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Monday, June 30, 2014

Book Review and Preview: Reservoir Dad by Clint Greagen

Random House Australia has invited me to take part in the blog tour for the soon to be published book Reservoir Dad by Clint Greagen that is due to hit book stores on 1 July 2014.
 
Clint Greagen is an Australian writer behind the Reservoir Dad blog and this is his first book, an autobiography. Clint, his wife and 4 young boys live in a Melbourne town called Reservoir .... thus where the blog and book name comes from!

 
 
 
In his autobiography, Clint tells his story from when his first child is born through until his fourth child is a toddler, with his boys now aged 9, 7, 4 and 2. Each chapter is short and humorous, with daily life happenings, the antics of kids, how to keep the passion alive between husband and wife, there's no holding back it's all there warts and all for our reading pleasure!

Clint really has a way with words which makes it easy to get inside his head and see life from his perspective, it's full of humour, he is one funny guy and I found it a down to earth and honest read.

I don't have kids but I still found this book engaging and interesting and while some parts may have actually put me off having kids(!) on the other hand I couldn't help but feel the love coming out of the words when writing about his family and felt all warm and fuzzy sharing in his happy moments.
 
I recommend this book to stay at home Mums and Dads and anyone who needs a laugh and insight into a typical young Australian family.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5
 
Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read

Reservoir Dad can be purchased from Random House Australia here

Sharing my book review on Random House here and Good Reads here

You can find the Reservoir Dad website here
 
Disclosure: Random House and NetGalley partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their product. As part of this promotion I was given this eBook published by Bantam Australia to review. 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.


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[Image via Random House]

Friday, June 27, 2014

Splash Back Choices - Be Brave Or Play It Safe

With each room that I renovate in the Jarrah Jungle house I get braver and bolder with my colour and design choices and because the laundry and powder room is the last room to renovate inside the house I feel that this is my last chance, it's now or never to make daring decisions!
 
So as the tiler is booked in for just days away I'm now starting to question my splash back tile choices for behind the powder room vanity.
 
The powder room vanity has a white cupboard and white glass sink which looks modern and stylish, I'm really impressed as we took a chance and purchased it online without seeing it and even though a 7-10 day order turned into a 2 month turn around due to delays in the factory and unknown to us it would be made overseas, but we received it just in time (this week!) just days before the Plumber is coming (this weekend!to install the plumbing and pipes as we convert our toilet into a powder room.
 
Our compact vanity and sink to convert our toilet into a powder room
 
But when it comes to the splash back tile behind the vanity and sink I think the large white tile left over from our bathroom renovation that we were going to use may look a little boring on it's own.
 
Plus the white tile against the white glass sink and white cabinet may bring on a clash of different whites .... yes I have a thing about different whites clashing!
 
http://jarrahjungle.blogspot.com.au/p/bathroom.html
Our bathroom - Reusing these left over white wall tiles
 
We do have some of these left over silver mosaic tiles again from the bathroom renovation but I think these will only stretch as far as a feature stripe between the white tile splash back above the wooden bench top in the laundry.
 
I really like the idea of using this combination of white tile, silver mosaic and wood bench and it will create interest without being over the top or playing it too safe.
 
Our bathroom - Reusing these mosaics for a feature splash back in the laundry or powder room
 
Picking out our wooden bench top for the laundry
 
So I'm trying to get splash back ideas for the powder room and toying with the idea of laying a vertical row of the grey floor tiles all along the back of the vanity and sink from floor to ceiling. I'm madly searching my Pinterest for splash back inspiration and ideas ...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I've also noticed there are heaps of powder rooms where there is no splash back tile behind the sink, usually just paint or wallpaper which surprises me because the wall must get wet and water damaged over time.
 
How is your toilet/powder room tiled behind the sink?
 
 
You can see all my Laundry/Powder Room renovation progress posts here:
 

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[Image 1, Images 2, 3 and 4 my own, Images 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10 Pinterest]

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Demolition Success

If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you would've seen the dusty sandy work that went on in the Jarrah Jungle on Sunday which was our first day of demolition for the Laundry and Toilet Reno.

We smashed it out literally and the room is stripped and ready for the next stages -
plumbing and tiling

Lucky for me, my brother came and took over the sledge hammer duties so while I was the run about fetching tools, drinks and being the sandwich queen - Mr P and my brother removed everything from the floor, toilet, laundry trough and taps, they even dug out the old earthenware and terracotta pipes to make way for the new PVC pipes which the Plumber will put in next weekend.

Here's our demolition day in pictures ......

