Author Archives: zefiart

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About zefiart

Blogger, DIY-er, poodle lover, graphic designer, dog groomer, recycler, artist, wonder woman in my spare time.

dances with spiders

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Its been a long hard week. There were all kinds of exciting things happening at home:

We got our new gutters. With a bonus new leak over the front door, inside the mudroom-to-be. Now it seems we can pee without getting our feet wet, but we still need an umbrella to get to the toilet.

Hopefully that will be fixed on Tuesday when the roofing men come to finish the flashing.*

We have new ‘austerity measures’ at home now due the tenants moving out of my house in Fentonbury next month. With them gone we will be broke paying off two mortgages, but I can clean up the place and actually be able to present it to potential buyers as a home I’m proud of. I believe the tenants were a major reason we lost the sale the way we did. I will move back in and keep the house clean, neat, tidy and welcoming and I believe I will find someone who loves it as much as I do.

We have a new front door. Or should I say old new front door. I went looking at tip shops this week to find a new door for the mud room. Due to the austerity measures I couldn’t buy a new door cause they’re over $300. Anyway, I wanted a farm door. A door with character.

I found one I was sort of happy with for $25 at one tip shop, but it had a plywood veneer and we hate that stuff. Especially for an external door. I figured I could change that but still… Then I saw another, much bigger and totally solid timber door. This one was $60 and was an 1920s deco door. Yeah. That was nicer, and who doesn’t love solid timber. But again, it wasn’t quite right. Not for $60. I’m becoming a cheapscate.

Then at the last minute I found my door. It was at the South Hobart tip shop.The front is panelled (which I love) and when I put in 2 glass panes, the windows will give me the light I wanted in the mud room. Best of all, I got it for $20!

We’ve put the door on top of the kitchen table I’m meant to be doing up as the door is more important than the table. The plan is to get started on it tomorrow.

I wanted to get started today but we decided to make it a tip day. We went for a trip to the tip to get rid of the unsightly pile of rubbish I’d been collecting near the wood shed. Sad when our fun outing for the day was a trip to the tip. At least the tip in New Norfolk has the best views!

Then we made a trip up to the bush at the back of our property to get some firewood. This involved gettng into Blue, Wayne’s decrepid old 4×4 which backfires more than it drives giving us whiplash, then, pulling my old trailer behind us, drive out onto the road then up the neighbour’s driveway, up an overgrown old track and through a hole in our fence back onto our land and our own overgrown track. (We haven’t been able to afford to fix our original fix on the ford so we can use our own road to the top of our property).

We have plenty of firewood up there. Wayne felled two dead trees yesterday and today I went up to help him chop and load the trailer. Love the great outdoors. Hate the spiders!

I had a huntsman on my shoulder at one stage. I smacked it off, then danced around in the ferns waving my T-shirt over my head screetching like a girl at the top of my lungs. Wayne’s disappointed he missed that.


(In deference to aracnophobe readers, the image of the spider has been removed)

So, having displaced a few huntsmen today, we have a stack of firewood. At least one week’s worth. Now we just have to get another 433 loads to get us through winter.

Sure, we left our run a bit late. But its not like we’ve been sitting on our butts, is it?

This having our own firewood and not needing to buy sure has its downside…  

z

*The porch was a great idea and one inspired by the decision to sell my house in Fentonbury. As things tend to do, this one thing lead to another. (Like my gardening in Melbourne: I trimmed the ivy in the back yard then had to replace the fence when it collapsed once the ivy was removed.) Building has a deck necessitated new gutters. In hindsight, spending money on the deck and enclosing the porch to create a mudroom could have waited till my house was sold… but then I thought I ‘its rented, I’ll sell it, we will manage fine’. Hightsight is a good thing.

memory like a sieve

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Used to be, years ago, I had a reputation as being the only one in our family who always remembered to send birthday cards and maintain contact with friends far away.

That was back when we wrote letters using actual pen and paper!

Now that I have Facebook, email, mobile phones and technology at my fingertips I can’t seem to remember anyone’s birthday. Not Wayne’s, not even my own at times. Its like once technology stepped in, my brain stepped out.

So, when I saw this birthday calendar idea on Pinterest, I thought I must make one!

Birthday calendar

However, I couldn’t just copy that one. I had to make my own. I gave it some thought, decided how I was going to do it, then did something completely different.

Only kidding. My first plan had been to find a nice old frame, buy some pinboard material, then paint it up and use pins to add birthdays.

What I did was based on that but adapted when I found an old framed corkboard at a tip shop a couple of weeks ago.

As usual, I didnt take any photos of the ‘before’… Trust me. It was pretty ordinary. It was a lavender painted frame with corkboard in the middle. Nothing special and with a few flaws in the frame.

And I apologise for the bad photos. I was having a bad photo day.

Step 1: I undercoated the whole thing, cork and frame.

Step 2: I painted the cork a light beige colour I had in a sample pot. Twice.

Step 3: I painted the frame limed white from another sample pot. Twice.

Step 4: After the paint had dried I drew a grid, having divided the width of the corkboard into 12 parts, and then drew lines across as well to create boxes. Not so easy when you’re mathematically challenged, the calculator is in the house and you’re too lazy to go up and get it.

Step 5: I painted each of the squares in a darker colour, leaving a fine line of cream showing through between them. I had to paint them twice as well.

Step 6: I painted every second line a different shade, again, thank you sample pots! Two coats.

I then remembered that I didnt actually need boxes, just stripes. So I painted over the lines.

Step 7: I wasn’t too happy with the shiny look of the paint so I sanded it back a bit. It took the shine off on the corkboard which was good. Then I sanded back the frame a bit too. It allowed some of the lavender to show through, as well as some of the timber. That’s fine as I planned to use other colours on the calender.
 

Step 8: I used my brand new stencil to paint the letters for each month. I used a dry brush and burnt umber artist acrylic to achieve a sort of uneven finish.

