New lighting!

There was this old milk glass fixture in the blue bathroom. I like milk glass, but it was broken (and ugly). The globe was actually held up by the light bulb. I think it had a support piece missing or something.

You can sort of see that the globe is leaning to the side in this one.


The bathroom basically needs a complete update (saving the vintage blue tub and toilet though! I love them:) ). But every time I went in there, I saw the leaning lamp. Poor old thing. I saved the milk glass portion. I will find another use for it someday.

John installed this new light for me Saturday.


Now the ceiling needs painted. Or maybe just scrubbed. The entire room needs painted though, so maybe I will get to that this summer.

Next up, our bedroom. There was this HUGE creepy ceiling fan. Only one of the three light sockets in it worked.


Ugh. Every night before I went to sleep (for 2.5 years) I prayed it wouldn't fall on me.

After! It's just a cheap fixture to last until we can afford something better. It makes the room look completely different though.

See my new art over the bed?


I found it at the antique mall right after Christmas. The frame was sort of fake gold-ish and was slightly damaged. So I painted it. It looks so much better. Plus the booth I bought it from was having a Christmas sale, and I got it for only $7.50. I think the frame alone is worth that.

I did have to go to Jo Anns over the weekend. Just for my red flannel. Guess it's time to get out the sewing machine soon. Maybe this weekend. I was hoping to just work on the granny blanket until I dropped, but I'm quickly burning out again. Since Sunday I've gotten the last 40 squares done, woven in the ends on all 40 of them, and then started weaving in the ends on the 8 rows I already had assembled. I'm about 30 or 40 percent done with that. Then, I just need to attach the last 40 squares.....and then do the border....and then.....NEVER CROCHET AGAIN. At least not until the next time a friend asks for a baby blanket.

Happy 4th Birthday, Mary!

It's Mary's birthday! We had a party for her on Saturday. It was a very small party this year. Mary got a few presents and some money for her piggy bank. She'd been saving her money for 2 months, and finally got enough to get the camera she wanted. We went yesterday and got it. She was thrilled.

Remember last year when Mary freaked out when we sang Happy Birthday to her? This year, she sang it to herself in front of everyone! I thought she'd chicken out, but she didn't. Then we all sang to her.

This year, Mary had a chocolate cake with orange (colored, not flavored) icing. We just colored it with food coloring until it was the perfect shade for her.

I wish we'd taken more pictures. But it's sort of hard to take them while trying to keep Ellie from doing laps on top of the dining room table! John did snap a good pic of the girls, my Dad, Grandma Mary and me at the end of the party.


We also got some home improvement done over the weekend, but I'll save that for another post. And I finally got my darn red flannel fabric. Now, no more shopping trips for me until March.

Looking forward.....and trying to get some projects done

It's the weekend. Time for me to go to the thrift store, the antique store, or the craft store. Somewhere. Anywhere away from the girls. I find something to make, or to paint or to decorate with. I bring it home, and put it in the craft closet or the basement. I do work on things, but cannot keep up the pace at which I bring things into the house.

My main focus right now needs to be on the baby blanket I'm making. And I have a couple other things started I need to finish. But I'm going to make myself stay home and NOT buy more stuff. I'm thinking for a month? Like all of February? After I finish the blanket, and a cushion cover I've started crocheting, then I could......knit longies, work on some Valentine's crafts (some started and one that I have supplies for but haven't started), repaint the pink closet, spray paint tons of stuff if we ever have a warmer day on the weekend, clean out the closets, or print off a year's worth of digital photos. I'm sure there's more. I know I have enough yarn for 4 more pairs of longies. Or I could make shorties since spring is just around the corner. I could finish up some Christmas crafts/projects I never got around to. I wondered the other day if it would be possible to complete even HALF of the things I have planned before I bought anything else. I wonder how that would feel.

