In which Rachel gains a house and employment and loses a boyfriend.

As always, it's been a long time between drinks - or should that be blog posts? I'm not sure, I'm a bit tired right now. Red woke me at 3.20am today, coughing and in need of a pit stop. Then the minx didn't drop off again until about 4.10, by which time it was just going to be silly for me to try and go back to sleep, as I needed to get up and get myself ready for work at 4.30!


Lets see, what has been happening for us since I last posted? Well, a few 'big' things really! I gained employment with Aldi - a delightfully reasonably priced supermarket - German - nice and orderly, just the way I like things! I have been there for aout 6 weeks now, and shhh, don't tell anyone, but I actually really enjoy working there! I get to use my brain and get a bit physical too - a great combination! Though, mentally draining at times, especially when one isn't equipped with a decent nights sleep before hand! I have several different babysitters on hand (usually!) who come in any time from 5.30am-10.30pm, as my shifts start from 6am and on late nights up until 10pm - and it is a 20-ish minute drive from home to work or back, however, it can take longer (up to 50 minutes I have found!) depending on the time of day and traffic (and apparently if it is raining or not!) Red is in full time daycare too, which is helpful for many reasons!

The other rather notable addition to our lives, is that I am now the proud lease-holder of a lovely (and realatively large!) 3 bedroom house, with a BAR! Cocktails people!! I just need a delightful, charmingly handsome barkeep to serve me cocktails now and I'm set! Lucky for us, Lisa came to the rescue again with the loan of the fridge/freezer from the other house, and an old but large and reliable washing machine! Two things I didn't need to fork out for!

I got the kids beds from an ex-hotel place, which I may or may not have posted about in my last post. I got myself a king size bed from the same place, along with some bedside cabinets and even a TV from the same place. Heres a crazy tidbit for you - a king size bed in Australia is different from a king size bed in New Zealand! So the bed linen I brought with me... well, it fits... if I stretch it - a LOT! A king size bed in Australia is eqivellent to a NZ Super King! But by golly is bed linen cheap over here!! Brilliant! However, my lovely big NZ Wool duvet (thats a doona to any Aussies reading ;) ) looks and feels like it is swimming in my new duvet cover!

Anyway - this lovely house, in Dandenong North, which is 10 minutes walk to either school in one direction or daycare in the opposite direction, is nice and warm, not at ALL drafty (one reason I don't miss my old villa!) and the kids and I love having somewhere to finally call our own! We were homeless for a little over 3 months by the time we moved in here. I'm still trying to get used to the no carpet factor though. And whoever thought cream tiles were a good idea in a kitchen/dining room floor needs a stern talking to! We have a decent sized back yard too, with a dodgy swing that I plan to fix, just as soon as I'm not working day after day (I'm currently sitting on day 6 of 7 in a row!)


Now we come to the last part of my post, as the title suggests - losing a boyfriend. Well, I wish I could even begin to explain that one to myself! The last time I saw him was the day after I moved in here. He stayed over the night we moved in, we took a trip to Bunnings on ANZAC day afternoon (when they opened at 1pm) he helped me do a few things around the house, and then had to leave. That was fine. We communicated on and off (he allegedly had lots of work on suddenly) via text, and him calling me very occasionally. He was going to fix my modem issues for me. We made plans to spend a day together the Friday after all his work was finished... but he was sick. I had noticed that his communication got less and less.... until Mothers Day - the last time I heard from him! I gave him a full couple of weeks to get in contact, plenty of opportunity.... until I had had enough. Finally I thought 'eff him - I'm worth more than this! Then rather swore off relationships! I also fixed my modem issues all by myself - sod him and his IT genius! Sisters doing it for themselves and all that!


I apologise - this is potentially a rather disjointed post - less than 5 hours sleep then a full on day (where the EFTPOS went down for much of the day!) probably isn't conducive to a coherent blog post! But needs must!

Whats my secret?

I just posted this on Facebook:

It's just hit me, how stuck in a rut I was this time last year. I didn't fully comprehend exactly how miserable I had been, and for such a long time!

If I sit here and list all the things that have changed in the last year, I would probably be here all night!!

