Just dreamy window Seats

I don't know about you but I always fall in love with a room with a built in window seat.

 design by San Francisco architect Feldman Architecture, Inc.

I could definately see myself sitting here to read a story to the kids

image via wicker & stitch

You just have to love all of those wonderful cushions

source unknown

Very inviting & cosy

Image via wicker & stitch

OOOHHH!! I think I need a glass of wine whilst I'm relaxing here....

What do you think, is a window seat something you lust after?

CHEERS

Trish xxx

I need some mummy advice...STAT!!!

As most of you know, but for those who don't, I have 4 children...3 girls & 1 boy.

My little boy will turn 9 yrs old in October  I do believe in many ways he is wise beyond his years.

He made a comment to me last night about something I was already troubled about & it has made me sad that he also notices my problem.

He said " Mum, you need to learn how to have FUN !"

Now there is a story behind this issue.

My little man has been a difficult child to manage from birth & I find I am always on guard, just waiting for what is to come next.

He can be downright, rude, cheeky, obnoxious, aggressive just an all round difficult person to deal with & when you get mad with him, he can be completely enraged & so insulted that he will turn the whole situation around & make you feel as though you have committed a crime against him.He will be completely taken over by anger & say awful things to you, just because you said  the word NO, but 5 minutes later he can be hugging you & calling you "the best mum in the world."

Earlier this year he was officially diagnosed with ADHD ( attention deficit hyperactive disorder). Now I know that a lot of people believe that this is an over used excuse for poor parenting, but I am here to tell you other wise. There is a huge difference between a kid being naughty & a kid with ADHD. When my little boy came along, I went from being that mum with those beautiful girls that always brought me compliments for their good behaviour & lovely manners to being "THAT MUM, with THAT KID". Life got to the point where if I had to go some where & I had no choice but take my son, I would have to assess what mood he was in first & 90% of the time I just didn't go & the job didn't get done.I just couldn't bare to be humiliated, again. I tend to live most of the time as a single parent due to the fact that my dream guy is generally at work & this make the situation  all the more challenging

BUT

There is an upside to this story.

 Whilst being assessed by the clinical psychologist he recommended a book for us to read

This book is my new bible. When I first began to read it I cried, it was like the author had been spying on us & even written down our conversations, word for word. After reading this, I knew with out a doubt, that he really did have ADHD

 My husband & I where very hesitant to go down the path of sedating him with drugs for the rest of his life, so we have opted to try out alternatives first & with great success.

We have been seeing at Naturopath & bio chemist for the past 4 months & I have to say that the transformation is astounding

He is following a wheat free, dairy free diet,  taking homeopathic drops & Chinese herbs specifically designed for him & its like we have a new boy. Don't get me wrong, we have ups & downs, but now its just like regular naughty stuff with regular kid reactions.

 His teacher now says he is a pleasure to have in the classroom..YAY!!

Last week we began working with a massage therapist using Kinesiology. He has only had an assessment so far & we are waiting on her report to see what direction we need to take in this department ,but our particular therapist has had some wonderful successes in this area, so here's hoping.

I don't know if anyone of you has a child with this disorder, but I do hope our story can help some one.

(I am capable of being fun, LOL!)

So back to my original problem, can anyone help me learn how to have fun with my now charming, happy & very quick witted little boy?

I do lots of activities to ensure he is entertained & stimulated, I have just lost my way when it comes to actually connect & laugh & play with him, its like I have built a bit of a wall to protect myself & I don't know how to break it down...AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!

I'm sure all of you wise owls with have some very insightful & creative suggestions :0)

CHEERS

Trish xx



Graduation

WOW!

What an exciting day we had yesterday. My eldest daughter graduated from high school!

I am so very proud of her, she received 3certificates of merit for chemistry, photography & visual arts.

She sang at the ceremony & her photography was used on the program.

Now its time for some serious study so she is ready to sit for her higher school certificate in October.

She is hoping to go to university to study & become a photographic journalist so, as you can imagine this camera is regularly attached to her.

She is an extremely creative soul. She designed & made these dresses. They are all made from coloured garbage bags that she stretched, melted , fused layers & sewed to create her major art work for her HSC(higher school certificate)

She then added some props, trekked off to a beautiful local park & photographed her work.She certainly attracted some curios glances from onlookers & a few small children wanted to eat the giant cupcake!!

 These are not her photo's, these are the ones I took whilst stalking her photo shoot.

 Her photo's are MUCH better!!!

Her piece is called

"Alice in Reality"

This fabulous model is "Alice"

& here we have "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum"

This is my youngest daughter, she spent most of her day sulking because she just wanted to play on the playground equipment.

I should have gotten a close up of how the dress laced up at the back, it really is quite pretty.

She did a similar thing last year also constructing her costumes from garbage bags

It was titled "Snow white & the lost boys"

For this reason her teachers have recommended her for a scholarship at

Billy Blue College of Design

to study Brand Fashion

So she is having an interview to present her portfolio in a couple of weeks. I imagine there will be a lot of kids in the running, but you never know where life will take you. Will she study fashion or journalism, I guess we will know by Christmas!!!!

