Wednesday 2 September 2015

Project Life: Week 34

Late yesterday afternoon, Mike and I got really busy painting the primer onto the walls and ceiling of the art studio… and I’m desperate to show you… which means I really do have to catch up with my Project Life album so here’s Week 34 – August 17th to 23rd.

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This winter we’ve had so much rain… and we’ve also had lots of really cloudy days so we’ve been doing our washing once a week and taking it to the laundrette to get it dry.  I’m super looking forward to just being able to hang things on the line again!

As you probably already know, Toby is quite partial to ‘treats’… which usually come in the form of things he probably really shouldn’t be eating but Mike has been buying big bags of brisket bones and Toby loves them!  Mike wraps each one up in glad wrap and then pops it in the freezer and now I’ve discovered that he warms them up a bit in the microwave before giving them to Toby… my boy is so spoilt!!

There’s been more baking going on as well.  While watching TV one night Mike mentioned that he felt like something sweet so I decided to bake a batch of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.  I experimented a bit with the shape of them and Mike posted them onto Facebook.  One of my friends mentioned that the ‘rustic’ cookies looked a bit like a dog turd… so now I’ve gone back to shaping them again!

In other baking news… Krystal found a recipe on the internet for gingernut cookies and gave it a go… the results were delicious!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:LEFT_1

Dad has a few friends who get together on a regular basis for Friday lunches.  They call their little group ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’ so when I saw a card with lots of ‘more mature’ men sitting on the park benches I knew it would be perfect for Dad’s birthday… plus I actually got it posted on time!  Dad really loved the card too so that was a huge bonus.

This week it was the floor of the art studio to get all the attention.  Over a period of a couple of days Mike got to use lots of ‘man tools’ to prep the floor.  First up he ‘sanded’ the floor with an industrial grinder which was attached to a large vacuum… perfect for catching the bulk of the dust!

Then he managed to score some paint that was perfect for painting onto the concrete.  It was a two-part paint which means it’s going to be really strong.  The paint had been sitting around for a long time so Mike grabbed a big paint stirrer that attached to his electric drill and it worked the paint together without Mike having to do all the work… actually it did it so well that I’m looking forward to having a go with it myself!

Next up Mike used a brush to do all the edges and tricky bit of the floor and then he was able to do the rest with the roller.  The floor got a sand down in between and it’s now had two coats put on it and it’s fully cured.  The colour is a very neutral grey and it’s going to be super easy to wash down and clean.

While we’re on the subject of paint… I’ve finally found some ‘vintage paint’ to use on my desk.  I also bought some ‘vintage wax’ to put on top of the paint to protect it.  I’m looking forward to starting work on my desk but first I have to find somewhere to actually do the work!

Here’s a close up of the rest of the week:RIGHT_1

On Saturday we went around to visit Krystal and drop some stuff off to her and she was busy in her garden.  She’s been really getting into growing seeds lately and she’s got them growing in all sorts of containers.  She’s even drilled holes in the bottom of a couple of buckets to use for growing garlic and vegetables.  She’s quite industrious and has strawberries growing as well.

After we’d visited Krystal, Mike dropped me off to Third Place to have lunch with Chris, Carey and their mum’s.  It was Chris’ birthday so it was lovely to meet up for a late lunch together.  I’ll easily be able to remember both Chris and Dad’s birthday’s now!

Getting back to painting the art studio floor… poor Toby really wanted to be involved and he definitely didn’t want to be shut in the house on a lovely day… but he just wouldn’t listen to instructions so in the end we parked one of the cars outside the art studio and put Toby on the backseat.  Problem solved!

He was most put out when we placed the chairs in front of the doorway to create a barrier because he just wanted to go IN… he was even more put out the next day when Mike was inside the art studio and we kept telling Toby NO!

On Sunday we headed out for our first bike ride since we got back from Dad’s at Labour Weekend!  It had been about 2 1/2 months of bad weather and busy weekends so it was wonderful to head out together for a day.  We headed over to Tauranga because Mike had a few hours of work to do at the Mount and I took my book to read. 

After Mike had finished work we went to Columbus Cafe at Gate Pa and had brunch.  I ordered French toast with bacon and banana and Mike ordered himself a Big Breakfast and he was pretty stoked with it!  We had a great trip home on the bike and it was a lovely end to our week.

All in all it was a busy and productive week :)

2 comments:

  1. Another busy week for you and Mike. Oh please get Krystal to share her Gingernut cookie recipe on your blog. Can't wait to see the finished craft room. I am already imagining all the wonderful December Daily layouts being created.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mary Lou :) I'll get Krystal to share her recipe with me... I'm sure she'll be happy to do that. The craft room is coming along nicely... it's almost finished being painted now!

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