Flawed and Fabulous in Yarram, Victoria | Vintage shop

Flawed and Fabulous

Locality: Yarram, Victoria

Phone: +61 414 412 473

Address: 129 Commercial Rd 3971 Yarram, VIC, Australia

Website: http://flawedandfabulous.blogspot.com.au

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23.01.2022 We have been hard at work in the garden too. There are big trees to the right in the back yard. A huge bottlebrush is so structural and a red camelia and a flowering bush that is the size of a tree ! (Tecomaria capensis) I love it because it creates a natural canopy. I cut all the dead wood out from underneath it to make an "umbrella" It is a bit lop sided at the moment because we took out an oak between the two main trees which was tangled through it but it is starting to... grow back on that side. There is bouganvillea too which I am trying to get under control. There is probably 8 to 10 feet wasted space in behind I had the tree lopper take out a palm that gets huge (park ones) and a secondary stand of canes in behind. We spent yesterday tidying up the base and cutting out runners. The area has been let go for years and the has gone mad. We still have a stack of mulch from the tree cutting so the plan is to mulch the whole area and put all the shade lovers in there. Ferns clivea lillies, rock lillies bromeliads, the bangalow palms goldens canes ,kentias and the stag horn in there. We have found a stack of paving in there and around the trees which has lifted . The pavers are coming up but the bricks will get re laid. This Is a huge project but I plan to finally bring all of my gardens together. We just plonked everything in pots , handy to water but now we are finally finding homes for things. I have waited a full year before getting rid of things. Rod knows not to touch the bulbs and rose's! And we love the post and rail garden rooms. This is the first time we havent been able to get a garden under control in a year ! The wide beds and haphazard plantings have been a challenge. They have planted ivy everywhere and we have been pulling it out of the bottlebrush, behind the shed it was under the arbour and in the tree ferns to the left.we are mulching a lot with sugar cane mulch. It is not perfect but we are finally winning in the veg garden. See more

22.01.2022 We drove up to Canberra on Friday for a family surprise birthday party. It was all a bit tricky trying to keep it a secret but I think we were successful. It has been a long time since the family has got together because of covid. Tomorrow there is a brunch before everyone goes home. We are heading up to Maitland on Monday, we havent been there since early June. I imagine it is a mess. Weds and Thursday we are in Sydney to move my mum into respite care. She is terribly upset.... At this stage it is a 4 week trial, but with a view to permanent. We had hoped they would let her trial her little dog too but they have said no. We are going to set her room up on weds with some familiar items to help her settle in. Then I will stay thursday to help settle her in. We will head home to Maitland on Thursday night and try and get some things packed up. It is all a bit rushed but we hope to be on our way home on Sunday or Monday. We will likely be back up mid January. We havent heard what is happening with the builder yet but her is trying to get things finished for us. In the New Year we really just want to pull the garden into shape and get rid of all the building waste. I will have to reorganize the shop and finish setting up. I will be bringing some more shelves down as I have no space left. Iniatially I will probably use the dining room and outdoor area as well to get the shop started. We are looking forward to the big shed being finished and mezzanine and stairs installed. It is going to really take the pressure off. I am so not ready for Christmas. I hope you are all in better shape ! It is a rare Christmas that I don't have a tree. :-( See more

22.01.2022 We had a massive hail storm last night.

20.01.2022 Still hard at work above the shop

20.01.2022 My little shed has been an epic journey. No way we expected it to cost so much but he is doing a great job. Today they measured and lazer sighted the area for the awning. The post holes are dug and the roof framing is up. The posts will have shaved corners like the front and rear verandah. It is a simple effect. The personal door framing is in and Rod has sanded and painted the old slat door I scrounged from the tip. I am really happy with the roof pitch. It is 5 % I went to the doctor today and spent time with mum. Apples was working at the local school. She is working again tomorrow. Skylight panels will go in tomorrow. Might get some gardening in tomorrow after my blood tests.

