Four Day Weekend, Again!

After the Easter four day long weekend i kind of got use to it and booked another one.  Truth is, i had accumulated time in lieu for overtime worked in March and so i thought I'd use the mid month lull to have some time off.  Who am i kidding, what lull?   I ended up working till 10pm Friday to have everything ready for Monday morning and then had to work like a Trojan to catch up when i returned on Wednesday. Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

I already posted about going potty in Tottenham on the Saturday morning so you know i had a new pot and some leftover Clivea to transplant.    

These front garden beds on the blind side of the house (usually this is just a strip but because of an easement we have 2-3mtrs width) were completely filled with clivea gone mad.

It was so beautiful when in flower but it had really overgrown the path and this is our only access to the back yard for a wheel barrow or bins.  I put an ad on Gumtree for free plants and i was inundated with calls. They came, they dug and they left me with a big mess which we forgot about because we couldn't see it - out of sight, out of mind.  Not any more.

I've removed the old fashioned shear curtains on all the windows and so we now have a view.  I  had better make it a good one as it really draws your eye when you walk in the front door.  We will have to sort out a privacy screen from neighbours as well.

My new pot and balls.  The balls add colour and interest and don't need weeding or watering.  There is about 5 clivea plants in the pot, so it wont take long to fill out.  

I'm thinking that the this path needs a good wash down with a pressure washer and then painting.  What colour do you think?   A shade of grey or do i go crazy and make it a shade of red?

Once i had done the bed outside the window i needed to plant out across the path because it was in view from inside as well.

You can see all that free mulch (still half the pile left) is coming in handy.   These wall pots were generously gifted from my sister Glenda when she moved house.  I've planted Seaside Daisies, Lobelia and Alyssum so they will fall gracefully and fill the view from inside.   The potted palm just got moved from elsewhere.  Do you play musical pots with your garden?  Doesn't cost a thing except a bad back.

So now both sides of the path are neat and tidy.  Oh dear, now the next section is looking worse for wear. After a few house of hard labour moving plants from here to there and repotting you can see it all coming together.

Oh no, the mould is really evident.  Wish i knew how to chop a triangle out of a photo.  Its looking much worse in the photo.  

As you can see, this garden is in full view of the dining area.  This is where i use to have the bantam chooks running around under the palms.   You can also see two things.  Its gorgeous but its also in need of a pressure wash.  Look at that mould.  This is the North side of the house and so this pergola has a fairly heavy shade cloth in "wheat" to give us protection from the Summer sun.  Its very effective, but as soon as it gets a bit wet, the mould arrives.

My beautiful pot is still waiting for its final resting place.  It could end up a water feature.  Perhaps i do have a pot fetish?

Today i found another bargain to add to this garden.  It was $60 reduced to $20.

The sign said woman praying but Rob thinks its a mother strangling a child.  Huh?    

So enough of gardens.  I did take some time to go for a drive with Tom.  Adding more hours to his 120hr target as a learner driver.  This Tuesday he will start with a professional instructor to finish off.  Its taken ages to find an instructor that will let him use his car.  Its what he feels most comfortable in and he will use it for the test, so he should learn in it.

We started out for Echuca on the border of NSW (big trip for one day) but he felt unwell an hour out so stopped at the closest town, Castlemaine.   Since having Idiopathic Inter-cranial Hypertension when he was about 10 he has suffered from occasional vertigo and feels unwell when going up and down hills and tight turns.  Just getting out of the car and walking around makes him feel better.

Castlemaine is an old gold mining town and you can see that in its time there was significant wealth in this small regional town.  Most of the dates on the buildings are around 1855-1865's.

Castlemaine - Link

You can see in the picture below the gutters are all extremely wide and made of bluestone.  Tom tells me that's because they carried a lot more than storm water in the past.  Ewww!

Sometimes it pays to look up.  What beautiful windows.  I would have loved to look inside.

For all my veggie garden friends, look here.  Its a kerb side veggie plot open to the public.

It would be great if the cities would follow the example of some of our smaller country towns.  It was full of veggies.  

Of course there had to be a lunch break.

