Switching off

Due to a hefty five minute storm last night and a few trees falling on power lines around our suburb, our electricity went off a little after midnight. Although there were promises from ACTEW that it would be back at 10 am ... 2 pm ... it eventually didn't get put on until after 4 pm.

I wasn't going to complain about not having power for 15 hours. My parents were without it for more than 2 days thanks to Yasi, and my girlfriend's parents still have no power, no landline, no mobiles, and a shed wrapped around their house. But I had plans today which included cooking, stewing, sewing, washing and ironing, so what was one to do? I got inventive, that's what.



I cut out a dress and a skirt so they were ready to sew when the power was switched back on.



We went out for coffee and cake in the morning, and then chips and beer and pear cider in the afternoon.



I went fabric shopping for not one, but two quilts. TWO! Out of control!





And I managed to do a little gardening.



I harvested the last of my potatoes!



And I have to say that having no electricity forced a certain kind of ingenuity in how we spent our Sunday. We are not a pair who tend to be comfortable doing nothing, but by not having a sewing machine, computer, stove, microwave, washing machine and music, we were still able to have a really lovely and productive Sunday. It was, dare I say it, relaxing. Except for the fact I really missed my morning coffee and we were worried about food in our fridge turning, it wasn't such a bad thing to have happen to us. I think switch-off Sundays (figuratively speaking) might be a frequent thing in our house from now on.

Except for the coffee. There must be coffee.

My creative space - this old kitchen

This old kitchen.



Built in 1969, renovated in 1976 and repainted sometime in the late 80s, or whenever Mediterranean colour schemes were all the rage.

I've taken two days off work to sand the kitchen cupboards.



Undercoat the kitchen cupboards.



And apply one coat of red paint.



Now I have to wait 16 hours for it to dry. The second coat gets painted on Friday night after work. We know how to kick our heels up in this house! But I can't wait to see it all finished. Other than the front of my house being painted last September, this is the first bit of renovation I have done in over 4 years of living here.

Then it will be time to paint the walls... and the ceiling ... and the rest of the house...

Want more creative spaces?

41 Reasons

It's my birthday today! Well, it was actually last Monday, but we had visitors (again - this is the last time I allow this to happen, I swear) who always seem like such party poopers. And I LOVE birthdays. Not to the extent of having wild birthday parties, mind you - just celebrating with good times and food and laughter with my nearest and dearest! Last Monday it all seemed too hard to celebrate, so I postponed it till today. Yay! Schedule for today - breakfast, National Gallery of Australia, movies and a rugby league final on the telly. And I have the next three days off due to a public holiday and some much-needed leave from work.

I'm going to be off the air for a while as there is just too much to do around here. While I'm away, there might be some of this happening:



Painting the kitchen cupboards, finally, after years of procrastination on the perfect colour.





I found this wobbly old chair at an estate sale for next to nix, so I think some new nails, a splash of paint and some fancy fabric will bring it back to life.



I won't deny that I have been spending my evenings trying to finish off this quilt top. So close now ... so close ...


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Have you seen the Australian dollar? Ridiculously wonderful, isn't it? And if you haven't caught on yet that the last of the Buttontree Lane stock is listed at very cheap prices (I haven't adjusted the USD for the strong AUD) you'd better catch up! Due to a cancelled sale, there are 3 boxes and 2 sunnyboys left and there won't be any more after this!