How Am I Doing On My "TO DO" List?

I've been having a fairly productive week, so far.  I'm getting some things accomplished while still taking time to have a little fun with the boy.  That is, after all, important as well!

I thought I'd share a smidgen of what I did this week - starting with my bedroom.  I did get the curtain for my closet hemmed and pressed.  I didn't take a picture of it, though.  Because, well, it's just a white muslin piece of fabric.  That, and I didn't feel like moving the 50 gazillion bottles of essential oil that I can't seem to find a home for off my dresser and I wanted you to think I was a clean freak/organizational guru (gag) and they would have totally been in the picture and couldn't let my indiscrections be revealed.  Whew!  Did you get that?  Alrighty then.  Moving on...

Do you remember when I won a gift basket full of lavender items from Centsational Girl?  It had these beautiful linen napkins in it.

They were so beautiful that I didn't want to use them as napkins.  It would have broken my heart to see them forever ruined with red sauce.  Or butter.  Or boogers.  But I found a solution in which I could live with. 

I have 4 windows in our bedroom.  One more is on the right wall.  I had 4 napkins.  Do you smell the smoke coming from my ears?  They would become the valances for my windows.

Now, I get to look at them every day without fear of ruining them.  I simply hot glued the corners of the napkins to the molding.  When I'm ready to take them down - I can just peel them off the frames and pick the glue off of the the fabric with no problems.  That's my theory, anyway.  :0)  They should be able to be reused with no ill effects should I one day decide that they would indeed look beautiful covered in red sauce.  Or butter.  Or boogers.  But, enough about my valances.

Let's talk about global warming.  Naaah...But, we can talk about something that makes me warm and fuzzy.

Like, this pillow I made for my bed.

The pillow form I used was previously a standard pillow who had out-lived it's usefullness.  I cut it in half and stitched the opening closed to keep the stuffing from falling out.  The other half became a throw pillow for Isaac's room.  I would show you a picture of it (It's really cute.) but, that would mean that I would have to walk downstairs, actually take a picture of it, walk back upstairs, and load it onto the computer.  And, I'm much to lazy busy for that right now.  Thank you.  I knew you'd understand.

The white material used to be a Martha Stewart, white, cotton duck shower curtain that we used in FL.  I washed and dried it one too many times and my shower began to look like it was wearing capri pants.   Now, white capri pants may be perfectly acceptable in FL.  But, they look pretty silly in February in IN.  I just couldn't allow my new shower this horrendous fashion faux paux.  So, I repurposed it.  I've used the fabric to make a window covering for the school room, a table runner for the dining room and, now this pillow.  I still have fabric left, too. 

I wanted to make ruffles to go on it but the fabric was too heavy.  Or, I was too unskilled.  You decide.  Never mind.  Don't hurt me.  I'm feeling rather vulnerable right now.  Either way, rosettes it was.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I think it needs some friends, though.  What do you think?

OK.  That wraps up the bedroom.  I'll share a bit from the other rooms (which still aren't completed, yet) later.

Smooches, y'all.

Pam

Can You Guess What This Is?

These freaky orange finger looking things are the first of my tulips peeking their heads out.  Yippee!

And, LOOK!  Buds on my cherry tree!  It won't be long until we start seeing green!

I love this time of year and the first signs of Spring!

Spring Break Week!

It's Spring Break Week for us - and, boy, do I have big plans!  And, a long 'To Do' list! 

I decorated our house in neutrals so that I would be able to swap out the colors easily to change things up a bit.  With Spring rapidly approaching, I'm feeling the urge to say goodbye to all of the red and lighten things up a bit.  For the past couple of weeks I have been shopping Goodwill, as well as my own house, getting a 'Decorating on a Shoestring' game plan in place.  I'll share more about that as I feature my finished projects.  But, for now...here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this week.

THE BEDROOM:

• Make decorative pillow pillow for bed. Check.  Just finished that one up.  Pictures to come.
• Hem curtain I started to hang in place of closet doors.
• Cover underside of the glass tops of my nightstands with toile wrapping paper.  Maybe - not 100% sure on this one.

