The birds
Putting a nail into a pristine, pure white wall is not for the faint hearted. There's much umming and aahing to be done before the first blow of the hammer.
I did a lot of holding things up on the wall and tilting my head, but not much hammering. I did however, manage to put up this set of plates.

They were all part of Motherwell's bounty, apart from the large brass plate, which is the one I bought last weekend for $1 at Mt Mee.
I then moved onto the bathroom and put up my sconce and an antique butterfly print I've had forever.
The close-up.

...and in-situ...

It's not an overly bold statement, but it's something. Don't worry about the laundry basket, I've got my people on the ground looking for a more suitable one.

I still have lots to put up on the walls including this set of seagulls. They're new. I bought them on Ebay. I love them. Most people wouldn't, I suppose. The originals are sold for hundreds of dollars now. I saw a set of ducks at Paddo Antiques for $480. In our house, expensive or not, it all smashes to pieces once it's dropped on the floor.

I did a bit of moving around in the other bathroom too. I swapped a fold out desk we were using for storage for an old bone handled chest of drawers.
The drawers are very happy in the bathroom.

And the desk is enjoying the company of the mannequin.

Teddy is such a messy eater that I put his bowl out on the verandah, which only served to attract these. Look at them pigging out like they're at a wedding buffet. I'm not sure who or what is responsible for the food being on the outside of the bowl.

This fellow has been making himself completely at home. He perched himself on our railing a few weeks ago and sung us a song. It was specifically for us. He eyeballed us and let loose. Of course, we couldn't understand a word he was saying.
I wonder if he is the one that crashed into our pool fence, that I took to the vet. Or maybe he is the spouse of that one? Either way, he's definitely under the impression he knows us. This is him sitting under our dining room table.

On a recent trip to one of our fair city's public gardens, I couldn't help but pinch a bit of this. It's the sort of thing old lady's would have growing in their garden. I don't know what it's called, but I'm going to plant some here.

It will be very spiffy with our front door.

The battle of the lunchbox
I nearly forgot one. I picked up this old wall sconce for $25. I loved it even more when I got it home. Don't dare say it's shabby chic. I detest shabby chic. Well no, I love it, but I probably shouldn't - like sitcoms.

I'm doing a bit of  'jazzing up' today. I've got some rearranging to do, and I've got lots of things to hang on the walls.
The battle of the lunchbox is a constant in our house. I spend half an hour packing lunches in the morning and ten seconds every afternoon tipping it all in the bin.
However, I think I may have stumbled on a bit of gold. We made this muesli slice yesterday which is full of seeds, nuts and dry fruit, and there was quite a bit of high pitched chirping this morning when we tried it - always a good sign.

It's probably got too much butter in it, but rather butter than some weird, cheaper fat substitute.

No-bake muesli slice

1 1/2 cups rolled ats
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
125g butter
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar.
Grease a tray and line it with baking paper.
Mix all the dry ingredients together. In a pan melt the butter with the honey and sugar and let it boil. Turn it down to simmer, without stirring for 8-10 minutes and pour into the dry mix. Stir and press into the tray and pop it in the fridge.

Yesterday I was in my local Woolies when a girl approached me and asked me how much I spent there each week. I would say we spend about $10,000-$12,000 there every year. That's $200-$250 a week. That's a lot, maybe not compared to what some families spend, but it's still a lot.
To cut a long one short, she was offering me a Mastercard which would give me 5% off at Woolies for a year and blah, blah, blah.
'Are you trying to give me a credit card?' I asked her.
'Yes', she said.
I told her I wasn't interested, and a few other things about it being morally corrupt.....don't you get enough money out of people as it is.......you're preying on the financially 'challenged' (those who don't understand what a credit card is).....this should be illegal.....etc....etc.
While I was picking out the fruit and nuts for my muesli slice, I heard all about some poor victim's financial status, how much he earnt, his investments and so on. It was so uncomfortable that I had to go back later for everything. It was completely inappropriate to say the least.
What does everyone else think of giving credit cards as prizes? I notice some fast food company is up to it too, only their credit cards are most likely going to younger adults who are probably even less capable of grasping how a credit card works. A credit card allows you to buy something you do not have the cash to buy, and it all has to be paid back sooner or later, with interest.
Cash is king as they say. It's always good to carry some. 
Anyway the whole experience has inspired me to forgo the supermarket all together and hunt and gather in other pastures. I've tried this experiment before, I won't lie to you, it's bloody hard work going to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, but it's in everyone's best interests.
Here we go again. How do I get this damn bee out of my bonnet?

Nifty and thrify
Some of my latest finds. Glass seems to be emerging as my area of specialty.

