trying to get back into the swing of things...

me = slack blogger.

yep - I know - but life gets busy - and if the blog has to go into a holding pattern - so be it!

however - I am starting to get back into the swing of the new year - and hopefully this wee blog will get some more loving!!

huge thanks to anyone still following out there. I check in on many other blogs often - just haven't had the blogging mojo to actually write a post myself!!

a wrap up of the biggest news items around house-o-nefotlak - just to get you up to speed!......

1. the girls are now all back at school.....

triple j is now in year 4, eky heads into year 8 and goob is now a senior in year 11 (and over 6 feet tall!!).
eeek - how does time fly by so quickly?!?!

2. I'm back at uni - and this is my final year - yayayayayayay!!! it's going to be a big one - especially with all the other goings-on this year - but I am so so so so determined to finish this thing. (primary teaching). feeling good about reaching this point.

3. have bought a bike...

love it!!
(it's a 'hybrid bike' - a cross between a road bike and a mountain bike - brand = trek - super large wheels - I really really love it!!)
we have also ordered new bikes for the girls - and we are embarking on  a new exercising adventure.
so far it's been loads of fun. 

4. I've lost 8 kilos since xmas!! super happy about this achievement!!!
it's a combination of diet, discipline and exercise. (not too much exercise just yet - but I'm getting there!!)
I have started on the dukan diet - recommended by a friend - and so far it's been working really well.  (have probably dropped 1-2 dress sizes - feeling great!)
will keep you posted as I go.

5. my contract (work) has been extended until the end of april - but now I'm down to 3 days per week so that I can still attend uni lectures and tutorials and study. super happy about this - as the need for extra money has been something that we really struggled with last year. for now it's working well - I love the people and the work - and the money is great. we'll see what develops over the coming months.

6. sport is going to be yet another huge chunk of our lives this year. both eky and goob trialled for the u15's and u17's state volleyball teams on the weekend. both went really well - and now have 3-4 weeks of training (twice a week) until the final teams are picked. they will also have club and association rep netball commitments - so we're in for a busy sporting time. triple j will again play netball at club level this year as she increases her skills. I envisage loads of car trips around to games and training ahead of us!!

7. goob turn's 16 in march - and is very excited about getting her L's for driving. eeeeekkkk!!

image from here

I can't believe we've reached this point in this parenting adventure!!
pray for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. we have bought a new camera - finally!!

photo from here.

 now I just have to work out how to use the bugger!!!

hope this day finds you well.
oh - and happy valentine's day to you as well. 
see you again soon - well - that's the plan....
loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

hello....my name is.......

i'm coming out!
i've been hiding behind a name that just doesn't fit.
when we (ie the family) set up this blog i thought that a lot of anonymity was needed - but not going by my real name just doesn't sit right.
so - just to let you know - i'm cheryl - and i'm so very pleased to meet you!!!

thank you to all those that have been leaving such lovely comments. it's nice to connect to peoples all around the world - others that just get it - ya know?!?! i really really appreciate your messages.

anyhoo - have been busy in house o nefotlak - two kidlettes home sick from school on wednesday (cold & flu lurgies - but they're back at school now - so nothing too drastic) - and i've been busy crafting and designing the changes for our loungeroom (and trying to keep the family calm in the process - as they moan - "not more changes....???" - they're really not helping!).
the good news - the husband is coming around - and that's the main thing.

some really helpful suggestions from the lovely sarah at catalogued life, regarding flooring options (which mr w. is quite keen on actually - and i may not have to resort to a powerpoint presentation on the pros and cons of the idea!)
i had seen one of the links that sarah had sent through a while ago - and i'm so thankful for the reminder as it could really work. it involves a cheaper wooden floor option shown in demo here - 

from frugal farmhouse design

it's turning into such a cold winter here in canberra - and the painted concrete in our study looks awesome - but is rather cold - and would be too cold for our loungeroom, where the kids love to sprawl out on the floor.
so the painted wood could really be a good option. then if one day we can afford the more expensive option, we would have already laid the plyboard foundation in preparation - although i'm hoping that the above option will suit just fine. (i really like this look)

i'm off to the hardware store today to get some sample pots of grey for the walls - fingers crossed we find a good one - i'll keep you posted.