All I can say is, Wow - it's been a wild year! And I am SO much happier now than I have been in such a long time! Things are looking better all the time! Amazeballs! :D

After, actually the first comment, it really got me thinking. Whats my secret? What exactly IS my secret? Do I even have a secret? Dumb luck maybe?

After spending such a long 11 years with someone who clearly didn't value me as a person, let alone a wife or mother, or any of the other umpteen things I did in those 11 years, I was flat, miserable, just going through the motions. Busy being busy. Bringing up my three children as best as I could on my own but still in a partnership.

I felt like a solo parent for years before it actually became fact. Him always at work, or if not at work, not mentally present for the kids or I. I despaired regularly that I was married to a glorified babysitter who was only available some mornings and if I was lucky, two full days a week. This glorified babysitter rarely helped with cooking or cleaning. The one thing I asked him to do was to fold the washing - this was done, if I was lucky, on a Monday which was his day off. There it sat, all week, growing and shrinking at will, until he decided he could be bothered to fold it and not put it away, so it was scattered far and wide by children, then old Muggins here had to do it anyway.

I wanted to get out and work, but his schedule made it too hard. I opened my shop, but instead of him helping by keeping the kids (or at least Red) home until he went to work, he would use the TV as a babysitter while he would sit in the bedroom on his computer and let her fall asleep. This meant  that she wouldn't sleep for me in the shop in the afternoon when I needed to get things done or serve customers unhindered. Then suddenly, more often than not, his work started earlier and earlier. I didn't feel comfortable putting Red into daycare so young, so she mostly came to work with me. Thats just one example of what I felt like I was up against. It really should have come as no great surprise to me, when I was handed my marching orders from my shop, that he jumped at the chance to tell me that I wasn't spending enough time with the kids and that I shouldn't look for alternate premises - that would be FAR too taxing - I should just cut my losses and close altogether. So, 'for the sake of my family' that is exactly what I did. Again, I let him dictate to me what I needed to be doing, because I wasn't there to do everything for him. Do I resent him for that? Well, yes. I'm not certain right now if I DID or if I still DO. The line is pretty blurred.

To his credit, he never hit me. But I'm sure we all know that control regularly takes other forms than physical violence. When I wanted to lose weight (lets face it, my entire life, to this point, I wanted to lose weight) THAT is when he decided to start bringing home creamed buns, chocolate, deep fried treats, delicious things from his work like pork belly and steaks. He would cook them up for me, late at night. Seeing that he had 'gone to such trouble' and the fact that my self control was pretty lacking, of course, I ate them! I joined gyms. But he wouldn't look after the children long enough for me to actually go more than a few times. Granted, sometimes I did lose interest, but for the most part, he had control over letting me go or not. He suddenly had to work when I had planned to go etc. I remember on our honeymoon, him saying 'Don't lose lots of weight and leave me!' Looking back, seriously, WTF? I thought I had low self esteem! How low must his self esteem have been to be saying things like that??

This time last year, I had either just heard, or was about to hear about a gym called Snap Fitness that was about to open in Dunedin. I went in one day before they opened, chatted to a nice bloke called Glen, signed up on the spot! A gym with 24/7 access - I knew he couldn't prevent me from getting there at least occasionally! Oh, but then HE wanted to join too. 'Lets go together!' he said. My heart dropped. I had zero desire by this stage to go anywhere with him, let alone to the gym. The love had disappeared from the marriage LONG before. I remember it opened on 21 April 2012. The day Cass got married! So in the morning, we went in to collect our cards, along with my Mum who also joined at the same time. That afternoon we went to Cass' wedding while my Mum looked after the kids. He didn't want to be there. He complained the entire trip there, the entire trip back and made snide remarks about everything. I wanted to deck him, but I kept my happy face on, as I did at any other event I had the misfortune to decide to drag him to.

Mere days earlier I had downloaded an app on my phone. Silly really. It was a dating app, called Skout.  I honestly had no plans to do anything but talk, platonically even, to people. On my profile I had put that I was married and had absolutely NO interest in doing anything but chatting. How naive I was! I ended up meeting someone who would give me the courage to do what I should have done a long time ago - ask my husband to leave. I guess sometimes, it takes meeting someone quite unlike anyone else you have met before, to make you see what you should have seen an age ago.