The lentil soup was delish and i cant even find words to describe the almond meal and raspberry/cranberry cake. Tom wasn't so impressed with his gourmet meat pie (give him a plain $2 pie from the servo any day) but the custard almond danish revived him.  He felt so good on the way home, he sung me to sleep (ummm am i suppose to be supervising?  He has done 100 hrs)

So why was Tilly looking very guilty spread out on the back of the couch?

Because when i left, the bed was made, neat & tidy.   She's usually jumping up and down and being hysterical when i walk in the door but this is how i found her and my bed.   Hmmmm someone is a naughty girl.

Oh  i forgot to show you my other pot purchases from last weekend.

This white mosaic pot costs $5 and the ball 3 for $15.   The plant is Coleus Henna suitable for shade to semi-shade so I've got in the big pergola.

Those who know me know that i have a coffee addiction and so i couldn't go past this pot.

This oversized cup yet to be filled was $20

I am sure that if this didn't have a hole in the bottom of it, i would have been presented with this full to the brim with coffee for breakfast by either or both of my men as a joke.   Do you remember me saying what great service i received from the owners of the pot place.  I would have grabbed the outside plain one but she said "No, there's a really nice one inside and promptly emptied the shelf of these quite heavy pots to get this one out.  Lovely colouring.

Before you start think I've become Rockafeller, my entire garden makeover including pots, plants and ornamental lady came to $150.  I won $160 last week on Powerball with a ticket paid for from a winning ticket the previous week. Thank you Mr Tattersall.

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Live it up, while you can

I'm going to have to have a serious talk to my "older" friend, Noelle.  She is scaring the pants off me with all these emails on old age.  If i didn't know any better, I'd think she had one foot in the grave.  That's not true, she's only 73.  In a week's time she flies off for a two month holiday in Florida with her sister.    I remember several times over the last 10 year being told that "this trip will be the last, as i don't know if I'll be able to do it again".  Well here she is, hip operation over , beautifully recovered and off on another trip.   Noelle spends several hours standing, doing our family's ironing each Friday and tidying up so i can come home and for that one day (it doesn't last long) i feel like its all under control.   She is my angel. 

This arrived by email today from Noelle.  

Another year has passed

and we’re all a little older.

Last summer felt hotter

and winter seems much colder.

There was a time not long ago

when life was quite a blast.

Now I fully understand

about ‘Living in the Past’.

We used to go to weddings,

football games and lunches.

Now we go to funeral homes 

and after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers,

from parties that were gay.

Now we suffer body aches

and whine the night away.

We used to go out dining,

and couldn't get our fill.

Now we ask for doggie bags,

come home and take a pill.

We used to often travel

to places near and far.

Now we get sore asses

from riding in the car.

We used to go to nightclubs

and drink a little booze.

Now we stay home at night 

and watch the evening news.

That, my friend is how life is,  

and now my tale is told.

So, enjoy each day and live it up . . . .

Before you’re too damned old!

Got to make you laugh, doesn't it.   Au Revoir my sweet.  Parting is such sorrow - who is going to do the ironing?

 

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Going Potty in Tottenham - CDLS Paramount Pots

Nope, I'm not on a holiday in jolly Ole England, I'm in the western suburbs of Melbourne and about 2 min from my work in West Melbourne.  Tom and I drove through this industrial sector after having picked up the work ute and made our way to the depot where his new mattress was ready to be picked up Saturday morning.   Out the front, between two rather ugly factories,  were two big red SALE flags that caused me to turn my head to the left (imagine comical speed) almost giving me a crick in my neck.  What was on sale?

There they were, pots and pots and pots and pots of all colours and sizes just waiting for me.  It was like pot nirvana.   No time now, we were on a mission.  That's not to say however that when i returned the ute an hour later, on my own, that i didn't call in for look.  

So, was this impulse buying and blatant consumerism gone mad.  Was I  lured by those big red flashy flags or the word "SALE"? Was i a victim of my own love of pots?  Probably, but i just happened to need a specific size that i didn't have already.  Honest!

Besides, i won Tattslotto this week.  I don't normally pay $12 for a piece of paper that goes in the bin but sometimes it seems that you are surrounded by people in need and my desperation led me to buy such a piece of paper in the hope i can FIX everyone's problems.  - no lectures please.

