Chandelier love.......

A bit of chandelier love here today....

These little beauties have been a loooong time coming and I couldn't be happier with them. Phew! We built our house about 5 years ago and since then our hallway has been looking very sad and depressed with just two bare lightbulbs to shine in there. The main problem I found was I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted hanging here, kept changing my mind and finding it all just abit too hard!! THEN I was looking at the gorgeous Marley and Lockyer blog one day, Ness had redone her bathroom (loooovely) and this same chandelier was swinging about looking very fabulous. I had to have!.....

Even better, they come from Bunnings. Yes, I'll repeat that one...they come from Bunnings!! So after years of searching, humming and hahing over hard to get, often expensive lights in all different shapes and sizes I found my perfect ones for $99 from a hardware shop. Gotta love that?!!....

So this is what I came home to today.....(and no I wasn't tipsy, just shonky crooked photo taking!!)....

And lights on!......

I think they're perfect for our house, just the right mix of modern and old, just like our house really! Can you tell I'm a tad excited?? Do you think I've taken enough photos of the same two lights?? How about just one more.......

I'm off to sit in my hallway and gaze some more...

Happy FRIDAY!!..yay!........


                           Janelle  xx


                                                                              

                                                                               
                                                                           
                                                                                  
                                                                                
                                                                                  

                                                                                 
                                                                             

Something else......

So, what do you do when you've started a long-time-coming painting project that you should be finishing off as quickly as poosible?.....

                                 

You get sidetracked and start on something completely new of course........

It's good to keep busy right?.....

                                                                               
And totally unrelated...but pretty....

Happy Thursday!....


                                 Janelle  xx
                                                                                

                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                                                               

Hhmmmm......

Okay, another project on the go today......

                                                                            
One that I have been putting off for awhile now because I'm really not too sure how to go about the painting with this and I don't want to fudge it up.....

I was quite excited to find this sitting in the back of an op shop and immediately snapped it up having visions of it painted up and sitting around my house looking fabulous. At the moment it is covered in a yucky orange varnish that is peeling off everywhere. Don't mind the peely part but the orange varnish must GO!.....

My dilemma now starts with how I actually want the paint finish to look. Colour is a no-brainer...white all the way. But do I want a solid white paint finish and would that be shiny or matte?? Do I strip off all that foul varnish and start on a completely clean surface? (Actually I can answer that one now. With a big No. Just can't be bothered and too impatient really) Do I undercoat or just slap the top coat straight on. Do I maybe white-wash it??? Oh the pressure!!!......

So, I have gotten as far as scrubbing it and giving a light sand and now it's time to dip the brush and get started!! Which tub do I dip into?? How much do I slap on?? Should I get a grip and just get on with doing SOMETHING?!!?  Yes, I think so....

Right then, off I go. Really. Hopefully I have more to report in the next few days. Maybe.

Any input appreciated!!.....


                                   Janelle  xx
                                                                              
                                                 
                                                                                 
                                                                                


                                                                                                                                                                    

Sun anyone??......

With only 4 sleeps until it's officially Spring here (but really, who's counting???) we woke up to this today.....

The view from our breakfast table......

                                                                               

And opened the front door to this.....much needed sun streaming in.....

                                         

Freshly squeezed OJ anyone??.......

                                                                               
Morning coffee enjoyed out on the deck...in the SUN!......

                                                                               
   
And off to kinder..... look, no boots needed!!!!......

Admittedly it is still abit on the chilly side but hey, I'll take any sort of sunshine at the moment!!.....

How's things looking in your part of the world today?.....


                                Janelle  xx
                                                                                
                                                                                 
                                                                                


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Sunday Snaps.....

Lately we seem to be spending alot of our weekend time in the kitchen.....

And I'm very okay about this......

Others seem to be enjoying themselves too. Very important job this......

Even Mr WF got in on the action and whipped these up for dinner....and they were yum.....

Little diversion from food.....he's saying Hello....really......

A homemade gift for a very special person.....

Just because.......

And enjoying the fruits of our labour......with a dinosaur roaring in the background......of course......

                                                                                    
                                                                                 
   What did you get up to this weekend? Whatever it was I hope it was enjoyable and fun......


                              Janelle  xx


                                                                                                                 
                                                                                 
                                                                                

                                                                                
                                                                              
                                                                                

A Finished Project!.....

I've had a few (hundred?) projects on the go lately....

So I'm feeling very smug and self-important that I've actually finished one of these (hundred or so) projects....

And as an added bonus, it actually fits and I like it! Always a good thing.....

                                                                               
           
This beanie was soooo easy to knit. So easy in fact that I knitted it twice! The original pattern didn't have the band around the bottom but I felt a little like I had a tea cosie on my head so I pulled it out and re-knitted it with the bit of rib around the edge. With chunky wool and chunky needles it really did knit up very fast!....

Tea cosie???.....

                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                 
  Right, I'm off to finish (or start?) another project.....

 Have you any projects on the go?.....

                                                                                 
 Happy Weekend!.....


                                Janelle  xx                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                              

Friday.....

It's Friday night, I've had a very busy day (um, socialising etc. But it's exhausting!!?!)

And really, I just want to jump in here.....

                                                                                  

So why are those 9 year old toes and not MINE????

Somethings not right here!.....

Hope you're enjoying a relaxing Friday.....


                                      Janelle  xx
                                                                               
                                                                                
                                                                                 
                                                                              

Pair...

Photoaday Challenge   Day 23

Pair.....

Not real exciting. But certainly tasty!.....


                       Janelle  xx
                                                                                

So Simple....

The weather has been pretty yuck here for the past week, which whilst just a tad depressing has at least been a good oportunity to stay indoors. And bake!.....

                                                                                
We bake this cake recipe all the time. It is sooooo simple, it's even replaced any packet cake (gasp!!! Who hasn't been 'guilty' of using them for the odd birthday cake etc?!!) I may have once used.

                                                                               

You honestly do just stand back and throw everything into a bowl, beat it for a few minutes and whip it into the oven. Simple.....

                                                                               
The cake is called 'Chocolate Simplicity Cake' but it can very easily be changed to a 'Vanilla Simplicity Cake' just by changing a couple of ingredients. We make both. Alot.....

Ok, so here it is, easiest cake IN THE WORLD!......

                                                           Chocolate Simplicity Cake

2 oz butter
2 tablspns cocoa (OR to make vanilla cake - add 1 tblspn custard pwdr and 1 tblspn corn flour to the SR flour)
1/2 teaspn vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup SR flour, sifted
1 cup sugar (I usually only use about 3/4 cup) (paranoid about childrens teeth!!?!)
1/2 cup milk

1. Melt the butter.

                                                                                     
2. Throw everything in a bowl.

                                                                                  
3. Beat for 5 mins.

                                                                                    
Yep. That's it.
                                                                                  

                                                                                       


Well almost...

                                                                              
4. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined cake tin.  (My kids insisted on adding the distasteful looking food colouring to make it a marble cake. Please don't feel this is necessary!)

5. Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for 45 minutes.

6. Lick all left over mixture from the bowl.

                                                                                 

And that really is it.  It's pretty fail safe too. I've only ever messed it up once. And that would of course be this time when I wanted to share it! But with a good dose of chocolate icing poured on top it is looking a little better...

                                                                                 
I make this all the time, in different shapes and forms, for my kids' birthday cakes and any other occasion we can think of and it really does work everytime.

 I'd love to hear if you try this!....

Happy Baking!

                   
                        Janelle xx