Valentine's Day In The Bedroom

Long-suffering readers of The Hedge are well aware that this 70's house is full of weird architectural foibles. Beams traverse every single room & when we moved in 8 years ago, they were still in their rough, raw, murky brown, untouched state. They aren't just one big piece of timber, which quite frankly would have been a dream to deal with. Oh no, they all are 2 big individual timber planks bolted together & that creates one major problem, they are open at the bottom, just as these images from the main bedroom illustrate.

This has given every spider & bug within a 20 km radius an open invitation to set up home & we are fed up. MOTH's given up counting how many times something furry has dropped into his open mouth in the middle of the night during one of his snoring sessions. So 7 weeks ago, after a particularly nasty incident, he had a hissy fit & decided to seal up the bottom of them all, starting in the main bedroom. Uttering those famous last words, 'I'll crack on Mills & get it done over the weekend', 7 weeks later he's just finished. 

  

And this is the reason the job has gone on so long......these windows. Again a foible of an architect smoking something not bought in a flip packet over the counter we reckon. Every bedroom & the family room upstairs has this weird arrangement, a bank of 3 windows which pull out for airflow. All well & good you may say, except over the years the timber has become water damaged, swollen & rotten & impossible to open. There is a big window at the bottom that is easy to open & lets in the cool breezes, so we could really do without the top 3.

And just like the open-bottomed beams, they have become an absolute haven for the extended family of the spiders & bugs already warm & cosy. So just as he was finishing, he came hurtling out of the bedroom waving his arms. 'That's it, I'm gonna shove a big piece of plasterboard over those windows & don't say a thing Mills!' 

And so he did, during the longest, most intense heatwave we've had in 120 years! 

The beams are so much better, these are the ones directly over the bed head. No more screeching MOTH in the middle of the night.

The bit over the curtains is much improved, good job mate. 

 Enclosed beams = happy Millie.

While he was on a roll, he also ripped out the glass window over the door leading to the dodgy en-suite (that baby's the next project!!) & replaced it. A fiddly project, but well worth the effort. Ta mate.    

And on a really exciting note to end, The Hedge has another engagement. Son #3 popped the question to his girl while on a trip to the Grand Canyon on Thursday & she said yes! So it looks like we'll have 2 weddings this year, yippee!! It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy. xx

My Mate Heston

'
Mills, Mills, ya wouldn't have my mate Heston's email address handy would ya?'

'Err no MOTH & I'm almost too scared to ask why you need it.'

'Well love, I need to let him know that he's a bloody legend!'

'Um, do explain MOTH.'

'Well ya know how much I love a boiled egg for brekkie & ya know how much grief it's given me over the years.'

'Yes, I do MOTH. The kids & I have all been on the end of your rants in the kitchen when the boiled eggs haven't come up to your rigorous expectations.'

'Yep, but my days of chucking a wobbly are over. Didn't you notice me in the kitchen for ages this morning.'

'Well come to mention I did think it was the longest time you've ever spent in there since I met you 20 years ago.'

'No need for sarcasm my little Pirhana Fish, you know the kitchen & I aren't compatible. But thanks to my mate Heston those days are over. I loved his way of thinking - no fluffy cheffie stuff, just good old physics!'

'How fascinating.'

'I'm just rapt that I've finally cracked it -  ha, ha, get the joke love, geez life's good!'

 

HESTON'S RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT SOFT BOILED EGG

 

INGREDIENTS

4 large eggs (55-60g.)

salt & black pepper

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Standing time: 6  minutes

 

Place the eggs in the smallest pan available and only add enough cold water to cover them. Put the lid on the pan and place over the highest heat possible.

When the water comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and wait for 6 minutes.

After the time has elapsed, remove the lid and carefully remove each egg. Cut the top of each egg before serving in egg cups. Season to taste.

 

NOTE TO HESTON:

MOTH's sitting in front of the computer, trawling through your recipe archives. He's just used 'Explosion' in his key word search. Should I be worried?

