Courtyard Project - Let's Go!

The courtyard design at the front of the house which was approved back in March 2013 has been slowly taking shape in the background the last couple of months.

It hasn't progressed far because we have been busy renovating the kitchen and I've learnt to only focus on one major project at a time or I'll turn into a stress head and nobody wants that! Plus with the Winter weather and rain not much work could be done outside anyways. So now that the kitchen is done and Spring is here with it's nicer weather the Courtyard project is our priority and the goal is to have it finished by the end of the year.

We are really just project managing this one not yet having mastered the art of brick laying and such but there is still so much to organise as the Courtyard also includes a total front house redesign including laying a new driveway and path to the front door, neighboring fences and a gate, landscaping, plants and decor, finishing painting the front of house and door frames and updating our front door. You can see my front house design ideas here.



House Before render, roof restoration, garage extension and courtyard project

Once we had the Council's approval to go ahead, and a few months ago now, we had a bob cat driver come and dig out the sand at the front to make it level and dig the trenches in the shape of the fence for the concrete footings.

Bob cat driver ready to dig and shift some sand

The sand was dug out to form trenches along the edge where the fence will be built. The excess sand was dumped in the centre of the courtyard. It would make a pretty fun race track don't you think!

Sand fights anyone?!

Our Internet line got ripped out amongst all the soil moving but thankfully we were only down for a few days until we managed to fix the wires with some new clips.

Working out how to fix the Internet line!

We also put up a temporary fence around the area to make it safe so that nobody could fall down the slope. And so no kids were tempted to use it as a race track as I'm sure they would be!



Safety fence put up

Just a few weeks ago we had a break in the wet weather and booked in a crew of concreter's to come and pour the concrete footings into the trench for the fence. Unfortunately it rained that day but thankfully it didn't affected the concrete.

Concrete footings poured

Unfortunately they ripped up our Internet line (yes again!) and once again after a week of no Internet we were able to fix the snapped wires again.

Avoid pipes for water, power and Internet

The road sits quite high and our house sits quite low - the water metre use to sit at ground level and now the courtyard has been levelled out you can see how high the water metre use to sit. We are debating whether the water metre will be in the way of the fence where it is and if we should apply to the council to move the water metre to the other side of the fence so it's on the front verge.

Water metre height

The next stage we are at is finding a bricklayer to build the brick courtyard fence. This is where it becomes a bit more technical as our architect and the Council has instructed we use 1 metre long limestone blocks and this is not something the average bricklayer is use to working with and because of their size and the equipment needed to bring them in and lay them. We have asked our brickie who built our garage and helped us with the french door way but doesn't want to work with these bricks. So we are now looking through Gumtree for someone who is specialised in the large limestone blocks.

The brickwork for the courtyard fence

The blocks need to be large to support the weight of the fence, taking into the account the soil type and slope of the land, the wall needs to be built strong to last. Sometimes I think a picket fence would have been a lot easier and cheaper, but it needs to be solid to retain and hold up the soil.

The highest part of the courtyard fence

Hopefully we can start booking in tradies and get the fence built and then the driveway. Once that's done we can spend our weekends doing the landscaping and giving it some kerb appeal.

Some projects seem to take a bit longer to get into ... but hopefully we'll get it progressing soon!


[All images my own]
 

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How To Be An Organised Traveller

Whenever I travel - whether its for a short break, weekend away or a long awaited overseas trip, I pride myself on being an organised traveller.

I find being organised means I can relax and get the most out of my time away.

Kissing a crocodile at Australia Zoo, Queensland



The first thing I organise (after where I'm going of course!) is what to do - for this I check Trip Advisor to see what the top things to do in that City are.

When your travelling you want to not just do the tourist things but find out what makes that place unique - this could be where the perfect view can be seen from, where the best cocktails are served, and where to shop til you drop.

You will be so disappointed if you travel all that way and don't discover what the place has to offer - so it's well worth your time to organise and plan what to do.

Cockelbay Wharf in Darling Harbour, Sydney

I'm a big fan of creating my own itinerary, I'll research the different places to visit, what to see and do.

I'll create a list of these ideas so I have some options. If being your own tour guide is a bit daunting you can always join a tour which will no doubt show the best things to do and depending on how easy transport links are and the language barriers of places visited this might be the better option.

Either way if you're organised and plan or book ahead you know you won't miss out.



Cruising around the Whitsundays, Queensland



Food is a big highlight of travelling for me, I love to try out the local foods they are always the best quality in the countries they originate from.