crafting - i made this tassle -

and started on a cushion cover doing this -

(and i now have sore arms! - apparently i haven't used my knitting muscles in a very long time...)
 which finally grew into this....(one side of my cushion!)

i've also been experimenting on how to turn my old silver storage boxes (from my office) from silver to white.

mish mash of boxes!

you would think that is easy - paint right! - but i haven't been completely happy with the results.
i've tried gluing on fabric, gluing on paper - and just plain old paint - but because of all the silver bits....it's been a bit of a bugger job to complete. and in typical me-style - if i'm not happy with the finish i kinda drag my feet on completing the task.......
here's a close up - (the blue bits are painters tape - right boxes are the original colour)

anyhoo - that's my current issues. would be so much easier to go and buy new white pretty boxes - but we can't afford them and more importantly - these work fine - it's just the visual factor that i have to deal with.
(i'm being a wee pedantic - yes?!?!) maybe i should have left them silver - damn!!

these also need to be finished painting - (left are the original - right have a few coats of white paint) -

i must say - the good thing about having a blog is that you really want to get projects completed so that you can show off the results - no matter how many viewers are watching and/or interested.
we have so many half completed jobs in house o nefotlak!
i love brain storming and coming up with the ideas - i just need little worker bees to do the hard yakka for me and get the job done. (or i need to stop day dreaming and get off my ass - perhaps!!)

at least i have a break from the studies to let my mind wonder without too much guilt!! now i just need to get some projects moving and/or completed before the next semester starts up again.

that's it from here for now. hope things are far warmer where ever you are. it's been a super cold week here and i'm sure i saw a hint of snow on the brindabellas while dropping off triple j to school this morning. (they are the mountains that surround canberra)

this weekend is a nice long one here in nsw/act for the queen's b'day. we're heading up the road to lovely bowral to stay with friends. really looking forward to some good company, good food and good times.

have a great weekend in your world.
hugz,
mrs c.  oops - cheryl. xox

been busy

so i mentioned yesterday that i've been a little crafty - just simple things i've been meaning to do for weeks now but haven't had the time.

please excuse the condition of all these photos - it's been an extremely dark and overcast day - *sigh* oh well!

first up i had these really old coasters (i think they were a wedding present some 20 yrs ago!!)...

and i have an old set of encyclopedias that i'm using currently for anything from propping up my new desk top, to propping up furniture for painting - or pulling out pages for craftiness. they're getting more use than they have ever had!!
after some cutting and some glue - here's the almost finished product -

i am just in the process of adding layers of matte varnish - however on close inspection of the back of the bottle - it mentions not to place really hot items in contact with the varnish as it may affect it - so......we'll see how it goes. it's a water-based polyurethane (brand - jo sonja's).
anyhoo - they look way better than the original - so far so good - i'll keep you posted.

second up - we have a home gallery wall that we set up for kidlette artwork in 2005 in a hall between the lounge and the family rooms. here's a 2005 pic -

(our family room hasn't changed much since this photo - although there is a huge clock now on that empty wall. oh - i'm such a tease!!! i promise to show photos one day soon - just haven't had the energy to clean it up for photos. it currently looks like a chinese laundry!!!)

anyway - back to the story - this home gallery was put together by my clever mr w. - as we live far far away from ikea - and we had to improvise with items from the local hardware store.
here's what's holding it up -

plug in wall, hook in plug, stainless steel wire and boat wire stainless steel toggle

it's been a neglected area of late - we add things now and then - but the kids don't bring home as many 'master pieces' as they did when they were little - so i decided to print some of goob's great photos out - nice and large and on good photo paper - and triple j realised what i was doing and started making some updated artworks of her own.