This emotional 'relationship' that I started with a man on the other side of the world had me spinning. Someone was actually paying attention to me for a change! He seemed to want only the best for me! It was a revelation!

I felt torn between the life I had known for so long, the relative comfortableness of the status quo, and the unknown of being an actual, real life solo mother. The lack of funds that would be coming into my house frightened me, the stigma attached to being a single mother was also a bit scary. But ultimately, the scariest thing of all, was staying in a loveless marriage with someone who seemed to be able to manipulate and control me so easily. I laid my cards on the table. I was out. I cried a lot for several weeks, not so much for the mourning of the relationship - I had done that long ago. It was more of a release! I was finally free! Scared, yes, a solo mother of three - that is scary. But free! I had to do a lot of hand-holding during the transition period - I had to find him a flat, I had to direct him in who to call to have power, internet and telephone connected. I had to tell him what to buy that the kids liked to eat. I had to tell him to remember to brush Red's teeth, for christ sake! Hell, I even had to make him take the children for two nights a week! But with the fourth child out of the house for good, life was much easier.

The emotional relationship with the man who lived in Sweden, that seemed to go well for a while. I felt happy, seemingly fulfilled even. I lost lots of weight by being able to get to the gym regularly and not eating all the junk he would have brought home for me, had he still been there. I finally felt in control of my own destiny.

I did lose a few friends along the way. I seriously put stock in that saying that 'People come in to your life for a reason' Those who left along the way, they were obviously not meant to stay. I want to thank each and every person who stuck by me during that time. You are truly amazing people. Many of whom, I talked your ear off, cried on the shoulders of, drank with, bitched with. Thank you - you know who you are.

Now, back to the emotional relationship. That was another roller coaster all to itself. In hindsight, it was never a good idea. I am pleased that I took off my rose tinted spectacles long enough to see that this wasn't the fantastic thing I thought it was in the beginning. Believe it or not, some of the time, I really did have my eyes wide open! I am quite sure it didn't seem like it a lot of the time. I could see that he too, was trying to control me. I was delighted with my own ability to spot it so quickly this time around.  Those friends who stuck by me and supported me, even though I obviously made some rather dubious decisions in that 10 month period, I appreciate that you were watching out for me, without being preachy or judgy! Shaking him off has been another revelation for me!


I guess that explains a lot of what happened leading up to this time last year, and some of what happened over the rest of the year, but not really so much about why I am so happy now.

My weight loss - that happened in leaps and bounds to begin with. Then, as expected, it slowed down. I finally had a little time to myself, to be myself, BY myself, when he had the kids for a couple of days a week. I was never really bored on those two days. I had things I wanted to do, life to live! I attempted to get numerous jobs, but unfortunately to a degree, I was still being controlled, by way of him deciding 'oh, I can't have the kids that day, I have to work now' and not having anyone to care for the children in the weekend reliably so it was impossible to get a weekend job. Even trying to get a supermarket job proved fruitless.

Eventually, after lamenting long and hard about everything to a friend in Australia, she talked me in to giving it a go in Melbourne. I felt absolutely sure that he would put the brakes on by digging in his toes and saying I was NOT allowed to take the children out of the country. To my surprise, it took him less than 45 minutes and minimal questioning to say 'Sure, you can take the kids to live in Melbourne. Just keep the snakes and spiders away from them' I was shocked, but in hindsight, not hugely surprised - after all, I'm pretty sure that having the kids 2 nights a week - his only 2 nights off work a week - was cramping his style! So of course, why would he say no? This would ultimately mean less work for him! And in his eyes, less work for him meant MORE work for me! All by myself in a new country, three kids, working - yeah - lets see her pull this one off!

The last year had certainly not been without its stresses. A MAJOR stress, was getting my house ship-shape to sell. I was lucky to have pretty much all the interior renovated (pretty much all by me) so I didn't have a LOT to do in that respect. But cleaning up the section and the outside of the house was no mean feat. Then when it finally went on the market, I was shocked that it only took 18 days to have an unconditional offer on it! Unfortunately we took a major loss on the house, but I needed to not have anything tying me down, financially, when I was out of the country. Selling most of our worldly possessions was strangely cathartic.