Checking out a few must eat places and the local drinking places. Mixing food with a view is always a winner. A wine or food tour is a lot of fun too and killing two birds with one stone, having an adventure while getting fed!

Tapas in Madrid, Spain

I'm also a bit of a master at organising the suitcase and packing as I've shown you before.

I do this for both long and short trips I type up a list of my packing items to take including my outfits from day to night and anything else I can't live without on my travels.

This saves me carrying around clothes I'm not going to wear so I'm only burdened with what I'll use and that leaves plenty of room for buying souvenirs and things to bring home.

Winery in Pemberton, Western Australia

I find when I'm organised I'm less of a stress head, I'm not worried about what to do, where to eat, what to wear because I've worked it all before the holiday so all that's left to do is relax and enjoy it!

What are your tips for being an organised traveller?

If you're keen to go on an Australian adventure check out the great travel deals on Travel Factory here

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[All images my own]

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10 Ways To Be A Serious Blogger

I've made some big changes on my blog these past few months with a view to growing and developing my blog and a big part of that is I stepped into the wild woods that is sponsorships, reviews, giveaways and advertising. It has added a lot of interest and excitement to my blog space which I am really enjoying and I hope my readers are too!

I figured that if I started to take my blog seriously, this in turn will show businesses and brands that I'm serious about the Jarrah Jungle name and if they want to work with me they will get a professional service.

So now I want to take a step back and show you how I got here and while I'm definitely not a blogging expert I do want to share what I can if I think it will help fellow bloggers who want to get more involved and take your blog seriously but have no idea where to start.

I learnt a lot from the Blogging Your Way ecourse I did back in May 2013 and since then I've been determined to think like a blog boss and look at my blog as a potential business.

I researched other Aussie star media bloggers like Fat Mum Slim and Danimezza to see how their websites were set up in relation to the sponsorship side of things, and I also found Desire Empires post about things she'd wished she'd done when she first set up her blog really useful (don't forget to backup your blog people)!

These clever ladies have given me a really good idea of the content needed to make sure my butt is covered for any legal mumbo jumbo stuff and also so it's still pretty and appealing to readers. So while I'm definitely not an expert or website guru I have spent the time getting my blog ready for opportunities that may come my way.

Now I want to share with you 10 things you can do if you want to take your blog seriously, work with businesses and brands, and get yourself noticed:

1. Create a Disclaimer, Sponsorship and Privacy page - While there is a big variety of how much detail you put into this, mine contains these important sections: 

• Disclaimer Statement saying that I am the author of the blog and the content and photos belong to me (so no stealy!)
• Sponsorship Information stating exactly what kind of sponsors, reviews, giveaways or advertising I am interested in - I figured it was easier to put it out there and state exactly what you want.
• Conflict of Interest must be specified that this may be present to be eligible for sponsorships.
• Privacy Policy stating that websites can save their preferences to assist with searching etc. There are lots of policy's already written that you can use, I found mine on Jensense.

2. Create an About Me page - This is such an important thing to have as it tells readers exactly who you are. It is also great for companies to see if you are the right person for their product. Mine has photos and a bit about who I am, what I blog about, who my blog is about and where the name came from. My About Me page also has my contact details and links to pages or posts that I think my readers might like.

3. Join Google Analytics - Or one of the many statistic sites to get the proper statistics of your blog. I was relying on Blogger for this up until last year and in comparison Google gives much more accurate and detailed information. You need all this for your Media Kit and to work with PR Companies detailed below.

4. Create a Media Kit - I had a lot of fun researching this and eventually created my own 3 page Word Document and converted it to PDF so it is ready to email out to company's that request it. It has my profile photo and a bit about who I am and what my blog is about; Demographics, statistics and what sets me apart from others; and ways to work with me ie: Sponsored Posts, Reviews, Giveaways and Advertising and price lists and packages.

5. Sign up with PR Companies - It is pretty rare that companies will knock on your door uninvited, so it helps to leave a breadcrumb trail to lead them there. I joined some companies who help bloggers and brands work together:

* Social Callout is really great they send out weekly newsletters of offers and you can respond to any that appeal. I have done sponsorships, reviews and giveaways through them. Best of all they are free!

* Blogs and PR connect bloggers with PR and brands, I haven't used them for sponsorships as yet but I have joined their Blog Directory and paid a $20 membership fee for 1 year so will see what comes of that.

