Friday, July 17, 2020

A Facelift for the Front Room

This post is backwards, but this is the finished product!

What a difference!


Progress!!


The ceiling also needed to be updated








That color has been the same since the first remodel.

Tim took down the old molding and prepared to paint.


This will be the post for the work that we are doing to update the front room. 
It has been a really long time since we did the remodel. 


Sunday, May 17, 2020

We Did a Pretty Thing

Laura gave me this wonderful idea for little "lanterns" for the back deck, and I made them up!
I love how they look in the dark, and they are really easy!
With cotton kitchen string, jars, and LED votive candles, with remote!



Crocheted loops for the deck posts




Staircase Project

We are finally free of the nasty carpet on the upstairs starcase!
Tim is making great progress this week, as it was his week off.
I have wanted to see what was under it, in hopes that there might be actual wood that might be reclaimed.
There was!
It is so exciting to see it coming back to life.
There are only a few spots that really were problematic. The bottom step was broken and had to be glued, and one of the middle steps had started to come apart and the planks had separated. That was glued as well.
The grain is really pretty! I am excited to get the last picture, but here is the progression...

Carpet coming off!

Real wood, but in bad shape!

View of risers


Starting to sand

Getting there!

Paint touched up


All done!

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

It Is Weird Out There...

I just saw a great post on FaceBook:

"Just start with coffee and do what you can.
It's weird out there.
You're gonna need to stay alert."~ Sweatpants and Coffee

This is getting truer by the day.
It is weird out there, weirder and weirder.
In some ways life is normal, and in others it has changed so dramatically as to be unrecognizable.

Life "out there" is weird.
Businesses are closed, people are wearing masks, the store shelves are empty, and we are uncertain. Circumstances are changing on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
We are unsure of our employment, we are unsure of our finances, we are unsure of whether or not we can get what we need to maintain some sense of normalcy.
It can shake us.

But in here, inside these four walls, life is normal.
I clean, I cook, we talk, we have the same needs and desires.
It is a comfort to do even the most mundane tasks, because they are so normal.
I feel a strange sense of comfort doing the laundry, because it hasn't changed. It piles up, I wash it, and I fold it and put it away. Just like I have done for years.

I make meals.
One thing about all of us being together in the house is that we are all available to eat together.
I am still able to make the meals that we are used to.
So far shopping, while weird, is still happening and I am able to get the things that we like to eat.
I am able to provide healthy meals for my family, and they are glad to have them.
That's normal. That's a comforting daily reality.

The pets don't know that it's weird out there, because they never leave the property, so as far as they know nothing has changed.
One thing I have learned since I am now home all day is that there is always a cat on my bed.
I didn't realize how much time they spend just quietly curled up there.



I think that we need to dwell in the mundane and unsurprising for a while each day.
Live in the little things that haven't changed.
Take solace in the place that is your refuge, your home.

Do a long awaited project. Maybe there is something that you have been meaning to do that you know will make life a little nicer, or at least less annoying,

Paint a room. Put up new curtains. Organize a drawer a day in the kitchen.
These are little low cost projects that will improve the quality of life and make the place that you have to spend so much time just a little nicer.
Be good to yourself and your loved ones by being good to your space.

Bake bread, bake cookies, sew something, crochet.
These outlets are satisfying and creative. They help us feel like something happened, something was accomplished. Someone benefitted, and not just Hulu or Netflix.

I am working on a baby blanket for my spiritually adopted unborn baby.


No, I'll never know who she is, but there is an unborn baby out there, with a mom who is struggling, who will be wrapped in it in a few months.

It's easy to say that it's just a matter of perspective, but I know that there is a lot to feel shaken about.
I am one person who likes to know that I can go about my day without too many wrinkles.
I get nervous when I read too much of the news.

I am learning to let go, and to let God handle the big stuff, while I stay home and take care of the little stuff. Maybe I should have been living more like this all along

.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Oh, This is GOOD! Thanks to Laura!

