10.31.14

I think I am ready for the furniture. I expect to take delivery of it some time next week or the week after.

Here is what I ordered.

          This is a queen-sized, cherry bed with storage drawers.

                                                        Cherry nightstand.

Cherry high chest. It is almost as tall as I am. I will have to have a step-stool to dust. D19" x W38" x H62"

A second cherry dresser, also, fairly tall. D19" x W56" x H51 1/2"

I did not find drawer liner paper that I liked so I ordered bulk-rate gift wrap; ivory with a glossy finish. It was economical and it says it is from recycled paper. I got it from NASHVILLE WRAPS.

10.30.14

Paint is done, carpet might be in by the time you are reading this. Here are two samples that come close to color and design for the carpet.

Well, not THAT close. The bottom sample was carried by the store that is in my county. I would like to have done business with them but they never called to come measure the room I wanted to carpet. After two weeks, I took their samples back and went across the state line to the place that did the original carpet for this house. 

I can't wait to see what I ordered.

10.29.14

PHOTO by SANDRA HARRISON 

A lot of you did not know I was going to Italy tomorrow, October 30. 

The plan was to go and spend a couple of days in Spain, take a Mediterranean cruise, and visit Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, then go back to Florence for a few days, and then head home sometime around the middle of November. 

All through the planning, I never thought it would actually happen, so I told very, very few people. 

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

It turns out I was right. 

The trip is cancelled and refunds have been refunded. 

Instead, I am painting, carpeting, and re-outfitting the master bedroom.

When I finish drafting this post, (last Sunday afternoon) I will be getting ready to apply primer to walls I suspect were never really painted. I will post this Wednesday. 




These made the final four, even though it looks like there are five of them. I put my second favorite under the first favorite, just to see. There are huge splotches on every wall and I have looked at them at various times during the day to see how they fare in different light. It is amazing to me how different the tiny "chips" are in the store when compared with home light.

(Edited to add: Quilty Friend helped with the color application and the final room looks GREAT)

Valspar Scent of Coconut
as seen online

I finally chose Scent of Coconut, which looks very lemony to me when I am at Lowes Depot. Over here to the right, it looks like dingy-white.

I had to make two trips to choose color samples because I came home with some very school-bus-ish ideas of warm color. Well, they looked nice in the store, that is all I have to say.

I chose flat paint, rather than the satin that the samples came in. I doubt I will care that the walls are more washable the glossier they are. Because I was just a little concerned that the color was a touch too pale, I wanted all the light to sing with the color and not reflect back. This may be the first time I did not chose satin, eggshell, or semi-gloss for paint.


Photo update

"Cutting in" of primer began around 2:00 p.m., 10.26.14. It looked surprisingly gray while wet but when I checked in the a.m. of 10.27.14, the whole room looked great.

The walls drank the primer like they were parched and it took three times to cover all the sample-splotches.

Quilty Friend showed up the next day and "cut-in" the color.

Great color, yes? I had the dehumidifier going all night and all day. Must have emptied about three quarts of moisture so far. The paint sets up GREAT when the dehumidifier is going.

10.28.14

TEA TIME TUESDAY

I would love to give credit to the maker, but I can not find the origin of this photo I found on Pinterest. I looks like the body is knitted and embellished. The leaves seem to be cut from felted, knitted fabric. It is a dandy one, isn't it?

10.27.14

MONDAY MANTRA

10.21.14

TEE TIME TUESDAY

I am not a golfer, by a long shot.

Tea time with real tees

But I do enjoy miniature golf. It is  silly, fun, and the worse you do, the funnier it is. My small town (actually, the next bigger town--I have to travel through a place called LICKLOG to GET to the next bigger town), has two miniature golf courses. One is called Butternut Creek Miniature golf and Ice Cream Parlor (I am not sure, but it may be closed) and the other is part of the Jim's Smokin' Que experience. I have not been to either one but If I have a houseful of multi-generational folks, you can bet I will suggest it.

10.20.14

MONDAY MANTRA

Each day is new. There is no need to begin to live it the day before.

