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Enjoying

Good Monday morning to you!

I've been enjoying...

squeezing in (amidst the chaos) a little bit of rest...

drinking more glasses of water (lemon always helps)...

watching the livingroom wall and mantle begin their transformation (finally!)...

saying 'see you later' rather than 'goodbye' to a friend who is moving far far away in 2 days...

being amazed at the color of this flower and its details...

hoping that my oldest passes his driving test...

watching my 2 sons seal the outdoor table (albeit a little overdue) to use during this new season...

resisting crowding out the fried chicken served at a luncheon yesterday (although its aroma was especially tempting)...

trying 3 new vegan smoothies: chocolate almond banana (not shown), vegan mango lassi (on left), and orange creamsicle (on right)

realizing quite quickly that I need to increase the quantity of smoothies around here so that I get more than a mere taste...

gearing up for another busy busy week...

 

How about you?  What are you enjoying?

 

 

Enjoying a Week Off

Good Morning, Monday!
I'm enjoying...

Loving the oil pastel creations by my youngest (totally his idea)...

Grateful for the small progress (finally) on that water damaged wall.  Just need to paint and reaattach the mantle... my kids are calling this the 'monster wall with broken teeth'.  Do you see it?...

Listening to my daughter practice her speech (complete with photographic boards)...

Finding it amazing that spring is arriving all around us and how unprepared I am for its arrival...

Spotting all kinds of Lego creations scattered about the house...

Observing 3 birds sitting on the tippy top of a tree...

Saying farewell to one of the birds and thinking how wonderful its dark shape is against the blue sky...

Being thankful for thumbtacks that can hold a curtain in place until it can get fixed...

Enjoying that my youngest still likes to make birthday cards...

Licking clean the last-minute homemade slushies (frozen fruit, honey & milk) since there was no ice cream to be found in the house...

Readying for a new & very busy week...

 

What are you enjoying this week?

Speaking of this week and the title for this post (a week off) ...several of you asked what I will be doing to feed 200 people 3 meals for 3 days.  I'm organizing/making/buying the food for serving community judges for an upcoming speech and debate tournament.  And...since it involves so much time, I decided (with reluctance) to take a few days off from this blog.

See you NEXT Monday!

 

 

Yarn Along ~ February 1

Happy February! 

Wow.  I'm still trying to figure out how January slipped passed me unseen.  I love February.  However, each year when this month arrives, I get a little panicky.  Do you realize that Valentine's Day is only 2 weeks away?  Got to get moving with my Valentine preparations ... once I figure out what they are...ugh!  Any ideas?  Tell me what you're planning.


For knitting this week, I added the i-cord edging to the red & white baby blanket (finally) and am making progress with the 2nd baby blanket, but decided to wait until I have both completed before showing them.  (They're due by Saturday so I need to get a move on them.)  So instead, I returned to a few wips that I've been neglecting.  My husband's Circle and Stripe Scarf is at the halfway point (not too much done on that I'm afraid), and I managed to work a bit on the 2 pairs of duffers.  All three of these were supposed to be Christmas gifts! 

I had hoped to get further along on duffers, but we've had hot water heater woes the past few days...as in no hot water!  (oh kids...why are you complaining?  A little ice-cold shower is good for you!)  Of course, we knew that there was a possibility of it going kaput for awhile but were nursing it along and hoping to get more life out of it.  Oh how I love home ownership at times!  If you recall, this is on the heels of our recent water leakage problem (which still needs to be fixed).  I'm glad to say, however, that as of 4:02 pm yesterday, (despite the $$ spent ~ ouch!), we could revel once again in the luxury of having nice hot water.  My children are very thankful.  It's amazing that we all take/took for granted the availabilty and ease of turning on the tap and having warm water at our fingertips.  It made me think of those pioneer days (and earlier) from history when you had to heat up your water on the stove or over a fire just to take a bath.  Brrr! 

Anyway, hot water we have.  And I'll be felting those duffers today...

Reading other than homeschool books and of course the new hot water heater manual (fascinating for sure) is about all I could muster these past few days.

What are you knitting and reading?

For more yarn projects and reading visit Small Things.

Enjoying

Good morning, Monday even if I'm not ready for you...

Hope all of you have had a productive weekend. 

Right now, I'm enjoying...

Seeing the bright cheery color of a new knitted project...

Gobbling up a make-shift lunch.  A favorite around here...a little cheese, black beans, green chilies atop corn tortillas, broiled for a minute or so then topped with avocado, salsa, sour cream and black olives!

Thinking how this month's calendar page was fitting for our home improvement project ~ a little 'destruction' in order to rebuild ~ Not sure if that was the artist's intent, but that's one interpretation. (I'll share some more progress soon)...

Liking a not-so-little spool (1/2 lb!) of red & white baker's twine that arrived in the mail a few weeks ago...

Embarking on a new little hopefully life-long 'project' for this year.  Will share later.  Stay tuned...

Wondering if I should make something with these or simply look at them.  Like jewels.  And wondering if I'm not alone in that line of thinking... (tell me I'm not alone)

Hoping that winter's weather will be more consistent and settle into a rhythm again.  Perhaps a little snow, please? 

What are you enjoying today?

