Shut The Front Door: Sand, Stain and Seal

With the laundry renovation taking the spotlight over the last few weeks I just realised I haven't shared a proper before and after of our beautiful new front door that we hung a few months ago.

I just want it know that this DIY project was completed entirely by yours truly and I didn't even chip my nail polish :)

Firstly, the door needed to be sanded back to remove the imperfections and marks on it - we paid just $200 for the door which retails at $1400 because of those marks and it only took me 30 minutes to remove them with a bit of sand paper and elbow grease.

Our new front door

Before - Marks on door

After - A bit of sanding and elbow grease!

Door all sanded back ready for staining

Wiped the door over with mineral turps to remove all the sanding dust

Once the door was sanded and the dust all cleaned up it was ready to be stained and sealed to protect it from the weather, rain and sun. For that I used Sikkens Filter 7 in Light Oak which is what we stained our French Doors with. There was enough leftover in the can to do 2 coats front and back on this door which means we didn't have to spend a cent either!

We removed the door handle and weather seal strip on the bottom of the door and taped up the glass panels. Then I started from the top of the door and worked my way down with a large angled paint brush dipped in the stain, making sure I blended each brush stroke and took care of any drips straight away before they stained. Wipe up was easy with a damp cloth.

The tables have turned .... I'm working for once and Mr P is taking the photos!

Progress .... I love the 2 tone affect of the wood

Using an angled brush really helps to get into all the grooves

First coat on the front of the door

Now for the back of the door

Drying time was 16 hours and as this was a Sunday I had to do the second coat on the door the following weekend. The smell was pretty strong too and hung around for about 2 days. Ideally, we should have stained it before we hung it but thought that it might have been knocked about a bit when it was being cut to size to hang so it's probably best that we stained it after it was hung.

Now for the second coat of stain .... after I sanded out any scratches, marks and drips I put on another coat of stain which went on a lot quicker this time around.

After the first coat, I lightly sanded any areas that had drip marks or scratches
.... being careful not to chip my nail polish!

Another coat of Sikkens stain going on ....
This small tin has stained 3 doors with 2 coats each, that's pretty good for just 1 Ltr

The second coat went on a lot quicker than the first

Once the front and back got a good solid coat of stain and was left to dry overnight it was the moment of  truth when I could take the painters tape off the glass panels and admire my hard work ..... yes I can actually say MY PROJECT for this and I'm feeling rather proud that I got to do this project from go to woah!

The finished door

The stain is quite dark and especially after the second coat the Light Oak really came through and intensified and the outer wood is almost as dark as the jarrah floorboards and also matches the new French Doors which is what we wanted to create a flow on of similar wood tones for the doors throughout the house. 

  

The new door before and after stain

The new front door creates quite a statement and impression of what you'll find inside the house too .....  fun and personality await you inside!

What do you think of the new door and stain colour?

Sharing with link parties:

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Home Coming - The DIYers

The Dedicated House - Before And After Wednesday

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8 Things To Do In Broome, Western Australia

Today I'm easing the travel bug that's been nibbling at me lately by writing about one of my favourite travel destinations at home in Western Australia - Broome.

I've been to Broome 3 times and travelling there by plane, bus and cruise ship.

Mr P has just come home from his first trip there for a week long fishing adventure and while making a list of things for him to see and do I thought I'd share them with you guys too.

My top 8 things to do in Broome ..... 

1. Cable Beach - For white sand and clear turquoise water as far as your eyes can see you must visit Cable Beach. You can even drive a four wheel drive onto the beach here, go and explore the rocks and fossils when the tides out, or just put your toes in the beautiful warm water. Just beware of the saltwater crocodiles and jellyfish!

2. Sunset Camel Ride - You've got to book yourself on one of the camel tours and go for a sunset camel ride along Cable Beach. The "Ships of the Desert" camels are a lot of fun for all ages, watch out for the spitting ones they can get a little frisky!

3. Sunset Drinks - If you're not on a camel then you can watch the sunset over Cable Beach with a drink in hand! Bring a deck chair and esky and sit right on the beach with an uninterrupted view. Or have an early dinner and drinks at the nearby Cable Beach Club and watch the sunset over the water.

