Aiden's Little Room

When I was pregnant with Aiden we continued the renovation of our Glebe St house by converting the 3^rd bedroom into his room, though we didn’t know he was a he. It was at the back of the house and was nice and quiet, so seemed like a good choice for a new baby. It was also pretty small and babies are pretty small, so they don't need much stuff, do they?

Our 3^rd bedroom was the typical room that most houses have; where all the junk went! It was full of boxes of comics, a crappy desk that we didn’t use, boxes of random stuff we had nowhere to unpack to and probably didn’t need, a sewing machine…. Just a whole lot of stuff really. Lots of people have this kind of room. If we were to have a room for the baby, as well as a second bedroom where guests could stay, something had to be done.

We went to Brisbane that year for Christmas and I was desperate to get back and start work on that bedroom. I was entering the third trimester and all the pregnancy books said you get really tired leading up to the birth.  I wanted to get the room finished before that happened.

Once we moved all the crap out and found other places for it (mainly the tip) we had a tiny and very tired room. I needed to fit in storage, a change table, a cot, a chair,  a little table, a bin... hmmm...I thought babies didn't need much?  I (eventually, we) started by painting the room.  For some reason I just want to be up a ladder painting when I am pregnant. Must be a nesting thing. I’m getting an inkling to paint the casual TV/dining area in our current house in Bridge Rd. Maybe just one wall?

We painted 3 of the walls in Dulux Antique White USA, and one wall a deep blue/green (sorry I can’t remember the colour!) I wanted to brighten up the room and keep it light, as well as create some depth and contrast to the Expedit bookcase from Ikea, we already had. I thought this would provide great storage for a baby because each of the cubes can be used for different functions and you can buy all sorts of options to insert in the cubes for flexible storage. I bought some little double drawers, some cupboard doors and some wicker baskets to fit in some of the cubes. The bookcase took up a good part of the wall but wasn’t very deep so it didn’t take up too much floor space of the room.

After the painting was complete we selected and had installed new carpet. Even choosing relatively cheap carpet, it was still $600, which included new underlay, installation and taking away the old carpet. The rest of the upstairs had to make due with the 20+ year old carpet! Spoilt baby! We added a Stokke Sleepi Cot and change table and a wicker chair that our friend Jacqui gave us when she moved to NZ. I added a little table from Spotlight which cost $17 because it was the last one and had no screws. A trip to the hardware store and a little paint and its been a very handy table!

To finish the room I added a large wall sticker from The Wall Sticker Company called Tree of Life. I paid a little extra to have them customise the colours to match the room. I sent them the colours I wanted and they sent me pictures in the chosen colours for me to approve. It arrived in a couple of weeks, and it really completed the look, along with new curtains and a new light fitting.

Unfortunately I don’t have any “before” photos but here is the finished result.

 I thought I would tell you about Aiden’s room in Glebe St as we are about to decorate his room in our Bridge St home. We have lived here for 1.5 years and the pretty pink and green girly room is about to be transformed into something more suitable for a 2.5 year old cheeky boy. Will tell you all about it in a future blog post!

Arty Glebe Streets

A number of months ago I was sitting in an airport in Asia, playing on my iPad killing time before my flight back home. I think I had been in China so was desperate for a Facebook fix. The Chinese government is still denying this website to its residents. My friend Andrea and I began ‘chatting’ using Facebook’s chat functionality. I have been friends with "Drea" for around 15 years! When I first met we were both living in Brisbane and she was dating a guy who was friends with the guy I was dating. I just thought she was the coolest! Amazing creative energy, naughty sense of humour, white blonde hair and riding a "Pepsi" motorbike. In awe really.

Nothing much has changed. Well we both have moved on from various parts of our life and found new parts but she has maintained her coolness, naughtiness and creative energy!

We were having a general chat and I asked her if she would be in Sydney over the coming months. Andrea has become a great photographer and I thought it would be nice to have some family shots including my pregnant belly, before the new baby arrived. The snaps I have of my belly while pregnant with Aiden are not flattering!

