Hump Day......

Wednesday that feels like Friday, project backlog due to cash flow problems...Markets this Sunday should set things right again, and get me the required supplies to finish a few things off.... Need spray paint and glue in large quantities.... Just like a homeless kid. Budgeting 400 for jewelry making equipment but that may need to wait till I sell some of the finished furniture items. I also like the look of the new Dremel 3 in 1. The router function would be handy....

This probably quite a sensible purchase as it would allow me to do some things that are currently to tricky with the current tools I have. Also looking at getting a regular rotary tool as well, the grinding and buffing tools would be handy and the cutting and drilling would be handy for jewelry etc...

So looks like October will be an expensive month for equipment...that's better than the reaming i got on bills in September though.

Let them eat.....

One interesting result of being skint, due to car insurance, is that I have been unable to buy convenient ready made muesli bars and their ilk....this is interesting because I have had to bake and be all Martha Stewart. So far this week i have baked three different batches of muffins, cookies and tonight a very successful Madeira cake, combined with the chopping of carrots and portioning of sultanas my children have eaten everyday.... breakfast and dinner too...this is the month stockpiling staples has paid off.... and there is cake too....

Took another spin round roadside collection day suburbia today.... Not quiet the same disturbing haul as yesterday....Luckily.

Car load of junk....Great little chesterfield ottoman, with one broken leg...today located an original ottoman with very original legs, so a little swap and one nice ottoman with the only original part on most antique footstools, the legs! Everything else tends to get replaced over the years.

Also continued my Serial Killer of Couches hobby....Took down one huge brown one for its pelt and a few smaller ones for just their feet....So I now have a big pile of leather....

.....and the streets of Hazlebrook are littered with dismembered seating....

Pointless.....

A completely pointless new post to say I have nothing to say today.

On the Make.....

Slow Sunday....Slept in....to warm and cosy to get out of bed early....House is mess...Had some fun with kids....Did some prep work on found lamps....Might get some undercoat them tomorrow, and see if I can find somewhere round here that sells silver leaf....

Got them stripped down and old wiring removed....the silver leaf may have to wait till I have a few more dollars in the back. So many projects stalled due to cash flow crisis at the moment...rego and insurance and a few other big bills are knee capping my work!!!

I am trying to decide if the effort and cost of changing the colour of the leather on this chair are worth it? I will sand and danish oil the wood, clean and respray the metal spring plates underneath and decide when I see how it comes up.

Lazy day....only finished project for the day was a quickie, and involved using the aga to dry glue....I enjoy watching the PVA turn from cloudy white to clear and shiny...

Coaster experiment turned out pretty well, and feedback on them is very positive...Got a few twists on the idea, that I will take a shot at soon.

Shiny.....

Took some time out from the rigorous social and work schedule to clean my car....Horribly mundane but long overdue...So two hours of vacuuming and scrubbing my car is back to clean....needs a full detail at some point....but she is a shiny girl now....

but might wait till after the new stereo system goes in.... It is clean enough for kids to ride in....

I am really looking forward to getting a serious stereo in the car, the factory one is seriously lacking in everything.... And being able to use iPhone with stereo is mandatory....Mood related playlists make driving much more fun....Toying with the idea of putting a Sub in the boot....I am to old for that but I do love my bass.... I am also too old to give a shit what people think.



If you build it.....

You will feel better.... New bed is now in the bedroom.... About bloody time, the weather has finally given me break....

The man cave gets man bed!!! Assembly wasn't quite a smooth as hoped and required a bit of extra screwing....insert own carry on style joke there.... The job list for this room is shrinking, I still need to do something with the desk....I have a few designs in mind, but they will have to wait till after the bill laden September is over.

The hard rubbish day has yielded a interesting collection of broken chairs. Italian designer chair with a broken seat....

 and a designer bar stool with a broken base but an interesting seat....

So no prizes for this one.... a few new holes, a new bracket and a few spacers....mind you the holes took forever as I could only find a wood drill bit....

So this was a relatively easy job, more an adaption, than anything else....but I am pleased with the result, and the cost, zero seems a good price for a very cool chair....i will give it a good clean and polish tomorrow and might use it as my computer chair....



Building a Man Cave 101....