Actually, I've had a small win for three weeks in a row.  I'm on a roll.  I only paid $12 for the first ticket and they keep funding the rest.  This week however i won $160 and so its coming out of Tattslotto's bank account and into mine.  I'm a fully funded pot shopper.

During the week i used one of the contacts i had made by placing a FREE plant ad on Gumtree to get rid of the rest of the clumping cliveas in my side garden.  I think they are beautiful but not in the ground.  They take over when they have their ideal growing conditions.

As you can see they were taking over the beds and paths.

At 7am (lucky I'm an early riser) an older gentleman who loved to talk (way too much at that time of the morning) arrived to dig them out and take them to a lady friend with a farm in need of greening.   I asked him to leave me several to put in a pot.  So, there you have it.  I needed a pot.  Not just any but since it would be instantly on show as you stepped into our front room through the side window (now naked of shear curtains).  It had to be beautiful.

Am i justifying my purchase too much?  Why do I think I need too?  Oh dear, more therapy needed.

What a find.  Not just the merchandise but the loveliest Vietnamese couple I've had the pleasure to meet.  I was offered a cup of tea on my arrival.  Hello?   I was given space to browse but also advice.  I was picky, I took my time, I was (a pain in the arse) changing my choice over and over but she smiled very politely and sought out any request i had, often offering cheaper pots.  I think she could recognise a fellow pot lover. Great customer service.

Speaking with her husband later i discovered it was their 2nd anniversary of business that day and so as i do, i started asking all those business questions that accountants love to ask.   I applauded them on their success as so many small businesses fail in the first two years.  With a history of being a machinist and then a landscaper i could see many examples of his handiwork in the healthy plants in well placed beautiful pots. Great advertising.  

The traffic of customers was steady while i was there and they seemed to have a good rapport with most, greeting them as friends.   The prices were extremely cheap in comparison to larger chain stores.  Looky here.....

Those decorated pots in the top left were only $5 each!!!!   The larger on the top right only $15.  So many designs to suit everybody.

I thought it very clever that they arranged the pots in waves of colour.  If you are shopping for a pot you usually have a particular colour in mind.  From greens to blues to reds to grey and that very boring neutral colours that are all the rage now.

They also have a few eco options around and sell their own potting mix.

1000L Water Tanks - 1 for $80, 2 for $150

OK, so i think you get the message.  This place is a find.  No website i can find but here is their business card.

Go potty everyone..

Oh, if you want to know what i bought (why wouldn't you) then you'll have to wait for the next post where i spent my weekend making over the side garden.

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Farewell Stig

Disclaimer:  This post is unrelated to the TV show Top Gear and the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson as host.  If you are researching the real STIG trying to find out his/their identity then please look elsewhere.  This post relates specifically to a 7 foot STIG cardboard cut-out that lives in my house.  If this slightly strange situation intrigues you (seems quite normal to me) then please read on.  

You know how you have those visitors that stay just that little bit too long.  Well STIG has become one of THOSE visitors.  He's been in residence in our lounge room since Oct last year and has become so much a part of the landscape that when visitors walk in the front door they actually greet him seemingly before even us.  I think it just might be time for him to leave.

You have no idea how much those folded arms came to irritate me.  

If you don't have a clue about who or what i am talking about then read my post (here) and you'll know that he was always intended to take up residence in Tom's new bedroom suite (well that's what we are calling the two bedrooms made into one that has a bed at one end and a lounge and TV at the other).  Tom is now 18 and he has given every indication that while he still enjoys Top Gear (belly laughing uproariously at each episode) the idea of having STIG in his suite has waned. Egads, is my little boy growing up?

Put your hand up if you are the mother of a boy! 

So how best to dispose of STIG?  I'm not so removed from the show that has given me the odd cause to giggle that i would just throw him in the bin.   Surely, he could bring joy to some other child?  Is there another mother out there that would allow a 7 foot effigy of a TV personality to take up residence?  Or perhaps he would be better appreciated by some ageing "rev head" with pride of place in their garage among the beer cans and the footy and motor sports paraphernalia.