Today we had a little birthday party for Mary. Grandma Mary brought me a dresser that she didn't need anymore. As soon as I saw it, I thought about painting it. But then Grandma went into this long story about how it used to be painted, and she lovingly and carefully refinished it. Ugh. I didn't have the heart to tell her I wanted to paint it again. You know, so Mary or Ellie could refinish it again in 30 years:). She also gave me two lamps that I really, really want to spray paint, but I probably won't. They are super cool, but not my style. So, I can either paint them and use them, or keep them in a closet and not use them. They need new shades too. The shades that came with them are not working for me at all. Then she gave me one more thing....it's sort of a table runner but smaller. I can't really think of what you'd call it. Anyway, she had 2 of them so she wanted to give me one. She embroidered them herself. It really is very pretty. I asked her if it was old. She said sort of. She'd purchased the cloth BEFORE SHE WAS MARRIED!!! So like 60?65? years ago. She embroidered the first one then, and just did the second one last winter! Crazy! I'm so glad she's a crafter too. She has a massive yarn stash. And a fabric stash too. I love going to her house because she always gives me stuff or inspires me to make something I would not have otherwise thought to make.

I can't wait to see how much I can get done in the next month. I might even be able to open the craft closet without stuff falling out soon.

Finally a working camera!

There are the picture frames that took forever. Maybe some day I will get real pictures for them, but for now scrapbook paper will have to work. And there are my 2 new pillows too. I still need to get some red flannel and make a couple more. That way every time we go in that room, the kids can throw them all on the floor, and I can pick them up again and again. I'm crocheting a couple cushion covers too in red, pink and green. I have one done and another half done.

Here are the picture frames before:

That picture was taken last fall right before I primed them. Before that, the frames were in the closet for probably 2 years. I loved them in Evansville, but I tried them 3 or 4 places in this house and they just didn't work. I saved the pressed ferns. Maybe I'll use them again some day. All those ferns were in our yard in Evansville. Most of them moved here, so I could always recreate them too. I'm just glad I decided to use the frames again instead of being mad they didn't "work" in this house.

Here's something Mary wrote recently:


Her handwriting has improved so much recently. She'll be four this month. I really love the picture of Mary and Ellie. I love their HUGE toes and fingers. I didn't want to send it off to "Papaw Toe" aka Papaw Joe, but I did anyway.

I've been taking a break from the baby blanket I'm making. I was burnt out big time. Back to it soon though! I still hope to finish it this month.


This week I'll be busy cleaning the house in preparation for Mary's birthday party! I can't believe my baby is going to be 4 years old.

Off to BED.

This morning's excitement and why not...a new to do list

This morning Ellie got up at 5:45! Ugh. We went into the kitchen. I started coffee. Ellie wanted to nurse. I sat down at my computer and checked my email while feeding her. It was still pretty dark in the kitchen. I heard a noise. I thought, "oh, dear Lord, what ARE the cats doing??" I thought I should look as soon as Ellie was done. Then I heard something else. A squeak? Surely not. I looked over and the cats were just sitting there. The next noise sounded like a squeak too. Not really wanting to look, I told Ellie we were done and I got up. Sure enough, under Ellie's high chair sat a mouse. Blech. Ick. Okay, there were two cats staring him down. I figured I didn't need to set a trap or anything. Hattie gently got closer.....set to pounce.....and ever so softly batted it like a toy. Damn cat. Well, Momma Cat was sitting right there too. She lived outside for years. We made her a house cat when we moved here from Evansville. She was ready. She was set. The mouse ran right by her! She.......smelled it. Really. She sniffed it as it went by. Really, Momma Cat? How did you live outside all those years? Well, the poor mouse was under the chairs in front of our fireplace. It would dart from one to the other....cats smelling it and gently patting it as it went by. John woke up. Mary woke up. John tipped the chair up, and there sat the mouse. Eating an old goldfish cracker. The cats looked excited....I think Momma Cat smelled it again. Or John said it ran into her trying to get away. Our breakfast was over at this point. John went to change Ellie's diaper. I went into the hallway and saw our massive (23? 25? pounds?), lazy cat Simon. I told him to get into the kitchen and help. Well, he went to the kitchen, saw that John had built a fire in the fireplace, and settled in for a nap. His head was still perked up, but he was relaxing. I think he was trying to figure out what the other cats were doing. I'm fairly certain he did not know about the mouse. I'd given up on the mouse and was going to set some traps. Simon's head was near one of the chairs. All of the sudden, the mouse darted for the other chair. Right in Simon's path! Simon didn't even stand up...he just whipped his head around at lightning speed and CHOMP.....sorry little mouse. Simon got up, went to the basement and enjoyed his breakfast. I've never been so proud of Simon in my life. Slow, fat, lazy Simon. He killed a mouse without even standing up. Darn Momma Cat and Hattie. They kept looking for the mouse. They didn't even know it was gone.

