our creative space . . . 'faux bedhead reupholster magic'

Greetings all,

Ever wondered why you've NEVER seen a full photo of my bedroom??  I'm sure it's bothered you for years, a true Wonder of the World.  Because it's awful, truly, Army rental blah.  Starting with our bedhead, which has moved with us criss-crossing the country, 4 times in 10 years. 

Years ago our darling son drew a green alien on our once expensive upholstered bed head (it was part of a commission, he drew a matching green alien on the bedside table too) we rolled our eyes & deemed it 'a custom design one off original' from our expressive 2 year old . . . . so, at the time, i bought some Amy Butler fabric to cover the bedhead.  Fast forward some 6 years later . . . i had a bit of a my-husband-is-coming-home-from-war-he-can't-come-back-to-this-ugly-blah-bedhead-again trantrum, with myself, while making the bed earlier in the week.  I had our scrummy Sheridan vanilla sheets on the line & thought, bugger it, i'm doing the bedhead NOW. 

If you look closely, you can see where i removed a lipstick heart (art from a different child) creative little angels they are.  Oh & crap on the bedside tables, really, Babushka dolls on my husband's side - a bathroom magazine on mine, how did we ever build the passion to create 4 babies under such conditions??  It's all going, cleaning/ sorting/ styling tantrums are very productive.  I might even stomp my feet & fix that freaking missing blind!!

 So here goes nothing . . . as we plan to get a whole new bed eventually & Amy Butler fabric should never be used on a whim, i literally threw this entire faux upholster together in 10 minutes, with nappy pins.  All those years of cloth nappies, still paying dividends with old pins & cloths (in the garage).  All those years of not-getting-around-to-doing-this, wasted!!

 Da dah, i'm thrilled, it's just transformed the entire bedroom.  Oh special mention to our beloved woollen underlay, it's heavenly, we refer to our bed as 'the cloud', you can imagine how much my husband misses it - he's currently sleeping on an IKEA bunk with a burly soldier above him in a confined bunker.

 So i whipped the sheets fresh from the line & straight onto the bed.  Then i had to toss up which coloured slips - do i pinch the green Sheridan Pop ones currently on the boy's bed, homage to his choice of texta, or use the fresh orange ones i just laundered??  I went with orange, but i think next-bed-freshen-up . . . i'll go green.  Yes, my husband can't get enough of green of course, poor bloke.

 Doesn't that look inviting??  I literally dived into bed that night.

 For some bling, a Jimmy Possum cushion i picked up last week, $90 off, yay!!

So Creative Spacers, how did you enjoy that bedhead pick-me-up??  I'm redoing the lamps & bedside tables this week too.  We STILL have the same newly-wed-furniture & it could do with a sand & something . . . anything . . . i was at Uni when we married & my darling husband was a Lance Corporal, we had zero money, just love, bland-inexpensive-furniture it was & it's stood the test of time & taste, 15 years on, just not a 2 year old boy with a green texta!!  Love Posie

PS my enormous new Mac is here, but i can't work out photo resizing, my husband is doing his best with a Skype tutorials from Afghanistan, i don't know what i'm going to do when my children resume school next week, all my IT support gone, eek!!
PPS thanks for the beautiful ANZAC day messages, love you all, thoughtful folks!! 

just because . . .

EDIT: my post-of-the-month with Gifts of Serendipity!!

Greetings all,
Oh we're having so much fun with our chickety chicks . . .

enough said really - what a lovley way to wrap up the last week of school holidays - thunder clouds outside, Winter chill in the air, $2 Monday new release DVD hire, big bowls of homemade soup, hyper happy children raising chicks indoors . . . & inside dolls' houses!!
Now excuse me for a hiccup in transmission while i set up my new computer & practise being smug (a big delivery from Apple is imminent) with seamless technology.  I've never used Apple before, all that swiping & those weird icons, i'll be out in the IT wilderness for a while.  I had to giggle, last week the charger arrived via courier, sans computer, so i enthusiastically plugged it in & cleared space on the 'group desk', ready for the big ticket items.  Just hope the thunder clouds hold off while i construct the chicken coop too!!

My thoughts are with all the families who celebrate & remember loved ones on ANZAC Day.  It's a low key affair for us this year, we'll just attend the school ceremonies when school resumes, going to the War Memorial . . . when my husband is at war . . . too heartbreaking. 
Have lovely weeks everyone, love Posie
PS just let out my first tweet ever, the photo subject was too perfect.  You can follow me on Twitter (i'm @posietweets) - this little chick just went global-mass-social-media-saturation (yep, Facebook too) giggles bok bok bok. 

