Finishing Off Friday - 8th March 2012

Well, this week hasn't been as productive as I anticipated due to a terrible ear infection taking up residence in my right ear!  It was one of the most painful things I have felt in a long time, and because I am trying really hard not to take any unnecessary medications, I was trying to find natural pain relief - which just pales in comparison to the real thing!!  Anyway, after a few sleepless nights and a few miserable days, I am on the mend now, and ready to stop feeling sorry for myself ;)  So, let's get to it!

This week's 'Finishing Off' progress:

The Nursery

- Mick hung the curtain rod for the valance above the cot, and it looks so sweet!  My mum is just so clever, having made this valance for us!  I just love it.  I think it really finishes the room.

- We also bought and assembled this gorgeous bookcase for the nursery (special thanks to one of my lovely girlfriends who is giving this to us as a baby gift!).  Mick was a bit reluctant with this purchase, he thinks the decorative trim at the top is not really suitable for a boy!  How funny!  I assured him that a baby boy wouldn't mind having a bit of 'pretty' on his bookshelf, but I know he secretly isn't happy with it.  Too bad, I haven't done a cot valance because he thinks it is too 'girly', so I think that I have compromised once, so now its his turn.  It will be too funny if it turns out to be a baby girl!!

Here are some close-ups:

The orange teddy was my favourite teddy growing up 'Mr Cuddles'.  And I have chosen some of my favourite books to display up the top including 'The Nursery - Peter Pan' and my little book of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales.

And down the bottom, we have a basket of toys and a basket of books.

- I also attempted to make a mobile for the nursery, but it looked pretty sad :(  So, for now, I have just used 2 of the little stuffed toys that I made to hang from the wall shelf above the drawers.

The Study

- Dad painted the walls on Sunday!  Yippee!! The old maroon wall is officially gone!  We had to use a tinted blue/grey undercoat to get rid of the bright red colour!  

And this Sunday he is coming back to do the ceiling and trims and then she will be as good as done.  I am super excited about starting to put together my new furniture and organising all of my craft supplies in my new Creative Studio really soon!

Other Projects

- While Dad painted on Sunday, Mick and his dad got busy out in our back patio, and replaced around 20 pavers that have been eroding away.  They were posing quite a problem, as the top of the pavers were wearing away, making it a very uneven surface to walk on.  To fix it, they ground up the remaining parts of the damaged pavers:

They were not all worn down this deep, but enough to be a tripping hazard.

And they replaced them with new (old) pavers - some of which Mick had in the shed, others were pinched from garden edges!

It might not seem like it, but it has made such a difference, and it is so much safer now too.  We were always paranoid that someone was going to fall over, so now we can relax when we have people over out there.  Obviously, we have big dreams of tiling out there and re-doing the entire pool area and fence, but the reality is that won't be happening anytime soon, so a one-day fix-it job has rejuvenated the area for now :)  I love a good little 'maintenence' project like this... I love making the most of what we have, and not always resorting to a complete make-over that costs a small fortune.  It is so easy to want, want, want in this life.  It is nice to sit back and appreciate what you actually have, and be happy and proud of that!

And I guess the big thing on my agenda this week has been preparing for my baby shower this weekend!  Not that my beautiful sisters have really let me do anything, but I still wanted the house to be clean and everything to be ready when they arrive to set up on Saturday morning.
-  So, Mum and I got busy with cleaning the windows - I really don't like this job!  And with all of the recent rain, they were really bad!
- And I today I am going to make a batch of Cake Pops!
- And that is all that I was allowed to do!

I am so excited about seeing my closest family and friends on the weekend, it is going to be such a fun day!  And just to add to the 'baby-ness' of the party there is going to be 3 other pregnant girls here to compare bumps with!  I look forward to sharing lots of fun baby shower photos next week with you!

Have a great weekend - and please cross your fingers for me that it doesn't rain (too much) on Saturday!!

xx

For more 'Finishing Off Friday' posts, click here.