The LadyShed Update

Each time a blog post appears in my reader that has anything remotely to do with improving your blog or managing your blog I cringe.

 

I'm pretty sure that if there was a prize for the most disorganized, sporadic and unfocused blogger I'd win it hands down!

 

What I've realized is that I no longer care about new people finding my blog.  Hence I don't link to it on Twitter where I love to lurk, or Facebook where I don't ever mention KATcapers.

 

KATcapers is currently just the place my family and some friends go to keep abreast of what's happening in my world.  Fortunately there are also some followers who visit:) 

 

So.....whilst I may be the tardiest blogger this side of the Tropic of Capricorn I don't want to leave you all hanging forever on the topic of the LadyShed!!!!!

 

As you can see, she's coming along well although I've captured her midway through applying her make-up! Foundation is applied but her eyeliner is yet to be completed in the photo below:)

 

 

Screen in front of her will be relocated...still hate the sliding door but hey, it's a small price to pay!

 

Our lovely lady now has some outdoor lights, interior downlights, ceiling fan and assorted powerpoints.  This involved Saint Mike digging a trench from the house to the shed (approximately seven metres) that needed to be 600mm deep.  Like the trooper he is, he just set to and got it done so the electrician could lay the conduit.

Photo taken before second coat of foundation applied...so ignore the coloring outside the lines!

 

The exterior lights controlled from the house as well as inside the Lady Shed to add to her user friendliness.

 

Interior prior to the window reveal being put in place...another learning curve for SM

 

We have chosen to paint her in the same colours as the house - Dulux Calfskin for the cement sheeting and Dulux Natural White for the trim.  The roofing is Colourbond Woodland Grey.

 

 

We recently delivered a thank you present to our neighbor PK who has provided such invaluable support and mentoring for Saint Mike in the construction of the LadyShed.  He's a keen cyclist so a voucher for his bike store seemed appropriate. 

 

To thank his wife for being tolerant of his repeated absences on the other side of the neighborly divide (as well as the times she made lunch for the boys when I was a bit incapacitated due to kids/arm/taxi driving duties) we also got them a voucher for a lovely cafe/restaurant down at the beach for them to enjoy a well deserved meal together:)

 

More photos will be coming as we get the floor sorted and start fitting her out...but these should satisfy your curiousity for now.

 

In case "anonymous" is reading - Jason Moran anecdote is definitely on it's way!!!!

 

 

 

The Lady Shed Gets Some Clothes

I've decided a change of vernacular is in order over here at KATcapers to describe our lovely new addition.

Calling it the Sneaky Shed was starting to make me feel like we were on the run from the law!!

Instead I'm renaming her the Lady Shed.  I feel better already.

The Lady Shed is now officially clothed.  She is still lacking her undergarments (the insulation and the internal plasterboard) and her accessories are yet to be added (timber battens on the outside plus window reveals) but she's looking pretty promising.

The weather was very kind to Saint Mike and PK on the weekend and they managed to get the new window installed on Sunday morning and then spent the remainder of the day finishing off the cement sheeting.  I did my best impression of a happy homemaker and made them a yummy lunch of baguettes which I artfully wrapped in paper and then placed in a blue Nigella tin for them to consume at their leisure.

There is only one drawback to having PK help Saint Mike and that's his ability to say "No" to me!  I politely suggested that now that the window is installed I think the cross-ventilation could be improved by adding a small highlight window on the back wall.....PK shot this down and Saint Mike then delivered the bad news to me! 

Never mind.  On the plus side Saint Mike is being quite charitable (or perhaps just his usual pragmatic self) in accepting that I have designs on this space to flex my decorating muscle and create a lovely retreat with the Lady Shed and that as soon as PK is back on his side of the neighbor divide I'll get my way on other things!!!!

For example, in return for accepting that deficiencies in cross-ventilation I have kindly offered to accommodate his "tools" and shed-type paraphernalia in an organized manner befitting my control enthusiast tendencies.  Yes, he's getting the far wall for his shelving/work-space (see below picture)

It's just a minor detail that this was ever supposed to be a shed replacement:)) I will be pedalling furiously on the Singer to sew up a nice curtain that will screen off his blokey "stuff" when the Lady Shed is being used for it's retreat-like purposes.  There is no way I'm going to staring at a wall full of boy-stuff when I'm zoning out up there with a cup of tea (or a glass of wine!)

I was planning on doing something like this one that Chez Larsson did in her basement:

As an alternative, I could do something similar to these curtains that used to hang in the Lee Matthews store in Mosman (before it relocated up the street and the curtains were banished to the back stockroom).

I love the patchworky nature of it - natural but quirky.  This is different to the Chez Larsson option though as it's a tab curtain.  Given that the Lady Shed has a raked ceiling this would mean I could (when I say "I" it probably means Mike) put up a curtain rod hung from the ceiling to string it along.  The more I think about it the more I like this option...I could have some fun with the curtain ties that attach to the rod:)

I have actually made a tab curtain once before...in our old apartment for the french doors that led out to our communal courtyard.

I'd like to think my sewing skills have improved since 2006.  Hmmmm we shall see:)

In the meantime, I'm admiring the Lady Shed in her partially clothed form and feeling very favourably inclined towards my clever husband!

Any thoughts, suggestions on the curtain options??

Grateful for our neighbors

We've lived in our current house for nearly five years. 

When we moved in, we were new to the suburb and had made the big leap of moving 'over the bridge'...that would be the infamous Spit Bridge.  Famous in Sydney for it's narowness and tendency to be a huge monster of a bottleneck!

Our immediate neighbors on either side of us were quickly befriended...they are both older couples with adult children.  They have been in varying degrees substitute parents, grandparents, friends, helping hands and great BBQ companions over the last five years.

The suburb has also experienced an influx of young families and had a baby-boom in the time we've been in residence so we're fortunate to have met neighbors a bit further afield...over the back fence and to the right type of distance or just around the corner.

I am so grateful to have met so many lovely neighbors and try to catch up with them as frequently as our busy schedule allows.  Last night, one of our neighbors hosted a ladies evening at her place.

She wasn't selling anything, she had no hidden agend...it was just a chance to catch up over a glass of bubbly and copious amounts of wicked chocky and shoot the breeze.

We had a lovely evening and the conversation traversed many and varied topics from books, TV shows (The Slap got a mention of course!), babies, children, schooling, husbands, labour experiences (always a huge hit) and everything else you could imagine we could share.

As I am still rigidly sticking to my Siberian diet my contribution was 'in that spirit' but a little bit wicked nonetheless - Pineapple with bashed mint and caster sugar and Strawberries with balsamic drizzled over them...plus a bowl of yummy blueberries unadorned as they were delicious on their own (and I couldn't think of what to add to them except chocky!!!!)

There are times when I feel incredibly lonely without having my family and friends that live interstate around.  But then I am buoyed by the fantastic neighbors that I am surrounded by and I feel comforted and 'at home'.

So thanks to Maxabella and her Grateful Saturday for forcing me to reflect on something like this that I am truly deeply grateful for :)