Andrea and my sister Emma made the invitations for Arran and my wedding and Andrea took our wedding photos on what was one of Sydney’s hottest days after Christmas in 2005. We got married in the back yard of our Glebe St house despite my mother’s protests (it was a very un-pretty backyard which we eventually had landscaped). We invited around 40 people, brought in a fantastic caterer to serve continuous finger food and cocktails and spent lots on lovely wine. It was a great party. It’s still the favourite wedding I have attended!

Andrea specialises in wedding photography and has a distinct style I would describe as beautiful, quirky and fun. She also loves photographing families, babies and baby bumps! Check out her work here. 

We set a date for the family photo shoot and she asked me to think about what kind of style I would like.

One of the things I love about Glebe is the street art and murals. They somehow work with the old houses and the general Glebe vibe. I just had to feature these in our family shoot and I’m so happy with the results! Andrea’s style of photography mixed with the street art is a great combination. Arran and Aiden tagged along and indulged me in the choice of background for the photo-shoot and Drea’s lovely partner Mike was a great photographer’s assistant!

The artist who did the mural in the first six photos below is Davey Mac or "Teazer" His bright vibrant work features in a number of Glebe Streets and Lanes. You can view more of his work here. The artist who completed the murals in the last four photos is Stu Barber. Stu is involved in Dulwich Hill Street Art Club, which is part of Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design.

When you are next in Glebe I encourage you to take a walk into the streets and lanes beyond Glebe Point Road. There are many great street art murals to be found. I think some of the best can be found in the area within Glebe Point Rd, Franklin St/Cowper St, Wentworth Park Rd and Mitchell St.

Spice Teaz Lego Mural Campbell Lane Glebe

"The Letter Lab". Check out the bollards made into test tubes!

"Respect Mural" by Stu Barber

"Enjoy Glebe" Stu Barber

What's the Secret?

One of the criticisms I hear about living in a big city is that you don’t have that sense of community. You don’t get to know your neighbours and people don’t care about each other. In some ways this is true. When you live in close proximity to lots of other people you learn ways of keeping private. If you are living the aussie dream on the quarter acre block with a nicely placed house in the middle, you have a fair amount of privacy and are probably more willing to get to know your neighbours. When you live in a narrow house which potentially shares walls with two other houses, or in a unit block with many others you tend to keep to yourself a bit more.

When Arran and I lived in a unit in Cook St we definitely didn’t know the people living in the units directly beside us. We did meet a few of the long term residents which was nice, but this was because of an arranged block BBQ, not because we went out of our way to know the neighbours. When we lived in Glebe St, the Terrace house on one side had a continual rotation of uni students share renting. We wished we hadn’t met the couple living in the warehouse on the other side!

We have lived in our current house on Bridge Rd for 1.5 years and have not even sighted the neighbours! Sad? Maybe. But I don’t think we are unusual in the inner city. I walk around Glebe a lot. For exercise and for mental stability! I get to see a lot of Glebe residences. It’s typical for the houses in Glebe to try and keep very private. It’s rare to get a glimpse through a window or a peak into a backyard. Windows are obscured by frosted glass, curtains or blinds. Fences are high and solid. My take is that when you get home, and it’s generally a small home, whatever space that is yours, you want to keep sacred and private, particularly when right outside the door is noise, traffic and the chaos of living so close to the city. The front door of our Glebe St house was 1 metre from the cars parked on the street.  The front door was always shut and the blinds were always closed.

This is really why this blog is called “Secret Homes of Glebe”. Houses in Glebe are very private and secret. I want to write about the people who live behind the doors and walls of these houses and share a piece of their life with you.

So how do you get that sense of community when you are shutting out the world when you get home? How do you prevent feeling isolated in the big city? One of the things that Arran and I do a lot is go out for breakfast or a coffee at Glebe’s local café’s. Arran’s regular “check-in”s on Facebook probably makes our friend’s wonder if we ever eat at home!

Aiden and his mate Rob Shaw hanging out in a cafe in Manly!

