It’s been a little over three weeks since my last post and so much has happened.
I had a call from a recruiter who found me via my LinkedIn profile. He wanted to know if I was interested in a full time permanent job. It turns out that the job was exactly what I’d love to be doing and definitely exciting enough for me to get back into the full time commute routine. The job was software support and training for some mining software. I had a great interview and then had to wait two weeks until they interviewed their other candidate before I had any news. Unfortunately I didn’t get the job. The feedback from the companty was great but I was pipped at the post by a geologist with experience in a similar role with a competitor company. I’ll always lose out to a geologist in this type of role. Oh well, yes, I was disappointed but I’ve moved on. I have too much else to do right now.
We got the new garage door. It’s great. So quiet and it doesn’t make a racket in the wind, either. Looks so much better than the old rusty cracked door.
We also chose some floor tiles that will (hopefully) look good with the existing tiles. They are different, but should be complementary . I got a tiler to come and have a look at the sample that I brought home and to give me a quote. He liked the tile and we liked the quote so we have him scheduled to do the work later this month. It should be finished a week before Stephen’s mum arrives. The only problem with that plan is that Stephen left for two weeks in South Africa (for work) on Friday night. He arrives home the day before the tiler comes in. That means we had to get the carpet pulled up before Stephen left. To pull up the carpet we had to move the heavy furnitue out of the rooms e.g. unstacking bookcases, moving them and restacking. We left most of the furniture in the rooms and just moved it around, cutting and pulling up the carpet in stages. Pulling up the tack board was a real pain with all the nails into the slab, but we got it all done. We’ll do the final emptying of the rooms on the day Stephen gets home. Things will be really cramped in the other rooms when that happens but it should only be for a few days.
Some before photos of the lounge room:
Early lounge room
Lounge room before
Lounge room before
There was an incredible amount of beach sand under the carpet. We don’t know how long it had been down, but obviously some of that sand came out of our dogs – even though we always rinse and brush them after we’ve been to the beach and before they are allowed back inside. Since the carpet has gone I’ve really realised how much hair Anzac sheds and how much the carpet caught. I’m having to vacuum billowing clouds of grey and white dog hair every day. I know how much dust we get in the house and all that settles on the furniture must also settle on the carpet, so it’s definitely a good move to get rid of it.
The carpet removed
I’ve been flat out painting since the carpet started to come up and I’m taking as much advantage as possible of Stephen’s absence and of having less furniture and no floor coverings in the lounge and main bedroom to get as much painting done as possible. Choosing paint colours is painful – even choosing white. There are so many different whites! I finally found one that we’re happy with for all the internal doors. They were painted in a high gloss white that had yellowed with age. I chose to use a semi-gloss. The trim is fiddly and getting a smooth, even finish on the door surfaces isn’t easy. Our doors are just cheap, hollow core doors with the flat untextured surface. They’d be easier to spray paint and even easier if painted before they were hung. I used a gloss roller, which was easier and looks better than my first attempt which was with a brush, but I’m not really happy with them. They will have to do, though; they’ve all had two coats and I’ve had enough of painting doors! I’ve moved on to the walls in the loungeroom. I’ve been filling cracks and chips, sanding back repairs that were poorly patched by the previous owners, and washing down. We knew about the cracks and chips and the jerry-built repairs (including an unbelievable TV cabling job), but after a while you don’t see them any more – until you start trying to fix them. That’s when you realise just how much there is to do. There was also a wallpaper dado border that I had to remove. That was much easier than the vinyl borders that I had to remove from the bathroom and toilet when I painted them.
The previous owner told us he was an electrician. This is cabling for Foxtel
Choosing the wall colours was a real pain as well. We wanted something with a touch of colour, but not something too bright; and it has to match the tiles. I tried six different colour samples before we found one that we think we’re happy with. The wall was starting to look like we were painting it in camoflage pattern. Just what the paint will look like when the whole room is covered it is another thing. Experience tells me that paint never quite looks the way you expect it to when it’s on the walls. Hopefully two coats will be enough. Currently the bottom half of the walls is an apricot colour and the top half a lighter pink with yellow undertones. I should be ready to start cutting in tomorrow.
I’ve also chosen the paint for the family room/kitchen/hallway area – just an off-white shade for that area – but I don’t think I’ll get that done before the mothers visit. Stephen’s mum will be here for two weeks and then mine for four. They’ll overlap for a few days. On one of the days that they are both here we’ve booked a Swan Valley vineyard tour. Our neighbours run a business called Perth Luxury Tours. A couple of weeks ago they took us and two other of our neighbour couples out for the day on a Swan Valley tour. We had a great time and decided to do a similar tour with Maggie and Mirella. I highly recommend one of their tours to anyone visiting Perth, or to anyone who wants to see more of the Perth area. They conduct a variety of personalised tours.
While I’m busy advertising I’ll mention my hairdresser. He’s now working from his salon in his home in Tapping. If you live close enough to give him a try I doubt you’ll regret it. He’s a great hairdresser (for both men and women) and is very reasonably priced. Hair by Ben Williams 0416 019 922.
In between all of my painting and prep work I’m required to throw the ball for Anzac every few seconds for about half an hour to an hour at a time; then he sleeps for a while – or lays looking out the front door, watching the world go by – then we start again. Without the carpet on the floor the ball does tend to roll under the sofa. Anzac tries his best to get it out, but can never quite get to it, so I have that job as well. We’ve also been getting up early and walking down to the park each morning. We do a few circuits of the park; Kaz just wanders and sniffs and says hello to the other dogs. Anzac wanders and sniffs and says hello to the other dogs, and chases the ball. He doesn’t often bring it back because there are too many distractions so I always throw it in the direction that we’re walking and he gets planty of exercise chasing it.
Speaking of Anzac, it was his first birthday on Friday. I bought them a couple of new toys, a cockatoo and a pelican; of course I had to give them a toy each, but they do share. The toys are very popular, they honk when they are squeezed and the have plastic in the wings which makes crinkly, scrunchy noises when its chewed or tossed around.
Birthday Toys
We also went down to the beach on his birthday. It was a hot day so we all went into the water. Kaz is funny, though. She doesn’t trust us not to take her right in for a swim. She wanders back and forth along the shallows, but turns her back on us if we turn to look at her. If we call her or move towards her she heads off in the opposite direction. She won’t let us get close enough to get hold of her.
Beach fun
Anzac is absolutely loving the water. He swims out to Stephen without any hesitation and isn’t phased by waves splashing over him. Luckily he doesn’t feel the need to swim out on his own. He likes to keep checking on Kaz and us and any other dogs that go past.
Swimming fun
Snoozing in the car on the way home from the beach
All in all he had lots of fun on his birthday.
