More photos of our home

A very overgrown hedge leading to our front door. I guess buying a hedge trimmer will be the first thing to do when I arrive!

Hallway

Dining room with pizzas ready to go in the oven - the kitchen is behind where Andrew would have been standing to take the photo

Looking upstairs from the hallway

Looking downstairs - that window ledge is where we will put Wendell the carved wood wombat when he arrives

Spare bedroom

Hallway from outside our bedroom

Bathroom vanity

Bathroom - nicely co-ordinated with black towels, bath mat and black accessories. Oh, and Shaun the Sheep sitting on the window ledge!

Lounge room

The left corner is where the computer will be set up. And we'll probably buy a couple of low bookcases to fit along the back of the sofa.

The colour scheme hubby & I chose for most of the house is red, black and cream. This works beautifully because the walls are all freshly painted cream and we have exposed beams throughout the house that have been painted black.

I have been busy with knitting needles and sewing machine to make some pretty cushions to scatter on the sofa and along the window seat. I have finished two cushions so far, one is a knitted bamboo wool cover, black on one side and a chili pepper shade on the other. The other cover is a red Indian cotton fabric that I picked up at Spotlight. I will post some pics here when I get back to Sydney and take photos.

I digress.

So far there is little furniture in the house, just a black sofa bed in the lounge room, a table in the kitchen and a borrowed air bed upstairs. The rest of our worldly goods are packed away in storage down in Victoria until we can afford to ship it all over to the UK. At least I will have some time to get the decorating done before everything arrives!

I have found a few wallpapers that might be suitable for the loungeroom, just for a feature wall:


Graham & Brown Mode 'Elinor' in cream

or red:

Graham & Brown 'Portobello' 18997



Graham & Brown 'Mosaico' by Umbra

I'm not sure if I would actually go with the red floral 'Elinor' just in case we change our minds and want to alter the colour scheme a bit later on. At the moment the 'Portobello' wallpaper is my preference for the lounge room.

Sanctuary

While waiting for my visa, I've been doing some browsing online for wallpapers and decorating inspiration. I've decided, without hubby's input *hahaha* that I want to do a feature wall in our bedroom with some wallpaper. I figure, wallpaper isn't hard to remove and it's less messy than paint, and there are so many stunning designs available that I'm sure to find something nice!

This is the main bedroom that I want to decorate. At the moment all hubby has to sleep on is this massive airbed but we've already chosen our new mattress and we are getting hubby's best mate to make the base. The base will have storage draws which will be ultra useful as the room is so small, we probably won't have much space for storage once we add a wardrobe and dresser.

The room has been freshly painted a soft cream colour (as seen in the pic - I didn't get any before photos but it was a hideous pink!). I only want to wallpaper behind the bed and leave the walls as they are.

I really want to achieve a dreamy, restful and romantic sanctuary, of black & cream with dusky pink and purple accents.

I have already chosen the bedlinen which I snapped up in Australia while it was on sale a few months back:

Margaret Muir 'Crystals' quilt cover and pillows

The sheets & extra pillow slips are a slate grey colour similar to the bedhead in the photograph above. Now I'm hunting around for some accents in purple (that's easy) & dusky pink but do you know how hard it is to find this particular colour??

It's driving me crazy! If you happen to know where I can buy some soft furnishings like throws and cushions in dusky pink please leave a comment. I will be your bosom buddy for-ev-er. Pinky swear.

So here are some wallpapers that have inspired me:

Sanderson 'Ceres' purple wallpaper

Graham & Brown 'Isabella' Charcoal damask retro

At the moment I am LOVING the Sanderson 'Ceres' purple wallpaper. Purple is my favourite colour and I think this wallpaper would contrast beautifully against the bedlinen and give the room a shot of glamour without being too over the top.

Nor is it too "florally", I'm trying to avoid being flowery and going for something that is a bit more punchy and exotic. Geez, not wanting too much am I!!

Sorry

Nothing exciting to blog about I'm afraid.