This fits well with research from Dr Tony Grant, who is one of Australia’s Coaching Psychology and Positive Psychology's gurus. He was recently involved  with a show on ABC1 called Making Australia Happy which took a group of people in Marrickville, another suburb in Sydney's inner west and used positive psychology tools to try and improve their happiness. One tool in preventing feeling socially isolated and improve general happiness is communal eating. Our favourite cafes know who we are and create a welcoming and warm feeling whenever we arrive. They also provide a place for us to interact with other people. Its not unusual to strike up a conversation with people at the next table from us. Aiden looks so striking that most people can’t help but comment and want to talk to us about him!

There are lots of great cafes in Glebe; Badde Manors, Sonoma, Well Connected, Sapphos….

Cappuccino at Well Connected, Glebe Pt Rd

Our two favourites are Clipper and Astor Espresso, both on Glebe Point Rd.  We would go to each at least once a week. Clipper has big communal tables and they always know our coffee order and that Aiden needs toast with jam. Stat. Sometimes I will stop at Clipper on the way to work for a take-a-way coffee and on the occasions that I forget I have no money in my wallet (they are a cash only business), they just tell me to pay next time. When I attempt to pay next time they don’t let me! It’s not a big deal for them I guess. What would be the cost of a coffee? And what does it gain them in my loyalty and feeling a sense of community and belonging with this business?

Compare this to our recent trip to Deus Ex Machina at Camperdown. This is primarily a motorbike shop. They would have to have the sexiest, drop jaw drool worthy motorbikes around. Works of art really. They also have clothing, t-shirts and such featuring great design. And there is also a café with big timber communal tables. The whole business is housed in an industrial space and I just love sitting in there soaking up the art, bikes, bikes and art. The food is also great. It’s a shame however that they have missed the communal point of a café. You have to line up to place your order (hate that) and you get the obligatory number to take to your table (hate that) which somehow makes the wait staff want to take the number back off you as soon as possible. It’s a bit like restaurants that are desperate to establish whether you are having wine with dinner as soon as you sit down, and then whisk the wine glasses away if you waiver on your wine commitment. What’s that about? But that’s another blog post……

On our most recent trip there, it was taking ages for Arran’s coffee to arrive. He has a need for a second coffee at any establishment so things are not going well when the first one doesn’t turn up. Mine arrived, breakfast arrived but no coffee for Arran. We hailed one of the busy attendants and enquired about it. Took a while but eventually she came back, with a receipt of our order to prove that it was not originally ordered.  Who cares? Bring. The. Coffee. She then asked if Arran still wanted the coffee (YES) and was he prepared to pay for it (SPARE ME). When she brought it back she asked for the $4. I don’t begrudge a business needing to make money. Of course they need to make money. They made their money that Sunday. In encouraging people to be welcome, share their space and help create a community for people who live in the inner city in small private places, I think it was a big fail. They got their $4 but probably not our return business.

Its not all about cafes though. My hairdresser (and Arran's) Stevie English Hair always make us feel welcomed and valued. Apart from doing great hair, they have a groovy salon vibe, free wireless and iPad's to play with, a big espresso machine where they will make you any coffee you want, or if you aren't pregnant there is always wine and beer on offer. Stevie has created a culture in the salon which is friendly and fun. I think that most clients, including me, enjoy just being there. The salon also gives back to the community by having strict environment credentials and inviting their customers to bring their special "Stevie English Hair" keep cup and grab a coffee anytime. 

Time to makeover the bathroom

Behind the kitchen, the bathroom and laundry in our Glebe St house were the next most desperate rooms that needed a makeover. Initially the exposed brick entry below,  led from the lounge room straight into the laundry! That’s what you want to see as you are enjoying your dinner!

 

We bricked up this entry before we moved in and removed the bricks from the kitchen entry and squared it up .

The downstairs bathroom and laundry was in an appalling state and it was hard to imagine how it got that way. There were pipes emerging from the floor in places where they shouldn’t, a deteriorating plastic toilet cistern, BAD plastic mirror cupboard thingy (that wouldn’t shut) and the worlds smallest hot water system which meant not even one person could have a shower without running out of water! When we replaced the hot water system (long before the bathroom reno) we discovered the system was designed for office use, for washing up dishes and mugs! Not for the showers that Arran has where he splashes about like a duck in the hottest water possible.