Being homeless was also a bit of an adventure. Though, living out of suitcases certainly got old pretty fast. I was lucky that we had some fabulous people in our life who had spare beds or rooms - my Mum and Aunty Susan - and even practically an entire house - Tess and Aaron - before we left New Zealand. Even at the eleventh hour, I sold my car - to someone who had bought something from me on Trade Me - a CD I believe. They saw my car sitting outside the house mere days before I left the country, paid for it over night the night before we left and collected it around 7am that morning!

We left Dunedin on the afternoon of Wednesday 30 January 2013. The first time our passports had been used. My first time leaving New Zealand. We were lucky enough to have my Mum come over with us for a week - amazing to have an extra set of hands on the plane and to help wrangling the kids through the airport and to help with the 8 suitcases, 5 pieces of carry on luggage, 3 pillow pets and 3 car seats! We arrived at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne, slightly ahead of schedule! I knew that was a good omen! I don't like to be late!

For the first 8 weeks, we stayed with Cat and Sachin. Their hospitality was amazing, and I am so very grateful for them giving us a place to stay!

The first morning the kids went to school, I met the most amazing woman! Lisa was sitting in Morgan's classroom, she greeted me like a long lost friend! I actually mistook her for one of the teachers initially and introduced myself and the kids! After we were introduced to the actual teacher, she gave me her number and email address and address - turned out that she just happened to live in the same street that we were staying on! She gave Red and I a ride home that morning and became firm friends! The kids settled into school well, formed friendships with Lisa's kids and regularly came over to play while Lisa and I chatted. That first morning in the car, I mentioned that I used to be a La Leche League Leader and was very active in the Home Birth Association in Dunedin - turns out we had a fair bit in common really! She even leant me her car for the day so I could go and get some things done - I didn't ask - she just offered! Lisa then introduced me to some other wonderful women - Jess, Fi, Sally and Alison.

We are currently staying in the other house on Lisa's property. My kids are loving every minute of being able to get out and play in the well appointed back yard, among the chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and Golden Lab Molly!

Red started at Kinder last week, she loves it so far!

I have had a few job offers, but I'm not into dodgy. I have my second interview with Aldi tomorrow! I was utterly delighted to get a call back for a second interview, as I was 30 minutes late to the group interview, which was highly mortifying! I am never late for ANYTHING! But I am hoping that as Jane (one of my new neighbours) referred me - she runs the Aldi in Carnegie - that I will be successful!

I am also now seeing a really lovely man, he lives not hugely far away - think Port Chalmers to centre of Dunedin - thats NOTHING here, distance-wise, as I have found! He has two children, 9 and 6. I have found that there are actually men who DO care about seeing their children - they are not all selfish! That in itself is a revelation to me! I understand that he thinks I am equally as lovely as I think he is. He has met my children, and there is a definite mutual like between the four of them, which is fantastic.


So.... whats my secret? I guess, grab life by the horns. Think about it for a little bit, for sure, but then actually DO something to make your lot in life better! Yes, it may be scary as hell, but is it scarier to just sit there in your rut, feeling miserable, feeling like there is nothing better out there for you? I am worth more than that! My kids are worth more than that! YOU are worth more than that!

Tess' 7th Birthday Party

Lisa certainly knows how to throw a birthday party! Her number 4, Tess, turned 7 today.  The kids and I were invited to come to her party on Saturday.

There was a slushy machine for starters (imagine the possibilities for later when the kids are in bed!) Then the real fun started! A man arrived with a Dingo (the animal - not the small excavator variety) and all manner of other Australian animals! He gave a great talk about all of his pets (they really were his pets! I can't quite remember most of their names... I probably can't even remember their species names... but I can remember what they all felt like, and I can remember what one in particular smelt like!!)

This is a Dingo 

(Do you know how much I'm restraining myself from doing a Lindy Chaimberlain impersonation right now? It's a LOT!)

Mr Blue Tongue Lizard

'Pinecone' He's a lizard... I can't remember the variety, but he seriously feels just like a pinecone!

