Getting settled and kitchen reno part 1

We have arrived in Bowen it has been a crazy few weeks and I have been keeping my head down to get my mind around it all.  I have been very over whelmed with the job in front of us.  This week has been an improvement I have not been waking up wondering what on earth we are doing moving to Bowen, leaving our friends, family, good school church life and civilisation lol. 

This is the childrens fav spot at the moment :)



The kids are enjoying the beaches and love being able to go any time we want, they have been whale watching from Flagstaff hill (we just missed seeing some whales).   This afternoon I am taking them to the jetty to see if we can spot some Dugons.  Last week we went to our fishing hut, it is great to be able to have a place to go for a weekend.  Love how all we need to take is a tent and food everything else is already there makes camping so much easier.

My little man relaxing in the hammock at the hut

The house and yard needs a lot of work, my two year time frame for getting the place fixed up has been revised to a five year plan.  Also the house has shrunk since I was last here I am sure the bedrooms were bigger........At the moment the house is a huge mess I have to pack up my parents stuff and clean before I can unpack, so you can imagine there are boxes everywhere.  I have nearly finished the kitchen and have picked out some new paint for the walls.

The Kitchen is the first room that I am going decorate.  Here are some of my before pictures, however the wallpaper has been already removed and sample colours have been used around the kitchen.

 The first thing that has to go is this green paint, the photo makes it look a little dull, it is a lot brighter.

 This is a sneak peek at the colour I will be painting the walls it is a brown based white.  I have gone with this colour to tie in the wooden trim and the brown on the tiles.  Down the track I will be replacing the tiles/splash backs, tap fittings and the cupboard but as this was only done a few years ago it can wait till I have done the things that really need to be done first.  I am hoping a fresh coat of paint and some decorating will make a huge improvement.

 This wall will be painted a few shades darker and the fridge and new shelving will be going in.
As you can see there have been a lot of paint testing, a much as I am itching to get into painting I know that what looks nice in the shop under all those lights may not look the same at home.  I took 3 samples home and had a play with them until I found one that I liked. 
When trying sample paint I paint a patch on a few walls as the paint looks different in each area depending on light. 

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I am hoping to have the kitchen finished by next week fingers crossed and hoping my baby sleeps.

The end of an era ...

Just when you think you have your life organised, things change.  That is what has happened to me this week our plans of moving in January have changed and we are now going in 2 and a half weeks. 

I am really struggling with this move I know it is the right thing, I know we have been called to help in this church but...... my heart feels different.  I really love the lifestyle here.  I am very comfortable, we attend a great Church, the kids go to a good school that is attached to the church, even the ballet school the girls attend is run by a christian, and I think that is the problem.  The last few years I have become very comfortable with life and where we are.

So here we go about to jump in boots and all out of our comfort zone.

Was a bit over whelmed this weekend so did lots of baking on Saturday.  In an attempt to get my mind off trying to work out what to do and how do we go about doing it.  Anyone who knows me well knows that when I have a lot on my plate I create something, crafting, painting or bake (not just everyday baking it has to be creative cooking).  Since the craft room is in the process of being packed up I baked.

I did add fine toffee drizzled all over but hubby put this in a container before I could take a photo.

Check out my Bek's family favourite recipes for the recipe, more to be added in the coming days.

I better get back to packing up the junk craft room.

I have started to get the house organised and to pack up a few items we are planning to go to Bowen in a few weeks to show the children where they will be living, check out schools and take a load of stuff up.

Packing up has made the move more real, still torn about going, today I took a break from packing and did some baking and craft.

I made choc self-saucing pudding, homemade ice-cream, meringues and Puff triangles.  You can view the recipes at Bek's family favourite recipes.  Lately I have been getting back into cooking from scratch.  I grew up on a hobby farm and we made most of our sauces, jams, jellies, ice-cream, yogurt, cheese and the list goes on ..... from scratch.  I have been quite alarmed at what additives are being put into foods, especially foods that only have 4 ingredients to make from scratch but the bought product  contains at least 10 ingredients such as ice-cream. 

The short version of why we are moving.... Writing this while holding a grumpy baby, on hold on the phone, occasionally chatting on facebook and while eating breakfast.

As you know we are moving soon this has happened so suddenly, I though I would be living in Toowoomba for years and years.  The move has taken us both by surprise as neither of us thought we would ever move to Bowen.  Even though I grew up there I moved away when I was 17 and was sure I would NEVER return.

