House Stalking ... Again

Well although I am building a lovely modern house I cant seem to go past some of the lovely old houses currently for sale in Australia.

Take this one for example - I would give up half of my library just for this house......

House Update

I just wanted to give you a quick update on my lovely little house. We received the final contracts and engineering drawings last friday and it still wasnt correct, there are still 23 changes I had requested which were either not added or were added incorrectly so they are back again for a third try.

Our pool is causing major problems with delays left right and centre. We went and saw them on the 23rd may - oh yes, it takes 5 months to just design a pool. The designer really has no idea what is going on regarding the delays but is looking into it. The building licence still has not been approved, apparently the shire were waiting for the house to be finished before they approved the pool and for the last 12 weeks no one has called to dissuade them from this idea. I have expressed my displeasure over their lack of organisation and their inability to chase things up and they are still stutteringly saying that this is fairly normal.

Because of this I doubt very much we will have a slab before christmas. There is no way we can get the the following done in 6 weeks

1. Check over and finalise plans
2. Get finance approval
3. Builder to Clear site
4. Retaining Company to build retaining wall
5. Builder to peg site
6. Pool Company to build pool
7. Builder to lay slab.

I think that this would just put me under way to much pressure which is already an extremely busy time of the year with weddings, Christmas parties, hens and bucks days, birthdays etc.

If we plan to get the plans finalised and contract signed, the finance approved and the block cleared and retaining wall build in the New Year we can start the pool and then the slab.

I believe this is possible before Christmas.

Sorry to do this to you, I an just as excited as you to get things rolling but with the pool company being so totally inept and me preferring to take my time and ensure everything is correct the January start seems much more reasonable.

Happy Anniversary

So on Sunday at a BBQ we were trying to figure out how old our friends baby was and I said.... we he was born on our wedding day so he has to be 2 in the next few weeks.... and then it clicked... "oh god! Its tomorrow"

Its been 2 glorious years full of drama, renovating a house, selling that house, designing another house, moving in with mum and dad, getting ourselves our little baby schnauzer Lacey, dealing with everything that life can throw at us and to be honest, I cant imagine doing it without him.

So nice and simple today.

Happy 2 Years My Love. May we have many many more together.

Something Old... Something New

Well obviously I'm not getting married but a friend is and I was thinking... the something old something new is very pertinent to a new house. Obviously it would be very easy to buy new things for the whole house, to start afresh and just have new "everything" but the thing with that is, does the house then have a deep and interesting personality. Old items scream stories and interest.

Wow what a wonderful painting... well we brought that in Canada 10 years ago, we almost missed out flight because I just HAD to have it.

Goodness, those decanters are different ... these are from my grandmother, she received them on her wedding day 70 years ago.

Having stories behind objects in your home is what gives it depth, it what makes them interesting and warm.

Obviously all this is leading somewhere and here it is. I walked into Elizabeth's bookshop on Saturday and saw the most amazing old books at the counter. They were red and worn and very pretty. The subject is a biography of Samuel Johnson or otherwise known as Dr Johnson, a British author who made lasting contributions to English Literature of the 16th Century as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer and editor. Johnson has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Not the most exciting subject and to be honest I couldn't possibly see myself buying them... until I looked under the cover.

They were printed in 1887 and given to a new banker who had just completed his 6 month trial period. Amazing, totally amazing, and beautiful. They put this lovely little certificate on the inside cover of volume one. I can imagine just how lovely they must have looked in this mans home 130 years ago, maybe his wife put them in his bookshelf, he must have been young to have just started working and they didn't often change jobs by then so maybe she was a new wife with a new husband just starting a new job. Would these books have been carried from house to house as they moved up in the world. Were they handed down to sons or were they maybe sold off and have just sat in someones bookshelf waiting to be sold yet again... and now they are mine. How lovely is that thought?

So obviously I brought them..... had to. How can you say no to books like these? Maybe while I was in there I purchased a few other smaller sets.... I cant have these books feeling lonely now can I.

What If....

What if you didn't have to be practical?

What if you didn't have a budget?

What if you didn't have to worry about husbands and kids wants and needs?

What would your house look if like the only thing that mattered is what you liked and wanted...

For me my house would be a rather large Victorian house - heavenly house with tons of old features but lots of colour and glamour. It would be totally feminine but not prissy, I would have lots of rich fabrics and different textures and the most amazing wall papers.

It would look a little bit like this......

What would yours look like?

Little Bit of Luxury

For me there are a few things that just scream luxury and opulence. One of these is a Piano - a lovely baby grand sitting prettily in the corner gleaming with the smug satisfaction of an object that know just how good it looks. Obviously the petulant little girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory come forward, stamps her foot and screams "I want it daddy" except in my case I have to be a bit more creative about it as its my husband not my father and I really don't think "I want it now" would work.

So I want a piano - I want to learn to play it - I want our kids to play. I want it to be something that is used quite a bit. But to be honest, its like a pair of really high shoes you just have to have and know you are never going to wear... I want it because just looking at it and running my hands over the keys will bring me all sorts of joy.

My darling husband, the light of my life has said that if I get lessons and learn to play for 6 solid months then "MAYBE" I can get a piano... now I just have to find the time for lessons.

A Room I Just Can't Have .... Yet

I think I need to start by saying I am married to a gorgeous husband, I have a lovely life and am not quite ready to have kids! BUT one of the rooms I am most excited to decorate is actually the nursery and its a room I cant even touch yet without looking weird. I LOVE nurseries and am having to hold myself back from doing it until I actually fall pregnant. (Please note, I timed this post while my husband was home and away from the computer because I don't even think he realises just how much I want a nursery.) I need to stress i want a nursery not the baby, at least not yet... but those lovely little white cots and heavenly soft colours.... I want a baby just for the bloody room.

Anyways today in a moment of weakness I decided to share my favorite rooms that I am dying to have... I am even considering have six or seven children just so I can decorate each one differently... ha ha ha.

So its a room I desperately want but cant have....yet. Am I totally insane or is this cluckiness gone very wrong?