6. Join review websites of topics you blog about - Depending on what your blog content is about, sign up with the websites that review or discuss the topics you blog about. For me, as I do regular book reviews I signed up with Random House Books Australia and Good Reads and from those memberships I have had opportunities to be sent books to read and review and blog about. I figure if I'm posting content on my blog, why not share it on these review sites as well. If you are a travel or food blogger, find some review websites and start sharing your reviews, you never know what can come of it.

7. Register your domain name - I didn't really take registering JarrahJungle.com as a domain name too seriously until I imagined what I would do if the name was taken after the years of work I'd put into it, or if I wanted to start a business under that name but it was no longer available - I'd be devastated to say the least! So I signed up at Net Registry as I felt comfortable with it being an Australia based site and secured my domain name for 3 years for $60.

8. Register your business name and ABN - Along with protecting my blog's domain name I decided just recently to also register Jarrah Jungle as a business with ASIC. This only took about 15 minutes to do online and you can get an ABN number (free) and also register your blog name as a business - the cost for 3 years was $76. I wish I had done it sooner and think it shows businesses that Jarrah Jungle is not just a hobby but a business.

9. Be a Social Butterfly - There are so many social media outlets around now so get your name out there and mingle! I have created a Facebook page which I was really quite hesitant to do as I didn't want to mix my personal Facebook with my blog but creating this page has kept it quite separate and is a great way for me to share snippets without needing to do a full blog post. I'm also on Twitter and while I don't twitter every day I find it's a good way to share blog posts.  I'm also on Pinterest which is a constant source of inspiration and Bloglovin a place to read all my favourite blogs now that Google Friend Connect has closed down.

10. Make it easy to find you and your blog - Putting all your social media buttons at the top of your blog and using the space on the very bottom of your blog so that people can go find your Facebook page or follow you on Bloglovin etc. Linking your own name with your blog name wherever you can is also a good idea so people can see the connection and recognise you. I find on Facebook I can't always comment as Jarrah Jungle so on my personal Facebook page I state that I'm the author of Jarrah Jungle so that people can make the connection.

So these are some of the things I've done recently with a view to taking my blog seriously and building up the Jarrah Jungle name.

Do you take your blog seriously?
You should, I'm sure it's amazing!

[All images via Pinterest 1 ]

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It's Time To Go ... Patio Fence

We have neglected the backyard over the Winter months with the weeds getting out of control and growing so high we couldn't find Lexi's toys anymore! Luckily, Sunday was a gorgeous sunny Spring day and perfect to be outdoors so we mowed and weeded the backyard and cleared out a heap of old timber and materials from the kitchen renovation and old windows from the french doors project into a big skip bin.

 

The old lattice and brushwood fence around the edge of the patio had a bit of a beating with the Winter weather and it was long overdue to be pulled down ... before it fell down!

 

The patio brushwood fence falling down from the Winter weather

 

The view of the patio fence from the neighbors side - the patio is attached to our Granny Flat

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Lexi has to be involved and inspect everything we do!

 

We never use this side of the backyard we've been storing all the building materials from the renovations here
 and need to order another builders skip bin to get rid of the tiles and bricks etc



 

With the patio fence removed our backyard looks so much bigger

 

We are going to put a new fence up for privacy and to give some protection from the weather, it's just deciding what type of fence. I really like Dear Genevieve's idea for covering an outdoor railing in fabric and we will probably do something similar with shade cloth.

 

I'm hoping Lexi has grown out of her chewing my pot plants faze so I can plant some pretty flowering pots and make the patio look a bit more appealing. Fairy lights, lanterns and outdoor decor are also on my wish list to get the patio looking good for some Spring entertaining.

 

How have you been enjoying the Spring weather?

 

 

[All images my own]

 



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Kitchen and Dining Furniture Picks So Far

I've been absolutely hanging out to show off my new furniture purchases for the dining room and kitchen but I wanted to wait until I have it all set up pretty with a rug and dining chairs for the table but I just can't wait any longer so I'll show you what I have so far ... and what I still need to find.

 

I stuck to my daring design dreams and bought these fun yellow Replica stools for the kitchen island bench.
 

The stools are from Go Go they have a fantastic range of replica furniture and really reasonably priced, I scored these stools for $47 each and couldn't find them cheaper anywhere else or in the bright fun colours they stock. We opted for the medium height 66cm so the tops of peoples legs don't knock the bench top and be annoying and potentially spill my wine can't be having that!

Hows about the colour? I love that yellow is the feature colour in this room and works really well against the black and white in the kitchen. I have a yellow pineapple jar from Pigeonhole and a yellow clock, frame and some art to bring in pops of yellow in the room. As much as I love yellow it's such a contrasting colour it needs to be used sparingly!

