the new old house!

wow! has it been so long?

 so we are kind of unpacked, living from room to room at the moment.

phil is in the middle of rewiring the house and insulating all the walls and ceilings.

in the mid eighties when this house was built insulation wasn't really thought necessary.

photos of his progress still to come.

i have just only unpacked the camera so pictures are limited sorry.

we have however been making more progress outside, the poor hubby has been removing trees like a man possessed.

thirty years of neglect has left them in bad condition, and very bad placement to close to the house is starting to effect the foundations. 

as we live on a slope with a lake at the bottom i do not want to wake up one morning only to find we are swimming with the fishes! 

these pics are from november of last year, before we moved in and the house was empty.

we snuck around for a cheeky look before we had keys so the only inside photo is taken through the window and poor quality.

drive and entrance...

as you can see the gardens are a over grown mess and need a lot of work.

nothing a chainsaw cant fix!

so more pictures to come, i will try very hard this weekend to load some more of inside the old hew house, and update what we have been doing for the last six months.

merry christmas

We finally have a phone and internet line after four weeks. 

Apparently it is very hard to change the address and set up a connection for customers that have been with the same company for eight years! 

But anyway, we have kind of moved into the new old house.

Still trying to unpack some things and find homes for everything and everyone.

I haven't found the camera charger yet so no pictures to show I'm sorry. 

But will get onto that after Christmas.

  

Speaking of Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and will catch up with you again after ours. 

Travel safe and be merry!

sold!

So our little house sold yesterday.

And we brought a new old house all on the same day.

So things will be very busy as there is rather a lot of packing to be done.

I guess we will be a bit m.i.a for a while.

And will try for a few progress reports, but I'm not sure who will be our new internet provider at the new old house.

 Have a great couple of weeks, and will see you again from the new old house!

moving on!

After ten years at this address... 

we have decided to sell and move on.

if you wish to have a little look or want to buy our lovely house can check out the listing and pictures here!

busy, busy, busy...

the new carpet is being put down next week!



so our wee family life is all about painting pretty much the entire inside of our house.

but it's ok i have help in the form of a midget painting munchkin!

randomness

I'm not really sure where the last three weeks have gone, it has been rather a busy time in our little house.
But school holidays are only around the corner and we will be able to slow down a little then.
So here is a little bit or randomness that has been going on....


Suse from Pea Soup and I have our own swap happening....

I made these stitch markers (eight blue and four green) for her and in return the lovely Suse is sending me some of her beautifully hand dyed yarn.
Personally I think I'm getting the better end of this deal so I hope she likes the stitch markers.


Miss Ella is into making her own after school snacks at the moment....

and jam is at the top of her list.


We seem to be eating rather a lot of eggs, especally for breakfast....

Phil brings home these lovely coloured eggs from Kapiti.
I like their nice bright yellow yokes.


We have been eating out of the veggie garden too....

this is the last broccoli.
They have been very yummy, but I must remember to plant seedlings every few weeks because now we will have to wait a while for more.


I have been spending quite a bit of time here....

now that Oliver is at kindy two mornings a week, I can spend a little time on myself.

my little lad...

sleeps with wooden nuts on his eyes!

my new distraction

Way back in September of last year I was working on crocheting this ripple blanket for Ella...

I am using Zhivago and love how soft and warm it is.
However the blanket has become very very heavy and skinner at one end.
So the understanding husband and I ripped it.


And I have decided to totally copy Alicia's (Posie Gets Cozy) cloister blanket, which I just love and can't seem to get out of my head!

Now I know that coping others peoples work is really really bad.
But I figure that my coloures are different, it won't be as big, it is to keep my five year old warm at night, and it's not for sale so there is no profit to be made other than a kiss and hug from Button.
So I'm sure Alicia won't mind.

yuck!

Yuck!
Everything and every one is yuck at the moment.

The weather has packed in and it's been raining for over a week.
And it's dam cold.



This is a close as we get to snow here in the valley.


The kids are sick, and have been home from school and kindy all week.
And are starting to go a little crazy and climbing the walls.



I have managed to get some knitting done, but no pictures yet as the light is bad and it's too wet outside.
Soon maybe?

Best we stay inside drinking tea and eating cake!

done

Our little house has had a busy week.
The floor is done, yepee!

And in record time too.
Thankfully it only took two days to put down.
Which was great for us because all the white wear was in the middle of the lounge.

