a home of our own

It's been a surreal, stressful but ultimately wildly exciting couple of weeks involving headaches with mortgage brokers, negotiations with estate agents, numerous phone calls and emails with lawyers and a ridiculous amount of paperwork. However it's been worth all of the late nights and grey hairs as we have a house to call our very own, our first home no less. After living in rentals the size of shoe boxes for more years than I care to calculate it feels so good to be able to say that.

My dreams of decorating, furnishing, tinkering around with, creating a garden for, making a home- our home, for our family can now become a reality :)

It all happened incredibly quickly due to Curt being offered a promotion which involves a job relocation to Geelong, a city about an hours drive out of Melbourne. Once we knew we'd be moving out of Melbourne itself, it was an easy decision to base ourselves in a small coastal town about twenty minutes drive away from Geelong. Torquay- the first town on the famous Great Ocean Road, home to the world famous surf break Bells Beach and the capital of surf culture in Victoria, being the birthplace of the iconic surf brands Quiksilver and Ripcurl.

During the summer months it is a thriving holiday town and a more chilled out place during winter but somewhere we are very excited to be able to call our home. It feels like we now really get the chance to live the beachside, outdoor, relaxed lifestyle we came here in search of. We will be moving in at the start of October, so there's lots to be done and sorted out before then. As for the house, it is a three bedroom wooden board, beach style house in a lovely street. Pictures to come soon I promise.

Image from designlovefest.

following a dream: part 1

Or how we eventually got to live in Australia and how that's working out...

I've never shared many of the details about our being here in Australia- why we decided to pack our bags, leave London and head to the other side of the world and how we made it happen, but I thought I'd put our story out there in the event it may be interesting or useful to anyone else entertaining ideas of doing something similar or embarking on their own adventure.

I've always been a believer in getting up and doing, trying to make dreams happen rather than just sitting around whinging about how I wish I was somewhere else, doing something different. Of course these plans and goals don't always come to fruition but nothing ventured, nothing gained as the old saying goes.

Since soon after Lila was born four years ago, we had been throwing around ideas of trying out life down under. London had been a truly awesome place to call home for both of us during the previous few years but it wasn't the ideal environment in which we envisaged raising a family. We were both keen on a more outdoor lifestyle. I spent my childhood on a farm, running around in fields and making dens in hay bales and Curt was keen to raise his kids by the ocean in the the same kind of relaxed, beach environment he had grown up. We also wanted to see more of the other side of the world and give our children the chance to experience new places and people. And live somewhere where summer isn't always a washout (sorry, England. You will always have my heart but your summers are just not quite long or reliable enough). It seemed an ideal time to do it, as Lila was still so small and not settled into school yet. 

I had spent six months living and working in various places in Australia during my year of post-university travels. Curt had never set foot on Australian soil but knew the lifestyle and culture was similar enough to that of his native Durban in South Africa. The obvious choice within Australia was Melbourne as my sister had already been living there for a few years and was settled with a fiancee and a stable job, and if you plan on upping sticks to the other end of the world then it makes sense to be near family.

So we knew where we wanted to be, but actually getting here was far from straightforward. Of course we'd heard enough from other people to know that getting work visas would likely be a difficult, expensive and protracted process. Fortunately Curt was working for a big multi-national company with offices all over the world, including Australia, so applying for a transfer seemed the easiest way to go about getting a visa, and of course guaranteed him a job on arrival. 

As his wife/partner I could automatically get a work visa off the back of his. The timing wasn't ideal as he started the transfer process just as the first wave of the recession hit. The Australian offices suddenly dug their heels in as they were understandably wary of adding to their team in such an uncertain economical time. So everything ground to a halt and we were left hanging, unsure of whether anything would happen at all, told that the recruitment process had been frozen for the forseeable future. 

To be continued...

             
                    

Family snapshots taken on Wimbledon Common and in our local park in Winter/Spring 2009, a few months before we left the UK.

listening

Here are a couple of songs that have been getting a lot of air time in our house lately. Two musical artists from the opposite ends of the Earth but both with such soulful, unique voices. I love the video for Old Pine, from Devon native Ben Howard which showcases some awesome British countryside. Aussie Matt Corby also has some skills in the song writing department, his track Brother is definitely worth a listen too.

on living

"I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package, I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that’s what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”

-- Joan Didion,

in a commencement address at the University of California, Riverside, in 1975

                   

               

Images found via here, here and here.

art to ignite imaginations

When this image above popped up in my Instagram feed, my heart stopped for a second. What a magical room for a child to grow in, to play, explore, rest their head and slumber. What amazing dreams that wall of art would inspire (not to mention that straight-out-of-a-fairytale doll house). Taken by Ryan Marshall, photographer and author of the awesome blog Pacing the Panic Room, this is the bedroom of his daughter Tessa. And what a lucky, lucky girl she is.