Little glass tumbers with flamingo design, $2 for set of 4.

Oversized emerald green glass, $10.

I'm imposing a self-ban for the next few weeks. I think I'm getting a problem.
In my defence, however, thrift shopping is an environmentally friendly way to shop, I'm not feeding the Made in China beast. I'm also donating to charity.
Frugality is in the blood I'm afraid. I'm not sure where it's a positive or a negative? I suppose it depends on the situation.

The scorpion and the owl
Yesterday we went to the tiny and very quaint Mt Mee Country Market at, that's right, Mt Mee.
I love country markets, and this one really hit the spot, although I wouldn't advise making the trip solely for the purpose, it's at least a good excuse to get out of the city. It's on the first Sunday of each month.
The first thing I spotted when I walked into the hall was this scorpion brooch. The lady sold it to me for $6 which would be a bargain at twice the price.

I love my kitsch brooches.

This little hand made owl was $8.

I also got a brass plate to hang on the wall, which is inscribed with a name and 1970 on the back. It was $1!
My husband is not a fan, but hopefully he'll change his mind when he sees it 'grouped' properly.
After Mt Mee we headed over to Stanmore. Unfortunately Bellthorpe Road was closed due to a landslide. This was as far as we got.

Eric and Tom were not forgotten on our morning out. We got them some guinea pig food at the market, and stopped by the side of the road to pick them some organic, free range, fully country-fied grass.
I've also swapped our gardenias at the back door for some heartier euphorbias. The gardenias have gone in the ground downstairs and seem much happier.

Now we are into Monday, and thank the heavens we finally seem to have a cool change.

House hunting and all things colour
I love magazines and there are some great ones on the shelf at the moment - competition is obviously fierce. They are all awash with colour, which I just love to see. I think Vogue Australia's March edition takes the cake though.

This look above makes a great photo, but I don't think it's something anyone should attempt at home.

Prada is getting in on the act too. I just love this hat, although unfortunately, you can hardly see it in this shot.

This collection below is by a Brazilian designer called Alexandre Herchcovitch. Mad colour!! That purple satin pantsuit is just what I need for dropping the kids to school.

Does anyone remember the Australian designer called Linda Jackson? I was too young to wear her clothes but I'd love to own something of hers.
Her pieces have become very difficult to come by and are quite the collector's item these days. This photo is from a magazine, which paid a tribute to her a few years ago.

With our birthday celebrations having officially ended this morning at 11.30am, we jumped in the car and headed off house hunting. We're not looking to buy of course, but for quite a few years my husband and I have had the seed of an idea to build a new house in the Frank Lloyd Wright style.
Frank is no longer with us, but his designs left quite an impression.

This one below is more in the style that we are thinking. Materials used include brick, narrow weatherboards, huge glass panels and stacked stone.

I'm sure I had read a long time ago about one or two 1960s houses in either Indooroopilly or St Lucia, which were built in this style, particularly with blue stone. We looked and looked but couldn't find what we were looking for. Has anyone else heard of these houses or have I just dreamt it?
I've started a style file of 'looks' for this pipedream house.
These houses below are great examples (to me) of 60s architecture. Most of them are in the desert community of Palm Springs in California.

This is what I'm thinking for the interior fit out.

This interior below is from a house in Darling Point, Sydney which belonged to an architect who was influenced by Lloyd Wright. His name was Neville Gruzman. It recently went up for sale.The living room, naturally lit by rows of timber windows and glass doors, was once described by Opera House architect Jorn Utzon as, “the best living room in Australia’’.

A fellow architect who worked with Gruzman for 10 years had this reply when asked if mid-century post-modern houses stood up to the test of time.
“Modernism was about incorporating the elements, natural ventilation and connecting the inside to the outside. I’m influenced by that, definitely.
“There was a modesty of scale in the mid-century housing. We are building houses now that are double the size of homes in the 1950s, with half the people living in them. When you consider the financial and environmental cost of these larger houses, we can learn a lot from modernism about how to live luxuriously in a smaller space.’’
Hooray! The concept of bigger not necessarily being better is something many of us are yet to grasp.
I think we probably will get to build this house one day, although I think you could safely say our hands are full at the moment.
Still, I'd better learn how to mix a martini and start a collection of patio dresses....it's important to look the part.

An American, a Kiwi and an Australian went into a bar ...
Last night I met up with two friends I used to work with. Libby is an American and Niki is a Kiwi, both are journalists.  We are able to cover numerous subjects at break-neck speed; books, old frocks, offspring, wrinkles.
We met at The Junk Bar in Ashgrove, which I have been wanting to visit since it opened.
It's furnished in mainly mid-century classic furniture, and some that is not so classic. It really hit the spot; dark, cool and comfy. I was half expecting some of the staff from Sterling Cooper to walk through the door.

