Painting Update

I have been a painting machine this week!  I'm too tired to write much, but here's how things are looking:

I used a Benjamin Moore color, Decorators White in flat, which the lumberyard mixed for me using their Pittsburgh Paint.  It's a very clean white and really brightened up the room especially after seeing it brown for the last few years.  After we got the walls painted and realized the woodwork needed it, too, I headed back to the lumberyard for more Decorators White in semi-gloss.  At that point the carpet was really looking beige and knowing the wood floor under it was in pretty good shape, I decided to tear it out.  So glad I did!  As soon as the baseboard paint was on, we picked up the Duncan Phyfe table that I bought at the thrift store last week.  Ben had to pretty much dismantle it in order to get it in the house, but it did make it  easier to paint.  It got primer and two coats of the white paint I had left over from the entryway floor project.  A great transformation!  I also painted an old green bookcase (with leftover paint from the trim) and a little cupboard.

Next step, reassemble the table and start moving in!

And figure out how to get yellow paint off the dog (only a little bit . . .)

Painting Styles

Thankfully, Ben came to my rescue and we finished the walls of my new sewing/project room yesterday.  I love the clean look of the white.  I was hoping the wood trim and windows wouldn't need painting, but they look pretty shabby now (not in a good way), so I'm off for more paint.

Ben is a really good painter, so it was interesting to compare our "styles":
Ben--neat, me--messy
Ben--fast, me--slow
Ben--meets frustration calmly, me--tears and whining
Ben--Rembrandt, me--Jackson Pollock

Rembrandt

Pollack

A room of one's own

After J & J got married last year, I was so pleased that my dear son-in-law emptied out his at-home office and let Julie set up a studio/sewing room in the space.  That room and that son-in-law have been so important in encouraging J's creative juices!

After J & J got married last year, I took a wall and corner of J's old room here at home for my sewing space.  A lot of J's old school stuff from elementary on up through college was tucked wherever, along with lots of books and magazines, and I admit, quite a bit of furniture and neat stuff I have hauled home over the years (the equivalent of kittens).  Her twin bed was still there and had become a place to stack things a yard high.  I don't even want to talk about under the bed.  Bottom line--when I have been working on projects, there has hardly been space enough to walk, much less work!

Thursday I decided it was time.  I started cleaning everything out of the room (so the rest of the house is a disaster right now).  And Friday I bought a Duncan Phyfe table at the thrift shop for $20.  It will be about 84" by 36" of heavenly work space.

Then as long as everything was getting moved out I really wanted to re-paint the walls.  I painted them chocolate brown a few years ago, and actually still like it, but wanted this room to be light and bright.  With Ben's help (thank goodness--I'm painfully slow and messy), we just finished the primer.  I have two gallons of Benjamin Moore Decorators White ready to go.  And the table (which they are storing for me at the thrift store), will also get painted (white)--and the cupboard you see in the photo that is currently white will probably get painted blue.   (I do so love to paint.)

So, this is why all other projects have been put on hold!

The need for "a room of one's own".

Thrift Store Love

Maybe not love, but I definitely have a thing for our local thrift store.  Its profits go to a Mennonite Relief Fund and it is staffed by friendly mostly retired volunteers who put out new treasures daily.   And so I seem to wander in daily.  Things are dirt cheap and eventually go for half price.

Here's today's find:

I took this photo with my phone and sent it without a message to J.  She knew what I was asking and replied:  "Must purchase!"  And so I did!  Oh, all for the great sum of $8.00 for the pair.  Yes, I love that store!

Mother and Daughter

My Dad recently posted this picture on his blog.  With Aunt Vivian holding the door for us,  Mom and I head to a Bridal Shower at the B Town Hall for Aunt Janice.  I don't remember seeing this photo before, but I just love it.  My mom looks so pretty and she's carrying the picnic basket that we took on many picnics during my childhood.  And we are wearing "matching" dresses that she made for us.

I'm sure I was one excited little girl.  I know I was a lucky one.

Atwater Kent Cabinet Re-do

I had a lot of fun on the 4th at the flea market down at our local antique store.  One of my purchases was this Atwater Kent radio cabinet, Model 70 from 1930.  It was pretty dusty, had some mismatched shelves wedged in (the radio guts were gone), and had a banged up piece of particle board attached to the back.

And . . . TA-DA!  Here it is now!  J picked out the paint color (she is so good at that!) and the paint really transformed it.  I didn't put a back on it at this point because it could be used with the front or the backside facing out--they both look nice.  I think it'd be great for so many purposes--book shelves, a liquor cabinet, a "cabinet of curiosities", bathroom towels, fabric storage, doll house, or a dog bed (Pip's idea).

