The Swans decorate for Christmas

Narelle Swan has started decorating the house for Christmas.


With Mark's help, she's moved in another table and covered it with a Christmas tablecloth, so that the cold meats, seafood and salads which she prepares for Christmas dinner can be spread out for guests to help themselves from.


The Christmas tree is up, and Narelle has decorated it with baubles and candles. Now little Nicole is allowed to help drape the tinsel on it very carefully.


Only nine more sleeps until Christmas! Nicole is very excited.

Slow Progress

I've been quiet (at least on here!) for a while, so I thought I'd show a few of the things I'm slowly working away at.
I'm still scraping paint off my Lines DH/D. I was pleased to find that most of the grey paint on the flat roof is still there, and in fact the white paint came off more easily now than when I started a few months ago (perhaps the high humidity helps). (Actually, it was 6 months ago. Yikes - where has that 6 months gone?)


I had almost finished scraping the green paint off the chimney, and chipped a bit of the layer underneath off by mistake - and realised that the original cream-coloured paint is in fact under that layer (pinky-white, some kind of undercoat I think). So the pinky-white layer has to come off too!
I have worked out how to reproduce some wallpapers - the newest version of Word for Macintosh leaves white spaces between images, but if I save in the older version of Word, the spaces disappear! But I don't want to wallpaper until I've done any painting that's necessary, and that will only happen when I've finished scraping ...



In the meantime, I've started scraping another house, the teachest house I bought from Michelle Robertson before she left Australia for the UK. Inside, it's all bare wood - plain, not to say rough. The outside walls and gable had been painted white, with black window frames. It looked very stark, and the original worn grey, yellow and cream paint is more in keeping with the interior. (I think this will become a slightly run-down guest house.)


The poor Swans have been left for quite a while in a half-furnished house. I have finally bought some tacky wax, and put up some pictures. I also used the wax to try to keep the carpet in place (but I still don't think I should take up carpet-laying professionally).



Next job here is to make some bedding. (Or at least cut it out and pretend!)

I've also put up another German bungalow:


More about this soon (I hope). It came with a lot of furniture, including more orange Bodo Hennig arm chairs and sofa, so I am trying out various fabrics to recover them.

The hospital has been very neglected (almost as badly as many real ones), and one of the nurses has got so tired that she's actually lying on the emergency bed next to a patient!


The doctor looks like he's going to keel over soon too, so I'd better do something about it.

And today, I took my first steps into selling on ebay. It took me a very long time to list just three items - I hope it will get quicker with experience! Trying to estimate a reasonable selling price and reasonable postage costs is quite tricky, as I'm sure all of you who already sell know very well.

The Swans visit Tim's Secondhand Furniture Shop

The Swans have come to see what they can find in Tim's shop.
"Good morning, can I help you?"
"Oh, good morning. We don't have any kitchen appliances - do you have any in stock?"
"Certainly, if you'll just come through to the other room."

"Oh, Mummy, look at these gold cups! They must be for giants! Have you met a giant, Mr Tim?"

"Just through here you'll find stoves, washing machines - even a kitchen sink!"
"Terrific - we don't have a sink either."

"Come on, darling, we can ask about giants later."

"Hmm, an old twin-tub, even one with a wringer - don't fancy washing the baby's nappies in those. But this stove looks alright."


"This washing machine looks better - much more modern. Can we have it down to have a look at it?"
"Certainly, madam."


"Oh yes, that looks fine, don't you think darling? What about a fridge, do you have any?"

"I'm sorry, madam, we don't get them in very often, and unfortunately I've just sold one."

"Oh, OK, we'll have to try the Trading Post then. So what else - could we have a look at that kitchen sink you mentioned?"


"Just back in here, madam - here we are. I can get this down for you too if you'd like to have a look?"

"Oh yes, please, that would be good.
Oh, this wall unit is great! And it's got a built-in stereo system. We'll take this too, thanks."


Tim gets his assistant Johnno in to help him move the sink.