(Un)expected Holiday Project ~ Part 2

Next time I say that we're planning some home improvement project during the holidays, tell me "NO!" Hit me over the head if need be.
I've learned my lesson.
Never again.
My husband removed more drywall and discovered light.
Do you see that bit of sky peeking through our wall?  Yes, sky. 
Builders, builders, builders...is all I can mutter.
On a good note however, my husband and children (I was knitting feverishly so couldn't help) finished the floor on Christmas Eve... yeah! 

P.S. - We decided on a warm dark gray paint for the fireplace wall.  It was difficult finding a neutral color that looked good with both the (ugly) fireplace brick and the new flooring.  But I think this one will work.  Eventually, we'll replace the fireplace insert...

Enjoying: Christmas Recap Edition

We enjoyed...





Trying a new cookie recipe.
Eating a thrown-together Christmas Eve buffet (lots of seafood!)
Sewing an alternative to stockings (more on that later).
Reading new Asterix books together.
Setting the table for a 2nd breakfast (after enjoying our church's Christmas one and listening to an uplifting and humbling sermon).
Watching my 2nd son intent on building a new toy (on our new floor, I might add)...

Hope the time together with family was a good one for you!

 

(Un)expected Holiday Project

In yesterday's post, I lamented (with humor) about the organizational mess that we presently call home. In addition to our usual clutter, we decided that since it's Christmas time you know, we would clear out the living area in order to flatten the ceiling, cover the walls with new paint and put down new flooring (flooring that has been 'curing' for several years in its packages in the livingroom ~ you can see it in the corner of the middle photo).  Okay.  So, I'll have more mess during Christmas and New Year, but it'll be temporary, and we'll have a nice livingroom area rather than 'baby-poop-brown' walls and a stuccoed ceiling. 

Seriously,  I am thankful that we're even able to make time to get this overdue project done right now. 

But alas, I should have realized that all home improvement projects in some way or another can bring unexpected changes to the expected plans.  Earlier in the year (top photo) I spotted a bubbling of paint just over top of the mantel.  Water damage from chimney.  Chimney was capped, flashing fixed, sealant put into place.  We were told to replace the smallish section of damp wall with new drywall.  But of course, we waited.  Waited some more. It dried.  No other leakage seen.  Yeah!  Then this weekend as we began prepping our living area for the upcoming improvements (so we wouldn't lose the festive feel of the season, we moved the Christmas tree into the diningroom and livingroom stuff into  the kitchen area...ha!), we removed the mirror over the mantel and discovered mold (black patch in 2nd photo).  Yuck!  So, now we have a large section of the livingroom wall missing, and we're waiting for it to rain to see if the leak has been completely fixed or if this is something new. 

Once again however, I am thankful that:
: we didn't actually paint the walls yet & put down the new flooring and then have to re-do everything
: we did say adios to the family of birds that had taken up temporary residence inside our chimney
: maybe we'll be able to use our fireplace come wintertime?
: a warm & 'creative' house is a very nice blessing indeed!

oh...hot cocoa, warm blankets, a bit of knitting, a game or two with the kids while gathered near a crackling fire sounds awfully good to me...

Enjoying

Happy 1st Monday in October! 

I'm enjoying: Tweaking a granola bar recipe...

Catching a glimpse of a cloudy blue sky outside my front window (after several days of rain and gray)...

Eating a bowl of warm black-eyed peas, collards and ham soup on an unexpectedly but totally enjoyable cool evening (another tweaked recipe)...

Discovering the amazing colors and intricate designs of this one tiny flower in our backyard that I almost overlooked... any guesses to what this is?  dogbane family? 

Making time during the week for art appreciation...

Learning (from this book) that these pokeberries can be used to dye wool a lovely hue of red and putting natural dyeing on my ever-growing to-do list...

Finishing a new knitting project (I'll show you more of it later in the week)...

Devouring bran muffins from this book after another nature walk and hoping to do both again this week...

What have you been enjoying?

Very Patient Chairs: Part 3

After part 1 and part 2 were finished, we decided to change the color of the green.  It was just too bright for our liking.  So we chose a muted green called moss. Granted we've never seen moss of this color before...I think lichen would have been a better descriptive word for it, but at least the chairs are not the neon olive nor are they the dirty cream anymore.

Next step would be to sew some cushions for these.  Something that'll hide dirt and made for indoor-outdoor use.  I would also like to power wash the deck and paint or seal it or...hey, replace the deck...not likely.  So new cushions it'll be...  I'm thinking of a laminated fabric (not oilcloth because it may be too 'sticky' when you sit on it with shorts!) but I've been reading about several ways to waterproof any type of fabric (which would be good to give me more choices).  Using a spray or using a fusible plastic.  Not sure. 

Does anyone have any ideas?

Very Patient Chairs: Part 2

Our chair refinishing continued this past week & weekend.  First a primer was sprayed.  Then my husband sanded the surface. 

Then another coat of primer & more sanding.  We were pleasantly surprised to find very few spots where the metal was completly rusted through.  And the welds and bolts are very sturdy.  So the final step was to add color.

Although we really liked the original color and would have preferred to adorn them in their thirties dark minty-green color, we were not successful in finding the appropriate paint, so we chose an olive-y green.

My husband sprayed 1 entire chair with 1 coat of this olive green.  It actually looks a little more bright (almost neon-y) than the paint can had suggested. 

So now we're not sure. 

Don't want to spray a 2nd coat until we decide. 

What do you think?

to be continued...