I've checked with the neighbour's children and nope, despite the excited bulging eyeballs and raised eyebrows on the children, the look of horror on the parents faces over the top of them was enough to tell me that it wasn't going to happen.  So my  next course of action is to leave him out the front of the house and wait say........all of 2 seconds before he is lifted off the side walk.

Truly, this is what happens.  Its "magic" i tell you.  Anything place on the nature strip disappears seemingly before our eyes.  Even bulky wooden L shaped desks that weight a tonne.   Old rusty BBQ's start making their way down the street while i chase after them shouting "do you want the lid?"   Drat if it wasn't a windy day and he fell over.  Imagine my grumpy face as i pick him up and trudge back in the front door with him.

I refuse to drive it, I have my standards.  Oh, you are going to pay me?  How much?  

Then i remembered that the new neighbour next door is studying film & movie special effects and still thinking (Oh, that's why i have a headache) i thought the rather sturdy frame that holds him upright might come in handy.

(Pause for a few minutes while i run next door).  

Matt just left with STIG under his arm. Lucky he's a big dude.  He tells me it will come in handy and also he might have some fun with STIG for a while.  Be my guest.  I also noticed that their lawns/weeds are getting rather unruly and so i asked him he if wanted to borrow our underused lawn mower.  His eyes lit up.  Having given up work to study, two small children and just having moved from NSW, they are strapped for cash. You know how i feel right now?  I feel so great that i could help someone.  Why do people take drugs and get drunk to feel good when they could feel like this just by helping someone.  It hasn't cost me a thing!

I feel good!

Goodbye STIG (and good riddance).

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God and Lawn Care

This popped into my inbox from Noelle.  It all sound pretty ridiculous, doesn't it.

GOD to ST. FRANCIS:
Frank,  ...  You know all about gardens and nature. What in

the world is going on down there on the planet?  What

happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff

I started eons ago?   I had a perfect no-maintenance garden

plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand

drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the

long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and

flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of

colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St. FRANCIS:
   It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites.

They started calling your flowers 'weeds' and went to

great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD:
   Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't

attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod

worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these

Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS:
   Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it

and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing

grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:
   The spring rains and warm weather probably make

grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS:
   Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they

cut it-sometimes twice a week.

GOD:
   They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS:
   Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD:
   They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS:
   No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD:   Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so

it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off

and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS:
   Yes, Sir.

GOD:
   These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer

when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat.

That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS:
   You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass

stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay

more money to water it, so they can continue to mow

it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:
   What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees.

That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself.

The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty

and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to

the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture

in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a

natural cycle of life. 

ST. FRANCIS:   You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have

drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they

rake them into great piles and pay to have them

hauled away.

GOD:
   No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and

tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS:
   After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy

something which they call mulch. They haul it home

and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:
   And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS:
   They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:
   Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore.

St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie

have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:   'Dumb and Dumber', Lord. It's a story about....   GOD:
   Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story

from St. Francis. 

Lamb Leftovers

Now there is an earth shattering post title.  Like we haven't all had leftovers from a roast before?  For the unjaded here's what i did with the leftovers from our last Roast Lamb meal.

Rob's lunch the next day was of course the same again, in a lunch container for heating up at work.  He drives his fellow workers nuts with his home cooked meals and he tells me its the highlight of his day.  Insert smug look here.

Day 3 I made lamb pasties or whatever you call chunks of cooked lamb with an assortment of veggies  - leftover roasted pumpkin and beans, corn, potato, with tomato sauce, salt & pepper.  I used shop bought puff pastry and just folded it into a large triangle, rounded off corners, and crimped the edge to seal.  I brushed with egg yolk to make them lovely and golden.

I sprinkled the puff pastry with cumin seeds - its my favourite spice at the moment.  It adds a little exotic flavor that lifts this meal from mundane to well, pretty spectacular if i say so myself.    Another favourite pastie is chicken (using left over cooked chicken), sauteed mushrooms and a can of mushroom soup.