4. Barra Burger and Beer - Have lunch at one of the cafes in town and order a Barramundi Burger - or Barra Burger if you want to sound like a local! Wash it down with Broome's very own beer from Matso's Brewery.

  

5. Staircase to the Moon - Check the times for this as it's not every day, and make sure you get down to Town Beach early to get a good spot to see the staircase to the moon. You won't know what you're looking for until it happens, but it is really beautiful. Wander around the night time markets afterwards with festivities and food vans it has a great atmosphere.

6. Pearls - Visit the Pearl Luggers in the town centre to learn about the history of pearls and how it's shaped Broome today. You can even go on a pearl farm tour to learn how they harvest pearls, on my next visit I'd like to do this. There are pearl souvenirs everywhere with really unique jewellery and homewares in all the stores .... treat yourself to something special!

7. Tropical paradise - Broome is a tropical environment and gets high temperatures even in the cooler months when the rest of WA is getting rain which makes it a perfect winter getaway! Make sure you pack your sunscreen because the sun is powerful and the rays will burn.

8. Nearby hot spots - The contrast of colours of the landscape is really amazing - red dirt and rocks, blue ocean and sky. There's lots of places to check out the different outlooks of the landscape but my favourite spots are Roebuck Bay and Gantheaume Point.

Broome is not a place to go if you expect fancy dinners and yes the prices are higher but that's to be expected from where it is. But if you're after a laid back, friendly, relaxing town with striking landscapes and one of the best beaches in the world then you'll love a holiday in Broome.


You can find some great travel deals for Broome and Australia wide on Travel Factory here

Have you been to Broome? What's your favourite thing to see or do?




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Book Club Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter By Kim Edwards

The Book Club book choice for the month of July was The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This book is also a movie so this month's Book Club meet up was a movie night in with pizza, popcorn and bubbles and we talked about the book and then watched the movie, comparing them. As always I liked the book better, there were more characters and more feeling and description in the book.

This novel starts in the 1960s with a young married couple - who on a stormy snow filled night, the husband who is a Dr delivers his wife's twin babies. First, a healthy son and then a daughter with Down's Syndrome. The Dr gives his daughter away to the nurse to take to an institution and tells his wife that their daughter died at birth.

The nurse, unable to leave the baby at the institution ends up  raising her as her own child, who she names Pheobe.

The decision made by the Dr that night affects his family, the nurse and Pheobe for the rest of their lives. The story is told by chapters in years and shows how the Dr's decision shapes everyone's lives differently.

This is a really sad book, full of mourning, sorrow, regret and guilt. But the writing was good and it has an interesting storyline with different characters to keep me reading and engaged right until the very end. It shows how one action can affect the lives of so many and raises the topic of secrets - is it better to tell the truth or to lie.

I was disappointed that I didn't get to know Pheobe more as she was the character the book was based around. I was also shocked at how they treated Down's Syndrome back then and hope that we have come a long way since that time.

I recommend this book to those that like dramas, family stories, and don't mind a bit of a tear jerker.

I give this book 3 out of 5 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

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[Image via Dymocks]

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Recipe: Slow Cooked Chinese Chicken Hot Pot

I have made this Chinese Chicken Hot Pot in the Slow Cooker a few times now and find that not only is it a meal in itself served with the chicken, noodles and broth but the leftover broth can be reused as cooking stock for other Asian inspired dishes. It's a dish that keeps on giving!

The Slow Cooker makes the chicken so tender it literally falls off the bone and the broth is fragrant and full of flavour, paired together it's one mouth watering meal that takes very little effort and only one pot to wash, what's not to love about that!

Slow Cooked Chinese Chicken Hot Pot

Australian Women's Weekly: Slow Cooking Recipe Book

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

4 cups water

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups Chinese cooking wine or Sherry (I used Sherry)

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/3 cup oyster sauce

1/3 brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, bruised

6cm piece ginger, thinly sliced

3 star anise

1 tsp five spice

2 red chillis, chopped

1/2 bunch of Boc Choy

Thick egg noodles

Spring Onions

Method:

1. Put into the slow cooker water, stock, wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, star anise, five spice, chillis and give it a stir.

