mum's visit

Another week of not so much. It's been so god awful hot! Mum's been here for a visit and barely ventured out of the air conditioning for seven days. Lev had Friday off work and spent a good part of the day putting in the stump under where the kitchen stairs are (the one that a previous owner had forgotten to put in). The spring in the floor has gone now. No photos sorry, it was too hot and dark under the house to venture there with a camera.

But in other news, Lev and his mates went fishing Friday night and they caught some crabs/prawns and an 80 cm flathead, had to let that one go unfortunately (too big)!

It looked yummy but we didn't get any. Lev and the kids ate the feast while we were away.

And I had a bit of spare time with mum around and thought I'd make a skirt that's been sitting around unmade for months. Finished product...

Not much else happened on the house. We visited some friends and mosied about in the air conditioning most of the weekend. And this evening Abel was riding around on the road (fully supervised of course) and decided he was ready to take off his training wheels. He pretty much got the hang of it the first go. He's the best most talented boy in the world and we're such proud parents.

slowly but surely

Having 3 children and renovating is challenging. Throw in a broken foot, 90% humidity, a couple of cyclones and power outages and a social life and you've got pretty slow going. Last Sunday Abel had a birthday so Lev didn't start any new jobs. He got a new skateboard and a toolbox (lev made) and hammer (lev's looking forward to the day he's got a little assistant).

Abel's (and on the other side) Toolbox

abel pondering his next move.

Mum arrived yesterday for a week long visit. It's going to be great having her around to help with the kids and for company during the day. This morning lev made a little swinging gate for the top of the kitchen stairs to stop quick little Illy from having any more accidents. It's only temporary, we will put a full size door in there eventually, as we plan to completely demolish that back section and re-do it. The gate is great, makes life easier for everyone.

While the rest of us took off to the skate park he also dug up a garden bed in the back corner. It's been a priority for us for ages and I know lev will be spending ages out there, loving every minute of it.

our selection so far.

I've been feeling a bit useless lately, with my broken foot. So here's a picture of something I did earlier in the year to contribute to the household. I recovered these chairs I absolutely adore, and I think they've turned out alright.

the one on the right is not yet finished
(note the board under the bum cushion)

a quick catch up...



new fishtank, garage sale bargain!
forty dollars, some sealant and a new paint job.... ta da!
there's 16 neon tetras swimming around in there.



brand new air con, installed before
Christmas with the new power box.



new step on the cement slab out the front.

unfinished paving I did before I broke my foot.
the aim is to grow some tufty grass in the spaces.

Lev's giant pumpkin.

2 cyclones and a broken foot

Hello hello. I lost the cord for my mobile phone so haven't been able to post any photos or blogs. It's still lost so I've tried to catch up using our really dodgy old digital camera. So the big news is that 2 cyclones wizzed through town this past week. The first, Anthony, was a small category 2 or 3, depending on who you talk to. The eye came through us and it was a bit rough and a little exciting. The house held up fine, no branches lost. We were mainly worried about the sheets of iron on the roof, but they held fine. But then came Cyclone Yasi, the huge mother of all cyclones. We were so so so lucky not to have been any nearer to the eye. What we got was bad enough thankyou. Here's some pics.

the morning before the cyclone hit the winds were already very strong



some of the damage in town


I am honestly over cyclones, especially after seeing the terrible mess it left up North. We were very lucky.

The other news is that I've broken my foot. :(
The culprit was our kitchen stairs...

I took a big step from the top step to the floor and my foot rolled. I heard a loud snap and passed out for a few seconds. It was horribly painful, but I managed to hobble around on it for 10 days, and start my job at the pub, before realising that it was a serious injury and I needed to see a doctor. Turns out the long bone that goes towards my little toe is completely snapped in half. I nearly died when I saw the x-ray.
And this is how my poor foot looks now...

So this morning when Lev said, 'What job should I do today?' I looked at those kitchen stairs and said, 'We need to do something about those stairs'.

It's been on our list as urgent because Illy is crawling quite quickly and has already fallen down the stairs twice (just like mummy), and we couldn't put a gate on it as it was.  Also one of the previous renovators who cut the stairs into the floor cut through a supporting beam and failed to do anything about it (and the floor was springy). So Lev got to work and this is what he achieved today.




the citronella candle was to stop mozzies coming inside



There's a still a bit of work to do now, sealing it off properly mainly and making a gate to stop baby (and mummy) from falling. We're not going to carpet the top because we'll be ripping up all that carpet and putting a new floor for the new kitchen and dining later on. And obviously there's sanding and finishing off to do too. All in good time!

So that's our latest news. My next blog will be a catch up of the things that happened over the last month.