mama said there would be days..ahem weeks...ahem months! like this.......

well hello.....

whats happening?....

I for one cannot believe it has been so long between posts....it really was not my intention to abandon this space for so long.

what can I say?...theres been some goings on around here

a lot of goings on...

we are all well...we are all in one piece

the dynamic however has changed ever so slightly....

my last post was in Feb....and im having trouble casting my mind back to what life was like then??....dramatic?...maybe...but true.

lets see....

 

# 14 year relationship with Nicole ended

# boy child turned 8

# girl child turned 4

#  mystery gastrointestinal illness that has baffled even the most medical of minds

# mother decides a heart attack would add to the spice of life....recovered well ...phew!

and oh you know a handful of mixed life delights all sprinkled over the top!!

just a few snippets to try and fill in the missing months...

yep im a single woman again!!....fucking hell!

Im great...shes great...the kids are great.

thanks to all of you who have contacted me with concerns as to where the friggin hell ive been.

its quite hard to explain....the need to be completely shut off from everyone and everything.

dramatic?...maybe....but true!

Am I back in the saddle?

god I hope so....am starting to get rather bored with myself....ive got so bloody much catching up to do....so many posts to read.....so much love to return.

and guess what???.....there has been no op shopping for about 6 months....nuddah!

that will give you a picture of my head space!

ive culled mountains of stuff....decluttered the clutter....purged....cleansed.

oh it feels good!

ive shed the kilos....about 15 actually!

and hasn't that put a jig in my step let me tell you!

more than a jig....

ive booked a xmas trip to the UK!!

 

well some say I do have a flare for the dramatics!....maybe.....yep true!

Lets see what spring will bring??

 

Al x

 

the below shot is of Frankie at ballet class...

that's her...head down bum up!

it pretty much sums up our lives over the past few months!

x

 



be still...

 

pics 1,2,3 and 4

 from our beach holiday.....water to the rescue

the hoofs are mine!...sporting a "saltie" tan.

5 to 12 are of two of my fave things....

roses and rust!

roses from mums garden....yep they smell delish!

and the rusty bit of fabulousness is an etsy purchase that of course I couldn't resist.

and lucky 13 is of a recent carboot market find....I have a thing for these vintage trophies and a few seem to be finding me lately. This little fellow says 1942 H Pugh....

holey moley did I find some treasure yesterday....im a tease I know.

will share soon I promise.

happy Thursday.

Al xx

sharing over at the beetle shack



caravan for sale!.....im almost kidding.

It was certainly not a success!....not a complete failure but seriously?

what were we thinking!!....
 

two not small (ahem) adults and two active (very bloody active) kids in a very small caravan.

Basically sleep was not had as the temps at night stayed at an oh so pleasant 27 degrees!

Nobody warned me of the allure that toilet/shower blocks have on young children!!

obsessed is an underststement.....at all hours of the day and night!

it was a big park and all the streets looked the same!

I will admit that was a problem for me and nobody else.

Don't get me wrong it wasn't all doom n gloom but is most certainly was not a holiday....

it was friggin hard work
 

Charlie can be a bit of a wanderer which I thought we had sorted....well the lure of beach and rivers was too much and we had more than one occasion of nauseating panic!
We were surrounded by masses of grey nomads who were a little ....perplexed?...shall I say at the 2 lezzies with 2 crazy kids in a tiny van. The offers of help, assistance and of course advice blew us away....what a friendly bunch.....but im not quite ready to join the nomad ranks just yet.
 

There are no pics of the van because im here to show you the best day of our holiday and that was when we discovered the local aquatic centre which we had almost to ourselves!

it was secure so naturally we spent all day there....just to catch a break!

 

Don't worry (or get excited) I could never part with Ol Silver. But he will remain a spare room /cubby for a bit longer and that's ok cause there is a lot more tweeking (that's tweeking!) to be done.
more treasures were found to stock the cupboards.
We are planning another holiday believe it or not but its when the kids are teens and we know for sure they wont want to come!!....im sure Ol Silver can wait till then.

