Sadie, the cleaning lady!!

That was me today - although I didn't have John Farnham seranading me - more's the pity!! My parents are arriving tomorrow for a visit, so it was all hands to cleaning stations today in the Meares' Madhouse!

Now Geek Boy and I are NOT what you would call the neatest people in the world - far from it! As I told the lovely Linda of Lilly Cottage last week, 'Dust' is a four-letter word in our house and people are instructed that if they MUST write in the dust, then PLEASE don't date it! Tee! Hee! Hee! Being busy people who somehow missed the tidy gene from both mothers, we tend to cover flat surfaces (those not housing bears!) with 'stuff' - we come home, dump whatever we've been carrying, eat, change clothes, grab the next armful of 'stuff' and off we go again. Then, every now and then (often when guests are due to arrive!!) we get stuck in and have a big tidy up. That's what happened today!!

The house has been tidied (though I'm not showing you the sewing room, as it still looks like the 'before' photos shown recently!!), vacuumed, the bathroom cleaned, the lawn mowed, the carport swept - it's been all go here today! And much to his disgust, Womat had a bath! So, while things were a little tidier than usual, I thought I'd share some photos of our guest room. It's the only room in the house that's completely painted and finished (apart from the curtains that I haven't yet decided what I want to do!!) most other rooms have had varying degrees of work done to them - our house is a work in progress!!

This is the view of the guest room from the hall.


The bed matress is over 100 years old - a friend wanted her great grandmother's bed frame but not the matress! - and takes three strong men to lift, but BOY! is it comfy! Lots of guests who usually wake early, find themselves sleeping so well on it that they sleep in! That's what we like to hear!


I love our guest bed almost as much as our own bed. The gorgeous knitted quilt was made by my Great Granny from white cotton, knitted in smaller squares, then joined together. It's almost 90 years old and very precious to me. The doll sitting in such spledour is a celluloid doll that was played with by my grandmother, then my mother and languished for years in a dark cupboard until Mum made his new raw silk shirt and velvet breeches for him to come and live with me. And I'm batty about mozzie nets!!


This fabulous rocking cot came from the Mundubbera Hospital when they sold off all old fittings in preparation for the new building and equipment. Though she doesn't share my love of antiques and all things old, Mum bought this and had it powder coated for my birthday a few years ago. It is now a comfy home to some lucky bears and dolls. The spinning wheel is a Thumbellina and I actually learned to spin on it when I lived in Bourke, but a spring got lost in our numerous moves and I haven't got round to getting it fixed, so for now it just looks great!


This cozy corner is great for curling up with a book - although you'll have to share the space with my childhood companions - Sam the sausage dog, Pinkie and Clown (you should be able to guess which is which!!) and my recent adopted bear Rupert. The display case in the corner houses two baby's dresses - one is made from the wedding dress petticoat of the same great-grandmother who knitted the quilt and the other was hand stitched by my Grandma and decorated with chrochet edges when she had a small baby in Emerald's 40 degree summer, as silk was the coolest fabric around. The model boat was started by my Gramps before he passed away and Scott finished it off. It's rigging is all hand-knotted and it's all very detailed. You can see a couple of Pirate Beanie Bears and a Beanie Mermaid have taken it over! Aha, me hearties!


This shelf is home to a collections of wonderful old books that belonged to Mum, Dad and Dad's late brother. Most are the "Boys Annual", "Big Book For Girls" type of books. My favourite has a very early version of the Rupert the bear comic character - fitting considering 'My' Rupert is nearby! And the cute shabby chic tray was a bargain hunting trophy and is the perfect place for my newly aquired goodies from Lilly Cottage.

So, there you have it - the grand tour of the Meares' Madhouse Guest Bedroom!! Hope you enjoyed it because it will look very different after Mum and Dad arrive tomorrow!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Whether you're donning Sadie's apron and cleaning gloves, or enjoying the fruits of your weekend's labours, I hope you have a great week. Til next time, Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS