Snuggled up at Pear Tree Farm

Oh dear me....I have been a very slack blogger of late....I just have not had the time or the motivation to get on here and write.
Most often blogging just gets put in the 'too hard' basket. I find that by the end of the day I am exhausted and just want to flop onto the couch and do nothing. Other times I look at the laptop and think about the blog...then I think...what on earth will I write about...?? I feel like I don't have much to say about what we are doing at the moment, other than just getting through another day!!

Anyway, here I am again....the sporadic blogger with not alot to say today.

What can I tell you about?

Lately we have been keeping snug here at PTF

I got inspired one week and decided I would finally paint the fireplace!! So we did! I started the ball rolling and sanded it back and then I roped Mr PTF in and he helped with the painting. The best part about it...(apart from the fact that it looks a million times better) is that it was a nice easy and quick project and we actually completed it within a week!! Woohoo!

I am a happy lady here, oh yes, yes I am.
 It blends in so much better and it makes the room look bigger which is always nice.

I have also been sewing a few different things. Some cushion covers, and also ideas for kids birthday presents.

These are balloon covers and make such a great toy for kiddies. It has been nice to do some projects and keep warm inside on these cold days.

We have also been out in the garden ripping things out with the help of our Landrover and winch (Mr PTF's kinda gardening right there in a nutshell)

So things are looking a bit bare here at Pear Tree Farm, but hopefully once the new plants take off, it will all look a bit more the way we want it. I love an English cottage garden, so I am trying to plant a few more flowering plants and ornamental trees etc. I will have to show you some pics...when I take some!

We have been enjoying slow cooked meals and warm winter stews with veg from our local market.
I have to say it was such fun to go to the market with the PTF gang the other week and buy veg and then put it in my wicker basket...made me smile.

I tried my hand at preserving lemons....was pretty easy actually. Not sure how they will turn out, but they look pretty sitting on my bench and it was definitely a fairly quick and easy way to use up lemons! Will have to let you know how they turn out.

Here is the recipe if you feel like having a go at it.

Preserved Lemons

Ingredients:
Lemons
Sea Salt
Juice of some of the lemons

Method:
Sterilise jars.
Wash lemons well, then cut the lemons lengthwise into quarters but not all the way through the lemon (leave about 1/2 inch from the base) so that it is still able to remain in one piece. (this just makes them look nice and hold together better.) You may find though if they are big lemons, that you need to cut them all the way in half so they fit in the jar, and that is fine too.

Fill lemons with salt, up to 1 tablespoon per lemon.
Push lemons into the jars and fill up as much as will fit.
Fill the jars with lemon juice till the jar is almost full to the top and the lemons are covered.
Close lid tightly and label.
Each day you need to tip the jars upside down and vice versa, for about 30 days.
Then they are ready to use.
I think from what I have read, when you want to use the preserved lemon, you should wash it and just use the rind and cut off any of the salted flesh and pith as it can be very salty and bitter. Preserved lemon can be used in many dishes such as rice dishes, tagines, couscous and salads.

One of the many projects on my ever growing list... is this sweet $5 dressing table. I want to strip it back and then paint it. Still haven't decided on what colour to go with....am definitely open to suggestions...anyone?!
One day I shall get to it and I will post some pics when I do.

Right now I have a cheeky but grumpy little man clinging onto my legs wanting some attention, so I better be off!!

So thats it from me, I have no more words left today!! Hopefully I will be back here soon with more interesting things to say!

See you soon,
xo Rachel

Pitter Patter at Pear Tree Farm

We have a new addition to the PTF crew....and nooooo Mrs PTF is not expecting again. No, this one is the pitter patter of 4 little feet....Meet Gollie/Goliath! He is 11 weeks old and just as cute as cute can be.

It was all a bit spontaneous and crazy to be completely honest. I was out doing an errand when, Mr PTF reminded me on the phone that we needed eggs. I couldn't be bothered going to the supermarket to get some, so I tried to remember where they sold fresh farm eggs in this little town of mine. I knew that sometimes they sold them at the grain store, sometimes at other places. Well, I tried the grain store but no eggs. One helpful man suggested I try the pet store up the road. So I did. I saw the eggs on the counter at the pet store, and before I knew it, out of my mouth popped..."Umm...do you have any kittens or puppies at the moment?" I couldn't believe I just asked that question....what was I thinking??! The next thing I knew, I was cuddling this little guy and putting a deposit on him.....oh my.

Fortunately I did run it by Mr PTF....over the phone...that way I couldn't see any eyebrows being raised....I'm almost certain I could feel them over the phone though....ah well.
He said yes though and so that was that!!!