10.18.14

I can:
Grill food with an 85% rate of success

Find and fix the problem when the auger system fails on the pellet production component of the grill's smoker unit

Replace a sealing ring below the kitchen drain

Remove a pee-trap, clean it, replace it WITH the required water (but I remain unsure about how to correctly SPELL pee-trap--I mean, it's PLUMBING, so, PEE, right?)

Go to the dump alone, although playing Guess That Smell by myself is not that entertaining

Make coffee with a broken coffee maker (but I can't fix the thing)

Install a Command Hook suspended shampoo holder in a bath enclosure

10.15.2014

I went to Friendship Group a week ago. I haven't been since May and it was a nice way to get back in the rhythm of socializing. I am several months behind in my black and tan blocks. Country Stitches Quilt Shop has a program each year for Friendship Group participants. This year Priscilla has a fat eighth of Kona black and a fat eighth of a tan print as a monthly offering. I can't remember if I have shown you what I am making with mine. I will take some pictures today if the sunlight cooperates and put them in at the bottom of this post.

I haven't been doing anything quilty at all, but I have been doing a little dummy-knitting. You remember, my term for that knitting process where only your hands have to be engaged, not your brain? I have pulled some yarns and rededicated them to short, simple, dummy work. I can always find homes for scarves. I might even branch out to hats since the only thing that really takes any brain work is the decrease and there are several ways to get around THAT.

10.14.14

TEA TIME TUESDAY

I was lucky enough to visit the STASH TEA store when I was in Portland in June. 

This one does not smell very much like chocolate and does not at all taste like Nutella to me. 

This one smells faintly like caramel but doesn't really taste very much like it.

This one, I actually like, though I have had Chai that I thought was stronger in flavor. I am not really sure what Chai is, but it makes me think it should be spicey and taste like a 1920s luxury cruise in the Indian Ocean. With orchestra and a tartan "rug" wrapped around me as I recline on a teak deck chair.

10.13.14

MONDAY MEANING?

I know it is difficult to read but it says THE UNIVERSE IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO MAKE SENSE TO YOU and it is attributed to Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 

I don't really have a mantra today but I can back up Neil's claim as stated above. I do not even feel the need to CONSTRUCT meaning from the universe. 

Maybe it is because early on, my parents gave me space to wonder about it. Thanks for that copy of The Epic of Man, Dad. I mean, Santa Claus.

10.7.2014

TEA TIME TUESDAY

I had FIVE cups of tea yesterday. Five. It was rainy, windy, and cold and tea seemed like a great idea several times during the day.

When I was in Oregon in June, I was lucky enough to spend some time in the STASH Tea Store. I bought as many of the flavored teas as I thought I might like. My small town grocery does not stock much in the more exotic tea flavors, although I have to admit, they have an amazing selection of brands compared to when I first moved here about four years ago.

Yesterday's teas included some of those flavored tisanes as well as a decaf chai and some of that green tea I discovered. 

The first time I made the green tea in a small one serving pot, I had the water too hot. Did you know green tea must not be made with boiling water? No wonder I never found one that tasted good to me. I do not believe I ever made it correctly.

This  Breville electric kettle has five settings and will brew at the 
exact temperatures for green, white, oolong and black teas, as well as
the correct temperature for French press coffee makers. The HOLD
button keeps the temperature for 20 minutes for your second cup.

This makes tea making almost TOO easy, doesn't it? How do you suppose the ancients made green tea without this contraption?

10.6.2014

Some of you who read my blog may think the Monday Mantra is a little fanciful. 

Well, I can tell you there is a lot of power in a phrase you instruct your brain to repeat, especially if it is a positive message. 

It has been an intensely difficult summer; one which I thought I could not get through. But,  

I CAN

I WILL

I have been nurtured and lifted by kindnesses from family, friends, neighbors, and former colleagues and for that I am so very grateful. 

In those low moments, when the entire world is asleep, and I have only me, I have to be the one to rescue me. 

I CAN

I WILL

10.04.2014

To the non-American, native English speakers of the world: 

I understand the attraction of beans on toast as an evening meal.