And this kind of lizard, it's head and it's bum look the same, so when threatened, he curls into a horseshoe shape, in the hopes the predator will bit it's bum, then it will bite the predator! 

Strong jaws - they like to eat snails :)

Miss Red investigating the cages Nick brought

Tessy wearing a Dragon fascinator - ready for the Melbourne Cup ;)

A frill-necked lizard - very scratchy claws! 

These ones run fast on their hind legs :)

An Iguana - like Jub Jub (from The Simpsons ;) )

Tess and a Brown Snake

Tess and hmmmmm - a snake.... was it a python? It probably wasn't, I can't remember!

I never expected snakes to feel so smooth, soft and almost jelly-like!

Red tickling the snake!              The snake heading off to check out the Andraczke's aircon.

Then we take a turn to the feathery variety - I'm pretty sure he said this is a Lorikeet

A Croc with a sore nose! 

The bandage is to stop him biting, but he does have a sore nose too - 

The people who found him kept him in a small tank to keep him small, but it doesn't work that way!

This is a Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat. She STUNK! 

She is 22 months old, and has been hand-reared since she was days old - her Mum was hit by a car and died, but she was rescued, which is pretty awesome :) Her best mate is a Dingo!

I learned lots and the kids had a great time!

CRAZY - that doesn't even BEGIN to describe the last year!

I've been petitioned to start blogging again.... so here I am - I hope this makes you all terribly happy! ;)


I realise it hasn't been a full year since I last blogged - more like 6 months - but the last year of my life has certainly been a rollercoaster ride! Let me break it down for you:

- Family of 6 - married, 3 kids plus our fourth kid - Thu, from Vietnam who lived with us for 2 years.
- I meet someone, unintentionally, on the internet, from Sweden, we form a very deep, fast and crazy relationship.
-Waking up one day and realising my kids and I deserved better than me being miserable, in a loveless marriage. Asking him to leave.
- He leaves, we are 5. Two nights a week, we are 2, while the 3 kids spend 2 nights away from me.
- I join a gym (a month before he leaves) and lose an additional 15kg by Christmas 2012 (almost 30kg in 2 years)
- I keep on, keeping on. Doing what I have always done - I often feel like I am everything to everyone. I continue to simplify my life (having already stepped back from the two organisations I have been involved with, and having closed my shop in January 2012)
- Trying to put myself first occasionally, sometimes isn't a total flop!
- Trying to get work is a total flop.
- I help my friend to set up a babysitting agency in Dunedin.
- Another friend tells me how wonderful Australia is. I am enticed, but don't think the ex will allow me to move the kids away, out of spite.
- Eventually I pluck up the courage to ask him. He agrees in less than an hour.
- I start making plans to move. The house is culled of excess junk and cleaned to within an inch of it's life!
- The house is on the market as of 1 December 2012.
- The house is unconditionally sold as at 18 December 2012.
- I am supposed to go to Sweden to see the one I met online. This does not go to plan, after people feed the ex a lot of crap. He refuses to look after the kids if I leave the country or try to go and meet him.
- I vacate my home so he can move in for two weeks to look after the children. I stay at my mothers after a short break away to Wellington to visit friends. The airfares to Sweden are non-refundable, a LOT of money down the drain. A LOT of heartache!
- I sell almost every belonging we own to raise funds for our move. I do pretty well!
- We move into my Mum's and Aunty's house and on 18 January 2013, we are officially homeless - settlement date.
- We stay a week at another friends house, then back to Mum's for the final few days in Dunedin.
- I sell my car, it leaves the morning we leave for Australia.
- 30 January 2013, we are on a direct flight from Dunedin to Melbourne.
- I settle kids in school.
- I meet a really amazing lady, who happens to live in the same street as me! She lends me her car, invites the kids over to play, we chat for ages!
- I buy a tiny little car - a white Mazda 121, for us all to get around in.
- I break things off with Sweden. I had tried several times in the past. He was not happy.
- I am encouraged to 'get back on the horse' and join an internet dating website. I meet an amazing father of 3 who is local, we have 2 dates, but he calls and tells me he thinks we both want different things. I am grateful for his honesty, but slightly disappointed as I thought we had a good connection.
- 6 weeks in, I get a job (as the one I had planned to get when I arrived didn't quite pan out the way we had hoped). I went in for an induction for a cleaning job, but after reading my CV, she decided I would be MUCH better suited to setting up a new arm of their business for them - a babysitting agency!