Step 9: I sacrificed one of my many paint swatch catalogues, cutting up the colours I liked. Using a black marker and my diary for reference, I started putting a number (for the day) and a name of each swatch. I then used some cool pins I’d bought at Officeworks last week to pin each birthday into the corresponding month.

Step 10: I found a spot to hang it where I might see it and be reminded of upcoming birthdays before I have to apologise for forgetting!

 I’m pretty pleased with myself. Thats one of my ‘Things I want to try when I have the time’ items off my list! Only about 546 to go…

However, I did manage to do a few other things over the weekend despite the miserable weather. It poured. Not as bad as the floods in NSW, but it rained enough to flood our toilet again.

I’m kinda over wading in to go to the loo.

I think the guys managed to fix the problem on the weekend by putting in a new long sheet of corregated roofing iron. I’m glad. I did manage to refrain from asking why this wasn’t done in the first place…

I was polite and thankful.

So, this is what I did: I organised my workshop! Its now neat and clean and organised and I can use it. I hung all my paint brushes and scrapers etc with jute string onto an old rake head.

I screwed two old drawers to the wall as shelves and screwed jars to the top to hold odds and ends. I put a trestle table between the windows as a work bench. This used to be the shearing shed, as you can see the fences are still partly there. We decided to keep them.

I have an old office desk as an extra work bench on the other side and some old kitchen cabinets to hold tools and ‘stuff’.

When there aren’t enough shelves an old coffee table on top of the cabinet creates that extra space! I have old crates under the table (framing tools in one, crafting odds and ends in the other) and a collection of tins and other stuff on top for other projects I might do one day.

You can see the birthday calendar drying too! 🙂 That’s Step 1.

Well… my workshopWAS neat and clean for a day, till I started my next project – concurrent with the birthday calendar only a lot more optimistic. My new kitchen table! But more on that later.

z

the dog compromise

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My dogs live in the house. They are part of the family. In Fentonbury they had their own bedroom but here they sleep in the living room, on the couch or armchairs. But then, they’re poodles and they don’t shed.

Wayne’s dogs shed. Lots.

I hate dog hair. I hate cat hair even more, but since I don’t have cats thats not an issue.

Ever since I’ve had dogs I’ve had containment areas for them in the house. In Fentonbury I had a combination of gates to keep dogs in or out of areas of the house. Nothing as banal as baby gates for this little chickie.

I made my own gates using materials I found or had on hand. Old shed doors, old doors, gates, crib sides. You name it, I’ve probably used it.

Here are some of my dog gates, both in Fentonbury and here at the farm.

First is the old door I brought over from Melbourne. This was the door on the bathroom in my house there. It had a large frosted glass panel in it originally. I replaced the door with a regular one and had this just sitting there. You can see it below on the room which was the dog’s bedroom.

One day I was walking down the street when I saw this old gate tossed on the pile to be collected by the council. I grabbed it of course. What self respecting DIY-er would let something like a wrought iron gate go to the tip?

I got the carpenter who was at my house putting in new door frames and a new floor to board up half the door and insert the gate into the middle of it. I LOVED it. Ok, so I didn’t do the hard work myself, but it was my idea! And I carried the gate, cleaned it and painted the door!

Its the perfect door for an area you want closed off – the dogs can’t get over it, under it or through it. It allows the warmth of the heater or the cool air of the airconditioner (I had one of those in Melbourne!) to circulate between the rooms. The dogs can see out and aren’t isolated if you close the door. Its the ideal door. Needless to say it comes with me from one house to the next.

Next are the old shed door gates. I have two of these which I made while living in Fentonbury. They’re only low which means they’re easy to step over. Yeah, that means that a dog can jump over them, but MY dogs would never do such a rude thing!

These gates were made by cutting down the shed door, sanding it back a bit and adding the big hinges and a gate latch. As you can see, they’re not very high but they do the job. I don’t have to worry about dirty dog pawprints on the sheets. Not that I mind so much… but these are the compromises you make when you live with a man who doesn’t really like dogs in the house. And we all know that ain’t gonna happen! So we compromise.

The next dog gate is one I custom made for my house in Fentonbury. It has an open plan kitchen/dining/living room. That meant that I wanted to be able to restrict the dogs to one or other of the spaces. Sometimes I wanted them out of the kitchen. Other times out of the dining room. Or out of the living room. So I came up with this idea to use some cot sides I’d gotten at an auction.

You know, one of those things I bought thinking ‘One day they’ll come in handy’.

First, I cut down the crib sides so there weren’t any large gaps. I joined them up using small hinges so that they formed a folding 4-panel ‘screen’. Finally I painted it antique white USA like the rest of the woodwork in the house and hinged it to the doorway between the kitchen and dining room.

I know you cant see it well in that photo but I can’t find any other photos. In this photo its folded up against itself out of the way. Cause of the hinges and latches I’d put in it could be moved and latched to either the kitchen bench or the other side of the opening between the kitchen and dining room, thus keeping dogs in or out of the spaces as needed.

Last, here is the last of the crib sides. I put it to use here on the farm as a way to keep Wayne’s dogs (the shedding ones!) from the couches. I did the same thing: cut it down to size, hinged it to the wall and added a gate latch to it. Here you can see Romeo and Montana modelling it for you. This is a higher gate and much harder to step over when you’re getting older…

I added a gate latch so it would close automatically when you pushed it behind you. As you can see, I got lazy. This one hasn’t been painted yet.

However there was a problem. This was the first gate I’d made which actually swung back to a wall. It would bang into the wall as you opened it and leave a mark there. Ugh. Not so good. Till today I piled a couple of cushions on the floor against the wall to stop the destruction of my paint job. Not the best solution.

This morning I got off my butt and did something about it. I took one of those foam holders I get when I buy a certain brand of soft pastel. I’d been eyeing them off for a while now thinking they were just the right size to make a ‘bounce pad’ for the gate latch.