ANZAC Day from a present day point of view

Greetings all,
It's fantastic to see crowds at marches & blog posts celebrating ANZAC Day.  I grew up in a military family, including iconic Light Horsemen at Gallipoli, yet they never marched or made a big deal about ANZAC Day.  My father is a very open, warm & friendly gentleman, yet has never spoken about the Korean or Vietnam Wars.  In turn, we children have unspokenly respected it & only asked about all the other adventures of his 32 year career in the Navy.

My children have questioned Grandad if he was a pirate sailing the high seas & admire his medals & memorabilia, including photos with Queen Elizabeth & launching new ships into the fleet.  By coincidence or just a matter of the WW2 generation, my brothers' wives & sister's husband are all children of servicemen too - Greek/ Australian; Austrian & French.  We have a family story of when my eldest nephew was in Kindergarten & took his 'other' Grandfather's medals to school for ANZAC Day, only to be told "that Grandfather was on the wrong team".  I guess the Iron Cross stood out against the Pacific Stars which his class mates brought in.       

You'll find most people remembering/ discussing/ celebrating on this day - the humour, the mateship & the courage they sought to get through war . . . dealing with the horror, the waste & the pain of their experience in a personal private way.  ANZAC Day is a good prompt to show them we appreciate their sacrifices & we're proud.   

 The ANZAC Day commentators say "remember there are still current service men & women deployed to war zones right now" as they talk about all the history of each unit marching.  Why yes, i don't need a reminder thank you.  This is how my husband spent last ANZAC Day, a simple but extremely meaningful ceremony in Afghanistan.

 This ANZAC Day handsome soldier is with us, snuggled up on the lounge, belly filled with Easter eggs & watching family movies, then an afternoon swim with Army friends.  Last year he was in a gun pit overlooking the Chora Valley.

I was uncertain about putting this last image in - as a housewife, mother, lover of all things homemade, crafty, pretty, girlie & nice (read: opposite to battle, guns & war) - this is not how i think of my loving husband & father of our 4 kind hearted children, who plaits hair, plays games, bakes cheesecakes & sneezes around flowers.  Your husbands might be interested - i know my brothers find his line of work & equipment fascinating.  Alas this is what he looks like, a pistol where his wallet should be, a beard (icky), in the desert for 8 month tours.  Today, soldiers have amazing equipment, body armour, resources, technology, support, therapy, education, medical treatment & training . . . war is still war . . . there are decisions, ethics, relationships & cultural factors i could never imagine & we still need a Defence Force.  Love Posie

a post for my husband, my handsome soldier on ANZAC Day

Greetings all,
How many of your husband's have to read your blog to stay in touch with you??  Well mine does, along with the odd phone call & email, he finds the blog a bright & happy snippet of what we're up to.  So this post is dedicated to my handsome soldier who is far far away & no doubt needs some happy memories & images of his pride & joy - his family!! 
I won't waste time on the negativity of how many people see ANZAC Day as an opportunity to sleep in or for some, a long weekend . . . have you completely forgotten what the point of ANZAC Day is??  Clearly!!  For many of us, we have loved ones in war zones this ANZAC Day, so it's a fierce reality of what the day represents.  I'm all about positivity & believe my time & blog is better spent showing sunshine & happiness, good times & family . . . so enjoy some snaps of what we do when Daddy is home & we're a proper family . . .

Mount Selwyn 2008 - we laughed soooo hard that trip!!  Anyone else think my husband looks like an assassin using a family as 'cover'??  Like father like son - they are so close, warms your heart.

. . . we love roller blades, bikes, bush walks, dogs & picnics;
i love that my husband seems oblivious that our son is actually standing IN the fire they just built . . .

. . . eventhough we know at least one child will end up IN the Tumut River, we still let play by it;
our adventurous children doing what they do best, running free & playing at a park . . .

. . . they never can walk in a straight line, always climbing over something, log tracks off Cotter Road, Mount Stromlo National Forest; the children outside the 5th house we've lived in . . .

Well they say girls marry their 'fathers' & i seem to fit that mould, yet i hate being told what to do by a man??  Maybe the two main men in my life (father & husband) have incredible respect for woman & know i'm to stubborn too argue with.  Anyway, here is my Dad, retired career Naval Commander & from all those medals - apparent trouble maker!!  Married 55 years to my lovely Mum, who was in the Women's Royal English Navy as a volunteer when they met.  They married less than 6 months later, had 4 children (2 boys, 2 girls) & 14 grandchildren (7 grandsons, 7 granddaughters).  They like symmetry & order!! 
I hope this gives you some insight into ANZAC Day from the family of a current serving member.  We love you handsome soldier, come back to us soon.  Have a thoughtful weekend everyone, love Posie