It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy.

Images: SBS
 

Oh The Pressure!

MOTH reckons old age & a nagging wife have slowed down the completion of the upstairs home office to an elderly crawl. That combined with the fact that I ripped down the rubbish window coverings & tore up the carpet last year & binned them, has left the ambient temperature in the room during a bitterly cold Hills winter at about -5C. And with no heating whatsoever, we could have stored a dozen bodies in there in tip top condition for days!

However after a 'pleasant' domestic discussion recently, he's back up there trying to make some progress. It's a strange room & we've spent many an hour pondering over it's provenance. With a big separate side entrance leading outside & a sturdy lock on the outside of the door into the upstairs corridor of bedrooms, like a lot of other odd things here, it's had us scratching our heads. All we can conclude is that the original owner/builder back in 1972 was one of Stirling's GP's & due to the large size of the room, we think he may have used it to consult from.

The large bank of original bookshelves span an entire wall & that's where the present trouble is centred. Prior to the reno, all our files & work stuff were shoved willy-nilly into it. A disaster of odd 3 ring binders, old manilla folders, boxes of discarded computer cables etc - it was a real mess. All our books were in a big old bookcase on the opposite wall.

 

In a fit of pique I had a melt-down & decided massive rationalization was needed. 7 boxes of books went down to the Stirling Charity Book Hut & the bookcase has gone on Gumtree. I took the pic above as I was about to start sanding the wood back after MOTH had painted the back walls the standard Solver Parchment. I can't show images of the rest of the room 'cos it's a mess of ladders, paint cans, discarded power tools & general reno junk.



They've had a million coats of Zinsser to stop the old stain bleeding through, MOTH's over it. Zinsser's Sales Manager must be busting to put up his Power Point presentation at their next Sales Meeting showing 609% growth for Q2!

 



A before shot looking towards the big window at the other end of the room.

 

Staring at them, with just some touching up to be done on the wall, I had a horrible thought. As this is supposed to be a blog about our reno & may be viewed by at least 3 people & their dogs, I'd better lift my game. So I turned to that fountain of all things 'housie' Pinterest & did a search for 'Bookcase Styling'. I got the shock of my life - 56,791 pins loaded!  

 

It appears I will need to colour code everything, pull in unique pieces of objet d'art, channel Nate, Bunny, Suzanne et al & then arrange everything just so. All indication of our current Tax receipts, Super & Insurance stuff & general detritus of everyday business life must be hidden in something called a Kikki-K box. Above all it must look like I just casually tossed it all together in about 30 minutes. Oh, & then when that's all done, I need to upload it to my Pinterest boards & wait anxiously to see how many repins it gets. Geez life in 2013 is complicated!! 

 

 

A Bit Of A Fizzer

Well dear Hedgies another Easter came & went in a cloud of 'I will do this & that' but I actually achieved little. I had a whole list of projects to tick off, least of all trying my hand at sawing our hideous front door in half, performing some nifty surgery to the top & installing some glass & voila, a great Dutch door just the one in the pic. Sadly after MOTH caught me unscrewing the door from it's hinges & 'requested' a detailed explanation of my intentions, my big Easter project was suddenly derailed, surprise, surprise. Even though he hasn't got the slightest understanding of Pinterest, he reckons it has a lot to answer for.

We were kindly invited to meet the other set of prospective grandparents for the first time over lunch on Easter Monday. MOTH's been laid low by that most horrendous of medical maladies.....the Man Cold, but managed to get his act together long enough to accompany me. Once again I had to pull out the List of Things Not To Talk About In Front Of Strangers To Make A Good First Impression. He managed to adhere to most of them, but I noticed the other Glammie rolling her eyes a couple of times at a little tid-bit of family scandal he couldn't help but share with her. Sadly I was too far way at the table to give him a gentle 'tap' on the leg, so far more was revealed than was necessary. Anyways, these things are always scary, but when MOTH's involved my anxiety is lifted to whole new levels.