Yep. Perfect fit. So I sliced one up, filled it with silicon glue and popped it onto the gate thingy. Now… if this stays on it’ll be the perfect solution.

Fingers crossed!

z

giving a hoot

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I have been having a bad day since yesterday. Do you want the concise version or the long-winded version? Stuff concise. I don’t do concise.

I’ve had my house in Fentonbury for sale since about the beginning of December last year, as you know. In this economic climate I was prepared that it might take a long time to sell it. I love that house and I didn’t really want to sell it. But things change and we decided to sell so we could have a better quality of life in our new place, less stress, less work. I put so much love and care into that house for 8 years that it pained me to have it rented and see the tenants not looking after it the way I would.

I was thrilled when, after only 2 months on the market, the first couple who saw the house fell in love with it. They gushed. It was their dream home. They made a verbal offer, lower than I’d listed it for, and I accepted it. I liked them. I loved that they loved the house. I could see them being happy there.

I trust too much, make friends easily, and I’m very honest. I told them everything about the house, good and bad. I thought they loved the house, liked me and Wayne, and appreciated my honesty. I thought I’d found buyers and had made two new friends into the bargain. That’s what they said anyway. I was really, really happy.

We had to wait 2 weeks for them to become ‘unencumbered’ for contracts to be drawn up. Meanwhile we were in touch via emails – they were so excited. Couldn’t wait to move in. They became free and the soonest I could see the solicitor to draw up contracts was Monday. I went in, drew them up, on the phone with my ‘buyers’ talking terms and clauses. They were supposed to come in that afternoon to sign the contract. I was bending over backwards with the clauses in the contract. I liked them. I wanted to help them buy the house of their dreams.

They decided to postpone coming in to sign till today. There’d been fires in the area and they had wanted to go up and have one more look at the house (totally normal) and bring a builder friend to look it over (also totally normal).

We were exchanging emails like crazy, setting up the inspection. The morning of the day before the contract I got an email at 8.30am confirming the inspection. At 9.45am that same morning I got a call saying they were pulling the plug.

Like: What the F@@@!

What happened in an hour?

I thought the bushfires might have scared them. In the eight years I lived there fire had never come so close to Fentonbury. A fire is a fire, and scary, but it sounded worse than it was. I drove up to look. There were burned hills, sure, but trees were still green, all that had burned for the most part was undergrowth in a wide front… And the worst fire in Tasmanian recent history burnt out Hobart, not the Central Highlands.

Again, they’d had 3 weeks in which to change their mind. They’d had 4 days since the fires to re-think the house. They could have voiced doubts. They could have slowed the process down. I didn’t need to draw up contracts (and pay for them!) till they’d seen the house again, gotten more sure about it, in fact, being their dream home. They were sure and they had sold their house and needed to be out by May 18, so they want to buy my house asap.

Maybe the sale of their house fell through? I dont know, but I bet that if that was the case it would have been the first thing they’d tell us. Maybe they found somewhere better? Fine. I’d understand that totally.

What I dont understand is a couple who were so thrilled, so certain this was their forever home, that we made such effort to help make their dream come true, suddenly bailing on me like that.

I feel betrayed.

Upset. Depressed.

My fault. I take things too much to heart. I can’t just do business. I have to go feel like I’ve made new friends. I should be more cold and matter of fact – sell a puppy and not make the new owners part of my circle of friends. Sell a house and not give a hoot about the people who buy it.

You live and learn I guess.

Back to the drawing board. The house is still for sale. Its still rented. Nothing changes in our lives, we continue as we were, working the same hours and doing the same stuff. Only a little wiser and maybe a little less trusting.

z

PS. I have a great house for sale. Please spread the word!

turbo chook lives to tell the tale

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I have finally finished the huge pastel of Fergus, a highland stallion, Barbara and their baby. I’ve been working on this since before Christmas. What with visitors, rennovations, work, heat and all the other things going on, work on it has been inconsistent. Then I also had a period of artists block (if there is such a thing. If there isn’t I’ve just invented it). So I’m quite happy that its finally finished. After blogging tonight I’ll be wrapping it in acetate and delivering it after work tomorrow.

That’s one thing crossed off my To Do list. Phew.

The weather has been much cooler, thank goodness. The fires which had burned around Bushy Park and Westerway are out and there’s no more danger of my house in Fentonbury being scorched. I’m much happier with 18 degree C than I was with 39 degrees. Hard to believe the temps could drop that much in a day, but hey, this is Tasmania.

Despite it still being rather warm yesterday the guys (Wayne and Chris) got stuck into enclosing the mud room. They’d only managed to frame in one of the walls last time Chris was here and now both walls are framed in, the window is in place and the outside of the walls is mostly lined. I say mostly cause while I was in the city on errands (mysterious doings I’ll tell you about when the time comes) they ran out of nails for the coil gun and called to ask me to bring some home. Of course, by the time I got here with nails Chris had left so the job wont be finished will next weekend.

However, things are coming along.


Of course, its looking rather ugly right now… and not quite as I’d envisioned it. But hey, we live and learn huh? I’d rather gotten used to that area of the house being open. However, a lick of paint and a front door and we’ll be in business.

The plan is to make that the mudroom, an area where, once you enter the house, you can hang your coat, take off your boots and step inside through the inside door….

Which will take you through the current teensy weensy entrance area which holds coats and the fridge, through to the kitchen and then through the hallway and into the living room.

Yes… this is actually the back door of the house. But the front door is on the OTHER side, which would mean you’d have to park the car, step up onto the porch and walk all the way round to the other side of the house to come inside. Forget that.

So, one day, the teensy entrance area will become a walk in pantry and the kitchen will be rearranged to allow for a door directly to the mud room, cutting out the middle room so to speak. One day.

The timber is green which means it will need to dry before I can paint it, but thats fine. Its not as if I dont have a ton of things to keep me busy meanwhile. I mean I could paint the whole rest of the house, couldn’t I?