Miss O loves him to bits and pieces....literally. She follows him everywhere and would take him everywhere if she could too. It is a lovely house for a kitten, lots of little nooks and crannies to explore and hide in....something I am sure he will need to do....often.

 We had a talk, Gollie and I, on our trip from the pet store to PTF together. I told him all about PTF and how he would have a good life here (mostly) he would definitely be very well loved, very popular, he would certainly have lots of space, (he will need it too, from time to time) there most likely would not be much peace and quiet here, but he will soon get used to it. Most of all, we would be great friends....surely?!

Mmmmmm....hopefully. So far, he has infuriated me by climbing on the benchtops, tabletops, put claw marks on our leather couch and he cries.....all....night.....
At the moment....he seems to me to be just an additional crying baby to add to our chaotic wonderful life here. Ahh dear...the joys of spontaneous purchases....

On a more positive note, I am hopefully going to be able to be more active again and hopefully pain free soon! I am going to be starting some new medications to help with pain relief and inflammation so that will be so wonderful!

I have already got a list as long as my elbow of projects I want to get stuck into. One of which is our fireplace...or mock fireplace I should say.

It needs to be painted...in my opinion that is. Mr PTF is not convinced....but then, it is not often that he is convinced that we need to add unnecessary and time consuming paint jobs to the gigantic list of projects we already have. However, his somewhat prudent reservations rarely stop me from going ahead with my plans (crazy or not). Poor man.

Sooooo, I am thinking of painting this thing, maybe white, maybe a slate/blue-grey colour. What do you think? Any favourite colours you think would work? I am open to suggestions at this point as it is still just in the plotting and scheming phase. I had intended to do it while Mr PTF was away for a weekend, so that I wouldn't have to cop any eyebrows, or rolling of the eyeballs, but I wasn't physically in a state to be able to do any work on it. Drat.

Hopefully though in the next month or so, I shall tackle it and have it looking beautiful.
It is a rather hilarious fireplace.

It is.....

Wait for it.......

Electric...............

Disappointments galore.

It blows out hot air through a tiny electric fan heater under the grate. Then a light behind the screen highlights the rather poxy silk flame-like shapes and they flutter....a little unconvincingly I might add.

Oh for a real wood burner. I have looked into getting one, but it wouldn't work, as the flue would come up right in the middle of our bedroom upstairs where our bed is. So alas, we are stuck with this guy.

I am hoping a lick of paint to both the mantelpiece and perhaps the mirror too, should brighten it up a bit. One day I am hoping to change the carpet to a more neutral, warm-tone colour.

So, any ideas would be much appreciated. I will definitely keep you updated on how it is going!

In the meantime I am enjoying summer loveliness here at Pear Tree Farm.

We have apples and pears growing here at the moment and it is so fun to watch them ripen.

My mother in law has already picked bagfuls of apples that we have turned into sauce and a scrummy apple slice. I shall have to put the recipe up for you soon!

 Miss O can be found most days with an apple or two...or ahem...three, in those chubby little hands of hers. She absolutely delights in running around outside through the grass and picking apples off the tree...or indeed of the ground. Not a bad life here for my little O, chasing butterflies, picking apples, teasing our poor little Gollie....

I will be back here soon....hopefully. I intend to post some recipes up on this here blog of mine and also to show you some of my attempts at DIY/revamping some awesome thrift shop finds!

See you soon
 xo Rachel

Lately

Lately we have been so very busy. We were planning to go away four wheel driving over the Melbourne Cup long weekend, however we ended up cancelling. I breathed a sigh of relief. I am quite weary from all this cleaning, pruning, digging, tidying, de-cluttering, photo taking and playing stylist. Not to mention looking after my very active and cheeky Little O. A shame not to be able to go and explore the high country together, however there will be plenty of opportunities to come I am sure.

  

This weekend we finally got the house up on the market! Woohoo! We took all the pics and styled the house and wrote the ad for the realestate websites. Phew! 

Mmm......I think....I will show you some before and after pics of our house....

 I will go and dig some up from the deep dark depths of the files in the computer...

....wait one moment...

Here they are...

So....as you can see, alot has changed. New awnings to the windows. Nice and neutral as opposed to the pukey green striped and frilly ones that were there. New plants to the garden to provide a bit of shade and privacy.

Next is the kitchen-living area. We painted the mauve walls white and had a feature wall of a soft green, changed the curtains and obviously this is all our furniture...makes it alot lighter me thinks!

Next is the lounge and dining area. Alot of painting and redecorating and changing light fittings and curtains...but so worth it!

