Category Archives: House

Painting – End in sight

Given I feel like I’ve been painting forever, when it’s really only been 3 weeks in between baby sleeps and the daily demands of Muddy Hubby and the Muddy Tribe, I am now feeling like the end is almost in sight.

I’ve been thinking about how crap a painter I am (I really don’t know how people do it as a job, I take my hat off to them) and I have some handy tips if you’re thinking of embarking on any painting jobs any time soon, especially with kids around.

– Don’t let Hubby seal the paint tin back up, it’s likely he’ll forget he said he’d do it and before you know it one of the kids will have tipped the tin over and you’ll have even more paint to clean up.
– Best not to let him open it either, as he’ll get such enthusiasm up for the job that he’ll dent the lid and the rim, meaning you can’t properly seal the tin back up and will have to do more painting in a small space of time to use up the tin before it hardens with a now unsealable lid.
– Have at least 2 or 3 rollers or brushes, chances are your first one won’t have dried before Baby has their next sleep and you want to go painting again.
– If you’re getting new carpet it’s a perfect time to paint before the carpet goes in, you don’t have to worry about drop sheets, and can even wipe your hands on the carpet in emergencies and you don’t have to stress about it.
– As much as the kids would like to help – don’t let them. Wall paint does not wash out of clothes and takes a few days to get out of hair.
– If you’ve asked Hubby to look after the kids while you get some quick trim painting done, make sure he understands what you mean, not ‘yes I know where they are’, otherwise you’ll have kids running around your feet, bumping into freshly painted walls and trim and you’ll have more paint to try and get off their clothes and out of their hair.
– Avoid the cheap paint hubby wants you to use up to get it our of the cupboard if you can. It’s thin and takes about twice as many coats to look as good as the quality paint you would have bought, so you’ve wasted your time by having to do two extra coats.
– Do not pick a paint colour by solely looking at the Dulux colour charts on the website. You’ll be disappointed and it won’t look anything like you were hoping it would.
– Follow Shannon Lush’s advice and use Clove Oil to get rid of bathroom mould, but be prepared for your house to smell for days and days like cloves.
– While Feature walls are nice, they’re fiddly and mean more edging, more brushes and more tins of paint to clutter up your laundry and spill out onto the verandah.
– Think of the people who may move in after you and want to paint, light colours are easier to paint over, browns, blues, dark greens all suck to try and paint over, meaning you end up with either and undercoat or extra coats of paint til the colour you’ve chosen looks right.
– If you can afford it, get a professional in, you’ll probably be happier with the result, less stressed and your hands and hair won’t look like you’ve had a bad manicure and hair dye job.

One of the things….

One of the things I am not loving about living where we live at the moment is my Internet access. We’re on satellite Internet, which means we have a big dish on the roof. This also means that it’s nowhere near as fast as some other Internet options. It also means that when it’s overcast the service sucks, when it’s windy there’s often no service, and sometimes for no good reason the dish on our roof stops talking to the satellite in the sky and we get absolute zilch, zippo, nothing. Now the Internet service provider flatly denies any of this, says weather and wind do not affect the service. I disagree.

But rant now over, for all the little things that drive me batty living out here or give me cause for utter frustration, there are so very many more good things. My good thing for this week has been the complete turnaround from sunset to sunrise.

This was the sunset on Monday night, breathtakingly beautiful. The Muddy Kids and I went outside to feed the dogs, pigs and chooks and dawdled for ages just watching the beautiful sunset and chasing the animals.

The next morning we woke up to this awesome Fog. The first fog for the year for us, not a pea soup fog like I can remember growing up in Sydney, but a hazy, ethereal fog. It didn’t last long, by the time I’d dropped the Muddy Organiser at the bus stop it was almost gone, chased away by the sun.

It’s these little things that remind me how I love living where we live, and help stop me yelling at the Internet service provider in frustration. Just don’t ask me how long it took to actually upload these photos!

What are some of the little things that you love about living where you live?

Non-Verbal Tango

I was chatting to a friend recently about just how much we communicate with our husbands through a look or an action, so much is conveyed without words, like a dance back and forth. It’s not that Muddy Hubby and I don’t talk, in fact we talk lots and lots, several times a day (thank you phone plan for free calls to each other) but more and more there are non-verbal communications going on, our non-verbal tango.