Day 4 i made lamb fritters.  These were a childhood favourite made from that last bit of meat near the bone that is cut into small pieces.  Off my small roast i got about two handfuls which i had saved for this meal. Mum would have used this as a way to stretch the leftovers for a family of eight.

Just make a batter - 1 cup of flour (i use SRF), 1 Egg and about 1 cup of milk to make a plain batter. Adjust milk to make it a coating consistency.  If you are making savoury fritters, then season to taste.  Get creative and add to the meat anything you want. Parents might like to sneak in some grated veggies.   I added a little garlic and mixed herbs to the lamb.  Shallow pan fry in a mix of oil and butter and drain on paper towel when golden and cooked through.  You can use this batter to make potato fritters, corn fritters, what ever you want.  I served with a thick rich tomato sauce for yet more flavour.  

Lastly, there is the bone.  I'd like to tell you that i used it making a stock or  soup, and i would have if a certain Miss Tilly hadn't been pleading with me to let her have it for days.  She was so funny trying to lift it in her little mouth and then trying to jump up onto the couch with it.  Too Heavy.  So she skulked under the coffee table with warning growls to anyone who came near.   A few hours later it was clean and has been both a wonderful toy as well as cleaning her teeth.   Sound gross?  Well that's just the kind of house i run.  It may not be perfectly clean and Rob came out and said it looked like a dinosaurs graveyard in here but we are all happy and haven't died yet.   I might get a few raised eyebrows from visitors though.

Since I've run out of lamb to demonstrate - I've jumped around and found some other fabulous ways to use left over roast lamb.  Enjoy!

Lamb Curry - Goodness there are so many different recipes online but my simple one uses the recipe on the side of the container of Clive of India - Authentic Curry Powder.  Fry up some onion and garlic until translucent, add curry powder, cook for 2 min and add cooked meat.  Add chopped tomatoes, cook 5 min, add coconut cream and stir through.  Simmer for 30 minutes.   I usually make this in a slow cooker but it should only take a few hours as the meat is already cooked.  My mother adds sliced green apples, sultanas and shredded coconut.  Very fruity and tonnes of flavour.  Yet again, making meals STRRREETTTCHHH!!

Leftover Lamb Shepherds Pie     Add garlic salt to the mash - yummmmm

Henry Dimbleby's Lamb Pilaf
Gently fry an onion and some garlic in olive oil. (You can also throw in some thinly sliced carrots, leeks, fennel – or whatever else is wilting at the bottom of your fridge.) Add some basmati rice (one cup for every two people). Add 1½ cups of stock (or water) for every cup of rice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add whatever meat you have left over (lamb is classic, but anything will do) and some sultanas or raisins. Simmer for 15 minutes. Check the rice is cooked. Add more stock and cook a little longer if need be. It should end up moist, but not soupy. Season. Add a squeeze of lemon. If you have any green herbs or spring onions, sprinkle on top, along with some toasted almonds.  Serve with a blob of yoghurt.

Quick Lamb Souvlaki   - Using Masterfood Greek Seasoning, quickly fry up some Spanish Onions and add strips of left over lamb, sprinkle on Greek Seasoning and toss until reheated.  I add a couple of spoons of water to prevent meat drying out.    Quickly place it on a wrap with a bed of shredded lettuce, tomato, and Greek yoghurt or tzatziki.  Lunch!

Since im loving cumin seeds lately and there seems to be a lot of yoghurt being blobbed on the above recipes,  try making this yoghurt to go with all your lamb dishes.   Add a crushed garlic clove and 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin seed to 1 cup of Greek yoghurt.  Put it in fridge for an hour to let flavours develop.   Yum Yum

Have i made you hungry yet?  Have i convinced you to buy the next size up when purchasing a lamb roast so that you have leftovers?  

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Noelle's Funnies - Getting Old Sucks

Just a few funnies Noelle has sent through to me.  Is she trying to warn me?  Not much i can do about it.

and to finish off

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I wanna go back to work.....

I think i got these buttons mixed up. Truly, this long weekend malarkey just means that instead of two days a week to do home projects and gardening, we have 4 and i can tell you now that i can not wait to go back to work tomorrow and sit at my desk, all day.  I'm stuffed, not from eating all that gifted chocolate but from working all day.  My feet are throbbing under the desk as i write and the 11,094 registering on my FitBit today is in no way indicative of the physical effort undertaken.