We basically never used the downstairs bath and shower (and one of the key criteria when buying the house was that it had to have a bath! That it was usable was irrelevant!) Most of the time we lived in this house the country was gripped in a drought so a bath was a luxury we didn't enjoy very often. Both the laundry and bathroom were small pokey spaces so it made sense we when renovated to open the two rooms up into a more practical space. Actually on reflection, renovate seemed the wrong word. We basically replaced everything (ceiling, roof, floor) except the outer walls so it was more of a room replacement than anything else.

Knowing this we auditioned a couple of bathroom designers to see who could come up with the most practical usage and storage for the space. We ended up going with a design from one of Australia’s largest home retailers, who really should stay away from renovation work and just sell stuff! The design was fantastic; we fitted in a full size bath with rainfall shower overhead, heated towel rail, huge vanity with lots of storage, lovely clean floor layout, a remote control skylight (to get more light in) and large laundry cupboard with doors that slid back into themselves (to save space) and a toilet with soft closing lid. The project management and quality of trade work was appalling. For such a small space it took longer and was more expensive than any of our other renovations and the home retailer company narrowly avoided us taking them to the small claims tribunal. There were so many annoyances along the way, once it was finished it was hard to enjoy the finished product, even though it looked great. 

When we sold the house we got more compliments from prospective buyers for this room than any other part of the house.

I'm just not that kind of Mummy.....

It all started last night while perusing Facebook, on my iPad. In bed. I came across a friend’s post of her son Harry's recent child-care photo. Cute little boy about Aiden’s age pulling a face with his tongue sticking out. Funny. It was accompanied by a witty caption by his mum, Alex who writes a blog called “Bad Mumma”. I like her.

Hold on, isn’t Aiden’s child-care photos coming up? Is that this week? Or next week? I think its next week. Isn’t it? Um..yep. Must be next week. Yes. I think….

About 3 weeks ago there was a sign up at Aiden’s day care advertising the up coming photo shoot, although photo shoot is probably the wrong word. Photo circus? Anyway, in Aiden’s pocket I found a nice new envelope from the photography company with all the details. I just needed to fill out the form on the outside, put some money on the inside and return the week before the photographer arrived. Easy. If you are a certain kind of mummy. I made some promises:

1.    I will not put the photo order envelope in my handbag to get crumpled and dirty, screwed up and forgotten.

2.    I will put the dates in my diary to remind me of when the money is due back at the child care centre, as well as the day the photos will actually be taken

3.    I will, return the envelope and money before the due date

Get in car. Drive to work. Forget above promises. Promptly.

Woke up this morning. I’m wondering if the photos are going to be taken today? Hmmm….I haven’t filled out the envelope. I wonder where the envelope actually is? Is it too late if I return the envelope on the day? What will I dress Aiden in? Do I have any money in my wallet?

Start mantra. Must find the envelope. Must find the envelope. Must find the envelope. Must find the envelope. Get distracted by making small boy’s breakfast. Where was I? Must find the envelope. Must find the envelope. FOUND! Its a bit grubby but not too bad. Fill out envelope quickly. Name: Aiden Pearson. Room: Room? Ummm, its….something to do with…well when he started there he was in Angel Babies. That was easy to remember! He was an Angel Baby!! Then he moved into the bigger babies room…..ummm what was that called? Hmmm…did it still have the word Angel in it? Maybe.  Doesn’t matter. He is in a bigger room now. It’s called, um…something like….is it still to do with babies? He’s not really a baby anymore. Probably doesn’t have the word baby in it. Errr…..surely the ‘girls’ know which room he is in? Don’t they? I’ll just leave that bit blank. Which pack do I want? Umm…don’t really need photos of the other kids, do I? I don’t know the other kids. Is that bad? Probably. Bugger. I’ll just order the photos of Aiden. Put the money in envelope. Lick to seal. Why isn’t it sealing? Oh. It’s not a lick type envelope. You have to peel a strip off. Peel strip off. Seal. Put in Aiden’s bag so I don’t forget to take. Start new mantra. Don’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope. Don’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope. Don’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope. Don’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope. Don’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope.

