Boulton Leigh

I love Toowoomba. It's so pretty. It's how Brisbane could have looked had we protected our heritage buildings and spent some money on beautification not just tunnels and roads.
The houses are 'maintained' rather than tricked up and contorted into crazy Frankenhauses, or worse still, burnt to the ground by property developers who aren't allowed to knock them down.

Let's now focus on the pretty lil' shacks of T-ba.

By the way, I think this one pictured above is currently for sale. Asking price $1,500,000.

 

 

We recently bought our own little piece of Toowoomba. Not quite like these ones above,  but cute, cosy and old.

 

 

Boulton-Leigh was built in 1864 and celebrated her 150th birthday this year. She is one of four houses, all still standing, which formed Toowoomba's first gated community. It's near the hospital and was apparently where the doctors and surgeons lived. Our little house is the smallest by far of the four houses. It's in a beautiful camphor laurel lined terrace.

 

 

The house is made from double cavity brick, and was extended in the 1930s. It now has three bedrooms, two living areas, sleepouts, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. It's surprisingly roomy for a cottage and it has a good feeling about it - definitely no bad spirits here.

 

 

Over the next couple of weeks, the house will undergo what we call a 'tart-up'; fresh paint, a front fence, some new light fittings and some more planting in the garden. Then it will be put up for rent for the time being.

 

Next time you have a spare day, take a trip up to the Darling Downs and have a look around. It' a spectacular time of year. Happy Easter!

 



WALES, WALTS, King Ferns and Concrete Parrots

Oops! Five months have just accidentally slipped by without me updating the Old Girl. We've been busy doing lots of things, house-related and not. Tomorrow some electricians will be here and they'll be connecting the power to the downstairs rooms. So excited! Power points will go on, lights will go up, it's going to be a revolution! It seems like we've been shuffling around down there in the dark forever and this will suddenly make things a lot more civilised.
I have started working full-time. I know! It's actually been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I enjoy getting dressed up and going off into the world, although as I friend of mine says, it's only been a month.
I've been wearing heels, clothes that actually have some shape. I do my hair every morning and paint my face like a geisha. I work as a writer for a property investment company. I love what I do, although sometimes I feel everyone around me is talking Dutch; dividends, unlisted trusts, asset realisations, WALEs and WALTs, everything is an acronym. I'll get a handle on it eventually.
I refuse to feel guilty for working. I'm not here all the time for my daughters, but I think it's also important to set a good example for them. I want them to grow up and have careers and interests of their own. I think it will be very important particularly for their generation. I don't think girls their age are necessarily going to want to grow up 'and get married and have children'.
Already, with my own friends and colleagues, I know so many women who are in their 40s and single by choice. It really isn't unusual anymore. 
Here's a concrete parrot I bought at Woolloongabba Antiques recently. For twenty clams I couldn't in all honesty leave the little sweetie behind. Isn't he adorable. He's happiness-inducing.

 Speaking of which, I was reading recently that Retail Therapy is a real thing, and buying stuff will make you happy, so there. I knew that all along, but some people were doubters.

My mother grew me this king fern from when it was nothing more than a baby frond. It's been in my care for about three weeks and so far, so good. It's very refreshing to have some greenery around. I hope I can maintain the round-the-clock care that ferns demand.
Tomorrow my sisters and I are surprising our mother for her birthday with tickets to see Dolly Parton. I'd love to see Dolly, but only if I could click my fingers and have her sing to me in my own lounge room. I'm not one for large car parks and crowds, all those things involved with seeing live concerts.

A friend gave me this vintage flamingo tin for Christmas. She got it on-line from the US. I love it. I was talking to another friend about decorating motifs. She's got a sixth sense when it comes to this sort of thing. She's been onto flamingos for years, and pineapples and about six months ago she predicted the onset of toucans, which has now come to bear......just wait, you'll notice them everywhere now.
My older daughter is 10 this year which means the secondary schools all need the proper paperwork and applications filled out for year 7 in 2017. She has already been accepted into one school and to secure that place we now have to pay a $1000 non refundable deposit by the end of February. Meanwhile, we are waiting to hear from another school, however, that won't be until the end of March. This means we'll have to pay the deposit at the first school, just in case the second one doesn't come through - it's quite the racket.
The girls have just chosen the colours for their bedrooms. Peaches chose a baby soft pink, or at least that's what we thought. On the walls it's more vile fairy floss, but anyway, we can work with it. She's been banned from putting anything else pink in her room though.
Mims is half painted, it's a lovely quiet, rich cream colour.

Out in the main room.....

....we're not having much clarity with the colour, despite hauling every visitor we get in front of the colour swatch wall and demanding they pick one.

Maybe I should throw a dart.
Is Shapelle out yet?

Ta da!

Our herringbone floor is done. We nearly chickened out a couple of times, especially after the first two laying quotes. I'm so pleased that we persevered and got what we wanted.

Remember this photo below was our inspiration. I actually like our longer zigzag pattern more.

