At last I am ready for a home open!

 I am sitting quietly in a gleaming, shiny home, she has been cleaned, foofed, titivated and the old girl is looking rather fetching at the moment.  So she is as ready as she will ever be...interviewed a few real-estate agents, went with the one I felt most comfortable with.  Ones home is such a personal space I didn't want to deal with anyone that I wouldn't feel happy inviting in. 

So at last I am ready for a home open....it took longer than expected but she will be open to the public this weekend.

I will be quite sad to leave this old girl as she has served me well,  she has always had a cheerful, bright and comfy personality but it is time to move on and let someone else enjoy her for a while.  

So here is a bit of a tour of the finished product...if you know anyone who is looking for a 1950's bungalow, in a quiet suburb, 10 mins from the Perth city centre...send them my way.

Front decking/verandah

To the front door...chinese people have told me 168 is a very lucky number!

Entry Hall

Lounge through to office

Another view of lounge with open fireplace

Office

Main bedroom

Second bedroom

Bathroom

Kitchen

Kitchen/dining

Laundry

TV room

Third bedroom

Back Patio

Back patio and garden

Nearly Done!

Nearly all the major work is done, I painted a bedroom earlier in the week...It needed it desperately, I had intended to do it after Jesse moved out, however the day after he left Dom moved back in for a couple of months before going to Melbourne...when Dom left, Eva moved into the room so I never got the chance.

The only major job left is to paint the front fence which I have started and managed to get one coat on yesterday but it needs another...but hey it rained early this morning so I think it best to leave for another day.

A very overcast looking sky today...not a good day to paint outside!

Before!

After one coat!

So will work on sorting and cleaning up inside, remove some of the unnecessary clutter and then the old place should be ready for sale. The Perth market is very buoyant at the moment and places seem to sell relatively quickly, I don't think this house will take too long.

Hopefully the roses will keep blooming as they make the house look good!

However I seem to be doing everything back to front, selling my home before I have got residency in Iceland but I am taking a leap of faith that it will all work out...fingers crossed!!! Hopefully Unnur, I will get back there in time for some Berry Picking with you!

Besides painting the bedroom I managed to catch up with a dear friend Judy and fit in a little retail therapy...my style...at the same time (no shoes, clothes or handbags for me) we visited Shedwallah in Freo.

Shedwallah is the place for those interested in all things exotic, oriental...furniture, carpets, rugs, textiles, garden pots etc it is a great place to while a way a few hours...6 Stack St Freo.

I bought floor rugs and cushions...which will make the house look good but the stuff can move with me to Iceland.

The purchases...Afghanistan Balouchi tribal wool rug and two saddlebag cushions.
Iranian Meshecl wool runner for the entry hall

I also bought a slightly damaged kilim in their hail sale...it had a slight run of colour that is hardly noticeable...a bargain for $100

And this lovely handmade chainstitch cushion for my bed...they even had large floor rugs in chainstitch they were absolutely magnificent and mind-boggling in the amount of work.

It was a week of catching up with friends and family, on Thurs night I enjoyed a meal with Mai-Yung a dear friend from uni days and on Fri had a lovely lunch with my two younger sisters Kerry and Donna.

Donna

Kerry

I must say I am enjoying not being tied down to a 9-5 job.
Aah...I did make the right decision not to paint today as it has just started to rain again.

Just one more thing...one of the kickstarter projects I have pledged to (1024 bits of you and me) time is just about up, so if you feel inclined to sponsor go to the link above.

Happy Easter!

I wish you all a very happy Easter where ever you are. Enjoy your well deserved break!

A week ago I caught up for lunch with two dear friends and work colleagues from ECU days, Judith and Gill and this photo is a hello to Ross who also used to work with them!

Well I can tick off a few more things on my mental inventory on the house renovation list, back garden...tick, front garden...tick, decking painted (back and front)...tick. Last weekend Jesse spent Saturday with me working in the front garden ( he is such a good son). Jesse pruned the very large hedge that I have...even though he has never pruned before he did an excellent job.

After the hedge we dug up the old couch lawn down the side of the driveway and planted 'Summer Scents' which will eventually grow to a small hedge.

Decking tick!

Hopefully over the Easter break I will be able to tick off a couple more things. Tomorrow I am getting a second quote for new front screen door and the renewing of a few flyscreens for the windows and next week will ring insurance for a couple of new windows that are cracked or broken plus all the blinds and windows are to be cleaned....phew!..we are nearly there!

Just because he makes his presence felt...Squeak!

Grumpy Squeak!

Fat Squeak!

and to sign off...something from the garden!

Natural Disaster!!!

While Iceland at the moment has its volcanic eruption Perth on Monday afternoon experienced a violent storm like never before and the Government have declared it a natural disaster!  After a very humid sticky day the late afternoon brought a storm that smashed Perth with 120km winds, flooding rain, hail the size of golf balls plus spectacular thunder and lightning.  The damage bill expected to be in the hundreds of millions. Commuters on their way home from work were caught in the freak storm where their cars were being pummeled by golf ball size hail, leaving dents and smashed windows, 150 traffic lights were out across the city adding to the chaos and many car yards have had all their stock damaged and have declared a 'Hail Sale'.

A mudslide from the top of  Kings Park filled apartments at the bottom of the hill.  The staircase 'Jacobs Ladder' that connects Mounts Bay Road to Kings Park is severely damaged and will remain closed until further notice. Lovely original leadlight windows in University of Western Australia's Winthrop Hall were smashed from hail stones and the Architecture and Visual Arts library was flooded.  Approximately 14 schools have been closed due to extensive damage and won't reopen for several days, some hospitals cancelled elective surgery due to water damaged ceilings caving in.  60,000 homes were without electricity and many will still have none for several more days.  No blackouts at my place but my son Jesse who lives only in the next suburb has had no electricity since the storm struck.

 

The lightning was amazing and the sky immediately after the storm subsided turned a deep red/orange. The above pics are not my images but some of the many that have been circulated on the net and email. Unfortunately I am unable to acknowledge the original photographers but I applaud their skills.
There are many images available for viewing from amateur photographers and even a Facebook page has been set up for people to post images and videos, at the moment there are over 2500 images and 133 videos already posted....so if you are a little bored and need to kill an hour or two take a look.

In the midst of all this my little house and area remained pretty much unscathed...no damage to report.  When the storm hit I was at my sister's and we watched from the window my car being pelted with hail but fortunately no dents for me ( Eva was not so lucky, her car is covered in dents) I waited at Kerry's for the storm to pass and then drove home in calmness...I think I actually beat the storm to my suburb as it looked like there had not even been any rain at that stage, but not long after arriving home it started with wind, rain thunder and lightning but no hailstones here.

This is my amateur video taken from my front porch as you can see it was fairly mild at my place compared to others.

Amazingly no one was injured even the Thornlie Tree Man survived the storm, he has been up a tree outside his home for the last 106 days trying to save it from being cut down by the shire as they have declared it unsafe.  However the tree also survived the storm intact so maybe the council need to reconsider their decision.  The tree man was up the tree before I left for Iceland and I was absolutely amazed that he was still there when I returned some 8 weeks later.  Even though I think he is a bit crazy, I hope he wins his fight, society needs this type of crazy sometimes.