The past year it seems like the doors have been closing in my husbands face with work then two weeks ago he went from full time Salary to part time work.  We had been feeling it was time to move on from his career as it was not very family friendly working for 5am to 8am in the mornings and then 2pm till after 8pm at night plus extra hours during the day, some days he could work 12 hours or more. 
He was also away most weekends and for a week 4 or more times a year.  Last Wednesday the possibility of moving to Bowen was presented as an off hand comment.  Within a week this comment, lead to us moving to Bowen, housing arrangements have been taken care of and being called to help out in a small Church.
It as quite funny as two weeks ago I actually let go of my dream to own my own house any time soon.  I had just had another house inspection and handed the long list again of all the things that needed to be done.  I was sooooo over renting but felt that I had to hand over this dream that I had been hiding in my heart. and said whatever happens I will be happy to serve God and do his will.  It is not that is was a bad or wrong dream but in a way selfish what I wanted.  I was starting to resent renting and this was starting to show by how I was keeping house. Then just under one week later we are offered a house for very little money, on a big block.  Big enough for the kids to be kids on, have chickens, pets grown our own veggies, renovate everything I have been secretly wanting.  The last few days the words from a word that I had been given when I was a teenager keep coming back to me Ï will grant you the desires of your heart if you follow and obey me."

So now we have to pack and find a new school :( I love the school they are in and really don't want to take them away from there.  Have to make new friends and get to know my old friends again.  So I am now on a recruiting mission anyone want to come with us.  Below I have added some pictures to see if you feel led to come with us. 

 

I have been having trouble with blogger I am unable to leave comments, I have been reading what you guys are up to but just can't comment at this stage. Joyfullmum loved your last post. 

Here is a lovely blanket rack I purchased from someone on eBay.  I am going to do paint it white, it will be perfect for hubby to hang his clothing on that he wants to wear again, instead of on the end of the bed!!!!

Today I was feeling a bit down about having to move to a new town (and needed to get away from a clingy, screaming baby for a few hours) so I went out and purchased some renovating and decorating magazines and a tin of white paint:)  I am excited about having our own place that we can do up and having a bit of land to plant lovely gardens, have hens and space for the children but just wish it was not so far away.  It is not that I don't want to go and do what God has called us to do it is just I don't want to do it in the location he wants us to go to.  At least I have the house reno plans to help me keep my mind from having to move.

I went window shopping to get some decorating ideas and found these wall decals.  So glad I found then today as I was going to purchase a set from ebay, these were half the price from House and Garden.

This writing will be going on the patio wall after I bag and render the walls. The front patio in this house is like another room without 2 walls the patio leads to the front door and will be the perfect games/reading and morning/afternoon tea area.

This book I purchased today is divided into 4 areas and has little pockets where I can put clippings and paint samples.  I am going to divide the book up into 4 areas bedrooms, wet areas (bath room, toilet, laundry, kitchen), living areas (lounge, dining room and office) and outdoors (patio's and gardens)

My stash of Mags I got, when I went to Mitre 10 I found all these free plan project planners I grabbed a heap covering everything from rendering, painting to building guinea pig cages and forts.

Back again :)

It has been 6mths since I last posted can't believe we are in June already, where has the year gone.  It has been a very busy year so far, in March we welcomed the newest member into our family a little boy. 

I have started doing some craft again and am about to embark on a huge challenge, life has taken a turn and we are being led somewhere I never though and actually said I would not go unless God really wanted me to, but more about that later.

I am planning to be blogging more and will be blogging the house reno I will be starting in the new year which I am sooooo looking forward to I am so over renting and house inspections every three mths. 

Cookie Exchange

This year one of the ladies in our church had the great idea of having a cookie exchange.  The basic idea is to make one batch of cookies, slice, or something like that.  Make 10 for each person, bag them up, and a plate to share then get together and have a cuppa and swap our goodies.  It was such a great idea and so helpful to me, I usually do a lot of Christmas baking but have not been well enough this year to do as much as I usually do. 

Yesterday a few of the mums from playgroup came over and got to feast on all this. 

I made Spiced Christmas Tree Biscuits you can get the recipe here.  The day I baked for the swap was the hottest we had had in ages, the mixture did not like the heat at all. 

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Such a long time has passed since my last post, my computer got a virus and we lost everything on the computer, I got bronchitis and school holidays have started.  That mixed with the continued morning sickness has meant I am so not ready for Christmas and have not been blogging or on the computer much. 


I finally started to get the house decorated last week for Christmas and though I would share a few photos and some traditions I have started to make Christmas decorating less stressful with you children under foot.


While my hubby and I do the "boring" jobs like set up the tree, string the lights and do the little fiddly things I have a few things that I get the children to do to keep the busy while they are waiting to trim the tree.

I get the children to decorate their own special tree, this tree they put on the decorations they have made at school and playgroup and any fav's they have made in the previous years.  They have so much fun decorating this I let them do it all and resist the tweeking urge I get. 

It is a simple metal tree that I ordered from ebay from the US and it is perfect for the kids.

On top of the TV cabinet I put most of the stuff the children have made or their favourite decorations.

 The next thing I get the children to do is fill any glass bowl or vase, display plates I can find will baubles.  They love doing this and it keeps them busy for ages. 

When I went to take a photo of the tree I discovered someone had moved all the ornaments.  I will tweek it and post a new photo soon.

The next 3 photos of some easy and pretty decorations my children made.  I use glass baubles and get them to fill them with glitter and pretty things in what ever colour theme we are going with that year.  These glass baubles can be used year after year, just empty them and full them up again.