here's the start of the changes - with some changeover of pics -

(those building pics are triple j's work - and yes - that eye photo is freaky - yet hard to turn away from!!!)

so i got out some of my very neglected craft items and started to make a garland to pretty things up......

card, paper, printed out letters from a word doc, glue, little hole punch - and then some string (not in photo)

and below is the outcome - still not completely finished but a whole heap prettier......(it needs more - maybe some bigger pom poms - those were my first attempt at making them from a great tutorial i found on pinterest!! great blog over at house of smiths!!!)

garland says - "we love to make"

it's awaiting some art from eky - however she's been a little overloaded with assignments over the weekend - so we've left space to add. and i'm determined to keep it more updated.
as i said in yesterdays post - i start 'making' and so do my kids. goob saw me printing out photos and grabbed her camera again and headed out into the garden (after spending the greater part of the day chilling out watching tv - it was a cold and lazy sunday!!) they got busy - and it stayed like that for the rest of the day.
*love*

so that's it from that space for now. it's very dark - the previous owners that built the house never thought this little hallway would need light - so we're thinking of finally putting some low voltage down lights in. (and maybe some fairy lights!!) it's a great little gallery - and when you walk through the house from front door to back - you don't realise it's there until you're on it.
and if i keep it updated - it keeps the kids busy making stuff - and that makes me happy and them!

oh - and don't judge me - but i moved around furniture in the loungeroom once again today. (my family are all a little over my changes really!!)
it's an awkward space - and it's keeping me awake at night - but i think i'm finally getting there. (my family sure hopes so!!)
it has a huge piano that takes up loads of space and everyone must walk through this room to get through the house - and i haven't liked how you walk in the room and see a huge tv screen.
we were never going to get such a large tv for this area - but we won it!!! yep - you read that right - together with a trailer and loads of electrical goods!! it was a raffle we entered and figured that we'd never win - but were happy to support the cause (it was the local soccer club fundraiser) - and we won!! i screamed - a lot - that day!!!!
anyhow - this is the arrangement up until about lunch time today -

this is the view when you walk in the room from the front door - see - big flippin tv

view from the other way as you walk past the gallery wall (mentioned above) from the family room

the carpet will go - would love wood floors - don't know if my jobless/ uni student state will allow that to happen - we'll see how the tax man likes us later in the year!
wall colour is all wrong - leaning now towards a  light grey grey.
cabinets are also the wrong white - too stark and cold (i hate picking bloody white paint!!!) - will rectify very soon.
so that bigger cabinet up there can fit the tv - it just needs a little internal reconfiguration.
today i moved that cabinet to where the tv is - and that little cabinet near the tv up to where the big one was.
(confused now?? you're not alone!!)
now i'm working on convincing the family that this will work. it will. i know it..damn it!!!
they'll still be able to use the tv - but it won't be in your face in the open all the time.
anyhow - that's my problems for the moment - a work in progress - and i just want to get it right.
checking out some paint colours tomorrow.
the pool is straight out from this room - but currently we have no doors directly out from this room. we want to take out these windows and open it all up - but that will require putting in a big supporting beam - and one quote we got last year was over $16,000.........so that job will just have to wait. *sigh*
for now - i just want to get the inside sorted. hey - it's winter luckily - so the need to go out to the pool is a little diminished right now.

so - i'm rambling  - sorry.

in one other piece of news that really excited me today - my fairy lights arrived for my inspiration board (ebay baby - love it!!) no inspriation board is complete without them really!!!!!

they're battery operated and everything!!!! i lurve fairy lights!!!

love!!!!

hope things are good wherever you are!
hugz,
mrs c. xox

new inspiration board - take 2

took some new photos of my newest creation today - during the daylight (although it's very overcast outside today).
(for those that don't know - i put this board together yesterday - see here)

i'm liking the changes.
see these posts here and here for what it used to look like.
hope you're having a good day.
mrs c. xox

inspiration board inspiration

two assignments down...just one to go.......(yay - insert happy dance here)
need a creative break i'm feeling!!!

