Friday 28 October 2016

Fresh paint & carpet

I remembered at last that I took a photo last Saturday when I'd moved the sewing tables & machines out to the new place. I managed to leave the overlocker cover at my old home so used a green supermarket bag over the top as a dustcover.


The curtain rods are also in the wardrobe so I'll have to put them back so I can hang curtains. The bedroom I'm sleeping in will be my first priority, and I'll need to make curtains for my sewing room and lounge.

I was waiting til I moved to buy curtain fabric until I remembered that I have some rayon faille curtaining left over from my Sleepy Hollow costume a couple of years ago.  I bought a 9.8metre piece listed on ebay, as it was cheaper than buying 3-4 yards of silk for the costume, and nothing else had come close enough. Actually it was cheaper than buying 2 yards of silk taffeta so I'm sure the approx 7 metres I have left will be ideal for the window/doors onto the balcony from the lounge and also for the sewing room. Pale blue/green goes with chocolate and cream as far as I'm concerned.

The movers are booked for Wednesday so I need to keep building that wall of boxes - it's getting fort like rather than wall.

Saturday 22 October 2016

First things to move, sewing machines

A friend has lent me their car so I can still go to a friend's party tonight, & take awkward to pack stuff on the way there. It's amusing me that the first things into the boot are my retro sewing tables, & a couple of sewing machines. Also in this trip are baskets with re-enactment accessories and my vintage parasols. Clearly my priorities are defined.

Friday 21 October 2016

Dear Epicurious - you're doing Fairy Bread wrong. Very Wrong.

If you're not aussie or kiwi and have seen anything about Epicurious' article this week, then you might just believe them. Here's a link in case you're interested at all.
http://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/what-is-fairy-bread

Facts about what it's not:
It's NOT toasted (that's the most hilariously wrong part of the article).
It's NOT a breakfast food
It's NOT typically a snack food outside of children's parties.
It's NOT rainbow sprinkles on fancy bread.
It's NOT sugared toast.

What it is: 
Mainly depression era or post war creativity. Such as how Iced VoVos were around for decades at the fancy end of the commercial biscuits. As far as I'm concerned, the less said about them the better unless it's your aussie childhood comfort food.

  • Cheapest soft white bread, buttered to all the edges (or margarine) with hundreds and thousands sprinkled to a solid layer on it. 
  • The quality of the butter or marg is irrelevant, it's simply there to enable the sugary balls to remain on the bread. Enough butter/marg for the little sugary balls to stick to. 
  • Crusts may or may not be removed - just expect children to not eat the crusts if you leave them on.
  • Cut into triangles (halves or quarters)



To reiterate - rainbow sprinkles are not in the spirit of Fairy Bread. Just NOPE.

A more recent (than my age group's childhood) who are familiar with using nutella instead of butter, but that's fairly fancy and not an essential component.



Monday 17 October 2016

I might have a lot of sewing stuff

Another friend came over on Sunday afternoon to help me pack things - she worked on my books and I continued with sewing things, and started on the wardrobe.

I've faced the concept that if I didn't sew (real life clothing and/or costumes) then I'd be packed up already. So far upstairs, I've filled 4 half-teachests with sewing items and realised that I still other items like my sleeve board, pattern rulers etc to pack. Painting/packing with insomnia is a tough gig, but I'll get there.  I'll turtle my way to the finishing line. 

Here's a pic of the wall of boxes I've been building.


Sunday 16 October 2016

Painting is done

Thank goodness for great friends, as we were able to smash through the second coat in all the rooms yesterday afternoon. The landlord is replacing the carpet on Wednesday (rather having it done by another).