So WELL DONE my beautiful clever girl, I can't wait to see what wonderful adventure life takes you on & thank you for being so wonderful!!!

Are any of you going thru this stage in life with your children, are you full of mixed feelings  too?

I am excited for what her future holds, but terrified of it at the same time, she is most likely going to have to leave home & go out into the big wide world all by herself, making decisions as an adult, being responsible for her own life, this makes me a little sad :(

BUT

I do think we have provided her with many of the lessons she needs to be ready for this next step in life,

SO

time to cut the apron strings Trishy & let life unfold....eeeeek!!!!

CHEERS

Trish xxx





Bathroom Niche...Take 2

OOPS!
This is my second attempt at this post, unfortunately the first time around I didn't have any pictures, just HTML.
Sorry if you previously popped in for some eye candy & all you got was text...I have no clue as to why this happened...one of life's little mysteries I suppose.
Unfortunately I only ended up with one pretty picture after all of that, lucky its fabulous!!!

I love the thought of a niche set into the bathroom wall to make way for some shelving. I think its a great way to soften the room.

If you re a neutral colour scheme kind of decorator  like myself, then a set of glass shelves is a great place to create a vignette, adding a pop of colour or added textural elements to the room, that is changeable whenever the restyling urge strikes.

You do experience these urges, don't you?

Ha....of course you do!!!!

blue tangerine art

Love love love it!!!

Now I love how these are accessorized, I imagine it would have a nice little inconspicuous light installed to highlight things in the evening.
Now I just have to convince the dream guy, you know, the one that will actually be doing the building, that it is worth his manpower to actually add this into the bathroom.
I can see I will be pushing the friendship A LOT in this house building process!!!

CHEERS
Trish xxx

 

New blogger in the family

Happy Monday everyone!

Today I have the pleasure to introduce a new blogger into this ever so friendly blogging community.

Now I am biased as this fabulous new blog has been created by MY little sister Ez(Erin)

This pic is about 2yrs old( don't tell anyone, but she is 11yrs younger than me, so I get to relive my younger years thru her, she is a social butterfly)

Now Ez has been a blog stalker since the day I wrote my first post & has been following many of you this entire time, admiring your talent & enjoying your story We have enjoyed many a glass of wine whilst discussing the hundreds of blogs we follow. I don't know how many times we have said to one another "did you see such & such's post today" LOL, you all know how it goes.

That giant behind her is her fiance, he does have a face!!

Well all of that blog snooping is contagious, so here she is, with her very own blog, telling her very own story & sharing life, as she lives it!!

Life...Style'n

So drop by & say a quick Hi to my gorgeous sister/best friend & follow her story as she plans a wedding, renovates & decorates her home & enjoys her last year in her twenties.There will be parties, fashion, fitness, oh, did I mention parties & a wedding!

Perhaps you will be like me & want to chat with her EVERY day. We talk on the phone, we text & we email pretty much everyday. My dream guy is astounded that we NEVER run out of things to talk about, he he he!!

 You will be guaranteed to fall in love with her, she really is rather charming!

CHEERS

Trish xx

Another step forward

We have made another exciting step forward & have finally been able to submit a development application to our local council & are now eagerly awaiting for approval to build.

This step could take a few weeks OR a few months depending on their work load & this area is currently experiencing a housing boom, so we don't envision that it will be a speedy process!!!

This is an old photo & those shipping containers are no longer there, but basically in the middle of this lovely green patch of grass is where the dream house will go!

These are the sketches of the exterior, the first one is the back of the house the second one is the front & then each side.A little on the small side for decent viewing, I know!!

This  is the front  of our house, in the centre the door on the left is our  entrance & the door on the right is a set of french doors into the formal lounge, there is a blank section of wall between the two that we don't feel is quite right but couldn't find any way around it. We wanted the windows and doors to not sit behind veranda posts. The three posts in the centre section are very large as they support a lot of weight. We will have to put some sort of feature there, like a seat and a nice plant, or something, any  suggestions greatly appreciated!

This is the back view

Im not sure if you can see, but only two thirds of the house are double story as it is a sloping block, although the veranda on the left side is still reasonably high.

This is the upstairs floor plan.

We have 3 bedrooms on the left side, 2 bedrooms on the right & living ares in the middle with a large alfresco area off the back.

This is the downstairs area, it is only the garage & one large room with a toilet in the corner . It opens onto a large veranda that sits directly under the upstairs alfresco.

Our plans where done by a  guy named Neil Finney & he was really fantastic to deal with. Having recently designed & built his own home, he definitely knows the process of being an owner builder well. Neil has been very helpful with his advice & although we actually designed our own floor plan, he was able to tweak it & offer up a few ideas to make things more efficient or less costly to build, which was great!!

If you are planning a house in the Newcastle, Hunter Valley area of Australia then I would highly recommend you look him up.

ARGUS BUILDING DESIGN

0403 392 484

Let me know what you think !

CHEERS

Trish xxx 





P.S I do apologise if some of these plans are a little hard to read, I had to scan them to get them to upload to blogger. I will do close up veiws of some of the rooms as we progress as I will be needing some advice along the way & who better to ask them my clever & oh so stylish bloggy friends!!!