found this pic through pinterest -

found at Post Road Vintage

 and this one -

found at Lemonade Makin'Mama

 and i'm thinking of changing this pic here in my study -

and i've done it - but i have to shoot off to take eky to her volleyball game.
sorry for the cliff hanger.
i'll post the photos asap - i promise.
hugz,
mrs c. xox

new desk top love

if you'll recall from yesterday's post- our new desk top arrived.
so here it is - now in it's home in the study.

arty angled shot - it's actually hard to ger this huge sucker all in the lens!!

please excuse the grainy shot - it's from my iphone - as miss g. has escaped with the other camera for a geography excurision today!!

the desk top is a super heavy bugger - lucky we had a strong male friend staying over last night who could help mr w. bring the huge thing in.
it's currently just sitting on top of those draw units - with a couple of old encyclopedias raising it up a smidge extra for good measure. we want to see what height suits this tall family first before we fix it into place - but it is so heavy that I can lean and work on the left end - and the desk top barely moves!!
mr w.will get onto fixing it onto a wooden batten on the wall - and make an end on the left so that things can be organised (ie hidden) a little better.


already it's so so so much better than my little make-shift desk i've been sitting at until now -

before shot - i would sit at that little table on the left!!

the one good thing about my little make-shift desk - it made us aware that we needed a desk top slightly wider than first thought - as this is a family of long legged peoples - and the extra width would be far more useful.
super glad we went with the wider top.
super happy that progress is happening - albeit slowly!

more pics of the new desk -

my spot to blog and do (or not) uni assignments.

a straight on shot for those that don't appreciate my arty one!!

things still to do - organise all those bloomin cables and fix them up underneath so they're out of sight; complete the painting of the boxes on the shelves (white) so they melt into the wall more (i have many more boxes on the dining room table waiting for some painting love! they hold my huge stock of crafting bits and bobs); put holes in the desk top so cables can come up for the 'puters & source some hole cover thingys to make it look pretties; buy an apple keyboard and mouse - cause they're white and good looking and I want them!!!; add some underbench lights under the shelves from ikea & decide whether to buy one more chair - or stick with the stool (??!) (i'll have to make the 5 hour return sydney trip for some ikea love me thinks - shame really!); and just generally settle into the place.

we ordered the desk top online through a local kitchen cabinet making company (it was the cheapest option we found) - then we picked it up a couple of weeks later. it's plain white laminate - nothing fancy - just solid and smooth.
dimensions = 3300mm x 700mm
cost  = $532.00
(making it 700mm wide instead of the usual 600mm booted the cost out a little (like $200 - eek!) - but we're really glad we went for the slightly wider width.

here's the other wall which we finished a few months ago - (and there's more pics in this study post).

many months ago (sometime last year) - we got quotes to have built in cupboards and desks added to the room - for over $3500 - ouch!!
a few ikea pieces (draw units under printer & shelf unit), sourcing some items and putting them together ourselves (the desk top and drawer units) and repainting the black shelves and all the boxes - we end up with a much cheaper alternative - and we're so happy with how it's turned out.

oh - and i've added a tab with the nefotlak. house tour up the top (as all the cool kids seem to be adding them to their blogs - and i love visiting them!) - go have a look up top ...... then come back here..... - so i'll keep photos updated in there also when we get around to doing things and documenting them.

i'll repost once i've done some more of the 'to do' list for our study also!

love love love my new desk.
hope your day is going well.
hugz,
mrs c. xox

sooooooo excited - study desk top has arrived.......

we've waited for so so long - and we've finally got it.........

at 3.3 metres long - it takes up the entire interior of our car!!

i have real love for this long-awaited-for study desk top!!!

now - you'll have to wait for more photos and study updates.......cause i have me some assignments that apparently i must do.
bugger....
hugz
mrs c. xox