Getting home and getting sorted

I have been touring the countryside. A road trip with my just ten year old twins, and our border collie, from Mackay to Melbourne and back, a trip of over 5,000 km and eight weeks. (You can see photos of our trip on instagram above.)

Now I am back, and determined to simplify my life and get healthy - with some vintage inspiration of course!

And after travelling the country visiting family and friends, I have decided it's time to move....back down south to Victoria, where not only do both sets of grandparents live, my eldest son does now too. Now I just have to work on my husband, and hope that the house market here in Mackay picks up!

In the meantime I have been reading everything I can about gardening and simple living
( I have just found Scribd, which if you love reading you must check out), and have been shopping locally and cheaply and cooking three healthy and frugal meals a day for the family. This little 1950s booklet has been my inspiration (10 cents well spent), although I am not sure if I will use the recipes for brains.

Today's lunch was broccoli and potato soup with two cheese, potato and rosemary pizza. OK so pizza is not very vintage, in Australia anyway, but even the kids loved it!

                                     

                                         

While I was away I had a request from a reader for a pattern for a knitted collar.  I will try and find one, I promise, but in the meantime I did find this little gem from 1942 - obviously a time when everyone had their own stack of knitting patterns already and could easily whip anything up!

Now I am off to make some crepes for dinner......cheers, Deb.

A clean start for 2015

Happy new year everyone!

I am finally back from four blissful weeks at the Sunshine Coast, where we stayed with my brother and his very accommodating brother and his family (you may have seen my instagram photos).  We miss them already.....they are a twelve hour drive south from us in Mackay, and we have all decided that we really want to move a bit closer to them......stay tuned!

In the meantime I have been busy with my New Years Resolution of getting my house in order - for

De-cluttering & A Nautical Colour Scheme

My de-cluttering for the house move is going along in leaps and bounds! I sold a lounge suite today - mind you  I had only owned it a week. I bought it last week at the Thrift Store, as I thought it would be great to recover for the new house and it was so comfy and a great shape, and only $80!  It's been sitting in my spare room/garage leaving me no room to store the boxes I have already packed, and I finally came to my senses and realised that selling my six month old corner couch and replacing it with one that needed fabric covers made would be a huge waste of money.  So I advertised it with a free ad in the local paper and sold it - for $100!  The same buyer also bought our spare queen size bed that really wasn't going to fit in the new house, so I have de-cluttered and made money at the same time!

Of course keeping the red couch means that I have had to revised the colour scheme for the new house again.....so now it's beachy, but not pale beige, blue and white, but a more nautical feel with red, beige, white and blues and navy. Some rope, baskets, cane and sisal would have to feature too I think.  I still love the white timber furniture idea, and would love to have a window seat under the upstairs dormer window.  Here is some inspiration:

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I love the the simple whale and anchor cushions - maybe I could try and make something similar?

I have a few more things for sale, such as another lounge suite (yes I know, how may lounge suites can a girl have?!) but if they don't sell I will donate them to the Salvation Army.  That's where most of my furniture came from in the first place, and I am sure they will be happy to see it again!

Deb xxx