Al x


off n racing!...

 

well we are off n racing now arent we?...school is back , pre school started and all the seriousness fun and slog of term 1 is under way.

so far so good (kind of?)

seems Charlie is not so keen now that he realises he has a new teacher. im a little shook up myself to be honest. new teach is the biz....as fab as the last but we enjoyed Mr Paul for 2 years and well you know its hard to give up the guy who guided your baby through the first 2 years so well and so successfully! ( he wasn't called the 5th wiggle without reason! ).

new teacher new aid and new classroom = a confused and angry lad.

all supports are in place so we will ride out this storm and im sure in a few weeks ill be reporting success! ( crossed fingers appreciated thanks!).

 

Frankie is as happy as a pig in glitter at her new little preschool. Its named "fairymount"....which by the way is the name of the big hill that our gorgeous town is nestled under. it is the hill I gaze upon each day and the hill that my mum n dad road greased up bits of cardboard down as kids....true story!. dads house was washed away in the 1954 floods so his family came to live in the flat above old silvers (my pop) bakehouse which was in the back yard of mums family home. they met at 10 married at 19 and well the story is a good one but its for another day isn't it!.

ok sidetrack over....Frankie loves her preschool as I knew she would....ok just another titbit...the preschool is next door to mums family home (where my 95 yr old nan...old nan we call her...or bombthrower) still lives. its an old band hall with vintage big band instruments on display in the loft.

 

frank of course doesn't give a flying fudge that the hall is vintage or that's its next to our vintage nan, it has a sandpit and climbing fort and her friend Ivy goes there too....life is grand.

 

on the home front we are attempting renos. thanks to a small (thankfully) and found by accident ( a step fell off!) infestation of white ants we are replacing our back and front decks (verandahs/patios)

quotes were gotten, warnings were heeded....thanks Kyles.

and we went with the smartest decision and hired family!....wtf I hear you say. well yep, he is a young whipper snapper doing work on the weekends to keep his girlfriend in the lifestyle she deserves!. he is a gorgy redhead or ranga (his words!) and so far so good....hes out there now singing off key to the too loud radio. 

hopefully will have some pics of the almost finished back deck this arvo...we will see!

progress is being made!

 

op shopping has been a hoot of late...some great treasures found and some funny conversations had....like Audrey and Marion fighting yesterday over what to charge me for some snappin s&p shakers...$1 each or 1$ for the pair....was getting heated. then Audrey said $1 for the fab beaded evening bag...Marion huffed off....awkward!!

lots of pics.....they say it all really.


what to do with this......no records in this house?...50c
 

these are the $1 a pair s&p`s

 I shouted myself a little something from Milly + Eugene

don't hate me but the little WG in front was $4 at the op....& to the right is the black beaded bag for a $1 that was also a trouble maker!!

I will never leave a tapestry behind....$2

 

lets just pretend I won this 1971 golfing trophy shall we...$6

 

one day I will get around to taking pics of all the oppy art I have....this ones the latest. it was love at first sight....$8

farm boy needed a home too....$5

 

ok its smoko time...im on drinks. (im a non smoker by the way!)

its been a while between visits here....blogspots flashy cousin instagram lured me away....I almost fell for her charms....for her instant gratification , her heady thrills and addicting notifications....im a cheep date....obviously!

happy weekend!!

 

Al x


oh and other news....we are taking ol silver (the cararavan as the kids say) to beautiful Evans Head next week so pray for no rain. oh I have a feeling this is gonna be interesting.....laughable even but we are nothing if not keen. (green but keen!)

heres a tease...
 

 

someone is just a little excited!
 

oh and I went to the hairdressers last week....had a massive allergic reaction to the hair dye....picture rash all over like ive bathed in beetroot juice....burnt scalp. which has now turned to dandruff like the blizzards of `95.....no there will be no pics.....sadists!

