Update #5: Before and Afters

Our renovations inside the cafe are pretty much over for now. Of course, there is always more that you could do but we probably need to make a little bit of money before we keep going :)

It feels a lot lighter, brighter and generally a happy and cleaner place to work in so we are happy with it.

Front counter before:


Front counter after:


Front seating area before:


And after:


Downstairs area before:


(there's a door now where these fridges were that will lead out on to our decks, which will spill out into the nursery next door)


Downstairs area after:


We are still working on some decking outside that will be our main area for tables and chairs. Hopefully we will get that finished before the election at the end of November because we have a polling booth right across the road so lots of people will be around shop and we will probably have a bbq going on the footpath or something like that. In the meantime we have set up some temporary outdoor seating where we used to park the cars and it isn't too bad for now.

Update #4: Tea and Coffee

See, I have really been busy not just slack.

This is my new toy, the Wega Atlas two-group. I was a bit scared of him at first but now after a bit of practice and using family/friends as guinea pigs we've become friends. I might even love him, coffee machines are good for control freaks I think. You know when you're doing something wrong and how to fix it and if you take it easy and pay attention then you should end up with a decent coffee. That could be because our coffee guy set up the grind and dosing etc for us though.. I hope I don't have to do that any time soon.


Some of my very first cappuccinos, with a little Hello Panda treat...


Our tea from T2 arrived last week also, it's been a bit like Christmas getting all these new things to play with (except we had to pay for them). We actually had a discussion about how the tea tins should be arranged so that the colours didn't clash, I'm not sure if that's normal or if I've just been spending way too long at the shop.

Update #3: Stripped and oiled

Remember this table...


Well we eventually got around to stripping the top of it and oiling it, and now it's moved into its new home.


I really like how it turned out, I like how worn the top of it is like no one is going to be afraid of spilling a coffee or two on top of it. We left the legs as they were. We picked up the chairs at a garage sale for a steal and painted them white.. they're a bit rough but they will do for now.


And of course, we couldn't forget the baby cino set. They had to get a table too.

Update #2: Kitchen and Storehouse

About a week ago, our new sign with our new shop name was delivered by the sign-writer. We went old fashioned and went with a friend of ours that used to do sign-writing and still does some occasionally, she still hand paints the signs too and we kind of like that.

It was so exciting to see our name go up on the shop and it looked so big, compared to looking at it on a little computer screen like we were used to.

It arrived all wrapped up on the back of a truck, and my brother, dad and cousin helped put it back up where it belongs.



Here's a close-up...


So Kitchen and Storehouse now exists in the flesh, for real :)

And, in case you've forgotten, this is what is used to look like...


I can't say I was really that sorry to see the big hamburger and fries go.

The Last Summer (of you and me)

In the midst of all the cafe and renovating craziness, I've been on a bit of a reading binge and I read this one in about 3 days. I was excited when I saw this book cause I have read the Travelling Pants books and (embarrassingly) I enjopyed them and this is the first novel for adults (apparently that's what I am) for Ann Brashares.

It really is the same kind of thing but a little more grown up, and it sucked me right in. I maybe even had a little tear up while reading it. I am such a dag.

Update #1: The House

Well, it's starting to feel like we're getting closer to actually doing something about building our house. We got the "concept sketch" back from the draftsman and we are happy with this one, except for a couple of minor changes. We met him again last night to go through these and now he's going to start on the actual plans.. yay!


We're going to extend the deck so it continues along the side of the living area. The only other real change is in the entry. We're going to make the entry take up the space it does at the moment plus the space that is currently the porch. Then we'll add a porch on the front of that, that way when people come to the front door, the house opens up to the study wall rather than in the middle of everything (this may provide a very important few extra seconds of cleaning time before people get to see into the house).

From the street front you see the side of the house with the deck and kitchen on, but we're on the top of a court so our front door is going to be around the other side. The draftsman has suggested that we use hardyplank (like weatherboards) for the exterior of the living room section of the house but that we use colourbond for the exterior of the bedrooms section. We think we like this idea.. but it's really really hard to decide on what colours we like, at the moment I'm thinking a kind of coffeey colour for the hardyplank and a charcoal grey or maybe dark bluish grey for the colourbond. But who knows..

Neglected

My poor little blog is neglected these days... but from Sunday it will be no longer. I have been taking lots of photos of the cafe in between coffee machine lessons, sanding and painting the new old table, putting up our new name and signs, trips to ikea and baking.

