week end project..

Yes, we've finally started! The builder came the next day and got stuck right into it. Pier holes were dug, using a jackhammer as I have a lot of stone, and I tell you that jackhammer was music to my ears!! lol! Cement was poured and bricks were laid. Tomorrow the builder should start on bearers and joists and then the floor. Its all happening, timber for the frame was delivered and I think I am really starting to get excited now. This weekend I started a project that has been on my list since forever. At the lower part of my driveway just where my hedges finish is a part where it opens up onto grass, see pic below. Now its not a pretty site as there is an old wall which was part of a very old house that used to be on this land a long long time ago. We kept the wall and never did anything with it but we had the dog kennel sitting just infront of it and I have like a potting area behind it. Everytime I used to drive down I used to think... gee how I hate this corner! Well this weekend I finally did something about it. I got hubby to help me move the kennel behind the wall so its hidden when you drive in. Now for this wall??? what to do? then it hit me... I have always liked the french courtyard theme, with terracotta pots, shutters, grapevines etc. This is the before photo, and soon I will post the after. Now the after won't be completely finished as I need to lay some pavers where the grass hasn't grown but I have already decorated the wall, and painted some old shutters that I have had for ages.

But for inspiration I found some pics I thought you might like to see...

Love the fountain in this one and the arched windows,, shutters above..

Pretty pots of colour and cafe style seating, loving the cremes in this.

Love the water feature and scrolly chairs and urns..

Love the trailing ivy and gorgeous blue door.. hopefully if the wind dies down tomorrow as we are having shocking gale force winds here, I will post some pics of my little french courtyard.. to be continued... take care, Maryann

Not happy Jan!.....

Well today is the 23rd of Sept and our builder was supposed to start on the 21st. I knew there was a chance he may start on the 22nd as he had to go overseas for 2 wks and may have a bit of jet lag. But he called up on the 22nd and said he was sick! Now I know through experience that nothing ever goes smoothly when it comes to building but I am so dissappointed I cannot tell you. I hope this is not a sign of things to come... anyways.... below are some pics of how I would like to do the retaining wall in my front yard. As we had to cut into the land we have stepped the soil so it is in 2 sections so I don't have 1 flat wall. I think it looks so much prettier like this. I am also lucky enough to have natural sandstone on my land way down the back amongst the bush. I will be encorporating some steps infront of the house and also either side so you can get up from each angle.

I've been pretty busy sewing and have listed some xmas ballerina stockings on ebay and will be listing some more shabby ones in the next week or so. thought I'd get in early this year since I have a habit of leaving everything till the last minute! Hope you are all well ladies.. take care, Maryann

What a dream ...!?

Well this is very unlike me to have 2 posts 1 day apart but I just had to tell you about the weirdest dream I had and if I don't do it today I know I will start to forget bits and pieces.





In my dream I went to see Rachel Ashwell!! Yep, weird, wait it gets even better! I also had one of my cushions in my hand. So I entered her house which was only a small (1 room) bottom floor apartment. I went there to see if she would like to go into partnership and tried to commence showing her my cushion!! She seemed to be distracted and only paying a little attention in my opinion. So I kept trying but realised she was too busy with her baby! See, I told you it was weird!


She didn't have the time to dedicate to me and she commenced vaccuming the rug which looked to me liked bubble wrap with pretty flowers printed on it. She vaccumed the top and then the floor underneath it which was cement. Then I noticed that there were 2 men there which I thought were her managers. So I proceeded to speak to one with no luck and then the other, whom after I looked closely at realised it was Dennis Quade (the actor!) Why he entered my dream I don't know, I like the guy but I could have thought of lots of other actors to be in my dream, like Brad Pitt! Anyway they told me basically about it not being possible bla bla bla, can't remember the exact words so I left. Got into my little red car, which in real life I don't have, but found it very hard to drive till I realised there was a pram stuck on one side, so I put my hand out the window to try and get it unstuck, but was extremely hard.


Do you think there is a message in this dream?





I have to let you in on a little secret though. I do have a dream, a vision.....


Apart from the dream of my kids always being happy and healthy, the dream of my house being finished, I also have a dream that one day I will have my own brand of soft furnishings in the shops.... ... I vision myself walking into Target, into the furnishings section and there I can see all my pretty cushions, lamps, quilts etc. with my name on them!! There.. it's out there now! I once saw on Oprah (don't you love her!) a show on dreams I think, and basically if you put all your dreams and hopes as a visual, as pics on a board it helps to send the dream out into the world and helps to make them come true! Well this blog is my board.. for the world to see, to send out the vibes to go where they may! I have thought about doing this post for a while now, but this dream finally pushed me to do it. Even though it may never happen.. like my dream suggests, it's still nice to dream!! Do you have a dream?????????? Have a great dreamy day, Maryann

Garden surprises...

I love my garden. I picture myself when I'm 70 pottering in the garden with a big floppy hat and pretty gloves planting flowers and seedlings till my heart's content. But for now I have to put in all the hard work. This first pic is of a herb garden I have started underneath this tree. I have found it difficult to grow anything here as the soil is so dry but I have added some clay soil, which holds moisture and a bag of cow manure.. hope this does the trick. I know it doesn't look like much at the moment but I'll take pics again in a few months time. I have planted rosemary, parsley, basil, dill, thyme and mint. This happens to be right underneath my kitchen window so thought it was the ideal spot! I feel so happy when I walk through my garden, especially now that spring has sprung! so many pretty flowers and colours. I also like to decorate my garden by adding the usual ornaments, bird hangers, bird baths, statues etc. But what I like the best is the unexpected..

like this vintage sewing machine...

and this old typewriter. Gee I hope this wasn't one of those garage sale finds that's worth a mint and here I've just thrown it in the garden... oh well!