I am absolutely stuffed....I should have been asleep by now, had a bowl of nutri-grain to stay up and update the blog... It was a sunny day, praise the weather gods, so I finally got to do the final coats of paint on the bed and side tables....one step closer to finishing my room.

It will probably be even better when I get it inside, just letting the paint fumes die down a bit before I bring it in and try sleeping in it. Pretty happy with the result, its a long way from shabby chic. This is a man bed for a man cave.... I am very pleased with the bedside tables... I think they will be the jumping off point for more stuff in a similar vein.

I have gone from not liking these side tables, to really liking them....amazing what a difference a tweek can make. Now they are painted and new handles etc. I can see a kind of goth chic element...the fact that they a ecclesiastical style pieces now works....they are my little dark alters of bedtime fun....and the bling crystal handles are the set-up for the punch-line that is the vintage monopoly money lined drawers that they open.... There wasn't enough cool in the world.... Lets do something about that...

Lapin Vs Wild......

Hard rubbish day in the mountains, and I went hunting.....It really is the quick and the dead out there. I am competing for my quarry with men in Utes, and mothers in mini buses... There is something satisfy about spotting a vintage leather couch waiting beside the road and sneaking up on it. Almost as satisfying as the horrified looks of the people in the house, as I pulled out a pocket knife and skinned their discarded couch as they watched....if the had a problem with me doing that they chose not to come down and tell me. The deed was done and I left with my prize pelt.....

A horribly busy day....Forgotten school bags....Trips back to school...food shopping...and a quick trawl of the op shops and back to collect kids.... only had time for a super quick coffee, and a very quick sketch....Bit of a wink to Dexter.....A Victorian Ice Truck Killer...

Apart from roadside finds the only op-shop bargain of the day was a 1950's Bathroom Scale made in Ireland.....I saw one of these in crappy condition in an antique shop last week for $150.....this one was $4....and is in great shape, all chrome and black with the most amazing magnifying glass lens...and is very acurate.....All good, and I will get at least $10 for the modern set in the bathroom, that these will replace....

I need a Cookie.....

My turn to pick up kids from ex, so a drive to Bathurst.....Totally broke, well almost, $20 left to get petrol to get back to mountains....Good in theory, but I am so damn irresponsible with money...So $10 for petrol and $10 for a Harry Potter Cookie Jar...So I made cookies.

Actually I like to pretend I am irresponsible with money, but I am only broke because I went a bit nuts paying bills in advance because of upcoming rego, insurance and electricity bills....So a little broke but no debts is ok...the kids can have cookies for dinner....

So it seems like i am slowly getting out from behind the 8-ball....and with that in mind here is today's coffee shop scribble....

A Slow Day....I Think I will put my Feet Up.....

Kids at circus.....To cold too paint or do markets....or at least least too cold to get out of warm bed with scantly clad fun to be had....So we made a tasty breakfast of poached eggs and bacon and then I retired to a coffee shop for a quick sketch (to frosty for fingers)....

After the coffee, a quick visit to antique shop on the corner, which provided a footstool, very cool....Just a good polish of the leather, and the wood....a quick search for some matching upholstery buttons and it will be perfect.....

Long day.....Not sure what it going on in my head at the moment....So tired one minute, hyper productive the next....Maybe the weather is driving me a bit manic? on that note the weather is meant to be warm and dry for Wednesday and Thursday...the first ray of sunshine in weeks....So I may actually get to put final coat of paint on bed surround and tables....I may be sleeping alone but I will be doing it in style!!!

Transforming into Bumble Bee......

Didn't get much done today....the ex didn't get the kids till lunch, it rained, it was cold and I wasn't exactly motivated....So to maintain my minimum of one thing a day philosophy...I pimped a practice amp...

So take one rusty dirty, but working, practice amp with no knobs, from our friends at fender....

Pulled to pieces.....I even remembered to mark which cable goes where....a rare bit of forethought for me....



The hairdryer is to heat the vinyl and the can is adhesive not hairspray....The vinyl has been siting around for ages, it was a couple of bucks...It is good quality stuff but I didn't know what to use it for....till now.

Set of wheels....a new set of fender control knobs I got given for free at the music shop today....Never hurts to be nice!!! Pretty Much done, just a cover strip around edges of speaker grill when it is painted and we are ready to rock!