Get Aiden to day-care. Didn’t forget to give the ‘girls’ the envelope. Phew! It’s not too late. Good Mummy. Well done.

On the way out, check Aiden’s pocket. What’s this? 

A birthday party invitation? For Salem’s 3^rd Birthday? WHO IS SALEM? AND WHY DOES SALEM’S MOTHER HAVE TIME TO PREPARE SUCH BEAUTIFUL INVITATIONS AND GIVE OUT 3 WEEKS EARLY? She is obviously a different kind of mummy to me. I bet she returned her child-care photo envelope before it was due, correctly filled out, including the room Salem is in, with the correct money.

I imagine Salem’s Mother is also able to pull together a proper lunch box, for outings. You know. One of those nice insulated lunch box/bag type arrangements where you can fit a nutritious sandwich cut into bite size pieces, small containers with cut up strawberries, a special container for sultanas and maybe cheese pieces and a drink bottle with the child’s name on it from one of the those label mail order companies. I actually have some of those labels. They have Aiden’s name with a cute bicycle picture. I’m a good mummy. Just wish I could find them.

I went to a Tupperware party not long after Aiden was born. I was on maternity leave with nothing much else to do.  They were selling these containers with various compartments, especially for little kids and their caring mothers. It had a section to fit a sandwich and other little compartments for snacks. And it’s Tupperware. It has a lifetime guarantee. I got one. I’m a good mummy. We used it once. I don’t know where it is now.

I like that Aiden’s day-care centre caters for both types of Mummies. They have dress up days. A few weeks ago they had “come dressed as your favourite book character” WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I decided just to forget about that one. I could spend a whole lot of creative energy trying to think up something and then stressing about when I have to have it organised and then doing it at the last minute…or not at all….seriously, is a two year old going to care? This dress up day was for Salem’s mum. I’m just not that kind of Mummy. About 2 months ago they had “Wear your pyjama’s to child care day! YES, YES!! I’m that kind of Mummy. That’s gives me an extra 5-10 minutes in the morning because when he wakes up, he is already dressed! Genius. Pop on his slippers and you’re off!

Of course not everything is bad in Aiden’s life because he doesn’t have “that sort of Mummy”. Food companies have recognised the differences in Mummies and put Tiny Teddies in little snack packs! Hooray! He has learnt to like Café food because his Mummy never has decent snacks on hand. Woo, hoo! When his socks are mismatched his Grandmother assumes that’s the way they came. Awesome!

 

He’s also seems a relaxed and happy kinda kid. He goes to bed with no fuss, no matter where he is put down. He’s pretty happy to tag along with what Arran and I are up to.  He can be occupied with some matchbox cars and a couple of trains…. there are always upsides to not being that kind of Mummy!

Getting away

Arran, Aiden and I have been away for an extended long weekend. It came about when an "ultra endurance point-to-point" mountain bike race in South Australia, called the Mawson Marathon, got cancelled about 3 weeks out. Arran did the race last year and thought it was good enough to do again. Last year, Aiden and I flew to Adelaide to meet him at the end and we stayed a week in the Barossa (part of our plan to visit and sample all the wine regions in Australia). 

 Aiden and I in the main street of Angaston, SA

This year Arran thought we do a similar trip but stay in McLaren Vale. This didn’t really “tickle my fancy” and all, being 30 weeks pregnant and not being able to enjoy the ‘fruits’ of the area. Plus the thought of dragging a 2 year old around cellar doors…well enough said.

Arran, not wanting to waste the opportunity to escape on his bike decided to do a self reliant 3 day trip starting in the Blue Mountains and ending up in the Southern Highlands, where I could pick him up.  He sold the idea to me by offering to have a little break at “The Beach Bach”, Culburra Beach. We stayed at this great little holiday house last year after Christmas. I found it on Stayz last year during winter when fed up with the cold weather and with no holiday to look forward to I decided to book somewhere to stay after Christmas. It was expensive but I paid for it out of my tax return and then didn’t worry about it.

