Happy 3 Year Blog-Versary!

I can't believe I've been blogging for 3 years now and I'm loving it more and more each day.
 

Thanks to all of you reading this right now ... your visits, comments, emails and support has kept me motivated for all these years and I really do appreciate the time and effort you make when you share, assure, advise and just stop by and say G'day :)

I'm out of the terrible 2s stage and feel my blog has definitely found its place and I know where I fit in to the Australian home and lifestyle genre and how I want my blog to continue to grow and develop. I have dreamed, gushed and talked about blogging as a career for years now and I don't know exactly how I can make that happen but the dream has begun and if I know anything about myself it's that I will do my better than best to make my dreams happen one way or another!

Since doing the BYW Blog Boss ecourse last month I've had a light bulb moment of thinking of my blog as a business and me being the boss - I want to tackle more sponsorships and reviews as I think I do thorough and thoughtful reviews using my corporate skills to their advantage! I've updated my About Me and Sponsor Page in the hope more opportunities will come my way. As the house renovations continue (will they ever end?!) this puts me in a prime position to review or sponsor house and home related products and I'm really keen to find some great local businesses to highlight and promote.

I love to share what I've learnt, misadventures along the way and the sense of humour needed to be a first time domestic godess and home renovator ... this is my place to write about it all and I'm so glad you've all come on this journey with me. All up I've written over 520 posts and my most popular posts this year are:

Picking Our Exterior House Colours

Contrasting Colours Kitchen Kick Boards

Picking Out The Kitchen Materials - Cupboards and Benchtop 

Which just goes to show that you guys must enjoy reading about my renovations as much as I like writing about them it's a win win :-)

It's taken me a while but I've jumped on the social media bandwagon too and have my own Facebook page which I wish I had set up ages ago because it's such a great way to interact with people and share snippets without uploading an entire post. I've also joined Twitter over here but I don't really know how to use it properly so if you have any pointers please tell me so I can pretend to know what I'm doing!

I have made online friendships with people near and far across the globe. I love being a part of this blogging community with such an outstanding bunch of people who make me want to be bigger and better than I thought that I could be. Thanks again my awesome readers for your support xx

Here's to an exciting 3rd year ahead and making dreams come true!

What's a celebration without a Giveaway? Don't forget to enter my Harvest Box Giveaway here closing tomorrow!
 

[Images via my Pinterest here and here]

 

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Prawns - How Do You Like Them?

My favourite seafood of choice is Australian Tiger Prawns. I absolutely love prawns either having them cold in a prawn cocktail or cooked and stirred through a hot creamy pasta.

 

The beauty of a prawn cocktail is you only need a few ingredients - prawns, lettuce and sauce and you have yourself a nice little starter before dinner.

If avocados are in season I'll add one chopped up and squeeze on lemon juice and some freshly cracked pepper. For sauce I'll use seafood sauce and mix in some mayonnaise for added creaminess.

The perfect accompaniment to a prawn cocktail is a glass of chilled sweet rose wine ... it's a bit of a summery dish but honestly I enjoy them all year round.

Check out some of my other prawn recipes here:
Crayfish and Prawn Cocktails
Prawn Mango Pappadums with better photos of them here
Chargrilled Lemon Grass Prawns with Vietnamese Salad

What's your favourite seafood recipe?

[All images my own]

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Repairing A Hole In The Floorboards Using Pantry Shelves

You all must know how much I love our jarrah floorboards - I've named this blog after all the jarrah found throughout our home so that will give you a pretty big hint ... Me love them long time!!

 

When we knocked down the brick pantry it left a few holes in the floorboards that needed to be repaired. We thought we'd have to trawl through salvage yards trying to find a match to the floorboards but we didn't have to spend a cent or even leave the house for these little babies to land in our laps. Luck was on our side because the pantry shelves we knocked out just so happened to be made out of our jarrah floorboards.

I kid you not, come take a look ...

 

The old pantry about to be knocked down

 

The pantry shelves were made out of our floorboards

 

All the shelves removed

Setting aside the best floorboards to re-use that weren't covered in paint or sticky contact paper

Mr P spent a bit of time under the house strengthening the floor before the floorboards could be installed. 4 solid jarrah beams recycled from the garage extension were fitted under the floorboards and screwed into place. Then the floorboards were clicked into place and nailed down.

  

The pantry with the skirting removed shows there's going to be some holes in the floor

 

Pantry removed and holes needing repair

 

Mr P cut around the floorboards that needed repair so they looked like they were staggered and naturally laid that way

 

Installed 4 big jarrah beams under the house to support the new floor

 

The pantry shelves aka floorboards then clicked into place
NB: This head lamp is the best invention in the world and so handy when needing to see things better
it gets used all the time!

 

Whoops one floorboard snapped going back in ... nothing a bit of glue won't fix!

 

Ta da new floorboards in place

There were 3 boards fixed here plus 1 along the back wall. I like how they are staggered so they will blend in with the rest of the floor.
 

