Coming Along…

So the craft/play room is coming along quicker than I thought it would, mostly due to the fact that I am cutting every corner imaginable & doing a rather shoddy job if I do say so myself…

Opshopped wallpaper – stuck down in parts with PVA glue…

One coat (Might do another… one day…) of blue mis-tint paint, fake grass strewn across the SAND that was under all the erupting tiles…

…blackboard paint… another one coat wonder…

Chair that was here when we moved in, desperately needs a funky cushion…

And there you have it.

There are a few more things to do, cosmetically, like do something about the cement floor, paint my chair, put up a dividing curtain, make a cushion or seven & PUT UP A SWING (sorry… bit excited about that…), but I like it so far. Sure it could be done a bit more…. conscientiously, but I’m kind of desperate to get sewing again!

Yesterday.

Wow yesterday was a busy day! Instead of continuing to pack & ferry boxes from here to The Cottage, like perhaps a normal person would, I took Punk ‘sailing, went to an auction & ripped up carpet….

The garage sales yesterday were nothing to write home about, but, the auction… my FIRST auction… oh. Yeah.

It was SO FUN. And interesting as far as people watching goes. And CHEAP. Punky was awesome for ageeeeeeeeeees, but when she had finally had had enough I had purchased a whole bunch of goodness for $25.

We were a tad late so things had already commenced by the time we got there. I went & registered & bid on the first thing up when I got back – a box of ‘knitting’ stuff, for $1. I hadn’t looked in the box but I thought I could give the wool to Gran… imagine my delight when I got it back to the cottage later & found a ye olde kiddie’s craft book, some more copies of Golden Hands and a super cute sweater someone had made on their knitting machine that was a PERFECT FIT. It was such a weird yet marvellous coincidence.

I also got some more enamel ware, a pretty old sifter, cookie cutters, this gorgeous old lamp:

…and a PRISTINE portable record player… yum.

After lunch I decided to see what was under the carpet. There was happiness – joy – surprise & disappointment! I tell you… this house has it all.

Happiness – that the boards in the first room look fine & solid. Not very pretty but better than carpet…!

Joy – that the hall & Punky’s room had different, BEAUTIFUL, wide plank floorboards. I held my breath, hoping that it was only the first room that was different….

Surprise – that not only was the ‘lounge’ different… it is painted… black.

Disappointment – That our room has most of the sticky black rubber backing from the carpet underlay adhered to it….

The good news is that it comes off easily with some paint stripper, which is today’s job, after I rip up the rest of the tacking.

The Boy wonders why I have more enthusiasm for ripping up carpet & pulling out nails than I had for painting pickets (which he had to do because I kept ignoring it…)… or for packing even… He doesn’t understand that I’m actually making a difference over there. That the smell has diminished. That it already feels so much more open. That this, is my thing.