Awards and Jason revealed

There is some very important business to attend to - the business of award(s) acceptance. Yes, you saw, awards because there are several!!

I'd like to thank the lovely people who have given me The Versatile Blogger award. Sarah from  Molly's Maison, Nellie from McCarthy Designs and Michelle from Paper Tree Design.

I never realised my versatility until now - it has been reaffirmed three times!

Actually, I do love getting awards. There is nothing better than to know people read the blog and like it. Thanks a million. It is very much appreciated.

As I've already revealed interesting fact about myself here, wouldn't it be really fun is to reveal seven interesting facts about Jason? He is developing a bit of a following...in his mind...

Seven things about Jason you might find interesting:

1. appeared in a number of feature films. You may remember him from such productions as Bible Squad, No Smoking, Sh*t List and Random Violence III. His Director is now a mover and shaker in the movie industry on the strength of these films, while Jason's acting potential was never fully realised. (They were amateur short films and no nudity was involved.)

2. possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of military history. Name a battle, any battle. There are limited uses for this talent.

3. was asked to pose nude for a photographic exhibition after finding fame on the Brisbane Blogosphere. Nudes on iconic chairs. Oh and he's considering it. Seriously.

4. lived in a small country town near Toowoomba as a young child.

5. does not watch sport. He does't even know the names of the State of Origin Captains. Seriously, when he is invited to corporate boxes, he goes for the food and bluffs his way through the night.

6. remembers clearly the Queenslander home that his parents owned in Fairfield before they moved to the country

7. had brown hair, before his genetic history robbed him of his fine mane. He shaves his head now but most of his friends think he's a blonde.


I need to nominate 15 people for this award and because I'm a weakling, I always opt out of this part of the award acceptance. It is very hard to single out just a few....

I have updated my blog roll and there are a few new blogs, so why don't you check them out. I read them.

Also, you may have noticed there is an ad on my blog. Sorry if it offends you. I'm just experimenting and working out what to do with the blog.

I laughed when I saw it. Mickey Mouse is perhaps symbolic of my ability to generate advertising revenue!! No doubt an omen.

Blog makeover

Fun and VJs has had a mini makeover. A few botox injections here and there to make it easier to use and nicer to look at. It certainly looks a lot more fun than before!

Many thanks to the very lovely Katrina  who writes her self-titled blog Katrina Chambers and A Very Fine House - she zhushed my blog after I entered her blog makeover competition and won!

She was so nice to work with and is incredibly clever. I'm over the moon with the new look especially since I am a html dunce.

Since this blog is a renovation blog we kept the picture of the house in the banner in all its pre-renovation glory - it is the number one star of the blog after all. The other embellishments are a nod to the mid century vibe we have going in the house.

There are still a few areas under construction and I will have to reinstate my blog list over the coming days. Also, please let me know if you encounter any difficulties with anything on the blog.

Thanks again Katrina!

One job always leads to another...rewiring a Queenslander

Remember the retro Murano spider chandelier that was to hang in the dining room? It was going to be installed today.

Carlo the Electrician arrived first thing this morning. He took off the existing fitting and noticed there were no earth wires.

As the chandelier is metal, installing it would have meant that in the event of an electrical fault the chandelier would be live and electrocute someone.

(Probably Jason because he likes to swing from the chandeliers  changes the light bulbs...)

Zap!

Hmmm...so Carlo checked out the rest of the house. The kitchen is fine because that was rewired, during its renovation, by the highly expensive electrician recommended by the kitchen installer (good lesson learnt to source your own electrician and plumber in future jobs). But everywhere else has the original wiring with no earth wires.

Zap!

It's not a huge problem at the moment - most of our old lights are plastic. As I hear the imaginary penny drop, I finally understand why this house had only plastic light fittings.

We could just leave the wiring (like all the other previous owners of the house) but it will be very limiting when we do any electrical work down the track. And since we plan to renovate the bathroom, change light fittings etc we are going to encounter this issue again and again.

So, we are just going to bite the bullet and make the house safer.

Carlo the Electrician will return with his apprentice in a few weeks time. It won't be the most straight forward job because the sunroom has a flat roof and there is no access to the ceiling without taking the roof off....Oh and our ceilings in the sunroom are asbestos fibro requiring that area to be sealed off when the work is done...Fun and games VJs!

In the meantime, we will need to think seriously about our electrical wish list. This was not in the six month plan but I guess one must be flexible with such things.

You gotta love these old houses. Zap!

At Remodelaholic today

This is just a quick post to say that our kitchen renovation is on Remodelaholic today. Click here now to check it all out if you want a remodel fix.

 Thanks Remodelaholic!

New specs, birthdays and painter's tape

image from here

I bought some new specs recently. They are black with green trim and are made by Collette Dinnigan. Not personally I assume. They are my favourite glasses ever. You cannot hide discretely from your short-sightedness in these.

And here is what they look like on my visage courtesy of our computer's webcam. A challenging photograph to take without looking cross-eyed.

The youngest member of the household celebrated his second birthday yesterday. I know, no fancy schmancy cake; just home-made chocolate cake. A Devil's Food Cake to be precise, in honour of the former little angel entering the terrible twos. I think he has fully embraced this next stage in life. He did have a nice day though.

And I'm still working on those bookshelves. I am really grateful for all of your advice because it has been incredibly useful. I bought real painter's tape rather than the cheap stuff (that I would normally buy) and invested in a good angled brush. It makes the job easier.

I'm just painting the fiddly bits at the moment and I hope to have it finished on the weekend. Jason helped me lift the bookshelf up so that it is standing upright. It is looking great. There is nothing country style about the bookshelf now.