Ssshhhh - a surprise party is in order!

This is a beautiful view of HH taken last night when, officially, we hosted HH's first social outing  - but more about that later...

 

 

34 weeks to go and we had much to do - as the builder boys had to get the House ready to receive its first official guests for the weekend surprise birthday party

 

 

The week started with special morning tea scones for Tom

 

 

(but Tom was nowhere to be seen!)

So, instead, stairs were readied

 

 

These are the guys who pulled off this fabulous achievement - thanks Jason! and Neil!

 

and Ta Dah, the stairs became party ready

 

 

And talking of stairs, just look at all the work which went on this week centred around HH stairs

 

Brand new external side stairs

 

  

Internal stairs being sanded

 

 

Marriage of the old and new floorboards

 

 

New office floors

 

 

and my new office floor

 

 

 

 

So, as you can see, floor sanding was very much on the agenda this week, but wait, there's more!

 

Our Hanworth stationery (embossed too!) arrived

 

 

 

Kitchen installation commenced

 

 

I welcomed back white gloss and Dulux Manhattan hues

 

 

 

and the ballroom was becoming recognisable again

 

 

Those magnificent wrought iron posts were finally given the VIP treatment they so rightfully deserve

 

 

 

and just look at them now! All dressed up ready to party!

 

 

Moreton Hire moved to work their marquee magic!

 

 

 

As the week progressed, everyone worked hard to make the house look less like a construction site and more like the backdrop to a party venue

 

 

 

 

 and by Friday at Four, a definite celebration was in order

 

 

 

 

 

and, exhausted, it was time to hang up the hats for the weekend

 and let the celebrations begin - a surprise party was in planning

Elvis was invited 

and he arrived

 

 

Actually a number of them arrived!

 

 

The girls were ready to party too

 

 

 

and guess what else - Superstar tea cosy removed her gear as she had heard that Fabulous Friend HH (pictured above) had a new tea cosy coming in the mail

 

 

Assuming, she had been invited to the party, she waited all day for its arrival

 

and arrive it did - and did this girl get around the party! But that's another story for another post - stay tuned to follow her antics at the Night with Elvis surprise birthday party - you won't be sorry!

  

 

 

  x HH

Lights and cameras and lots of action

Well it is official - our Christmas tree is up - I know it is early but Faux Fuschia sets the trend these days Check out she who we must obey here - so, as hers is up, it is now considered totally fine for the rest of us to do the same - so we did...

 http://jalonburton.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/making-it-through-holidays-decorating.html

 

Sorry to disappoint but that was NOT our tree! Sometimes I wonder if I should have had a strategic approach to decorating our tree - you know, stick to a single colour like this one

 

 

or use only crystals like this one. But neither is ours - this is ours

 

 

We just jam pack the tree - cramming every branch as best as we can with an eclectic history about our lives, where we have been and what we have loved

 

 

I love unpacking all the decorations - each with its own story - and sometimes we bring in a little bit of beverage support for that huge task

 

 But of all the wonderful decorations, it is this which sits under the tree which is my most treasured

 

 

You may well ask what it is - it is a family manger of course. Miss HH made it in about 2000. Suddenly there it was under the tree, her face occupies the manger (it is a huge cut out !) and I am standing on the right next to my mother and mother in law hoping to be a wise man. Alas, when I asked her what I was, she proudly proclaimed "well you are the cow of course!". Mr HH faired better - he was a wise man alongside my father and grandmother!

 

It is one of my most valued possessions and always will be.

In other festive news, to celebrate 35 weeks to go, I proclaimed last Wednesday "Donut Day"

 

 

It was a big success

Meanwhile, PA HH pleaded that it was time HH got a Christmas tree of its own !
 

She was not subtle! 

 But I had literally no time to think of a Christmas tree as these festive arrivals adorned HH this last week

 

We welcome to the HH family these new red cedar windows

 

and door frames and doors

 

I had a chance to show them off - despite the sad circumstances when ABC Radio visited me following on from the loss of another heritage building in Brisbane, Belvedere - If you missed the Belvedere story just click

 

The lovely Terri Begley from ABC radio visited me and had a lovely chat by the newly installed window

I was sad that Brisbane lost another beautiful historic home and no doubt another random act of "unkindness" was probably to blame

 

To listen to my interview on ABC last week click here

Just like when we received the same treatment 8 months ago - and were left with a mess in his wake

But things are looking up because, in this week's highlight news, the scaffold came down!

From this

To this

It felt good to have Hanworth back!

But I am not complacent - there is still much housework to do

Pete set about repairing windows which looked irreparable

Floors were levelled

Kitchen installation commenced

 

The 149 year old wrought iron posts received much needed TLC

 

 

as did the skirting boards!

 

 

and of course our friend the skip man paid a visit or two

 

 

our DA came down and

Barbra Zaloumis from our documentary crew was awarded and applauded

 

 

This light fantastic joined the HH family - its positioning will be revealed in the weeks to come

 

 

In other news, Brisbane is beautiful this time of year - just look at this shot I took on my way to HH early morning

 

 

All the time musing about whether this kind of rug would look good in my new office

 

and don't worry - we did some good charity work too - Zonta clubs united to say "NO" to domestic violence

 

 

and Brisbane was inundated by the orange brigade

 

 

 

but what was really lovely is that our club recently won a United Nations Association of Australia Qld award for our Birthing Kit Project

 

Check out the lovely utube video here
 

So proud of the great women in our club and the fantastic work that we do "to advance the status of women worldwide".

 

x HH