from trash to treasure

I can't believe its been 4 wks since my last post.. gee I'm a slacker, but honestly I just don't know where the days go. Since my last post we have all been sick with the flu, one..at..a..time..! luckily I was the last one to get it, I was hoping I wouldn't but what were the chances of that! Atleast it didn't hit me hard.

Well approval has come through for our extensions.. yay..and hubby has started digging up the front and levelling it out. What a mess! Hate this part. See top photo.. sorry, I still have to figure out how to get the pics where i want them in my posts!!!!

Anyway, we had to cut into the land so I will have a retaining wall in the front and I remembered a long time ago I had seen a picture of a lovely retaining wall that stuck in my mind in one of my hundreds of magazines. Well for the last couple of nights I have been going through them slowly to try and find it, which I haven't yet, but came across this old house which looks like its ready to fall into a heap. The article read from trash to treasure... a couple purchased it and transformed it from that...

to this....... wow!! white picket fence and gorgeous pink trailing roses! Just goes to show you what can be done if you put your mind to it.

I managed to do some of my orders and finished the wall hanging, which is sold already and a boudior chair for a very lucky little girl. Still have heaps to do but sometimes when I see my house falling apart around me, like the dust setting in and the floors need washing and the garden in such a sorry state that it starts to depress me and can't really concentrate on my sewing properly. So yesterday and today, while the sun was shining I got stuck into the garden and did lots of weeding, trimmed the roses and threw out old straggly plants. I can't believe the difference. I feel so much better already. I still need to weed around the hedges and roses along my driveway. I have about 17 iceberg roses and about 100 hedges that need to be trimmed too but that can wait till next week now as tomorrow I plan to get stuck into the house. Week ends now have to be dedicated to helping hubby with whatever on our extension. I can't wait to see the frame up but thats a while off yet.

OK, will go now and have a cuppa with hubby and a lamington which I made last night, another find from one of my mags,, didn't turn out too bad either! Seeya all sooner than last time,

take care, Maryann

keeping busy

My latest creation.. I love shabby.. cushion. Thought I'd do something different and add some embroidered wording to the front. What better way to express what we love. I've made another one for myself and will put it in the hall way (once its built!) so all my visitors will know what my decorating style is all about, for those who still aren't sure. I've had my childrens' grown up friends comment on how my house looked like a fairy tale house, something out of a story book, one said he thought he'd walked into heaven (because of all the white) and another said he "was home" which I all take as a great compliment. Funny though as my house is no where near how I want it.
For now though my cushion sits on my bed and when hubby saw it he said" it should say I love Freddy not I love shabby" lol... might have to make another one. This cushion is on ebay tonight.

I've had a few projects going this past week I had an order for a ballerina wall hanging, so I decided to make 2 so I could put one ebay, but I'm not sure if it will even make it that far. These are just the tops as I'm still waiting on some wadding. Will post some pics when they're done. I also still need to add some loops to the top and get a rod for it with some ribbon to hang it.

Also made a silk lamp with an organza frill for another lovely lady. I was so delighted when she decided to ring me to tell me how happy she was with it... just makes what I do so worth while.

I've had quite a large order come in so I will try to do my best to also make some other pretties to list on ebay, so take care ... bye for now, Maryann~

My home & me

Well, yesterday was my mother in laws 80th birthday (God bless her) so just before we left home I told Lisa to take a pic of me to post on my blog. Now for me to do that is a big thing as I absolutely loath taking photos! I am the most unphotogenic person there is! But I think its nice to put a face behind a name. Well she probably took about 15 photos all of which I hate bar this one, which she herself took with one arm outstreched and quickly snapped it. If she knows I posted this one she'll probably kill me as its not a very good one of her!! poor thing, I'll post some better ones of her and the boys next time...
I've heard nothing from council as yet re my house... what a joke its already been 10 weeks in council.. I hope I'll still be alive when approval comes through! Anyway I thought I'd post some pics I took last spring of my humble home. There is not much front garden, I am hoping to get stuck into this this spring. My extension will be in front of the 2 big windows and will have a front door in the middle with 2 narrow floor length windows either side. I am hoping to find some shutters to add either side of each window.
Then I will have a verandah going right across the front.

This top picture is the front verandah I have at the moment, it doesn't really get used much but when the extension is finished I will hit hubby with another project as I would really love to turn this into a sunroom /sewing room,, notice how I said when the extension is finished. After 21 years of marriage I've learnt not to overwhelm him with all my ideas at once!

This next pic is of the side garden which has a winding path from front to back, its about 10 metres wide by 10 mtrs long. I love this side of the garden as on a hot day its very cool under the big old trees.

Well thats it for today, come spring when everything comes to life again ( including me) I'll take some more recent ones. Bye for now, take care, Maryann~

thank God the sun is out..

We've had a nice couple of sunny days lately even if it is freezzzzing cooold! I have been working on a couple of orders.. just finished a ballerina quilt for a lovely lady and am working on a lamp for another lady which should be finished soon, so hopefully I can make some other things to put on ebay. On the weekend I managed to work in the vegie patch a bit. Its in the back part of the yard so for now I've just got rope going around it till we do the fence to keep prancer ( our pony), out otherwise she'd have a field day!!

At the moment I've got silverbeet, leeks, beetroot, lettuce, peas, snowpeas planted. So I planted some broad beans and chick peas and also some more shallots. I just love my vegie patch as I get such a kick when I go to cut them to use for dinner. I also find it very relaxing and theraputical even if I am digging and weeding. Hubby and I only made this vegie patch last Xmas as it was one of the things on my 'to do list'... I love it even more when I go to the supermarket and don't have to worry about buying the vegies I already have planted.. saves a little money too as all these vegies were planted from seed. If you've never grown your own vegies I can tell you there is nothing like home grown!!

Well last week I had some visitors in the backyard, one of the quirks of living where I do and for 2 weeks running the local kangaroos came to visit every morning and afternoon. This particular day it was raining (actually it had been raining on and off for about 10 days) but I took the shots anyway hoping to take some better ones the next day, ofcourse they didn't turn up and haven't since then, they must have known I'd be waiting... lol!

Well better go and put our fire on as I can't believe how cold it is, had to put a thick jacket on just to hang up the clothes......Take care! Maryann

Give it a go.

Well I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time now, but never did because I thought who would want to read about my boring life! I love reading other peoples blogs (when I find the time, which is another reason I didn't start one... time!) and looking at the pretty pictures they post. But you know what happens when you have this nagging voice in your head about something, you finally end up doing it! I am not much of a computer whiz but I thought, give it a go anyway.
My life is pretty busy, between sewing, cleaning and gardening. I live on a 5 acre property in a cottage looking house and after 8 years there is still lots to be done. This year, finally, we will be adding on an extension to the front of the house consisting of a hallway with a front door..yep I didn't even have one, with a formal lounge on one side and main bedroom on the other. The hallway will go into the rest of the existing house. I am just waiting for plans to go through council so once we start I will post some pics. It will be pretty much a hands on job, but I am already an expert at painting walls, mixing cement and laying pavers!! I can't wait for it to be done, as I already have this massive crystal chandelier and beautiful ornate fire place surround just waiting to be on display.
Anyway, for those of you who might be interested, I will try to find the time to keep this blog up, but between 2 teenage kids, who just live on the computer and every day life, its not going to be easy. Take care! Maryann