The back yard transformation begins... Goodbye fern garden.

About 2 weeks ago on a Sunday about 10:30ish Andrew and I discuss ripping out the fernery.

Nek minit...

 Of course, wanting desperately to have some part in the transformation I decide to pull a few ferns too, although it didn't take long for me realise that I may have over done it.

 And so I became the official photographer for the rest of the transformation, helping every now and then to pull a few more out whenever I felt like I had recovered enough.

 The Chickens feasted on 20+ courses of snails, bugs and geckos.  They ate so much I'm surprised they could move!

 About half way there and I make Andrew stop for a well earned lunch break. 

 An amazing effort for only 2 and a half hours work.

 Tired and dirty I am really proud of Andrew and the final result.  Eventually we will rip down the retaining wall we are sitting on, flatten the back yard and extend out the pergola.  Baby steps Jude, baby steps...

Our New House - Before Renovations

 On the first week of December 2012 Andrew and I moved from our rented house in Netherby into the Adelaide Hills.  For me, moving back into the Adelaide Hills is like moving back home.  It's where I grew up.  Our house is located on a quiet street, close to an oval and bushland.  We have lovely neighbours who have all gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.  It's almost a case of worst house on the best street and it is going to take some work to get the house up to scratch.  But I enjoy a challenge and I love that our house is going to be a work in progress.  By the time it's finished it will well and truly have our mark on it.  So before we do anything to the house I thought I would take a few photos of our first week in the house.

Lets begin with the interior...

The top left photo is of our very blue kitchen.  Blue walls, blue cupboards, bench tops, blue lino on the floor, I only wish you could see the dark blue 'textured' feature wall!

Next, in the top right we have the very blue laundry.  It's in desperate need of a coat of paint, maybe a new cupboard, new floor to replace brown daggy tiles and a new laundry sink to replace the one with no door.

The bottom left is our bathroom.  When we bought the house three years ago the bath was rusty on the edges.  Andrew gave it a coat of paint before we rented it out.  Again, the brown floor tiles need to go.  We also need to replace the rest of the tiles and the shower screen door that is coming away from the frame.

Lastly, we have the minty fresh baby room.  To be honest, I'm not sure what they were thinking when that painted it spearmint green!

We come to the backyard... 

The backyard is lovely!  That is apart from the fence that is coming down at the back, the fernery which has been taken over by the grass, the pile of bricks and sheet metal in the back corner of the yard (which was home to a juvenile brown snake a week ago).

The veggie patch is overgrown with weeds, grass and garden clippings at the moment.  I'm really looking forward to getting it ready for our winter crop very soon.  Again, it's a work in progress and one that I am quite excited about.  Andrew and I are dreaming about our pergola area.

Eventually we will rip out all the ferns, remove the shade cloth and wooden structure and start again.  This time we will make sure that there isn't a pole in the middle of what would be a very usable space!

In a place where there is so much to do it's difficult to know what to do first.  We have armed ourselves with paint swatches from the paint shop, drawn up some rough plans for the back yard and have done some research into building a chicken coup.  Watch out house!

So we're in and we're are settled.  It's a work in progress but one I am very proud to call ours.

Have you ever renovated or have any renovation tips or ideas?  I would love to hear from you!

Rainy Day Maxi Skirt Project

I woke up this morning feeling less than well and decided that going out for any great length of time was probably not going to be an option.  With all this new found freedom I have since finishing Uni I really struggle sometimes with what to do with myself while at home.  I don't wanna be that person that knows all the day time telly shows back-to-front.  I always somehow manage to talk myself into going to the local shops, usually the local Foodland (I really quite enjoy food shopping), to buy that really important thing I didn't know I needed.  But today, it was wet outside and I was housebound and needed to do something with my boredom.

Hrmm... I know! I'll drag out that green jersey knit I have had stashed away and finally make that maxi skirt I found on pinterest! 
And so with a mix of day time telly (ok, so I gave in) and later, some Crowded House I got to work on this rainy Summers day while our chickens were enjoying splashing around in puddles outside.  Armed with scissors and a tape measure I began to mark out and cut through the yards of green fabric, carefully measuring up and stitching each piece together as per the instructions.  I am really impressed with the end result!  Easy to put together, easy to adjust as you go along, and best of all it is sooo comfy! 

 

Check out Crazy Little Projects website for this awesome maxi skirt pattern.

A little tip...
Because I am a newbie to the sewing gig I did a little research on working with stretch fabrics.  If anyone would like to attempt this I suggest you use a test piece of fabric and have a play around with the thread tension, and stitch width and length.  For this project I had my tension set to 2, my width set at 1.5 and my length set at 2.  All pulling and puckering was avoided.

So here's the end result.  My teeny little 14 week pregnant belly sticking out in this photo.  What have you attempted to make from scratch?  Have you any sewing or fabric tips?

6 month update... Oh gosh, it really has been that long!

I should be studying right now but instead I have been scrolling through pinterest and friends blogs.  It's been ages since I've updated my little blog.  I could make the excuse of lack of time but I think I will put it down to priorities.  I'm the biggest time waster ever at the moment!

Its been an exciting 6 months.  I have become an aunty twice over.  My beautiful niece is 5 months and adorable nephew is 3 months.  Another little niece or nephew is on the way, due to greet the world in late February.  Yep, our families are changing.  It's exciting!

Andrew and I are also moving into our own house in December!  We have been renting for a few years now but finally we are able to move in.  The thought of being in our own place is exciting.  We are already talking about painting the two hideously coloured bedrooms, one minty green and the other baby pink with baby blue skirting boards.  The dark blue kitchen complete with blue lino floor, blue bench tops AND blue cupboards will have to go too.  The bathroom and toilet is also a renovators delight.  We are going to have fun with this place!  I'll post pictures when I can.

A new camera that I got for my Birthday back in July has inspired me to start taking photos again so I thought I would kick off my first post in 6 months with a photo of the day challenge, courtesy of the blog Fat Mum Slim, something starting with 'C.'  This is my very inquisitive Chicken!

I promise I'll update more often.  Heaps more exciting things to blog about in 2013, including crafty stuff, sewing projects, house rennos, cooking, holidays and heaps more!

So Ill leave you with the question:  What are your plans for 2013?