Gardening days...

We have been making the best of the gorgeous end of Summer weather and whipping our garden into shape. For The Munchkin this means stripping off and wallowing in the glorious mud... so fun! There is nothing that connects us to the land more than literally sinking your toes into it. 

We have been digging, building paths, planting seeds and then the resulting seedlings, striking herb cuttings and then planting them out, and planning for the imminent chookie arrival. It is very exciting to see it all coming together and to be one step closer to being more self sustainable. 

We only have this year left until we officially register with the home school board next year. I am becoming more conscious of how the things we do during our days are sneaky active learning sessions. The earth we had piled up when digging, for example, made a valley along the bottom were the "rain" could run, this ran in to a pond and then kept running down and off the path. The Munchkin "dammed" the pond and we talked about what this is done for and how it affects farmers and communities. We poured more "rain" over the hill and talked about soil erosion. We talked about weather patterns and drought and made up stories. We counted seeds and measured seedling heights. Call it unschooling, call it life learning, whatever... we just call it fun and it is eye-opening and exciting for both of us :)

Still off-line at home (and kind of enjoying it!) so aiming for a Wednesday weekly post while visiting Mum and Dad ;) 

Yours in anticipation,

Allana xx

Real life pin...

I have finally completed a project for a sweet friend that I started a few weeks ago based on this pin...

I used spray paint and masking tape, and then sanded everything back a la Vivienne Westwood's distressed Union Jack. I LOVE how it's come together and it was a really fun project. Here's hoping it is loved by it's new owners :)

...

In other happenings I am madly decluttering our house at the moment  and at midnight one night I tackled half of the front entrance/hallway. Now that we are staying in our house I feel game enough to mount things on the Laura Ashley wallpaper so put up my replica Eames coat rack and a few canvas painting The Munchkin and I did for fathers day last year. I love how colourful it all looks and it's nice to have at least one area in order.

Have you been using Pinterest? What have you baked or made after being inspired by your pins?

 The fabulous (new Mummy to a gorgeous baby boy!) Dee has some links to her Real Life Pins project over here :)

Till next time,

Allana xxx

Working on...

... a (now late) wedding gift for a gorgeous friend and her husband...

... our completely over the top but perfect ranch style archway for our soon to be Veggie/chicken yard. Thanks to my handy hubby for making my ideas happen xxx ...

...and cooking scrummy Blackberry Jam in a micro batch of just 2 1/2 jars that ended up being the best setting jam I have ever made, Yay! It is the Munchkin's 5th birthday on Friday and she has asked for chickens, blackberry pudding and a jar of homemade blackberry jam... *sigh* love our girl xxx...

...and I am drooling over this gorgeous collection from Noa Noa who I just found via Pinterest.... *sigh*  so gorgeous...

Till next time, 

yours in heaven on Earth,

Allana xxx

What I've been doing...

I must apologise for my absence. My computer is still suffering the ill effects of a nasty virus and I must admit it has been kind of nice. I also re-arranged our lounge room which means we need a longer co-axle cable to plug the TV back in and we haven't gotten around to doing that either. I am keeping up with all your blogs but have been a bit slack logging in to comment. Mr HMH has even commented that when he gets home late from work he doesn't sit and watch mindless TV but picks up a book, then goes to sleep. I am doing the same and not losing hours sitting up on the computer all night, so finally breaking my long term insomnia! Simple things that are making a huge different to our sanity levels around here!

Anyway, just an update on a few things that have been happening since we unplugged...

The small vintage tooled leather bag above is my favourite Oppie find in ages! It was only a few dollars and is the perfect size for The Munchkin. I was waiting for my turn at the counter and looking around as you do and spotted it in the window. I had one of those classic hard core Oppie shopper moments where your heart skips a beat and you audibly gasp and race towards the item... completely prepared to beat off anyone else that might dare to get in your way haha. 

The large bag was a gorgeous gift from a dear friend a while ago, I love that The Munchkin and I can be all matchy now :)

I have also: Made a batch of Lemon Cordial from our neighbours lemons. With a sprig of Chocolate Mint from oour garden it makes a refreshing Summer drink, or is equally as scrummy served warm to sooth sore throats...

Read this incredible book that I had to buy a copy of so hubby could finish reading. If you are in to local food/slow food, growing your own food, sustainable practices or food ethics this is the book for you. I am completely inspired and have a little project in the works that I may share soon...

Found this awesome new cafe that we will be going to as often as possible. Real, local food, great service and a gorgeous setting. Just the kind of place I always expect to find but am often disappointed with. When you order a Chai and are asked if you would like it to be made with milk, and then have honey arrive with out asking... oh yes, that is my kind of heaven...

The Munchkin has been painting outside in the glorious weather... with attitude of course... 

I ADORE our outside sink and can't wait till we plumb it in permanently. It is so handy outside for gardening, crafting and general outdoor living...

 Getting together with a fantastic group that are working to set up a local Steiner School and enjoying the abundant garden, orchard and climbable trees in the grounds of the proposed site...

... and most recently, cooking up a huge boiling of Tomato sauce just like my Nan always did. The house smelt so amazing and I love that every time I use it I feel like I am home. It may sound strange but having had it my whole life except for the last few years, being able to have it again now makes me feel like I'm finally putting down roots, more grounded or something. Smell and taste are powerful senses.

Well if you got this far, thanks! It was nice to ramble to you again, I'll try to be back a bit more frequently.

Yours in sauce heaven, 

Allana xx

And the winner is...

... Clare from Pampelmuse and Me... Yay!!! 