Speaking of other things to keep me busy – I went tip shopping today! Actually, after work this afternoon I went to one of my favourite tip shops where I’d seen three old dining chairs for sale for $5.

$5 each! Thats a bargain. Even tip shops are asking a ton of money for broken old chairs these days. I couldn’t pass them up. One is broken at the back, another is missing one rung off its back, but they’re all strong and stable, not rickety like so many I’ve seen. A bit of glue. A bit of luck. And a ton of paint and I’ve got my new kitchen chairs!

Did I mention the kitchen table I got from another tip shop a week ago? Thats still sitting on the porch waiting for me to sand it back and put a new top on it. It’ll go well with the new chairs.

My car is a mobile store room. Its always full of things I am taking to work, bringing home from somewhere or need to drop off somewhere. I have a huge collection of ‘green’ shopping bags I invariably forget to take into the shop. I have extra clothes just in case, and after one memorable day where I was sent on a hiking program wearing dress shoes, a pair of old sneakers and socks. Today I also had 2 of Wayne’s carry bags, his work folder, the nails I’d bought yesterday, a paper making kit I need to take to a program at work on Thursday, some drying racks I found at a tip shop for the same work program, 2 jumpers (it pays to be prepared) and who knows what else.

I added 3 chairs, an old picture frame and 2 old boxes (I have a thing for boxes). Then I went to pick up Wayne and he said ‘”Don’t forget we need to get wheat for the chickens and dry dog food”…

Ooops. “Have you noticed the back of the car?”

I managed to squish it all in somehow. Wheat bags and dog food packed around the chairs in the back. At one stage I hit the brakes at a traffic light and everything shifted. I could just picture the headlines: couple killed in freak accident – decapitated by chairs weighed down and given impetus by bags of wheat.

Thankfully we made it home in one piece. 

On another subject, my kids made me so proud today. I was in the office when I heard a racket out the back of the shed and saw them in that ‘attack and kill’ mode. I ran out of the house thinking they’d gotten one of the ducks again. Our house yard fence is pretty good but sometimes things still manage to get in and we’ve already lost 2 ducks and 3 chickens to the dogs.

When they heard me yell they looked at me, looked back at whatever, looked back at me and they came to me!!! I was SO thrilled. The bird meanwhile, was a native hen. We’ve had a family of them move in lately and this one obviously decided to check out life on the other side of the fence where the grass is greener but deadlier.

Lucky for it, my dogs listened to me! While I lead the dogs inside Wayne went and opened the gate and shooed it out.

These chickens are known as ‘turbo chooks’ around here cause they’re native chickens and they run like Road Runner. I think this one might still be running, after the shock it got.

So thats it for tonight. Hopefully on the weekend I can tackle some projects and post pics. For now all I need to do remember to take everything out of the car!

z
 

musings of a wandering mind

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The other day while pooper scooping in the yard (something I dont do nearly as regularly as I should given we have 4 dogs who can poop BIG) I found myself thinking about the joys and responsibilities of owning dogs rather than having children.

For one thing, as I scooped the poop I couldn’t help but notice that I keep an eye on the dogs’ health / bowel movements by doing so. “Ooh, thats a nice firm one”… “Hmmm… a bit soft and dark, wonder who’s got an upset tummy” … “Ah, nice. White and crumbly. Just the way I remember dog poop from my childhood” etc.

I belong to a poodle discussion group (one of many I’ve been on through the years) and on there discussions about such things as dog stool consistency, shape and colour is a regular occurence. Disgusting, I know. But no more disgusting than, I’m sure, a mommy group discussing diaper contents. Which I’m sure they do.

See, owning a dog isn’t that different from having children. Dog mothers and baby mothers talk about the same things – poop, eating habits, cute things their baby (furry or otherwise) does. They brag, they carry photos to show off to everyone they meet. They talk about their babies incessantly.

See? No difference.

The difference is that eventually the child grows up, the amount of care needed doesn’t so much reduce, it changes. You may no longer need to feed and change diapers but you worry about them learning to drive, date, smoking, drugs, etc.

I dont have children, thus I’m an expert at how to raise them. 🙂

With dogs, they never grow up to independence. With them you have to pooper scoop for the entire length of their life. You’re responsible for feeding them, caring for them if they’re sick, ensuring they eat well and exercise etc. In other words, dog owners are stuck in that ‘young child’ phase for the 10+ years of an average dog lifespan.

At least with dogs you dont have to worry about them hating you when they’re teenagers, crashing the car or taking drugs. And you dont have to lose your figure to acquire them!

The biggest differences, however, surround the fact that as dog owners we can control our babies’ sex lives. We can legally, and without repercussions, get them neutered. If we breed them we get to pick their mate. On the other hand, I have never, so far in my life, heard of a mother having to pay a stud fee to some young buck’s parents in order to impregnate her daughter.

Or, which is way worse, having to ‘take matters into your own hands’ (literally) and act as stud master to your inexperienced son first time he mates, to help him find ‘it’.

Ewww.

I guess there are benefits to both types of children… I could do without the pooperscooping though. I’m  tempted to train them all to squat on the toilet…

Anyway, enough on that slightly disturbing topic. On to more fun stuff.

A few months ago I found this image in an old magazine. I did what any self respecting DIY-er would do. I ripped it out and put it in a folder of things I would love to try when I found the time.

I kept thinking I needed to find the right box. I started looking. And guess what? We had one in the casita! It was just the right size but it was filthy. It was full of straw and I think a cat had been using it as a bed. It was a home made crate, made with chipboard and with an old real estate sign from Canberra. Who knows how that got here!