I Copied Me That and Then I Died of Happiness.
Sit down, freaks. I have a thing to tell you. Two things.
First, when I hear the word “freaks,” I think of the comedic stylings of a true master. King Julian. Y’all know King Julian, right? My kids don’t quite understand just HOW funny he is. I’m working on it. Educate yourselves.
Moving right along. So, Katherine enlightened me and I’ll never be the same. You know how you click on a link to a recipe in the grocery store and have to wade through ALL the stupid stuff they’re saying? (Not like now. This is worth reading.) It’s the worst. And my phone enters a store and just rolls over and dies.
SO, Katherine said, “You’re not using www.copymethat.com? Do you even Internet?” (Not verbatim.) As luck would have it, CopyMeThat is WILD. Here’s what you do.

Go to www.copymethat.com, and install the button.
Then you go to a website with a recipe. One that you have to scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll for like, a million years. I suggest googling, “marlboro man sandwich” and copying you that.
So once you’re at your recipe, click on your little CopyMeThat button in the top right. The little kitchen tools. And after you click...
YOU GET A MIRACLE. It save only the recipe and a SHOPPING LIST.
I’m all out of words. I’m just going to let you turn this over for awhile.

--
~ Laura Cooke ~
   512.665.8786

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

How We Roll with a Stomach Virus....

...or lessons learned the hard way...

 I know this is a yucky topic, and in this post I will have to allude to some yucky things, so if it's July, and you are stumbling onto this post, with no threat of viral attack on the horizon, you should just stop here.

If, however, it is the middle of the school year, and the people around you are dropping like flies, in intestinal distress, you might give it a read for a few tips on ways to make the journey through a  stomach bug a little less traumatic....

- Obviously Prevent as well as you can. Wash hands, disinfect surfaces, try not use public restrooms, and quarantine sick family members as much as possible.
It has been known to bypass certain memebers of our family even when we have others in the house that are rip-roaring sick. The ultimate goal is not to puke. May you achieve it.

- Proactive Eating as soon as someone in your circle shows the first symptoms can go a long way in minimizing your discomfort. When the first one falls I stop eating dairy, salad, spicy food, and anything with tomatoes. Also, small portions and plenty of time between meals. Empty is better, trust me.  The reasons for this should be obvious, and don't bear deep reflection. Just saying that what goes down should be as inoffensive as possible. And if you don't get sick, you may find that you have lost those last couple of holiday pounds. Win, win.



- Location, Location, Location. Road trips after exposure to a stomach virus are a terrible idea. Ask me how I know. Leaving Texas in the morning, and arriving in Nashville and realizing that you haven't been hungry ALL DAY, and that queasiness really isn't going away, and you still have an hour to your hotel and then having to literally run into the nearest McDonalds (God Bless them) so that you can do what needs doing and then pray that you don't get sick again before you get to the hotel...terrible idea. Just stay where you are. They gave it to you after all. You're not going to make them sick.

- The Kit, consisting of a bucket (this one has an appropriate slogan), a few towels, and an old rug can make the aftermath of the onslaught less disasterous. Make sure everyone in the house knows where this kit is and that under no circumstances are they to go to sleep feeling even slightly nauseous without prepping the bedroom.



- Be Nice, and if you are feeling "a little yucky" after you know you have been exposed, stay home.
Don't put this on innocent and unsuspecting people. Calling out and cancelling things is the kinder thing to do.


You'll get over it, you'll have some immunity, and you can tell ghastly tales to the people in your life that haven't had it yet...

God Bless You.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

A Few Of My Favorite Things

What's trending around our house right now?

Well, Tim has made great progress in the bedroom face-lift!
It looks so nice and is now a very comfy and fresh space. We have a couple more things to get to, and then it's done!





I got myself some new boots, well really shoes, and they are super warm and comfy. They are now my everyday shoes and they were so worth it!


I made some really yummy Carne Picada for dinner the other night and that it something that I am going to make on a regular basis!
Just the best flavor! I love all the spices together.


And so much more!
I love the feel of home and I love the business of making my home and homeschool work as smoothly and "Grace"fully as possible. I want to help preserve the art of Domesticity, with the added Blessing of Home Education.
This is the purpose of this blog. To pass along some of the things I have learned, and am learning, about organizing, about cooking, about homeschooling, about time management and other tidbits.