Category Archives: rustic

about the birds…

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Like all big plans, it seemed like a good idea at the time. You know what I mean. You think about a problem, you take your time thinking through the possibilities and solutions, you pick the best (easiest, cheapest) and go for it.
Then you discover it was a huge failure.
Not only did the solution not work, its created a whole new problem. In other words, its a monumental failure of epic proportions.
So it is with the bird wire under the eaves bird nesting deterrent solution I came up with.
I had a problem: birds nest in our roof. They pull out insulation as they muck around up there. If it wasn’t for the poop all over the walls, the deck, everything ON the deck, and the fact that, apparently, nests in the roof are a fire hazard, I’d have been happy to leave them there.
I like birds. We have starlings, swallows, sparrows, wrens, the occasional robin and pardalotes.
I love the birds. I love watching them flitter around and chirp to each other. I love waking up in the mornings and the only sounds I hear are birds, ducks, chickens, frogs, the rooster, the horses… and/or rain.
Come to think of it, its pretty noisy around here…
So. Anyway. What I decided was, to stop the birds nesting in the roof and stop the poop on the walls and windows, to stop losing our insulation and limit fire hazards, that I had to block off the eaves so the birds can no longer get in to nest.
Right.
I decided that the easiest, cheapest way to do it was to use bird wire under the eaves, moulding it around and stapling it to the beams and walls so they can’t get in. I had a friend come around and give me a hand and we did about 7 metres of it…
…Only to find the birds could still get in. They just use an alternative entrance: the gutters!
All I’ve succeeded in doing is create a catchment area for dead chicks. Yep. I looked up there yesterday and there were 3 tiny corpses in various stages of decay.
Wonderful.
At this point I can blame MEN. It was men who organised new gutters on the house and men who didn’t even think of getting gutter guards put up at the same time as the gutters. It would have cost, what… another $400? Tops?
I can’t blame Wayne. He probably didn’t even know there was a product which fits over corregated iron and screws onto the metal so it doesn’t budge, forming an even solid seal for the gutters.
I should have organised the quote myself. 
The guys who quoted the job should have mentioned it. The friend who was here at the time, while the guys were measuring and quoting (and who’d actually used the stuff on his own house) didn’t mention it…
I should have organised the quote myself. If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.
But, onto happier subjects.
The other day I went to an auction. I hadn’t been to one for years. This is a regular auction place in Hobart, once a week, every week. I love it.
I’d like to say that it was pure strength of will that kept me away, but I’d be lying. It was ’cause I’d been working on Fridays.
Now that I’ve dropped back to 3 days at my regular job and spend the other two days working as a tutor and grooming from home, I gave in to temptation. I stopped by before work and eyed the goodies… 
I fell in love with this plate. Its old and crazed like crazy (heheh, sorry), discoloured and chipped. But I had to have it.
Of course if I wanted the plate I had to buy 5 boxes of crap.
I put in an absentee bid and won it. I donated about half the crap and kept a few things I know I can use or make things out of. And the plate is now decorating my kitchen.

What do you think of the awl collection? Cool huh? Wayne found a few of these, for working leather, at an antique store in town and I bought him a couple more. I love them stuck in the old flower frog. 
z