These are not always communications I love, but at least the message is getting through. The other day Muddy Hubby let me know his work clothes needed washing, not by asking me to do a load, or by putting them in the machine, but by leaving the lid of his washing basket open, with clothes strategically draped to hang over the edge. Message received, I’ve almost run out of undies!

Then there’s my messages to him, given he’s been getting home after we’re all tucked up in bed, I leave his dinner in the microwave and he heats it up and eats alone. So he will stack it in the dishwasher and turn it on, I leave the dishwasher door open, with it all turned on and ready to go as soon as he puts his plate in and shuts the door. If the door was not open, it would be placed on the sink and the dishwasher forgotten in his tired state.

The non-verbal tango I love the most though is the one when we’re out and about. If one of us is heading to the bar, a quick look with a movement of the hand towards the mouth, a nod or a shake of the head in reply, with some lovely thank you eye contact. The look of I’m bored when I can see he’s stuck talking to an old granny and he’s having trouble following along. The look of love when he’s saying I just want to be alone, just the two of us, not stuck out at a boring dinner. Then at the end of the night, when we’ve both had enough that incline of the head ‘are you ready to go?‘, or it’s a touch that can covey so much, ‘you OK’, ‘you ready to go?’, ‘I love you’. message sent message received, our non-verbal tango.

Do you have a non-verbal tango with your partner?
What’s your favourite non-verbal communication?
Is it about the house work or when you’re out and about?

Painting, Sanding, Painting and More Painting

Now I do love my old little farmhouse, but before you get all ‘aww a nice old farmhouse’ it’s not like one of those at all. It’s not one of those lovely big sprawling farmhouses, nor is it an old sandstone one. It’s a little weatherboard that has been added on and added on, with verandahs closed in and a toilet put inside. We have gradually over the last 7 years done little jobs to help make it a bit more homely and comfy for us and the four Muddy Kids. The biggest of these jobs has been closing in the bathroom, by taking out the window from when it used to be the outside of the house. The verandah is now my office and the kids rooms are off the office. Really it’s a bit of a rabbit warren. But a rabbit warren I do love. EXCEPT for the weatherboards.

While the louvres used to be the bane of my existence and I hated cleaning them and all the dust they’d let in, we have replaced them with proper windows, much to my delight. It is now the weatherboards that are the bane of my existence. With 3 verandahs being closed in to now be part of the house I have LOTS of weatherboards to paint. One verandah I was lucky to get out of painting while I was pregnant with Muddy Organiser. The other two I have not been so lucky. At the moment I am covered in paint splatter, I have paint in my hair and over my work clothes. For you cannot roller weatherboards, they have to be painted by hand. This means a lot of time, to make sure you’ve covered every part of the weatherboard. They are loooooong walls and my poor Muddy Kids have been a little neglected as I plow through the painting in an effort to get it done before the new carpet goes down.

Muddy Hubby has been able to step in for short periods of time to take some of the kids out and about on the farm while I paint, but for the remainder they have been TV kids, and are getting used to me saying ‘Just let me finish this section’ before we can eat or get games down. Again, like the bathroom I know it will be worth it, it’s been good to keep my arms going while bootcamp is on holidays too!

I do wonder though, who invented weatherboards and why? They gather dust and dirt easily, they are a pain to paint and if they’re on the outside of the house require even more painting than my inside ones do. Was it just for looks, did they think ‘that’s a nice look, we’re not going to have to worry about the upkeep’ or do they actually serve a purpose?

Where our bathroom window used to be



Where new meets old, looks like the house used to be painted blue



Popping in to see how long til we can have morning tea!

Do you have weatherboards to paint too?
Have you got a rabbit warren of a house or is yours more streamlined?

Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pot Pie

The weather has turned cold, the blustery windy cold, where the sun is still shining but the wind dries out your skin and lips and you have rosy red cheeks and feel chilled to the bone. For me this means comfort food, warm hearty meals that fill you up and warm you from the inside out.

My favourite Pie to make at the moment is Chicken Leek and Bacon Pot Pies. My friend and neighbour gave me this recipe after we had dinner there last winter and it has become a regular in our household, especially in cold weather.