It was better than it looked online and across the road from the beach. Once we arrived there we invited a couple of friends, Simon and Julie and their son Henry (who is basically the same age as Aiden) to spend New Year’s Eve with us. It seemed a bit sad to spend NYE alone, stuck in a house while Aiden slept. Simon and Julie were in the same boat with a small child. Simon and Julie accepted immediately and said they would bring food for dinner. Happy days. Simon and Julie are outstanding cooks. We rave about them to other friends. We love going to their house for dinner. They cook "hatted" restaurant quality food and Julie has a real passion and talent for cakes. Special cakes. Cakes made to look like other things. Simon and Julie arrived with French champagne and lobster for NYE dinner. Happy, happy days.  They came for 2 days and we had a nice beach holiday together.

As such, I was really looking forward to visiting Culburra Beach and “The Beach Bach” again. Culburra beach is not the prettiest of places. It has a combination of fairly ordinary fibro and brick houses and a collection of million dollar new builds to take advantage of a great holiday spot overlooking a pristine beach only a couple of hours drive from Sydney. It has very few facilities and shops and I suspect most residents until recently when Woolworths opened, would make the drive to Nowra for supplies. I guess this is part of the appeal.

I was to set out from Sydney around 11.30 am to arrive at Culburra Beach mid afternoon. I had hoped to settle in and get dinner cooked while waiting the arrival of a shabby looking, bike-worn Arran. Not to be. Got a call from Arran around 9am asking pitifully if I could pick him up from Mittagong, where he had arrived very cold and worn out. He was worried he was suffering from hypothermia, from a combination of riding in the wind and the cold and the rain for the last 2 days, and not being able to get warm at any point.  Between tending to a small boy, completing an exit interview with an employee finishing with the company via phone in two stages (one where he didn’t tell me anything and one where he did!), trying to organise unsuccessfully to get a candidate tested for a role we were recruiting, I managed to pack the car with food, clothes, toys, more electronic connectivity devices than one family needs (iphones, Mac Books, work Dell laptop, ipads…) and got in myself in the car to take another work call.

Aiden and I drove to Mittagong in the miserable rain and the wind, which didn’t dampen my thought of a weekend away because I remembered that “The Beach Bach” had a lovely fireplace. In summer it wasn’t much use but would be perfect for staying indoors and catching up with my un-read fashion magazines (September issues!!), blogs and books, while lying on the fluffy floor rug. We found Arran at a bakery café where he had been keeping warm and drove the 80 or so k’s to Culburra Beach.  A quick stop to pick up the house key and we were off again.

Arriving at "The Beach Bach" we piled out of the car carrying various bags with us to the back door. The key was a little hard to get working but I remember this was the case last time. The lock is quite close to the door jam which makes it hard to turn. We both tried. No banana. Arran went round to the front door which the real estate agent said was open. Nope. It wasn’t. And the key didn’t work. Back to the agent to get the right key! Annoying but it was only a short drive. We would be in soon.

Nope. We had the right key. To the wrong house!!!  Arran had booked "The Beach Batch" not "The Beach Bach" They are 3 houses away from each other! Arran had quickly booked the house on Stayz and didn’t really look at the photos assuming there could only be one Beach Bach. Apart from getting over the initial disappointment of not staying the house I had been looking forward to all week (as well as the only holiday house we would have ever stayed in twice!) it got me to thinking that there are really two types of holiday houses you can rent. And I don’t mean houses or apartments that are owned by large companies or hotel chains. I’m talking about holiday houses that are owned by a family, perhaps for their family and friends to use and that they rent out during the year to help with expenses.

The Generous Holiday House

People who fit out their holiday house with the things they love, and the things that makes being in their holiday house comfortable. We once stayed in a massive house in Bowral with a large group of people in easy reach of a mountain bike event. It was a stunningly huge house but that’s not what put it in this category. It had the BEST stocked kitchen I have ever seen anywhere. The owners must love to cook and entertain and that kitchen made the Christmas in July dinner we cooked there easy and fun. It also showed a generosity of spirit that they were willing to rent their house out and let people they don’t even know get the same pleasure from that kitchen that they obviously do.

