Stre-etched! Stop. Coffee time.

Hi everyone

Where have I been? Not here, which is clearly obvious by my utter lack of a post for over a month.

You see, I did a silly thing and stretched myself thin,...really thin.

(would be nice if it could transfer to my hips and thighs in readiness for Summer)

Source: flickr.com via Cindy on Pinterest

What have I been up to? Well,

- I am finalising our wandering travels and accommodation through the UK - very hard for someone who doesn't do well with so many wonderful choices;

- In the excitement of our trip to Paris, I have been doing French Lessons;

- These lessons are in addition to my foundation studies in Colour and Design via distance education;

- I happily agreed to illustrate a girlfriends children's book.  Thankfully she is not pressing a due date right now;

- For fun, my Mum and I enjoyed a roadtrip (750+kms each way) to Melbourne to visit my brother, wife and my nephew.  It was fantastic fun!

- Mix all this activity with the usual working and raising three active wonderful children. Phew! Tired!

....and you know what, in the background of all of this activity I heard this nagging whisper "blog....blog...blog".  So to block it out, I just avoided even looking at blogs for fear that someone would "spring me" for looking, but not updating.  

Naughty!  

True, it was my own little demon whispering guilty messages in my ear.  

To that end, I am going to pause on this blog, only updating it when I have the time...which really is what I am doing now, but I am letting you know...just in case you wonder.  :-)

I will be trying to update my other blog with my creative activities when I get the chance too.

Love and hugs for your understanding and patience,

Cath

Perfect paper wrapped pear muffins

Hi everyone

Today my gorgeous boys return home from their holidays, and that means returning to school tomorrow and all the craziness that comes with *that* particular schedule.

Yep, the holiday is over!

So, today the little Bella Boo and I got busy and baked some Perfect Pear Muffins.  

Muffins are perfect for little princesses to make, because mixing for muffins doesn't require beating, blending or whisking within an inch of it's batter-mix life: just a nice gentle combine.

Each individually packed one will get popped into their lunch bags each day, along with the abundance of other food that I buy for my growing lads.

Boys! They sure do eat alot!

Perhaps I should have stuck an embarrassing 

"mum loves you!" on each wrapper....hmmm, maybe next time.

And yep, I ate one with my coffee: delish!!!

Well,  I had best go collect them from the airport now.  

Til next time, 

Hugs

Cath

Paint Party at Modern Country Style...bring nibblies!!

Hi all my lovely friends

Have you heard that Sarah at Modern Country Style is having a party?





And yes, it is not just any party...this is a PAINT party.

Would you agree that this would have to be one of the best parties ever, because whether it be furniture, walls or canvas...you can link something up!

Strangely enough, I mulled considerably over what to link up.  I know...paintings everywhere and nothing to show.   In the end, in keeping with Sarah's latest series on painting furniture, I have decided to link back to an old post about Bella Boo's bed.  It really is a 2-for-1 link, because I painted the bed and the painting hanging above it!

I am not very good with the pillow smooshing and joo-jooing...

I think they call it styling ;-)

Now, a little bit closer at my fine paint splashing, layering and sanding....

Now look away if you don't want a shock....this is the before...

The full post about the transformation is here.

Enjoy the party!!

Hugs

Cath

The "man flu" and super Mum.

Dear friends

If you have not met the man flu, let me explain:  this is when your other - sometimes better - half gets sick.

He sighs.

He sniffles.

He sighs some more.

He is pitiful.

Well,...truth be told, the "man flu" this year is pretty extreme.  What gave it away as "real" man flu was the pile of many blankets, a wool jumper, a heat pack ALL in front of the fire.

But never fear!! With his incapacitation, life went on.

I took 3 children to the airport at 5am on Saturday so the boys could go to Queensland for their holidays.

The little Bella Boo enjoyed her early morning trip - I bet no one had heard a more excited 3 year old at 6:30am, than when the planes took off.  

And yes, I mean "planes"...plural.  

Because when the boys plane took off...

we had to stay for the next one as well.

Thankfully Bella Boo also went back to bed once we got home, so I could also steal a few more winks before I got up and into....

Prepping the ensuite!!

As a bit of background, our ensuite has had a change in vanity and loo, 

 the walls were in desperate need of attention

with peeling white paint over

the dreaded 80's apricot.

I had bought myself a new power tool to help with the job: the all powerful sander, with multi speed, multi attachments, multi everything...I was excited!!

When I bought the sander, the boys were still here on holidays.  Knowing they were happily ensconced in front of the TV for hours of Wii Indiana Jones Lego fun, I adorned my safety costume of mask and goggles, primed the ensuite and attacked the walls with a fierce and noisy vibrating abandon.

