Tuesday, June 2, 2015

I'm not missing in action.... I'm just very very busy...

Hello Dhaaarlings...

You may well have been wondering... "Where has that Prinny gotten to?"..
I've been wondering the same thing darlings and then I remembered that it was me that was meant to be writing the occasional post to keep you all informed of the goings on here at the Palais...

Well lets just say that things have been a little crazy since our seaside adventure.

Life of late has been a whirl-wind of calls back and forth to contractors, tradesmen, and all manner of workmen to arrange quotes for renovations and maintenance upgrades to the old Palais. At 160 years old the old girl is staring to look a little worse for wear.
Electrical rewiring, plumbing,
New vanity in the bathroom, laundry trough and tap fittings, re tiling of the wet areas, re stumping and having the wonky bits in the floors stabilised, instillation of a new roller door on the garage, plastering and repainting of a couple of rooms and finally lifting carpet to have polished floorboards in the hallway and lounge room...
Not a lot of work to arrange at all!!  
Then there is the hunting of samples for colours, finishes, and fittings.

The Empress is overstressed by it all as "she would like all the works to be completed by yesterday"... 

Lets just say that patience is Not one of her virtues...
To make things worse the painter was due to start this week but managed to get ill and will be unavailable for a month.

So... it has been back on the merry-go-round of quotes and availability once again to find another painter.

On top of that there have been the usual rounds of visits to doctors and specialists with the Empress anywhere up to 3 appointments a week. The good news is that most of them no longer want to see her and have discharged her from their clinics as her health state has improved so much.

Last week was the first week in so long that i can't remember that we had NO Doctors to visit!

On top of this Nexus (Bendigo Youth Theatre) is in full swing again with this years production of
Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance"
So as you may well imagine I'm up to my ears in Pirate costumes and Policeman's uniforms. Fortunately this year I have a team of Mums helping out with costumes so my workload has reduced a little, but I still remain busy providing liaison and support and organisation along with creating the bulk of the pirate outfits.
I have had another well experienced lady join the costume team who has taken on the bulk of the policeman uniforms and the regular head costumier is back on deck and has really gone all out this year to manage the daughters frocks... which is a huge weight off my mind. Communication is happening and it is all going swimmingly so far...
The good thing about this years production is that we have a smaller cast (Under 60) and the bulk of which have only one costume for the entire show! 
It has been nice not to  feel so pressured in feeling that I've been left to do it all on my own...as in past years.

 It's nice to have support for a change...

I will endeavour to take some shots of the new works around the "Palais" and the usual snaps of the occasional costume for your enjoyment...when time permits...

Till I get another break darlings... Bottoms Up!

22 comments:

  1. Lots going on there, but you'll have a fabulous remodel and costumes to show for it! Thanks for the update.

    PS: Is "re stumping" foundation work?

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  2. Yes Mr Lax, Many of the houses here in OZ are built on redgum stumps or now in modern times replaced by concrete stumps. We have replaced the old and rotted stumps with redgum in keeping with the age of the property.

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  3. i knew y'all were busy, sweetpea, but sweet mary sunshine that is a TON on y'all's plate! xoxoxoxox (be well, darling & much love to the Empress)

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  4. Hey Savvy, I've always been a bit of a glutton when it comes to having a full plate, sadly... my dance card doesn't reflect this!

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  5. Oh good luck with it all! It sounds very exciting! I have been promised a new kitchen... but sadly the money had to go towards a new soak away for the septic tank - priorities!! I look forward to your photographs.
    Sx

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  6. Thanks for the encouragement Miss Scarlet, I understand completely the need to prioritise. There is nothing worse than a blocked up bog... My great grandmother was once asked what the greatest invention to change the world that she had seen in her lifetime... Her response... "The Flushing Loo"

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  7. Home renovations are one thing, but throw in doctor's visits--good news on that front though?--and costume designer and it's no wonder you've been absent!

    I need a holiday from just reading all your travels and travails!

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  8. Thanks Bob,
    I am planning to take a break in August and get away North to warmer climes, and to catch up with family that live up that way... The Empress is hale and hearty and it is all good news at the moment.

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  9. Good lord honey!!!!! Just pack your bags and stay at the Casa till the work is done! I'll have a crew of houseboys at your disposal....unless you want to stay there and see the plumber crack. But seeing that much crack, id think I'm in a bad part of town.

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    1. Thanks for the offer Maddie Darling... But I'm in the middle of a veritable "crack fest" already... Plumbers, builders, painters, electricians and even a squad of house re stumpers crawling around on all fours! I get exhausted just watching...

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  10. Argh! I left a comment this morning from work, but Chrome crapped out when I hit Publish. I was hoping it had saved, but now I see it hasn't :(

    Anyway, it was along the lines of: I'm glad that the Empress is feeling much better. Will her health allow her to assist in the supervision of the Palais' renovations? If so, just make sure she doesn't try to manoeuver those marble columns by herself!
    It's also good to hear that your costumerie isn't quite as hectic as the last few years have been, and now that you have a band of Mums at your beck-and-call will you have time to put your feet up for 5 mins to have a gin or two?

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    1. Hello there Mr DeVice and how lovely to see you... Chrome seems to be crapping out a lot in recent times.As to the Empress she's using the Marble columns as dumbells...
      A Gin or two will suffice every second hour or so until the show is over I think....

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  11. Make sure you don't mix up the pirate costumes with the re-stumping, otherwise there'll be all hell to pay! As for the Empress, it seems she's thriving on all the refurbishments - possibly the presence of some hunky builders? I do hope so - it's still "The Year of the Arse", isn't it? Jx

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    1. Believe me Jon darling .... the arse has certainly been celebrated, admired and openly ogled about here in recent times and the reno's arn't over just yet!

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  12. Do you think you might be doing the Freakin' Green Elf Shorts competition any time soon? Don't forget, I've got beefy friends in your area who would be more than willing to nick the nickers from you if I can't win them by more legitimate means ;)

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    1. Lawks! Yes, the FGES - I'd nearly forgotten about them. Get all the Palais' renovations and your costumerie out of the way and then prepare yourself to release those pestilent shorts from their glass prison (assuming they haven't already escaped), Princess.

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    2. Your inner eye sees all Mr Lax, The pesky things have escaped from their glass prison and have been well cloaked in their hiding place. Tho i do have my suspicions that they are frolicking in the Gnome garden as at times the crys of extacy coming from that region of the garden is quite appalling, to say the least! The Empress has taken to blaming the neighbours for all the raucous activity, but , we know better....

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  13. How brilliant to hear you're hard at work....and with minions!

    And what fabulous news about The Empress' health.

    Massive hugs to you both.
    xx

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    1. Thanks Roses, it has been a challenge to manage all the arrangements but we are now getting to see some results for all the hard work and effort. The renovations are moving along and the Empress has found a new lease on life... Even to the point where she is planning a holiday in August...

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  14. Heavens !
    Good to learn that the empress is doing fine. Good luck with all this renovation, an old house can present surprise gifts, I hope your doesn't ... BTW, you have German ancestors ?

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    1. The old house certainly presents challenges Mr Maggs, there is post coming soon to tell all!
      German Ancestors? I don't really know... I have traced part of the family history back to convict settlers and know of family going back to Cornwall and parts of Scotland and Ireland. German ancestry... I'm intrigued...

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