A Fresh Coat of Paint

A change IS as good as a holiday. The healing powers of a fresh coat of paint never ceases to amaze me. We (John, Erica and I) have spent the last week painting Sam and Erica's bedrooms. It feels so much better. Erica went for an all white theme and Sam decided on green. He was actually wanting BLACK (would you believe it!) but I assured him that it was my house too and I could not....under ANY circumstances....come at that-YUK!

The painting was going alright by day four after having to replace windowsills and trim that had been made out of very unsuitable MDF but was much harder than I had anticipated. I think the dry heat didn't help. To cut a long story short, Dad who's a painter by trade and a very fast and efficient one at that, came to the rescue- yet again. In one day (a short one at that) he had transformed our meagre attempts into a masterpiece. SO QUICK! He not only did the final coat on Erica's room but did all the rolling in Sam's room and he redid all the trims and the cupboard doors. Yey!

So, just wanted to say,

Thanks Dad, we really appreciate you and what you have done for us.

Flowers and Paper

After Christmas when everything has settled down is always a nice time to reflect on the things that I enjoy and things that make me happy in the house.

I had fun making a pretty display out of some of my garden flowers. I love the textures of the flowers and the old paper. I often hesitate when picking flowers for the house at this time of year when it is so hot as they don't last as long as I would like in a vase. They seem to endure the heat better left out in the garden. But, I do like to see their happy smiley faces indoors ,so.....

Happy New Year

I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to this new year. We had a very nice Christmas with family at our home this year. The weather was very kind....not too hot. I'm afraid that I didn't get many photos as I was a little busy and I forgot to buy an SD card for my daughter's new camera. So of course, my SD card went "missing"!

We are just home from a lovely few days over at the coast. It's always fun to spend some time in the sea but I do like being home as well. It seems with the lead up to Christmas and all that, I haven't been home enough of late.

What does the New Year have in store for you? A new home, a new business venture, a new pet, new year resolutions that may not be kept....? I'm the sort of person that doesn't make new year resolutions. One day at a time is my motto. Life seems pretty good to me so I think I'll just keep going as I am and wait for what might just be around the next corner. I think each day should be enjoyed for what it is and we should make each day count. This might be as simple as relaxing in the beauty of it or perhaps madly working away to create something that we had always imagined. This to me is how dreams come true. I seem to have a lot of dreams coming true lately. That's always good!

When I was younger ( not that I'm old now, but you know what I mean), I was constantly on the go. Having a young family and a new place to make into a home does tend to do that to you. These days I find that stopping and relaxing and enjoying the quiet moments in life has become just as important as the busy, "achieving things" times. Watching the birds, watching a movie with the children, wandering around my garden enjoying the fragrances that hang in the air at dusk....these are the things that I look forward to.

What things are you looking forward to?