19.01.2022 Oh no ! The builder is applying for a job. Darren's offsider has given notice and is leaving him on the 18th Dec Darren was looking at finding another apprentice but Rod said that today Darren told him he had applied for a job himself. I am devastated as it is hard to find a really good builder. His work is excellent he tackles the little surprises you find on an old house once you start renovating. I asked him for a bill weeks ago and received one for the slab which w...as laid recently, but there has been weeks of work and materials. He doesn't like quoting and he said to Rod he would glad when covid is over as he has so much work on! Trouble is he doesn't like saying no to anyone. While I admit I was thinking I would like to regroup over Christmas. It has been absolutely amazing seeing everything getting fixed. Just last night we were working on our list of what to do next. Basically we were just going to go until we run out of money. Therein is the problem though, as we need regular bills so we know when we need to put the brakes on. It is a bit mean spirited but I am hoping he doesn't get the job, but for Darren I guess it cuts out the bit he doesn't like. It is not easy to run a small business and work the hours he does. Everyone says I am hard to work for. People say I am a perfectionist. I dont think I am but I do care about the visual. I try and keep an eye on what is happening as it is easier to stop things being done wrong than it is to get them to fix what is done! I was just feeling comfortable that he could be trusted... Oh well. I am gutted we won't get the floors done in the front of the house. I appreciate that he has been solidly working through the list. I hope he takes a good break over Christmas, he has earnt it. He doesn't strike me as the type to moonlight though he likes his weekends to recharge so who know where will find ourselves next year. :-( See more

19.01.2022 I have been off the radar lately. We travelled to Canberra for a family party weekend 12th, 13th of December up to Sydney the 14th of dec. I stayed in Mona Vale and Avalon that week, returning to Maitland before the Northern beaches shut down Thursday. Friday morning Rod had a doctors apt and we saw a friend in Newcastle. We were watching the news and the Vic border was being closed and a permit system being brought in the 18th at midnight. We just did a runner. Grabbed our b...ags, emptied the fridge hooked up the trailer and left. We made a made dash for the border at 2.30pm arriving at the border at 11.15pm Since then we have laid low at home. Had a quiet Christmas and New Year's. We were 'safe" the 31st. The hospital refused to test us as we had no symtoms. Our daughter was exhausted from getting mum settled in wesley gardens. She ended up self isolating at mum's place for 2 weeks. My dear friend that I stayed with in Avalon was found dead the evening of the 27th Dec. She had a monster headache and had gone back to bed after taking some tablets. We know she was ok at 11am when her sister rang and at around 4.00pm she spoke to another friend. When her sister rang at 6.00 pm there was no answer. That was unusual so Jackie asked a friend to call and check. When she couldnt contact Sandy, she asked the neighbour, an ex policeman to help. He could see my friend laying face down on the bed through her window so the police and ambulance were called. The police came around 8 00pm and treated it as a crime scene taking photos and checking everything. It was nearly midnight when the coroner came and Sandy's body was taken away. The family were not allowed in, Jackie had no chance to say goodbye or even see her sister's body. The cat went missing and they thought he had escaped with all the police in and out. Jackie finally found him the next day hiding in the tiniest space under Sandy's bed. I did not find out until the 28th. I had been concerned as I hadnt been able to contact her either. Now there is nothing to do but wait for the coroner to notify his findings and release her body. With the whole of NSW excluded from Vic I dont know what I am going to do and we don't know if they can even have a service yet. It has all been incredibly distressing. Certainly a reminder to seize life, no one knows how long they have. I am going to move opening my shop to the top of the list now. See more

18.01.2022 The builder pulled the weather boards off the side of the shop and cut out the rose that was climbing up inside the wall into the ceiling and out of the pediment ! There was a dried out fungal growth in the cavity.. The timber was still sound though. It has all been repaired with new boards insulation and sarking. The builder noted the framing was only 70mm wide so more dodgy. We left the aluminium window for another day. The roof is being redone as well and the chimney rep...ointed so hopefully no more leaks. There are repairs to do inside as well but then we can paint the last room of the shop. Today the builders are up by the new shed laying the paving for the personal access door and new tank. The electrician laid in something for the power.they have soil to remove down the side of the shop for new drainage. Hot day to be on the shovel. I finished the kitchen in one last push. I managed to jam the another three 50 litre crates in there. The jars have all been moved to a shelf above the stove. I am putting another shelf in front of the window for glasses. I picked the best of my kitchenware and boxed the rest after selecting Some for the caravan. Mum and Appley are due back today. We have all had a good long break. That was a huge job. Still have linen to do. See more

