Thursday already????????

O.K what happened to the week???

I think I missed it as I woke up today and it's already Thursday. I have been so busy at work, starting at 8a.m and not getting home until I get the children of the bus...I am home a little early today though and I will be getting some mowing done....Until then here are the rooms I haven't shown yet.These are the last of the photos to show you . Above is the hall stand I moved into the Family room and below is the new table I bought to replace it.
Below is the entry..I love this room as it is a good size room that you walk in from the front door. The corner cabinet was my Nana's. One day I would love to get it restored, I have thought about painting it white only I think my Mother would kill me....

My bed used to be under this window, so I moved it to under the other window.

My poor bed has nearly had it. Over the years it has been welded a number of times, one morning I am going to wake up on the floor, then I will know it's time to get a new one....

I haven't changed the bathroom or laundry, I did change a cabinet in the kitchen though. Real shame about the bathroom though...I'm sure when it gets it' s clean next week I will be able to arrange something different..

Blessings to all,

Mandy

Spring Cleaning.....

I have been busy over the week-end spring cleaning. I know it was late as I normally do this in September, but I haven't felt like it until now.
I felt I have needed to get in and really clean......I have cleaned out all the cupboards, and I now have some cupboards that are empty..I think I am going to have a garage sale with every-thing I don't want any more...The above photos are of the family room. I have brought the other lounge chair down here now so there is more sitting room. I even took the hall stand from the hallway and put it down here.It is in the above photo near the door. Of course I had to by a new one!!!!!


Below is the dinning room....Not any-more it's not..

Now it is the Lounge room!!!!!!

O.K I also decided to change rooms around. Yes the dinning room is now the Lounge Room and I think it looks great. The room seems so much bigger as well. This room comes of the kitchen and opens onto the veranda. As a dinning room it was always to small when we had all the family home.

You are probably wondering where the dinning room has gone??

Above is the sideboard from the entry...yep even that room got a make over.

This is the sideboard from the Dinning room that is now in the new dinning room.

Below is the lounge room as it used to be.

It's now the dinning room.....Are you confused yet????

For years I have wanted to do this but was always a little unsure..It is the best decision I have made regarding the house..I now have a formal dinning room and it is so big..I will be able to fit 8-10 chairs around this table...The table came down from my sewing room, it is wider than the other one. I even bought some new dinning room chairs..Red and white leather ones..There is still four red ones to come yet. I haven't had comfy dinning chairs for about 10 years. I had lovely antique bentwood ones but they just aren't all that comfy. I will sell them in the garage sale as well.

What do you think????Tomorrow I will show you some more rooms, but I think this is enough for one day. If you click on spring cleaning you will see these rooms as they were last year..

Now I have to get back to the last of the cleaning...

Blessings

Mandy

Garden update.....

All is going well with the garden here. Each morning I am getting out in the garden for an hour as planned, this is making the day so much more enjoyable...The retainer wall around the septic trench is almost finished, Handy Andy has been hard at work getting this done for me. The vege garden is on hold for a bit longer until all the rest of the work is done. I don't mind to much as I don't know when I would get the time to attend to it. Next year will be different and the vege garden will be ready by then.I do have veges growing in amidst my other plants so this will do for now....

It is starting to warm up outside today, I think it is going to be a hot one..A good day to wash the car and get wet..We have some tank water in our main tank that I have to use as it has been tainted from the jacaranda flowers when we got the rain last week.. This is only the second time it has happened in 20 years..The water goes brown and stinks...So we will wash all the cars and empty it and pump our last tank over from the shed..I am thankful that the house tank is nearly empty...

Have a great day all, Blessings
Mandy

Week-end Catch-up......

Thanks for all the uplifting comments from Fridays post, you Ladies all know how to make me feel better...and I am feeling much better after a wonderful relaxing week-end.

Saturday saw me get all the mowing done and NO wiper snipering.....No matter how much I sweared at it, it would not start. I decided to do the edges by hand and shovel. Every-thing is looking neat and tidy now.

Saturday we all went to a Trivia night at church,,It was a lot of fun, I helped out with supper, It was such a fun night and I got to meet some new people which is what I wanted to do..> Sunday morning we slept in till 8a.m and then off to church. I love that our church doesn't start till 9:30a.m as we get to sleep in.... A lady from our church gave her testimony....boy it was powerful. Deb was diagnosed with bowl cancer 18 mths ago. www.livinggracetoowoomba.org if you are interested go to the link and hear her.....

In the afternoon my 2 older nephews came down to spend time with Robbie and William, they all had a wonderful time in the pool....These young men could have been out doing any-thing instead they choose to be with there younger cousins....To me this is what family is about...seeing a need and doing something about it..Thank you boys...

While they were swimming I managed to get some cooking done which was wonderful. I put on an apron and did my best Nigella impersonation..Then it was of to Greg's youngest brothers place for tea. It did seem a little strange at first to be there without Greg..Another first I suppose, but we all had a lovely bar-b-cue for tea and the children had a good time playing together...How was your week-end????


