My sewing room and visit from Jake

My sewing room has finally taken shape with new shelving put inside the wardrobe to help contain my fabrics and other bits and pieces.

My nephew came for a visit and had fun helping put the shelving together using my new little electric screwdriver. After putting together the shelving we filled the day with a trip to the movies, a try out on the John Deere ride on mower, a few games of noughts and crosses. We finished off the day of making a ginger bread house and a roast dinner.

putting the screws into the backboards

concentrating to get the screws straight

lying down on the floor to get the bottom screws in place

trying out the John Deere ride on mower

at the movies

our ginger bread house

my first ever ginger bread house

very pleased with his efforts

oops.... its a bit fast to start off

having a game of noughts and crosses

the cube shelving

my sewing room from the door

I've filled both sides of the wardrobe :-)

another view into my sewing room

Our new house... the gardens taking shape

Things are happening fast with setting up our new home. The blinds were installed 2 weeks ago and the landscaping has begun.

I have put Roman blinds in all the rooms and wooden Venetian blinds in the bathrooms and toilets. They are a neutral colour which will let us dress the rooms in whatever colours we like with cushions, my quilts and pictures. Unfortunately by being a neutral colour they are hard to photograph but I've added a couple of photos to try and show them anyway.

Here are some before and after photos from day 1 and 2 of the landscaping work. It will be exciting to see how the garden takes to shape over the next few days.

front yard

the veggie tins

down the side of the house

from the lounge room door to the back fence

Our new letter box put in by Andrew

the back yard

the bob cat digger up everything from the side of the house

the truck unloading the reinforcement for the concreting

from the lounge room window to the back fence where the clothesline will go

from the lounge room doors to the back fence where the veggie tins will go

the bob cat in action

the back yard

the bob cat

the pile of clay moved from the back yard

the side of the house ready for concreting

Charlie checking out the wire reinforcement 

the white wooden Venetian blinds in the bathrooms

The lounge room blinds

the front door

My new quilting frame and machine

I am now the proud owner of a quilting Frame. I have a Grace Pinnacle crib to King size frame with a Janome 1600P series sewing machine.

checking out the new machine

The drill I got for Christmas really did come in handy!

some how this has to be put back together!

It has been fun picking it up from a place near Geelong and bringing it home and setting it up. Yesterday I had my first try at doing some stitching - lots of practice needed!!!

this is how it's meant to look

3 hours to fit the speed regulator!

the machine really works!

Where have the last 5 months gone?

Time seems to be going by so fast. I can't believe it's really been five months since I made a post!
Here's an outline of my life since my last posting......

* July - place Andrew's house on the market. 

* Monday 6 August  - operation on knee to replace plastic sheath. Home on Thursday and ready to start physiotherapy the next week.

* August... and continuing... Issues with work - lawyers involved.. not a good situation at all.  Medical assessments, meetings with lawyers, paperwork and more paperwork. .. now on extended sick leave.

Bev's 80th birthday quilt

Heather's 40th birthday quilt

Helga's blue and white quilt

September
* My return to work delayed.  Wound not healing - days filled with physiotherapy, weekly hospital appointments to check and dress the wound and sewing a quilts. One for Bev's 80th birthday and one for a friend in a nursing home and another one for a 40th birthday present

* Weekends with Andrew spent looking at houses - no intention of buying until Andrew's house  sells but good to get to know the market

* Saturday 22nd.. see another house we both really love but decide we can't make an offer until   Andrew's house sells (this is the 3rd house we would have brought if we had already sold Andrew's)

* Sunday 23rd.... Andrew sent text to agent to discuss an offer
* Monday 24th ... agent replies and agrees to take the offer to the owner
* Monday 24th  - 4.30pm... meet agent at house, make an offer and sign the papers

Signing the paperwork at our new house!

* Monday 24th -  8.30pm... offer accepted!

Arghhh!...  2 weeks to get full deposit together... settlement in 30 days

Arghhh! ... need to get my unit on the market this week

* Thursday 27th - meet bank manager to apply for loan for house...the wait for approval begins
* Thursday 28th .. place my unit on the market 
* Weekly inspections on Andrew's house continue... no offers... disappointment all round

* Sunday 30th ... Andrew's mother's 80th birthday party. She loves her quilt. 

Bev with her quilt

October
*Monday 1st - another operation to repair wound - only in for the day. This time the wound heals.

* Time to start serious cleaning and de-cluttering my unit - so much to do before Saturday!!!

* Both places on the market now - ready for weekly open inspections

* Saturday 6th ... first inspection of my unit...great hopes of a quick sale dashed - only 2 people turn up - no interest.

* Enter a quilt in the Spotlight store quilt show... excited.. won 1st prize!!

* Friday 12th ... deposit on new house due... finance approved!. Bank papers signed - Sold sign placed on our new home.

It's ours

It's really ours!!

* Open inspections continue on both Andrew's house and my unit.. lots of disappointment but still confident that they will sell before Christmas

November

*Thursday 8th ... Settlement of new house...pick up the keys..  it's really ours!!

The new fridge being delivered

It fits!!

* Friday 9th... new fridge arrives. New recliner chairs are ordered.

* Packing up unit...taking loads over to the house everyday and putting things away into cupboards.
* Friday 23th ... big moving day.. truck arrives... I'm really moving!

December

the slats for the Venetian blinds in the bathrooms 

Fabric for roman blinds in the bedrooms &living rooms

* Wednesday 5th  - Spotlight quote for new blinds... Roman blinds throughout!! 

Our new raised veggie tins

* Thursday 6th  ... more excitement.. raised veggie tins arrive!

* Saturday 8th .. 8am.. move some furniture down from Andrew's house to new house

* Saturday 8th ..4pm  received an offer on Andrew's house!!!

* Wednesday 12th .. pass the cooling off period for Andrew's sale.. it's really sold!

* Thursday 13th ... received an offer on my place!!!

* Wednesday 19th ... pass the cooling off period... my place is really sold too!!

Sold!!

Sold!!!

Relief and excitement all round.

*Thursday 20th ... move last load of furniture from Andrew's place

*Thursday 20th ... Andrew's birthday - cook special dinner and bake a birthday cake 

Andrew's birthday cake

The week before Christmas.... 

Christmas baking

the Christmas dinner table setting

....  baking Christmas cakes & boiled fruit puddings, present shopping, food shopping, posting Christmas parcels, baking more Christmas goodies.... and before I knew it it was Christmas day! A lovely day shared with my mother and Andrew's family.

Christmas day
Andrew's family and my mother for dinner. Cook full roast vegetables with turkey and ham. Plum pudding and Swiss chocolate trifle for dessert. Everyone happy - a lovely day.

Well, there you have it... an outline of my life since July!