18.01.2022 We haven't done a lot the last few days because of the weather but we made a start replanting all of the things dug out of the shed site. The bay tree is looking great, .the lemon tree not so much ! The nasturtiums are good and the little grass plant. Just some calla lillies, agapanthus, violets and more nasturtiums to go. We fixed up the tracks made by the excavator and took a load of green waste to the tip. Of course I came home with a stack of agapanthus enough to go dow...Continue reading

18.01.2022 Scaffolds down roof and skylights in side door hung. Paving trims and barn doors to go

18.01.2022 I had a little dig around and found some pics of the dragons and a few of my other favourite styles of "Focus Folding" origami jewellery. Then this morning I found a "my modern met" post about a lady artist who made a Japanese warrior out of a single piece of paper

17.01.2022 Stacks of timber still to sort

17.01.2022 Frame is going up. Has been a bit of a drama as we had to make it smaller to fit in the area. Bit of a pest as odd measurements now but I didn't want to mess with the post and rail fencing nor cut any more off my peach tree. We cleared another area of the garden on Thursday. It was Apps birthday Friday and today everyone was feeling lazy. I actually watched two movies.

17.01.2022 On the road again. Stayed with Rods mum in Canberra last night. OP on on our way before 9.00am Just stopped in Bookhan to put the sun shade up. So good with new tyres and the aircontitioner regassed. On a road train to Melnourne to see the kids before we head out to Yarram Sunday I would like to stay put for a few weeks but it depends on what is happening with the bakery.

16.01.2022 Hinges arrived so the barn doors can be hung tomorrow. My wisteria is flowering now, there is always something flowering in spring. The pear trees are flowering too. The nectarine and peaches plums and apple have all finished flowering now. We planted the oriental lillies Elle gave me for my birthday under the fruit trees. Darren's apprentice has dug all the excess dirt out and is loading the road base stuff in. He found some more bricks. No surprise, we havè found hundreds in the site. It is still cool but sunny today.

16.01.2022 Heard from the builder today. Paving is going well and barn doors are nearly done They hope to finish paving today. The personal access door has been rehung to open in and solve some issues with the finish and locking.i found an old lock and key for it and just have to refit the keyhole cover

14.01.2022 Cement going in, still looks grey but it will probably dry lighter. It is only half strength. They poued the foundations first in regular cement to save the colour for the slab. There is a lot of aggregate in it. It is being hand troweled as smooth as possible. The more it is worked, the harder it gets, and the aggregate gets pushed down making it harder to polish as they have to grind more. Anyway we have a slab. 2 weeks to cure it and it can start going up. Builder will be back later today to reinstate the fence. You get a real sense of the proportions now it is laid. We plan to add a mezzanine when we work out the details with the stairs and flooring.

13.01.2022 We arrived in Sydney last night. I am staying at my mum's unit in Mona Vale. We drove up yesterday in the old van as we are heading back to Maitland to do some more packing and organizing. I wanted to bring the old sign boards down as I plan to display them in the new shed. I was so disappointed with the mezzanine the builder put in i have hardly gone into the shed. I am going to have to get it painted. The floor joists are constructed 400 mm apart and he used those disgusti...ng u shaped gal brackets to fit them to the big support metal beams. It is hideous. It is very damaging for me just the recent work has sucked all the joy out of my building /renovations. He doesnt like criticism, who does ? But that abortion just cost me 6000. At the moment things have to change or there is no way he is going to do the stairs and no more work while we are away. We had a great weekend in Melbourne with family before our horror drive up yesterday. We just did Indian takeout with the girls Sat night. Did a bit of baby sitting with Artie We trekked out to Ikea to pick up some bits and pieces and did some work in Appley's garden. I dug up a stack of stuff for her and we got most of it planted in .Rod got diverted levelling the soil which she had rotary hoed. It has been a huge job getting it prepared to turf. She is so excited about turfing it. We were going to leave Sunday night and get up to Albury but we were out gardening until late. We said we would get up early then it was too cold ! We threw ourselves together packed the esky and left around 8.30. Google took us this random route through the countryside because of traffic which while joyful and relaxing but wasted two hours. We got to Albury after 5 1/2 hours and stopping for brunch at Avenel. It got hot, the aircon wasn't working well and the sun beat in my window. We brought the trailer again so it was truly painful. We tried hard to stay on the road I had a bit of a dummy spit at Marulan so we stopped for a stretch. Arrived in Mona Vale at 9.30 pm close to 13 hrs then had to unpack and make the bed. We were pooped. It is time I got ready to go see mum. Here is my grandson Artie scoffing a baby chino and croissant he wasted sure about the stuff on top. He is such a treasure and changing so quickly. He knows so many words now and calls me nanna. We love it when he plays to the audience.... Tadah !!!! And oh oh..... he knows mess too. He loved gardening on sunday. I had to scrape an inch or more of dirt off each shoe ! See more