I've just enrolled puppy Lulu in a Calm. Controlled. Centred 4 week training course, but I reckon Alexis at Scholars in Collars could retire to the Bahamas in a nanosecond if she did swapped dogs for husbands in her workshops. I'd be willing to pay double mate.

Image: eclecticrevisited.com via Millie on Pinterest

Feet On Head

This is a yoga posture that I would NEVER have attempted, that is, until now. After my first week in the new job I reckon this would be a cinch, as I feel I've been in this position metaphorically speaking, for the past 5 days! Talk about being thrown in the deep end, I think I just managed to keep my head above water. With my new boss in London for the week, it was just me trying to do everything, & believe me there was more faking it than on the set of a XXX movie shoot!

There was only a short window of time each day where the boss was awake & I was in the office, so the phone ran red hot with everything I needed to ask him. Anyhoo, after a particularly difficult situation that I needed to wade into & resolve, he sent me a text saying I was worth my weight in gold. OK mate, at 75kg. (& no nasty comments please dear Hedgies, I'm dealing with it!), by my reckoning you owe me $3,854,400.00. Am I looking forward to seeing you pay up on that promise!

But at the end of the day you know what, I LOVE IT so far. Things may change on Tuesday when there's 2 of us working together, but I reckon it will be fine. So for everyone who's been emailing, FB'ing & tweeting me wondering how I'm going, you can all breathe a big sigh of relief. I was so stuffed last night I headed off to bed at 8.30p.m. much to puppy Lulu's disgust. She's been very neglected this week & was desperate for some play time, so after I've chucked this post up, it's off to the Puppy Park for at least 2 hrs.

MOTH's been given a Leave Pass to go to Melbourne to investigate a new business opportunity that may mean he can give his crook back a rest permanently (other than on our renos!). He's off to the MCG for lunch in the Long Room today with all his old mates to raise a glass or 6 to his very favourite Melbourne player Jim Stynes RIP. Then he reckons he'll see the Dee's absolutely crush the Lions at today's game. Only a long-suffering Melbourne supporter can have such optimism. He's having dinner with the Melbourne Sons 1, 2 & 3 tonight, which will be lovely. However Son 3 is doing the 20km. Tough Mudder race at Cowes on Philip Island today, so I'm not sure what shape he'll be in by dinner time. So there you have it, another week in the life of Miss Millie, I hope it's come up to everyone's expectations! I'm dedicating at least 3 hrs this weekend to Bloggie Wonderland, so you'll be hearing from me soon, that's a promise.

Image: Yoga for Veterans (what a hoot!)

Pleasing All The People

Every now & then I'm reminded by an incensed Follower that this blog is supposed to be about renovating & not all the other 'stuff'. OK, so to placate the said Follower from their Unfollowing threat, here's some images taken in 3rd bedroom yesterday - not pretty huh.

Since MOTH's crook back has eased off enough to let him back at it to a degree, these wardrobe doors have been ripped off their hinges & are propped on the trestles getting the Smart Prime once over. Except it isn't just one coat, it's bloody hundreds to stop that rubbish varnish stain bleeding through! He's also put numerous coats of Solver's Parchment on the walls, chased a whole heap of wiring through the brickwork & done an enormous patch up job to the holes he bashed in the bricks to do this.

We invited a son over for a Sunday roast dinner recently & unbeknowns to him, he had to help MOTH fix the new ceiling plasterboard to its frame before the meal was served. It got done but not without some dramas. All I'll say is that there was a 'failure' of the fixative by a certain serial renovator & a large piece of plasterboard hit the deck via the son's head. Let me tell you the conversation over dinner was unusually subdued. All the ceiling plastering & top coats have been done & most importantly we have downlights (sorry Ms. Velvet & Linen!) that work. I hope that's the last whinge I hear from that Follower for a while. Isn't renovating fun.