I just love it when a plan comes together! Now there are some more trims to do, before the floors are actually covered up again so we can paint the room.
The lights have been ordered. It's all systems a go-go.

They're her-re!!

Eventually, we decided on a larger tile than we originally chose. We felt these ones would be more effective in a larger room. Now all we need is someone to lay them. He shows up Monday.

I gave my husband this for Father's Day. He loved it, especially the little wheels. I bought it from a retired builder who had been given it in the 1960s by a lady who owned a fancy hotel in Sydney. He'd done some work for her and this was a thank you gift.
It's very spectacular, in person, and exactly what I've been chasing for a long time.
It's what every cocktail hour needs, plus one of these....

Meanwhile, back downstairs, the ceilings have been finished and trimmed. We're now filling the nail holes, sanding them, and we're planning on getting the ceiling painted before the tiles go down. 
Once the tiles are layed, they actually get covered again by drop sheets and plywood until the skirting is done and the walls are painted. It seems like an odd order, but that just how it happens.

Concrete Flamingos and Beach Umbrellas

I don't think it's any secret that I love a good fossick around an op shop. It's practically a legitimate hobby these days. With all that mass produced land fill coming out of China, where else are we going to find well-made unique pieces? I find it soothing, interesting, and it can be tres rewarding too.

I think everyone has their 'holy grail' of op-shopping, that special 'blank blank' that you're always looking for. For me, it's a number of things, in no particular order:

• A concrete planter shaped like a swan
• Pineapple shaped whatevers
• Beautiful glassware
• Peacock anythings
• Concrete garden flamingos
• Pretzel cane

As you can see in the above photo, my friend Elizabeth struck it lucky on the latter two. Look at those flamingos. Palest pink, authentic 1960s concrete garden flamingos....they're even from the Gold Coast! Oh, I was almost sick, but of course, happy for her (sort of). They're even better in real life.

I had a little find myself last Friday. Whilst busy procrastinating instead of being at home working, I came across this.

It's a 1960s beach umbrella, in mint condition. It's like it's never been used, with vivid colours. I noticed it as I was walking out the door, it was folded up in plastic and I couldnt'tell what it was at first. I couldn't get it out of there fast enough. I can tick that one off the list now.

I have been looking at lights, ceiling roses, and the extras for downstairs. The Restoration Station is just around the corner from us on Waterworks Road. We got quite a few bits and pieces from them when we were doing upstairs.
I popped in there recently. They've got quite an amazing collection of bits and pieces for Queenslanders and older houses.

We were playing Boggle last night. I was using an old stenographers writing pad which was in the house when we moved in. The pages were all yellow and the paper was fragile, but it was ok to scribble my words in. I flicked over to the back of the book and found some pencilled notes about babycare, headed '7th May, 1942'.

Gwennie strikes again! Just when I think this is truly our house now, she let's me know that she was here first.

Hooray for Herringbone!

We had our first tiling quote come in for the herringbone floor. It was $88/metre, making the labour cost for laying the tiles in the living room almost $4000. Then we have the cost of the actual tiles on top of that. I nearly lost my lunch.
My husband, who works in the construction industry, then got onto another tiler and our second quote was $60/m. Much better.
We have another tiler coming this afternoon, who is apparently ridiculously meticulous with his work. Whether we go ahead and use him or not, I'm happy to pass on his details to anyone who wants them. Until recently he worked for a large tiling group and has now started his own business.
In summary, the herringbone floor look like it's a goer! Hooray for herringbone!
I'm always looking at properties for sale, it soothes me. There hasn't been anything too exciting on the market for a while, at least not in our neck of the woods. If I was looking to buy right now, shopping the market with a few million clams on board, I'd be inspecting this house. It's called Monaise and it's in Ascot. It was built in 1921 and has only ever had three owners, which would account for its sense of authenticity and lack of contrivance, there's not a vignette in sight.

I've been daydreaming about sitting on this verandah, reading to my golden haired lady babies, all of us dressed like extras from Picnic at Hanging Rock. In my daydream I have hair like Miranda, instead of my actual crazy cave-woman hair.

Look at that beautiful emerald green.

Monaise is at 36 Kitchener Road, Ascot. You can see the details of it here.

On the flipside in terms of style, there's something very appealing about this house too, probably the 2.9 acres of city land it sits on.
It seems the land has been in the one family for over 150 years, and the house itself was architecturally designed in the 1960s by Neville Lund. I've no idea who that is, but I guess if you were super into this style of architecture you'd know.

I'd say this might be the 'good room', it's crying out for a bar or at least a cocktail cabinet. Look at those beautiful doors and the view.

I don't think it would be a massive house, but as the client on Sunday night's Grand Designs said, 'better to have a little of what you love, then a lot of what you don't' - or words to that effect?

Those glass doors are even in the bedrooms.

A peanut with a view.

I don't know who owns this house, I'm not giving it a plug, I just thought it looked beautiful. It's at 9 Mt Nebo Road, The Gap and you can see it on RealEstate.com here.
Let me leave you with a couple of pretty pictures, source unknown, as usual.

