All the leaves are brown...and the sky is grey...

Maybe not as grey and bleak as the songs lyrics suggest, at least not here in Melbourne

It's been unseasonably mild in Melbourne in April and May. Sure we've had some cool days, but this past week has been magnificent!

Blue skies, gentle breezes...temperatures in the mid 20's...gorgeous!

It hasn't fooled the trees though. Or the ornamental grapevine on our side fence.

Not so much brown as red and bronze...

It turns on this show each year and it's wonderful to watch

Baking - make it up as you go along cake

Posted this over at Live Laugh Love and Cook...

No it's not a chocolate cake.

It's a banana and boysenberry cake...or cupcake, whatever you prefer really

Let me tell you...it's not a pretty cake as you're making up the batter. In fact it looks downright grey and awful

But it's light and fluffy and downright delicious

No recipe really...I did it by "feel" meaning if the cake batter feels about right while I'm mixing it up, I take a chance and put it in the oven. It hasn't failed me yet

Cake's are just flour, butter, sugar and eggs really, with some other flavouring like fruit or chocolate, whatever you prefer...so they're pretty easy. But as I said this one's not pretty. Tasty but not pretty

Marble

This is what we're doing today...or should I say MONT is doing today

Finishing off the marble splash-back in the little laundry

He cut it and glued it to the wall on Thursday. Put the grout on yesterday...and today it'll be finished off so I can start putting everything back in there.

I have to say marble wasn't my first choice. In fact I wasn't expecting to have any kind of splash-back in there because there is no sink or tap in the bench top...but when we were given the tiles for nix, then why not use them.

Cost all up:  about $25 for the grout and grey silicone to go around the edges.

Perfect

Remember

ANZAC Day ceremonies appear to be getting bigger and bigger as the years go by....and with good cause

I remember when I was a young girl in the Girl Guides, we always marched with the returned servicemen and women in our little suburban march from the local RSL Club, along the main street and to the park where there was a memorial. Just a hundred or so people, not very many at all. in fact in the 70's and 80's they were battling to get people to take part in the march

Back in 1919, when this photograph was taken in St.Kilda Road Melbourne, you have to wonder what everyone thought of what they had endured during the Great War, which had officialy ended less than a year before... and what might come in the future

I bet they were wishing and praying that they would never see another war!

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case

World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan...what next?

Seems like we never learn from the past...just keep repeating it.

April 25th and November 11 are days that make me extremely sad.

Lest We Forget

The eagle has landed

It was delivered this morning..all bright and white and shiny

...and yep, that's a six star energy rating!

How? For a dryer? I have no idea, but it is...

...and that little black rubber pipe that you can see coming out from behind the dryer and into the top of the plastic pipe? That drains the water from the dryer so you don't get a lot of condensation on the walls in the laundry.
I'm really looking forward to taking this for a spin

Big weekend

The little laundry got patched and sanded and then I applied a couple of coats of paint

Yep...white as usual

The bracket around the wall is for the benchtop to sit on.

I put the washing machine back...adjusted its little legs and then MONT replaced the benchtop for me

Next job...the marble tiles for the splashback...not that there are any taps or sink for a splashback being required, but there you go. The tiles were given to us so they'll be used up. Waste not want not

The dryer lands on Friday...as does our new solar power system

Should be an interesting day, to say the least

Demolition derby

Step 1.

Clear the way for the plumber by removing all bulky items

Step 2.

Clean the room so he has a nice area to work in (I hadn't really completed that step when I took the photo)

Step 3.

Make a bloody large hole in the wall to expose the pipes...

Step 4.

Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to get a small plaster off-cut to re-fill said hole.

Step 5.

Buy a bucket full of cornice cement and filler to plug all the holes and dents up, then sand and paint.

Step 6.

Wait for the new dryer to be delivered.
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Actually this little project's turning out rather well. Our neighbour, who is a builder, has a few spare white marble tiles that he no longer needed, so he's given them to us for the splash-back. I already have all the white paint I need and we're using up some aluminium right angle brackets so the bench top can be put back and not be resting on any of the appliances.

Job (almost) done

My new dryer

I did it. I went out yesterday and bought a new dryer. 

It won't be here for a couple of weeks seeing we need the time to "modify" the laundry/storage cupboard a bit...but at least it's done and I don't have to think about it any more

I bought an Asko Heat Pump dryer...

What is that?

Well it's one of the energy efficient units that doesn't wreck your clothes... or so I am told
It operates in the same way as a condenser dryer, but instead of having a 2 star energy rating, it has a 6 star rating, which I am told, is pretty remarkable seeing it's a CLOTHES DRYER that usually eats electricity like there's no tomorrow.

Knowing MONT, he'll have his head down and botty up in the little laundry this weekend getting it ready for the new arrival.

WOO HOO!!

Tumble dryers and my tiny laundry

Does anyone have any recommendations for a tumble dryer?

My old Simpson died last year and I've been thinking about getting an Asko, to go with my washing machine, but an Asko has to sit either on top of the machine or next to it on the floor. It can't be mounted on a bracket on the wall.

ASKO side by side-perfection in my eyes

Now, I only use my dryer to finish things off, rather than completely dry something. I usually put things on the clothes line or airer to get them started, then bring them in of a night and put them in the dryer for 10 minutes or so, just to soften things up like like towels and MONT's work clothes.

My laundry-extremely small

My old Simpson dryer is vented out through a hole in the wall....but despite this...and despite cleaning the filter regularly, I was still left with dust and fluff in the laundry

This beautiful and very functional little laundry above is one of my favourites. Small but oh so doable...and not much smaller than my little room.

ASKO-I love this 

So, do you have a dryer that you swear by...or have you had some issues with yours, as I have with mine

Electrolux Dryer

Housework

I recently had my first encounter with a person who cleans houses.

My house to be precise.

Since I started working again...yes I now work each day - from home - I felt like I didn't want to spend all my spare time cleaning the house or thinking about cleaning it.

I'm only going to have this amazing person come in once a month...in between visits I'll do the basic stuff like vacuuming and washing floors etc...but I just wanted someone who'd look after all the "nooks and crannies" around the place

Her first visit was terrific...she and her husband arrived, I showed them what I thought needed attention and then, I left

When I got home that afternoon the house was SPARKLING!!! ... and it smelled good too

Which brings me to these little beauties.

While I hate housework, I do like nice smelling products to use on the odd occasion that I do get stuck into it

I was checking out Ness's blog, Marley and Lockyer a while back and she was mentioning these gorgeous Murchison Hume cleaning products.

Lo and behold...there they were featured on the Temple and Webster updates I get each day/week.

So I ordered some and they were delivered this morning

Have you checked out Temple and Webster yet?

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Lot's of gorgeous things on sale...everything from cushions and floor rugs to throws and homewares.

Worth a look.
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My second favorite household chore is ironing.  My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.  ~Erma Bombeck

Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.  ~Author Unknown

“Excuse the mess, but we live here.” 
~ Roseanne Barr