My visa application has most definitely been received at the British High Commission and it is undergoing the normal investigations now. I have no idea how long it will take, it has been almost two weeks already and I'm pretty sure that the current processing time for a Settlement visa is around 12 weeks.

I included a letter with my application, requesting that my visa be granted in time for me to travel to the UK and be re-united with Andrew in time to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary on October 15th. I don't know if the letter will have any effect, but it's worth a shot. Otherwise, I doubt that I'll get my passport & visa back til mid-November :(

The separation from Andrew is unbearable at times. My blood pressure has been a bit up and down, no doubt due to the stress of being away from him for so long. Thank goodness I have my craft projects to keep me busy or I'd be a total mess.

Finally

Here are some photos of my knitting as promised, the bag has been finished but I haven't taken updated photos yet.


Main body of the bag


The strap


Close up of beading.

The yarn is Moda Vera "Tucson", in berry red, and "Tammy" in multicolour. It was very expensive to make, but as usual the yarn is all reduced to clear now and the "Tucson" can be found for $2 a ball. Dammit.

The yarn and beads were all bought at Spotlight.

I have since lined the bag with some Indian cotton, also from Spotlight, which I bought for about $6 a metre.

In other news.....

The visa application has been sent. At last.

What a nightmare it has been. If I can help it, I never want to go through it again. Totally harrowing if you don't know what you are doing, and the information on the Visa4UK website is very vague and misleading. If you ever need assistance to apply for a UK visa, get in contact with Restless World, this company is based in Surry Hills, Sydney, and they specialise in helping people to navigate their way through the process. They can help you fill out your application or just give you guidance on what to include with the application. They do charge a fee but, if you want to give your application the best chance, it's worth paying.

Other than that, I have sold my car recently, so I've been using public transport for the first time in years. Interesting. Some weird people on the trains, and some scary people. Aside from that, I'm getting alot of incidental exercise because I have to walk everywhere so that can only be a good thing. I've got to burn off all the glasses of wine I've been consuming while I have been staying with friends in the Blue Mountains.

Ouch

I'm coming down with a horrid throat infection. Second in three months.

Dad has been really sick with the flu, he was absolutely adamant that it's not swine flu, but the last couple of days he's been saying "I've got swine flu" because he's been sick for two weeks now. Great. If I get swine flu off him and it doesn't kill him, then I might!

Drama drama drama with the visa application. Despite what the UK Border Security website tells you, don't believe for a second that it's easy to apply for a Settlement visa. Nothing is as straight forward as it seems! I had a visa application refused because I had applied for the wrong one, even though I was only following the OFFICIAL WEBSITE'S INFORMATION. So I have re-applied, for the right one this time, and I've enlisted the help of Restless World so that I have everything I need to get the visa successfully granted.

I know that I promised photos of my knitting in the next post but I don't have the camera with me so you'll just have to be patient. Sorry.

Welcome

Hey readers!

I've been busy getting ready for the big move to the UK, there have been some minor setbacks so I don't know exactly how long before I go. At this stage I'm guessing it will be a couple more months at the most.

Among the things I've been doing, I've held two garage sales to get rid of a heap of unwanted furniture & stuff - it has been very refreshing to declutter! I'm sure there is more I could get rid of but unfortunately that stuff is still in storage and it's among a whole other heap of stuff that is going over to the UK.

Now there's the car to sell, it's currently on Ebay and I hope I get a very good price for it. Then I'll be able to pay off a few bills and have a little bit of money to live on until I fly out.

Andrew & I have been separated since late March when I returned to Australia to take care of the logistics of moving overseas. He stayed in the UK to start his new job on April 1st. I hope that wasn't a bad omen for him, he got injured at work several weeks ago and ended up with significant concussion and lost a month off work :( it has been very distressing for me to not be there taking care of him. He's back at work now and doing better thank goodness.

I've taken up a new hobby to pass the time and it is time consuming but quite fun! The last time I touched a pair of knitting needles would be at least 20 years ago so I'm rather shocked at how easily I'm picking up the craft. I'll post some pics of my first project when I post next.

Til then, take care.