I'm SO Excited!

After living so long with renovations going on and having no time and sometimes no money to progress with them we have come to the decision that we are sick of living in a house that is upside down. We are now on a mission because my eldest daughter who just had her first baby has asked to come up and stay with us for a week, so this made us go into overdrive. Don't you love it when you have something to strive for, it seems to give you a mission that has to be completed quickly.

Above picture is the back end of our house where our laundry and bathroom is, it looks a mess I know but now the wall is up the door is on and the gyprock has now been completed and hubby is starting to put in cupboards.

Check out that cupboard space, I am so excited that I am getting so much ..... a girl can never have enough cupboard space.

I can store a lot in these cupboards but wait there's more....

This side will have my washing machine, laundry tub, bench space and overhead cupboards.

Hubby made the cupboards himself and he will make the doors, skirting and architraves as well. These will be painted a cream and have that shabby chic look to match the bathroom ,the floor will be tiled and I'm not sure what colour to paint the walls yet

This is Scooby, he likes to hang around and see what is going on like the other three below.

As you walk out the back door you see part of my veggie patch which is looking like a wreck, anyway after we have finished the inside we plan to put decks around the house so when you walk out the back door there will be a deck and I will be able to look over my fruitful garden, perfect!

These little ones are over the renovations as well, there has been a lot of hammering and banging as well as electric nail guns and jack hammers in the house that these poor little doggies run to high ground or race to sit on my lap.

This is the back of the fire place which is in the laundry, I mention in an earlier post that we had a bit of trouble putting the flute in and had to jack hammer the back wall out. Well this is going to be modified to make an enclosed oven, I don't have a lot of details on this one so will have to just wait and see.

The Church is still going really well and we should be able to have our first worship services in a few weeks in the main building. The drive way will be in soon and then we can start planting plants on that top bank on the right in the picture.

The brick work has been started in the front building as well as the gyprock.

This is the entry to the front building where the offices, meeting room, toilets & showers, kitchen and cafe will be as well as a library/gift shop. So you see there is so much going on and that is why I'm SO excited :)

She is Happy, really!

I took this photo early this morning and it was a bit chilly so Jatzie still had her jumper on. I know Jatzie will feel much better not having her hair matted and it usually takes her a day or so to get over her big day out having been bathed and clipped and everything else that goes with a good grooming. I know she doesn't look impressed but give her a couple of days and she will be out there running a muck with the cats, dogs, chickens and sheep :)

Jaztie's off to the parlor!

Our little Maltese 'Jatzie' is off to the doggie parlour today for a much need trim. She gets a bit knotted because of the fine hair Maltese have and probably because she runs around with the other dogs, cats, chickens, sheep.....you know how it is when you are playing the last thing you think about is your hair getting knotted. The weather is getting colder and she probably should have had this done earlier in the year but we will have to put two coats on her at night inside of one. I have done a before photo of her and I will do one when she comes back.

I remember quiet a few years ago when Jatzie did have a few mats in her hair and I had this guy come in his mobile van to wash and trim her and I told my hubby to tell him to cut her short because of the hot weather WELL when I got home from work she was shaved right to her skin and I said what the ??###! happened she looks like a rat!.

I have had a few bad hair days myself over the years and when you look back in photographs you wonder what you were thinking to go for that look. I sometimes wonder what my hair do is going to be like when old, I might go for a blue rinse or I think I might go radical and have purple streaks :)

Cold and Frosty

We have had a couple of heavy frost and a couple of days below -3degrees. I love my Lincoln rose and it looks even more beautiful with the frosty crystals on it.

The outside dogs arn't real impressed with these frosty mornings and usually anticipate the sun coming up and radiating that glorious heat.

The little ones on the other hand can't wait for the fire to be lit so they can bed themselves snugly in front.

You just have to get the right position before you settle down, that's what Abbey is doing here. She does have a bean bag under our bed and when we go to bed she will sometimes take a good

5 mins to move those beans around and get into a comfortable position. Sometimes it drives us crazy and we usually yell out "go to bed Abbey"

These two are sisters and love each other so much. :) Doesn't Abbey look cute in her jumper :)

This and That!

I mentioned yesterday that we were eating fresh lamb, well we had four fat lambs killed for our freezer, I hope it did not offend anybody but we here on our farm have our own sheep and we breed them for our own consumption. With the off cuts and scraps I cook up with rice, noodles, vegetable, Vegemite and whatever else I might have around to feed the dogs. I just mince it up and freeze it for later as well as the bones.

