Dreary Weekend and a Garden Update

It is ANOTHER dreary weekend. I can't believe it is so cold and rainy.  I am so worried about my seedlings.

The big garden has been rototilled 3x now. The problem is, it has been much too cold and rainy to plant. We typically put the garden in by Mother's day.  I am waiting-not very patiently, mind you--for Mother Nature to make up her mind.

As a result of the weather, I have the Three Stooges of Seedlings.

No-Grow
Now at 34 days since the seeds were sown. Not ONE single pepper seed has germinated, despite my heating pad/ hot water bottle as a seed mat to warm the soil, and steaming up the portable cold frame tricks. I thought I saw some teensy green shoots, but it was only the pearlite that had discolored.

Slow-Grow

44 days-With all the cool weather we are having, I thought it would be the optimum growing conditions for my lettuce, spinach and green onions.

Grow Crazy

34 days-My cucurbits are growing -well- crazy! I have already transplanted the winter squash once. With our weather being so weird I may need to transplant again. 

The raised beds are a mess. The rhubarb needs cut down and everything else needs weeded. or blown up with dynamite.  I have new strawberries to plant since the deer decimated mine last year. Only 1 plant came back this year. How sad.  I also have 4 new blueberry plants. One of these days, I will be successful with blueberries.

We still need to pull the 2 dead peach trees. And replace them...again. I would like to plant some apple trees...again. I thought about espalier fruit trees on the side of my garage, but that requires relocating the perennial bed and about 7 yrs to train the fruit trees to form. Ain't nobody got time for that!

It looks like 1 of the blackberries survived the marauding deer. The other 2 are in bad shape. Hopefully after the hard pruning they will recover for next year.

Last night and expected tonight the temps are in the mid 30's. Today's high was 46° but with the wind it feels like high 30's...bbbrrrr.

So I used the crappy weather to my advantage. I removed the baseboard from the dining room (to prepare for new flooring), painted the walls and plastered the cracked walls in the stairwell.

Oh well, I will keep chipping away at my to do list and hope for improved weather.  What weekend projects are you working on?

Lightening & Brightening the dining room (part 2)

Do you recall the in progress post about the dining room? If not, click HERE.

The hubbs found this light fixture that someone has set near the dumpster. Other than 1 of the arms being a little loose (nothing a little teflon tape over the threads couldn't fix) it is in pristine condition. FREE is my favorite price!

I love how it brings so much brightness to the room.

It is maybe a little too fancy/ shiny/ blingy for my dining room but I love it regardless! What is one more eclectic piece?

We need to add a touch of adhesive to the ceiling medallion and apply a fresh coat of paint. The best part (besides free) is I now have a chandelier I can decorate for xmas. Yay!

Lightening and Brightening My Dining Room (In Progress)

I posted a poll on MCLF facebook page

What is the worst thing about painting?
a) The cost of paint
b) Picking a color
c) The prep work
d) Waiting for the paint to dry
e) Clean up
f) Not wanting to hang things on freshly painted walls
g) All of the above

I should have added another choice--all the aches and pains from climbing up and down ladder or handling a 5 gallon bucket of paint.

I used the leftover paint from my kitchen. So the cost and color choice were non-issues. I have an intense dislike of the prep work--mostly because I am climbing up/ down the ladder and trying to tape a straight line when every surface  in this house is anything but straight. The waiting for the paint to dry is me being impatient to apply the 2nd coat. Clean up usually falls to the hubbs, ha! And I have to admit I will hesitate before hanging things on freshly painted walls.

After the kitchen renovation, all the other rooms look... kinda cruddy. So it was time to roll up our collective sleeves and get busy.

GOODBYE moody Smoked Oyster walls, HELLO Straw Basket (even though it looks off white in this picture it is a creamy pale yellow).

I hated the paneling when we moved it. I hate painting it with almost the same fervor. 

A little sneaky peaky. It looks so nice--light and bright. Better to showcase some of my decorative pieces. This is my Ray Eyerly print that I won from an online auction a few years ago. I wish it wee an original...cha-ching!  I gave it a little more prominence by  by adding the barn stars. I fell in love with this print at first sight and I still love it. Ignore the ugly old wall thermostat.That is on the list of projects to move and replace.

