Stuck in a rut

Grrr, I think I need a good shaking and I'm hoping this post will do the trick. A few months ago, after getting into a routine with a baby and things starting to return to normal I found myself feeling a bit (incredibly) lost.  Until then I had always been either studying or working and was used to having deadlines and people relying on me to keep me focused and motivated.  I dislike the fact that it takes something like a deadline or someone else to motivate me and it's something I'm trying to fix (and getting better at), but that's how it is.  Then I really got stuck into sewing and crafting and moving and christmas and, although it sometimes took a little 'pep talk' from myself to do something, I was getting much better and feeling a lot better.  This is also one of the reasons I started blogging.  To keep me focused and motivated.

Now that we are here and Daddy is out at the shed working everyday and it's just me and Little Miss, (although her aunty has been here for the last week and that was fantastic) I feel myself getting back into my rut, which involved watching TV and sleeping when Little Miss sleeps and having no energy and not eating very well and being lazy.  I do have a few projects I could be working on and I thought that if I blogged about them I might actually do them.

Firstly, I really should organise Little Miss's 1st birthday party, which is in 2 weeks. Something I want to do for it is make a pink and red themed bunting to decorate the party and later decorate her bedroom.  I haven't started this, because I need to make a trip to spotlight to get some fabric.  I think I will do that tomorrow. I think I'll use THIS tutorial as a rough guide.

Another project is making a street number sign for the shed.  My pretend mother-in-law (daddy and I aren't married, but have been together for 10 years) made one out of pretty coloured sticky vinyl offcuts for herself and her parents and I am going to make one for us (with her suggestions and guidance along the way I hope!).  Clearly I am not doing this project justice by trying to describe it to you so I will take some photos tomorrow and re-blog about it.

Both of those projects are more than enough to keep me busy, along with visits out to the shed now that we have a playpen and can actually put Little Miss (who is now walking by the way!!!) down on the floor.  Also, as soon I get my sim card sent to me I will have people's phone numbers so that I can catch up with all the relatives I moved here to be closer to.

Here's a funny fact: We moved here to be closer to our family.  My parents are currently in Austria and Daddy's parents are currently in New Zealand.

Sorry that was such a long rambling post. Maybe this one was a bit of a selfish vent.  If you listened then thank-you!

Shed update

Well, our family have been working very hard for us over the last few months to get things ready for our arrival.  Not only have they been busy cutting timber and building walls, but so many people have offered furniture and other things we need.  We were given a kitchen sink and cupboards by an Aunty of mine who recently renovated her kitchen.  We have been given copious amounts of furniture, which will be fantastic because, although we already own a lot of furniture, we have decided not to build internal walls to begin with, so we will need all the furniture to build rooms with.  I am hoping we will be able to do this in a way that doesn't make the place look like a second hand furniture store! My dad is a house painter and he has sourced a few things for us as well.  Another relative even found a rainwater tank for us!

Needs some work, but it'll do the job!

Things 'we' (all we did was organise, everyone else has actually done the physical work so far) have done to the shed so far include - cleared the block of fallen trees and overgrown weeds and guinea grass, cleared away a LOT of rubbish from previous tenants,  moved the tank and kitchen to the shed, had all the wiring checked and fixed (powerpoints and ceiling fans still to come), worked on fixing the pump for the bore, and finally, built a ceiling and walls halfway up the inside of the shed and put in a double glass sliding door.

Putting up the frame for the walls and ceiling

The ceiling and walls were only done this past weekend and it is very exciting for us! The rest of the walls are still to come and will probably be a job for us to do when we get there, but it is snake proof the way it is and that's all I care about for now.

The ceiling going up

You can see how far up the walls go in this photo

There are still a few things I haven't told you about the shed and I will do so now.  The shed is on quite a large piece of land (I don't know the exact measurements, or even an estimate, but there's quite a bit of land) and there is a creek that runs through the property.  One section of the creek runs quite close to the 'Shouse' and is apparently swimmable, but I haven't checked this out for myself yet.  The 'Shouse' is about 20 minutes drive from a supermarket or shopping centre, which will take a bit of getting used to as I currently live in Brisbane about 5 minutes drive from TWO major shopping centres and have gotten used to the convenience of it all. It is a very short drive to the nearest beach. There are lots of snakes, but they won't be able to get inside and we will keep the yard cleared.  Lastly (and this is the best bit of all), we have relatives of Daddy's within 3km of us in both directions.  Oh, and there is already a bush lemon tree there! I plan on having lots of fruit trees.

My mum picking lemons to make cheesecake

Part of the creek looking a bit unloved

There is officially only one week until we leave Brisbane and there is so much to happen in that week.  Good thing Little Miss is so well behaved and 'helpful' while Daddy and I are packing/cleaning.

The Shed

There is a bit of history with this shed so I think I should write about it.  The shed is where daddy lived until he was about 3 years old.  Daddy's mum then rented it out to people on and off for a few years, but after a while it was forgotten about.  It hasn't been lived in for about 18 years and therefore, it was not well looked after.  As teenagers daddy and I ventured out there (the first time I'd been there) to find that previous tenants had left a lot of rubbish (white goods, etc) and the walls had been eaten out by termites.  There was a time when a friend wanted to do it up and live there, but it never happened and was forgotten about again.  About 6 months ago daddy and I were seriously discussing our plans to travel overseas, but we really wanted Little Miss to spend some time living near her family before we left, as we both grew up around extended family and think it is important for her to have that opportunity as well.  We discussed renting a house for a bit and then the shed was mentioned.

Well, we got excited about this thought  very quickly and made phone calls to see if we could.  Daddy's mum still owns the shed and the property it is on and was very excited that we wanted to live there.  Of course, we had to inspect to see how much damage the termites had done.  To cut a long story short, the shed was going to be liveable with a bit of work and so we very quickly made the decision to move back to our hometown.

For the past 6 months we have been organising and getting things done from far away and we should be able to move in not long after we get there.  Just a few more things to be done first!!! (like hot water and walls!).