This is Simon. He's actually much bigger in real life. Maybe he was having a skinny day. The picture is also over a year old. Maybe he was smaller back then.

In other news, we are snowed in. Not technically snowed in, but who wants to go out in this weather? I think we have 6 or 7 inches. The girls and I went out and played yesterday, but I think it is too cold today. Ellie gets cold really fast out there.

Being snowed in makes me think of projects I wish I had time to do. Mainly, paint stuff. But it's too cold. The first day it hits 50 degrees, I'm going to be out there painting like a mad woman. In the meantime, I have plenty other stuff to do.

1. Finish granny square baby blanket (8 of 11 rows done and assembled)
2. Make pillows for "green room" aka the room where we change Ellie's diapers. There's a futon in there and I want some pillows on it. I wanted to make 3 colors--pink, green and red. I went to Jo Anns and they were out of red flannel. How?? I even asked. The lady said someone had just come in and bought all the red they had. (I wonder what she was making?).
3. Repaint the green room closet. It's too damn pink. I'm going to use the pink I already have a mix it with some white we already have.
4. Make some Valentine's crafts. I already have some salt dough hearts made. I need to paint them. I also want to make a Valentine's bunting/banner thing. I have the fabric for the fronts, just need some RED FLANNEL for the back. Hmm.


I think that's it. Everything else involves spray paint or painting furniture which needs to happen out in the garage. Come on spring! Or even a nice day--maybe next month?

I need new camera batteries!

Well, I don't have pictures, but I do have a project done! I am so excited. It's just four wooden picture frames I painted white. I have no idea why it took so long. Oh, yes I do. First, I primed them. Then I gave them a coat of paint, then another. Well, I should have used a better brush or something. Or maybe they were fake wood that refused to be painted. So, I hit them with spray paint. I didn't like the color. So back to brushing layers on. I think I did three more. Then I gave them a couple coats of wipe on poly. I was feeling good! Woot! I went and got the mats I'd purchased for $1 each on sale. They were white, and would take my 8x10 frames and make them for 4x6 pictures. The plan was to hang them with pictures of the girls. But then I realized I haven't printed pictures for a year! Ugh. I looked down at the mats, and realized they needed to go vertically, not horizontally as I had planned. Ugh. The holes for the pictures aren't in the center. They are a bit towards the top. I can't believe I didn't notice that when I bought them. But, I was going to finish the project! I hadn't given up. I decided to just stick some cute scrapbook paper I already had in them instead of waiting to print current pictures. I gathered my papers, tape, mats and frames. I got them all set. I was feeling good. I'd had this project going for at least two months. I was so close to being done. BUT the backs wouldn't fit on the frames. The mats were too thick. No matter how I tried, it just wasn't working. I (we) began to think of how else we could secure the matted pictures in the frames. John said he'd try. I guess he tried too hard--- the glass broke. I was starting to think that I should just quit. But I didn't. I dug up another 8x10 frame that I'm not currently using and took the glass out. John cut down the backs of the frames and we used glazier's points to hold the backs on. I had John hang them for me in the guest bedroom. Finally. A project done! Pictures to come when I get some new batteries.

Until then, I'll be crocheting on my baby blanket. I've got 5 of 11 rows done.