         

Next is the front hall. Originally there was a lovely 80s style archway....mmm lovely. So my amazing Mr PTF knocked the thing down and squared it off and now it looks much  more airy and light.

               

 Next we move on to the bedrooms. Below are pics of the study  and the guest room. The bedroom on the left was a study/sewing room before we moved in. Now it is a study/bedroom for Little O and the second bedroom on the right hand side is a guest room. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the guest room before we moved in, but just think, hideous curtains, mauve walls, dark woodwork and a lot of clutter!

Below is a before and after of the bathroom....didn't do a whole lot as we didn't want to spend too much money so just a bit of painting and changing of light fittings and new blinds.

Finally we have the master bedroom. We painted, changed curtains, light fittings and fixed up the plastering and woodwork. Looks much lighter and much more spacious...don't you think?!

  So there you have it, our 'renovations' and foofing around! I love how it looks now and it is always fun to go back and see just how different it looked before we moved in and put our stamp on the place.

Now after all that I am pooped! Time for some soaking in this, mmm delicious! I want one of these. This was a beautiful bath at an apartment in Hepburn Springs in Victoria that my gorgeous Mr PTF took me to....sigh.

So on this note, I think I will stop my bragging....and I really was bragging wasn't I?! I just felt that I needed to let it out to someone....anyone... all the work that we have done. In the end it really wasn't even that much or a major renovation. Just some paint, some new curtains, new light fittings and new plants for the garden...and voila! Well I like it, lets just hope someone wants to buy it real soon.

I am going to go now. Hope you have made it to the end of this post in one piece, and have been able to see the pics properly and in order. I tell you it has been a nightmare trying to upload all these pics on blogger the way that I want to and then at the end of it all, I forgot to add my watermark to them all and they all got mixed up so I had to do it all over again......grrrrrrrr! Oh blogger.....

Have a great week!
xo Rachel

Saturday....and Sunday Makeover

Driveway After Pictures

Ok, so perhaps I was a little ambitious with the whole Saturday makeover idea. It ended up being both Saturday and Sunday and a pretty hard slog it was too! Mr and Mrs PTF are both thoroughly exhausted but satisfied with their efforts. Even Little O helped the team out by scraping the tan bark off the trailer all over the place into the garden beds, of course. She loves getting in there and getting nice and dirty. I wish I had taken a pic of her, she was just too cute!

So...we eventually shovelled out all the wretched scoria and loaded it up into the trailer for the tip. Then we planted the hydrangeas and also some small agapanthas that we have had sitting in a big pot for about 4 years!!! Hey its a makeover on a budget, so whatever we could get our hands on was good enough! I have to admit though that I also went to Bunnings with Little O this morning (Sunday) and bought some seaside daisies (I could not resist...I love them). My excuse to Mr PTF was that its all about 'street appeal' however I think the winning point in the argument discussion, was the fact that I let him have a sleep in and I snuck out with Little O before he woke up!!! Hahahaa!

So I will stop blabbing on. It is not the most exciting makeover to say the least...but here are the pics! I decided to make them into a collage cos I mean how many photos of a driveway can you look at, one after another?

We were completely wrecked after all this shovelling and digging. The soil was really dry, with lots of rocks,clay and dead tree roots, and it was really back-breaking work.

So there you go a little prettying up of our driveway, all ready and waiting for sale!

After all this hard work what more could you want then to sit down in the beautiful summery evening with a glass of Lemon Lime and Bitters with a slice of lemon and a sprig of homegrown mint and some mags....ahhh. Delish!

See ya soon,

xo Rachel

Saturday Makeover

Driveway Before and After

So today we are working on our front driveway and getting it all nice and prettied up for selling. Not a fun job to say the least, however I am looking forward to how lovely it will all look at the end.
Its drizzling on and off, so its time to get those Stormwells on (how appropriately named!) get my happy face on and get to work!!

I thought I would take some pics of how it looks at the moment....extremely uninspiring. The horrible red pebbly rock 'scoria' is the absolute pitts and I can't wait to get rid of it!

We are just going to do a really basic job and put down some mulchy tan bark and a couple of plants as we don't want to spend too much moulah on it.

I bought some hydrangeas from our next door neighbours who were conveniently having a garage sale this morning- a great excuse to go off and have a potter around and leave Mr PTF to do the shovelling! I did eventually come back though with about 8 potted hydrangeas and a cute little wooden toy truck with red painted wheels for little miss O, all at bargain prices...gotta love that!

So there you have it....the definite before shots.... I will be back soon with the after shots!!

 xo Rachel