IKEA Rudsta Greenhouse Project

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Just an update shot!

Everything is growing bonkers in there. Every single plant has been pushing out new leaves. It’s getting hard to try and stop them from touching each other!

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Monstera Deliciosa Large Form

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Sketchy.

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Tip: Do NOT use cheap paper. Just couldn’t get my shading right on this one.

I was browsing Facebook Marketplace yesterday and came across some free art supplies in Rosebery. She had a bunch of art pads and canvases to give away so I sent her a message, sadly (for me) the art pads were taken but the canvases were still available so I grabbed them! Score!

I also came across this gorgeous Monstera Deliciosa Large Form that was reduced from $80 to $50. I’ve seen a LOT of Monsteras for sale both online and in stores but none that I have seen look as pretty as this one. Most of the ones I’ve seen are super leggy (growing out of control and super spread out), and none of the ones Ive seen had perfect leaves (this one does!).

I organised to pick up the plant yesterday afternoon from Marrickville. I’d not been to Marrickville in ages and forgotten just how cool that suburb is. SO many shops, a lot of people, such a great community vibe.

The owner of the plant was super chatty (which was awesome!). She’s owned the plant since she was 14. When she moved to Sydney she drove it from QLD to Sydney in her tiny Nissan Micra. So awesome to have a plant story! The plants gotten way too big for her apartment so she’s sadly letting it go (but she does have some cuttings so the plant will, in essence, still live on for her which is awesome).

The plant fit in the Honda Jazz with ease thanks to the magic seat system (where the rear seats fold up so you can put the pot on the flat floorpan). Honda sold people on the magic seat system with images and videos of tall plants so I knew it would fit!

The plant is in a 25cm pot, which is huge, and she has a 90cm coir stake in there but none of the air roots seem to be attached to it (I’ll probably replace it with a 120cm stake and try to get the air roots to attach to the pole). I really want to convert it from soil to leca, and whilst I’ve had huge success in converting all my plants to leca so far, this monster monstera is WAY bigger than everything else I’m growing, so taking it out of the pot, then washing the roots of dirt is going to be a bit of a challenge as the kitchen sink is too small!

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Shoot with Viv

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She’s back from overseas, and we hadn’t shot since late last year (crazy!), so… we shot!

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Sketch #3!

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I’m so happy to be drawing again!

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INSPORT BTS shots for Nick Turner

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A little while back Nick invited me to shoot some BTS shots. He was shooting INSPORT at Studio Mondo. The name rang a bell, then it hit me; INSPORT’s a brand that’s been around since I was a kid. I vaguely remember their blue and yellow signage on their chain stores. From memory they were out there before Rebel Sports came along (and took over). So good to hear they’re still going and growing. I got to chat with the owner, and his daughter, and hear that they’ve closed down the chain stores, but have moved online. Good stuff! So awesome that they’ve got Nick shooting their new gear too. They’re in good hands!

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Back to basics

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Light and shade.

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Up early this morning to add some finishing touches.

I think I was overly ambitious to start my reintroduction to drawing by trying to do a portrait so I decided to go back to basics and draw some hands. I’m much happier with the result!

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My Alocasia Longiloba is flowering

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Alocasia Longiloba ‘May’ (Hybrid).

What I thought (and hoped) was a new leaf sprouting out from my Alocasia Longiloba turned out to be a flower (if you look closely there’s 2 of them!). From all the research I’ve done it’s best to chop off the flowers on Alocasias as the plant takes a lot of energy to form flowers, and a lot of people have been left with really ratty leaves when letting their plants flower. I’ve not personally seen any deterioration of any of my leaves, and I’m just happy the plant seems really healthy in my care!

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Translucent Roller Blinds

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I had Wonderful BFS over again today to install translucent roller blinds for all rooms of the apartment.

The apartment faces west, so I get the harsh afternoon sun full blast. It gets so hot in here that I can’t walk on the floorboards. I’ve legit had to use the air conditioning daily (I’m currently looking for some fans as I’d prefer not to use air conditioning), closing the blockout blinds was an option, but I’d prefer to still let natural light in so these translucent blinds were a no brainer.

I had them in Maroubra, but never used them (I always just had the full block-out blinds down at all times and only rolled them up for shoots). Funny how now that I’m in a better place (mentally). I MUCH prefer the blinds to be up!

It’s 5.30PM now. Damien (the installer) has been at it since 2PM. What was meant to be a pretty straight forward job has been a nightmare for him as he’s had to drill through steel beams as well as concrete to get the blinds installed (poor guy has been huffing and puffing all day!). I’m really happy with the blinds though, they look amazing and they block out so much heat (yet still let a decent amount of light through!). I doubt I’ll be using the full block-out blinds much anymore, but it’s good that I still have the option as they’re still installed (IE: double blinds on all sliding doors).

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Thoughts on Apartment vs House living

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All black erythang!

It’s been over a month since I’ve moved in to the new apartment. Thought I’d jot down some thoughts in relation to Maroubra vs. Rosebery, House vs Apartment.

Things about Maroubra that I miss:
– Being able to play music and my guitar VERY loud!
– The MUCH cooler and fresher air (it’s really hot and dry in Rosebery!).
– Heated towel rails (they’re just SO good!).
– Zip tap (well it wasn’t working anymore in Maroubra, but I still miss having instant boiling water to make my morning coffee).
– A kitchen island that I can eat at (even though I ate on the floor at the coffee table). The new apartment’s kitchen bench doesn’t have room for my knees).
– Safe and easy mail deliveries (getting parcels to an apartment feels sketchy, especially if they leave the parcel next to the lift on floor 1).

Things I don’t miss about Maroubra:
– Being in the middle of nowhere and having to Uber Eats a lot (I just walk out and eat now, so many cafes and supermarket is a block away).
– The damp (lots of mould) and the salty air rusting everything I own.
– House was just way too big to keep clean.
– Having to remember garbage days (new apartment has a garbage chute on my floor, and a massive garbage area in the carpark where I can throw away oversized items (all year round council clean-up basically!).

All in all I’m loving the apartment. It’s much smaller, thus a lot easier to keep clean. Having lots of smaller rooms means I’m using each of the rooms fo different things (whereas I had everything in the main room at Maroubra and never walked in to the other spare rooms). There’s heaps of awesome food in the area and the woolies is a block away (no more delivery needed!). Rosebery is so central too (I’ve been doing weekly trips to the Bunnings in Alexandria and IKEA at Tempe!).

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Bit sketchy

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I have no idea what I’m doing.

Did my first sketch today, man I’m rusty AF! I need a LOT more practise! Part of me wants to kick off a drawing a day challenge, but realistically I know that I just genuinely need to get obsessed with making art again (like I used to as a kid all the way through to high school). It’ll come. I’m sure!

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