hanging baskets – prettying up the boring side

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You may remember when I put the crates on the driveway side of the house as window boxes. I love them there. That side of the house was really plain and boring, kind of a wasteland with no plants and just blank walls. The window boxes give it some character and colour.
Although I found that its not a great spot for most plants. In winter the frost almost killed all the plants so I had to move them onto the porch. In summer it gets so hot that I will have to stick to succulents in the boxes. But that’s ok. I have lots of succulents, all I need is some more of the creeping kind which might grow and hang out of the boxes. That’d be pretty.
You can barely see it, but the second box has a little bird in it. Its a wire jumble bird that Wayne made for the Salvaged Art competition. He’s gorgeous. This is the only photo I have of him right now, remind me to get a photo of him in the window box.
 Anyway, back to the side of the house… the long wall behind the mud room is the bathroom and office wall. Other than one window it was blank and boring. I was thinking of going all wild with baskets and signs and all kinds of things but I now wonder if that might look a bit tacky… For now I’ve just done a few simple things… first I bought a punnet of snapdragon seedlings. They’re doing great. Flowering for the first time now. That should create a nice garden alongside the house where there was just bare pebbles before.
Then I hung a few baskets I’d collected from tip shops so they have that old worn look. I added the rusty wire wreath I made from some old wire I found buried in the paddock and the barbed wire flower Wayne made me (never say the man isn’t romantic!). I had to buy hanging hooks for the hanging baskets but I hung one from an old scale thingy I found in a tip shop. Love it.
So far the flowers I’ve put in there seem to like it there. Fingers crossed.
On the corner I hung a very old rusty wind chime from an old rusty bracket (also from a tip shop – I do a lot of shopping at tip shops). In that spot the wind doesn’t get it too often so we’re not tempted to rip it off the wall.
You may have noticed a small tree in the photo… I bought 2 plants from a little old lady down the road and she threw in one more. So I have 3 new pots, all with more than one plant in them! These will all eventually go in a new bed I’m planning (but not actually doing myself!) between the washing line and the water tanks.
I can’t remember the name of all the plants, but one is a hellebore, the tree is some kind of orange blossom, and there is a lupin and about 3 other plants in the pots. It’ll be a surprise when they flower.
I told you I’ve become addicted to my garden. 
Spring has that effect.
z

making do and interesting things

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 My cousin Zefi’s house in the commune that’s known as ‘Souvlia’ used to be the boat shed and garage. It was built on a slope so the front is a couple of steps down. As a result its darker than most of the houses on Souvlia, but no cooler. In fact, being at the back of the block, with other buildings as windbreaks, it doesn’t get the full force of the wind – great when you want to sit on the porch for a drink, terrible if you want a cool breeze to cool down.

Despite that, Zefi has made it into a gorgeous place. Thanks to her mom’s fossicking, her husband’s good taste and Zefi’s practical mind, the place is pretty, traditional and totally user friendly.

I love her old island couches. I’ve tried to find this type of couch in Australia as its the ideal outdoor couch. Its not so comfy as a living room couch, but so pretty.

I love the big dresser as well, in the traditional dark timber. Zefi’s grandfather on her mom’s side used to be a carpenter and he made some beautiful pieces.


 I love the lace on the shelves inside the glass cabinets.  My aunt Dora has it in her kitchen in her house as well.

 One thing I love to do when I’m here (or anywhere for that matter) is look at shops. I love looking at shops. Sometimes I see things I want to buy, something I see things which inspire me. Whatever. I love to look at shops.

In the market street in Parikia there’s a traditional old homeware/grocery store. Its been there as long as I can remember. They now sell more stuff to tourists than to locals I’m sure, but its the only place I saw one of these:

 Its apparently a dough bowl of some sort. You put the bread dough in it to rise. I find myself needing one of these… I never make bread, but I’m sure I’ll find a good use for it.

I also love these things:

Sieves of all sizes with all different wire thicknesses… from flour sieves to lentil and bean sieves. Pretty cute.

At the other end of the shopping scale are the home decorator stores… not very different to the type of stuff I see in Australia. Still pretty displays and colours though.

Colourful outdoor cushions with jute and bling tassels and fish, naturally.

Burlap mini cushions and a jute string bowl on a lace table runner.

A beautiful simple white bowl.

A rope and sailcloth lamp.

Table centre piece of sea urchins minus spikes, shells and starfish.

I found an antique/second hand shop which has some beautiful things in it but this one was right up my alley: old windows with photos in them.

 

I even found a shop which sells marble things. Like a marble sink… why have a ceramic butler sink when you can have the real thing? And this slab of carved marble which you can put in your garden and run a tap through.