Entryway Floor

This has been a busy week with a lot of projects in the works (which I, of course, love).  The stuffed owl was so much fun that I have further modified the pattern and am working on a baby grackle.  The Atwater Kent 1930 radio cabinet that I picked up over the 4th is almost done--just one more coat of paint.  And work on the entryway floor continues.  I marked, taped off, and painted half the dark squares.  I'll let it "cure" for a few days and then tape off and paint the remainder to finish the checkerboard design.  Maybe.  We actually really like it as is.  And we like the way the green tape looked, too.  It might be too modern for this house, but the charcoal gray squares with narrow green borders would definitely be a fun finish (or a fun quilt).  Any opinions?

And yes, it was somewhat of a miracle that I was able to do this with all the four-legged interest.  I guess it speaks to the discipline that I've instilled in our dog.

Cream Soda Floats

Our drink of choice this summer--Cream Soda Floats!

Hoot! Hoot!

Those of us who sew and love fabric were thrilled to attend the recent ribbon cutting and opening of "The Udder Store" here in town  (parent store is "The Cosmic Cow")!  The owners, Roxanne and Rich, did an amazing job renovating the old building and are stocking a great selection of fabric.

To help celebrate the opening and the 4th of July, our town was lucky to have dollmaker Elinor Peace Bailey here. She is incredibly talented, yet so encouraging of everyone else's talents!  When I visited The Udder Store on Friday I just had to buy one of her new patterns called "An Owl for Ellie".  I've done lots of modifying to give it the look it wanted (Elinor would approve) and had a lot of fun with it.  Here's how he looks:

 I decided I would use only fabric and supplies that I had on hand.  There is fabric from an old pair of my wool pants, some of J's old corduroy pants, and part of a wool vest that I had felted a while back.  I love his scruffy look.

Elinor had cleverly used the business end of forks for her owl--I went with wire wrapped in fabric.

Now I think he needs a friend . . . wouldn't a buzzard be fun?

Small Town Celebration!

Things are very quiet in town and at our house today after the BIG 4th of July celebration. 

 Here are some of the highlights for me . . .

Flea Market on the yard of our local B&B/antique store

The parade . . . 

Picnic supper and fireworks! 

Cabbage Heartbreak

Remember our beautiful cabbages and brussels sprouts?  We had gushed about how pretty they were,  tended them carefully, and were anticipating a good crop.  So when we spotted a handful of teeny holes on the leaves, we decided we needed to apply some kind of insecticide.

One of my gardening books, Trowel & Error by Sharon Lovejoy, recommended a hot pepper solution.  Ben carefully measured the suggested amounts of apple cider vinegar, Tabasco sauce, and liquid soap in a spray bottle--then sprayed both the tops and bottoms of the leaves.  We were feeling very good about using a natural solution rather than a chemical insecticide.

Here is the before:

And here is the sad "After":  (ARGH!!!!!!)

And this happened within hours.  Besides being disappointed and frustrated, we were puzzled.  What in the pepper solution could have caused that?!  Then we read the ingredients on the dish soap:

Water,Ammonium C12-15 Pareth Sulfate,Lauramidopropylomine Oxide, S-D Alcohol 3-A, Sodium Chloride, Poloxamer 124,Fragrance,Preservatives,Pentasodium Pentatate, Sodium Bisulfate, and Dyes.


Lesson learned!

Midnight in Paris

Off to the movies last night!  Saw Midnight in Paris -- a Woody Allen comedy/romance set in Paris.  I recommend!

Tool Time

Work on the entryway floor continues.

Here is Pip and my new best friend (Craftsman Cordless Multi-Tool).  As the directions say "Stay alert, watch what you are doing, and use common sense . . ."  Good advice.

Mount Rushmore

1957.  Five great men.  One of them with his four kids!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

One Thing Leads to Another

One of the interesting things about living in an old house is that you are never quite done.  We have pretty much covered every square inch of this house, but after 24 years the front entry floor had remained untouched.  The ceiling, the trim and doors, the walls--yes--but not the floor.  And not because it was too beautiful to touch--it was covered with some fairly ugly brown indoor/outdoor carpet.

Enter our little dog who (how do I say this?) decides it's kind of like being outside and anything goes!  So . . . the carpet had to go.  Not too bad--Ben gave it a good tug or two and pulled it up.  Then he tackled the linoleum layer which took a little more muscle.  He used the same tool that he uses to chip ice in the winter.  That left a layer of hardened glue and green fuzzy stuff that after all these years has bonded with the floor boards.

