Pretty Pewter

Last Friday I went shopping for bargains and if you remember I picked up some really nice pewter pieces for next to nothing. When I got all of my new additions home I spent some time arranging things and really liked the combination of the red roses with the silver pewter.

Photos: McCarthy Designs

Bargain Hunting

I am extremely fortunate that I work a nine day fortnight and today just happened to be my day off. Usually I spend the day cleaning and cooking and other housewifely and motherly things but today I went shopping. I confess I love .... I mean LOVE a bargain. I really dislike paying full price for things. I really enjoy getting a bargain and that was what I was aiming for today, so I went and visited the used goods shops and I am pleased to say that I had found some good buys. I did find other items that I really liked but that I felt were over priced for the amount of work that would be required to make them usable. So without futher ado ........ (drum roll please) my purchases for today are:

First stop total spent $3.50. I have plans for these lovely items, look out for them in the future.

Here I scored this gorgeous pair of pewter mini jugs/urns along with a cute pedestal, pretty glass, book to read and some crafty stuff, all for the bargain price of ...... $8.50.

This store ended up being a trip down memory lane. I found this set of 'Bible Friends' books that we had at home when we were growing up and I have many memories that these books are part of. Actually we probably still have them at mum's house however these were in great condition and I couldn't resist grabbing them for myself. You'll notice there is also another book for reading. I just realised that it may sound like I have lots of time for reading and unfortunately that is not the case. I love to read but I must confess I am lucky to be able to read 4 novels a year, Usually I get to read when we go away for a holiday, otherwise my latest bedside book has been ongoing for 4 months now. I think I only have about 10 pages to go, Yay! I might finish it in the next few weeks.

Ok, this last lot was not from a used goods store however they were a bargain. A local store, ECJ's (located at 331 Lords Place) is closing down and they have a huge sale at the moment with at least 50% off and picked up these goodies all at 50% off or more. Of course I needed none of it but at the same time I couldn't do without it, after all it was on sale and I was saving money. 4 items and $44 later, I head for home, happy and ready to find a new home for each item. I will post more over the next week.

photos: McCarthy Designs

Pretty Things... flowers

I was feeling the need for some prettiness before I go to bed.

Photo source: unknown

Riverside Lodge

The 'Riverside lodge' was featured in Notebook magazine and it appealed to me firstly because of the fantastic outside room with the big fireplace. I could easily imagine curling up there with a good book or a new magazine, a glass of red wine or a pot of tea and just relaxing enjoying the water running by.

The colours used throughout the house are neutral and calming and the designers have used lots of natural textures. I love the big windows that let in huge amounts of natural light and capture the great view from so many different angles. It looks like a great house for entertaining with the beautiful white open kitchen and lots of comfy places to sit and relax.

Riverside Lodge Photos: Notebook Magazine.com

Love

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love is any of a number of emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong affection[1] and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my boyfriend"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states. Love is an extremely powerful emotion; it is irresistible and people are often bound to pursue their love interests. Love is a major theme in many literature texts and poems, with movies often portraying "finding true love." Love can lead to all the 7 Deadly Sins. As an abstract concept, love usually refers to a deep, ineffable feeling of tenderly caring for another person. Even this limited conception of love, however, encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love to the nonsexual emotional closeness of familial and platonic love[2] to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.[3] Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts

I love my husband, he bought me these gorgeous roses last week when I was at home sick.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . .And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - excerpts from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 Photo: McCarthy Designs

More Before and After

Before

The paint job was so bad, on this wall the previous owners must have had a entertainment unit sitting against the wall and when they painted the skirting board they have painted up to a point on either side and left what they couldn't reach....

After

The pretty new wall with a proper paint job. It took me weeks/months to convince my husband that a photo wall would look good. He still likes to tease me about my need to cover every inch of wall space with stuff. He often looks up at the ceiling and wonders out loud how long it will be before I start putting things up there.