We protected the demo site from the rest of the house - By putting up some protective sheeting to the door frame that leads from the kitchen into the laundry. I left a bit loose at the bottom so I could stick my camera under the gap and take photos which is why most of these photos are at floor angle! I also had to get down on my hands and knees and crawl in with tools, or pass through freshly baked brownies and drinks when they needed supplies and encouragement!

When I had to get out to the backyard I tested out the theory of bungee jumping from the dining rooms french doors and almost sprained my ankle so I won't be doing that again! Will have to walk through the torn apart laundry for the next few weeks or risk breaking a limb!



Moved the washing machine into the Granny Flat - We had to relocate the bar fridge and shave off a bit from the side of the kitchenette bench in the Granny Flat to make the machine fit. It was really the only place for it right next to the sink so we can hook it up to drain. We use our Granny Flat for storage and as a spare bathroom when we're renovating so we didn't mind modifying it, it has come in really handy for these renovations that's for sure.

We still need to buy some fittings to hook it up but at least it's in place and I have an excuse for an overflowing laundry basket until it's set up!  

The laundry plumbing - We turned the water mains off and closed off the laundry taps and did a few tests to make sure the water had stopped and wasn't leaking from the taps or anywhere. Then the rusty old laundry trough was pulled out.

All the plumbing is being done by our plumber next weekend - we will be leaving certain jobs to the professionals to do - plumbing, tiling and electrical.

  
The old non flushing crappy (pun intended) toilet - Mr P unscrewed the toilet and took a sledge hammer to it to get it out ..... Or maybe that was just for a bit of fun!

I can't wait for our new toilet to be installed!

   

The floor mosaic tiles and kick tile were removed - My brother was an absolute gun and knocked out all the mosaic floor and kick tile. The sledge hammer was so loud it vibrated through the house and where I was standing right next door in the kitchen the floorboards were shaking.

I had a headache all day from the noise but I was just happy I wasn't the one making the noise! Thanks for your help bro!!



Then to clear it all out - All the tile and rubble had to be carried out so all that's left is sand. We filled 2 wheelbarrows and 10 bucket loads and dumped them in the backyard (in the spot we just recently cleared of all our other reno rubble!). At least the door to get outside was right there, much easier than the bathroom reno when I had to carry bucket loads out down the hallway, through the kitchen, into the laundry to get out to the backyard!

We have left a wheelbarrow full of rubble nearby for the Tiler to reuse when he comes to screed the floor because he'll need to put some back in to fill the room and make the floor flat.





The old earthenware and terracotta pipes are being removed - This is because they are 50+ years old, full of tree roots and god knows what, don't properly drain and are constantly blocking up. We have tried snake drains, plumbers, and just can't get them cleared so while we're renovating this room we thought we might as well lay all new plastic PVC pipes as well so that we don't have any drainage problems in our newly renovated room.

Reaching the earthenware from the inside - My brother was a digging machine trying to find the base of the earthenware from the toilet plumbing. He was virtually his body deep in the hole trying to dig sand out and it kept caving in, it was an uphill battle. But he got to the base finally .... I'm sure even the neighbors heard his you bloody beauty shouts!

Reaching the earthenware from the outside - Mr P was digging to get to the earthenware from the outside of the toilet. He too was chest deep in the hole digging until he could reach the plumbing. They like to dig pipes metres below the ground in these old houses!

We have Lexi dog-proofed the hole and left it like this with the pipe exposed until the plumber comes next weekend to sort it out and put in the new pipes. Lexi is having the time of her life digging through the big pile of freshly dug up dirt out here .... there's probably a few of her bones buried amongst it because it's one of her hiding spots!




Great job lads, demolition day was successful!

Walking through the laundry is our only access to the Granny Flat and backyard to Lexi, so once we were finished for the day we cleaned up, raked the sandy ground as flat as we could, and laid a tarpaulin over the floor so we can still walk through it.

Except I'm only going to attempt to walk on it in flat shoes from now on after attempting it in my high heels dressed for work this week and I got told off by Mr P ... No stilettos on the tarp! Oppps sorry babe!!
There's a cold draught coming into the house from the damp ground which doesn't help in this chilly Winter weather we're having lately. Plus grains of sand being walked all through the house each day but as the saying goes ....

It will get worse before it gets better and I'm ok with that!


So that was a successful Sunday of renovating and demo-ing the laundry and toilet and we got so  much more done having my brother helping Mr P instead of me - I can help with a lot of our renovations but hard manual labour like demolition is not my strong point!

I still did my part and looked after the lads with lots of cold drinks, freshly baked brownies, sandwich queen breaks and slow cooked chilli con carne which I had cooking away for 8 hours making us all hungry for dinner time after a hard day's work. It's all about working as a team and working to your strengths!

This weekend, the plumber is coming to lay all new plumbing and remove all the old services from the wall inside the laundry and on the outside wall too. 