The Green Herring

Just a tip. When you're in a tile shop in Noosa, and a lady called De De tells you the tile you've selected is 'very special' and 'made to order', don't bother getting too attached to it. If these tiles aren't going to drive you around in their convertible Porsche or take you on holidays to Monaco, you're probably going to be hard pressed to justify the cost of them.
These are the ones in question, they look harmless enough don't they?

 And they would do the job we had in mind for the downstairs living area, which was something like this.

However, at $180/metre plus delivery, presumably in the convertible Porsche, they are cost prohibitive over 45m.
Here's another tip. When you go to 10 tile shops and everyone tells you the tile you are after doesn't exist, go to the 11th one and they'll have it.
We finally found our more affordable floor quality subway tiles at The Tile Mob in Mitchelton. They have an amazing collection of tiles for such a little shop tucked away.
We're now waiting on our first quote from the tiler to lay these babies, one by one, over the vast living area and laundry. There'll be tears, I know. Then there'll be more trips back to the drawing board.
When you're renovating I know that the budget is annoyingly dominant in what you do and don't do, however, I think there has to be one element of your house that is non-negotiable. You can't finish the job and still be without something that you absolutely loved, and got in the end. So far, we've been non-negotiable on the vj walls and ceiling, the skirting and trims and the doors, all of which could have been done for a lot less if we'd used more inferior and less traditional materials.
Maybe the floor will have to give? This is what we have in mind - black and white herringbone. The tiles we've picked are smaller than these ones below, but still a honed stone look with square edges.

Tiles can be laid in all types of patterns if you want to get creative about it.

Or this....

Tiles and paint, that's the fun stuff for me. So now we'll sit and wait for the first laying quote to come in, then we'll go from there. Fingers crossed people!

Green Chandeliers and Lemon Delicious

As I write this post tonight, I can hear the crowd singing Advance Australia Fair at the British Lions vs Australia game at Suncorp. My husband is watching the game at a hotel just up from the stadium, along with some of the other hood husbands.
Work is progressing very nicely downstairs. Remember, last update it looked like this?

It has suddenly turned a corner and is become much more exciting. The walls are being sheeted and now we can see proper rooms forming.

We are building in bookshelves on either side of the french doors, you can see them coming together.

We're currently looking into what to put on the floor, but more on that at a later stage.

We really want to use green somewhere in the main room, whether in a floor tile or a light. I've come across some very beautiful green chandeliers.

I love these beaded styles.

I found this chandelier at Recollections. Could I possible change the colour? Probably not.

Tonight I made one of my most very favourite old fashioned puddings, Lemon Delicious. A perfect hybrid of souffle and self saucing pud.

I use a recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook, first published in 1970.

To make Lemon Delicious separate three eggs and beat the yolks with half a cup of caster sugar. Beat in a cup of milk and a tablespoon of self raising flour, a tablespoon of lemon zest, pinch of salt and half a cup of lemon juice. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar until peaks form. Fold through the lemon mixture and pour into an oven proof dish. Stand the dish in a pan of cold water and bake at around 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Serve immediately with a little dobby of vanilla ice cream on the side. It will be meringue-y on the top half with a lemon sauce underneath. You'll love it. Guaranteed.

I have all manner of sewing/crafty odds and ends. A burglar breaking into our house would think he'd arrived at Martha's house, but alas, my hand skills do not match my ambition. Having said that, I had some success recently and I thought I'd share with you in case you are in the same boat.
I got this idea from a beach towel I saw at a shop at The Barracks, possibly Robe?
All one does is take a non descript towel, in my case, a child's beach towel, and cut a piece of complementing fabric which is the same size.
You then stitch the two together, with the fabric's right side facing out. Then take some bias binding and sew it around the edges - I'm not sure how that stuff is meant to go, but I managed to sew it in a crude fashion. Then to finish off, sew some pom poms or other trim onto the ends. It becomes a beach towel slash picnic rug, and it looks like this.

I think even if you're a faux-sewer like me, it's pretty self explanatory.

Hey presto! A monkey could do it.

Thinking about the design of your new house? Have you heard of Twigitecture, probably should be a small 't''. Twigitecture is the art of building nests for humans. This one is for rent at Big Sur in the US for US$110 per night. We may now call that AUD$121 per night. Spectacular, but very uncomfortable looking. You can read more about them here if you really want to.

  I got these cane stools recently. They're the same style as our lounge setting. It's all getting a bit matchy, matchy, but don't fear, I'm onto it. The stools are a bit high and bulky to fit under the bench, but they'll be ok. For now. The stool cushions are getting a Hawaiian style makeover. Stay tuned.

Did someone mention pineapple? I thought so. Have a look at this gorgeous lamp. I think it's at Pad in Sydney.

Now I'm off to make the most of having the television all to myself. This is a rarity, we're a one-tv-household. I'm going to watch Karen Blixen and Dennis Finch Hatton running around Kenya together. That move gets sadder and sadder every time I see it.

'I had a farm in Africa, at za foot of za Ngong Hills.....'