Letterbox 88

Wooden pallet verandah daybed couch

Hello, here's the newest finished project here at number 88, a daybed for the back verandah.

I'm really happy with the way this has turned out. It's huge and perfect for a napping on long hot afternoons. Or getting comfy with a pile of books.

This is what it looks like among the toys and table that take up the rest of the verandah.

We spend an awful lot of time out here in summer and eat most of our meals at that table.

This is what the verandah looked like before. I really loved those cane chairs, and the squatters chairs… but there were just TOO MANY chairs out there.

It became especially problematic when the Baby became a Toddler. It felt like he was spending all day moving chairs around so everything always looked super messy and there was never any space to play.

Now that I've minimised the moveable pieces for furniture things are feeling much calmer.

The pallets for the daybed where acquired via Gumtree and transported home on the roof rack in one of the more terrifying drives of my life.

Had I selected prettier rustic pallets I might have been able to get away without painting these, but I didn't, and it had to be done.

In the end, they do look good and I'm glad, even though it was a PITA job.

I cut the foam for the cushions smaller than the pallets deliberately so we'd have a handy shelf for popping a mug of tea on around the edges. It turns out it makes a handy step for tiny legs to clamber up on too.

There are still a few more things I need to do here before I'm calling this finished (aren't there always?), like another blind to keep the rest of the afternoon sun off the lounge. I'm looking forward to cozying it up with some more blankets and sheepskins when the weather cools down too.

Autumn, yay! (Mostly about clothes)

Hello! What a long time it's been.

It's officially Autumn now. How completely glorious.

At the moment everything looks like this.

It's all very monsoonal and muddy. When the sun comes out and hits the mud puddles the land steams and the air is like breathing soup, as opposed to the ground being like soup, which it also is.

Not to be deterred, I've conducted my semi annual wardrobe edit in hopes of milder days ahead.

This is going to be the winter of the knitted sweater. I'm declaring it now. Many of these were thrifted and some were knitted by my mother in the 80s.

Can you have too many sweaters? This is my edit remember.

Check out this pink snow storm wonderland Mum made. I love this sweater but it is knitted from Torture Wool and wearing it against any patch of bare skin is like being pricked with a thousand tiny needles in every pore. I can only imagine she wore it with a thick, long sleeved turtleneck back in the day

She had a pink hand-knitted dress with a huge parrot too. It was very Jenny Kee.

Even though she claims to be uninterested in fashion these days I know I inherited my clothes horse tendencies from her. She was super trendy.

I've added a few new things to my Autumn wardrobe recently too. These silk pants and voluminious tote are both from Country Road, snapped up during their spend and save. I hate matching things from the same store but really love these two together.

Because it never really gets very cold in Brisbane heavy coats and accessories are largely redundant and I find this time of year is when I inevitably find the pieces in shops I end up wearing all winter.

Still on the pyjama pants theme I picked up these leopard trousers from Temt yesterday for a song.

Rwarrrrr

So, basically my winter fashion plan is a kind of urban tracksuit, posh jammie pants and knits with the odd heel and accessory thrown in to make it dressy.

Shoe wise, I'd love a pair of these Isabel Marant Dicker Boots.

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But am contenting myself with these Rubi shoes knock offs instead.

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One last Osaka post

This is the last of the posts I wrote in Japan. Seeing it lurking in my drafts folder is making me pine to be back there and I need to purge-post before I can move on with the shiny new year.

Yesterday we caught the train to Nara with N, a friend of ours. Here she is helping the Baby feed a deer. I am standing a few feet away behind the camera because the deer in Nara are terrifying and the last time we were here one bit me on the arse. I was pretty sure the Baby would be fine though.

Everyone was in Nara to see the Autumn colours that day. So. Many. Cameras. I can't deny it was lovely though.

Here's an outfit with some more Autumn colour. Plus a bonus Baby rushing past on important Baby business.

While we are on the subject of my infant son. He's developed an rather extreme finger up nose habit this past week. Frankly, it's been interfering with my holiday snaps.

He's always sucked those two middle fingers but never plugged his nostril like this before. What should I do?

I made a deal with myself re: shopping that I wouldn't buy anything wintery and ridiculous that I couldn't wear for summer at home. Whoops. Hello grey Zara poncho with sparkly sleeves.

Everyone in Osaka is wearing ugg boots on the street at the moment.

When the hand of god offers you a piece of sushi I think you ignore it at your peril.

We did as we were told.

Stendig calendar and other living room bits

Good morning, Happy New Year. I was in bed by 11.30pm last night because I'm super hardcore these days. Baby likes to wake up with the sun at the moment though, so I'm just as tired as if I'd partied late.

To prepare for the first of the first I hung up my 2013 Stendig calendar yesterday.

It's big. I knew it was big when I ordered it but Wow, it seems even larger in real life. When I first hung it here I wasn't sure about it on this wall, but it's growing on me every time I see it.

I ordered mine from Need Supply. It looks like they are sold out there now but I found it on quite a few websites before Christmas.

I'm constantly rearranging this room. Yesterday I picked up this pair of green velvet chairs at the oppie. Hitting up the op-shops immediately after the Christmas/New Year break is extremely necessary. So much spring cleaning goodness to be had.

J hates the chairs but I adore them. I'd love to find another pair in a different colour, mustard yellow perhaps? purple?. I'm putting it out there to the op shop gods to provide.

Just some lazy hipster wash tape wall art.

This is what the other view of the room looks like. I made a bunch of new cushion covers before Christmas with remmants I picked up at the Black and Spiro Christmas flea and some Japanese kimono scraps I brought back from Osaka.

Also? I finally got around to tarting up this op-shopped rocking horse. Here's what she looked like before.

As long as you don't look too closely at my varnishing work I think it came out OK. Rather than try to repair the sharp and broken bits of cane I just gave her some ribbon bandages because scars are cool.