Bloody Weather......

Everyone is always complaining about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it!.... And neither will I. I have a house full of half finished projects, and not due to lack of motivation this time. I have a bed surround, bedside tables and a bookcase at various points of painting, but the weather has either been to cold, too windy or both to finish any of them. I finished the drawers for bedside tables last night as that was an indoor job....Really getting the hang of it by the last one....Now eyeing of other items for the same treatment....Shabby Chic isn't my thing....Rockstar Chic on the other hand ;)

Working on an idea for some boxes.....I have lots of boxes.... So, not happy with it but it is a starting point... The Community Chest....

Still needs a lot more embellishment, So I may start again. I have a better idea for the outside I want to try, and the inside needs to be worked on too....

I like the idea of the get out of jail free card ;)





Sticky......

No drawing today at all.....got creative in the bedroom instead. Due to a cold snap and high winds my plans to finish the bed surround before summer have been derailed, global warming indeed? So I started work on the drawers for the bed side tables....Indoor work with craft glue....So the draws have gone from this at lunch time...

....and then with a few coats of paint, a new handle, a quick raid of the games shelf and a lot of glue it now looks like this....

Just waiting for this layer of glue to dry so I can seal it..... and baby you a rock star!!!

Eat Your Heart Out......

Nice day.....It shouldn't have been, but it was....Lunch with the lovely M in Lithgow....Found sparkly things in op shops....Must be in a bit of a magpie mood today, couldn't walk past anything with a gleam...

.....Got a very nice vintage glass inkwell (spotted by M).....A couple of crystal knobs with chrome mounts for my bedside table project.....And some half finished necklaces with lots of glass beads. I have a great big pile of jewelry making stuff in the cupboard, so I think I may have a shot at knocking up some sparkly stuff.....

Had some fish and chips in a nice restaurant at Lithgow...May have made the waitress nervous by drawing human organs on the paper table cloth with the crayons they provide....so that was fun.

Deadlines are your Friend.....

So after a day of getting less than nothing done.....A challenge from a cousin to knock out a quick picture, was quite motivating....She picked the inspiration...thus...

A little soppy for my tastes....Or at least not in that frame of mind....but maybe that it was made it fun... A kind of an artistic theater sports.... Just let it flow, and fifteen minutes later I was actually very happy with the results....

....Maybe I should do all my work to an arbitrary externally imposed deadline, just like living....



I Need a Mask....

I am not thinking of pursuing a career in cat burglary or crime fighting....Just a day of sanding and inhaling paint fumes has given me a great big bitch of a headache. Maybe that is why I am considering buying a Mac? Maybe that is why today's picture is a bit weirder than usual...

I off for a Bex and a lie down....Hopefully not to dream of disappointed rabbits....

Sunday....and Still on Track....

Frosty day, a lie in, late coffee and all relaxed.... According to scientific studies and such, subconsciously drawing round things you are feeling positive and relaxed, and not something to do with boobs...Who knew.....

Can I Have a Coffee with that?......

Just cleaning the house a bit.....Spent the morning in cafe doing a little sketching...cant wait for the weather to warm up a bit so I can do some more coffee fueled work.....

The Evening Post..... So I now have one clean room and a house that looks like a crime scene, but that is how I seem to work best. All my clothes are in one room....All my market crap is strewn all over the house.... Hmmm that wasn't the plan.... However you cant make an egg flip without braking a few eggs. This week is a good week to clean and sort I think, in a super productive mood at the moment, so I may as well go for it. Better be bloody good weather next week, missed two weeks of markets because of rain....Missing the extra cash and getting rid of stuff....and next week is the last week I can do markets before rego is due on the car...since the weekend after that I agreed to give the EX time of for a birthday do....So one week will have to raise enough cash to pay rego, greenslip, insurance and electricity bill and all the regular bills too.... 

Has Anyone Seen My Week?.....

I know I started one, but cant seem to find it? Dropping the kids of with the EX after school today, so maybe I will find my week after that....I will try to squeeze in some life between 6pm tonight and 4am Sunday morning when I head off to the markets. This week it's my own fault....Just lost track of things, and nursing a back injury from moving furniture, has kept me out of the game....