First I cleaned it out. Scraped it out, disinfected it. Then I sanded down the edges where it was rough and uneven (someone had been gnawing on it) and I painted it. I dont have any ‘in progress’ photos as I didn’t think of it. I mixed up a colour using white house paint and acrylic paints. I mixed some yellow ochre into the white as I wanted it to be more cream than white, whiter than the cream on the sign, but closer to it than white would be. When the cream paint dried I rubbed in some burnt umber around the edges so it soaked into the dints and scratches.

I didnt have the same kind of magazine/newspaper to line the inside with, but I had tons of old poodle magazines dating back to the late 70s. So I used them. I used PVA glue to stick them down and painted them over with more PVA once they were dry to seal them. The old fashioned show poodle haircuts added the poodle touch and a bit of age to the box. As if it didnt look old enough as it was.

Then I bought some wheels off Ebay and screwed them onto the bottom. And voila! Coffee table/side table/rolling library!

I have a real thing for boxes. This is an old box I found at a tip shop somewhere which was missing one bottom slat. I asked Wayne to add another slat to it for me and he made me a lid for it too! He used weathered timber we had planned to burn when cleaning up around here, but wont ever burn since we use it for projects all the time. He hinged the lid with a couple of leather straps and made a wire latch for it too. I now keep some tools in it to keep them handy in the kitchen.

And then there’s the brilliant red box. This was another tip shop find. It was already red when I found it but missing a latch and handle. I dont have any before photos. I did take some but I cant find them.

Does anyone remember the box I made for Scooter’s ashes? I wanted something special for his ashes so I went and bought one of those little pine craft boxes from the hardware store. I primed it then gave it two coats of red. The red I bought was true red which was way too bright so I added black till I got the right colour.

Once the paint was dry I painted it with crackle medium, let that dry and painted the final red coat. Since I had red on red, you couldnt really see the cracks but I had a plan! Instead of letting an under layer of paint show through the cracks, I rubbed burnt umber into them. (Does that sound familiar? I do that a lot). I rubbed and then had to damped the cloth and remove the excess, cause trust me, there was a lot of it. It gave the box an old kind of grimy appearance. I loved it. It now sits in the bedroom on the dresser next to my old window/mirror.

Now back to the other red box. I loved the finish on the Scooter box so much that I wanted to do it again. Also, I spent $550 on an antique chinese dresser when we first moved here which is a similar deep dark red colour with aged cracks and I wanted to kind of match that.

Since the red box was already red I didnt need to undercoat or do much to it. I wanted the dints and scratches so I didnt sand either. I just painted it with the same red I’d used on Scooter’s box, mixing up a new batch so its a bit brighter. When the reds were dry I skipped the crackle stage and went straight to the burnt umber rubbing stage.

I decided not to put a closing latch on it its very heavy and there’s no way you’d lift it. I bought some small red wheels on Ebay, I think they’re a bit too small and too red but they seemed like a good idea at the time.

I asked Wayne to make a handle for it out of an old spoon and this is what he made. Excellent isnt i?

I am thinking rope handles on either side for pulling would be a nice addition…

I keep electrical bits in it, you know, all the extension cords, double adapters, timer switches etc that you always have lying around. I’ve used it as a temporary bedside table, but basically it just looks good with the bonus of being handy storage for those odds and ends I dont have a drawer for and dont want to go running to shed everytime I need something.

I’m currently working on a few other projects but really, its been so hot here that I’m too drained to do much at all other than lie on the couch and groan. They predicted 34 degrees C yesterday but it got up to 39-40C. Thats 104F! Same today. The house is a mess screaming out for a tidy. The To Do list sits here glaring at me accusingly and I sit and blog, thumbing my nose at the dirty dishes and washing to be sorted.

There’s a haze of smoke outside cause the wind and heat yesterday caused a few bushfires further up the valley. The plants are suffering and the poor roosters ran out of water halfway through the day. Lucky I checked and topped it up. I spent 1.5 hrs watering the garden and vegie patch yesterday evening.

I kept the dogs inside most of the day to keep them out of the heat. I did have 3 dogs to groom including 2 standard poodles (one being Little Zefi Munchkin from Pagan’s second litter). That coupled with the heat ensured I did nothing yesterday afternoon. I didnt even log on and thats saying something! I have an obessive attachment to my computer under normal circumstances.

I better go hang to washing out to dry (and get smoked) before it gets any hotter.

z

desperate measures

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The weekend has come and gone and there have been no calls from the chicken man about the roosters. Maybe he just lost our number. Yeah. That must be it. I’ll make excuses for him just like every girl who ever waited for a phone call that never came. Maybe I’ll call him. Is it cool to call him when he said he’d call us? Will he think I’m too forward?

Meanwhile, I’ve resorted to desperate measures. So far its not working. We still have five roosters. On the other hand, no one visits any more. Which could be considered an upside since I’m too busy to entertain.

I’m exhausted tonight. I had two dogs to groom, then I groomed Montana and Romeo. One of the customer dogs was a regular little girl who is impossible when it comes to doing her feet. I really must get my database going so I can make notes like ‘Do not attempt to do her nails no matter how long they look’ next to dog’s names. And what I charge them. Have I mentioned how hopeless I am as a business person?

The other dog was a new boy, a schnauzer who wasn’t in a proper trim as his previous groomer didn’t know how to do it. Her failing is my gain. I love doing specialty trims.

I really love it.

Of course I do. Why else would I have spent over 10 hours a weekend grooming a standard poodle for the ring? Only someone who loves grooming, scissoring, brushing, the smell of hairspray and creating hair scultpures would do that.

When I work on the computer I sit in my little office and the poodles usually lie around at my feet and behind me. Sometimes one of them will come and sit beside me and I’ll reach out my hand and run my fingers through their topknot, as much to show them love and affection as to comfort me. I adore the feel of poodle hair under my hands.

Anyway, last night as I sat here blogging I reached out and this is what I felt:

The crunch of crusty muddy bits on a grimy topknot. I’d have said I have no idea what she was doing, but unfortunately I know. She was out there trying to burrow under the casita to get the damn critters that’re living under there. I’ve piled bits of timber and rocks on the spot but she manages to keep going.