Stay tuned for more laundry updates on the blog next week and for action as it happens follow me on Facebook and Instagram!


You can see all my Laundry/Powder Room renovation progress posts here:


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[All images my own]


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Light Box Dreaming .... Now A Reality!

I have blogged before about my love for cinematic light boxes.

But sadly they are way out of my price range and the cheapest one I could find was on eBay for $300 which was just too expensive. I couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a decor item no matter how much I loved it.
 
 
I knew if I waited long enough and as they grew in popularity there would be some more affordable options. Well my dream has turned into a reality because my favourite store for trendy homewares Typo has come to the party and just released a much cheaper version.
 
These light boxes are $69.95 and come with 69 changeable numbers, letters and symbols. I've ordered one using a 30% off code so scored mine for less than $50. So excited I can't wait for it to arrive.

It's smaller in size, about the same as an A4 sheet and runs on batteries instead of a power cord.

I think it's the perfect size for my home and they don't need to be turned on to look good, unless you want to make a statement at night time. Batteries are fine with me because it means I can put it anywhere!
 

Finally my obsession for words and quotes has a place without me hanging up more art with sayings on the walls at home! I can create my daily inspiration with words on my new light box.

I have so many ideas for cool sayings I think I'll be changing mine every day until the novelty wears off!
  
What's your favourite light box saying?
 
P.S. This is not a sponsored post I just adore Typo it is such a fun and affordable store!


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[All images via Typo Facebook]

Monday, June 23, 2014

Book Review and Preview: The Living Landscape By Rick Darke and Douglas Tallamy

This is a book review and preview of the book The Living Landscape: Designing for beauty and biodiversity in the home garden by Rick Darke and Douglas Tallamy that is due to be published on 1 July 2014.

This book is written by clever duo Rick Darke a landscape design consultant, author, lecturer and photographer based in Pennsylvania and Douglas Tallamy a lecturer, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology in Delaware.
 
 
This is a gardening book which wants to take gardeners back to designing their gardens for beauty as well as creating a landscape that is full of life.
 
Our home gardens are part of the larger landscape, all with layers and the book explains the role plants play in the larger environment - fruit for birds, food for bugs, bees to pollinate. The book then moves on to put this information into context and how we can design our home gardens to implement these design strategies.
 
There are charts and natives for each region of the USA which although I can't use for my Australian garden I still get the gist of what is implied and what to consider when planning my garden at home.
 
The realisation that us modern gardeners using artificial turf and fake plants aren't really doing much to help the living landscape and this has made me stop and think about growing living lawn no matter how much water restrictions and hot summer try to fight against it!
 
I recommend this book to garden lovers who are concerned and considerate of our environment.

I give this book 3 stars

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read


The Living Landscape can be purchased from Amazon here

Sharing my book review on Good Reads here

Disclosure: NetGalley partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their product. As part of this promotion I was given this eBook published by Timber Press to review. 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.
 

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[Image via Amazon]

Friday, June 20, 2014

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Demolition Weekend

In between us painting the exterior of the house and hanging doors the laundry/powder room renovation has been patiently waiting in the background for it's turn.

Well the wait is over - Yea baby it's demolition weekend!

Mr P will be on the jack hammer and yours truly on the sledge hammer to get those ghastly mosaics, tiles, pipes, sink, toilet and plumbing out. It's all got to go!

Previous evidence of my demolition duties!
 
So how will we survive without a laundry/toilet for the next few weeks?
 
Unfortunately, the only way for us to get into the backyard to access the Granny Flat and to play with and feed Lexi is through the laundry door.
 
View from the laundry out to the backyard and granny flat
 
Lexi's puppy eyes saying let me in!
 
We could bungee jump through the French Doors off the Dining Room into the backyard, but until the deck is built out here it's a bit of a drop off and I'm not so keen on this option!

The only other exit to the backyard is through the french doors .... just mind the drop!

Likewise, we won't be able to go into the garage from inside the house as this is through the shoppers entry in the laundry.

So we'll just have to mind the dust and rubble for a few weeks and try not to trek it through the rest of the house too much.

Oh the dusty, dirty, fun of renovating - can't wait!

Shoppers entry into our garage addition

As for our amenities, luckily we have a toilet in the Granny Flat to use so there won't be any trips to the neighbors needed to take care of business. Just a sandy walk through the laundry outside into the cold and dark night.

Note to self: don't drink any fluids until toilet renovation is finished!

If we survived (only just!) using the Granny Flat for 6 weeks while the bathroom was being renovated, then we can survive this renovation which hopefully will only take about 3-4 weeks and we'll be back in business.