I got about six kilos of mince for the dogs as well as two bags of bones.

This is the opening behind our fireplace I was talking about yesterday. This is the back wall for my laundry and we were thinking of making an enclosed compartment made of steel or whatever which would make it like an oven and where we can cook pizzas or bread. It could be possible!

These are my three roosters that will be have to be homed or eaten, I do have a friend coming out on the weekend to look at taking one of them and there maybe a neighbour who might take one as well so that might leave only one for the pot.

The Church is coming along, the brickies will be starting probably Friday or Monday and then the inside of the front building can be started.

Mothers Day with a twist!

I'm a little late in saying this but I had a great 'Mothers Day' I woke up and the sun was shining in through the window and I knew I would hear from each of my children and the day would be blissful. My darling husband was going to make me bacon and eggs and a cup of tea in bed, BUT he couldn't wait to rip out the bedroom wall, get rid of those louvred windows and put in the new windows and sliding door. So out of bed I jump to make him bacon and eggs while he fetches his hammer and other tools of destruction he loves :)


You see he couldn't wait to pull those louvres out, they are nice in summer with the cool breeze but let me tell you our room was like the Antarctic in the winter. We would open our bedroom door and the cold breeze would hit you like you were opening the fridge.

It didn't take hubby long to pull that wall apart for the whole world to see my bedroom, just as well we live out in the country and neighbours are a fair way from us but it was mothers day and the village was a bit busy with visitors.

Do you like my bed? I love it because it is higher than a normal bed and is a delight to get out of in the morning because you just roll out and you are standing up, if you know what I mean.

When I took this photo I could see all the things I have shoved under the bed and it looked a mess.

Once the wall was down hubby put the windows and door in, by this time my daughter and her boyfriend arrived as a surprise for mothers day and fortunate for them I had put on a large roast lamb (freshly killed three days before) so there was plenty and we had a feast with triffle (cake,custard,jelly,peaches and cream, YUM) for desert.

Later on we will put a deck out here so that we can sit out there on a warm evening and maybe gaze through my telescope or just enjoy the sunshine.

At long last (18 months) we had our fire going again not with some hiccups, see that rubble on the floor and the hole above the fire well the flute did not line up with the fire place in the chimney because when you start renovating a house you get these hiccups. After using the jack hammer, the grinder, hammer and crow bar and the welder to make up a elbow that looks like a dogs leg and with much more destruction on the other side of the wall we managed to get it all together. The destruction behind the fire is where the laundry room is and hubby had to make an opening in the chimney wall to reach the back of the fire ( I will show you a picture tomorrow) any way we thought we could put a door on this square opening and make it a pizza/bread oven. I thought it was a good idea the door and oven would be well made as the guy who gave us a hand is a welder :)

The doggies enjoyed the sunshine, this is Jatzie lying on some of the timber and that is Abbey
below looking a bit camera shy, they love having their jumpers on because the house is/was cold. Sarabie is our other little inside dog and she was checking out the new entry and exit dad was making in the bedroom.

Delicious Bread and Butter Pudding!

I just had the most delicious bread and butter pudding, it was out of this world, I would have taken a photo of it if I wasn't so hypnotised by its moistness or the fat juicy sultanas or the taste and smell of nutmeg hitting my senses before devouring it. I just had to pass this on because like I said it was so delicious. I had a loaf of wholemeal bread that was getting on the stale side and didn't want to pass it onto the chooks so I made a bread and butter pudding. I have made them before but this time I did not hold back with the butter, sugar, sultanas and nutmeg, let me say I just went for it and it paid off (note to self will have to run around the paddock to pay back the extras). When I cook I don't usual stick to recipes, you should give it a try and get to know your ingredients and how they work together it is liberating.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Use 8-10 slices of buttered bread (or just as many you need to fill a baking dish)

Lay a layer of bread in your dish and sprinkle with a little sugar

Now sprinkle over a lot of sultanas

Add another layer of bread, sprinkle sugar( be generous) on top, then sprinkle sultanas

Continue until you have filled your dish

In a bowl add 2-3 eggs, 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 cups of milk , 1-2 Tablespoon nutmeg

Mix and pour over bread.

You have to make sure that all the bread gets a soaking of this mixture so add more milk if you need to ( I had to)

Add a little more nutmeg if you want to (I did)

This will make your pudding moist and eggy and the sultanas plumb and juicy

Put your dish in a water bath and bake in moderate oven for about 30 - 40 mins (use a knife to poke it and if it is still runny bake for a little long until set)

Eat while hot or even better eat when cold the next day YUM!