Home Improvements | Cherie Roe Dirksen

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Time Has Just Gone Awry (But I Have Brilliant Excuses!)

Shewee…the last few weeks have been a flash in the pan! I don’t know how you feel about the energies of late?

I can’t keep up with myself! On the upside, things are happening…I hope they are with you too?

Before I get into that, let me apologise for my shortcomings in delivering the scheduled Wednesday blog last week. I just darn-right forgot with all that’s been going down.

I don’t usually like to write about my own personal blah-blah’s but I just have to share some stuff and try and weasel myself off the hook for not getting around to last week’s blog.

Okay, So, Here’s Some Personal Stuff…

Not that I want to make excuses or anything (but I’m going to anyway!) but I volunteered my bass guitar skills for a David Bowie Tribute concert (with Paul Q and Templeton) that went down the Saturday before last in Cape Town.

It took us a couple of intense weeks of constant band practice to get our 2 sets of 20 songs together (excuse no. 1).

It was great, thanks (I know you just asked!) — it was actually a sell-out show…hoorah! So, we’ve decided to take it on to various theaters around the Western Cape.

Anyhoo…here are some YouTube clips of our performance. Such fun!

And Let’s Not Forget The Parlotones Gig!

My man and his brother (also known as ‘Band of Hats’) just fronted for The Parlotones a few weeks ago. So lots of excitement there in getting them all ready for the big day. I helped design their banner — as seen below — and prep with some products as well as help with the marketing (these things take time! Excuse no. 2) 🙂

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012 And, of course, I just have to throw in a photo of me and lead singer, Khan Morbee (left).

Now for my third excuse at missing last weeks blog…

The Garden Path — So Misleading!

Literally, Michael and I have been landscaping our back garden — and it involves lots of paths. This week-long exercise saw us pick-axing through our rock-hard, slate ground (we live in the ‘klein Karoo’ in South Africa which is quite barren) to carrying barrow loads of stones.

It’s all about blisters, blood, sweat and tears (yes, I actually cried after a hard grind of digging one day, I went and dropped a bag of cement on my toe!).

Thing is — it’s so damn rewarding that you just can’t stop until the job is done. And, well, the job is still ongoing. But I will try to stick to my writing commitments this week.

For those gardening enthusiasts or just curious folk, here are some photo’s of our garden projects.

Eat Your Heart Out, Moulin Rouge!

Oh…and did I mention we’re also doing stuff around the house (excuse no. 4)? Lik 006 e my lush and sexy new red accent wall in the bedroom! Provoking a passionate pastiche for Burlesque evenings. Say what? Oh, don’t make me repeat that!

It’s been on my to-do list for an age.

I also decided to try out hand-made branch chandeliers. Something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I love the way they turned out but…my word…what a palaver!

Sticks and branches everywhere — up your nose, in your eye and down your drain-pipes. I don’t know if I missed a trick 005 but it was hell to put together. I thought it looked so easy when I saw it on Pinterest…he he. What a sucker!

You’ll see on your left the finished light fixtures now hanging in my lounge. They are quite cool, even though they were a nightmare to make, as they make you feel like you’re in a forest at night.

So what do all these excuses have to do with me missing last weeks blog? Especially as some of these things took place weeks ago?

Sheer mental exhaustion! And the dire need to just work in the garden. It’s been such an awesome grounding (no pun intended) experience. I had a clearing in my schedule last week and I took it. I’m sure you can understand 🙂

Have a super day! And it will be back to the usual Wednesday blog spot from this week on.

I’ve been doing some more drawing to classical music (Vivaldi to be precise)…I will post the video to that this Wednesday.

Other articles you may enjoy:

The Greatest Task That Lies Before the Awakened Human Being

10 Spiritually Provocative Quotes From David Bowie — No.7 is Something We Should All Ponder!

Need a Constant Flow of Money? I’ve Got Something For You…

What Do Debussy and Quicksilver Have in Common? The Answer May Surprise You!

New Concepts: What Does a Bach Masterpiece Look and Feel Like? (Video Included)

Doors Are First Impressions!

Have you ever pondered how one of the first things you see about a person’s home is their front door? I have and that’s why I decided to undertake painting the glass window of our front door (photo’s are at the end of this blog).

Not only does it add some fabulous colour to the inside and outside of your home but it also lends an aspect of privacy (I don’t want any strange faces peering in on me in the night, thank you very much!).

Do’s and Do Not’s of Stain Glass Painting

I used the Dala range of glass paints which are fairly inexpensive. I also used the gold glass paint liner to do the initial drawing work. You’ve got to let the liner fully dry before attempting to add the colour. The liner acts as a container to the glass paint.

Remember that what you are painting is immediately seen on the flip side. In other words, whatever you put down first is what will be seen on the outside. There is no such thing as layering (like in oils and acrylic painting). So think very hard about what colours you want before you apply as there is not going back.

If you are adding writing, you’ve got to write backwards (as in the mirror effect — something I learnt the hard way!).

The first time I attempted stain glass was at our previous house where the glass was already in place. It was a nightmare as you are supposed to paint the glass on a flat surface not standing uprights — glass paint is watery and runs like crazy.

So this time, I was savvy and just after cutting the Perspex (decided it would be better than glass) I laid it flat and began my painting…here are the photo’s I took of the process:

Here is the door without the Perspex (there is some plastic keeping the draft out). See how drab it looks? And anyone can peer in leaving little privacy.

Here is my make-shift work bench as I try to attempt my first Perspex cutting adventure. Cutting Perspex ain’t easy but I got there in the end. I reverted to using a jigsaw coupled with a hand-held saw for the more ‘finicky’ bits.

Here is the work in progress. As you can see, it needs to be laid out flat so you can easily apply the very runny glass paint. The thick gold liner holds the paint in place so don’t forget to close off all gaps in your design or the paint will run out.

This is the finished product! This is taken from the outside looking in which shows off the design more like a painting (in the next photo you’ll see that the painting takes on a different quality from the inside).

Here is the effect from the inside — the sun is shining right through at this point making for a spectacular colour display.