For those who have asked what I’ve been up to in my new place, this blog’s for you. People say: ” over time, you’ll put your stamp on your place”. Well, it’s taken a few months and it might well be the biggest stamp that I make. Inspired by my visit to Portugal last year, I bought an azulejos-style stencil to disguise the crappy concrete floor in the living room. First, job was to get rid of the floor paint … inch by inch with a paint scrapper. Yes, I did try other options but the mix of paint on the floor meant scraping was the best method. Then bogging the cracks and faults, and putting on a base coat. Final ‘touch’ was applied over more than 25 hours sitting on a cold concrete floor, with a sealer to finish. Voila! Pretty happy with the result but my advice would be don’t pick so many colours and choose a paint that only needs one coat. 🙂
parrygraphs 
Looking good can’t wait to see it in person xxx
It will come round soon enough! xkx
Wow, what a great job, walls as well…….certainly makes a case for buying a project home in the first place.
Just returned from 7 weeks O/S……went on a group tour of western Canada for a couple of weeks…..all the usual highlights, rocky mountaineer, Glacier national park, Lake Louise, etc……..did a lot of hiking when the opportunity arose; was great but bugger all wild life and the horrific extent of bush fires meant that the mountains were effectively obscured throughout the trip. Thence on to a cruise ship up the west coast from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska (Anchorage) …….. always nice to be on the water, saw a small pod of killer whales plus some humpbacks ‘feeding’; did some open water kayaking and more hiking…..during the port visits. That was the end of the group tour…..I flew back to SFO, picked up my pre-arranged camper van and headed off around the primary national parks on the west coast…..Yosemite, Zion, rafted the grand canyon over 6 nights (absolutely fantastic), on to Yellowstone and Redwood NP’s…….was a great trip.
Back now waiting to pick up my slide-on camper and boat thence back off around Aust.
Did you end up starting your PhD?? All the best,
Cheers, Rick
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Hi Rick,
There is a positive in buying a place that’s a bit run down. You can’t really go wrong with decorating so it emboldens you try something different. What a difference a coat of paint makes … even though it took a while to apply!
Sounds like you’ve have a fantastic trip and packed a whole heap of different experiences into the 7 weeks. Rafting through the grand canyon would have been amazing. What boat did you decide on and have you still got the hobi? If SA’s part of your trip you’ll have to drop in.
I started my PhD in mid-August. It’s a hellavu challenge on many fronts. But my choice so I’m making an effort to get stuck in and really give it a go.
Hope you enjoy your new camper and boat.
Cheers,
Karen
Looks fantastic Karen.
Thanks Mary. It was worth the effort. Martens up a crap piece of concrete! xkx
e magnifico!
Pretty pleased with the result. Just not sure how to say it in Portuguese.