13.01.2022 It has been crazy busy here this week. The builder came to start moving the existing shed to the other side of the block. We had a mad scramble to clear out the shed ready to be dismantled. We removed all pots and furniture and shifted a stack of building materials. The plumber came the same day to replace the broken sewer pipework. As he had his excavator he dug out the lemon and bay trees, some agapanthus and calla lillies and some violets and nasturtiums. The little exca...vator made quick work of it all. He also pulled out a plum tree which was in the way. The builder hand cleared the rest and lazer lined up string lines and the formwork and brought in sand black plastic and mesh. The next day the concrete truck came and they barrowed in the concrete. He spend the day trowling it all smooth. He was gutted when it rained with only a metre to go. The plumber came back and replaced the guttering at the back and put new garden taps in. Then the glazier came and replaced the broken window glass and sash cords. It was a big day . Today they finished dismantling the shed and prepared the site for the new shed which will be double height and longer. Storage problems will be over ! The glazier came back again today too and changed the sash cords in the lounge room and reglazed and puttied a multi pane window in the shop. They still have to complete the top window and fix a broken pane in the laundry. Tomorrow the builders are doing some more groundwork and getting rid of some more debris, I am not sure when they plan to form up the next slab. It has been a really crazy busy and exciting week getting things done. See more

13.01.2022 We finally placed the order for the big shed and made an application to council last week. It is being made as a kit by Eureka and will be erected by our builder Darren. It is 9 meters long 4 1/2 meters wide and 4 meters to the eaves. It has a 30 % gable roof and will have a mezzanine. Also a whirlygig and two skylight panels to the rear It will have gable windows, a large full bay 3 meter sliding door in the middle at the front, and a glass sliding access door to the sid...Continue reading

13.01.2022 I am back in Maitland after a week in Mona Vale to see my mum and continue sorting mum's clothes. She has Alzheimers and is in Wesley Gardens now as she needs care. She is doing pretty well considering she went in the 17th Dec and was locked down same day, no visitors allowed for two months. Restrictions have eased but you still have to sign in with QR and have your temp taken. Mum kept her room tidy initially but i see the crazy is creeping back in. Mum is a hoarder and she...Continue reading

12.01.2022 Still working in the garden

12.01.2022 Cement slab is being laid today. Thank God. It has been nearly a month since I floated the idea of "adding some white rocks" to the concrete so I could polish it at some point. The rocks were not too bad for a "what if" about $350 but the colour hthe builder offered was expensive, I asked for half strength to reduce the cost and it had to be ordered in. Then Rick the concretor decided we needed another metre and a half of concrete and we waited for more colour.to be order...ed in. Rod texted the builder yesterday and said if the concrete was not laid this week we wanted a plain slab laid on Friday. We are now a month behind schedule the kit is due for delivery any day and I finally heard back from the concrete polishing mob yesterday re quote. $5000 to polish ! That is more than twice what I have researched. It is supposed to be 50.00 per square metre. The whole thing has been a complete and utter folly. I thought I had made myself pretty clear but obviously not. I found some nice big concrete style tiles the other day for $25.00 a metre they were grey but quite nice. That would have been cheaper. I wish I had never opened my mouth. I wish he had actually contacted me and said "I can't get the materials in time for the pour on Monday the 26th Oct do you want to go ahead or reschedule ? I would have said "don't worry it was just a thought" I love my builder he does nice work and he cares about the result but he is hard to keep on the job. I asked for a bill a few weeks back so we knew where we are going. This do and pay thing is not good. I am not stupid, like everyone I make financial decisions. You need to know where you are headed, ball park is fine. I have no idea how much this slab is going to cost now. Darren did the formwork. The concrete was 1600 now 2600 plus the extra meter and a half ??? and "Rick" the concretor didn't quote his labour. We just want our shed up so I am not saying anything. The quote from Eureka was around 3600 -3800. I am not saying another word.