2. Wash chicken and add to slow cooker.

3. Turn on slow cooker, put the lid on and put on low for 8 hours. Turn chicken over a couple of times during cooking so the broth covers it and keeps it moist.

4. Remove chicken and pull meat off bones - it will pretty much fall off the bone it's so tender. Cover and keep warm.

5. Pour broth from the slow cooker through a sieve into a large bowl and then back into the slow cooker. You may need to do this twice to get a clear broth.

6. Add chopped boc choy to slow cooker, put the lid on and put on high for 5 minutes, or until tender.

7. Cook noodles per packet directions.

8. Place in a bowl the noodles and chicken and then pour broth over the top. Garnish with spring onions.

Enjoy this fragrant and tender chicken hot pot!

What are you making in the Slow Cooker?

Linking up with:

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

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Laundry Renovation: How To Lift A Sagging Ceiling

Over the weekend we gave our sagging laundry plasterboard ceiling a DIY lift with some metal plaster washers - that are also known as ceiling buttons.

This is our third attempt at lifting our ceilings and these washers were a quick fix and much cheaper than our initial DIY ceiling lift with bandings that we did in the Living Room or the option of replacing the entire ceiling like we did in the Kitchen.

Most Australian homes built in the 1960s used bandings made from fibreglass rovings and plaster to hold the sheets of plasterboard ceiling onto the timber beams above in the roof space. Over time these bandings get covered in dust and dirt and break free thus resulting in the ceiling cracking, sagging and worse case scenario ceilings can give way and fall in causing one hell of a mess and a much bigger expense to fix!

For our Living Room a few years ago when we were new to the renovating game we attempted a DIY ceiling lift by attaching new bandings which we made from a bag of fibreglass rovings and plaster. We also had to hold the ceiling up with some timber supports we made, until they dried.

It was 2 days of hot and sweaty work to do the bandings in the roof space and the Living Room was out of bounds for about 5 days all up while it dried. Plus we spent about $100 on materials. It worked OK, the bandings held on but we found the supports were a bit forceful and needed to find a gentler solution to fixing our ceilings.

Our DIY Living Room ceiling lift

The old bandings in the roof which had come loose

For the Kitchen and Dining Room we had to go the whole hog and replace the entire ceiling which cost us $1500 and was done by our roof carpenter and Mr P.

There was no way around not getting a new ceiling for this room because of the changes we made when renovating, like knocking out the brick pantry which left a lot of holes to be patched and it was better for us to just get a new ceiling installed in here.

Our roof carpenter installing the new ceiling and cornices

As for the Laundry ceiling we decided to use these metal plaster washers which we found after many many many hours of research online. We bought them from Kilian Hardware in Philadelphia and got a bag of 500 washers for $40US delivered to us in Australia. You can find the washers here.

Of course we don't need anywhere near that many washers so have been happily handing them out to our neighbors, friends and family to fix their sagging ceilings with.




Kilian Hardware Co looks like a picture perfect old fashioned hardware store straight from a movie!

The washers are made for drywall but work just as well on plasterboard as we have discovered. They really are awesome little pieces of metal!

Here's how we lifted our sagging ceiling with the washers ....

Firstly, you need to find the roof beam so you have something to screw the washers into. We used a stud finder but didn't really like it because it kept on picking up the electric volts instead of the studs (and said stud finder has been returned to the place of purchase because it was more frustrating than useful!). Mark out your beams so you know where to drill into.

The other option of course is to just guess and drill holes which means you might end up with a few more holes to patch in the ceiling but at least you'll find the beams! Just take extra care of electrics and other things you may be drilling into!

Because the washers are counter sunk and the plasterboard isn't very flexible, you need to make a groove around where the washer will go so the plasterboard doesn't crack. It also helps the washer sit nice and flush. We made grooves in the plasterboard with a Stanly knife.

Then we were ready to drill in a screw and the washer. We put each washer about half a metre apart from each other. Because the washers are large they help to spread the load. They really do keep the ceiling in place, secure them well, and stop the sagging.

Next is to cover the washers with plaster so that nobody knows they are there. Because they are perforated this helps the plaster to stick and cover them as well. Once the plaster is dry, it can be sanded back and then painted. Job done!

