Friday, December 19, 2014

Organizing help

Good Morning!

I'm still sporting my Seahawks blue cast. The next step of a removable cast got delayed due to an insurance snafu. But it'll happen soon - can't wait!

In the meantime I've been busy Christmas shopping and enjoying times with friends. It is a whole different December without baking, cooking, putting up a tree, etc! I ordered lefse from the Midwest that arrived freshly made & tastes just like the family recipe. Hubby is happy :)

Yesterday, I lunched with Joy of Joy Thomas Design http://joythomashomes.com/blog/ We met through my oldest son when he lived in San Diego. Now Joy & her family have relocated to the PNW. She is continuing to build her business as an interior designer, home stager & organizing specialist. 

That brings me to our lunch conversation - the chaos that remains in the living room. She asked me some good questions including what was stopping us from getting that stuff put away. I've pondered that ever since. I told her of many of the emotional obstacles that come with sorting/decisions. One of her recommendations was to tackle one bag or box a day. Aha! I don't want to give away her tips but she knows of what she speaks having just done major purging & a major move.

I came away encouraged. Once hubby gets the new bookshelves built & I get a cast free stronger arm, watch out! Things will be happening again around here!



Saturday, December 6, 2014

Doing well

Thought I'd one-handedly type an update to let you know I am doing really well. My wrist is healing just like it should without any need for surgery, yay!! I have a shorter cast which allows for more arm movement & allows me to drive.

My spirit stays positive despite all the things I won't be able to do this Christmas ~ rolled/cut-out cookies? Um, nope. Thankful for new DILs to take the reigns.

The Spare Oom is all freshly painted! We ended up needing the painters to do a whole second coat on the walls. We had used left over paint from another project for the walls and had to buy more for the touch-ups. The paint formulas have changed in recent years so any touch ups weren't working. The closet shelves are done, too, so we are beginning to put things away.

The stairwell also got painted and is done! I will get photos up of these areas when I am able. I may need the real photographers in the family to help with that, heheh.

I am very thankful to my hubby for taking on mundane household tasks that I've normally tackled. I am a "hold down the fort" type, happy to be home. He will be glad, I'm sure, when things get back to normal.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Life Interrupted

Good Morning!!

It is cold for the PNW this week - 29 degrees this a.m. - but clear & sunny.

I just wanted to give you a quick update & a why-I'm-not-posting-much, My Facebook friends know all about my adventures last week but others don't, so here's the scoop:

I came home from a day of shopping to find part of the front door kicked in and the 6th robbery in our 40 years of marriage! What in the heck is THAT all about?! All my jewelry gone. My iPad, too.

The next day I notice the shed door is still open from the police (4 of them!) and us determining what had been stolen. So I venture out to close it only to then slip on the slimy ramp we hadn't gotten around to cleaning. The fall resulted in a broken left wrist. I am right handed, thankfully.

Now I have a full arm cast and am figuring out what I can and cannot do. It is crazy!

Hopefully I will be able to get back to almost normal in a few weeks.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Tasks

I just lost 3 days due to not feeling well. You know how after being sick you are overwhelmed with everything you need to do? The usual daily tasks plus this is waiting for me:



and this:



I need to thoroughly scrub this funny little cubbyhole closet so I can put things away in there.


I need to get back on the exercise wagon. 

And I KNOW I've been sick because I began to look at Christmas stuff online, ME, who gets anxious in the middle of Christmas displays at WalMart!! Actually Christmas seems SO doable in October, heheh!

So, I did head out yesterday morning to mow up more leaves and cover one of my raised beds. It was a great workout - check!

 Soon I will be getting all this put away.


Because hubby has been busily building adjustable shelves in the "Spare Oom" closet, going from this:


to this:



It's going to be so nice to have better access to the things stored in there. We have lots of sorting and deciding to do yet but as long as our lovely Autumn weather holds, you'll find me outside!



Monday, October 13, 2014

We've got leaves!

Oh do we ever have leaves:


The falling of leaves is just getting started.