The “Beach Bach” at Culburra beach is a little the same. It has an amazing design aesthetic which I absolutely love. I like to think that the owners usual place to live must be fabulous, because their holiday house is just so cool and beachy, but not in a beachy-must-stick-shells-on-everything kinda way. It has the combination of second hand and new furniture that most holiday houses seem to have (I always imagine that someone's grandmother has died and left some furniture that the family didn’t know what to do with. So it ended up in the holiday house. Mismatched and dated but fine to sit on in your slightly damp cossies). 

Not the “Beach Bach”. The furniture that looks to be second hand (coffee table, dining table, perhaps the Danish styled retro arm chairs) blends effortlessly with the new (white leather lounge, fluffy rug, lighting). It has fabulous artwork and trinkets and a thoughtful layout. The Beach Bach also has a great kitchen and in addition has a well stocked pantry which guests are welcome to use. Often when we go away to a holiday house we forget those little things that are always there….salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, glad wrap, foil etc. The Beach Bach owners are generous in spirit in letting us use these items.

I imagine the people who own these types of holiday houses are great hosts.

The “You can stay here but don’t have too much fun on us” Holiday House.

This house is where the owners, maybe from self preservation of their prized possessions, keep many of the house items locked away. I do understand that having a locked cupboard in a holiday house is a good idea. If I were the owner there are a number of things I would keep there for our use so we didn't need to bring each time. Clean bed linen and towels, beach towels, toiletries etc. I’m sure there are other things as well. 

But there seems to be quite a few things locked away in this house. Case in point. “The Beach Batch” that Arran actually booked is still in a great location and has lots of room (its 3 doors away from the house we thought we were renting). If you were here over the summer it would be a great place to share with a group of people except that:

·      The pantry is locked! I didn’t bring any basics with me as "The Beach Bach" has them! Plus there is no place to put our pantry items except on the bench and there is not much bench space.

·      There are no bedside lights in the bedrooms! I love reading in bed and the room that Arran and I are sleeping in has bedside tables and powerpoints right behind them!! But where are the bedside lamps? Maybe they got stolen by the previous occupants or are they in one of the multitude of locked cupboards in the house?

·      There is a great lounge room upstairs that has these huge new and comfy lounge chairs, a couple of nice retro arm chairs, muted colours and a view of the ocean. But where is the TV? Is it locked away so we can’t use it? There is a BIG TV downstairs hooked up to a playstation. Where are the games? The TV is also fuzzy because it needs to be hooked up to a digital box. Is this locked up with the playstation games?

There is an underlying feeling in this house that says, we only trust you to a point. We won’t be staying here again.

You are probably getting the feeling we stay in a lot of holiday houses. We have stayed in a few since Aiden was born, mainly so Arran could convince me to attend yet another mountain bike event. Running water, a fridge and toilet are pretty handy with a small boy to look after. And I am less then willing for this to happen again….

Notice the book light attached to the book for reading? I even have a bedside lamp when camping!

  This is Aiden and I at a 24hr Mountain Bike event. In Canada. We are sleeping in a tent. At the event. It’s not even a proper tent. It has a big wide opening at the front where the cold can get in. The bike track is RIGHT OUTSIDE THE TENT! Aiden (4 months old) is in the sleeping bag with me because it got so cold during the night I was worried about him. And the traitor of a person who was supposed to be riding a bike was taking a picture of us instead! This is why we stay in holiday houses instead of camping at mountain bike events!!!  ;-)

A perfect Glebe day.......

Every now and then, usually on a Saturday “a perfect Glebe day” will unfold. Its hard to judge when these days are going to happen, there is no warning and they certainly can’t be counted on. They are characterised by great weather for walking the Glebe streets and include quintessentially Glebe activities.

A perfect Glebe day starts with a sleep-in. Not a “before baby sleep-in”, where you could stay in bed till midday if you had a hangover (or just a really good book), but maybe a sleep in till 9 or so because Arran and Aiden have ventured out for coffee and toast together and left me awake but not needing to get up. When they come back they bring coffee and a ham and cheese croissant from Sonoma, to consume in bed. It could be the start of a perfect Glebe day…...

