Bedroom side of the house

There's still so much painting to do on the Sow's Ear. It's ridiculous. We think we are Dulux's best domestic customer in Australia because we just finished another 15 litre drum of exterior gloss this weekend.

Jason spent a few hours on Saturday and Sunday painting the new weatherboards on the bedroom side of the little pigster.

Jason painting the window sills.
(You know that there's a chill in the air when Jason's wearing a shirt.)

Jason has big plans to change the single-pane casement windows that are in his gimp room under the house (windows on the left in the image above). He wants to swap them for windows in the hopscotch profile to make it consistent to the rest of the Sow's Ear. We already have the windows from when we bought a stash of windows from our mate Will (you can read here about it here).

Jason must've been feeling super-energetic because he also painted the joists on the underside of the bay window. If we stood still enough, I reckon Jason would paint me and the kids too.

Painted joists under the bay window. You can also see one of the original hopscotch windows of the Sow's Ear here

And this last shot is for the hard-core Jason fans. There's the faintest hint of man flesh there for huge fans like the lovely F from The White House. No need to thank me...

Look at the painting stance and technique...
This is Jason's new-work-around-the-house uniform.
My Mum kept my brother's old shirts from when he was a teenager in the 80s and often gives Jason first dibs. Ha!

  

Orange blanket

It's getting quite chilly in Brisbane as winter approaches. This usually means another wool blanket on the bed.

I found this orange blanket at the local op-shop. I bought it purely for it's 'orangeiness' and also in honour of the 2012 Pantone colour of the year: Tangerine Tango. 

Some would be appalled at buying second-hand bedding (ie Jason), but I try not to use my imagination when it comes to such things. I focus on the benefits of sleeping with wool. A wash and an airing does wonders too.

I bought a new wool blanket a couple of years ago from Target and it is not as well-made as this old blanket. The weave is looser and the quality is inferior when compared with the old one. 

So, the op-shop one is a winner - cheap as chips and in a colour that suits my aesthetic.

Vintage orange blanket
As you can see, I fail in ironing pillow slips...

Orange blanket

Retro style cushions

It's been mentioned out there in Blogtopia that to under-cushion is a deadly sin. It slots in at number two position, between Lust and Greed in the lifestyle blogger's bible.

Retro cushions

Beautiful embroidered fabric repurposed into a cushion

My mate Melissa has been fighting the good fight against under-cushioning and has made a selection of handsome one-of-a-kind cushions. She uses mostly vintage fabric, which she has collected over the past decade or so, to create unique soft furnishings. Her vintage fabric collection is amazing - I particularly like the fabulous barkcloth fabric Melissa has in her storeroom.

Melissa's also putting the love back into unloved chairs and giving them a new lease on life. Aren't they happy and fun pieces for the home?

upcycled chair with vintage barkcloth  upholstery

upcycled chair with new upholstered seat 

If you are in Brisbane, Melissa will be selling her wares on Saturday 19 May at a small market to be held at St Joachim's Church Hall, Crown Street in Holland Park from 2pm to 4pm. She's selling lots of cushions, the chairs above and handmade sun hats amongst other things. You can call/text Melissa on 0447 517 492 if something in particular caught your eye.




Disclaimer
* I may possibly receive a bottle of wine for my blogging services....it depends if Melissa sells anything as a result of  this blog post. Ha!

Bit nervous

Today I'm breathing (with a gas mask) a sigh of relief as the burnt out house which backs onto the Sow's Ear had its asbestos roof removed. You can read about the house fire here.

I'm relieved because after all the work was done, they laid tarpaulins over the blackened roof trusses which I saw as a sign that they would not be demolishing the house...I'm hopeful at any rate. Surely, they wouldn't take so much care if the house was going to be demolished?

Old house having its roof removed

It's not an overly beautiful house but usually when people build in this area, it's often two storey McMansions which take up every square inch of available land. Not that I'm knocking that, but as a  neighbourly person I love distance between me and the neighbour's toilet, if you know what I'm saying.

We also have a really nice outlook to the mountains from our deck at the moment - a new house build behind us would probably mean hasta la vista to our quaint vista. I have my fingers crossed that the house is repaired rather than demolished.

It's something which bothers me all the time since we have Boo Radley's house next door to us as well! Who knows what will be built there?

Am I the only person who gets nervous when the neighbours start renovating or building?

Three years at the Sow's Ear

Three years ago this week we became the owners of the Sow's Ear. What a busy three years we've had in the old house.

I was not at all keen on the Sow's Ear when we first saw it. In fact, I was dead-set against it - it needed too much work (given we have three growing boys and Jason works long hours in his job). Who wants to be a slave to their house?

Jason on the other hand was very much in love with it and said that we should grab the opportunity to buy it. He also said while caressing the VJ (vertical join) walls: "Don't worry. I can do most of the work myself. It just needs paint."

Three years on, Jason is still painting - the shine of romance with the Sow's Ear has somewhat waned but he's still committed.

For me, the best thing I did was to start this blog a few months after we moved in. Writing about the changes we've made and the weekly goings-on in the Sow's Ear has definitely made me like our home more.

See what I did just then? It's no longer a house, it's our home.

The Sow's Ear during our second inspection

The Sow's Ear today