I love the new floor, especially how much bigger the kitchen looks.
And that it is so much easier to keep clean.
Even my little hoon can push the vac around and tidy up after himself.
Although he would much rather use the floor as a road for his cars.

Now all that's left is to replace the windows at the front of the house, and then get new carpet.
And our little house will almost be done.


Other things :
Sweet P has received her goodies from the giveaway now so I can show you too.

Tea of course, a wee tea bag tray, spoon (from Mt Maunganui), and a cup cake.
The cup cake pattern is available from here, if you would like to make one for yourself.

threes...

Well they say things happen in threes...

1. I slipped off the deck and thought I had broken my ankle.
Luckily it is only very badly sprained, and the size of a small pumpkin.

2. The car broke down on the way to school.
Luckily I was rescued by one of our local Firemen.

3. Our fridge completely gave up and rattled it's last cold breath.
Luckily Phil found another here in the village for only $300.

What a week, so on to better things...


Apologies for the lateness in drawing the giveaway, but it's been rather an eventful week.
So Button drew Sweet P's name out of the bag.
Congrats, the mystery treat above will be on its way to you very soon.


Tomorrow the flooring people are coming to lay new floor in our kitchen, dining, laundry and toilet.
Yeah!
I have only been waiting for new floor for three years now!

These nasty cork tiles were every where.



But when Phil lifted them we found a even bigger disaster...



We did have a go at getting the lino up, but what a mission.
So we are going to let the flooring chaps tackle that job.

But the hubby has been very busy this weekend pulling up the old carpet and removing all the carpet tacks.

Another job well done!

how does your garden grow?

Ours is growing very slowly!



With the usual suspects...

beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots (all season, baby, purple haze and rainbow selection), cauliflower (white and purple), celery, garlic...

leeks, lettuce, parsley, rosemary, sage, silverbeat, spinach, spring onions and peas.

Ella likes eating the parsley picked straight off the plant.
I wonder what else she will eat straight out of the garden?

I remember eating radishes, dirt and all from Mums garden when I was only five.

I don't like radishes now, how about you, what do you like eating just picked from the garden?

left with the lads!

Yesterday Button flew the coop with Auntie Toni and Nanna.



They have gone North for some warmer weather.
And are staying here with Miss May!

Button insisted she take something to thank Auntie May for looking after them all.

I think she did quite well selecting this nice 'Boots' Body Shimmer Compact.
I might just have to get one for myself!


So I have been left with these two:

I am gonna need loads of cups of tea to get through the week!

no knitting this weekend!

I have been wanting a veggie patch for a long while now, ever since Miss May built her own.
So I set my long suffering husband to work out in the back garden.



The last time my Mum came to stay, I had her moving rocks (at the back there) off the garden to expose the clay dirt.
Which has been airing for a month after being covered with said stones for about seven years.

This weekend has been all business, with Phil framing up a boxed garden.
To cover up a useless bit of raised concrete.
Job well done hubby!

Then all that remained was to fill with nice new dirt, brick a path through the middle.
Drink about a thousand cups of tea, while leaning on a spade.

And wallah!
Welcome to our new garden.

Next week a much needed trip to the garden shop for plants is in order.

OH S**T!!!

We are back from our family holiday, and I had intended this post to be about that.

But while I was sorting out the million photos I took while away, I realised that there was a disturbing lack of noise in the house!

So I went to investigate and found...

Ella in the bathroom giving herself a hair cut!

Apparently her hair was in the way, so she thought she would just lop it off!
"Why not just tie it up?" I asked.
"Oh, didn't think of that!" was reply.

Thankfully all the cutting was in front, so now my child has a very short, very fat fringe!
Just in time to start school.

No amount of tea will make this one right, I will have to move onto the Sherry!

kids mojito

It's hot! and the kids are sick of drinking plain water.
I'm not into packet Raro ( which is nothing more than coloured sugar ) or supermarket mixes.

So we drink heaps of kids mojitos ( without the alcohol ) which are rather refreshing on a hot summers day.

Today we used our own home grown Lemonades so there wasn't a need to add honey.
Just lost of ice and mint.
You can use any citrus you like, normal lemons. limes, orange.



For special treats, like Fairy Parties, we use Blackcurrant juice and Sprite Zero.



I am certain that I'm not the first Mum to think this up and use as an alternative to other shop brought drinks.
My munchkins love the stuff, and both ask for it over anything else, they will refill their drink bottles a couple of times during the day.

And as refreshing as a fresh pot of tea is, sometimes a cold drink is called for!