Johnno's a young bloke who looks a bit rough - shaves his head, and doesn't look too clean. But he's a good worker, and is a real help to Tim with moving the stock in and out.


The sink and matching kitchen cupboard are rather out-of-date, but they'll do for now.

"What else do we need, darling? Oh yes, kitchen chairs. We have an old table, but nothing to sit on, just the good dining chairs."
Johnno sets out several kitchen chairs for the Swans to try.



"Oh, this red plastic one is much too low. How's yours, darling?"
"It's fine - do you have any to match it, mate?"
"This other red one is really too small, I can't get comfortable on it."
"We have one chair to match the wooden one, sir - and there's a single chair that's very nice - we'll just get that out for you to try, madam."



"Oh yes, very comfortable. I suppose it won't matter to have odd chairs in the kitchen for a while. We'll take the white one and this wooden one - not that other one, it's too old-fashioned."

"I noticed a few things in the first room you might like to have a look at, darling."
"And so did I, Mummy! Come and see what I found!"
"What do you think of this cabinet for the dining room?"


"And I want the ballerina lamp, Mummy - ple -ee- ease!"
"Yes, we do need some lights, so you can have it, darling, especially as you remembered the magic word. The blue one would be good for the family room, too."
"Oh thank you, Mummy! And look at this little desk! It's just the right size for me. Wouldn't it be good when I start big school?"

"There's some more things over here too, darling - come and have a look."
"If we could just have a look at this bookcase, please, it might do for the kids' books and toys."
"Oh, and look, here's another lamp in the corner, it would look good in our bedroom."



"OK, that's pretty much it. Oh, but do you have any occasional tables?"
"Just this one, madam, I'll get it out for you."
"Mm, the top's loose, but I'm sure I could fix that. It'll do for now."



"Thank you, that's all for now. Can you deliver everything, please?"
"Certainly, madam. There's a $20 fee for delivery. Could I have your address, please?"
"Swan House, Caroline St, Barton."
"No problem, we can deliver it first thing tomorrow."
"Oh great, thank you, that will be wonderful, then we can unpack and move in."
"Thanks, mate, we'll see you tomorrow morning, then."
"Thank you, sir. Goodbye, madam, and thank you."

(Time for Tim to re-stock, I think!
The furniture the Swans bought includes a washing machine and stove by Marx; sink and kitchen cupboard by Twigg; wall unit by Lisa; cabinet and white chair by Lundby; ballerina lamp (and others?) by Sufa; desk by Dol-toi; wooden chairs by Barton; and side table and small green and white bookcase by unknown.)

(Sorry, I cannot get the small pictures to line up across the page. They do it in the preview, and stubbornly go one above the other when I publish!)

Barton Caroline's Super de Luxe 1980s

The Swan family have just taken possession of their new house. They have a growing family, and this large and commodious residence will give them plenty of room to expand. Buying a house is very expensive, but how could they resist it, when it is decorated throughout with the bird they are named after?


Anyone familiar with this house design will notice that this one has new roofing. Colourbond corrugated steel roofing has replaced the original tiles - perhaps because the combination of bricks and tile was too heavy for the soil it stands on.
(Actually, the corrugated cardboard has been stuck on over the paper tiling. It does give it a very Australian touch.)

The house will need some repairs before they move in. There are a couple of windows missing, and Mr Swan is concerned that the roof is not very secure, and might blow off in a gale.


Mrs Swan would like new carpet, as the floors are rather scuffed. Front and back doors would be nice too, although when so many rooms are completely open, perhaps they are a bit superfluous. Still, it would be nice to have a front door to welcome guests through.


More essential, with small children, are banisters on the stairs:


Still, it's a very nice house, and they hope they can move in soon. They would like to go straight out and buy modern furniture for it, but the costs of transferring ownership, on top of the cost of the house itself, mean that they will have to economise for a while. They will make do with their old furniture, and rent anything else they need from Tim's Secondhand Furniture Store.