Look what I bought

As I've mentioned, I don't really do 'tidy' or 'organised'. In order to motivate myself to tidy our house I usually have to purchase flowers first and leave them in the sink to be arranged and displayed once I've finished tidying. I can't buy them after I've finished, that's simply not enought to motivate me. They have to be physically present and visible.

So while I am genuinely excited about getting our storage unit and clearing clutter, it's still going to be a challenge for me. I get bored easily. I strongly suspect that a few boxes into the trip from the attic to the truck and I'll be decidedly less enthusiastic than I am now.

The solution? New, pretty motivation. Flowers won't cut it - they're for weekly tidying, not major projects. I've had to call in the big guns. Big, gorgeous guns in the form of this custom couch cover from Etsy. I forget how I stumbled across FreshKnesting but I just know that the thought of this arriving soon will keep me motivated enough to get through the torture of moving boxes.

Storage excitement

I'm not an organised person. Or a neat person. Throw in the fact that I simply will not countenance throwing anything out that may hold some tiny semblance of sentimental value and it generally makes for a chaotic house.


So downsizing from a fairly decent sized four bedroom house and wall-to-wall bookshelves in the living area to a two bedroom house has been, well, challenging. We've got a lot of books. Around 10 cubic metres of them at last count.

Add to that extraneous furniture and it's been a tad cluttered for the last few months. We've finally bitten the bullet and this weekend we're moving the excess into a storage unit. As much as I object to spending money on anything practical and prosaic (vacuums, light bulbs and groceries spring to mind) I'm excited about freeing up some space. I've long-since accepted that there is always going to be excess 'stuff' lying around that has no home and up until now I've always had somewhere to stash it when required. So the thought I can now hide my junk again is extremely liberating!

Yes, that IS crockery stored on the outdoor table.

Summer blooms

I don't think it is a surprise to anyone who knows me that I love flowers. As in, I LURVE them. The house feels almost naked without them. If it came down to it, I'd probably choose flowers over furniture. Well, maybe.

The vast array of blooms available at the moment has me in a near-frenzy of flower buying and arranging. Mr Puddleduck is pleased at the variety and lack of lillies - he seems to have some sort of magnetic forcefield that drags his white business shirts into the orange stamens of lillies and it sends him nearly apopleptic every time.

I simply cannot get enough of these gorgeous flowers. So much so I am motivated to finally try and find some space in our teeny tiny courtyard for some pots of something pretty. And low maintenance. Suggestions?

Date night

With a two year old and no family in Sydney it's not often that Mr Puddleduck and I get to go out together by ourselves. Any dining out usually involves tag team eating and toddler-chasing. So it was with great delight we set out last night for a dinner where we'd both get to eat at the same time. Bliss.

We stuffed ourselves silly and finished with this simply scrumptious cheese plate. Forgive the shoddy upside down photography ... moving after three courses seemed just a little bit too hard.