11.01.2022 Lots happening with the big shed this week. The slab is beautiful. The aggregate is even and close to the surface. I got a call Thursday to say the kit was on it's way from Warragal so about an hour and a half away. It arrived on two pallets on the back of a truck and he craned them in . That went smoothly. Nice chap, he said we were lucky we got it that day otherwise it wouldn't have been until after Christmas, as he had a backlog of deliveries. The builder is back on site ...this week and is going to do the skillion roof over the back room of the shop. He is going to repair the lining boards inside and redo the scotia. The lining board cupboard needs attention and the mantle piece needs refitting and then we will be able to paint the last room. He wants to know what is next woo hoo. I am heading up to see my friend in Avalon for a few days when the border opens.She lost her mum in May. Mum and Apps went back to Melbourne today and are heading to NSW on monday. It has been nearly 5 months and I have been pretty stressed out. It is a small house and so much worse since the move. We need our shed ! Hope the rest of the build goes smoothly. Rod took some more of his super out this week to pay the builder. In the new year I will need to get the old shop back on the market and hopefully find a placement for mum. I really lost it yesterday mum has been telling everyone that we are trying to put her in a home. It has been pretty distressing since Appley brought up placing her in care. Mum doesn't want to go and thinks she is ok. She worries about what is going to happen to her little dog. See more

11.01.2022 We have been busy organizing the bricks for paving under the awning of the new shed. We managed to buy 400 red bricks cleaned and ready to use. We have also been pulling bricks out of the yard since we bought here I went through the whole pile and pulled out the goods ones cleaned some off and and stacked them ready to go.I also stacked the ones for cleaning in a pile, and went through the half bricks and chucked the rubbish. Just an awful job but it is done now. Rod has just taken the bricks and concrete to the tip. The barn doors will hopefully be hung this week too. We have had a lot of rain lately. My pear tree is flowering and the forget me knots and marigolds are taking over the veg patch. We are heading to Nunawading to start packing up soon.

10.01.2022 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=270022754741601&id=100820328328512 My nephew has turned his childhood passion for origami into a unique business. He is steadily building a business on line and at local markets for his unique handcrafted origami jewellery. He makes tiny paper artworks, waterproofs them and makes earrings and necklaces. I absolutely love the dragons they are my favourites. Lots of different styles check it out. I love to see people start a business and create something new and different.

10.01.2022 Still hard at work pulling up bricks and clearing the side garden

10.01.2022 Daniel Andrews 'should lose his job for his incompetence' | Sky News Australia https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6170252965001

