Hello!

Spring is nearly here and I have been spending a lot of time in the garden.

Also taking cuttings and getting a head start with them in the glass house.

Bruce has been busy putting windows into our out door area. They can all open and will keep the rain out so we can still use this space.

We did a market in our little local town last week end.

It was a Heritage festival and there was lots to do..Bruce enjoyed taking the grandies on rides..

I think Harry loved it as well.

  I have had the crocheting bug and making every one rugs..

The one below I made Chloe for her birthday.

I prefer the long ones my self as I can use them more, but the round is very popular.

We had some great rain last night so I'm out to weed the garden....

Enjoy your week...

Mandy

A New (old) Shed.....

Yippie its raining!!!!
We so need the rain here like most parts of Australia...

We are very blessed as we seem to always have some green grass from the grey water, but when it rains it is so much greener.

We have been getting some cementing done....A lot of cementing. The car shed was always dirt and very dusty and grubby.

It took 3 truck loads of cement and two week ends of work but it is now all done.

To say I am a little excited is a under statement as I have waited 25 years to have this done.

We used to have a paved courtyard at the back door which I loved...The pavers got pulled up and it is now cemented from the back door down to the drive way.

As you can see above the wall has been pulled down between the courtyard and shed. This has opened the whole area up and let so much more light in.

This will now be our main entertaining area, which with my sized family I sure do need.....

Yep family dinners we have outgrown the kitchen......

Enjoy your week and may you be getting this much needed rain.

Out side.....

I am loving this beautiful winter sunshine we are getting.

I am getting so many odd jobs done..
Today I worked outside and got the veranda and courtyard cleaned.
If you look closely you can see I have had to board up the side steps.
I couldn't stand the dogs up here any longer, arghhh puppies and dog hair, honestly my veranda was starting to smell like a dog kennel.

The veranda really needs a good staining on the floor boards before spring as they are getting very faded.

Next it was out to the courtyard and a good clean up out here.
We still use out here through the day on week ends and every thing needed a good clean.

This area is the go between from the back door to the car shed so it tends to be the dumping ground for shoes.

Now all I need to do is get out and cobweb the house on the out side. That is a bigger job though and I'm putting it off.
It is school holidays here for the next 3 weeks so things are a bit more relaxed..
Will and I are having late mornings in bed and lots of chilling time together.

Have a great week all

Mandy

Getting Ready..........

 

First of all, I have no idea how the big picture of the veranda got onto my last post....

I bet I couldn't get a picture to that again if I tried..

Hahaha

But now My New outdoor room.

 

We are getting ready for Spring here only 2 more sleeps..

So it is time to get in and get the outdoor areas ready, first on the list was the courtyard, this area is between the back of the house and the car shed. Well now

there is now a roof on the courtyard yeahhhhhhh. This is something that has been needed for a while as when it rains this whole area is a pool of water. With Spring comes the warmer weather and the need to be outside, this area is now all weather proof.

 

 

I spent the morning foofing around out here, still a way to go but it is looking like an outdoor room.

It will be used this week end as I am having all the Grand babies at home, and there parents of course...This will be the first time they will all be together, I am so looking forwarding to having my family around, even though there will be one short. ALANAH it is time to come home we are all missing you....Things won't be the same with out Alanah here as she is definitely the clown of the family with her amazing sense of humor and constant smile....Love you Lana bear....

 

 

 

The chairs above are ones my dear neighbor Pam gave me all they needed were some cushion's to make them nice and comfy.

 

Now when it rains we will be able to walk from the shed to the back door with out getting wet.

 

I love getting ready for Spring......

What do you do to get ready for the warmer months????As for those of you just coming into Autumn I bet your looking forward to the cooler weather....

 

Have a great week end all.....

 

Blessings

Mandy

The Old Shed...

Wednesday greetings, and yes Wednesday already and I haven't shown you what we did on the week end.

I am making a few changes to The Old Dairy.

Above is the front of the Dairy and the guest quarters, below is the shed at the back. I have always had plans for this shed.

Other then having somewhere to park the mower.

  I have always seen this area as an outside kitchen and living area and then the old dairy will just be used for sleeping.(no more craft room) 

BUT The inside....O my

My darling Greg used this as a dumping ground and his little sons are no better. Poly pipe, wood, steel, push bikes etc I think you get the picture.

 O and lets not forget motor bikes

So that is what this shed looked like before. A mess. So we got to cleaning it all out, it is now empty. Why ?you ask...

My youngest daughter Cassandra turned 16 on Sunday...Below you can see her and her new  birthday pressie...