So today, after I’d groomed the two customer dogs, I tossed Montana and Romeo into the bath and gave them a clip and scissor. Took me hours! My own fault. I’d let them run feral for ages and last time I groomed them I hadn’t brushed their legs. That means that this time, since I didnt want skinny shaved legs (poodles don’t look their best with their long legs clipped short – thats the long and short of it. Ha ha.) I had to spend a long time dematting and brushing out, then drying out those legs.

I am so glad I’m no longer showing a poodle. My wrist and arm were aching after brushing out 8 legs.

But the kids are looking great tonight, and feeling and smelling way better than last night! Really, there’s just about nothing else in this world as good as a freshly washed poodle (after its dried and the wet wool jumper smell is gone). A freshly washed poodle in show coat is number one, that long luxurious coat and the smooth shaved butt… but a soft, clean poodle in a pet trim is the next best thing. I get a kind of emotional recharge just by hugging my poodles.

Once I was talking to someone who had a realdoll for emotional bolstering. I think I’ll stick to poodles.       

Before anyone goes and calls the men in white coats, I’ll move onto more ‘normal’ things. I already mentioned my new addiction to Pinterest. Well, one of the simple crafty things I saw in there which I thought I’d try was a way to make beach glass as inspired by this site. You know, that cloudy blue colour of glass which has been dulled by the ocean.

So, the other day I got out some PVA glue, some blue food colouring and some of the many bottles we seem to have been collecting since Christmas. I had to find some use for them!

First I washed them and peeled off the labels. I couldn’t get the label glue off entirely in places and I’ve run out of eucalyptus oil which is meant to work really well. I did the best I could. Then I used a 60s fruit bowl thing I had to hold the bottles upside down thinking that they’d dry better that way. Nope. The glue just collected on the underside and dripped, leaving a small round blob.

The mix I’d made was very watery, you can see in the photo that the bottles are very pale blue. When I did the next coat I painted the mix on by sticking a finger in the bottle, holding it upside down, then standing it on paper. I almost got a finger stuck in the bottle but managed to get it off without any damage to my finger or the bottle.

When they dried I was really pleased with how they came up. They feel nice and look great. I cant even see where the label glue didn’t come off properly. I’m using them as a way to keep/display my bracelets.

They sit on the little cabinet above, which I found in a second hand store a few years ago. It was a bit battered and broken down the bottom as you can see, but I painted it, keeping the original latch, and its been a much loved piece of furniture since. Its been used as a bathroom cabinet, a bedside table and is now a handy little spot to store my fabric bits and pieces.

z

those voices…

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Photo: Wayne’s cartoon for a friend’s 40th birthday yesterday.

We were invited to Sharon’s 40th birthday yesterday and Wayne did one of his wonderful cartoons for her. I matted and framed it. The joke is that her husband is making chairs out of horse shoes and it takes 69 shoes  to make one chair. Wayne’s work is great isn’t it?

It was a pretty good night. They had a band and the music was good. I had a few dances with Leslie, a friend and neighbour from Fentonbury. She loves dancing with me cause I can lead swing and she loves learning new steps. Sometimes I really miss my old dancing days… I used to love dancing so much that when I’d get to a venue and the band was playing I’d have to run in so as not to miss one precious moment of dancing. I wish one of my old dance partners would come visit and I could show people how its really done! sigh…

Meanwhile, its Sunday night and what am I doing? I’m sitting in front of the computer. I just cant help myself. I’ve become addicted to Pinterest. I thought it was bad enough when I added Facebook and blogging to my computer time, but now I’ve found Pinterest… Thank you very much Diane! I thought you were my friend!

My eyes are sore. My butt is chair shaped. And still, I cant tear myself away!

Not only that, I cant wait to try the one million, fourty three thousand and fifteen projects, decorating ideas and clever things I see there. I just need a bigger house and a whole lot more time!

I want to redo my kitchen, re-paint the house, landscape the yard, create secret garden spots, cut wine bottles in half, learn to crochet, felt a mouse, make chandeliers out of jars and old fencing wire, build a couch out of used pallets, and thats just the start of it!

I always knew there wasn’t enough time in my day, but now its worse!

I can’t stop my brain. I lie in bed at night and my brain is buzzing and ticking. Last night I couldn’t sleep cause of the voices inside my head, saying things like “I wonder if the cupboard in the bedroom will fit beside the fridge if I move the coats to the mud room once its finished and put the metal suitcase underneath it to hold shoes… and what if I moved the bookcase from one side of the living room to the other or will it be too wide? must measure it… and I still have that felt, I need to make mug warmers out of it, not to mention the rug I want to make out of old tshirts… must remember to go buy more tshirts…”

Its a curse I tell you!

For a minute today I thought I’d lost my notebook – the one I keep ideas in as well as my To Do lists. The thought of having to start a new list of To Do lists boggled my mind. Thankfully I found it. It was under the pile of ‘stuff to file’ on my desk.

But I’ve had a productive day. I’ve managed to cross quite a few things off my To Do lists today.

I say lists, plural, because I have more than one list. I found that having one list was just too hard. The list got too long and unmanageable. I’d look at it and my mind would go blank.

By breaking the list up into segments I’m able to ‘see’ more clearly what needs to be done. I have the lists sorted by area of the house or type of activity. ‘Kitchen’ ‘Deck’ ‘Sewing’ etc.

Today I tackled the sewing. Finally. The funny thing is that once I actually got started it didn’t take that long at all.

A lady who’s dogs I groom gave me some alpaca fleece when she had her boys shorn. It was sitting in bags in my workshop for ages. She said that she makes dog beds out of it every year for her dogs and they love it, so I decided I’d do the same.

Montana and Romeo (the poodles) sleep in the living room on the couch or armchairs as they don’t shed. Mischa and Barney have their own beds and, thanks to Barney, most of their bedding is in tatters.