Ingredients:
40g Unsalted Butter
1 tbs Olive Oil
3 Leeks (pale part only), thinly sliced
4 bacon rashers, rind removed, chopped
800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
1tbs plain flour
Pinch of nutmeg
200ml chicken stock
300ml light sour cream or creme fraiche
2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tbs lemon juice
4 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

The Filling:
Heat the butter and oil in a pan over low heat. Add the leek, bacon and chicken and cook, stirring for 6-8 minutes until the leek is soft and the chicken is almost cooked. Stir in the flour and nutmeg and cook for 1-2 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the stock, increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. Season, then remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream, lemon juice and parsley. Cool completely.

Putting It Together:
Preheat the Oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Cut two 1cm  strips from the side of each pastry sheet. Set aside. Cut pie lids from the remaining pastry, 1 cm wider than the top of the 300ml pie dishes or ramekins. Divide chicken mixture among dishes. Press pastry strips around the rim of each dish to make a ‘collar’ and brush with some of the egg. Carefully top with pie lids, press firmly into the collar to seal, then trim edges if necessary. Make 2 cuts in each pie top, then brush with remaining egg. Bake the pies for 20 mins or until puffed and golden.

Enjoy!

* I used small ramekins for the kid’s and my pies and used bigger bowls for the men’s pies. When I’ve used them for dinner parties I’ve made them in small ramekins and served them up with green veggies.
* As there is lots of sauce I often throw in veggies like broccoli, peas or corn, before throwing them in the oven.

What’s your favourite winter warmer?

An Easter Bathroom

One of my favourite types of shows to watch are those home renovation ones, I loved the original couple of series of The Block where they did most of it themselves, and I loved The Renovators, especially the houses where they did it themselves, rather than just getting the tradies in. So I was a little bit excited when Muddy Hubby said we were going to fix up the bathroom, take out the window that joins the office and plumb a proper shower into the wall!!

It didn’t take long for my illusions about renovating to be shattered. I knew it was going to be hard work, I knew it would take longer than the Easter Weekend (even though Muddy Hubby was certain it would be done by Easter Monday!). What I wasn’t prepared for was the nightmare of plumbing in an old farm house that has been added on and added on, and dodgy pipes and a 39 year old hot water system that chose to give up the ghost while we were working on the bathroom, or the toilet that decided to block up and continually overfill my septic system. It’s these little bits that have made for a stressful experience, that and intermittent water with 4 kids and 4 adults in the house!

But onward we pressed, through Good Friday and Easter Sunday, one trip to Bunnings and one Chinese takeaway, a little bit of escorting the tractor, a lap in the tractor hay cutting for Muddy Hubby and several drinks and days later we can see an end in sight. I hope! There is now no leaks in the pipes, sheeting on the walls and they have started tiling. I have a new Solatube and exhaust fan. I am busying fixing up the office side, sanding walls, puttying and soon to be painting. Hoping to finish before the new carpet goes in from the flood damage! Big expectations, yes, sleepless nights yes! I keep repeating ‘It will be good when it’s finished!’. I’m looking forward to a hot shower, and giving the kids a big bubble bath.

Have you renovated? What were your little hiccups that made it last longer than you planned?
Or did you have a dream run?

He’s taken over!

At the moment my house is in chaos, there’s furniture spread out everywhere waiting to be put back or find a new home. Wet carpet that’s dried hard and smelly, wet paper that has dried wrinkly. A rogue mouse that I’m trying to catch, but which has left a lovey smell to tell me where it is. I’ve reached sensory overload, too many smells, too much stuff everywhere that I can’t think straight when I look at it all.

Normally when I reach sensory overload I take some time out cruising my favourite blogs and catching up on my Word With Friends games. It calms me, gives me a chance to refocus before getting started again.

With no laptop I’m relying on the iPad, but unfortunately so is Muddy Hubby! He’s addicted. He says he’s checking weather, but really, I’m sure he’s playing Bejeweled! Who would have thought my Muddy Hubby would end up addicted to my iPad! Each night he seeks out my iPad before I’ve even stopped all the jobs. He settles in on the lounge and maintains possession of the iPad until lights out.

I’m actually excited that he’s come so far since I first met him that he’s comfortable with technology. The downside though is that I miss out on my favourite blogs! The days are so busy at the moment I can’t catch up. At night I can’t reclaim the iPad until Muddy Hubby goes to bed, and my eyes are already drooping. I miss my iPad and I miss my downtime with my favourite bloggers!