Perez Should Worry

Some of you close to The Hedge know that since MOTH's brush with his own longevity in the workforce last year with his crook back, he's been contemplating an alternate career. He's looked at all sorts of things that don't involve lifting heavy things. I've 'overheard' some ripper phone conversations as he susses out potential new offerings with his adviser mates from the Rowing Club. They include Boutique Beer Salesman, Jam/Preserve Maker (sorry Michelle), French Tour Guide (I know, I know - I still find it hard to believe that his French language skills are awesome, thanks in no small part to the hots he had for his French teacher at high school!!) & even a Thermomix Demonstrator........yep you read that right.

He ducked down to the village last night to grab some bread & waltzed in the door looking very smug. 'Mills, Mills, guess what I found out!' He then proceeded to tell me the following: A & B have split up, C is having it off with D & everyone knows, E's business is in deep do-do & the ACCC are involved, B is already seeing someone else before A has had a chance to change the locks & A is absolutely spewing & to top it all off E's husband F has left her for a bloke! And he'd gleaned all this juicy info from his 'informants' in a brief 5 minutes outside Woolies!

So dear Hedgies there's nothing for it really, MOTH has found his new calling - Gossip Columnist Extraordinairre. I have no doubt after this post goes live his phone will run hot with offers. Were does he sign Messrs. Murdoch & Hearst? Or failing that, if Norm from the Mt. Barker Courier happens to read this, please give him a contract - the Hills would be positively alive with defamation threats, but you'd have a winner on your hands!

Image: Popcrunch

Down The Garden Path

MOTH told me I had to wander down to the Tennis Court early this morning as there was a surprise for me. His girls the Christmas & Oriental Lillies are starting to bloom, with the yellow Orientals beating their Christmas sisters by at least 3 weeks.

They are so strong & vigorous this year & are taller than me (but that's not saying much!). Whatever secret MOTH concoction he's put on them has worked I reckon.

I was surprised to see these beauties as well. MOTH had a client who didn't want them any more in her garden, so MOTH's dug them out & adopted them. I did suggest that in this early phase of his crook back recovery & return to a few hours work a day he remain vigilant about any heavy lifting. I can see that suggestion was taken on board - NOT. I thought that a freezing cold Adelaide Hills Winter wouldn't be the best for the Dracenas, but then I looked at the Oriental Lillies & figured they do OK.

His spud patch is coming along well. It's full of his favourite Tasmanian Pink Eyes. If you've never tasted them do yourself a favour & hunt them down, they truly are the King of Spuds. Thanks to everyone who left kind comments on yesterday's post. I really have run out of emotional steam & am so looking forward to restoking my coals tomorrow & Sunday. Its the weekend my friends, go enjoy!

A Sweet MOTH

With work being totally responsible for me now actually having lost the will to live (MOTH reckons trying to deal with this particular group of clients is akin to herding cats!) & a major family issue that needed me to hang the Dr. Millie Family Therapist shingle out urgently, it's been a tough, tough, tough, tough week. I'll share the family thing with you when I can get my head around it & I've lowered the level in the vodka bottle a bit more. MOTH's been his normal 'Deal it with it & move on Mills' self, but this morning he rendered me speechless.

'Hey Mills, I noticed Balhannah By Design have got a VIP shoppers night on tonight. They had a new container of stuff from France arrrive last week & one from Belgium on Monday. Mon's had to hire out the Balhannah Village Hall temporarily to fit everything in. If youse like, I can come home from work early & we can go up there together. They've got free grog, free gift wrapping & 10% off everything. Would that cheer youse up?'

Would it ever babe, fire up the Millie-mobile & let's go! Oh & if you or the girls are reading this Mon, for goodness sake if MOTH offers to man the gift wrapping table & gives you a story about his prowess in that Department - DON'T LET HIM!!!