 A tap like this! Isn’t this a beauty?

Or, if you prefer, you can buy marble columns. Cause no house is complete without marble columns.

 

 Of course, there are tons of places which are done up beautifully whether they’re shops or cafes or restaurants. Sometimes its something simple like these fish at a taverna by the sea:

Sometimes its way more elaborate, like the boat/couch at this bar in Parikia.

And these door coffee tables.

There just aren’t enough door or window signs though, like this one on a closed antique shop.

 

And I love this sign on a cafe.

I haven’t been inside many hotels, but the couple I have been into have some interesting items in their lobbies and bars. Like this lamp …

This wooden trough is now a frame for a wooden boat.

Obviously made by the same artist, this boat wall clock at the Paros Bay Hotel.

And a ton of these fishing boats.

This is my favourite. I love the humour in the little paper sailboats.

A couple of little shops in Naoussa, a small town on the other side of Paros, have gorgeous displays. Right up my alley.


 

Closer to home, I found some interesting ways to deal with the small issues life throws at you. This is my uncle’s solution to the wind taking his umbrella along with the small table.

It might take up a bit of table space, but it works.

My fish bowl has a new spot among the shell collection in my aunt Flora’s kitchen.

The oven in the main house has a dodgey door, so the kokones (a name we call the aunts) have found a simple solution.

Aunt Marisa has found a cute way to cover the electricity panel in the hallway using a hand woven mat.

In her house a little down the road, my aunt Dora has a small corner where she keeps her ancient sewing maching, which she still uses, and a few items from her mother’s house.

You can always tell a greek house, cause there is always an icon somewhere in it. I now have my own icon, my very first. My aunt Xeni gave it to me. I’ll have to find a spot in my home for it when I get back. My decor will be shabby-greek…

Love the old irons with the big base to hold hot coals.

z

rusty barbed wire heart – creating on paros

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Seems my reputation has preceeded me…
I arrived on Paros and my Aunt Marisa was all over me. She’d seen the windchime I’d given little Zefi, but he’s already been subjected to months of “Mom, come see what big Zef did”, so she was prepped and ready.
“Come and see what I have for you to make”, she said, and proceeded to show me her collection of STUFF. The doilies she’s had for years that her mother made, the old curtains, the collection of ribbons and things that will come in handy one day….

I hear an echo in here…
Did I ever mention my nieces?
I’ve never had kids, right? But I have tons of nieces and nephews thanks to my brother and the fact that I have 23 first cousins. 
And somehow, even though I haven’t had children of my own, I have somehow managed to pass on my genes…
My brother’s daughter is Maria. Apparently he often calls her Zefi cause she’s got my temper and my good looks. She’ll say “Dad, I’m Maria, not Zefi.” (ie Are you senile already?) He’ll reply “I know what I’m talking about.”
My cousin PG’s daughter is Alex. Apparently a carbon copy of me. In all the good ways: moody, stubborn, my good looks…
Little Zefi’s daughter Marouso way more beautiful than me… except for the fact that she’s a mad animal lover. Yesterday at the beach she found a kitten and brought it home. Little Zefi gave me the filthiest look. Its all my fault. Those are my genes popping up in the next generation.
I feel quite pleased with myself. I’ve managed to create Zefi carbon copies without having to worry about pregnancies or changing nappies!
But I digress… I was talking about my Aunt Marisa and her plans to harness my creativity to her own ends.
She keeps dragging things out of cupboards, neighbour’s yards and roadside bins for me. She has visions… “Look what I found. You can make something with this right?” “Fuzz (my nickname), I found this. I think we can make … but I’m only giving my opinion… its up to you… I’m just suggesting… you’re the expert… you tell me…”
The other night my hands got bored. I’d already bought some basic tools – a small set of pliers, some fine wire, a hot glue gun. 
I already had a box of odd and ends, bits of lace, a million buttons from the 50s and 60s, some old dessert forks, some rusty stuff I’d scavenged.
And a piece of barbed wire I took off a fence on the way to town.
I even have Little Zef’s son working for me now. Every day I come back from the beach he has another treasure or three for me. A rusty grill, some rusty tools, a key…
This heart hangs outside Zefi’s bedroom door: barbed wire, some old lace and ribbon, an old key, a small fork, rusty washers and a rusty door strike plate. I added some dry wildflowers as well this afternoon.
Its a pity I don’t have this ‘team’ with me in Tasmania. I could have a ton of stuff to work with if I had Aunt Marisa and little George foraging for me.
Just in case you’re wondering, I’ve already put in my claim… Aunt Marisa is leaving me her collection of STUFF in her will.
I guess I better get to work on the other projects awaiting me. I have to pay for my room somehow, right?
z