So, now it's packing stations. Another friend is helping me pack stuff today, so I'm hoping she can pack the books & some kitchen stuff. I'm launching at the wardrobe & more upstairs sewing stuff

Thursday 13 October 2016

This month is all about painting & packing

Thankfully the approval to paint, and the colour to paint it was easy for my soon to be home.  I've been out 3 nights this week doing prep work & then painting. The only rooms that I'm not painting are the bathroom (already an OK colour) & laundry cos the walls are a very uneven surface that a light colour will highlight, & the paint has flaked away from the render in a couple places.

I've had 2 fabulous friends help me paint, and I threw out the first paint roller I'd bought as it was cheap in all the wrong ways. The significantly more expensive replacements have been working fabulously, and we got everything but the larger bedroom done last night in about half an hour longer than it took to do the bedroom (to be my sewing room) the night before.  As I'm going from donkey brown to a cream it's taking more than one coat. I'm leaving the first coat to cure and will do the second coat of everything on Saturday

New carpet goes in next week, now on Wednesday. I'm not moving for at least a week to avoid the worst of the out-gassing of paint & carpet fumes.

I've started packing at my current home & holy crackers batman I have so much stuff. No need for any more furniture at the new place, just expand into the new rooms. I'll be doing a better cull of things as I unpack at the other end. I'll to a quick cull of everything but fabric as I pack, but I don't really have time to do everything.

Thursday 6 October 2016

Packing+moving this month, no time for sewing

I got the place on a 1 year lease :) I'm hoping to paint this Saturday and I have approval to do that. It's better to paint now as the carpet may be replaced next week. I have to give 21 days notice where I am, as my lease has expired (& that was approx 17 years ago LOL). 

The new place is right across the other side of Sydney, in Werrington so very outer suburbia compared to inner city where I've lived most of my 28 years here. But so much more space at the same price. Rent + commute total is about 30 a week more, but I'll have space to have friends over for dinner unlike here where 1 guest is the comfort limit. A dedicated sewing room (using the larger bedroom), as well as my own bedroom, an internal laundry and a pocket balcony. 

It gives me time to pack & possibly get to the steampunk day the following weekend. I'll see how it all goes, cos that may be an over-reach.

Monday 3 October 2016

Possibly moving home well before December

My aim was to move before December, and I made two Saturday trips out to walk around the suburbs I was thinking of moving to, and get an idea of which I'd prefer.

The pocket of streets that I'm looking at got narrowed down, partly due to local shops and getting to/from the station AND the massive hedge in blossom early in one cul-de-sac that would = dreadful hayfever. Given my body can over-react to pollen allergies with asthmatic-bronchitis there's no way I could afford to live with or even walk past that hedge twice a day. It was so large you couldn't even see the block of apartments behind it. Nuh-uh.No way.

On Saturday I went to a viewing of a flat/unit/apartment that I could see myself living in. It's in that  smallish area that has some units, some town houses and about half are houses. I liked it enough to see myself living in it so I'm applying by email tomorrow. There's a chance that another one that I like won't become available in the next 2 months, so why wait for the sake of waiting. I don't have a scanner at home, so I'll send it all through from work first thing. If I get it, then I'll move in a couple of weeks not a couple of months.  It's quite a jump across the city, so I made sure to chat with the real estate agent explaining that I know the area enough (my grandad lived in the next suburb when he was alive). I'm on the train out here more than anywhere else (other than my sewing guild group) and my friends are all near here & the blueys (mountains). I also managed to slip in that I'm allergic to cats. Sad but true these days.

I mentioned that I sew a lot so that I want a separate sewing room ... and she responded that she sews on her dining room table. I've also checked out sewing guild groups, and there is a local group but it meets on a week day, so that's a bust. Getting to my current group is feasible, it's not to difficult so long as I'm organised. Getting to Rhodes (my original and now sometimes group) would take longer despite being geographically closer.  There's another couple of groups that i can try going different days but there's a long wait between train & bus, so we'll see. I get as much from the social aspect as the productivity so its in the 'see how it works out' basket.

Fingers crossed that I don't melt my brain if I'm packing everything up to move in the next 2-3 weeks.