a dishwasher tale and a moral

 A few weeks ago my dishwasher decided that it was a little tired and wanted a quieter life. It started giving me some clues that it was time for retirement. At a guess it was around 20 years old, so in dishwasher terms it had a good life...

So, I did some research, decided on a few models to look at and off we went to the dishwasher shop...

To cut a long story short we looked at a few dishwashers, couldn't quite decide so came away for me to persuade husband to buy the model I wanted  to discuss...
We compromised and I got the better model and a saving was made by deciding on white rather than the more expensive stainless steel one. (Don't tell husband, but I wasn't sure about stainless steel anyway)

A few days later I rushed back to the shop between errands, pointed to a display model that we had spent ages looking at during the previous visit (in stainless steel and built in) and said "I'd like to order that one in white please". In and out in five minutes - easy.

A few days later, the dishwasher is delivered and fitted... and here comes the whinge.

The model delivered is a freestanding model not the built in model that I wanted!

Not too much of a problem I thought, I'll just let the shop know....here comes the big whinge!

This particular model in white is only sold as freestanding. If you want it built in you have to buy it in stainless steel...
So when I pointed to the display model (built in) and asked for it in white, the correct response should have been "you can have that model in white, but it will be freestanding"
Not too difficult is it?!? (excessive use of exclamation marks to show frustration!!)

There was a tense exchange, lots of checking the computer and catalogues, something along the lines of wanting to charge me $300+ to take my white model back...and then another $200 on top of the $$$$ that I had already paid to buy the stainless steel one!
 
This concluded with me spending $80 to buy a conversion kit to make my chosen white model built in.
(still with me?)

So this evening, husband decide to tackle the conversion. Hmmmmm, not as easy as it sounds.



On my relaxed return from yogalates, I encountered a rather stressed looking husband in the kitchen. There was quite a lot of huffing and puffing and even more whinging. Neither of us is particularly handy with a tool box, but we know the difference between our screwdrivers....or so I thought! This particular conversion kit required a T20 screwdriver??? Obviously not a familiar one in this house.


this is the answer...


 So the dishwasher remains freestanding for another day until the purchase of aT20 screwdriver.

Yes, it did say freestanding on the order form...yes, I should have double checked the order form...
 
So the moral of this story  - don't rush, check, check and double check the detail!

I got the model that I wanted, it does what I want it to do, but it just doesn't look like I wanted it to look...yet!

You live and learn hey?

An easy 'walk in wardrobe' idea

 When my little girl was seven she thought she was a princess.

 Sometimes she thought she was a fairy, but mainly she thought she was a princess.

In her world, princesses lived in castles and wore pretty dresses.

We could manage the pretty dresses, but struggled with the 'living in a castle' part!  

When it came to her eighth birthday her wish was for a princess bedroom. Easy I thought, just a few fluffy things here and there and we're sorted. Oh no, a princess bedroom didn't mean any of that kind of stuff it meant...

"one purple wall, purple curtains, a white bed and a walk in wardrobe please"

 A walk in what?!

Not wanting to go to the expense of building walls to accommodate this request and to be honest not really wanting to appear to bow to her commands, I set about thinking of a compromise.

She had a double build in wardrobe in her room, so we removed the doors. Next we hung some sheer curtains with some space to create a dressing area.

The sheer curtains were too sheer so I then hung some lightweight white ones behind (got to love Ikea!)
Voila - a walk in princess wardrobe, or as Sibs now calls it her 'dressing area'.

She keeps it relatively tidy, but she's only eight so some stuff finds its way off the hangers and on to the floor, and the double layer just keeps enough out of sight.
Fortunately one of the ceiling down lights is located just inside the dressing area and this creates a perfect light.
She has a wall hung mirror in there and some hooks for the numerous handbags that eight year old princesses accumulate...

The original wardrobe doors have been kept so that bar a few holes in the ceiling it's a very simple job to convert back to a built in.

I bought the same curtains for the windows and the clever people at the paint shop mixed up some paint so that the purple wall that was requested could be matched.