Using these washers was such a quick fix and much cheaper than our initial DIY ceiling lift with bandings or the option of replacing the entire ceiling.

This is not a sponsored post I just want to share this great product so other Aussie sagging ceilings can get a cheap face lift if they need too!

Linking up with:

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
Home Coming - The DIYers

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook and Instagram


[All images my own - Other than image 5 Kilian Hardware]

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For The Laundry - Blue Wash Wood Wallpaper

Since my wallpaper admiring spree a few months ago I actually made a decision and picked out this Blue Wash Wood wallpaper.

Being a Bargain Queen of course I didn't pay full price either, I managed to get it on sale for $37 (it RRPs for $69.95 at Masters).

 

Now that the new toilet is in and vanity and glass sink installed, I think with the mosaic splash back tiles I've chosen I'd like them to be the feature of the powder room and hanging wallpaper in here as well may take away from that.

 

So I'm going to use the wallpaper on one of the walls in the laundry, going with my original idea of wallpapering both the wall and the door that goes into the garage - the shoppers entry. We are hanging all new doors throughout the house, except for this door because it will be a custom order and too expensive, so a great way to disguise it's age and knocks and marks is with wallpaper.

 

Here are some of my favourite wallpapered walls and doors for inspiration ...

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

I like how these doors blend into the walls with the use of wallpaper and create a bit of a secret entrance!

 

What do you think of using wallpaper on both the walls and doors?




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[1st Image my own, Other images via Pinterest 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

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Book Review: Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant by Owen Beddall

Random House Australia have invited me to take part in the blog tour for the recently published book Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant: True Tales and Gossip from the Galley by Owen Beddal that hit book stores on 1 July 2014.

Owen Beddal is Australian born and of Anglo-Aboriginal decent and has spent his time since 2001 living between London and Australia while working with Qantas airline until he retired last year after a workplace injury. This is Owen's first book - a memoir.
 

This memoir is a behind the scenes look at what goes on behind the closed doors of an aeroplane through the eyes of the author Owen during his 12 years working with Australia's favourite airline Qantas - the flying kangaroo.

 

The life of a flight attendant is not all glamour and lifestyle as you would imagine but it does have it's fair share of sex, gossip and celebrity sightings! On the flip side there's also annoying passengers, nightmare flights and long hours away from home. This book shows you the good and bad of being a flight attendant.

This book also delves into the Qantas brand and Qantas 'family' and how it has changed throughout the years. I found the insight into Qantas really interesting and think that Owen is very brave to write such a tell all about the company he worked for. The places all across the world that the flight attendants travelled to, where they stayed and partied at were really interesting too.

 

I love to travel but flying is not my favourite way to get there I get a bit nervous on planes (maybe why I love cruises so much!). So I have a lot of respect for flight attendants whose job it is to fly through the air and look after all the passengers on board, all the while looking bright eyed and fresh faced with a smile on their face.

 

I recommend this book to anyone who has dreamed of becoming a flight attendant - this will tell it like it really is and then you can decide if it is still your dream! Also anyone who loves to travel this is a great insight into many port stops around the world.

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

Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant can be purchased from Random House Australia here

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

Disclosure: Random House Australia and NetGalley partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their book and I was given this eBook published by Random House Australia to review. As always, all opinions are my own.

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[Image via Random House]

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Recipe: Slow Cooked Old Fashioned Curried Sausages

I always have sausages of some kind in the freezer, I buy quality sausages from the butcher, there's lots of different flavours to choose from and you can make a fairly cheap meal from them. For this slow cooked dish I used little pork chipalatas that turned out great in this old fashioned curried sausages recipe.

I've made this both in the Slow Cooker and on the stove top but find the Slow Cooker much better as it makes the food more tender and you simply turn the slow cooker on and then forget about it until dinner time!

Slow Cooked Old Fashioned Curried Sausages
Australian Women's Weekly: Slow Cooking Recipe Book

Ingredients:

500g of quality thick sausages - I used pork chipalatas so I didn't need to slice them

480g tin chopped tomatoes

2 cups beef stock

1 brown onion, sliced

5 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 tbs curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika

Fresh parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Brown sausages in pan, add sliced onion, curry powder, cumin, coriander and paprika and stir until fragrant.