(loved the forest wallpaper)

On Niki's recommendation I tried a Whiskey Sour, and I must say, I have a new favourite.
This is a Whiskey Sour recipe I found on Drinksmixer, but it's not exactly what I had last night.
2 oz blended whiskey

juice of 1/2 lemons
1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1 cherry
1/2 slice lemon
Shake blended whiskey, juice of lemon, and powdered sugar with ice and strain into a whiskey sour glass


Interesting fact. Libby has a photo of her father at the opening of a play in the 50s (?). Standing next to him is Marilyn Monroe, looking exactly as glamorous as you'd expect. It hangs on Libby's wall.
That reminds me of a similar story. My Dad once sold a pair of shoes to Kamahl.
Now you may be wondering about the birthday cake.
Yesterday morning I opened the fridge door to get some milk. My husband asked me, 'how's the cake today?', like it may have righted itself overnight, which it certainly hadn't.
The morning turned out to be quite hectic. Everyone seemed to arrive at once, and I was still getting ready. Then the tots jumped in the pool, and although there was only six of them, it seemed like 36.
In the end, I threw the cake to the wild animals, the ones with Crocs where their hooves should be.
For all your reassuring words that they'd love it anyway, they didn't. A cake has got to be pretty bad before a three year old rejects it. After the masses left I threw several pieces in the bin, untouched.
One of the mums asked me, "Hmm? Is that marmalade in the middle?" Something else I forgot to add, I ran out of strawberry jam and had to use its inferior rival, marmalade.
I am certainly suffering birthday fatigue, but I just have to muster 28 hours more enthusiasm and it'll all be over. We have the kindy kids tomorrow morning.
Valentine's Day is coming up, which means next to nothing to me. I get fed the rubbish line, 'it's too commercial' or alternately and even worse, 'everyday is Valentine's day for us'.
However, I recently discovered this portrait studio called Sherbet Birdie who does 40s, 50s and 60s style portraits. I tried to pilfer one of their pictures to show you, but they'd done something tricky so it couldn't be copied. Their website is www.sherbetbirdie.com
P.S. If you're a regular reader but not a follower, give me some encouragement and join up! I thrive on praise. 

Unnatural Disasters and Cyclone Yasi

We are into day 2, birthday cake 3, of our week long 4th birthday celebrations.
Tomorrow we are having our playgroup friends around to celebrate Peach's birthday, yet again. We have been in the same playgroup for more than five years. Now tots that once pulled each other's hair in the portacot are in school uniforms, and their younger siblings are tottering around.
Some of us, me included, are unfortunately running out of children and this will be my last year as a legitimate playgroup member.
Today I made myself a list, and ran around the house like I had a motor on my rear end. I felt quite smug that I'd got everything ticked off. I even made the birthday cake and layered it with jam and cream (whipped by hand, thank you very much).
Feeling the efficiency charging through my veins I thought I would just whip up the icing and decorate the cake before the children went to bed.
Hells bells! The disaster that now lies grimly in my fridge is almost beyond belief. I had to laugh....or else I would have cried. It will surely get some laughs in the morning.
I am trapped too. I can't just duck out and get another one, everyone is arriving just after nine.
Have put quite the gallery together so you can really appreciate how bad it is. My fatal errors included:
- not taking enough care
- not making enough icing
- making the icing too thick
- cutting the layers of the cake too thin
- not having a proper plan in my head when I started
- not concentrating
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Please learn from my mistakes.
Before I wheel out the beast, let me firstly show you what I normally churn out. It's not great, but passable.

This is the Frankenstein thing I created this afternoon.....from all angles....it's bad, very.

Then the avalanche....

This is a blurry, unflattering photo of me trying to stick it back together, which I liken to lying down in front of a runaway train to stop it. Notice how close it is to the side of the bench. I'm not sure if I was subconsciously trying to push it off, or the poor thing was trying to jump! See my look of panic.

Let me tell you, there's going to be a lot of wide eyes and hands over the mouth tomorrow when I unveil this baby.
As a social experiment, I don't think I'll give them a heads up. I'll just put it on the table and check out the reactions.

In summary, as we like to say, 'Nevermind, it doesn't matter'.

This is a photo of our house from an angle I've never seen before - compliments of a tiny, budding photographer. (actually looking at it now, I feel I should point out that the tiny photographer is not the cat)

Tonight, at the bottom end of the state, we will be thinking of all those at the top end.  Wishing you a safe and uneventful night.