Reasons to be cheerfull......

Sometimes it is the simplest things that cheer me up.....Like spending $3 on a ridiculous shirt at an OP shop....

Not sure what I will do with it....or even what it is meant to be.... I think it may be some kind of tunic thing....the squares are all separate squares stitched together....Maybe it's for getting your joust on?

The 3am woke and could not get back to sleep update..... Another small joy in winter has been found. Being by yourself in bed is not in itself fun...but having one side of the electric blanket set high, and the other low is a small joy. Instead of having to be conscious enough to adjust the temperature by finding and fiddling with the blanket controls, you can just slide to other side of the bed with very little thought needed.... This is not as nice as a hot naked friend who can slide over a keep you very warm indeed, but it is a....a....sorry completely forgot what I was saying.

Another small joy and maybe the reason I am awake....The twinge in the back that lets you know you did something energetic today....in this case moving a big arse couch around the countryside for previously mentioned hot naked friend.... Although Spending day moving furniture resulted in the hot but not the naked parts of said friend.... There is a promise of a treat at lunchtime to look forward to.... and some soup too.

Mood Swings are my Business.....

....and business is good....Hey look UP we go again....after a hard work week...I am feeling much less like hard work... Happy and vaguely productive. About bloody time. So today's productivity wasn't that productive but made a start on sanding new bed frame, looked up weather channel to confirm to wet to do markets in the morning and had a toasted cheese sandwich. Not world peace....but it was still up.

Hands Off the Angry Baboon Button.....

All right.....That may have been a minor meltdown. Feeling better for it though, So lets try and make today a warm fuzzy experience for all. Well that might be a little unrealistic.....Lets just try for being nice to those who appreciate the nice, and ambivalent to those that treat me with the same. That seems fair.

Today's main jobs....Kids to Doctors for Whooping cough assessment, probably nothing, but easier for me to check it out now than leave it till it causes drama.

Also want to drop into hardware store if I can....many cans of black paint required for painting of furniture. Have done a full circle on what colour to paint bedroom furniture. In the start i wanted black, but that seemed to freak people out, so I worked on a few other ideas. Now back to black, as I know it will look good, and then I get the satisfaction of doing something that turns out fine even though others couldn't see it.

I shall banish the orange pine to the hell of 70's furniture where it belongs.....

The Evening Post...... Whoops still a little angry baboon in there..... Don't txt when angry people, it makes you look like a fruit loop with no punctuation skills....

I am not Neville Chamberlain......

I was.....but not anymore.... apparently my new attitude is not leaning towards appeasement? Hypocrisy has never sat well with me.... In fact I thought that was the one thing I had in common with anyone I ever called friend... Seems not. So fuck it.... My game... my rules from now on....

Now those who view history in a very narrow way, judge Chamberlains politics of appeasement as folly.... another point of view would be that his "Peace in our time" paper waving, bought England the time it needed to arm itself for the upcoming war with Germany...a war that may not have happened if there had of been a less punishment orientated allied reparations demands..... Of course history is like that.... Subjective and always difficult to pin down to a single moment....

So too is the death of friendship or respect, is it one act alone, or the metaphorical final straw? I sometimes wonder if it me the creates some of the painful people I have to deal with....Surely these people cant live their life like that.... So maybe I bring out the worst in them? Possible? Maybe I am a reminder of reality, and not the pulp fiction fairy tale, the hypocrisy's and self deceiving nonsense? Could be, but not something I created or perpetuate...

So peace in our times, will not be at the expense of my needs....

If I have to move..... Then move I shall.... On my own terms.  Its a small pond.... I can be a big fish....why the fuck not?  Not like I have to stop being me.... I had friends... I can have them again.....So.....

Just Tired......

Long day....long week....long month....long year...Well you get the idea... Starting to wonder if I need an attitude adjustment. How about?

 "A billion's the new million, Stoli's the new vodka 40's the new 30 and baby you a rockstar."

People pleasing is not pleasing me.... I used to joke that certain people should be nicer to me, because I was far to interesting to put up being treated like I don't matter. Maybe it's not a joke.

As for putting pen on paper.....not so much.... all most finished this. I think....