Ignore the cat bowl and food dispenser. I had to temporarily relocate it out of the dogs greedy little paws. No window treatment? No problem! Just use the biggest canvas in your possession to cover  the window, ha! Actually, I don't mind covering this window because it has a view of the carport and the dogs bark less now that they can't see out of it. I consider it a win! I know none of my decorative pieces match, but they make me happy. There is no chance a designer would ever come to my house and proclaim my house perfectly designed. HA! That is ok because I decorate for me.

New curtains to cover up the can-tastic closet. The old curtains were mutilated by a certain brown and black dog named Frazzle.  Don't be fooled by his innocent appearance!

The Guilty Party

95 inch Curtain panels-IKEA

 I had to stand on the top of the paint ladder when I hung these curtains. I hate heights! My arms and shoulders were burning by the time installed the hardware, fitted the curtain rods and wrangled the curtains onto the rods. But it looks nice and softens all the hard angles of the room.

Ikea

Project List

• Floor repair- should we level or or build a platform? 
• Finish flooring  
• Install trim work
• Install molding 
• Install new window--personally I would like to eliminate the window since it opens to the carport. That would require re-doing the whole wall-frame, insulate, sheet rock or paneling, repaint and not to mention the exterior work.
• Purchase and install a new exterior door--unless I could have my porch conversion!
• Update the outlets
• Move the thermostat and replace with programmable thermostat,
• Install new light fixture, 
• Build and install closet doors  
• Clean, organize and reconfigure the storage closet--In progress  
• Dresser project
• paint EVERYTHING--In progress 

Until we can determine the scope of our project, refreshing the room with paint was a quick and easy fix. I hope to enjoy it for a while, before it too becomes a construction zone. Given our list of priorities, this project won't happen until Spring 2016. 

I'm baaaacckkk...

Phew ...not having use of the computer was tough. I still need to do a few tweaks on the computer but I am pretty sure everything is up and operational.  I will say I was shocked that I had to back up over 8000 pictures. Which I do frequently but I realized there are deficiencies with the frequency and quality of back up. I believe it is time to get a tiered hard drive system. Can you imagine if I lost ALL 8000 photos? Or all of my hundreds of documents? That is kinda scary...

Now to return to my house DIY dilemma. I have Twiggy sized dining room in a Mama Cass sized world..and if you don't don't know who Twiggy and Mamma Cass are I now hate you because on top of being fat, pleasantly plump, fluffy--yes fluffy-- I am now adding old to that list...

Speaking of old...Sunday was my birthday. The hubbs and I didn't do much of anything because of the icky weather. We stayed  home made a pot of chili (which became chili mac tonight), watched movies and dug out the old board games to while away some time. Yes, some of these games are really old! We actually had fun and plan to spend more time "unplugging" from our techie-gadget  habits then spend time on the more simple type entertainment--like board games and cards.

My dining room has gone through several incarnations in the last 15 years. Some good...um, some not so much. In 2012 my dining room look cute for about a minute 

Case in point, this is the current state of the dining room in all it's unfinished, looking a wee downtrodden un-glory.

It really took a beating over the past year and half acting as a temporary kitchen and storage during construction. We have been making a point to eat our dinner together several times week in the dining room. The more time we spend in there, the more depressing it becomes. We need to spruce this room up--stat!

I really need to think but the function of this room. It is--of course-- where we take our meals, houses a fair amount of storage --including the overflow kitchen/ canning supplies-- it is the main entry into the house (first impressions!), is a pass through to the living room, kitchen and access to the upstairs and also acts as a makeshift office. That is a lot to consider.

Hopefully this room won't take long, since we are NOT doing a gut job on the room.
1. Paint the walls, no cost since I am using the leftover paint from the kitchen remodel.
2. Paint the ceiling, I will need to buy paint.
3. Repair the sloping floor, install underlayment and install vinyl flooring. Cost to be determined
4. Install new baseboards. Cost to be determined
5. Install new light fixture (which was FREE!)
6. Closet doors-custom build. I don't even want to think about this cost.
7. Creative storage and organize the closet for more efficient storage
8. Repurposed furniture project.
9. Re-upholster the 2 arm chairs and make/ purchase slipcovers for the parson's chairs.
10. Paint the table base or as much as I love this table, I think I need to revert to a more narrow table that better fits the space.
11. Accessorize--no cost since I will shop what is already in the house

What quickie makeover projects are on your list to do?