And here we are. Right now, I am waiting to start my job - I just need to tie up a few loose ends first. Little Red needs to get into a daycare centre.

So, once I have started my new job, I will be able to get us into our own house (we have been staying with my friend and her fiancé since arriving in Melbourne) Today I went looking at beds, as I knew I wouldn't be able to do that kind of thing easily once working - except in the weekends with all 3 kids!

The kids are doing well in their new school, they have both made new friends, in fact, we are off to a birthday party tomorrow afternoon! I have met a lovely group of Mums, through the awesome lady I met on the kids first day at school. We are all sorted with Medicare and Ambulance membership in case any of us get sick.

We are slowly adjusting to the extreme temperature... helped now by the fact it is Autumn and getting cooler!


I may well need prompting with remembering to update this, so please give me a prod if you haven't heard from me in a while :)

The Bathroom... and the rest - Part 2

Last weekend, my wonderful Mum took all 3 of my children overnight on Saturday so that I could get the painting done before she went off on a 6 week European holiday. She has only ever taken the older two for the night before, so I was a little bit apprehensive about her taking Red, but I knew if I wanted to get it all done I needed to have no children, especially no grumpy 2 and a bit year olds who have a tendency to do exactly what you don't want them to do!

I spent much of Saturday morning masking off the bits that I didn't want painted the new colour and putting down drop cloths. Mum collected the kids around 10.30, they were gone by 11. I popped into Port Chalmers and got myself some easy 'meals' that required no cooking in my now out of service kitchen - a couple of filled rolls.

After 12pm when I had had my last Skype with my wonderful Amir in Sweden, I snaffled a bit of lunch and did the last of the preparing to paint bits. Then Salena arrived ready to paint.

I had her start undercoating the bathroom, which she did in record time, then she moved on to the toilet and the hallway, and eventually met me halfway around the dining room.

While Salena was undercoating, I started the first coat of ceiling white in the kitchen. I hadn't realised just how cream-with-kitchen-gunk-spots the ceiling was in the kitchen until that crisp, white ceiling white paint went up! What a difference! Truly amazing!

Bathroom BEFORE

Bathroom AFTER

After I had done the first coat on the kitchen ceiling, I started undercoating the kitchen and dining room. When I met Salena halfway around the kitchen, we took a quick brush and roller-washing break, and waited a little longer to make sure the undercoat was dry.

Kitchen ceiling - the white is the first coat of ceiling white, the cream is the previous colour.

Salena then set to work in the bathroom with the enamel paint that she kindly donated for the occasion. Both the walls and ceiling were done in incredibly smelly enamel paint.

Toilet and hall BEFORE                Toilet and hall AFTER - Yes, I still need to paint the cupboard door

In the meantime I did the second coat of ceiling white in the kitchen, then started putting the first top coat of colour on the walls - British Paints 'Bubbly' It is a very neutral colour, with just a hint of pink, so it lovely and warm, but makes the room feel light and airy, and more importantly, it makes everything seem bigger! I managed to whip around the kitchen and dining room in record time, then out into the hall by the time Salena had done the first coat of enamel in the bathroom.

Soon after, she headed home to feed her family. I am incredibly grateful that I had her to give me a hand, otherwise the weekend would have been much longer and less amusing!

Kitchen BEFORE and AFTER

After I finished the hall and the toilet, I stopped for my dinner break, watched some rubbish TV and managed to get paint on my leather couch - I was a bit cross with myself about that! It is still there too, though I know it will wear off eventually. Before I started painting again, I called and woke Amir for the day, then it was straight back into painting - the second and final top coat of 'Bubbly'

Dining room BEFORE and AFTER

Later, on one of my facebook update breaks, with a picture to update of course, my neighbour Sue said she'd pop over with a bottle of wine, so I had another wee break, and a lovely chat. Then it was back into finishing the top coat. I surprised myself by being in bed by 11.30!