DINING ROOM:

• Swap out red rug for one that is stored in the garage.  It used to be in my living room until I felt the need to get rid of some visual clutter.
• Wash my red drapes and store for Spring/Summer.
• Hang the new "curtains" I'm going be using.
• Make matching covers to go over my chandy shades.

LIVING ROOM:

• Make covers to go over the red throw pillows for the couch.
• Swap out red accessories.
• Get rid of 100 gazillion magazines filling my baskets.

KITCHEN:

• Get some coordinating accessories worked in.

MISCELLANEOUS:

• Swap out the red in my hallway with more fitting artwork.
• Paint all of the woodwork/doors in the hall, living room and dining room.
• Get seeds started for the garden.
• Tighten up a coat rack I bought at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.  If the weather gets warm enough, I'll also take it outside and paint it.  Right now it's a little brassy for my taste.
• Go to Winter Jam and see Third Day, Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, Sidewalk Prophets and several others.

So, I've got a pretty busy week planned on top of my regular cleaning, laundry, cooking and baking. 

Wish me luck!

My Little Friend Died

Friday is my big day out traditionally.  It's the day that I get all of my shopping an errands done.  Sometimes, I even shower first. :0)  This past Friday happened to be one of my bi-monthly shower days.   I also washed my hair.  That meant I needed to blow-dry it.

Say hallo to my little friend.

I have a system for blow-drying my hair.  My little friend helps me.  First, I blow out my bangs and knock a little of the wetness out of the sides.  Then I pull it up in a clip while I dry the underneath.  After that's dry - I take a little bit more out of the clip, drying it in sections until I reach the top and it's done.


Imagine my horror when I saw sparky flames and smoke shoot out the backside of my blow dryer as it died on me after I had managed to only dry my bangs and the underneath of my hair Friday.  Not good, people.  Not good.  I tried to flip the little red button on the end of the plug, hoping against all hope that it would flip back on.  Nope.  Nada. Nothin'.  Crap.

I don't know what on earth would have caused this, unless it had a little something to do with this:

Yes, you would be right.  That IS crusted dirt, and I don't know what else caked in there.  Does anyone know how to clean the crud out of there without getting electrocuted and taking a first class ticket to the Pearly Gates?  Anyone?  I would like to be able to spare the life of my new little friend this slow and agonizing death in the future.  Anyway, back to my hair tragedy...

You see, I was going to The Land of Stick People.  Rich, stick people.  Rich, stick people who dress to the nines just to go to the grocery store.  I am neither, rich nor stick people, nor do I dress to the nines just to go to the grocery store.  However, I DO like to blow-dry my hair, throw on a little make-up (God help us all if I don't.) and generally make myself presentable.  But, so help me, I am NOT going to wear a pair of stilettos just to buy some grub.  Beth Chapman, if you're reading this - I love you, Girl!  Give Dog a hug for me!

I had no way of drying the rest of my hair.  I was quite a lovely sight to behold.  So, I figured if I couldn't dry my hair - then I'd just make a real statement and make it look intentional.

I think the blue brings out my eyes.  Don't you?

Here's to making a statement!

Pam

Fess Up Friday

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead has started a fun little carnival called Fess Up Friday that I decided to participate in.

I try really hard to keep a clean(ish) house while doing everything required of me during the day.  But, I have a room upstairs where very few enter (BWAHAHAHAHAA! - add eerie music) that is supposed to meet multiple functions for our family.  It's our school room/craft room.  At one point it was very organized and functional.  Now-a-days it usually looks something like this;

The computer/printer/copy machine table.  Notice the over-flowing trash can. 

Sewing and school work in one big mangled mess.

The vacuum, papers waiting to be filed and a tote filled with God-only-knows-what.

I cleaned it all up.  But it only looks slightly better than this right now.  I swear I think the junk in there is breeding like rabbits.  It couldn't be my fault, after all!

