Geoff's Shed

2005-11-25T12:55:00.000+08:00

I've never understood the fascination of men with sheds until I moved here to Oz and hubby dear started to build one. When we bought our house Geoff wanted a decent backyard garden. I thought it was because of his love for gardening; yes that too but with that I didn't realise that he wanted a big space so he can build his shed. For me, it is a workshop room and a place to store gardent stuff ... I suggested that he should just get those instant shed advertised on the papers. I got a stern "Oh no! It has to be something built 'properly'." FINE!

To show you how part of our backgarden was transformed to accommodate THE SHED, here are some before and after photos:

(September 2003) This is how our backyard garden looked like when we bought the place. Notice the beautiful bamboo trees... I love bamboo trees, but according to Geoff it's roots can be very bad in the garden as it has a tendency to spread and hence will negatively impact on the other plants. I did ask him to save some of the roots and re-plant it in pots instead so at least I can still have some bamboo plants for my Asian-inspired garden, which he'll have to create later...

By early 2004, Geoff started planning for the shed and I think they started building the main structure by June or July. In a matter of months, the basic structure of the shed is built. I say basic as I didn't realise that there's more that has to be done within the interior of the building. Last year, I used the shed as my writing space. I wrote the Louis Vuitton case in the shed and I enjoyed every moment doing that project there - I had the garden as my backdrop. It got scary though as being in that space and writing I craved for a ciggie. Oh dear, dear. I wonder where Geoff hides his ciggies in the shed???

By November 2005, this is how the shed looks like. I haven't taken pictures of its interior but I assure you that it is equally impressive. The craftmanship is superb! I mean, I'm no building expert but looking closely at each space and painted pieces of wood I was really impressed. Geoff is one real building freak - he takes extra care in creating and building something.

I'm extremely happy for Geoff that we are back in Melbourne because now he is HOME. He has a shed, a place where he is truly at home. It's a space where he can be alone and away from the wife (hehehe :), but more importantly his shed is a place where he can be very creative and productive.

Geoff and his Garden

2005-09-21T10:57:00.000+08:00

Geoff loves gardening and so our garden is probably one of the most looked after garden in the suburb. Expensive too as my water bill is HUGE! But when I see the flowers and beautiful roses I forget about the water bill. When in season I've got a supply of fresh flowers and I love that. He also planted several herbs but I tend to forget that I have them as I still keep using my collection of dried herbs in my cupboard. Last time we had several parsley - so I'd cut them and put them in a vase with water and they're beautiful on the kitchen windows. One of Geoff's projects in line is to create a proper veggie garden at the back of the house so I can have fresh produce in my kitchen all the time. It's great having a garden and a willing gardener :)

(Photos: mid-December 2004, day before I went back to the PI to see my dad & family...)

Shuz; And More Shuz!

2005-09-17T18:50:00.000+08:00

I love ALL my shoes - at the last count I only have about xxx number of pairs as I haven't been shopping a lot here in Melbourne; too expensive to buy here compared with buying it from Asia. We have a WIR, not that big, but a good space and I was excited when I saw it the first time we were inspecting the house. "It must have a WIR!" I always tell hubby when we were looking for a property to buy. What we have is 8 sq.m. - I know!!! It can only accommodate a quarter of my clothes! I've managed to organise my stuff such that I'd only hang there clothes in season, the rest goes to the wardrobe in the other two guest rooms. But hubby has got a bit of space in there too. By mid-August Geoff completed my shoe rack! Awesome as my stilletos, boots, sandals, wedgies, flats, etc have now a perfect place. Yup tried to organise my clothes by type first, then by colour second. So jackets & suits, then tops, etc. Then from dark to light...

Bookshelves In My Office

2005-09-16T18:27:00.000+08:00

One of the rooms on the first level is now my office/study. Inside the room is a big built-in wardrobe but since am not putting any clothes in there I decided that that's a good place to put in shelves. It's the perfect place to put books and business files in big folders (I do have a filing cabinet but I also got those 2- & 3-ring binder folders) and keep it hidden and away from my sight. My goal is to put everything in there - and to keep my 2 desks in the room neat & tidy and free from clutter. But jeeeez, since Geoff finished building the shelves in July I haven't had the time (excuses! excuses!) to organise the books and the files. But seriously now I want "that" sorted before the end of September. So I must start now!

Tomatoes From Geoff's Garden

2005-09-15T11:30:00.000+08:00

These are not your normal tomatoes - these have got twinheads and so I took a picture of them. Geoff grew several types of tomatoes in February that at one point we'd have a dish that has tomatoes in it every day! We'd give a lot to friends and neighbours but they just keep growing and bearing more... Next time I have to ask hubby to plant other vegies.

First Project: Restoration Of An Old Chair

2005-09-14T10:48:00.000+08:00

This was a chair Geoff saw in the Camberwell market. Bought it for A$30 i think. When I decided to decorate one of our guest rooms with a French theme, we'd often go to the Sunday market and look for something "french". This chair seem to embody that french-theme... I dunno.

And since husband has this love affair with wood crafts, he thought this chair is going to be his first serious furniture restoration project. His interests with furniture restoration started last year - when our antique French table had a nasty water mark on it (we left a pot plant on the table!). So hubby contacted an antique restorer (is that what you call them?) and fix the bloody marks on the table. It took about a month or so - it was a long and "serious" process I gathered.

With this chair, Geoff bought it early June and finished the restoration by end of July. He was explaining to me what he did - such as how many coats he had, etc. Jeeez, I said "no dahling, am sure you did a LOT of stuff on it!" All I can say after I saw the finished product was: "It's beautiful.... Your next project is going to be blah, blah, blah...."

I'm a Stage Wife

2005-09-13T21:39:00.000+08:00

I want to showcase my husband's project, hence am creating this new blog. Geoff is a Quantity Surveyor, a cost consultant, and he is a very good one - in fact one of the best QS's in the industry according to some of his clients. You can ask clients he worked with in Hong Kong and some here in Melbourne. He's been a QS since leaving school in Scotland - I think he started QSing when he was 16 or 17. His life as a QS is very exciting too - lots of drama, etc. but this blog however will focus on other things he wants to do such as wood works, furniture restoration, gardening, and other hobbies. I have a TO DO list for him - projects he needs to do for the house and so he is always working on his shed. Nyways, hope to update new entries of his creations... Cheers!