a house in the hills: August 2013

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Third Week

Is it already 3 weeks since we moved in? We have lots of things ordered but I just have to be patient!

I did a little treasure hunting on Friday and bought this cute 1880's ale bottle with its marble stopper inside...looks nice in a sunny window

A new lamp from Freedom

Waiting at the Post Office a parcel from France...a vintage laundry bag from a Saint Porcain hospital....the ultimate recycling! Love the colour and perfect for storing my unused handbags

It is so wet and freezing outside Mr VL can't do much. He has bought home some hellebores to plant

and the first of our Japanese Maples and Prunus trees has begun to blossom

The lemon tree is overloaded...and there are lemons on the ground everywhere

Rain sheeting down...the view from the back door

Another great book from my new library I'm reading in bed this morning!

Linking up with :

The Dedicated House

A Living Space
Knick of Time
French Country Cottage
Ivy and Elephants
Common Ground
The Colorado Lady
Shabby Art Boutique
The Thrifty Groove
Chic on a Shoestring
Country Farm Home
My Romantic Home
Sir thrift-a-lot
Rose Vignettes
Rooted in Thyme
My Charmed Home
Blackbird Has Spoken
Elizabeth & Co
The North End Loft
Finding Fabulous

Sunday, August 18, 2013

A Busy Week in our New Home

Mr VL has had the last couple of weeks off work to get stuck into our renovations but we took Wednesday off to explore more of the Adelaide Hills towns. We loved the tiny antique shop we found it was crammed with treasures. We bought 2 very old pieces.

A divine 1930 hand stitched quilt in great condition. The fabric flowers are now almost see through they are so fine and mainly silk

This very old trunk made out of canvas ,leather trim, and wooden struts was made in Belfast

Inside is 2 shelves made of striped cotton and the top layer has leather straps to pull it out

I know what you are thinking....does she really need more vintage luggage but we actually left the shop and came back for it because we loved it so much

My re upholstered chair FINALLY was delivered after 4 months (it was supposed to be ready for the last house which was up for sale ) and is in time for the newly painted master bedroom from a yukky blue to white

BEFORE

chipped legs , dusty velvet

AFTER

The ceiling rose looks a lot better after painting over the pink and blue

Mr VL spent 10 hours putting in a new vanity and cabinet (IKEA) and new towel rails in the ensuite bathroom which is very tiny

BEFORE

It still needs to be painted.

It is so cold here this morning I am still in bed with a couple of books I found on the shelves of the local library I joined on Tuesday

We have also ordered a chicken coop to be delivered hopefully next week...can't wait

Linking up with :

The Dedicated House

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Old and the New

The first week of our tree change has been exhausting . It took 10 hours to load and unload in wet and cold conditions...a second truck was needed because there was no room for our large potted topiaries

Day 3 we managed to checkout shopping in the hills and we will do most of our weekly shopping in Lobethal. I found a strange but interesting charity shop called Hosanna's which is a religious shop that relies on donations of goods to support overseas children .Heaps of interesting stuff ...from antiques to kitch. I bought this great black trunk with brass trim (I found hiding under a stack of dusty stuff)

Mr VL found these 3 lovely old medicine bottles ( there's hope for the boy) !!

I bought a pair of antique wooden lawn bowls from England as a pressie to myself ...I swooped on them as they were underpriced . They are Lignum Vitae with ivory inserts and monogrammed and in their original leather bag . LOVE ...LOVE

On day 4 we had all our new light fittings installed that we bought before we moved.

We hated leaving our French style glass kitchen pendants behind so we found 2 more.

We put up 3 crystal chandeliers in the formal rooms which will look great when we paint all the revolting existing colours in sparkling white( the floors are black and white in the informal rooms)

BEFORE