Long story: when we first moved here Mischa and Barney were outside dogs. They had beds in the garage, then on the deck. When Wayne went to Adelaide on holiday I made a bed for them in the entrace and they’ve been sleeping in the house since. In fact we now have to pry Barney out of bed in the morning or to go out and pee at night.

I found a great, big old box at the tip shop. It was like a large drawer, about 3ft wide, 2ft deep and 7in high. It was painted a mauvey colour and was a bit rough. I sanded it back enough to remove most of the old paint but not totally, cleaned it up, then painted it a pale green. In order to give it a more interesting, aged, appearance, I wiped some of the paint off to expose some of the grain, giving it a limed appearance. I then gave it a couple of coats of estapol to seal it and make it easy to wipe clean.

Once it was finished I put it in the entrance, put in some dog beds and Mischa and Barney curled up together at night. Lately however Barney has claimed it as his bed and Mischa has been sleeping on a thin pad in the hallway. She really needed the new dog bed.

I found some old curtains I’d taken down from the dog grooming room in the casita. They’re lined fabric in orange. Tasteful. I cut off the tape, sewed them together, stuffed them with alpaca fleece (after picking the odd stick out of it) and voila: dog beds. Oh, I also put another cover on the outside. I stitched that closed as they both have a bad habit of taking covers off things. This way I can remove and change covers when they get dirty without then ruining the actual bed.

This is Barney’s bed.

 
And here is Mischa on her new bed. I am experimenting with a hessian bag I got from the tip shop. She seems to like it and I love the look of it.

It goes with my postal bag come laundry basket! This post bag was going to be thrown out so we gave it a home. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it but I love it. I put 2 hooks in the bathroom wall and hang it there. When its full I sling it over my shoulder and take it down to the washing machine. (Our bathroom is Ugly with a capital U. One day…)

The sewing extravaganza didn’t end there. Last week I went into an outlet store having a huge sale. Jeans for $10. You just cant go wrong at that price. I bought 3 pairs, one short and 2 long. Or they’re meant to be long. They’re just not quite long enough for me. You know what I mean… I’d have to wear them like those homeboys you see getting around with the top of their shorts (or more) showing and the crotch of their pants somewhere down between their knees. (What is it with that anyway?)

I had some samples of upholstery fabric which I was holding onto to do something with one day. That day came today. I cut it up, stitched a cuff and sewed it onto the bottom of one of the new pairs of jeans. Now I’m looking for another interesting fabric to do the other pair… paisley would be nice. I’ll be wearing this pair to work on Tuesday. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂

So I got a few things done today. But you see what I mean about crossing one thing off the list and adding another five? The dog beds were on the list. The jean cuffs were a new addition.

We took Ben up to Ashley to have him saddle broken. Or ‘backed’. He’s had a saddle and bridle on him and we’ve done plenty of work with him. Neither of us has had the guts to get on him. When he’s ready I’ll be going down for a few lessons on his back before bringing him home. Wally and Dancer have been unsettled over his absence.

I also rearranged the grooming room and cleaned it. Dog hair gets everywhere! I removed the lino from the toilet floor to allow the floor underneath to dry (if its not already beyond repair). We are now closing the door to the toilet but its almost impossible to get in cause Wayne has hung a tarp over it to keep rain out. And its been raining today. I did some washing and hung it out just in time for it to get wet. Eh. We have good clean rain in Tasmania.

All in all, its been a good day. I feel good. Hopefully the voices will be quiet tonight.

z

Me and hydrangeas

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I’ve had a busy week. Since when do I not have a busy week? I wish I had 54 hours in each day… Then again, Wayne says that if I did somehow manage to find another 30 hours in each day I’d soon find another 82 things to do which would take at least 41 hours to get through.

Math has never been my strength.

The photo is my first and only white cosmos flower. How was I to know you need a ton of them to produce any kind of display? I bought one little plant from a street side vendor and here it is. A single flower.

Gardening has never been my strength either.

Did I mention the hydrangea fiasco?

After admiring my hydrangeas in their pots for about 3 months and debating the pros and cons of planting them here or there, I finally made a decision. I’d plant them there. There being along the side wall of the small timber shed behind the house. It has a small gravelled area on which I’d been keeping my potted plants, a kind of plant nursery if you will.

So I moved building materials from the side of the house, the perfect spot for the plant nursery to relocate to. I moved pots to the new spot. I moved pebbles to the side. Found weed matting (of course). Cut through that. Then I dug a hole. Plonked in potting mix and hydrangea #1. Repeated the proceedure for hydrangea #2.

At hydrangea #3 I hit a snag.

As I dug there was a sneaky odour of oil. Pebbles seemed a bit sticky. The weed matting darker in colour, heavier…. You got it. I’d struck oil!

I wish.

What I found was the dumping ground for gallons of sump oil.

Who on earth dumps sump oil on the ground right behind their house? The previous owner obviously.

Then he covered it all with weed matting and pebbles, creating an illusion of garden beds to be which a gullible sucker like me would fall for.

I started digging up the oily soil and lugging it out to the area behind the garage where the soil had already been oil soaked. I was soon aching.

I haven’t been out there since. The plan was to do a bit of digging and moving pebbles at a time. After a few weeks of small bouts of work I’d have the area dug out, a hole a horse might disappear into, buy new topsoil, filled it up, plant in hydrangea #4 and finally have the garden bed I dreamed of.

Right now I’m wishing I’d put them in large pots.

Other than that I’ve been well. If you dont count the fact that I’m kinda too scared to eat anything other than toast or chips cause of a dubious tummy. What? They’re dry!

I came down with some stomach thing on Wednesday and it isnt entirely settled. Its getting there. Wayne has no sympathy. He has the constitution of an ox. He’s probably the only man I know who could go to India and drink the water without getting sick.

