Month # 1 at the Mud House..

Today I was driving past the workplace of our friend that recently passed away suddenly and tragically, and thought perhaps I should go and visit the people I met at his memorial...  Then I though, nah, I’ll just start crying.  Then I did.  I had been so preoccupied that I hadn't thought about it for a bit, so it was weird when it hit me again.  And it put into focus what a full on month it’s been here. This had happened right as I was in the last heinous stages of packing and cleaning.   Any wonder I can’t quite get my head around the blogosphere at the moment.  Although I want to dive in, right now can’t.

But an update, in any case, would reveal that we’ve had a bit of a break from the crazy pace that was happening previously at The Mud House, with all time otherwise taken up by children, work and a web publication needing to be finalised twixt hubby and me, all whilst exhausting a reno budget very quickly!

There's been some lovely time out for fishing; The boys love it! Even if they just get to pat a catfish and let it go.

Our annual holiday at Byron is drawing very close so this week hubby’s wielding the drill and nail gun again.  Being behind due to all the rain, we’ve decided to just have to the bottom half built to lock up before we leave.  Building in below was a late decision that’s stretched us dollar-wise, so to pull the budget back a bit we’ve decided to use corrugated iron to clad the exterior. I’m actually excited by the prospect; I’ve always loved this distinctly Aussie feel of rustic and function that it gives and I recently saw some beautiful application of it, with hardwood in a friend’s interior which was amazing.  It should gel well with the oiled wood exterior we’ll have, and I love the idea of it contrasting with a beautifully finished interior..  eventually! xc

I'd be happy with a look like this downstairs..

Coping with Camp Chaos

Ok, so the move to the Mud House, and sorting out how to cope with Camp Chaos (a name aptly coined by my big sister), has been a series of challenges and frustrations to say the least.  Blogging the scenario to date has just not been viable as there has just been so much to do, and so little time, plus it really wasn't pretty!  But I’m starting to feel a little more under control now, and will try and catch up.

I wish, oh wish I’d taken the advice of my younger sister and had the rental home cleaned professionally, but I was just never going to get organised enough with all the packing, so I began the cleaning as I emptied each room. And just like the packing (despite countless carloads donated to Lifeline), it went on and on and on. I thought I had an understanding of how messy my little darlings are, but no… Renting with two small boys was never easy, but leaving the place was really hellish. The pinnacle of the challenge was when I slipped on some wet kitchen floor on climbing down from cleaning on top of the cabinets– I fell onto a bucket and got the most almighty semicircular bruise. Laying there for a few moments, wondering if I was going to be able to get up, I just hoped I had maybe jolted my spine back into alignment, instead of rendering myself crippled.

I’d forgotten that I’d borrowed a bunch of boxes from my sister to move last time, so wondered why I’d had to start feverishly throwing stuff into those stripey laundry bags! I’m still sorting through the resulting fall-out. We ran out of room in the shed too, which was always on the cards, and so the boys keep getting stuck into the “stuff” that is living alongside us under the house. Yesterday I unceremoniously threw a massive drop sheet over the whole lot.. outta site… you know the rest!

Despite the chaos and the ongoing rain following our horrendous move, the house is actually going great! We have walls now and tiled bathroom floors, with the wall tiles half done. I’ve dispensed with the idea of a feature tile to keep it simple, cheaper, and to leave it open for a possible hand-made mosaic feature down the track. I've always wanted to do this, and I'm missing practicing my craft so much!

We cut this wall out so you can look towards the river from the formal lounge.  Our neighbour's idea, after he recalled to us how hot it got in this room.

Elevated dining area.

Can hardly wait to have a functioning bathroom, although the caravan is serving us well.

The house interior is really going to be a reasonably blank canvas, contemporary in its basic design.   Sadly, by the time we get to decorating stage, I’ll be on a very tight budget too.  I’ll be refraining from buying anything too expensive anyway; as such items are just a magnet for breakage with my two small bruisers around.  So there’ll be some cheap, changeable bits and pieces like these gorgeous decals on Etsy.com.   Some might find them tacky, but I think they’re really lovely in the right place.  Can’t wait!

I can see something like this in the bathroom.  Love that if you tire of it, you just pull it off.
courtesy of http://www.etsy.com/shop/annaandnana?ref=seller_info