2. Add mix to slow cooker and stir in tomatoes, stock and potatoes.

3. Turn slow cooker to low and cook with the lid on for 8 hours.

4. Just before ready to serve, stir in the peas, fresh parsley and season with salt and cracked pepper. Cook for a few minutes on low with the lid off.

5. Meanwhile cook rice to serve (I added a teaspoon of tumeric to my rice as it's cooking for colour).

6. Serve in a bowl with rice, sausages and garnish with fresh parsley.

This dish is comfort food made easy! Enjoy!!
  

If you like sausages you might also like my Slow Cooker Sausage Stroganoff recipe

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Making Progress .... Turning Our Toilet Into A Powder Room

On Saturday the long awaited day finally arrived .... something that has been on our to do list since the day we moved into the Jarrah Jungle almost 5 years now and it's so exciting to see our plans come to life!

The vanity and sink was installed thus turning

our small toilet into a functional powder room!

Gone are the days of walking through the entire house just to wash your hands ..... from the toilet in the laundry, through the kitchen, up the hallway, into the bathroom. Or trying to wash your hands at the laundry trough and turning the washing machine taps on by mistake which everyone use to do! So annoying!!
 

Here's a peek at our progress from the weekend ....

We fitted our new vanity, sink and mixer tap and the plumber hooked it all up to the new plumbing he installed a few weekends ago.

 

We hadn't yet picked out a mixer tap for the vanity but knew that we wanted it to match our laundry trough mixer with the same shape and style. On Saturday morning we ducked into Masters and picked out this Bello brand mixer tap for $109 which was a third of the price of our laundry mixer (which is a Phoenix Taps brand) but looks just as good.

 

 

 

The vanity was fitted over the new plumbing pipes, glass sink attached and the mixer tap installed - now we can finally wash our hands inside the toilet. Woo hoo!

I'm really happy with the small Cibo vanity we got from Bunnings it looks really stylish with the glass sink. It's compact and the perfect size for the powder room, the vanity covers the pipes and there's just enough room to store some toilet paper rolls inside.

  

 

 

Next the plumber installed our shiny new toilet and after 3 weeks of using the outdoor toilet in the Granny Flat I've never been so happy to have an indoor toilet before .... what a treat it is! I can stop dehydrating myself and drink water all day and wine all night without a care in the world!

We dug out all the old earthenware and terracotta pipes and laid all new new plumbing so that our new toilet would actually flush and work properly like it's meant to!

 

 

I'm so happy we have an indoor toilet again and I know our friends and family

will love that we have a working toilet that actually flushes!

No more sending them out to the Granny Flat!!

This week we want to finish painting the laundry and powder room, finish installing the flat pack cabinets, install the bench top, fit the laundry trough and mixer tap.

 

Once that's done we'll get the tiler back to do the splash back around the laundry bench and powder room basin and lay the kick tiles.

 

Once all the tiling is done we can set up our new front loader washing machine - I've flooded the Granny Flat twice using our current washing machine in there because the small kitchen sink can't take the amount of water that comes out of the machine and it overflowed EVERYWHERE  and to make matters worse because it's been so cold the wet carpets are taking ages to dry so it STINKS!

The joys of renovating!
 

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

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Plastering, Sanding and Washing
Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Changing The Plumbing

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Demolition Success

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Demolition Weekend Plans

Laundry Renovation - The Final Design

Laundry Renovation - Wood Look Bench Top

Laundry Renovation - Tips For Picking Out Flat Pack Cabinets

Laundry Renovation - Flat Packs Vs Cabinet Maker

Powder Room Renovation - It's All In The Flush

Powder Room Renovation - Basin and Vanity: Take Two

Powder Room Renovation - Basin and Vanity

Laundry/Powder Room Renovation - Tile-O-Rama

Splash Back Choices - Be Brave Or Play It Safe

Laundry Renovation - Let's Go Mosaic Tile Shopping

Laundry Renovation - Picking The Tiles

Laundry Before - Our 1960s Laundry/Toilet

edesign Mood Board for the Laundry

Renovating - 5 tips for planning and designing

Linking up with:

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
Home Coming - The DIYers




For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook and Instagram

 
[All images my own]

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