The Orchid House...

At last, I am re-purposing the old unused aviary into an orchid shade house to house some of the orchids in my collection.

 The first step was to clean it out, remove the old bird toys and perches.

 Place planks in position, ready to make into a bench for the pots to sit on.

 Isn't the patina of this old wood gorgeous?

 This is actually an old fence that was in a skip at a new build site, waiting to be dumped!

I am quite impressed with my rescue skills!

The tradesmen, however, thought I was absolutely bonkers!
But I was super excited with my find, and had enough wood for the orchid house as well as for 

  a potting bench in the garden shed.

'Jade', the Indian Ringneck parrot who resides in the next-door aviary, was not too impressed by all the banging in the construction process.

But it turned out FABULOUS!

Now I just need to increase my orchid collection to fill all the empty pots!

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#orchidhouse #orchids

Find Your Wings....

An inspirational photo quote  - 

Have courage to 'Find Your Wings'...

Free to print and share.

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#beequotes #couragequotes 

New to the Gallery...Abstract with Butterfly #1

Spring must be in the air, as butterflies and floral abstract, is happening in the studio.

This painting is done in oils on a Quality primed canvas sheet.

It's a mix of concepts with an abstract flower/leaf background and a realist butterfly.

I really like this painting, so it might be a hard one to let go!

You'll find this image on coffee mugs and other merchandise HERE.

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#butterflyart #butterflygifts

The New Zealand Tui...

The Tui is a New Zealand native bird that has glorious plumage as well as song.

I named this fellow 'Peg Leg Pete'... as he was missing part of his foot.

But he seemed to be quite healthy, even though he had this predicament.

He was enjoying honey nectar from the flowers in the trees in a bush garden when he kindly posed for these photographs.

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#newzealandnativebirds #tui

The Pink Bedroom Makeover...and lessons learned by a rookie about wallpapering!

I love pink...but it was time for a change.  

Which meant saying goodbye to the pink painted walls in this bedroom.

A trip to the décor shop, and an armful of gorgeous (and rather expensive) wallpaper, I'm good to start!

Or so I thought!

Now this was the first lesson of the pink bedroom makeover.

• Never - EVER- buy the wallpaper first: thinking 'how hard can it be to hang it yourself!

The stripping of layers of paint began!

Layers are an understatement!

I remember 28 years ago choosing the prettiest Laura Ashley wallpaper to put up on the walls - I even found a little snippet of what that looked like...

Then, in the years following, the room was updated with layers of mauve paint, then ragged with pink, then it became blue, and then lime green, to be returned once more to the glory of pink!

Work that out, folks!

Wallpaper...and then...FIVE layers of paint.

Which actually turns into TEN layers of paint with a double coating!

Note to self: Stop being a serial redecorator!

I LOVE stripping wallpaper, I think it is therapeutic, but this was a nightmare!!!!

Here is a little excerpt from an email to a friend:

{ Man, I have lived in this old house for such a long time!

Thank goodness my daughter is helping me with the stripping.  Horrid job, when you get to the original wallpaper backing paper and old glue.

Therapeutic, it is no longer,  and I am already declaring 'never again' and wondering why the heck I thought it was a good idea. LOL

I have decided that painting things is much, much easier.  

In fact, I think I LOVE PAINT!  (Yip - that wallpaper love affair is officially over!)

And the hallways, which were to be wallpapered too, are now just going to have a lick of paint to freshen them up.  }

Thank goodness someone whispered in my ear: 

• that adding a large cap of fabric softener to the soaking water helps soften the old glue. (You just soak the wall with it and leave for ten minutes before scraping.)    That's lesson number two! It really works!  I have a moment of happiness!

 Finally after a week of stripping, it was done!

But this is where lesson number three happened.  
If you have an old house with old style plasterboard, get a professional tradesman to advise pre wallpaper preparation requirements.
Best to do this before stripping so you can calculate your costs accurately.

And what happened next was...'

The professional tradesman stayed!

I was shattered from the stripping process...and crying because of the cost.

Which leads to Lesson number Four:

• Always do your homework and costings before doing any home upgrade, especially if your home is an older style, even if you think it will be easy and cheap to do!

 DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING!

So my darling Tradesman rescued the situation....

He painted the walls with a special sealer.

(If you are into clean and green and breathing pure air, 

then I can assure you it is best to move out and stay with friends whilst this stage is happening!)