pallets and koureloudes

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What, you may ask, is a kourelou? (kourelou-DES being plural)
Its Grenglish for greek rag rugs. 
I love them! I want some to take back to Australia to make outdoor cushions out of like they did at the cafe/bar we went to last night.
How gorgeous are these? Take a standard footstool and cover it in a kourelou = instant cute.
And this? A built-in stone seat with kourelou covered cushions. Its ‘greek chic’ as opposed to ‘shabby chic’.
I forgot to take photos of the pallet couches lining the outside wall and its kourelou covered cushions. As it was I was walking around the bar taking photos of everything.
“Its ok…. I have a blog.”
Like having a blog gives me license to behave like a Japanese tourist.
But the bar was cute. They had pallets for everything outside. This big outdoor table/bench/thing.
 
The outdoor bar: 
 
The outside wall:
I LOVED the collection of old colourful trays on the pallet bench outside. They had them on the steps as well. I figure it was like a portable table, you grab a kourelou cushion and sit anywhere you want with a tray to hold your drinks.
Inside, the bar had some nice simple light shades which looked they were made from twisted cane painted white.
And the decor was a mix of modern, fashionable and the contents of old Aunty Evronia’s house.
The old wooden chairs were gorgeous. Distressed just right. The tables… not quite so good. Someone should have taken the sander out of this guy’s hand a couple of hours earlier.
I mean really. Shabby chic is all about making things look old, like they’ve been used for many years by generations of french peasants. Not like someone had an accident with a runaway grinder.
I loved the detail in the tiling though. Plain tiles on the floor and then a strip of mismatched tiles. Gorgeous.
Down on the corner of our street in Athens there’s a house which hasn’t changed since I was a kid. Its owned by some Boo Radley type family. Seriously. We were scared of the guy who lived here as kids. He’s now in his 60s and is still the same creepy guy he was then.
When I walked down to the bus stop yesterday he came out and kept staring at me… I thought maybe he recognised me so I said ‘good evening’. He said “What did you just say to me?” in the same tone of voice De Niro used when he asked “Are you looking at me?”
oops.
Better stay clear of him and his creepy house. I did, however, manage to sneak in this photo of their gate. I really really wish I could get into that place to see what’s in there… I bet they have tons of interesting stuff. I’d need a tetanus shot and maybe a bio-suit to go in there. It looks like no one has swept a floor since sometime before WWII.
This afternoon Petro and I managed to get my code or whatever from the local taxation branch (some people can’t afford to go on strike), only to discover my paperwork has the wrong birth date on it so there’s another thing I need to run around for when I’m back in Athens later. Oh joy.
I went to visit a couple of friends in the neighbourhood which was great. One of them is my godmother’s daughter. I remember her when I was growing up as someone who disliked dogs. She’s had dogs in her home, sleeping on her bed, for my last couple of visits now.
That’s one thing I DO love about the changes in Greece. People love animals here now. My aunt collects table scraps to feed the stray cats, every second person has a dog they treat like a human and you see people walking dogs everywhere. Its nice. I love that about the new Greece.
The other lady I dropped in to see is an old friend of mom’s. Her son and I were born 2 months apart and as babies we played together. We played together a bit as teenagers too, but that’s whole ‘nother story.
She was so sweet. Telling me how gorgeous I looked and how I looked prettier every time she sees me (her cataracts are getting worse) and that I look younger than her son. That was nice. It feels good to get compliments. 
I love some of these old ladies. They’re just so down to earth. She was telling me about how her son and daughter-in-law took her to one of the new-fangled restaurants where they give you all these glasses and cutlery and you’re too afraid to touch anything in case you use the wrong thing. She hated the food. They said she must try some spiced fig jam cause it was so good. Nope. She’d rather go to the local taverna where the food is real and they don’t put spices in the jam. Well, they don’t serve jam with meat, they serve tzatziki which is how it should be!
To my greek friends: Before I forget! You see that door handle on the blog header? I want one!!! If you know where I can find one, let me know!
z

