White and brown house

Great minds think alike...or fools never differ...

Just around the corner from us there is a house which is being spruced up. I'd never really noticed it before, but it caught my eye as I was driving past it the other day.

They have cleared the bushes in the front yard and you have a better view of the house from the street.

This house has the same colour scheme as the Sow's Ear. I think their brown is more mission brown (reddy tinge) rather than Dulux peppercorn rent (poo brown with a green tinge).

I was under the misguided impression that they copied us and were devotees of Fun and VJs.

You know, like they were inspired by our painting journey as chronicled in the blog. Ha! After a quick Google maps search, it seems no. The house has always been white with a dark trim.

Maybe we were subliminally inspired by this house...?

White house with brown trim

I wonder if they'll paint their front door and stairs...

At any rate, it's good to see other white and brown houses in the area.

Pinot amongst the pandanus

Not one power tool or paint brush was used this weekend as we celebrated Jason's birthday. To ensure this, we whisked Jason away from the Sow's Ear for a little beachy holiday.

The man does not know how to rest at home because there is always something that needs to be fixed or painted. An escape was the only answer.

It was great. We swam, slept-in, read, watched TV and did not even think about the Sow's Ear. Ahhhh...bliss.

Surf life savers on Sunshine Beach this morning

Pinot amongst the pandanus one evening

Retro chairs  (Sebel?) and crocheted blanket

We ate at this eccentric, quirky little cafe one evening. Think backpacker waitresses, mismatched drinking glasses and plates, retro laminex tables and granny crochet rugs to keep your knees warn. It reminded me of Blogtopia!

laminex table

There is something comforting about eating dinner from an old laminex table. Like eating at Nana's or Granny's.

Funky light shades

The thing about our holiday that amused us greatly was all the locals thought we were tourists from Melbourne. We took that as a compliment...I think...maybe we're like hipsters? Anyway, that's the story we're running with...(I wonder if Melbourne people play pick the Brisbane tourists in St Kilda?)

It was really good to get away from the Sow's Ear. I think it did us a world of good. But it needed to be a longer break.

P.S You only have until midnight tonight to enter the Dulux Competition. Go here.

Old maps

I'm developing a thing for old maps ever since I saw my friend Leanne's world map in her kitchen.

And then I remembered at my parents' place, they have a collection of those old National Geographic Magazine maps. Their collection of magazines date back to the 1920s and I think they even collected Time Magazine. Serious hoarder disorder there.

I don't think they are worth very much but I'm thinking the maps might be useful to frame (and then perhaps sell them for an exorbitant price...)

Like this example:

image from here

Desire to Inspire also featured an online shop called Empirical Style which is owned by one of the finalists from Australia's Top Design. They sell vintage school maps among other funky goodies.

Image from here

I'm loving the whole map look at the moment.

What do you think? Do you think I should raid my parents' collection and help them to declutter a bit? What continent should I pick?

Fun and VJs Theme song

Earlier this evening, Jason and I were discussing that we need a theme song. We don't really have one. Our wedding was on the small side; and there was no bridal waltz to demonstrate our waltzing ineptness. So it means we have no 'official' song.

We were going through our limited song repertoire and all we could come up with was this:

Just disregard the fact it's about a a boy trying to buy some préservatifs (that's French for tarping up).


Get it? House of fun...Fun and VJs...you know, madness...because renovating drives you mad...get it?  No?

Oh and don't forget to enter that Dulux Colour Consultation competition HERE. 

One roof gable to go...

...but who's counting.

Are you bored of the painting progress shots yet? Sadly, it's all we seem to do around here. Just paint, paint, paint and more painting at Fun and VJs central.

You'll be pleased to know Jason rallied on Sunday after being bedridden for most of Saturday. He's been unwell and had a day off, but on Sunday he painted through the snot barrier. 

It seems Jason will be able to complete all of the painting with the extension ladder with a bit of improvisation here and there. He's got it all planned in his head on how it will pan out. 

On Sunday morning, he painted the front roof gable and he managed to stay on the ladder without breaking his neck. I couldn't bear to look at him so high on the roof  with the tall, spindly ladder, however I soon got over that.

extension ladder 

He said shifting the ladder every time you needed to paint another section of the gable was a pain. He was up and down every 15 minutes or so.

Down, down, down, shift, shift, shift, up, up, up. 

It's probably not the most efficient way of painting but it will just have to do. Here are some action shots for the die-hard Jason fan(s) out there. I know who you are.

It really is a long way to the top...if you want to rock'n'roll.

The most soul destroying part was when I was taking this shot, Jason had just cleaned himself up and was calling it a day.

"Oh F%@#!. I missed a bit!" he gasped.

(You can't see it in the photo. It's under the eaves near the finial)


And don't forget to enter the Dulux Colour Consultancy Service giveaway that is running at the moment. It's a great prize if you are in the process of renovating or just redecorating for Spring. Click HERE

And if you are really keen you can visit the lovely A-M from The House that A-M Built as she has the same promotion running on her blog too. Go on! Double-up your chances. Click HERE.