 |
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| Robyn,Helen & Menka looking at their Christmas books |
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| the girls and their presents |
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| Xavier and one of his Christmas presents |
After dinner I set up the screen and we watched Love Actually a feel good Christmas classic film
Sunday, and we went up to Melvilles Caves to have a look around. It was a glorious day, sunny and no wind. We could see for miles. Dropped in at Blanche Barkly on the way back, and the girls got some wine
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| David's old tractor at Blanche Barkly |
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| Xavier & tractor |
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| David, Xavier & tractor |
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| Xavier and Tractor |
Back to the house, and sitting around in the sun for a bit
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| enjoying the sun #1 |
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| enjoying the sun #2 |
Menka also took LOTS of photos and here are some beautiful collages that she sent through
So, Helen, Mum and the kids left after lunch, the rest of the girls a little bit later, and I left last of course, making sure that everything was shipshape and locked up etc.