 

I might surface from bed to make the 10 am reformer Pilates class at Tiaki, if I’m in a virtuous fitness kinda phase and in need of some zen. To get there I walk along Glebe point Rd past the Glebe Markets, held in the grounds of Glebe Public School.  There markets are typically bohemian Glebe. Second hand clothes, home-wares, plants, crafty artisan hand made objects, screen printed t-shirts, good food….on one particular perfect Glebe day I picked up this great 2^nd hand kettle. Random purchase, not needed but I love it anyway. 

I put this purchase in the category of “spending out”, defined by Gretchen Rubin as spending modestly on things that make you happy. Gretchen wrote the book “The Happiness Project”, her account of 12 months trying different techniques to improve her happiness.  “Spending out” is one of Gretchen’s personal commandments of happiness. I heard about the book from some friends and downloaded it from Amazon to my iPad to read on a work trip to the US in May. While in the US I forgot I had downloaded it and bought a hard-copy. Obviously jet lag and baby brain is not the best combo! Anyway its worth a read and it meant I had a gift to give my Aunt for helping look after Aiden while I was away. Check out Gretchen’s blog for some more detail on “The Happiness Project”.

After Pilates I meander home with tired muscles and a floaty state of mind, picking up Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald on the way. I really only buy it for the Good Weekend Magazine and the gossip page on the back of the front section. Tragic.

The afternoon might consist of a “mani-pedi” for the bargain price of $42 at Tip-Top Nails (they have those great foot spa massage chairs) and a wander further down Glebe Point Rd towards the water to the “Flower Man” (Michael's Supermarket Flowers). A perfect Glebe day always involves buying fresh flowers for the house and the “Flower Man” has a stunning variety of flowers and plants at reasonable prices. If you are buying a bunch of flowers for a gift the "Flower Man" will arrange them and wrap them in cellophane with an older style florists bow for an extra $3! Mum and I were there last Saturday to choose flowers for Laura and Luella who kindly offered to baby sit Aiden that afternoon and evening. Most people who saw us carrying the beautiful blooms wanted to know if we got them from “The Flower Man” down the road.

The end of a perfect Glebe day might be a couple of friends coming for dinner or a walk down Glebe Point rd with a bottle of wine (or even doing a bigger walk across to Newtown) for a cheap dinner. Alternatively it might be a simple meal with just Arran and a great bottle of red wine, shared on our crappy plastic outdoor table. For some reason I moved our crappy plastic outdoor table from Brisbane to Sydney and it has moved with us to every place we have lived since. 

I liken this crappy plastic outdoor table to buying casual clothes.  I would much rather buy beautiful dressy clothes, shoes and accessories than casual laid back threads. I seem to suffer the same affliction with furniture. I’m much happier to save up and wait to invest in a Dattner table, original artwork or turquoise Designer Guild fabric covered 3 seater lounge, but absolutely no interest in more casual outdoor furniture. Last year we discussed getting some nice outdoor furniture as a joint Christmas present for us and our guests to enjoy on Christmas day. Instead we bought each other an iPad and we still have the crappy plastic outdoor table!

Anyway, I digress. A crappy plastic outdoor table does not affect a perfect Glebe day but there are general things that support one:

-       Not having to get in a car and go anywhere. Every place we have lived in Glebe has been easy walking distance to all the good spots. My daily work commute is 45 minute drive each way. Not terrible in the scheme of Sydney traffic but its still nice to not go far on the weekends. I feel healthier for getting some incidental walking in too.

-       Enjoying what Glebe has to offer. Shops, restaurants, interesting people watching, good coffee....

-       Seeing the water at Blackwattle bay while walking in the park

 

-       Catching city views through the row of shops/houses on Glebe Point Rd

-       Admiring the beautiful old homes that line the Glebe Streets

-       Having the Glebe dog walking man say “God bless you”, “ You are so beautiful” or “Your husband is a lucky man”!

What makes a perfect day for you?