 

scratch ya later! x

op shop show off.....school roolz!

a lovely day was had out n about today. one child back at school, the other started preschool. early coffee with a gal pal then a few hours before pick up.....what to do?

well you know the answer.

the sweet country boy print cost me $5 and made me smile all day. I always check out the art dept in the oppy and sometimes its treasure other times....not so much. this ones a keeper!.

get a perve at my tassels!.....Pip roolz too!

 

a golfing trophy from 1971 ($6). I love these and always find them a little sad....as im skipping to the register!

 

a crackin picnic basket($4) with a crackin bit of seersucker($2.50)....the colours are fantastic and although im tempted to whip up a pair of pantaloons or something (yep picture that!!) I think its calling is as a fab tablecloth.....read between the lines....I can sew a tablecloth!.

 

and these amazing paper mache beads($1)....they are huge but light as a feather and are really pretty to look at....and go perfectly with the gorgeous embroidery that Al gave me.

 

oh thank the lord that the school hols have come to a glorious end. don't get me wrong I love hanging with my kids but every day?!...really?!!.....they were fab, only a little bit annoying and well Niccy was home for a fair amount of it and I did get to go to work still so all n all not a bad holiday....not the worst by far.

school is back and some renos are happening....our outdoor decking was hit by those little blighters ,white ants!....oh yay. but im lucky(I hope) to have family in the building bizz so all is happening this weekend and next.

we decided to extend the deck and get a bit extra done....may as well have a big mess right?

will take pics of course!!

 

not much time spent here of late....ive been a tad occupied with instagram (perfect for the lazy blogger!)...if you want to be lazy too my name there is allyniccy

so original I know....obvs so much thought went into that!!

im joining in with the beautiful Max as usual....and you should too!

I love checkin out all n sundries oppy finds....its nice to know im not alone in this addiction!

 

hint hint Tina!

 

chicken burgers for dinner!!!

 

Al xx

op shop show off....catchin ZZZZZz`s

 

i was a little spoilt this Christmas....santa somehow knew ive been wanting (needing) a chenille bedspread for some time. well he delivered with this minty green washed out soft as a kitten number that I have curled up under every night since receiving.

perfect with some op shopped pillow slips and with newly purchased striped numbers from good ol target.

ive been sleeping like a babe ever since....that's a lie....a certain somebody has decided that my bed is now hers thank you very much and has developed the sneakiest of sneak routines to wrangle her way in every night!. with Nic away so often I had so much enjoyed my evenings of blissful solo slumber....alas no more. and as of two nights ago Charlie has also caught on that this is were the partys at!....2am saw me crawling into Charlies bed to try and finally get some sleep. a slippery slope people....in a few short nights we have gone from solo sleepers to co-sleepers...WTF?....its not what I signed up for!. I think I might just swap with Nic and go work in the mines....at least im guaranteed a bed to myself for two weeks straight.

oh well I will just have to gaze at my pretty bed in the day time....which I think will just make things worse somehow?!

 

AND....just to make me whinge a little more the oppies around here are vintage wastelands!...its all dried up! school holidays are to blame....ho hum I shall just have to shop my own cupboards or trawl the roadsides (hey kylie).

Sharing over at Max`s (she rocks!)

Al xxzzzzz



op shop show off....no typo!

I could not leave this little blue beauty behind. Even though she is rusted, discoloured and beyond saving, I fell in love with her.

I didn't find her in an oppy but my adorable local florist was selling off some of her shop props and lucky me just happened to call in to the shop that morning!!. 

the perfect addition to my Christmas present from my lovely wife....which is the new to me retro sideboard which I will annoy you with in another post!

see that sweet little jug up on the shelf.....a gift from my darling jane....im so spoilt!.

when max posted about her gorgeous typewriter I knew I had to show you mine!

a great start to another year of treasure hunting.

 

Al x