The floorboards in the Kitchen/Dining Area are now ready to be restored - we need to put filler between each of the boards, then sand them back to remove any scratches or marks in the wood, then they'll be ready for a coat of Tung Oil. Once it's dry they'll get another very light sand and a second coat of Tung Oil. You will never know the floorboards were patched once we've given them the time and attention they deserve!

 

This is the very last room left to restore the floorboards in - we've done all 4 bedrooms, the Hallway and Living Room. Phew that's a lot of hours gone into loving these floors!

Sharing with The Dedicated House link up party Make It Pretty Monday
 

[All images my own]

 

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Harvest Box Review And A Giveaway

Let's kick off the week with a tasty Giveaway peeps!

This fun Harvest Box landed in my mailbox last week and I couldn't wait to see what treats they had packed for me. I was a little worried as the box got wet from the rain but thankfully they were packaged well and my snacks didn't get soggy they were safe and dry.

 

 

So how does Harvest Box work? You rate what you would like to try and Harvest Box will select 4 portions out of their 50+ mixes of nuts, dried fruits, seeds and snacks. Select your delivery days and then wait for your tasty lucky dip parcel to arrive. It will be mailed to your home or office anywhere in Australia for $7.95. If it will stop me from raiding the biscuit jar at work or the chocolates at home it is well worth the money!

 

 

In my box were 2 nut mixes HoneyBGood cashews coated in honey and sesame seeds and really sweet, a bit chewy and a delicious one for the sweet tooth's and Hola Hola a spicy mix of cashews in chili and lime, crunchy bbq corn and peas - this was a really tasty mix and my favourite.

 

Hola Hola mix

 

The other 2 mixes were fruit, nuts, seeds and chocolate buttons ... the Kokoda Trail was a super seed mix of dried fruit, nuts and seeds and also a nice surprise of few chocolate buttons thrown in. Mont Blanc was similar from the dried fruit range and had fruit and white chocolate buttons. These were a bit of a naughty but nice mix feeling healthy for eating the fruits and nuts until bam a sweet chocolate slips in there too!

 

Kokoda Trail Mix

I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty these snacks were because let's be honest when I think healthy I also think plain and tasteless but these little packages were far from boring. The Hola Hola mix created a little party in my mouth I know where the name comes from now ... Hola Hola!

In terms of value, at $7.95 per box including delivery to you I think they are good value for money. Yes they're more expensive than mixing up your own fruit and nuts from the supermarket but seriously, who has time for that - not me! A big bag of nuts can get pretty boring but these are far from that with interesting mixes and combinations. The value comes from it being delivered to you and the element of surprise and trying something different.

Harvest Box are giving a free box away to one of my lucky readers! For your chance to receive a Harvest Box delivered right to your door and packed full of tasty snacks all you need to do is:

1)  Follow Jarrah Jungle here or on BlogLovin here
2)  Like Jarrah Jungle Facebook page here
3)  Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page so I know you've entered
4)  Giveaway open to Australian Residents only
5)  Competition closes Friday, 24 May 2013

Winner will be drawn at random and announced on 25 May 2013 ... Good luck everyone!

If you can't wait for the Giveaway, Harvest Box have kindly offered readers their first box at half price so for $3.97 you can receive one of these tasty treats posted to you anywhere in Australia - discount voucher here. 

Disclosure: Harvest Box partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their product. As part of this promotion I was given a box to review and also one to Giveaway. I have not received any payment or compensation for this review. I have not been told what to say about this product, I am free to form my own opinion and share them in my own words. All opinions are my own. Harvest Box will be posted to winner. This prize cannot be exchanged for money.


[All images my own]

 

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Friday's Letters - Dear Birthday

I'm just that bit older this Friday ... older but not quite sure about the wiser bit! I'm sharing my Friday's Letters with Ashley at The Sweet Season head on over here to link up your letters too.

 

I'm imagining I'm writing this weeks letters from this eclectic home office sitting back in the outdoor chair feasting on leftover Birthday cake and a shot of espresso.

 

Dear Birthday - Another year older and another year I'm shown how special my friends, family and Mr P are to me .... spoilt with flowers, cake, gifts and a surprise visit from my brother. I'm feeling the love xxx

 

Dear Lexi - Week 17 and I have taken you on your first walk with me all on my very own. Apart from you nearly choking the entire way just so you could walk in front of me to sniff out the bushes I think I did ok.

 

Dear Kitchen Reno - This weekend we have the brickie coming over to help cut out the window and brick it into a doorway ready for the french doors to be installed. We're at the half way mark now 3 weeks without a kitchen and 3 more weeks to have it all ready for the new kitchen to be installed. We can do it!

Dear Saturday Night's Cross Dress Party - Why do men love to dress up like women? They can't stop grabbing their fake oranges as boobs and lifting their skirts to show off their stocking legs! Saturday night's party is going to be a hoot!

