Life Upside Down

              

The other night, I had the rudest awakening I’ve ever experienced. Our windows don’t have screens (oh, the joys of living in an old Queenslander), and hinge outward. We also lack air conditioning, so the windows remain open constantly. This means bugs are a pretty regular thing, which I’ve gotten used to. 

Possums, however, not so much. At 3AM I found myself facing the fuzzy outline of one of these bad boys. I know they look cute, but when something big and furry with claws lands on your windowsill less than two feet away, you freak. It takes a lot to wake me up, but I was on the other side of the room in one flying leap. 

Let’s go ahead and count screened windows as reason no. 47 to be excited about moving.

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The move is only a few days off and I am knee-deep in Gumtree ads and Salvation army finds. 

Here’s the first batch of upcycled secondhand goodness. I happened upon a massive Salvation Army (or “Salvos,” per the incessant Aussie abbreviations) and scored big time. Good selection plus the fact that I hit them on a 50% day made for pretty much a completely furnished kitchen in one go.

I won’t bore you with the complete haul, but here are some of the best finds:

                             

Square white dinner plates, set of 6. $3 each. Oh wait, did you say half off day? Make that $1.50 each. A set of matching, apparently unused plates for $9. I can dig it. 

      

Cups and saucers, 4 each. $1.50 each piece. Matching: check. Necessary: check. Don’t even get me started on the tea and coffee culture. My caffeine consumption has at least tripled. 

     

Baking storage containers. $2.00 each. I like the look of these for all my baking needs. I may repaint the green one to match. 

     

This stuff: $10.

Add in some miscellaneous towels, silverware, pots and pans, and you have a grand total of $62. I probably would’ve paid that for a set of those baking jars at Crate and Barrel.

So that’s most of my kitchen for under $100. I’m feeling good about this project.