10.01.2022 I had another person try to come and visit the shop in Maitland yesterday. It must have been so annoying to travel only to find us shut. She was a recent follower too :-(. We are closed in Maitland now. The Covid situation currently in Victoria means I will hold off opening the new shop until September. ... Mum and Appley arrived from Sydney for a 5 week stay on Friday. They were here for Christmas and ended up trapped by the bushfires.I hope the current covid outbreaks doesn't end up trapping them down again!. What a year this has been so far. I was planning to open for the Tarra festival at Easter but we were locked down. Restrictions had only just eased recently and now there are suburbs locked down again. We went to the pub for lunch yesterday and they only had seating for 20 again! It is a surreal experience now. Rods redundancy has changed our priorities and we have had a mad scramble to try build some storage as we may have to let our Melbourne rental go. The builder seems to be a great guy and we are grateful that we have found someone. His first priority is moving our existing shed to a new location and completing it. He is going to build the other one too. We had some trees removed so we can relocate our container to the side of the block but there is a lot of tidying up to do. We have to empty the existing shed ready to be taken down and prepare the new site for it to be erected. So lots of building, packing and moving ahead. The new shop is ready to fill but we have been cleaning up ready for visitors this week. I will be able to potter with that once the sheds are under way. After 7 hours in the garden weds another 6 or so moving furniture and laying plywood flooring Thursday and four solid hours non stop raking up debris and rocks and loading it into the trailer on Friday I was cactus. Then followed next to no sleep Friday night. So I have been a teary mess but we still managed to clean the bedroom window and frame, wash and rehang some blinds and put a rod and curtains up in the guest room today and vacuum the house ready for her visit. Rod got his payout yesterday which will be funding life and works for a while and it was nice to pay some bills. I imagine we will be raiding the super too. The good thing is that though the last few days have been exhausting (I can't keep pace with him!) Stuff will be getting done with Rod at home. Been awake for an hour and a half, Time to try and get back to sleep!

09.01.2022 Have been busy this week arranging the front room of the shop and unpacking boxes. Rod painted up some more shelves for me which are ready to go in tomorrow. We are getting there. Still 8 plastic trunks two large metal trunks 2 cane trunks and some timber trunks to unpack as well. Wondering where I am going to put it all! Will be able to do the second room soon. The last room still needs work unfortunately. Will be heading back to Nunawading to pack up the rental. We gave n...otice for the 30th of October. We have a lot of sorting and packing to do. Melbourne is still in stage 4 lockdown. Not looking forward to going back. I went to Bunnings in Traralgon today and bought some gal fittings for my barn doors. Hope the builder will be happy. Can't wait to see it finished ! See more

09.01.2022 Shed is down the site has been cleared. The pile to the left next to the bricks is the materials. the metal posts have been taken away to get rust proofed. We are still replanting things but getting there. We will clear up all around the slab tomorrow as the builder is back next week.

09.01.2022 Good day yesterday. Sun was shining. Mum and Apps sat outside making masks. The builder got stuck into framing up the shed it will be ready for the sheets soon. I am putting an awning back on for some undercover space and using all the bricks we dug out of the yard to pave in under it. That serves the dual purpose of giving me somewhere for the 10 ft trestle table ( occasional entertaining) and stock.It also gets rid of my brick pile ! There are building materials piling up everywhere ! I am still thinking about how wide to make it. At the moment 2900 wide but 2500 would probably do. Will see.

07.01.2022 It is looking more like a shed every day. We got sliding doors and a window today. There is a window either end in the gables. A large sliding metal door at the front and a glass sliding door in the end. Two skylights and a whirly gig for the roof too. They really hacked the willow tree back hard today ready for the roofing sheets. Still a lot of details to finish. We are laying pavers for the tank and dry access at the door. The mezzanine will go in at 2.4 meters but we are still trying to work out the details for stairs. We moved the glass doors to the side at the last minute and they are set up the wrong way. I knew we would miss something. It is a bit fiddley but they can be flipped.he is going to come back to that. Christmas is coming and they finish on the 18th when we are away. I knew this month would gallop away.

07.01.2022 Darren the builder came today. He organized his apprentice to clear the area for paving, level and add an aggregate to lay the bricks on after it is compacted. We are just keeping it simple and laying it like subway tiles in offset rows. The bricks are different sizes and depths which will be a challenge but I love old bricks it will be great. Can't wait to garden the area and add a firepit. We have joked about it being my " she shed" After waiting a month for him to come ba...ck I am frustrated as all hell I wont be here to supervise ! Ha ha poor tradies I always watch I am still waiting for my hinges from bunnings I have called a couple of times and I am waiting to hear back with the tracking number. I am still wrestling with my new medication.it has made my sugar levels so much worse. I am having a blood test today to confirm whether I am type 1 or 2. I have been diabetic since 2006. I am aching all over today after my 3 hour stint moving bricks. So frustrating. We are going to concentrate on packing the van today. Rod did a mammoth day yesterday cleaning out the container putting up shelves taking a trailer load of concrete and bricks to the tip and spraying the weeds in the afternoon. See more

07.01.2022 Third day of boxing. Did a night session yesterday as my time alone is running out and the pressure will be on I have finished the two cupboards downstairs. One had all my coffee shop equipment, the other was the party cupboard full of party supplies and serving platters and bowls. At least I got rid of the sunflower plates. I have been waiting for Apps to set up home and take them. Actually I havent even looked at the boxed stuff above the shop. There is stacks of Morrocan plates tagines bowls.