Dear Autumn Weather - I'm loving the cooler temperatures and listening to the rain when I'm inside all safe and warm. The change of seasons means the heater has made an appearance and so have my ugg boots!

Dear 3 Year Blog-versary and A Giveaway - Next week I'll have had this blog for 3 years WOW time has flown I didn't know I'd still be writing about my renovating journey 3 years on! I also have a Giveaway to share with you guys so stay tuned for more details :-)

Head over here to join in this weeks Friday's Letters

[Image via my Pinterest]
 

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Kitchen Electrics and Plumbing and When Its Ok To Draw On Walls

Last Weekend I was having deja vu from when we did the plumbing in the bathroom and it took 2 days to redo all the plumbing because we totally reconfigured the layout and pipes. Luckily the kitchen wasn't as bad it took just 1 day ... also lucky is we had our plumbing mate helping us again so labour was paid in toasted sandwiches and cold beers!

Mr P and his best mate the super star plumber laid all new electrical conduits in the walls for the power points, light switches and a point for the gas (we're converting from electric stove to a gas one which will be so much better to cook on). They also redid the plumbing and pipes for the sink and dishwasher.

 

The first job would've been fun for kids to do draw on the walls! We marked out where all the cabinetry will go thus working out where we need to put power points and light stitches.

 

When it's ok to draw on the walls!

 

We want a 1.5 sink so worked out where the plumbing and pipes need to go and also pipes for the dishwasher. I've only ever had a single sink but the extra .5 sink will be useful when I've just filled up the sink and then need to tip something out or rinse it I don't know about you but this happens to me all the time!

 

Looking at technical drawing of sink to work out where to lay pipes

Pipes drawn on ready to be cut out

Pipes cut out and new pipes laid

Pipes cemented over ready to be connected

The old ceramic plumbing pipes were removed and replaced with plastic ones.The pipes use to come out of the wall but we pulled them out and cemented over the hole. We will change all the pipes on the back of the house to come out from ground level as having them on the wall is a bit of an eye sore (bathroom and kitchen done but the laundry and air conditioning are still to do).

The window on the left is the kitchen and the window on the right is where we are going to cut the window out and turn it into a doorway with french doors that will go out onto a deck  ... the deck is still to be built as you can see! Currently the only way out to the backyard is through the laundry door which you can see on the far left. Having access from the Kitchen/Dining area is going to make the space flow and be fantastic for when we're entertaining.

Back view of the house

Digging out the old pipes

Lexi aka Site Supervisor thinks this hole is lame ... she can dig much deeper!

Next was the electrical conduits in the walls these were cut into the brick walls with a wet saw and then chipped out. Copper and plastic pipes were laid in the walls and then concreted over. We will need to properly patch and repair the walls ready for painting.

 

Electrics cut out of walls and pipes laid

 

Electric conduits fit into the walls ready for electrician to hook up power and lights

Cementing over the pipes in the walls and getting the walls ready for painting

With all the cutting and banging going on there was a bit of an incident on the other side of the kitchen wall in the living room a bit of plaster came flying off just missing my new ceramic stool and landed on the floor! Another wall to patch and paint. Bugger!

That little wooden wedge got knocked a little too hard and caused damage on the other side of the wall
- the Living Room

See the wedge peeking through? That was not meant to happen!

Another patch and repair job that will need to be done and then the wall repainted

Once all that work had been done there was a heap of rubble to clear out of the room. Thank god we put plastic over the floor because the wet saw also left a lot of water behind which turned everything into mud. It wasn't pretty.

A whole lot of brick and rubble

Then the cleaning fairy (yes that's me!) came along and swept, vacuumed, mopped and ta da I'm cooking dinner on the oven come night time ... ok this night in particular we went out for Thai as I was a little to tired to cook and the room still felt a bit damp and dusty from all the day's work.

So that's another job ticked off the Kitchen Action Plan and onto the next ... repairing the floorboards from where the pantry was removed.

For updates on the kitchen as I go Like Jarrah Jungle on Facebook and you'll never miss a thing!

 

Sharing with link up parties:
Wow us Wednesdays over at Savvy Southern Style
Thursdays are your days over at 52 Mantels

 

[All images my own]
 

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My Birth-Day Not A Birth-Week

It's my Birthday tomorrow and unlike most years I'm not taking an indulgent week off work for a Birthday week. I'm playing it low key because I've just had a week off work to holiday at home which was sooooooo relaxing (apart from the ripping out the kitchen part)!

This year I plan to cram into 24 hours .... Kisses from my man, a sleep in, lunch and catch up with friends and a family dinner to finish off the night at a local Chinese Restaurant where we'll order way too many spring rolls and leave feeling like we'll explode from eating too much ... That's a sure sign of a lovely night out!

I don't feel like making a big deal of my Birthday this year. No parties. No fuss. Just some down time with special people who make me happy :)

If someone wants to bake me some of these Ginger Ale cupcakes though that would be ok with me!

 

[Images via my Pinterest 1 and 2]

 

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