The fumes were nasty even with the French doors open! Two days later:He plastered the gouges and evened up the walls.

When it was dry - he sanded it.

And then....

   Because I had completely given up on the idea of attempting to wallpaper myself:

 The wallpapering table and special pasting machine appeared.

 And just like magic...

Grey and white gorgeousness became a reality!

But because I had pre-bought the wallpaper, we were 1 roll short.

Once again my clever master tradesman resolved the situation,

 matched and cut in a few inconspicuous places, 

which thanks to his skill and my busy pattern, you really cannot tell.

So that is lesson number five:

• Always buy an extra roll of wallpaper.  Especially if you pre-buy on sale as I did!  That way you will have enough to do the job and for future repairs.

This wallpaper is:

Review of 'The Lessons' for a Wallpaper Rookie:

1. Never - EVER - buy the wallpaper first, thinking you will be able to hang it yourself!
2. Add a large cap of fabric softener to warm water to wet walls before stripping.   Leave 10 minutes and then strip.  The softener helps loosen the old glue and makes for an easier stripping process.
3. If you have an old house with old style plasterboard, get a professional tradesman to advise on pre-wallpaper preparation requirements BEFORE you buy the wallpaper!
4. Always do your research and costings before doing any home upgrade, especially if your home is an older style,  even if you think it will be easy and cheap to do! NEVER EVER MAKE ASSUMPTIONS!
5. Always buy an extra roll of wallpaper; that way, you will have enough to do the job and for future repairs.  If you pre-buy on sale as I did, you may not be able to source more or acquire it at the same price.

So now it's time for the fun part - 

(the job I should really stick to - décor styling)

It's time to dress the room!

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#wallpaperingtipsforbeginners

NEW Photographic Images FREE to Print...

JUST FOR YOU...

These images are for personal use only - copyright applies.

Use as a home computer screensaver, for card making, 

to print and frame for your home décor, or for a gift.

 ENJOY!

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#Freeflowerimages

Walnut Peach Meringue Torte...

Walnut Peach Meringue Torte is a scrumptious dessert!

Not only that, it is super easy to create, looks fabulous, and is a great whip it up dessert when you only have a few hours to create something 'special' for unexpected guests, or a pot luck dinner party.

 Prepare your trays. Line two with baking paper and draw a 23cm circle on each.

 Use a plate as a guide.

 Measure 150 grams of toasted walnuts.

If you don't like walnuts - use macadamias, pecans, or almonds.

Chop roughly.

 Beat four egg whites until thick. Add 1 cup caster sugar and whip till thick and glossy.

Add the chopped nuts and whip until combined.

 Place the mixture evenly between the two trays inside the circles.  

Spread out to the edge of the marked circle.

 Bake for 1 hour in a slow oven.  

100-120 Celcius depending on the heat of your oven.

Remove and cool.

 Purée 1 cup of  tinned peaches in a blender. 

Beat 500ml cream with 1 tablespoon icing sugar until thick.  

Add the peach purée and combine.

Sandwich the two meringue circles together with the cream.

 Put more peach cream on top,

Decorate with more tinned peaches.

 Sprinkle with half a cup of finely chopped walnuts....

Chill for an hour and serve cut in wedges.

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#pavalova #meringue #torte #layerdesserts

Funky Upcycled Jersey Cushion...

An old jersey upcycle...

into cushion cover!

Don't you love those gorgeous Aran jerseys?

I found this one at the Goodwill shop.

Looking a bit sad - as it was a little grubby, and very out of shape, it's jersey days long past.

 But once washed and clean again, you can see its gorgeousness, so lovingly hand-knitted by someone.

but now it's time for a new life as a cushion cover.

 I unstitched the arms at the seam.

these pieces will be upcycled into boot toppers or leg warmers.
Then I turned the jersey inside out and placed the cushion inner inside.

Next job was to pin down each side and across the top (where the jersey neck is).

Remove the inner.

Overlock stitch by machine, pinned seams.

Then trim. 

Overlock the cut edge.

You will now have a double overlocked seam.

If you don't own an overlocker, zigzag stitch will suffice.

Stitch across bottom seam leaving an opening. 

 Turn pillow in the right way.

 Fold the cushion inner in half and pop through the hole.

Wiggle to fit into the casing.
Handstitch the hole shut.

Gorgeous!

Soft, fluffy with a little bit of funky texture. 

And only half an hour to make!

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#diy #cushion #upcycle