06.01.2022 You know I joke about our self destructing house here in Yarram. We heard a big crash today and Apples ran outside to check, on her way back in I joked "maybe my ceiling collapsed" She went to check and it had! Omg this place is a lemon ! Oh well, we have insurance. ... One day after we rebuild, it will be good ha ha.... Sadly there are more cracks. Dont know what is going on but the ceiling just moved up the list. See more

06.01.2022 My beautiful friend's funeral is tomorrow. I just can't go as I will be trapped up in NSW for an undetermined period. I have sent flowers and some photos and memories but it is not the same as being there. The service will be on zoom so we will be watching online. I am so sick of government reaction to Covid 19 .I doubt that anyone really believes the narrative anymore. It is such a joke. I would like to know what is really going on. I feel like we are being systematically ...Continue reading

04.01.2022 This is the one I had to copy and past it from the group. Not my work I just thought it was a lovely story and such a great transformation (50 hours work.) This is an American group so many people painting and flipping furniture for profit. It is where I started in 1990, fixing up junkers. What a great hobby/business and such passion out there. See previous post for link. It is a closed group you have to join but it is a bit of fun.... Good morning people , I would like to share with you the most challenging custom project we have ever done . Our client brought this old Hoosier cabinet to us that belonged to his mother . He had had it in storage for many ,many years and has decided he wanted it restored for his grown daughter and her family. When we received it ,it was dilapidated, warped ,full of mouse turds, grime, and in several pieces. My husband spent at least 30 hours putting it back together and replacing warped veneer, repairing structure,and overall rebuilding it while preserving as much of the original as possible . We decided to keep the original hardware and spent hours soaking and scrubbing the rust and grime off of them. The original tin top look unsalvageable as it was loaded with layers of grime and rust, but I got my bucket and scrubbie and scrubbed and sanded til it was ready for tin polish . So happy to retain the history of the tin with the rolling pin dings and marks. Then lucky me got to decide on finishes amd paint away and in my opinion the easy part. We added a wood planked back ,stained in dark brown to keep some warmth and texture while painting the rest in a warm white. so after about 50 hours of work and tons of slivers , worn hands , amd a few arguments here she is . We will reveal this to our client tomorrow for the first time and I can’t wait to see the look on their faces! The best part of this job.

02.01.2022 Boxes are starting to pile up !

01.01.2022 Lost track of how many days I have working above the shop, I just keep at it. Some stuff needs re boxing. Today I unpack all my light fittings the I have been collecting. They were in cardboard and newsprint and the boxes were damaged. I washed them and laid them out on the bed. I am sure there are more. I love the three big matching milk glass pendants. I will be able to put them in the house or shop in Yarram. I also have fantastic enamel shop lights to hang outside. It has been nice finding them all

01.01.2022 Walls going up. Skylights in the roof and insulation paper. I know it is just a box right now but I am hoping the post details, awning, barn doors and brick paving will trick it up. Ha ha then there are always creepers. It has cost over 8000 so far so I have blown the budget to hell. But at least we will have one dry lock up space. Still wrestling with the plans for the other shed.

01.01.2022 Christmas came and went. Not our best year. We got caught up last week in NSW with the Covid outbreak in the Northern beaches .Rod dropped me at mums in Mona Vale late afternoon on Monday. It was a long trip from Canberra as we left mid morning. I grabbed some supplies from the servo and Rod went home to Maitland. Tuesday I did some cleaning at my mum's and stripped the covers off her lounge and washed them. I also boxed up a stack of stuff to take to Wesley gardens for m...Continue reading