I love Mondays, getting in and getting the housework done, that 1 day a week when the house is sparkly and clean, until 4p.m that is...I got an hour in the garden this morning before starting inside. I am going to do an hour each morning before I go to work, starting my day with gardening will have to make for a more relaxed day...



I'm going to make some lunch and do some blog reading.

Blessing to all.

Mandy

A pity party......

I am missing my life. Now I know that seems a strange statement to make so let me explain.. Each morning I wake up and rush and get ready to go to the workshop, then it is all a blur until it's time to get the children from school. Then there is some shopping to do for tea, rush home help with homework and get tea ready... Today I have stopped...........

I don't even recognize myself any-more. I have run out of hand made soap and I love making soap......Baking ha, these days I don't have time. Gardening double ha and as for sewing, what's that??? Now you see why I called this post "Pity party" cause boy am I feeling awfully sorry for myself. I suppose I am missing my old life, my life as Greg's wife or as he used to joke Mrs Happy Homemaker.. I know that life never stays the same, because life is a journey. It's just that I feel that I am being forced along this path and I can't go back.

So things have to change...I know there are so many working Mums out there and you all manage to juggle every-thing, well give me some tips....

I do know that as a Christian God is in control of my life, and I also am a firm believer in that good will come from every situation, I just can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and when I do see it, it happens to be an oncoming train.......

I need to get myself into a healthier routine...I'm thinking......I will try going into work later in the day so a get a couple of hours in at home first..I know that as I'm learning more I am getting work done faster at the shop, and I need to be there over lunch time. I will see how the next week goes as I try this... I am feeling better already after having a rant.....Thanks for listening not that you had a choice....lol

Above is the 20 sleepers I got on Monday, soon they will be a lovely retainer wall around the septic pit. See how green the grass is after the wonderful rain we have had...This week-end I will get out and pull some weeds while the ground is still damp. I also have to learn how to use the wiper sniper, now I don't have any luck with this piece of machinery as I can never get it started and if I do the string breaks against the sandstone edging....I think may-be I should invest in a smaller one instead of trying to use Greg's big one...I'll give it another shot , but don't be surprised to see me in the Bunnings on Saturday afternoon.....

Have a safe and blessed week-end

Mandy

It rained!!!!!!

Isn't this a pretty picture? It is the path from the courtyard to the back garden. Honestly sometimes when I look at photos on my blog I have to go and have another look as they never look as good in real life as they do in photo form.Before I weeded this path you couldn't see the steeping stones or even the end of the path for grass and he branches on the Mulberry tree. Wish I had of remembered to take a before photo! Now we can walk through there without being attacked by branches.... After I got the path all nice and cleared I went into Gatton to get the sleepers. When I got there they said I could only take 10 at a time because of the weight!!!! O.K I should have realized that. Got home with the first 10 unloaded them.uuuugggghhhhh that's me grunting as I got the railway sleepers of the back of the ute...Then back again to get another 10. Of course driving past best friends place for the 3rd time thought I had better stop for a cuppa.... By this time it is raining and storming, so the dog is sitting in the front of the ute with me...I'm telling you I looked just like a hillbilly. Gave Bronwyn a good laugh any way, just what she needed as she was in bed with a headache and needed cheering up ...glad to be of help. By the time I got back home it was well and truly raining, so I didn't unload the other sleepers till this morning.. My right arm is so sore it hurts to move the mouse.....really....It will be worth it when the retaining wall is done..

This is the sight I woke up to this morning, a purple front yard, isn't it so pretty. Last night we got 40mls of rain !!!!! We sure do need it as my tank was just about empty again and we are very water wise here..I have neighbors that have been buying water for months now. The rain was so heavy that the gutters were running over. This afternoon Robbie and I have o get on the roof to clean all the gutters out as the jacaranda flowers taint the water and we are for cast to get some more.

Meet the newest member of the family, Mindy. This is Williams kitten she is only 6 weeks old and so tiny and playful.

This morning I am going to craft. I haven't been since Greg has been gone. I have decided it's time to stop hiding at home and the workshop and to get out...I don't know why I am finding it so hard as I love people and my friends...So this week is new beginnings for me. On Sunday I was invited to a ladies group on Wednesday afternoon so I am going to that as well...I know Greg wouldn't want me sitting around feeling sorry for myself... So I'll have a quick cuppa and chat with the girls and get to the workshop in time for lunch...The boys lunch that is not mine as I won't need any after craft...

First I have to pull the carpet up in the office here...Look at the stains on it. This is the last room left to do, all right I won't do it Know but guess what I'm doing on Saturday????

Blessings to all...

Mandy

Awards Night....

Come on you new they were coming these photos...Alanah also got an award. The photo of her is even worse than these photos and I have been getting in enough trouble for putting horrible photos on my blog of her...I think she checks it every day and than proceeds to moan and groan about it...Any one want a 17 yr old, going cheap!!!!! No really I don't mean it ( I have to say that don't I)

Only a quick post today as I'm about to go to Gatton and pick up my railway sleepers for the retaining walls. I think I will need to do a couple of trips...

Blessings to all,
Mandy