I've stripped a lot of wallpaper, but this was more stubborn than any of that.  We tried vinegar and water--nothing.  Then the same stripper I use on furniture--nothing.  So now we are using the heat gun and scrapper--and it is coming off.  Inch by inch, but it's coming.

The plan (following the scraping and sanding) is to paint and stencil it, then cover it with a heavy duty finish.  Now to start looking for stenciling ideas . . .

Off the Shelf

Two of the (many) unexpected pleasures of retirement:

1) Dawdling through the stacks in the library and

2) Reading during the daytime.

So off to the library I went last week.

I returned Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers, The Story of Success.  He looks at highly successful people and concludes that they are the product of their times, their culture, their family and community, and even luck--rather than simply in-born intelligence or ambition.  Another words, it's a group effort.  The examples he shares are really fascinating!  I suppose we can all look at our life stories and our families and see the influences on our lives.

While I was looking through the new arrivals, I found Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter.  It looks like a wonderful cookbook and has me wanting to try so many of the recipes ("homemade root beer floats", "kale chips", "balsamic & lime vinaigrette").






Okay, enough--back to my books . . .

The Uncle Jerry Box

Our hearts are a little heavy after losing my uncle to cancer last night.  He loved his family, worked hard, and had a really kind heart that touched us all.

So I had a neat little thing happen today . . .  I was digging through some things in the basement, looking for small cardboard boxes to ship some Ebay items in, and back on a shelf that I haven't touched in a long time was the wooden box that Uncle Jerry made for me when I was about 10!  It is a beautifully made box with hinges and a place for a lock.  That Christmas he and my aunt made one for each of their "older" nieces (Barbie cases for the younger ones).  I had forgotten all about it, but there it was!  I dusted it off and found so many little treasures that had stayed in that box all these years--my girl scout sash, tassel from HS graduation, ticket from my first airplane trip as a 14 year old, a note written to my daughter from my grandmother, an old LBJ election badge, a handkerchief that my great-aunt tatted, and there on the bottom among some seashells and special rocks was a napkin from Uncle Jerry and Aunt Sondra's wedding in 1962!  What a neat coincidence that I happened upon this box today when he and his family are in my thoughts and prayers!

More fodder for the "I-wanna-live-in-France" fantasy

J shared this great little blog with me the other day.  It's written by US designer Gabrielle Blair who along with her husband and six children (yes, six!) is living in France for a year.  They are renting this very old house, pictures of which will leave you sighing and wondering why we don't all live there . . .

http://www.designmom.com/

Photo from Design Mom

The Chair--"During"

With our garage sale behind us, I pulled out the chair that I bought at a garage sale recently.  I've refinished a lot of pieces and sewn slipcovers, but re-upholstering is new for me.  So undaunted by my ignorance and armed with minimal youtube instruction,  I forged ahead!

Here's the "before" (with a little of the finish stripped off one of the legs and a little dog on the seat):

With the aid of pliers, rubber mallet, and new tack remover I took off the black under-the-seat stuff and ugly red and white bumpy floral fabric (Note to self:  Get tetanus shot):

Underneath that, was a thick layer of cotton stuffing and burlap and a daddy-long-legs:

In the middle of the stuffing was some straw (money would have been nice).  Ben thought it looked like cedar shavings:

While I'm guessing that the "guts" are original, I don't think the outer fabric is because the pretty wood on the top part of the chair was covered up.  It was a fun reveal:

I left the burlap and the webbing on for now, but they may come off yet.

Here's how things are looking now.  I need to do more steel wooling (new verb) and sanding:

Pip is bored with the whole thing and wondering where the soft chair went:

Steel Cut Oats

My favorite breakfast cereal ever--Steel Cut Oats.  And super good for you, too.

My recipe is simple.  It goes something like this:

Shuffle to the kitchen.
Say a prayer of thanks for good husband who has coffee waiting.
Stand and sip silently for a few minutes or until eyes are beginning to focus.
Pour 1 1/2 cups of water in saucepan and bring to boil.
Dump in 1/4 cup of steel cut oats and turn heat down to medium low, no need to cover pan.
Take second cup of coffee to the couch and drink while watching morning show.  Pay particular attention to weather forecast realizing immediately after hearing it that you can't remember any of it.
After about 30 minutes, return to the kitchen where oats should be ready.
Dump in bowl.  Add a little brown sugar, walnuts, and splash of milk.
Enjoy your oats.