Maybe soon things will settle down and my senses will return to normal. For now I’m trying to find new ways to manage my sensory overload, exercise is helping a little. I’m thinking I may have to take up knitting or crocheting, but pretty sure that would just increase my stress, so I’m still searching for ideas, something to distract my over active brain, give me a chance to refocus, recharge and relax!

Has your partner taken over something that’s yours? How did you reclaim it?
How do you manage sensory overload?

Cookies and Cream Slice

Ok, so I’m now a fabulous cook/baker/chef, but that doesn’t stop me from giving it a red hot go and having fun in the process. I will warn you that this is NOT a recipe for being healthy or trying to lose weight, this is one of pure indulgence! My Muddy Sister-in-law sent me this recipe a couple of years ago, I have a feeling it’s from a Delicious cook book but I’m not 100% sure, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!
I used my lovely Coles Gift Card I won from the Philly Comp run by Julie at Mama of 2 Boys to buy the Philly Cream Cheese to go in this recipe. Now when I make it I’ll always be thinking of Margaret Fulton and how jealous I am that Julie got to meet her, she is my idol!
You will need:
350g Oreo Biscuits with filling
150g Unsalted butter, melted
2tsp Powdered gelatine
400g Cream cheese
300ml Thickened cream
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
200g White Chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
Melted Dark Chocolate to Drizzle
This is how it goes together:
Line a 4cm deep, 18cm x 25cm lamington pan with baking paper.
Process 250g of the biscuits in a food processor until fine crumbs(I use a stick blender or rolling pin). Then add the melted butter and process until all combined. Then press it all into the pan and put in the fridge to set for 30 mins.

Sprinkle gelatine over 1/4 cup cold water in a heatproof cup. Put the cup in a saucepan of simmering water and stir until dissolved.

Put the cream cheese, cream, vanilla extract and caster sugar in the mixmaster and beat until it’s all smooth. Then you can stir in the gelatine and melted white chocolate.

Chop up the last 100g of Oreo biscuits and stir them through the cream cheese mixture. Once they’re mixed through you can pour and spread the mixture over the chilled base and put itin the fridge to set overnight.

When you pull it out in the morning drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the top and return it to the fridge for 15 minutes until set. Then you’re ready to slice it in the pan and serve it up!

Just so you know I used milk chocolate because I didn’t have any dark chocolate and I have not perfected the art of ‘drizzling’ chocolate so mine doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the picture but still tasted great!



Do you have a favourite recipe that’s pure indulgence?

A Working Bee

When I lived in Rental Houses I tried to take good care of things. I think it was the continual fear that if it wasn’t in good condition when I moved out I’d lose the bond and be out of pocket a few hundred dollars, which when you first start work is a lot of money! So now I’m on the other side of the coin as a landlord and I’m learning not everyone thinks the same!

Take for instance my last tenants, she decided that she was allergic to grass, so rather than just avoid it, she sprayed out all the grass. I’m talking ALL, including the Nature Strip out the front. I think that they actually forgot that they didn’t own the place, there were lots of little additions or removals we’re discovering as we start to do some work on the house. Quirky things that make you wonder ‘why would you put that there?’

We camped out in the house on the weekend, with all the Muddy Kids, they kept calling it our ‘holiday house’ (not my idea of a beachy holiday house at all). Muddy Bubby got the best sleep in the port-a-cot, the rest of us were on the floor or thin mattresses, but it was an adventure and we all came home smiling! We planted lots of grass and dug up lots of weeds and herbs that had overgrown the garden being left unloved for so long. We had a picnic rug on the floor and takeaway for dinner (my favourite part), we worked together to help try and restore some order to the garden.

The whole time though I had this feeling of disappointment, disappointment that what was once a lovely garden was not loved at all over the last few years. Muddy Hubby tells me I have to stop having such an emotional attachment to the house, that ‘the next tenants will probably do the same, so don’t worry about it’. For me though I’m disappointed that people haven’t cared for something enough to give it a water or a weed, or worry about their bond. I guess I thought people would take pride in their home (even though they don’t own it), to have a place that is nice and welcoming and that they can enjoy and entertain visitors and they can enjoy it too. I know I would have taken care of it as a tenant, so why couldn’t they?

3 Cheeky Monkeys Swinging on the rail!

Happy to be outside

Overseeing the hard work

Unloading Grass and Dirt
Am I expecting too much?
Did you care for the garden when you rented?
Do you take pride in your rental place and call it home?