these walls

We have been very fortunate in that in the renovating of our weatherboard home we have been able to reuse all of our lining boards and so much of our hardwood in other areas of the house. We have moved walls to put in built ins, we have created rooms and rebuilt walls, only needing to buy about 40 recycled lining boards and about 10 3 x2 recycled hardwood timber pieces. In the process of moving these boards around we have had to keep children away and cover ourselves as we deal with old lead paint, we have cut, nailed and sanded and with all of this we have come to love these mis-matched but utterly beautiful walls.  So much so that we have decided to keep some of these walls like this for a while, yes we will oil them to protect them but we will leave little bits exposed, with a little nod to the stories they tell. 

We have also been busy injecting a lot of love in these walls by means of insulation, in both the internal and external walls and will also be redoing the roof insulation and underfloor insulation, it is so darn satisfying, making our home utterly cosy. Scott and I also worked out a really great way of retrofitting this weatherboard with insulation, basically it includes only taking off a couple of lining boards and a piece of masonite, stay tuned we will post a clip on you tube as we had a hard time finding anything less than overwhelming online. 

Working physically building our home is beyond satisfying, it is nourishing, empowering and so much fun. My nail gun compressor skills have been raised to a new bar, as has my drilling, nail punching and puttying skills. I feel like I am walking in a dusty haze, wearing the same pair of work jeans and top nearly everyday, my hands and fingers are throbbing from misjudged hammering and wayward splinters, my shoulders ache and my head is a bit frazzled as the rest of the time is focused on looking at secondhand kitchens and researching natural paints, paint prep and finalising bathroom layouts. But it is great, Scott, Josh (our carpenter friend and builder extraordinaire) and I are having a ball working together. 

Currently it looks like we will be in, in about four weeks, into the weatherboard part of our home, with the new extension looking to start in about five weeks, weirdly I kind of don't want it all to end, I know I will come back and curse those thoughts, but I am sure there will be no shortage of jobs to do as we look towards our garden and beyond. 

the artist that is ...

Nick Warfield, oh yes, regular readers may just start getting a bit tired of me throwing around this amazing human's name but quite frankly I just can't help it. Nick is an incredible artist who creates beautiful pieces of art using well, junk, this Bowerbird has bits of Nick's old car in it, amongst other great things like venetian blinds, a fan, a teapot and goodness knows what else. How cool is that. And not only does he make these stunning pieces out of rubbish, he creates characters every sculpture has an essence, a personality that is undeniable. And they are so perfectly proportioned it makes me weak at the knees. 

Nick was recently commissioned by our local council to create this wondrous 6ft tall Bowerbird (and the beautiful entranceway) for the newly named Bower House Community Reuse Centre, a.k.a our local tip. And as if you couldn't tell from the pictures but this bird is ridiculously amazing, I was honestly gobsmacked when I first saw it. Hope you love it as much as we all do. 

far and few random bits

Sorry all, but what with building a home, parenting two wonderful humans, trying to be an awesome partner, entertaining loads of beautiful visitors (friends and family) and the general to and fro of life, these blog posts have unfortunately shuffled right back to the end of the queue. So here I will rely quite heavily on photos, sparse words, vague explanations and that's about it. There may be the odd post that delves deeper but  to be honest I don't think I can offer much else*. Don't worry, I will understand if you start yawning, drift away and no longer frequent this space. But for those who hang on, thank you, I will endeavour to be semi regular and will definitely continue posting house updates.

/ beautiful crisp early mornings
/ quiet moments of reflection
/ these three, such special friends
/ learning the alchemy of eco dyeing
/ winter festival, full of beautiful moments
/ dear friends visiting, such a treat, celebrating a 5th birthday
/ brother, sister, mother and father, such wonderful helpers, such delightful company
/ this gorgeous one, in love with this stunning new shirt, a gift from his Aunt Suriya.


* But then who knows, I may just pull some wit and enthusiasm out of thin air and continue blogging without so much as a bleep, basically I just put all that in as a disclaimer, namely to prevent unnecessary worry or ahh concern. xxx