relocating

Well... It looks as if I just ran out of photo credits on Blogger. Since I'm a bit of a cheap ass rather than upgrade and pay a monthly fee I thought I'd try something new. Check out my new blog here: http://pioupioukids.wordpress.com

Thanks Blogger!

chairs revamp

Josh has been dreaming of having a set of matching chairs. Don't ask me why, I can't understand either. He'll happily wear mismatched socks, use the floor as his wardrobe (he calls it "floordrobe") and put all sorts of nails and screws in one big box that has to be tipped out every time you're looking for a specific size of nail.

So we've had these chairs that he found second hand, with some ugly paint. I added some padding to make them easier on the bum (see here), and now that he was threatening to throw them out again I decided to take action and give them a new life. I'm not particularly attached to them, but they are good enough to be sat on, so why throw them out?

I set to sanding them, then found some cool lime green paint lying around in the garage (Josh was horrified, didn't even remember he had that!) then stuck some music scores on the front panels (found at the op shop for very cheap). The varnishing took the longest, each chair probably has at least 20 coats of shellac! I was going to do more to give them a good thick layer but Josh got sick of waiting for some decent chairs to sit on so back inside they went.

 The scores have neat titles: "Love's Garden of Roses", "Il Trovatore", "Friend O'Mine" and "A Gaiety Girl". Most of these date from before the second world war. Crazy.
The cut out paper is from a stack I bought in China 10 or 15 years ago and that I've been using up slowly on special projects like this one.

 I'd been wanting to revamp these chairs for a while and initially I was going to paint them in various bright colors. Then I found a book about paper crafts at the library and got inspired...

Of sheep and shearers

Josh helped a friend design a set for a local play and as a thank you gesture they gave us some tickets.
I haven't been to a play since I can't remember when. And I've never been to one in Gisborne.

The set. Truer than true shearing shed.

So what was it like? Well it was better than I expected really. Obviously the actors are not professionals but they were overall very good. The play was enjoyable and a real touch of kiwiana, which I wasn't expecting. Called "The Learner's Stand", it's the story of a B grade shearing gang composed of a law student, an old timer and a transsexual (what is it with New Zealand plays and transexuals?).
Very far from my european play experiences... a good laugh. I love how New Zealand has this way of doing things differently.

I took some photos for the said friend, but our camera was a bit too noisy so I was asked to stop half way through. I still got a few good photos, it was a fun experience (and nice to get out without the kids!).

The play had this "Animal Farm" element to it, embodied in two sheep that popped up every now and again and made some revolutionary comments about taking over. 

That's a sheep in the foreground.

Who would have guessed Gisborne had so much talent?