beater halter hangers

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Am I the only one who remembers Tom Hanks in Bachelor Party chasing his girlfriend around with the egg beater?
I LOVE Tom Hanks.
But this post isn’t about who I find attractive (though if you really want to know, James Stewart, Jensen Ackles from Supernatural, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, also from Supernatural incidentally… )
Deep breath. Back down to earth.
Good.
In my “tackling the tack room” post I mentioned the beaters. And about re-using them to make a hanger for the halters for our tack room.
See, I’d been collecting these babies for a while thinking “one day I’ll do something with them”.
I used a couple in the mud room for hanging hats. Wayne used one on one of his robots. I spray painted some white. But for the most part they just lay there taking up space and not justiying their existance.
Last weekend when I ran out of hooks and anything bendy to use for hanging up tack I looked at the beaters once more and said “your time has come!”
The only hanging space left in the tack room by that point was the wall along the left hand side right near the door to the corral (or small horse yard… really a small sheep yard considering the casita was a shearing shed in its previous life).
Its a wall with exposed studs and no real place to hang things, so I put another of my handy timber slats up (leftover treated pine from our decking rennovation).
I then drilled holes in the pine, all the way through, for the various size beaters I had. Each beater had to be pushed (or pounded) in till it wedged snuggly.
Once done I hung up our collection of halters so they’re easy to grab as you head out the door.
And just so you don’t think I’ve forgotten Wayne’s input into the hanging racks, here is a photo of one of the bent spoon hooks he made.
I like the way the tack room is organised now:
– saddles ready to ride on their trestles
– extra girths, stirrup leathers & reins along the wacky wallpapered wall
– bridles near the saddle on a timber slat
– saddle blankets over saddles to keep off bird poop
– horse rugs airing out over the fences and slats.
Nice.
Orderly.
My mind is at peace in there.
Next job: tackle the workshop area…
z

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Keeping It Simple

DIY Show Off

 

rusty wire wreath

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I did mention that I’d show off something I’d made for my new louvre door ‘hide the hot water cylinder’ contraption on the front porch.
I made this little wreath out of some very very old, very very rusty wire I found in the dirt in the back paddock. I’d collected it for just this purpose but never got around to doing anything with it till last weekend.
This photo shows the colour of it better than the one above.
When I first pulled it out of the ground and weeds I put it on the picnic table out front, which was a good thing as it turned out. The rain washed it clean for me so all I had to do was put on gardening gloves and start moulding it into a circle. It didn’t come out very even so I added some pieces of ready-to-snap bits of rusty barbed wire we found on the beach last time we went to Opossum Bay.
The plan had been to weave it all together and hold it in place with new thin wire if it wasn’t strong enough on its own, but it seems to be working well as it is.
The heart is a wire heart given to my by a friend. I think it suits the wreath perfectly. No need for further embellishment. Its one of the first things you see as you step onto our porch from the driveway.
Welcome to Wind Dancer Farm where old things are good things!
z

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collecting junk on the porch

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On the weekend I finally got a bit of work done on the porch.