I often like to ponder ways I can add to, tinker with and rearrange Lila and Rose's room and while they already have some art in there, of course this sparked a whole new enthusiastic search over on Etsy for whimsical, story book-esque prints to create a gallery wall for them. Images they will remember all their lives, which will ignite their little imaginations and send their minds racing with thoughts of far away lands, friendly creatures and adventures to be embarked upon.

Here is a selection of some of the prints that have made it on to my wish list..

    

      

Musicians of Bremen // Prairie Home // The Wayfarers // Hot Air Balloons // Feathers // Mon jardin secret 

a bit of britannia

 

Being so far away, it's easy to get all nostalgic about England...those green fields, pretty little villages, country lanes (and pubs of course) and hedges. I really miss hedgerows. Even big old London town and all those red buses, the hustle and bustle and all our old haunts in Wimbledon. Although the reality isn't quite so rosy at the moment what with the wettest summer for many, many years and bad economic times- I know if we still living there right now I would be wishing, planning, scheming how we could get to Australia!- I still find myself subconsciously gravitating towards Britannia themed trinkets and bits and pieces to make our house feel like a home.

A great place to get a fix is at the online store The Shop at Number 57, the brainchild of the British interior stylist Marie Nichols and her graphic designer husband Simon. They have curated a gorgeous collection of items ranging from cute cross stitch kits to printed cushions and vintage wall hangings and charts. I've got my eye on one of the vintage school maps for the girls bedroom. They may not be living there but they were both born in the UK and you bet I'm going to make sure they know their British geography!

Here are a few of my favourite items, check out the shop to see lots more...

    

      

        

Large ceramic button // Travel- London Waterloo print // 1960's British Isles wall chart // Her Royal Majesty cross stitch kit // Vintage apothecary glass bottles // Vintage botanical school poster

just a minute in june

A few snapshots and a little update of what's been happening in these parts during the past month:

Buying...At the more exciting end of the spectrum, some beautiful new ankle boots. Slightly more mundane: a couple of heaters and a tumble drier because it is so cold here at the moment and we were growing extremely tired of having a freezing cold house and clothes which we could never get dry.

Enjoying...My 29th birthday this weekend. It was the first birthday for which I've had a proper celebration in a few years (when babies come along their birthdays have a habit of taking over). We had a great dinner out followed by a few glasses of champagne. I'm looking forward to making the last year of my twenties one to remember!

Reading... There's not been much time for reading lately and I have a stack of books building up now waiting to be read. When I get immersed in a good book it usually takes over my entire life and I can't do anything else until I've finished it... reading while cooking, reading while eating...thank goodness I'm a pretty fast reader :) I felt in the mood for a classic so I've just started The Cranford Chronicles by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Listening...Curt recently bought a record player so we've been slowly starting to build up a collection of classic vinyls and it's been so good to introduce the girls to some of the standout sounds from the '80s and '90s which take us straight back to our childhoods (hello Direstraits and Simple Minds). Though unfortunately my dear husband thought it would be amusing to pick up a Culture Club album which Lila immediately latched onto and now 'Karma Chameleon' is constantly ringing in our ears.

Watching...We well and truly got sucked into the Australian version of The Voice, which has left a bit of a void since ending a couple of weeks ago. I also get my weekly fix of Downtown Abbey on a Sunday evening which Curt can't abide but I am not exactly enraptured with Robson Green's Extreme Fishing on a Wednesday so that evens things out a little. 

Eating...Everything in sight! Winter does nothing for my waistline, I just crave comfort food and I've been letting myself go wild. Time to exercise some restraint in an attempt to avoid a huge panic before summer shows up again.

Creating...I've been experimenting with making some beads from coloured clay and turning them into necklaces which stemmed from an idea to replicate one I'd been lusting after for some time. Despite the whole concept sounding like something ten year olds do for art class in school, I've been pleasantly surpised with the results and itching to try out some more ideas.

Pictures...afternoon rainbow spotted from our garden // Lila and Rose at the adventure playground // first ponytail // ballet class