But I look at them as garden gold.


I run the mower over them as long as they are dry enough.


And pile the chopped leaves on my raised beds.


They provide weed suppression over the winter plus the earthworms work the soil underneath. I can dig the composted leaves into the soil next spring.

In the meantime, there are still blooms to enjoy.





And the sun is shining today, again. We have had a beautiful Autumn here in the PNW!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Floors

Good Morning!

I have hesitated to write anymore blog posts because I am very unhappy with the photos from my old phone. I do have a point & shoot camera that I haven't touched in a long while. Maybe I need to dig out the manual & learn how to use it again!

Anyway, hubby finished installing the hardwood flooring in the office, yay!! It looks wonderful. I need to change the name of the office, actually, since we don't use it for that. It's the TV room or the Den or the Spare Oom (ala Chronicles of Narnia, heheh!).

In September we spent a long weekend on the coast which included staying in a charming beach house with our son & his family - our grandsons!! It was ridiculously fun to hold the baby any time I wanted and for hours. Seabrook, WA, is a perfect get-away for families.

I have been selling bouquets by the roadside this summer - a couple dozen so far! Honor system for paying and the crazy thing is that 2 or 3 bouquets have been stolen but not the money box!?! I am already planning what I want to grow next year including more dahlias. I need orange ones! I grew larkspur from seed and have many clusters hanging upside down drying. The sweetpeas are done and the plants pulled out. I've taken notes on which varieties did the best.

We have had a year of major life events (weddings, babies, funerals) and that continues. We are standing with a family saying goodbye to a loved one. There is amazing sorrow and amazing joy in the midst of such a time.  Please pray for this family. 

Thank you for reading and being my friend!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Office/Library Progress

After poking around for weeks with removing items from the office


and filling up the living room


finding toys I'd totally forgotten about


just in time for this sweetie


hubby and I seriously tackled the task over the weekend.



We aren't getting bogged down sorting anything until we are putting things back into the room.

Before:




 Everything was removed from the room including the built-in closet shelves.


The bookcases had to be removed through the window and the desk/bookshelf taken apart in order to even fit through the window.


We tore up the carpet and padding, tossing them out the window, too. But now I have a bazillion staples to remove from the floor.


We left the TV stand/tv plus the two extremely heavy recliners.


Hubby got busy patching & mudding. 

And by mid-Monday he had the ceiling painted!!!

 Then I had a celebratory glass of wine while hubby went golfing. 

Perfect ending to our birthday/Labor Day weekend :)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Thread


 Before we knew if our grandbaby was a boy or girl, I was inspired by this pattern:


and this fabric:


named "Boy Crazy".

I loved this fabric but if the baby was a girl I would need to find other fabric.

I went ahead and began stitching.


Then we all found out that, yes, it was a boy!!


When I was almost finished with the top, my DIL began asking me to make a baby quilt.


I had to act like I didn't have time or would try to come up with something, heheh.


(Machine quilted by Ann Jones)


It was so fun to surprise by son & DIL with the quilt at their baby shower!


It was fun to tell them the story of my amateur acting in order to keep the quilt a secret.


My friend found the darling outfit to go with the quilt.


And look what else "goes" with the quilt!!



Sweet pea pumpkin love!!

Monday, August 11, 2014

Hello!

I know I've been MIA for a bit. 

Besides the major life event of the birth of our grandson, we also had a wedding, a swift 3000 mile road trip, and a funeral. Very full, emotional, bittersweet times!

So happy to get back to this boy!



It was also lovely to be away from the news for awhile.

When we returned, I found a garden that had burst into bloom.









Even the dahlias were finally blooming.




So I decided to try to sell some of the bounty.


And, By Golly, I sold some!

Hubby did get some of the hardwood floor in earlier and now I need to paint the stair skirt and risers.



I love having hardwood floors, so done with carpet in the main part of the house :)

But it is gorgeous summer here presently so it's REALLY hard to focus on the inside of the house.



But I'll try, heheh.