Sydney Australia

 

This is the view from Sarah’s balcony in Sydney showing the city centre and CBD (Central Business District) where she works.  Her commute from home takes her about fifteen minutes on the train.  She took the photograph with her phone and then did some artful editing; I think it’s quite a stunning shot.

A few years ago I had a meal in the revolving restaurant that you can see perched at the top of the tower; the views were spectacular.

Sarah (my eldest daughter) lives in Newtown, a lively, bohemian district with lots of bars, music and eateries.  A very different environment to rural Wiltshire where she was born and bred.

early morning commute

 

You Can Never Have Too Many Plants

 

The garden fence project is complete and the bedroom curtains are finished apart from their hems.

Paul and I went to the local garden centre to buy a rambling rose and honeysuckle to climb up the metal arch.  Of course we ended up buying much more than that; we were like kids in a sweet shop.  We ended up with three different ornamental grasses, a bamboo plant, fern, yucca, sea holly, hebe and thyme.  Oh, not forgetting the Sambucus Black Tower, a very pretty black elder with pink flowers.  They are all planted up but it will take a year or two for them to mature and blend in with the hurdles.  We also moved a euonymus from another part of the garden into the new bed and transferred a couple of sneaky foxgloves.

 

 

I can’t hang the new curtains until Kat’s bedroom has been decorated so I can’t show them off yet.  I’ve also bought some co-ordinating fabric to make a headboard for the bed.  This room is going to be so fabulous that I might have to claim it as my own.  Not sure if it will be to Kat’s taste but it’s my house so she doesn’t really get a say!  In the meantime I have been emptying her wardrobe so that Paul can move it for decorating.  Kat, why do you have so many clothes?

 

 

 

On your marks, get set, go!

 

The house and garden projects are underway.  The curtain fabric is cut and pattern matched, some seams have been sewn.  Meanwhile, in the garden, Paul has put up the willow hurdles and fixed the metal archway in place.  

 

 

I think the garden project will be finished before my curtains.  Not that we are competing against each!

 

 

Curtains

 

The fabric for Kat's new bedroom curtains has arrived.  Now all I have to do is make the bloomin’ things. They will be full length and I just have to decide whether they should float, kiss or puddle.  Could take me a while.  Watch this space.

 

More Projects

 

I always enjoy a house or garden project so now that the utility room is finished we are on to the next items on the list.  The first item is a garden project.  When I sit on my nice Lutyens style bench this is what I look at..

 

looks like a builder's yard

Paul is a very keen compost maker and quite often has three separate compost pens on the go.  Combined with wheelbarrows and garden refuse bins it’s not a pretty sight; the dark Leylandii looming in the background is also quite dreary.  Rick likes to ferret around the back of the lilac tree so this is temporarily blocked off with pallets.  Our solution is to screen the whole area off using some willow or hazel hurdles with a gateway and metal arch to add depth and give the illusion of a garden beyond.  We could then grow some honeysuckle and roses over the archway and maybe add some bamboo and ornamental grasses in front of the hurdles.  That should keep Paul busy for a while.

Daughter Kat is currently on a three month posting to Cyprus.  While she is away we are taking the opportunity to re-decorate her bedroom.  The wallpaper needs to be stripped away and I want the walls painted a shade of white so that I have a blank canvas.  Today I ordered some fabric to make curtains (I flinched at the cost of made to measure and a six week wait).  I may regret this decision when I start fighting to pattern-match the fabric.

 

 

Before and After

 

before

after

A utility room is quite a novelty for me  so you will have to excuse my enthusiasm.  We did have a buanderie (laundry room) in our French house; it was in the ancient pigeonnier tower and you had to duck to get through the low doorway and then step over mouse traps and the like to get to the washing machine.  I forgot to duck on at least one occasion and almost knocked myself out on the solid stone lintel.

The utility room in our bungalow is small but accommodates the freezer, microwave and washing machine and also serves as a boot room - a handy area to dump coats, muddy boots and dog leads.

Last week the kitchen fitter removed the original 1980’s units and installed new cabinets to match the kitchen.  Yesterday the tiles were put up and the electrician connected the new wiring and sockets.  I am pretty chuffed with the overall finish.  It looks extraordinarily shiny and tidy at the moment, give it a week and the room will be full of muddy boots and dog paraphernalia.