At the moment I'm on the hunt for some lavender. I didn't realise how many different types there are. I want to make a hedge about 8 metres long where my buxus hedges finish along the driveway. I'm after some with really blue flowers not purple or pink. I was amazed to find at the garden centre white lavender! There are some pretty ones out now called lavender lace. Will let you know what I end up getting, but I don't want to rush into it as I already had a hedge of baby marguerites planted there and pulled them all out as I wasn't happy with them. I ended up planting them elsewhere so they didn't go to waste. Nothing much is happening with my extension at the moment. We have decided to give the job to a builder... HALLELUHA.. to lock up stage then we will finish the inside. Thing is they can't start till the 21st but should have it done in 3-4 wks. Ok gals, keep well, sorry if I haven't visited for a while, Maryann

My forever changing home...

I thought I would do a quick post about my home.. which is forever changing. It's forever changing because it's no where near how I would like it to be. I had planned to wait till it was all done before I started posting pics, but thought ' what the heck ' so you can see the transformations as I go along.
I still haven't put up my light fittings in most of my rooms (even though I have them all) except for the dining room. I just love my cherub chandelier!! Would you believe I found this at a garage sale! This is actually made of bronze but of course, gave it the white makeover. After I purchased this, I had seen one in a lighting shop for around $350.. you know how much I got it for.?....... $20!! My heart skipped a beat when hubby, who actually saw if first, lifted it out of the box and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the cherubs and the pink glass beaded thingies,, just can't remember what they're called! That timber table is also going, hopefully I can use it on a pergola as it has a terracotta tiled top and raffia seats. I had purchased that for my other house when I was all into that blue and terracotta look. I have another vintage dining table sitting in the garage for the last 2 years just waiting to be made over and still haven't got round to it..
I love my kitchen, which we put in about 5 years ago, I think the pink blind will be going and replacing with something white. I have a white scrolly light fitting, which stupid me asked hubby to unwire so I could use it as a candle holder, now I want it rewired so I can put that in my kitchen. If you look closely in the pic where my green table is on the veranda you can see it hanging in the background. My ceilings are not high, so that is my only concern, will I be making the ceiling look lower? I know it would look great though! My walls at the moment are painted a pale yellow, by dulux called 'seduction'.. what a name! hey hey! Probably why I picked it! jokes aside.. I picked it before I fell in love with the shabby look.. so that will be changing too, probably to a creamy white as I love the look of white on white.
I find that I like different styles of decorating.. not just shabby chic, even though its my favourite! I definately love the pastel colours and a nice and light, fresh look! I also love the french inspired look, with all the scrolly metal and fancy furniture.. I am hoping to incorporate some of this in my formal lounge.. am thinking all white with gold accents and perhaps touches of blue. No pink for this room. I also like the shabby cottage look... so am thinking of doing this in my bedroom. So as you can see I like quite a number of different looks and this will probably show in my home when its done....can't, can't wait! They say good things come to those who wait and I have waited 8 years so I am expecting super great things.. lol!!
At the bottom of my blog I have posted a slideshow of parts of my home so far, so this will be changing as I go along. I have to say since I started blogging I have come across some wonderful pics of houses and rooms that have definately helped me realise what I really like!! thanks ladies, your pics are truly inspiring!! take care and have a lovely week ahead, Maryann

Saturday finds..

One of my favourite things to do is treasure hunting! I go to garage sales, markets whenever possible, vinnies, etc etc... Sometimes I don't find anything, which is really disappointing, sometimes I might find one or two things, which is really good and sometimes you hit the jackpot.



Well I think this week I hit the jackpot... I managed to get all sorts of things.. I found these gorgeous trios .. I have a fetish for trios and have them everywhere. A very nice lamp and these are sitting on a lovely shaped plant stand which I think I may use as a little table to go with 2 french scrolly boudoir chairs that I already have.. to sit on my front verandah when its built. I also found more crockery some of which will go on ebay. I just love the other garden stand they are sitting on and I will also be painting this white eventually and am thinking of using this in my dining room as a phone table or it might even go in my lounge room when its built with a beautiful big old fashioned fern on it .. will have to wait and see. I just love anything iron and scrolly and even if they are meant for outside doesn't mean I can't enjoy them inside!

This next find is a brass frame which was originally a mirror. I fell in love with this instantly and will go in Lisa's bedroom when its finished. Its going to be a memory board. She's been wanting one for a while, so we were very happy when we found it. It will also be painted white with some pretty ticking fabric for the board.

I also found this scrolly phone table/stool. I just love it! Can't wait to do it up but for now will have to wait as this will be going in my hallway. The pretty little brass mirror is also for Lisa. She's been eyeing my one that I have in my bedroom, which is bigger than this one, so she was very happy when we found another. Also found a vintage metal hat box. I was thinking of painting this pink and having it open with scarves, gloves spilling over.. Lisa suggested to use it as a planter box with pretty flowers in it for the garden. Not a bad idea either, I suppose it depends on how well it turns out.

I was also lucky enough to find this boudoir chair! I have always wanted one. The fabric ofcourse will have to go. I'm not sure yet whether to get it professionally reupholstered or just make a slip cover myself. This will definately be going in my bedroom!!

I managed to make this ballerina bag as well for an order. Turned out really sweet. Will be making another one soon to put on ebay.

When I make over all my finds will post some pics so you can see them finished but it may not be for a while as some will have to wait till my extensions are done, so for now I have to find more space to store them in and that is not an easy task! Ok back to sewing... take care, Maryann