This Saturday we have our first big booking at the cafe, 24 (yes 24!!) women from a local primary school will be joining us for morning tea to welcome new babies and let the teachers have a cuddle. So it's been panic stations to make sure we look pretty enough in time and other minor details like making sure we have enough crockery, cutlery, glassware, food etc.

Anyway, providing we survive come Sunday there will be before and after photos galore.

Oh and a friend in Melbourne had a new baby boy this week, congratulations L & A. I can't wait to see some photos.

Breakfast at the Gunshop

On Sunday morning G and I went the the Home and Design show at the Brisbane Convention Centre to see if there were any ideas for our house, which is actually starting to progress now.. we have a 'concept sketch' that we are happy with (more about that tomorrow though).

The show was actually a bit crap and we didn't really find anything interesting there but it did give us a good excuse to have breakfast at a great Brisbane cafe... The Gunshop Cafe. Sitting outside in the sun on a perfect spring morning.


I had herbed cornbread with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Delicious.

I'm a Believer

Yay! I finally finished this book. It just took me forever but it was just bad timing not a bad book. It's a bad idea to start a book just before you move interstate, give up your job and try to open and renovate a cafe (plus the new Harry Potter came out somewhere in between and I had to read that straight away). Like all the other Jessica Adams books I've read though I did enjoy this book. It's in the same style as Nick Hornby or Nick Earls. Perfectly light, entertaining, funny and also kind of sad. If I'd been on holidays at the beach I probably would have read it in about three days. Three months isn't too bad though.. how embarrassing :)

Still renovating

Well so much for re-opening on Wednesday. We have admitted defeat and have decided to wait until next Monday to re-open.

We finished the fun part (ripping everything out) pretty early on, but it took a bit longer to put it all back together than we had expected and we weren't quite as well organised as we should have been.


When we reopen on Monday we'll have just finished the inside. We are still working on the courtyard outside where the majority of our tables will be. So we have decided not to put up the signs with our new name or start doing a new menu until all of that is ready to go. So it's back to hamburgers for a couple more weeks. Better to do that than make a bad first impression though. I had to go and check our sign at the sign-writers the other day for the front of the shop and it looks fantastic, I can't wait to get it up there.

We think we have a booking for a morning tea for a group of mums from the local primary school at the end of October, then we have some friends who want to do a Melbourne cup lunch and a morning tea to raise money for Breast Cancer at the shop so these all give us a proper deadline to work towards for the whole new look to be completed.

We had today off from the renovations to get our lives back in order a little bit and to finish some running around to get everything we need for the final bits of work before Monday so I've finally had a chance to post a few things I've been meaning to and I'm feeling a lot more refreshed and ready to get back into it tomorrow.

A very late flashback

I know I have missed Flashback Friday, but I loved the theme for this week so I wanted to do it. At least I made it before the next Friday.. if only by about 2 hours.

Anyway this is a photo of my sister and me with my Grandma that we all (14 cousins in total) called Umma (The photo is such bad quality because I tried to scan a slide). She passed away when I was about 12 years old but we all remember her as everything a Grandma should be - she was fun, she looked after all of us even when my sometimes cranky Grandpa was getting mad at us and she spoilt us all rotten.


She was also a fantastic cook and taught all of us to appreciate homemade goodies, and how to make some of them. She was especially famous in our family for her custard kisses which no one can make as well as her. She also taught us how to shell peas and to put curlers in her hair.

Thinking about this all meant that I had to go and make some custard kisses too and it must have helped to have had her on my mind because these ones were pretty close to how she used to make them (if I do say so myself).

New Mozi collection

Mozi has brought out a new collection based on Australian botanicals. I especially love the flannel flowers with the yellow. Hmm maybe time to start Christmas shopping.




Images from mozi.com.au

Before we started to renovate

I actually did something other than paint...

Like going for a drive up to the Sunshine Coast to have fish and chips on the beach for lunch with the family.


And then take the back roads home because the traffic was too bad.



Even time to make a little Spaceboy with my sister for her friends baby boy, from a Wee Wonderfuls pattern.


One day soon I will remember what this was like again. Not too long to go now, I hope, it feels like forever!

Checking in

Checking in to say hi and sorry to my little blog for being so neglectful.

I haven't forgotten about you and as soon as I get home one night and don't start to fall asleep straight away I will spend some more time here.

Our cafe renovations are still going on, we were hoping to get them finished in one week but it's taken a little longer than that. We should reopen the shop on Wednesday so I should find some time to post then. It's been a tiring week and a half ripping the shop out, and putting it back together but it's starting to look good.

Lots more photos and updates soon.

And thanks everyone for the comments lately, good to hear/meet some of you :)