Looking toward the kitchen from the hall - I really must re-attach that laundry door soon!

Sunday morning, I woke up to a totally new house! When I walked out the lounge door to the back of the house, it was so bright and airy, and smelled like fresh paint - I was in heaven! I had left the window open in the bathroom over night to try and get rid of some of the paint odour, but it was still pretty strong. I closed the window and turned the fan heater back on. 

Looking from the dining room toward the kitchen.

I love having the fridge hiding around the corner out of the way!

When I was ready to paint again, I headed straight for the bathroom and did the top coat in there. I'm not sure what the name of the colour that is in the bathroom is. It is also neutral, but there is paint over the colour name on the tin. A Dulux paint this time. I had never painted with enamel paint before. Very runny. I managed to get a bit of a headache from the fumes, so ended up taking a couple of panadol. 

British Paints 'Bubbly'

Upon closer inspection, I could see that due to the dark colours I was trying to cover up, the turquoise in the kitchen and dining room and the olive green in the toilet, I needed to give a THIRD top coat in most places where those dark colours had been. That didn't take very long at all. I think I was all finished painting by lunch time.

THEN I was all finished! I did a little happy dance and started to fold up and put away all the drop cloths, and take all the masking tape and newspaper off and put the clean bit in the recycle bin.

The curse of the undercoat!

The end result is one that I am super-duper impressed with! A week and a half later, I still walk into the kitchen and am surprised that it so calming. I actually find myself wanting to just sit at the dining table and relax there now - something I hadn't really ever considered doing before. In the bathroom it is also amazing! I took my first bath since the renovation today - I managed to languish in the bath for an hour! Decadent I know - but I have a nasty bug and no children today - so a luxury I afforded myself. I didn't open my eyes only to want to squeeze them tightly closed again, I could open my eyes and enjoy being in a peaceful bathroom. The toilet too, looks fantastic (who ever thought I would utter that about a toilet?) The previous olive green was so dark, I wanted to turn on the light every time I went in there, but now there is no need to turn the light on during daylight hours, the light, bright colour on the walls solves that problem! As for the previously yellow, and least offensive coloured, hallway, it too is light and airy. 

Now for all of you who are wondering, how on earth did a solo mother afford all this paint? Well, quite simply, I had everything I needed already! I bought 20L of the paint I knew I wanted to paint all the walls of the house in 3.5 years ago when we bought the house. I still need to paint some ceilings, because I am out of ceiling white, but that can wait.

The entire project cost me only time and $1 for the bathroom mirror I won an auction for on Trade Me! How is that for renovation on a shoestring? :D

The Bathroom.... and the rest PART1

On Saturday, a fortnight ago now, my 'thinking' about doing up the bathroom moved up a gear. I stripped off the rest of the hideous wallpaper! Then my friend Salena (who offered to lend a hand with the painting) suggested we also do the kitchen and dining room at the same time.

And so, we embarked upon re-painting the LAST of the house that still needed to be re-painted! Not JUST the bathroom, kitchen and dining room, but also the toilet and the back hallway! I don't do things by halves, you understand!

So, I stripped the dining room with the help of everyone else in the house. Part way through this process, when the wallpaper wasn't falling off in the way I had hoped it would, I suddenly had an epiphany - I had a garment steamer left over from when I owned my shop. I filled it with water, plugged it in, and lo and behold, the garment steamer was now a nifty wallpaper steamer too!

Once the stripping was done in the dining room, even with half turquoise walls, it already looked SO much bigger and brighter. That night after the kids went to bed I also stripped the friezes from around the top of the toilet walls and the kitchen walls. I also managed to give myself a really fantastic steam burn with my improvised garment steamer come wallpaper steamer. It was late, around 11pm, I had about 2m of frieze to remove still, so as any good DIY-er would do, I swore, got down from the bench, turned the steamer off and stood with my hand under cold running water for a bit, while looking up at the last bit of frieze muttering under my breath. When the stinging had stopped, I applied the magic burn cream and carried on. The next morning I wasn't in any pain at all! There is still a big patch of rough skin that I am moisturising regularly, but it is healing nicely!