Images: Balhannah By Design

Classic MOTH

MOTH had momentary control of the remote last night & while channel surfing stumbled across that UK telly show One Born Every Minute. After watching a poor hapless Pommie woman in noisy labour attempting to deliver a very large baby, he yelled out to me ' Ya know Mills, babies should be born small & then pumped up afterwards like a footy.' Yep his form is back, along with the well deserved improvement of his crook back!

Thank You From MOTH

Well my dear Public, I was overwhelmed by all your kind wishes for my 63rd 33rd birthday last Saturday which was a most enjoyable occasion engineered & executed by Mills & the boys. Millie's mischief in associating that luscious & most scrumptious being Justine with moi, has caused unexpected repercussions........notably being labelled as a Dirty Old Man (DOM) - AND - the possibility of an anti-stalking order. If found guilty in a court of law, I could be at Her Majesty's pleasure for up to 10 years. (Could it be that Mills had motive here to stir up trouble to give her a MOTH-break?) If I do end up in the Cooler, one of my first tasks would be to find the Prisoner's Suggestion Box & slip a note in strongly advocating Cooking Classes for the Criminally Incarcerated taught by Justine.

Happy Birthday MOTH!

I'd thought I'd spoil MOTH on his 63rd birthday today & give him a treat. Here are the 2 most important things in his life............food & his gorgeous girl Justine.

I've been working in Darwin all week & have only just got home. Puppy Lulu & MOTH seemed to have survived OK on the puppy casserole I left them, although I had to cover Lulu's ears when MOTH made a comment about just how delicious the puppies were!! We're out for dinner tonight with the kids to celebrate another year in the life of MOTH. Jussie if you catch this post, maybe you could surprise your biggest fan with a comment, you would make an old man VERY happy!

Images: Justine Schofield

Birch/Laurel Loop

Another quiet couple of weeks at The Hedge the blog, but behind The Hedge it's been pandemonium! A nightmare week at work with everything that could have gone wrong doing just that & MOTH's crook back still giving him heaps. We've just got back from our Sunday walk & I thought you'd like to see where we've been.

A couple of years ago I took you with me on my regular walking route on a hot Summer day. The foliage on the trees obstructed the view of most of the gorgeous houses, but today Winter's last hurrah means that the houses can be seen in all their glory! St. Vigean's is the jewel in the crown & the first house on the Birch Road/Laurel Road loop.

Love that verandah & the decorative wrought iron to bits!

Yep, it's MOTH & Lulu out enjoying the Hills air.

There are still lots of Winter creeks running on properties.

Here's Dunfuin in all it's Edwardian glory.

It's probably still too cold for sitting out on the verandah with a late afternoon G&T.

I'm always captivated by the terracotta tile work on Dunfuin's roof.

Oak Tree House is quite a different style for the area.

But still very pretty in it's unique way.

My favourite style of Hills gate.

As MOTH would say 'There's a heap of Angry Pantha's happening there Mills!'

This incline always gets the heart racing.

Copperfield & the resident guard cat.

What's got MOTH's attention?

The enclosed deck on this house that's just been completed. MOTH's been watching the Builder's do their thing & taking notes for months.

And here's my very favourite house Redwalls.

Complete with quite the most amazing clipped Ivy bank I've ever seen.

And matching detached garage.

Round the bend into a part of the loop where the houses are of a much older vintage.

I don't know the name of this house, but it's on a huge piece of land & a massive amount of restoration has been conducted over the past few years. If it's yours, do let us know!

Byethorne Lodge sits next to it.

It must have been the Gate House for the previous house & I've always thought what a wonderful little Hills retreat it would make.

Love Stirling's tall trees & the other 2 in this pic as well!

Another Winter creek on the way home.

Our neighbour's sweet little cottage.

Home again - & yes, it's camelia time here at The Hedge & one of my faves by the front door. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that it's goat curry for dinner here tonight. I'll tweet later & let you know how it tasted. I've only cooked with goat once before, so I had to wing it a bit with this one, but as I opened the door, the aroma drifting up from the slow cooker certainly indicates it will be OK! Have a wonderful week dear Hedgies.