The Granny Flat bathroom -
I know it's a bit scary looking but it has saved us when we are renovating inside

As for the washing machine - I offered to not wash any clothes for a few weeks - I would survive I have a wardrobe full of clothes to wear and if in doubt I can always take myself shopping! But Mr P wears a uniform to work so sadly I will still need to wash clothes each week. Bugger.

We will have to find a place to relocate the washing machine for now, maybe in the Granny Flat as there's plumbing in there so we can hook it up to drain into the sink.

The washing machine needs to find a new temporary home

I'm feeling pretty organised because we have all our supplies and materials ready so once we demo this weekend, the plumber is booked in for next weekend, then the tiler and electrician, and then we'll be installing everything, painting and decorating and moving back in!

As always we are doing most of the work ourselves to save money and because for some strange reason - we love it! We have tradies coming to do the professional work - plumbing, electrical and tiling. But we'll be on hand to help them out or at the very least I'll be bribing them with coffee and cake or my sandwich queen prowess to make sure they are well fed and happy and therefore do a fantastic job!

Bathroom tradies bribery evidence

I can't believe we are about to start renovating the last room inside the house - we have completely renovated 4 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway and now the last space is the laundry/toilet.

Holy moly, the Jarrah Jungle renovations are almost complete! Well inside anyways ..... let's not think about that jungle outside!

I will keep you updated with daily snippets of our progress on my Facebook and Instagram so be sure to follow me over there so you don't miss a thing.

Do you have any tips for surviving a laundry or toilet renovation?
 
[All images my own] 
 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

We're Still Painting ...... The House Exterior

Do you remember when we accidentally painted our house exterior limestone and it looked like we were trying to turn it into the Incredible Hulk's house in an awful shade of lime green?
 
Here's a little reminder below!

We painted over the limestone paint as quickly as we could before the neighbors could tease us. But we didn't get around to finishing the rest of the painting to protect the render from the weather, which we have discovered can stain when it gets wet and once damp can start to crack.
 
The Jarrah Jungle ..... turning into the Hulk House!

It's been 2 years since that DIY disaster and we have finally got around to getting the paint brushes out again to finish painting the house exterior.
 
Firstly, we re-did our window frames and trim which we had painted white but now that we have settled on our exterior colour palette we wanted to match our window frames to the roof colour. So thanks to Dulux who gave me some Dulux Colorbond Monument paint (the closest colour to our charcoal roof) the window frames got a makeover and now match the roof colour.

Window frames - See the BEFORE and AFTER here

Now we need to get some Colorbond Classic Cream paint on the rendered walls and finish this project once and for all.
 
Mr P and I make a pretty good painting team - Mr P is a perfectionist Virgo who carefully cuts in with a paint brush while I'm an impatient Taurus who follow ups behind with a paint roller almost rolling right on top of him while he's still trying to finish. You know what they say opposites attract and that's why we're such a great team! :-)

 


We had the undercoat paint tinted in the same colour as the top coat - Colorbond Classic Cream. I thought that was a pretty clever idea because it's already given us good coverage having the same colour underneath in the undercoat as what the top coat colour will be.
 
The rendered walls are really porous and soak up the paint like a sponge, so an undercoat will save you a lot of time, effort and money because you won't need to use as much top coat paint. That's something we discovered when we painted the render in the garage and didn't use an undercoat and we had to do 3 top coats of paint which was about 23 litres to get good coverage. We won't be making that mistake again!



We also painted the white metre box and the silver gas box that are attached to the house. We figured instead of them standing out in different colours, why not make them blend into the walls and paint them the same colour.
 
I'd like to add our house numbers or something decorative to the metre box near the front door. I'm always thinking of the finishing touches and how to decorate the front entrance so it's a welcoming sight, that's the fun of renovating for me - the decorating afterwards!
 
 
 
 
 
Ok Lexi we get it we're boring you ..... we're almost done, then it's play time, promise!
 
 
 
Once the undercoat was painted on, the following weekend we got the brush and roller out again and did a top coat of Colorbond Classic Cream paint.

That's it, that's all it has needed with the undercoat and top coat giving really good coverage because they were both tinted in the same colour.

It's looking really good out the front here I'm happy with the exterior colour choices we've made.


Now that the front of the house is painted and all the render it protected that's another job ticked off this year's never ending To Do List. Can't believe it took us 2 years to do, oh well better late than never!

The next painting job out here is to add trim to the eaves all around the house and then paint the trim and eaves white. The eaves are the underside of the roof, which is cement sheeting from when we had new eaves installed as part of our roof restoration and garage extension about 2 years ago, but we haven't yet painted!
 
What jobs have you left unfinished and procrastinated with around the house?

 


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[All images my own]