Thankyou for all the kind comments and new visitors!

I'm hoping to get my computer back soon and be back to regular posting, please bear with me,

Yours,

Allana

Giveaway...

Hmm, doing this on my phone and it's not looking good but just wanted to remind you it is the last few hours of my giveaway if you were going to enter but haven't!

Please check previous post for details :)

Yours in computer annoyance,
Allana xxx

Some more re-organising and re-decorating... and a giveaway...

(Green shaggy grass mat by Ikea, beanbag from here)

(Quilt from here, light from here, large owl softie from here, Hot air balloon decal from here, bunting from here, similar  posters from here, the rest handmade by me, vintage or second hand)

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you are all safe and having a wonderful time. Our 'Summer' weather is giving us a hard time by being downright Springy so to keep warm I have been messing around with the Munchkin's room. After setting up this gorgeous reading nook I added a chalkboard that I upcycled  from a faded print (one of the many fabulous items I was able to bring home as mentioned in this post) and the awesome pink lion I have been holding on to until our forever house. Now that this IS our forever house he finally has a home :)

With all the decorating projects going on at the HMH home at the moment I thought I would help you with yours by offering one reader your very own fabulous Inke vintage wallpaper Lion, as seen in The Munchkin's room above! It comes with everything you need to attach it to your wall/door etc and is in two parts to make application easier. I absolutely adore him and would love a whole jungle of the different animals if we had the wall space! On the website each design comes in so many different colourways/patterns it is mind boggling! 

(Open to residents of Australia only sorry as the packaging is beyond what I can afford to send overseas)

So, I'm not going to make you jump through hoops, just leave a comment and I'll draw out someone's number next Saturday the 21st January 2012, at midnight. Don't forget to make sure I can get in contact with you if you do win via a blog, or email etc :)

Yours in ugg boots and a beanie,

Allana xxx

Our big Summer project...

We have decided to take our house off the market and make it our forever home. I'll be honest, we couldn't afford to do that before but circumstances have improved and we are thrilled to be staying here :)

The first thing we did when we took the For Sale sign down was bash a hole in our hallway wall for this fantastic built in Bookshelf. We built them out of structural ply and painted them with Dulux Antique White USA (in gloss) to match the rest of our walls and trims. 

 Because of these beauties I can reclaim our craft/computer room, storage in our linen cupboard and bring up boxes from downstairs in our garage. I have wanted purpose built bookshelves for so long I almost can't believe they are mine! They are my favourite and my best!! 

At the end of the hallway near The Munchkin's room you will spot another bookshelf which we also constructed at the same time. I will show you this later in another post as it is my storage triumph. A customised craft cupboard for all The Munchkin and my art supplies. Yay!

Thanks so much to Mr HMH for making this happen, and so quickly too :) 

Yours in storage nirvana,

Allana xxx

Lamp revamp and other crafty things......

So with Mr HMH being home for holidays this Summer, and us deciding to take our house off the market and stay here (YAY!!) we got down to a heap of crafty and DIY projects. The day we took the for sale sign down we put a hammer through the hallway wall! Haha. Once a renovator, always a renovator! Will show you that project soon but for now:

The nanna lamp above had been on my hit list for awhile. I actually quite liked the timber but it did not match our house at all and the shade that I had hastily recovered a few years ago needed an update. I grabbed a trusty spray can left over from painting The Munchkin's bed and gave it a quick coat and then realised that some hand printed fabric my brother had sent me from the women of the aboriginal community in Manningrida  (Northern Territory) was perfect for the shade. I had been unwilling to cut into this as it is like a piece of art but am happy that the shade does it justice. I have a green/blue piece as well so I am thinking of simply stretching them on canvas screens to show them off the best way.

Next up was a Pinterest Pin that I had been bursting to do and when the said wall was cut open and we found old copper pipes still coming down the walls from the old boiler (thankfully not attached anywhere else so able to be pulled straight out by Mr HMH) I had all I needed to make it happen. I love how they look in our garden, even if I did hammer the copper pipe in a little wonky!

The last project I am sharing today is still in the works as the rain keeps holding me off from finishing. A few years ago I purchased this cupboard from a second hand dealer who had lovingly stripped it back to the bare wood. I cheekily told him I was painting it white and he looked at me in horror - oops! 

So I did paint it white and then a few years later (blogland inspired of course) I painted it the turquoise which didn't quite work out so since then I have had visions of stripping it back rustic style to expose the timber but leave some of the turquoise and white, then finish with a beeswax polish. It is taking a painful amount of time, as these things do, and my patience for such projects is fairly low. Oh well, it's getting there and I'm sure it will be worth it in the end! Maybe now Mr HMH has finished our big project I can rope him in to finish the sanding hehe :)

Yours in home-making,

Allana xxx

Inveresk, Launceston...

On Thurs we headed to the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery at Inveresk to visit the hands on science display that is Phenomena and also to wander through the Museum itself. I had not visited this new-ish site, in fact last time I was there was for the Gone South concerts (1999,2002,2003) so it was a complete change from what I remembered! 

The site was once the tram yards and the history has been beautifully juxtaposed with the new incarnation. The Munchkin and Mr HMH really enjoyed the exhibits, but I was transfixed by the site, the colours, the dappled sky... *sigh* 

All the photo's above are taken on my iphone as of course, with perfect conditions available, I had left the 'real' camera at home! Oh well. 

If you haven't been yet and you live near-ish, I can highly recommend a visit... plus it's free! 

Yours in visual overload,

Allana xxx