On another note, the new chooks are great. We’re getting so many eggs now (and me not currently eating eggs) we are getting a build-up of eggs in the fridge. Wayne is ‘in love’ with his girls.

Speaking of Wayne, he’s really been getting into some DIY and craft stuff himself lately. I must take photos of some of the things he’s made but here is a gorgeous little bird house he made me out of old tin cans. He hung it on the trellis where, one day, we’ll have flowering climbers and a gorgeous nook to sit.

He also made an alien robot to guard the house. It stands in the yard with its laser beam and its knife, ready to challenge any intruders.

I really want to try making some robots. When I have some time…

For now I think I should concentrate on actually finishing the jobs I started last weekend. For instance, put away all the stuff I moved out of the office to make it Zefi-friendly. I still have some boxes in the living room, some on the porch and the vacuum cleaner has been sitting in our ridiculously small bathroom since last weekend.

Before I get on with any more of my projects, whether new or unfinished, I really need to finish the office, clean out the living room and find homes for all the displaced craft items in my workshop. I had gotten a good start on the workshop. Its in the casita (the small old house/shed on our property where I groom dogs) and its my space for my tools and where I’ll be doing my bigger, messier craft and DIY projects. Wayne is not allowed near my tools any more. First time he used my circular saw he cut through the power cord and he’s never lived it down since.

Better go. I have a big weekend planned.

As usual.

z


The best laid plans

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I had big plans for this weekend… I thought I’d rearrange the office, do some filing, some gardening, mow the lawn, groom some dogs (I had appointments set up for Saturday and Sunday) and then I’d take Monday off (neither Wayne nor I work Mondays) and finish a load of stuff I have to do in the office.
Well, I got some of it done. I mowed the lawn. The only other gardening I did was pick one ripe tomato and re-pot two plants (see pic) and put them on the electrical meter box on the porch.
Oh, I did buy a large glazed planter pot at Mitre 10 where they were on sale for $19.95. How can a girl resist a bargain? I’m going to put my young jasmine in there and train it up the post on the porch. Of course I have to paint the deck first…
I also re-arranged the office. That task took almost all of Saturday. See, when we first moved here we (read I) decided that the back room of the house would make a good office for us to share. I put a long desk under the window for Wayne and put my 2 part desk (meant to be a corner desk) along one wall minus its corner, making into a long desk. I put those wall mounted shelf thingies on the far wall and put up shelves to hold books, binders etc.
That worked great for about 5 minutes. Wayne didn’t like the office much. He set himself up in the kitchen. He put his laptop, boxes of pens, his drawing paper, rulers etc, and he’d work there, doing research and creating his weekly cartoon strip.
When it was time to have a meal we had to shove over all the accumulated detritus of his work just to make enough space for our plates. 
It got old quickly.
So I set up a desk in the living room for him. A small desk with a small table on the side to provide a bigger work surface. That was fine till I appropriated the small table for the sewing machine. For the last 3 weeks (ok, I haven’t finished sewing yet!) Wayne’s been taking over the kitchen table again. It was time to take matters into my own hands.
I decided to make the office more Zefi-friendly.
First I had to move all the crap craft stuff I had in there in boxes. It really was hard to move in the office which may be one reason Wayne avoided it… I piled all that into the living room, the bathroom and onto the porch to go to the casita where I plan to keep the craft stuff I dont need on hand. Then I pushed desks and shoved filing cabinets from one side of the room to the other. And vacuumed where they’d sat for a year.
What I ended up with is this:
My computer on the right, sewing machine on the left, books and other officey stuff on the shelves above. I put the smallest desk, a drawer unit and Wayne’s filing cabinet along the wall opposite (behind me when I sit there) so he’d have somewhere to pile up paperwork. I added a more or less comfy chair along the left hand side of the room where the window is. Now I can access the window and open it without busting my guts having to lean over the desk to do it. I have kept the small TV with the dvd player on the right hand side on its small table. The theory is that Wayne will sometimes be allowed to watch TV now as I can work in here and watch dvds as I do. 
At least thats the theory.
Other than that, I haven’t done much at all. My day of relaxing and working on the computer (mutually exclusive, I know) seems to have disappeared. We spent most of the morning driving into Hobart to pick up some new hens. We’ve added 6 young isa browns to Dennis’ harem. Dennis being our black rooster.
Wayne has finished stalag 13 and the 4 roosters (aka Boris) have been relocated. Hopefully they’ll be relocating further away soon. The chook man we got the new girls from said he IS interested in roosters (now, why didn’t Wayne ask him before we went down there??). I sure hope he comes and gets them soon. Two of them are looking decidedly scraggly as they’re starting to pick on eachother. I feel so sorry for them, but we can’t let them free range any more. Fingers crossed the chook man does come get them.
And tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I thought I’d share this gorgeous heart Wayne made me last year. 
And while I’m at it, I’ll share some more photos of stuff I’ve made or done as promised. Below is a great idea for a bedhead if you’re into rustic stuff like we are. I found this old ladder at a tip shop a year or so ago. I’ve mounted it to the wall and decorated it with all kinds of old horsey things which mostly belong to Wayne. I made the stars for Christmas using sticks and silver wire. The heart and a couple of other items are tied on with raffia. I love raffia!
Below is an old window made into a mirror. I brought this from my house in Fentonbury where it was the bathroom mirror. It now sits on top of my dresser so I can check myself out when I get dressed in the morning. (That’s why its up high, I can’t see if my bum looks big in it!)

And lastly, I made these little boxes a few years ago using tasmanian oak from old skirting boards from a demolished house. I sanded them back enough to expose the timber, leaving the layers of paint in places. I hinged the lids at the back and now I use them to store jewelry and hair accessories. They add a pretty touch to the bedroom in front of a very old wedding photo of Wayne’s uncle.

So there you go. I better get going. I promised I’d make ravioli for dinner tonight so I need to get started.

z