We did this weekend all wrong.  We rested and bummed around on Friday with visitors and then worked the hardest today because we were running out of time.  Oh well, we will recover.  Glenda (sister) and I have been waiting to watch the show Vikings.  I bought Series I & II and so it was a marathon that lasted from breakfast to supper on Friday.  I love historical shows and this didn't disappoint.  A little gory (that saw me under a blanket some of the time) but in context and a great story.

I'm looking forward to the III series. Its screen on TV now but ill wait for the DVD and we'll watch it together. When a TV show has you on the end of your seat you don't want to interrupt with adverts.    

Saturday and Sunday saw the backyard veggie garden clean-up (here) and as you can see today I'm a frustrated hairdresser. No one will let me loose on their hair and so i make do with the trees and shrubs in the front yard.

The big pile of cuttings under the tree need to dry off so that the stems can go through the shredder for chips and the leaves into the blower vac for chopped up leaf mulch. You would think i would have washed down the concrete before taking a photo, wouldn't you?

You cant see it but there is new mulch in the beds.  Funny thing happened a few weeks ago.  I came home expecting to pick up the boys (i really should call them men, now that Tom is 18 and Rob 54) for a dinner reservation at 7pm. When i pulled into the drive at 6.30pm i found them across the road in front of the school shovelling mulch into the rear of Rob's work ute.  That would be the one with a canopy and so through the back window the mulch was flying all over the tools.  It was filled to the brim.  Doh! Did he think to remove the tools first? Nuh, just straight in on top of them.  Apparently there was a FREE sign left by the school landscapers who had a late delivery of several cubic meters of mulch close to finishing time.  Rob told me there was another person who was filling up his boot (his wife was not impressed either with the boot filled with dirty mulch straight onto the VW boot carpet).  They went hammer and tong at it for a while trying to get as much as possible when they both looked at each other and agreed to share.  They were buggered and slowed down.  You can just picture it can't you, two men going at it for free mulch. I was wavered across not having a clue what was going on and told to help.   Ummmm aren't we due at a restaurant with OUR guests in less than 10 minutes?  Rob was still in his grease covered work clothes with bark all over him.   Since the ute was full, i thought for a moment and remembered that the bins had been emptied just a few days before.  Easy Peasy, shovel it in and wheel it across the road.  When it came time to empty it i just tipped them over in the bed i wanted filled.  Up there for thinking 99.

At least it wasn't me who had to empty the back of his ute, clean out several tool boxes and then wash out the ute.  It had a lovely woody fragrance.  It still cracks me up but i do have a lovely pile of free mulch which got spread around today.  Lucky for us the dinner guests were all friends.  A quick call later they were shaking their heads and no doubt not surprised at all.

Now that I've humiliated Rob i can tell you I'm super impressed with his efforts this weekend.  He is working in Tom's room, preparing and plastering the opening between the two bedrooms which was complicated by having to put in a supporting beam.  Plastering  is a new skill for Rob and Friday saw him watching a few You Tube clips to see how it was done.

Its not finished but its well on the way.  It will take 3 coats of Gyprock which need 24 hrs dry time between coats.  My only contribution was to hand him the nails and to remove yet more nails from the skirting boards, so that they can be re-stained and put back on.  This two room combo is going to set the standard for the whole house and you can already see the bamboo boards leaving the back corridor and now making their way across the family/dining room.  It will look much nicer and fresher with white walls.  Rob is doing some boarding at night after his day job.  Its tough on him doing two major projects at the same time but he can see a light at the end of the tunnel and he hates the existing 20 year old stained cream carpet with a passion.

So to reward him, while i sit here with throbbing feet, I've made him a roast lamb dinner.

I think i got an A+ so we are all happy and there is plenty of leftovers.  We have all developed a preference for smashed garlic & rosemary potatoes rather than normal baked.

So what did you get up to?  Do you need a rest from your weekend?

Thanks for Visiting Living In the Land of Oz