When I stopped to admire my first sweep of sanded art, I turned to find two bewildered sons staring at me.  Wii controllers gripped still, their mouths slightly ajar!

"What are you doing", asked my eldest genius.

"I'm sanding" I said with glee!

Though perhaps that was muffled by the mask I still wore.

Again, my eldest stared at me as if an alien.

"You're building!" he said.

"No!" I reassured him, "I'm sanding".

They were a touch confused by my activities.  But then again, I reasoned with myself, perhaps the combination of their holiday hang-time and my inspired behaviour with a power tool...perhaps, this was the first true opportunity for them to realise I am a woman of action AND many talents.

Yeh, whatever.

Anyway, back to the "man flu".

So I had already sanded the ensuite and had puttied.

Once the boys flew away - a quiet relief as their concerned glances at me "building" was not doing much for my "I can do it all" confidence - I needed to perform further sanding...further puttying.  Without watchful, concerned eyes, I took to my task like a seasoned pro - I had little idea what I was really doing, but it felt good. It felt right. And I was a little OCD about making sure everything puttied was smooth...that all previous signs of peeling paint were obliterated.

By the end of the weekend I was ready to make the most of the extra holidays I had taken to paint our ensuite.  Bring on the completed task!!

Then guess what happened.

I got "girl flu".

Naturally, it is not as bad as "man flu".

(seriously!!)

But it has involved alot of this:

Simply Me

I will finish the ensuite...it may not be as quick as I would like.  I certainly hope though, it is before the boys return from holidays.

big hugs

Cath
xx

A further concrete consideration...in the bathroom?

Hi all

I think we were mostly in agreement that with the right elements concrete in the kitchen may just work.

But what about in the bathroom?

I don't know about you, but the bathroom is a "cold room" for me.  In summer the bathroom is the space I find relief in, because it is cool and refreshing.

Yet, come winter, the bathroom is the space I spend as little time as possible because it is cold!  Even with heat lights, it is cold.  In fact, I become a little manic in Winter about making sure all the wet area doors are closed, because they create an arctic breeze all the way down the other end of the house.

Well, that's my opinion - but I do get a little bit "princess and the pea" about it all.

So how would concrete work in the bathroom for me?  It would be necessary to have underfloor heating for starters.  Perhaps a concrete that is warmer in tone...?  I think it can look visually lovely, but I am in the middle of Winter right now, so perhaps I should ponder this question in Summer.

Green and organic

Decor Pad

Svelte and chic

Murdoch Young

Just plain pretty!

Once.daily.chic

What do you think? 

Is it too cold for you to consider the option, or does it feel just right?  

Is concrete better suited to warmer climates than the cooler ones? 

It does make me wonder how much our habitat plays

 in our decisions of home textiles and surfaces.

Happy weekend everyone!!

Hugs

Cath

Concrete...is it too hard?

Hi lovelies

I have a quick question.

Is concrete too hard...harsh...cold or cool for the kitchen?

Or does it add that little something extra?

source: Nancy Fishelson

Gorgeous Jami at Freckled Laundry helped me remember the source for this image

because she has done a WHOLE post on Nancy Fishelson.

Be sure to check out Jami's whole post here.

image via Nestegg

image via Apartment Therapy

I think with the right elements such as some warming timber,

 and plenty of natural light, 

it could be quite lovely.

What do you think?

Hugs

Cath

I am having a blast!!

Hey lovelies

Look at this! I am posting twice in one week?

Sorry, did that feather just knock you over?

I just wanted to share a couple of things with you;

the first is that I finally had my Dahlia painting framed!! 

Let me hear a big Wooo hoooo!

I was so chuffed with the gorgeous aged silver frame that I was instantly inspired.

You have to love when you inspire yourself...

Our bedroom is the haven of the house.  

No, not the haven for us, but the haven for where;

 the washing goes if we haven't folded it yet, or

our three year old stashes her toys, or

our dog hides when the three year old is chasing him with her toys...

You get the picture.

So I bought a gorgeous silver fabric with a pale silver sewn pattern

and mocked up a bed head.

I then changed the sheets

  (domestic duty made this necessary) 

to all our white sheets/ doona cover, etc,

and hung the painting above the bed head.

It wasn't "photo perfect", but it was enough to give an idea.

Do you know what the hubs said when he walked in?

"Oh WOW!!"

That was all I needed to know it was a plan that could be developed.

It's a work in progress - like most things in our house - 

but you know, that's okay because I am

happy,

healthy and

having fun!!

Despite the washing not being folded.

Have a great weekend!!

Hugs

Cath