Meet Chili the Tapoddle. But also I have always given my girls a sweet 16th birthday party. Cassie wanted a bush themed party. Now what better place to have it than in the old shed.

So we cleared and we cleaned and we cleaned some more.

Until

it was all empty.(cold beer here)

.

 OK so now it just looks like an empty shed(which it is) but boy do I have plans...

This shed is going to become our main entertaining area. The above area I am turning into a outdoor kitchen. Below will be the shed for parties.

I have been having fun getting this shed ready for 30 16yr olds on Saturday night.(twitch twitch)

It only has a dirt floor so we got hold of some old carpet hessian side up and tar dar a floor.

I have been bringing in furniture and decorating it all for a bush theme...

It is starting to look good, I will show you it all decorated when it is finished.

Now I need a name to call this area.

The Old Shed????

hmmmm    any suggestions at all?

Let me know what you think...

Blessings

Mandy

Ramblings....

It's that time of the year again when eating outside is so much cooler than being indoors.

 I am thinking though that my courtyard needs a little bit of TLC. It isn't a big area and the table takes up most of the room. When we have the barby going there is another table out here as well for the food to go on. I think it just needs a good revamp and clean after not being used for a while.

 I have cleaned up the side of the house leading up to the court yard, so that's a start isn't it? It is a bit cooler today with the promise of rain so a good day to make over the court yard.

The Christmas decorations are slowly coming out. They too are looking a little sad  and well old, no tatty is a better word. sighhhhh.

I started my Christmas shopping yesterday so hopefully that will get me into the Christmas spirit. The last couple of years I seem to have lost my Christmas Mojo. Decorating seems like a chore instead of a joy, boy I sound like the Christmas grump..

What I need is some Christmas craft to get me into the mood I think...and may be some Christmas cooking...For now I'm going to see what Christmas decorating is going on in blog world...

Blessings

Mandy

Getting Ready For The Big Trip, but first some gardening.

I have been working on the garden up at my little hideaway/dairy, it is coming along nicely. I t does look like I have lost a apple tree up here though, I'm not sure what has happened to it as the leaves and fruit have died and fallen off.The grass still hasn't grown back out side the back door.aghhhhhh

The weeds are growing a treat as you can see. Last week end I sprayed weed & feed all over the area and the weeds are dying, so hopefully the grass will be back soon.

Yep green all around. I did get lawn grubs in other parts of the yard but as I new what was happening I sprayed straight away and the grass didn't die.

The fruit trees are looking good with all the rain we had.

Below is my potting shed, but two young boys have taken it over, well while Mummy is working at the dairy they will be cleaning this mess up. O and football is a bye this week so Robbie has all Saturday. Now let me tell you he was excited yep he moaned, and groaned and I think there was rolling of the eyes....but he new it was a losing battle.

This next week is going to be busy.. On Saturday the 26 th March I am flying off to Vietnam for 2 weeks. This will be my first over seas trip. So I have a week to get every thing I need ready.

Work will be OK as I have Alanah in charge there, O and the best news is I have a new guy starting today...Alanah thinks he is cute, I won't comment as he is as old as my son and well that is wrong!!! Any way now that work is all going well I will be able to enjoy my holiday. I was almost not going to go, but things have a way of working out at the last minute.

Two wonderful weeks of trekking through Vietnam with your best friend, we are going to have so much fun. O and you should see me in my hiking boots, what a sight. I have been wearing them on my morning walk for the last couple of weeks to wear them in, really Chloe laughs at me all the time. Yep getting excited all right....

But first I better get to work and make sure the cute new guy is working hard....

hahahaha

Blessing to all

Mandy

Back to work..

Back to work yesterday, and what a big day. I suppose i have been gone for 3 weeks and there's lots of catching up to do.

These two photos are of a Hibiscus plant a got yesterday for the new deck. They are called "disco belle" The flowers are so big and beautiful, that I couldn't leave them there.The plant itself is a dwarf hibiscus so will do really well in pots.
I got this sweet table and chair setting from my local hardware man, but the plants and pots are from Bunnings. I don't want to put to much on the deck as it is really for the clothesline and we don't want sheets and plants fighting...

In the evening this is where you'll find me sitting. The old clothesline goes next week, and I will soon be planting in the garden around the cubby house. I do love to have different sitting areas for different times of the day and yes even different seasons.

Work again today, I am still enjoying work and the challenges it brings in running a workshop. There is still some small changes to be made to run it more efficiently but I'm getting there.

Have a great day all...

Blessings

Mandy.