The next day, Sunday, I plastered all the blemishes. My goodness there were a LOT of blemishes!!! Salena came over in the late afternoon and lent a hand as well - after plastering for so long it was good to have a fresh set of eyes to go over the walls and see any bits that I had missed.

Some of the plastering in the bathroom

Then it was Monday. I got out my sander and I sanded every piece of wall. Plaster dust everywhere. I also went around with a whiteboard marker as I sanded putting a mark on the wall if there was a piece of wall that had been missed. When the sanding and marking was done, you guessed it, I did more plastering!

Covered in sanding dust. And yes, I AM wearing bright red lipstick under my mask! A girl can still look pretty, even when doing DIY!

Tuesday. Thank goodness the kids are with their father on Monday and Tuesday!! I sanded again. Then I started washing down the walls and ceilings. Very tedious! But after the tedium of prep, comes the fun of painting, then the delightfulness of the end product!

Sanding done in the toilet. 

My wee step I made at carpentry class is fantastic! I get SO much use out of it. 

Also, there was a LOT of gouges in the walls in there... 

I hate to think what the previous people did in there! Ha!

I don't enjoy the prep terribly much at all, but the painting and the end result are always made 100x better by good prep, so I do it anyway, much as I hate it! I learned this the hard way!

The Bathroom

Lately I have been thinking about sorting up my awful bathroom. Last February we had a new shower put in, and since then it has remained un-gib-stopped where the new gib has been put up, there is a gap all the way around the shower box where the old one was removed where there are no cork tiles, and the fact that, as with the rest of my house when it was purchased about 3.5 years ago, it was clearly decorated by someone colourblind who managed to secure a job lot of miss-tints!

The new shower, put in February 2011

The colour combination...

As soon as I walked into the bathroom when we were looking at buying the place, I felt a little seasick, maybe even a little drunk... if the delightful single coat of olive green on the lower half of the bathroom wasn't enough, the wallpaper on the top half was enough to make your eyes water! Burgundy, green and cream vertical stripes, quite close together, and then some kind of celtic-inspired boarder around the top... oh my! I said that it would be one of the first rooms to be tackled. Um. Yes, clearly my priorities changed. Admittedly, eventually I got used to not looking at the walls when I went in.

The bathroom immediately after moving in.

The shower immediately after moving in.

Check out the maroon sink - it shows EVERY single dried speck of toothpaste!

In fact, the left vanity door is really only held on now, because I have a lock on the handles, to stop Red getting in there!

Over the past few weeks, I have just been therapeutically tearing off wallpaper when I have been in the bathroom, a little rip here, a little rip there, and the white undercoat underneath is rather refreshing!

Today I have done a bit more, and it is thankfully looking quite bare - though I will need to get in there with my scraper soon I think.

The ease of which the paper is now coming off is helped considerably by the fact the pull cord has come off of my bathroom heater, and now condensation is beading on the ceiling again, just like it used to, pre-installation of the heater 3 years ago. This is not so great - I really must get someone to fix it - being on the south side of the house, and most likely uninsulated, it is like a fridge in there in winter! I was going to give it a go myself (I killed the house mains and went in with my toolbox, but found I didn't have the right kind of screwdriver) I went and knocked on the neighbours door in the weekend - he is an electrician - but there was no answer. I fear I will end up paying someone to do it for me *gasp!*

Mostly stripped walls in one corner - and the offending heater!

I have arranged with my Mum to take the 3 kids away for both days on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of August, and my friend Salena (another Handy-Mummy, in fact!) will come over and we will blitz the bathroom and toilet walls, and if I can manage to get myself organised to get some cork tiles and sealer etc, we will do that too. SO many other things I want to do to that bathroom, but sadly I don't have the funds at the moment. But getting it gussied up will make me feel a LOT better about it! Ideally I would like to tile the walls, but it's just not in the budget now.

The same olive green walls in the toilet as well.

The yellow in the hall way also needs to be vanquished soon!

I can just imagine a serene bath while the kids are at their fathers. I open my eyes, and I am soothed by the walls, rather than the assault on my senses that I currently experience!!