 

 

The dining room table was an Ikea find - a Torsby 6 seater white frosted glass table top with shiny chrome legs. It was reduced from last year's price of $229 to $199.

Mr P said and excuse the Aussie slang it would be "a piece of piss I'll put it together in 20 minutes" to which I scoffed more like 2 hours thus the bet was made - a carton of beer to put the table together in 2 hours - and he won and did it in 40 minutes. But then so did I because I got a dining room table assembled in record time! That's a win win I say :)

The table is the perfect fit for the area and can be pushed against the wall when not being used so it doesn't block the walkway. It's big enough to sit 4-6 people for a dinner party. I like how the frosted glass makes it blend in with the wall colour which we painted a light grey (Dulux Mountain Peak).

Sadly, the idea of the ottoman or bench seat against the wall isn't going to work with this size table so we are going for dining chairs instead. I want to find a chair with similar silver legs and a low back that sits level with the table top so it's not intrusive to the walkway. I think leather or fabric will work well, all the plastic and metal chairs we sat on we slid right off of so although they look good they're not really practical and suitable for dining.

So there you go there's a sneak peak of the kitchen stools and dining room furniture. Still to find are some dining chairs and the perfect sized rug to anchor the table and create a dining zone.

The next project and the one I absolutely love the most is to decorate! I have a stunning big mirror from Freedom to hang on the wall above the dining table, my wall of clocks and art  I'm still tweaking but should be ready to hang up this weekend. I'm struggling to find a frame for a tea towel  I want to frame as art but I won't give up I know the right frame is out there somewhere!

What do you think of the furniture so far?

[All images my own]

 

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Book Review and Preview: Man Vs Child by Dominic Knight

I'm taking part in the blog tour for the recently published book Man Vs Child by Dominic Knight.

This is Dominic's third book, he's also a comedy writer, radio broadcaster and Chaser co-founder.

 

 

This is an autobiography of Dominic Knight an Australian guy in his early 30s, who works at a radio station by day and follows his passion for stand up comedy by night.

When Dom's friends pair up and start families he finds himself surrounded by couples with snotty nose kids and a totally different lifestyle which leads him into writing material for his Man Vs Child comedy skits. I think we've all been in that situation at some time or another, and for myself personally being childless I could really relate to Dom's thoughts and humour about parenthood. The story continually goes back to the internal debate of whether Dom wants to have kids, grow up, and stop being a kid himself.

Things start to change on the romance front when Dom runs into his high school sweetheart Penny who has a 1 year old son Lloyd. The more time Dom spends with them the more he realises the whole kid thing isn't so bad after all. There is a lot of vulnerability and understanding that comes from this part of the story and I really felt for Dom.

The insight into life at a radio station I found really interesting to know what happens behind the scenes with our on air celebrities. Same goes for the stand up comedy shows, of which I have been to quite a few and felt like I was sitting there with Dom at the cabaret table with a bottle of wine ready to laugh and encourage those brave enough to stand up on stage for the benefit of our entertainment.

The novel is written in a very simple and easy to follow style, the characters were described well and I felt like I knew them and could relate to them. Dom was like listening to a mate tell me funny stories or run down on conversations and things that happened, it was a very relaxed read. True to Dom's comedy background the novel was funny, witty, and very cheeky, I found myself grinning like an idiot on public transport on more than a few occasions.
 

I recommend this book to young Australians who would like to know a bit about Sydney's radio and comedy scene. I would also recommend it to men (and women) who are unsure if they want to start a family, it gives some great points from both sides of the fence but in a laid back approach so you don't feel like you're getting a lecture.

 

I give this book 4 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

 

Man Vs Child can be purchased from Random House Australia here.

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

 

[Image via RandomHouse]

 

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Courtyard Plants And Pots

If you are a Jarrah Jungle facebook fan you will have seen the developments on our front Courtyard in the last few weeks - once the council approved the fence plans we had a bobcat driver in to dig out the sand ready for the footings. The concrete guys came last week to pour the concrete footings for the wall. Which means we are now ready for a bricklayer to come and build the wall. Step by step our Courtyard will come together.

I've been busy sketching and drawing how I want the courtyard and front garden to look and researching the types of plants that will be drought tolerant, love full sun and survive on little water. I really like the look of feature plants in large pots and have my eye on some ornamental grasses, birds of paradise, agaves, yukkas and of course my much loved succulents.

 

  

 

Can you recommend any plants that grow well in pots?

 

 

[Images via my Pinterest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
 

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