Monday 22 May 2017

138 ways to disappear completely…


Last week, I set off for sites unknown to me with my friends Sara and Sybil and Sybil’s dogs Sooki and Wendy. We started off with a yummy lunch to celebrate Sara’s birthday at the Riverbank General Store & Cafe.


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Our flamingo friends came along for the ride - their flock has expanded!


flamingos


Then we set out to do some spooky exploring at an old abandoned satellite station. There are no signs to tell you where to go, and the road to the station is blocked with rocks. We parked the cars at the start of the road and walked about one kilometer to get to the station.


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We didn’t let this silly warning scare us off…


death


This is what we found at the end of the road. It’s the only remaining building from the original complex that was built in the 1960s.


station

building back


It didn’t look too spooky on the outside, but then we went inside….


disappear


Spooky, but cool at the same time.


inside center


The ceiling rafters are still in great shape and create a funky design..


ceiling 4


The graffiti is colourful and creativel – and sometimes rude! Exterior graffiti…


exterior sunbeam


brick wall


graffiti 1a


graffiti 2


graffiti 4


And interior graffiti.

graffiti 5


graffiti 6


graffiti 7


graffiti 8


graffiti 9


ice cream


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The floors are covered in all sorts of crap – glass, metal, wood, wires…. not to mention a whackload of empty spray paint cans. This was the only room with a semi-clean floor – probably because it seems to be used for bike or skateboard stunts.


sara


It took me a few tries to figure out what this sign says.


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Sybil wanted to see what’s at the other end of this concrete pathway, but it was so covered in garbage we didn’t get very far before we gave up and turned back. From what I read, I think this was originally a covered sidewalk that joined this building to a now-gone building.


path


It definitely wasn’t one of our usual adventures with breathtaking ocean views! But this old abandoned building has a sort of rough, edgy, mysterious beauty of its own. And lucky for us, death wasn’t that way after all!


good times


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Sunday 14 May 2017

Design inspiration from Home To Win

On HGTV’s Home To Win this season, the builders and designers are renovating a lake house. Judging by the first two episodes,  I’m thinking that this could be a great source of design inspiration for our house. I can totally see Danielle Bryk’s & Rob Evans’s design for the laundry room working in our upstairs bathroom…


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What I love

Horizontal planking on the walls with simple baseboards and trim.


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Combination of wood & white & textures.


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Nautical-inspired accents.


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Coastal colour on the walls - Benjamin Moore Grey Wisp CC-670.


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This could also be design inspiration for… our laundry room!

What’s your go-to source for design inspiration?


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All images from HGTV’s Home To Win.

Tuesday 2 May 2017

Kitchen windows are in!

After months and months of the kitchen window openings being boarded up and blocking the light and view, the kitchen windows are in! Here’s my AHHHHHHHHH moment :-)


funky window


First the boards and Tyvek came down and Brian prepped the openings.


window openings


The first three window frames went in…


three windows outside


And then the windows…


three windows inside


Then the second set of three window frames and windows went in, and the job was done!


six windows inside


six windows outside 2

Now the west end of the house is fully windowized :-) I like to make up words :-)


west end windows inside


west end windows


That’s a whole lotta windows to let in the amazing views :-)


lotsa windows


It feels like the house is taking forever, but looking back to where we were at a year ago, I guess we’ve made pretty good progress – on May 3rd last year, we were still working on the garage and the foundation for the house hadn’t even been excavated…


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Another step closer to the house being weather-tight and ready for the interior work. That’s where the fun starts for me, I can’t wait to start choosing finishes and paint colours and tiles!


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Monday 1 May 2017

The Living Beach – May 1, 2017

It’s May 1st, so that means time to see how the beach has changed over the past month. And, well, it really hasn’t changed very much! In some places, there’s a lot of sand washing back up onto the beach…


looking down beach


But there are still lots of rocks…


hell point


straight ahead


gaff point


In fact, looking back at the pictures from April, I think there are actually more rocks on the beach in some places! April on the top, May on the bottom…

April collageliving beach collage


Hard to believe that by the end of the summer, this big rock will disappear under the sand!


big rock



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