I had planned to have the entire porch (and house) painted by now, but oh well… them’s the breaks. I only got so far (to the high bits) before winter set in. Now its too cold and too damp to paint outdoors.

Oh gee…. guess I have to stop, huh?

So this weekend I moved everything back to where it was meant to be, instead of pulled out into the middle of the porch so I could paint.

Now that the sun isn’t an issue (lack of it might be soon enough) I could move some of the potted plants to the front of the house. They spent the summer cowering under the shadow of the casita. Seriously… the only thing that survived the heat on our front porch is a cactus.

I collected the rusty, galvanised and just plain old bits and pieces and put them near the front porch where the ground is uneven and ugly. Now its just a collection of junk covering an ugly spot.

I am not above some fake greenery till the real stuff grows!

I also to around to putting the louvre doors I bought eons ago (and painted to match the house) on the porch to hide the hot water cylinder.

I hinged them together, put a hook on each side to hook them to the wall to keep them in place, and to keep the wind from blowing them into the dam. Now I have a huge big louvre door ‘cupboard’ on the porch instead of a smaller round hot water cylinder…

Maybe I should have just painted the water cylinder.

Still, I’m nothing if not stubborn. I planned to put it there so I will darn well put it there and LIKE it.

I have tried to make it interesting by adding some more of my old tool crates (collections of old hand tools on shallow old crates). And hung a few interesting things on the louvres as well… More on that in another post.

Meanwhile we now have 2 separate sitting areas on the porch. One is for eating – hence the higher table… sporting another rusty item with fake greenery (heheh).

The other is the bright/navy blue adirondack chairs with their small table. These are for sitting and relaxing. If its warm enough. And not windy. And not rainy and windy in which case the rain gets blown right onto the porch.

The birds meanwhile are still here. They haven’t gone south for the winter. Or is it north when you live in Australia? I doubt they’d fly to the South Pole for winter.

Their presence has given rise to a new name for the porch – the poop deck.

z

a different kind of horse

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I’ve had these photos for ages and found them while tidying up my desktop today. I just have to share cause I think this is incredible work.

One day, a long time ago, I drove down the Cygnet and as I came around the bend and looked down the hill I saw a horse grazing in a paddock just outside town. As I got closer the horse started to looks strange… see through, ghostly…

It was made of barbed wire!

Since then they’ve moved the horse to just inside town, outside a gallery on the main street. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a photo of it in the paddock. The weatherboards don’t do it justice. In a paddock it looked like a real horse, here its just a sculpture.

Even so, its an incredible piece of work. I have no idea who made it or who owns it, but its beautiful. All made of wire and metal.

How cool is that? I think we need one of these for our paddock. And a couple of corregated iron cows. And a corregated iron poodle of course.

z

dragonfly windchime & other shiny things

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I haven’t been doing much these last few weeks, but I ‘ve been messing up the living room with my wiring and beading so I could knock up a few more wind chimes for the local shop I sell through.
I do enjoy making these things as I watch TV, sorting through my boxes and collections of odds and ends till I find something which inspires me, then putting bits together to form something pretty.
As you know, I love rusty things, old things, crystal beads and shiny wire. A few weeks ago I bought my first couple of spools of coloured wire and I’m loving them!
This little dragonfly is made of a mix of silver wire, gold wire and silver beads. It sits on what I believe is the cover from an old car light I found in a tip shop. It makes the best sound when the wind jingles the tea spoons.
 
This heart is made from an old coat hanger bound with red and white lace and embellished with an odd collection of keys, crystal beads and a tiny sugar spoon.
A silver napkin holder makes this very loud windchime for those who like more of a chime. It consists of a collection of spoons, forks, orange glass beads, a large clear crystal and a tiny star cookie cutter.
More chimes to share soon, though I should really be concentrating on finishing the house painting. But that’s ok… I can wire and bead while I catch up on episodes of Dexter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, CSI, Bones and Downton Abbey.
I have ecclectic taste in TV series.
z