So there you go an easy dressing area/walk in wardrobe make over fit for a princess.

linking up with Sarah at a beach cottage 

Chilling after yogalates...

...and another busy Monday.



Junior chef in action


It was a different Monday in our house today. At 7am the builders arrived and by 7.05 it was dust and noise everywhere. Sibs was off school (pupil free day/teacher training) so inspired by Junior Masterchef she wanted to make pancakes for the tradies. We bought a 'pancake pen' a few weeks ago and tried it out this morning. Waw, it was great. Just threw all the ingredients in the 'pen', gave it a shake and hey presto, easy perfectly round pancakes. It was also so easy to clean afterwards. ($20 from Wheel & Barrow)


the pancakes with the 'pen'











The note that Sibs put with her pancakes for the tradies.

Next stop was to pick up some taps, - yes, I eventually decided on the taps....I had to make a decision as the plumber arrives tomorrow. (I'll post another time about the bathroom renovations.) As the pancake breakfast was so early we needed another, so we headed to Milk bar. They do great snacks, coffee and fabulous shakes and juices and the decor is fun. This is definitely the way to spend a day off.



breakfast no 2 at Milk Bar

 

We felt like some girly retail therapy so headed off to one of the shopping centres . We giggled in the changing rooms where some teenage girls were trying on bras - (it's giggly when you're eight!) and we got carried away with the Christmas displays. Christmas decorations were the last thing on my mind, but I quickly got into the spirit of the season. One of the blogs that I have recently been reading - fauxfuchsia ( so glamorous and so funny) has got super organised and festive, but I'm more of a "It's not December yet" girl. After today, I could be persuaded...

"I'll have one of those"

 

So another full Monday ends with yogalates. No phone, no TV noise, in fact no noise except the wonderful instructor Lyn calmly giving directions and reminding me to 'keep breathing....'

I think I'll have to hold onto that thought as I sit here ankle deep in dust, well that might be a slight exaggeration, but you could definitely write your name in my dining table tonight!

x



Still waiting...

When we bought this house about three years ago we decided to make a few alterations, one being building a pool. It's been money well spent but it was never quite finished. Well, the pool itself was all done but there is one part of a wall that probably should have been knocked down - and if the truth be known we were a little scared to do it! We opened up the space in the back garden, and knocked down half the wall...



before

after, but half a wall still to go





opening up the back garden

So this morning (after 4 no shows), the fence man came to give me a quote to remove the rest of the wall and replace it with a glass fence.Queensland pool regulations are pretty strict about the safety of your pool fence. I remember when we built the pool the inspection was one of the stresses. The inspector came into the house and checked some of the windows, he even got us to cover an outside tap so that a child couldn't stand on it to get over the fence. Tragically, too many children drown each year around home pools, so it's most definitely better safe than sorry.

P.S. The green bean that I had to "respect like I respect the cats" (see previous post) is surviving....so far


Everyone and their dog...

....goes to Bunnings on a Sunday.

kids activity class at Bunnings.

 There's a d.i.y. place here that has this magic spell that it casts on people during weekends. We all wake early and think "I really need to go and get something from Bunnings today" and off we go to face the crowds.The small numerous do it yourself stores in the UK have nothing on the gigantic, enormous Bunnings warehouse. The staff are knowledgeable and usually pretty friendly and helpful, and when we arrived today it was just in time for a kids activity.
Each child was given a terracotta pot, paint and brushes, an apron (that they could keep),and were instructed to decorate their pot in their own unique style. Then they planted a herb or a vegetable. Sibs planted a dwarf french green bean. She very proudly carried the pot to the car, placed it carefully next to her....and two seconds later....soil plus bean all over the back seat! She huffed and puffed (well I huffed and puffed and she cried), but we managed to save it and the rescued pot is in the herb garden.
She has gone to a friend's place for a sleep over tonight and left with the instructions that I "must respect the bean like I respect the cats" !?! interesting.