at the moment I am...

 reading One Day by David Nicholls. The story of a couple who meet and then separate, it follows their lives by describing one day each year. It's great, a welcome break from chick lit. pap that I have been reading lately.

eating dahl. I can't get enough - with natural yoghurt and some flatbread. I am enjoying my daily ceremony of sitting with my heavy red bowl and eating it while Milly eats her own lunch and looks at it in disdain (she is not a fan). This photo is from the Smitten Kitchen blog. Everytime I try to photograph it it looks decidedly unappetising.

thinking about the plants in the garden that are calling my name. The apple trees need some attention, the Royal Gala almost took Michael's eye out on Sunday. I really have not been a vigilant winter worker this year and am curious (and a little worried) about what my spring and summer garden will look like as a result. This is my apple tree - if I prune now will my fruit buds suffer? Major dilemma that requires research.

listening to everything and anything via our Apple Airport Express. I love that this device has meant we play more music, controlled remotely from the iPhone and wafting (or blasting, depending on our mood) through the stereo speakers it is a lovely to have a soundtrack to our days. Milly enjoys Adele's 21 and Sam is a fan of Eagle Eye Cherry.

we have turned the corner, literally

The best thing about the painted cupboards is how much more light there is in the kitchen. The morning sun comes through the skylight and bounces around in a way that means we wont ever need to put the lights on during the day.

More kitchen cupboards. It is taking so long that yet again I am posting progress photos rather than the end result. I need some encouragement and seeing it here goes someway towards that. There is still a lot to do. The painting continues; the tiles come off this weekend ready for a dry fit of the new benchtop which will be properly fitted the weekend after. Once that is done the plasterboard will be waterproofed and new backsplash will go on (the nearly black painted board behind my cheese board is the chosen colour). It is possible I will run out of money soon and will be asking for a new tap for Christmas. What started as repainting the kitchen has ended up in a (budget) kitchen makeover - but even budget costs something.

I have also learned through this process of removing cupboard doors for a week at a time that I could not live with open shelving. The visual clutter does my head in, I find myself exhaling as soon as the doors go back on, unaware that I was even holding my breath. Definitely a troubling sign of my connections between physical order and emotional control. So I will staying away from open shelving and subsequently avoid a daily reunion with my particular brand of crazy.

coiled and ready to spring

We know spring just around the corner: the chickens have started laying again; bicycles have had the mud from wintery puddles washed from them; the children are wearing their shorty pyjamas. And we have embarked on a renovation project that threatens to engulf us (more on that later).

covetous

I look at a lot of interiors and homes. I look at them for ideas and inspiration and because the visual splendour takes me to a happy place. Rarely do I covet what I see. I love our house completely. It is not perfect by any means, there are major things that I would to change (both bathrooms), there are half finished jobs that should be addressed (verandah painting anyone?) and then there are some pieces of furniture that need to be replaced (let's not start on the couch) - I love it all anyway. If I see something in a magazine or on a blog that I love I think about how I can incorporate it here. Mostly I just love to see how people put spaces together. Sometimes I am befuddled at a formulaic approach to interiors that people manage to get excited about.

A lot of the time I see interiors and have a 'nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there' reaction. I think this comes from having a very specific aesthetic and taste. Today though, I am living with one of the seven deadlies - I am more than a little green with envy.

This summer house (from Style Files) takes my breath away. From the u-shaped decking for the boat to the boat itself. I am reconciling myself that the highrise buildings in the background of one photo suggest this is not as secluded as it first appears. That, and the nightmare combination of children, water and the inevitable gin and tonic consumption that deck is calling out for. Would never work. Now, back to painting my kitchen.

making me happy at the moment...

The whitening of our kitchen. We are painting ever so carefully. Five coats and sufficient drying time between each means that it takes a week for each lot of cupboard doors. While this happens we are living without doors on the cupboards which drives me crazy. We have 25 cupboards and 6 drawers. It is a long process so I have jumped the gun and taken a photo of mid-project. I already love it.

My prematurely budding Silver Birch tree. Each year the most westerly Silver Birch jumps the gun and sprouts its leaves before Spring starts. The other trees have more patience but this one can't help it. At the first sign of blue sky and warmth out come the leaves. It stirs my memories of spring afternoons on the front verandah looking through the silver trunks and bright green foliage.

Michael and his Dad tweaking and twiddling with the car. I am sure there were more serious and manly pursuits afoot than tweaking and twiddling, but nonetheless it makes me happy to see them together with brows furrowed and tools working.

The 72 hours of possibility that I could win this bike, given away by a the Design Files blog last week. Apparently I haven't won it but I had fantasies of riding my bike down cobbled streets on the way to brunch at a favourite cafe. Obviously this fantasy involved much more than ownership of the bike and gave scant regard to bicycle helmet laws. It was nice while it lasted.

is it time for a change?

I have been looking at the house a little lately and as the sunshine (yes! 22 degrees - in August) streams onto the verandah and into the windows I have wondered whether it is may be time to refresh, renew and give the palce a small but significant seasonal facelift.

It may be big - finally painting kitchen cabinets. Or small - a refreshing of collections and gatherings on surfaces and in cubby holes towards brighter, springy sensations.

It may also be mere thoughts as the morning sunshine and my latest library borrowing are calling me to sit in the garden with a pot of peppermint tea. Sloth - you are such an overpowering force - I surrender in body but my thoughts are fighting you.

Photo above is of Milly who likes to join me for a chat while I sit in the front room and enjoy winter sunshine through the windows. Don't let her short shorts fool you - this was taken in the dead of winter. One day she will gain feelings in her legs and realise that shorts are summer attire. Until then she has a ritual of changing out of long pants as soon as we are through the door.

home

My stint of full-time work is over. While I love being at work and teaching and that the ratty and scatty and sometimes natty Year  9 kids always fill my bucket I really dislike the impact of it on the home front. This morning was spent clearing crap off the kitchen bench (a 4 metre bench can be a curse - it can collect a LOT of itinerant junk without impacting on food preparation); a midday walk to the oppie on the corner reaped rewards (photos to come); the afternoon was spent on the verandah with Milly and a magazine.

Right now chicken and potatoes are roasting in the oven, Sam has finished his homework and is setting up a chess game and Milly is creating a useful box masterpiece - and I remember that while I love teaching THIS is where my heart is.

(photo is from Jane Cumberbatch's blog - pure style - love reading her tales of an English Summer)