...and then there was one

I'm not sure how long a chook's average life span is, but one of our girls certainly lifted the bar

We got Dionne with a couple of other 'girls" just over ten years ago, and today, she left us

She was a 'stayer'. She outlived the others by years!...and she was still laying the odd egg until late last year!

Now we just have Val

Red left us earlier this year...

Dionne and Val kept each other company these past months, even cuddling up on cold nights in their coop...ahhh well... time to get some more girls to keep Val company.

Maybe just before Christmas...

Sleep well old girl.

I'm Hooked

Sometimes you just have to improvise and modify things to suit your needs.

I've been wanting some hooks for the back of the bathroom and laundry doors but, because the doors are those mass produced hollow ones that have only a timber frame, I wasn't sure what I could get that would take the weight of something and stay attached.

Then the other day I was having a look around a store and there on a discount rack were these stainless steel over-the-door-hooks.

Now, I am not a fan of "over the door" anything to be honest, because I don't like that bit that you can see when the door's closed.

Simple, MONT cut that over-hang bit off and attached them to the top of the door with a nail.

Perfect!!

I now have hooks on the back of the bathroom and laundry doors.

Love 'em

Something Fishy - Bouillabaisse

I've seen lots of recipes for Bouillabaisse in the past few weeks. There are different versions to suit everyone's tastes. I even saw a Thai version with green curry paste included.

This though is a Guillaume Brahimi recipe from SBS's French Food Safari...or at least it's my version of his recipe.

I've posted this recipe over here...

It's easy and relatively quick and if you like seafood then it's the soup for you!

Devil is in the detail

Sometimes you can have the plainest looking thing...and a simple "tweak" can make it very special with very little effort

I'll be having a wall of cupboards, with about 6 doors, in the new studio, and got thinking about door knobs. I wanted something really nice but not too OTT and as usual, didn't want to spend a fortune, so headed off to eBay to see what I could find.

...and voila!!!  There they were.

They are crystal and have a nice weight to them.

I bought them from different suppliers but they are very similar in shape. The black are 30mm.

The clear are 40mm

I saw some others on eBay but they were acrylic/plastic. Not what I was wanting.

Love these though!

Late nights - Early mornings

MONT and I have been a bit tired lately....and one of the reasons we haven't been particularly active doing work on the new studio is we've been glued to the TV most nights and early mornings, watching the Paralympics and absolutely loving it!!

There have been some amazing contests during the Games.

South African relay team

The Wheelchair Rugby - better known as MURDER BALL is a fantastic sport. Exciting, physical...relentless.... Captain Greg Smith was the Australian flag bearer

Greg Smith

By the pool during the swimming comp

The swimming, across all classifications, was great as well...as was the athletics! Lots of world records, wonderful rivalry....Fantastic

We heard a lot of words used like INSPIRATIONAL, but while we were watching we just saw fantastic athletes doing what they'd trained years to do.

I was speaking to a friend a while ago about the Paralympics and was told they didn't watch and didn't care because they were only interested in watching the best of the best, as in the OLYMPIC GAMES.

Well, I can tell you...If you watch the Paralympics, that's exactly what you see.

Jacqueline Freney-8 gold medals

Thanks to the ABC here in Australia, we were able to see a lot more of the Paralympics than previous years...thank goodness!!! Great coverage with no condescension or mawkish commentary.

Richard Coleman

A shout out to BLOGGER and their spell checker though!  When I typed in "Paralympics" it suggested I had spelled it incorrectly, so I clicked the spell checker and the word that came up was "PARALYSIS".

Wake up BLOGGER. Time to get with the program and add "PARALYMPICS" to your dictionary.

Studio

I have to say, that progress on the studio, while a little slow in the past couple of weeks, looks like stepping up through September.

Last weekend, MONT started on the side wall frame. He just used up timber we already had lying around. The plan is to use up as much as we have and only buy what's absolutely necessary.

This week, MONT's mate, (Mr P the Builder), will be here to measure up for the rest of the room and have a look at the windows (second hand) that we have in the shed and the placement of the door, to make sure what we want is do-able.

The side fence, which is almost on its last legs, will be pulled down and the posts replaced. While that's happening, MONT and Mr P will construct the wall. The top part will be weatherboards, while the lower section (which won't be seen)  will be corrugated roofing metal, so it's not going to need painting. EVER!

So, it's all happening.

I'll share a couple of eBay bargains I've found with you later in the week. Gorgeous they are!

New addition - on sale

I love having a wander around IKEA, even if I don't buy anything. It gives me some great ideas and tips about what can go with what as well as ideas of dimensions and sizes...

But, one of the departments I really like to end my trip to the big Swedish superstore is the "AS-IS" department.

It's usually full of damaged or display stock that's already been assembled and discounted

I've picked up some serious bargains in there...plants, cushion covers and last week, a chair!

I've wanted a nice chair to use at my sewing table for a while now...and there it was, waiting for me for $52.00

It's only problem is a little "ding" on one of the legs. It's slip cover was a little grubby and I had planned to give it a wash when I got it home, but I gave it a couple of hard slaps and bangs and the marks just disappeared!

I've had this little embellished cushion for ages. It was a "one-off" sample...

 ...and it matches the chair perfectly!

They're both sitting in our bedroom until the studio/sewing room's finished.

Love 'em

A call out to Brisbane!!

I'm hoping I can get some help from some of my Bloggy friends in Brisbane.

I'm looking for a reliable painter up north to do some painting at a house in the eastern suburbs...it's not a huge  job, less than a week I'm guessing, but it could lead to much more work.

Can any of you recommend anyone?

Fingers crossed you can!

Thanks