 Last year I got the Children to paint wooden Christmas shapes then we covered them in glass glitter.

A bit of a close up of the tree I usually do not use tinsel but the children love it and it is only for a few years.  I also usually use white fairy lights but this year my hubby got to the lights before me and let the children talk him into using the coloured ones.  Oh well.  My neighbour is getting me a real Christmas tree 4 days before Christmas for the family room and I am going to decorate it :) 

Every year I splash out and get one nice Christmas decoration this year I got this sign cute hey :)

Last year I made these little trees as table center pieces they were so easy just glued beads on little glittery Christmas trees. 

I put out a nativity the children can play with every year, usually we make a stable and manger but this year things have not gone to plan.  I also put out some stories about the true meaning of Christmas.  In a later post I will tell you how we have handled Santa in our family.  Both my husband and I have never grown up with Santa, and we really want to focus on why we celebrate Christmas and reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. 

GIFTING and the origins halloween

Yesterday we attended a birth celebration.  The family is from Zimbabwe so this was the first birth celebration I had attended, from what I understand it is cultural for the women to stay home after the baby is born for about 4 weeks and then they have a big welcoming celebration aka PARTY.  :)

I love to give gifts homemade or bought.  When I give gifts I love to include something homemade or special in gifts if I can, even if it is just the card that I have made.  (Sometimes it is impossible to do and I did have a few years where I did not do this much.  I had 3 kids 3 and under at the time)  We need to be realistic on what we can do and realise there is a season for everything.  As much as I love to make things and find it relaxing there was a year or two when it was totally impossible to do I had to focus on getting through the day, not on whether I had made a gift or card.  One thing I found that even if you are unable to make a gift or card you can always be creative in the wrapping.  Nothing nicer than getting a gift, that it is obvious someone has taken a lot of care in wrapping.  And wrapping can be quick, easy and not expensive.  A ribbon with embellishments, tea towel, it does not take a lot to dress up a gift.  At the end of this post I will post some pics of nicely wrapped gifts.  There are plenty out there google for ideas.

Okay back to the birth celebration, for the gift I made a name hanging for the baby Taanaye.  It did not cost me anything to make I just used bits that I had in my craft box.  This is such a cute and inexpensive gift to make.  I usually make these for friends after the baby is born or for their first birthday.  If you have limited funds it is surprising what you can make that is both unique and worth more to your friends than if you spent a lot on the latest designer outfit that the baby will soon grow out of.

Sorry about the photos I was in a hurry and took them on my bed, next time I will take them on  a white table.

Click on photo to make it bigger

I used buttons, scraps of material, flowers to decorate it.  You can use anything. 

This is a quick craft to do, the bit that takes the longest is putting the letters on this time I printed the letters I needed then glued them on, using hot glue ran some around the paper that I had cut down to size and quickly applied glitter.  You can use sticker letters, little wooden or cardboard letters, cutouts from paper you are recycling.  I once made one for a friends child who is into music and I used old sheet music.  I will post detailed instructions and put a link here soon.

  

I wrapped it all up in pink tissue and finish the package with a white organza ribbon.  In the gift I also included a cute summer all inone and a lovely card.  I put all of the gifts in a gift bag with lots of scented tissue paper.

Wrapping ideas

Christmas is coming up and one thing I love to do is use an ornament as decoration for the gift that they can reuse on the tree the next year.  For the children I often use candy canes or Christmas candy shapes.  I will do lots of posts about Christmas in November/December.

Waste-free Holidays

Martha Stewart has lots of tips and ideas about wrapping.

Halloween

Last week while shopping I noticed a lot of halloween items out.  Yes it is that time of year again.  Every year there seems to be more and more halloween items available and more and more houses and shops decorating for this holiday.  In my old blog I did a post about halloween and its origins as I did not know much about the holiday as we in Australia never use to pay much attention to it.  But with the world becoming a smaller place and the influencing of other countries and cultures through such mediums as television, Internet, some Aussies are starting to celebrate halloween.  This post gives the history and background to halloween, I looked into this as I wanted to know why we as Christians do not celebrate this holiday, and also wanted to be able to give informed answers to my children not just hear say.  I would suggest you check my facts and research for yourself there is so much information out there and this post is a summary as I could have written a book with what I found out.

I believe we should not just go on hear say, it is our responsibility to check the facts and the bible in regard to anything we are taught whether it is from the pulpit, books, newsletters, homegroups or blogs.  We should be informed so if we are ever questioned as to why we do or do not do things we can give answers that are correct and backed by the word of God instead of answers like because that is what we do.

Click on the above pumpkin to go to the post.

Some of the links in my old post are now not available I will find some more and link them here.  So check back in a few days if you are interested.

What about Halloween.
Halloween : Treat or Trick?
Halloween -  a harmless ritual? by by Jean Claude Boulenaz (Teen Challenge, Brisbane, Australia)
Should Christians Observe Halloween This is a great post lots of history and information backed by scripture.