When we bought our house there were a few feature walls and one feature room that had been painted using a suede effect. While I have always liked the effect I didn't realise what a pain it was to remove when you wanted a change. The suede effect paint has a textured finish that requires sanding before you can repaint. Well that was fun, particularly in the 'blue room', every wall was painted in the suede paint and we had to sand it all and the undercoat the room as it was such a dark colour. What a mess, I had blue stuff coming out of my nose when I blew it. Yuck! Yes in the last photo I am vacuuming the wall....

Photos: McCarthy Designs

Outdoor dining

I have been at home with a chest infection for the last few days and I am going back to work tomorrow. I know there will be so much to do and I will be very busy. I guess the day will go quickly. I am really wishing the weather was warmer and instead of going to work tomorrow I could spend the day catching up with friends over a meal. Or perhaps just resting in the sunshine reading a good book.

Have a great Friday.

Photos: unknown source

New Toy

My wonderful husband found me a software package that was easy to play with and rearrange my photos so I could create images like the one below. I tried to play around on his photo editing software program but it was way to complicated for me, so the lovely man that he is, my Husband went and found something easier for me to use. Look out for more photo creations in the future.

Here are some kitchen photos from my files that I really like. Enjoy.....

I love the wooden benchtop on the island bench in the photo above. We are hoping to redo our benchtops in a similar finish. One day.....

I really liked the idea of a bookshelf in the corner of the kitchen, a great place to store cook books and display your gorgeous kitchen accessories. I also like the mismatched kitchen furniture it has lots of character.

Love the benchtop, love the arched window, love the sink and tapware and love the scales. I really like the aged finish on the island bench, it looks like it could be a side table or buffet used as a bench. Great idea.

Wow, I would love to have my pantry looking like this. Unfortuantely it doesn't.

Compilation Photo: McCarthy Designs

Kitchen photo source : unknown

Light

Have I said that I love candles, I love the flickering light, the soft golden glow and the ambience they create.

On Sunday I finally found a new lampshade so to celebrate my new purchase I spent the afternoon rearranging. It's always good to move things around a bit, it's a good opportunity to give everything a good clean.

Baths

Everyone has a different way to relax. I am always drawn to bathrooms, I love bathrooms with a high tonal value, they look fresh and calm. I love bathrooms that have a beautiful view along with a deep bath. My favourite escape from our busy life is to have a bath. The main point of my baths are not to freshen up or wash my grubby body but it is to relax. It is not uncommon for me to have a quick shower prior to getting in my bath and putting the massage mat on. I like to take a glass of wine, my newest magazine or a good book and I will happily stay in the bath for at least an hour. While I'm there I may put a face mask on and a hair treatment, if I am feeling particularly decadent I'll do a body scrub in the shower first and then soak in some lovely bath oil or I'll use a bath bomb. Ooooh, I must admit I really enjoy getting away for a little while and just relaxing. How do you relax?

I'm sorry I don't know where I got these photos from, they were in my inspirations folder. If anyone does know please tell me.

Chorizo Pasta Bake

We had guests over for dinner last night and we had a new recipe that we had been wanting to try for a while. I have started keeping recipes I think we may like and that look fairly simple on the fridge so we can try them when we have a bit more time even on a weeknight after work. This one was a hit. Preparation was quick and then once assembled in went in the oven for 20 minutes always great when you are entertaining as the food looks after itself while you can have a chat. Or if it is just the family you can put on a load of washing, help with homework etc while dinner cooks.

Chorizo Pasta Bake Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 100g Sliced Chorizo 300g penne pasta 150g diced bacon 1 medium Spanish onion finely chopped 1 small red capsicum cut into strips 1 500g jar of pasta sauce 250ml thickened cream 250g grated tasty cheese

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, Cook pasta according to directions. Fry the bacon, onion, capsicum and chorizo until the onion is soft.
• In a separate bowl combine the pasta sauce and cream and mix together. Remove the pasta from the heat and drain well.
• Combine the ingredients with half of the cheese in a large casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese.
• Heat in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.
• Serve with hot garlic bread and a fresh green salad.

The wine pictued is from Patina, a local vineyard we discovered a few weeks ago (more of that another time) and the glass is engraved with our initials, we designed these for our wedding to give to guests and we hade extras made for us. My cousin engraved them for us and Nick created the design.