So, there you have it!  I fessed up.  Aren't I supposed to feel better now?  Hmmm...

Open Mouth, Insert Foot...Again

I have this uncanny ability of being able to precisely the wrong thing at the most inopportune times.  I'm gifted that way.  All I can say is, "Ooops, I did it again!"  You're totally singing that in your head, aren't you?  Moving on...

I always buy local raw honey from this cute little old man at the Farmer's Market every summer.  I bought my last quart on the final day of the market for the season and he told me that he sold it from his house all Winter as well.  Normally, a quart of honey is going to last me all winter long.  However, since I've been baking all of our bread - I ran out.  So, I looked his number up, gave him a call and insulted him just because that's what I do.  Oh, not intentionally.  It's never intentionally.

I was trying to be all polite and respectful and stuff like that and said, "Yes, Ma'am."

"It's Sir."

CRAP!

"I'm so sorry."

Then it started thinking along the lines of, "Gee, I sure hope he doesn't spit in my honey."  Am I the only person whose mind goes there?

When I got to his house and knocked on the door I was surprised to hear him call me by name.  Boy, I must have made some impression.  But, upon talking to him I think he remembered my name more because of the fact that he is a remarkable person than because I'm an idiot savant.

In the 20 minutes I was there (to grab a quick quart of honey) he shared with me how his wife had passed away a month and a half ago, how he had been a school teacher for 31 years, that he had been organically growing vegetables for as long as my mom has been alive, that he wrote gardening articles for 4 magazines, was a record holder in 3 different states for the fruit of his vines, shared with me tips and things to help me with my garden this year that I've never read before (I could learn so much from this man.) and offered to give me math curriculum, and some different varieties of bean seeds to try if I come back before planting season.  Oh, and he sent me home with a magazine full of artisan bread recipes.  I'd say he doesn't hold a grudge.

The more I thought about that whole scenario as the day went on - the more emotional I got.  Here was a man who had really lived his life and lived it well.  He was an 84 and a half year old bundle of joy, generosity and warmth.  I'm sure he had never heard my name until our brief phone conversation shortly before where I inadvertantly called him a woman.  Yet, he opened his home to me.  More than that, he opened his life to me - a complete stranger - and offered to give me more than just a share of his possessions and knowledge.  That day he offered to give me a piece of his heart. 

The world would be a much nicer place if it were full of Honey Bear Millers.  There is definitely a lot more that's sweet about this man than just his honey.  He is a role model for the kind of person I want to be.

Oh, yeah...I checked and there were no loogies in my honey - just in case you were wondering!

Springtime Everyday

I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed this winter - but, I'm beginning to look forward to Spring.  I was having a conversation with my mailman, Mike, yesterday where he was talking about his garden.  Then he said, "What I'm really looking forward to is your tulips coming up."  Me too, Mike.  Me too.

Our first Spring in this house we were delighted to find a few tulip plants come up in the front yard.  Then, my husband was horrified to come home from work one day and find that I had cut them to bring in the house.  I told him that I couldn't enjoy them out there under the window, so I brought them inside where I could enjoy them.  After all, why should I have something that I'm not able to enjoy?

That Fall we planted 50 gazillion tulip bulbs which lit up the whole front of the house and walk-way last Spring.  Evidently, we weren't the only ones who enjoyed them. 

My sunflowers were another example of this.  I had so many neighbors tell me how much they enjoyed watching my sunflowers grow summer before last.  I didn't get them planted last year.  But this year I plan on planting three different varieties.

It was that conversation with Mike-the-mailman yesterday that made me realize that the beauty we create for our own enjoyment just seems to spill over onto everyone else.  I think this principle applies to a lot more than flowers, too.  I believe that when we take the time to create a place, a life that we love - it not only touches us, but it touches others in a positive way, too.  So, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe I don't just have to look forward to Spring - but I can create it today, everyday, by just choosing to spread a little sunshine.  Wouldn't that be nice?