Creepers Peepers

No this isn't a halloween post. This is all about how when sitting at my pseudo desk (aka the dining table) I was feeling a little skeeved out. Like somebody's watching me. 

 Not that I do anything interesting enough to be watched but I was feeling a tad vulnerable.  My dining room is the main entry on to the house. It is the side my neighbor (on the south side of me) uses because it is closest to her house, it where the mail and deliveries are made. It is also where strangers, sales  people and preaching folks come to knock. Pretty much I know if someone comes to that door it ain't family.  Like I said I was feeling a little exposed.

Boy I sure do need to paint the house, door and clean my windows

This is the view through the little windows on the door, into my dining room --where I sit and do my homework.

Kinda creepy right? I made it a super easy fix for privacy using scrapbook paper cut to fit the windows.

I even made a peep hole on the middle window.. This looks like crazy, googly eyes staring back.

It isn't my perfect or forever fix, but it work for now and I don't feel so paranoid! I do know when I get my brand new door the glass had best be frosted or have shades because I don't want to feel like I am in a fishbowl!

A place to study

This past week was KUH-RAZE-EEEE!!

Monday I returned to college as a full time student (which I had talked about here)

I had hoped to have my office/ study area in the spare bedroom ready but the hubbs needs to update the electrical outlets to 3 prong receptacles for my computer and printer.

Bless his heart he did such a thoughtful thing. He did a little dumpster diving and was so proud to bring this GINORMOUS and MODERN desk home. Sooo yeah...it is very cool but doesn't fit both size wise and decoratively speaking. And not to mention I have a laptop not a desktop computer. oh well--Industrial modern desk anyone?

This is more what I had in mind. This empire style desk belonged to my grandma. It has made the rounds in the family before ending up back home with me. It is a little rough around the edges, but nothing a good sanding and some stain (or paint IF I have to)  can't take care of. It is the perfect size (small for my teeny little room), has a little bit of storage (my laptop just fits inside the middle drawer; the side drawers can hold the stapler, scissors and what not; and the cabinet compartment can hold folders and a couple of binders)

For now I am making due with  my ever versatile dining room table. I moved the buffet/island in front of the window and tucked the table against the wall and dividing book case. It actually looks really good!

And here is the room overall. I wasn't kidding when I said I had diminutive sized rooms! IF and WHEN we have company or decide to eat dinner at the table instead of the TV (yeah--we're THAT couple) I can easily clear the table off , move it around and bring in additional chairs if needed.

As far college classes are going....HELP ME! arggg! It is so much harder than the first time around. I am more organized but my brain just doesn't process as fast. And for those of you wondering here is the list of classes I am taking...

Anatomy and Physiology
Medical Terminology
Computer Concepts and Applications
Environmental Ethics
Interpersonal Communications

I hope I find my groove (and memory) soon!

Dining table do-se-do

I think I either have some gypsy blood or some kind of OCD because I am always moving things around and just can't leave things alone. I am constantly editing, tweaking and CHANGING things. (IF ONLY I could do that to me and my tubby bum, haha)

This WAS my dining room

But I just wasn't feeling it. And I know the table doesn't look very big but the round shape actually wasn't working. I have a very small dining room and the table was smushed up against the closet so there was a decent path to get to the stairs. So I dug this very grungy table out of the garage.(I was surprised we still had it!) All it needed was some elbow grease--sanding, priming, painting and staining.

I couldn't find my gel stain. I am telling you my house and garage eats stuff. Either that or it is my ghost playing tricks on me.What you don't have a ghost? Well I will save this story for another time... Anyhoo I used what I had which was a can of Pecan colored deck and fence stain. I figure if it works for outside stuff  it will work on a dining table.

It isn't perfect. You can see the wear and tear on the edges. And I LUUURVVVE it! And surprisingly so does the Hubbs--who usually just rolls his eyes and mutters incoherently--or things not worth repeating--whenever I have a "project".

This table was my sister's from about 8 years ago. This is what it originally look liked.

And here it is gussied up and in my dining room.

I think it fits my space a lot better. I changed the mirror, changed my artwork to the Ray Eyerly Barn print, added the Pier 1 Grandmother clock (which I still need to hang on the wall) and I put new beach towels over my white denim chairs until I can find slipcovers I like (hey y'all-- I have a cat and 2 dogs). The placemats came from Kohl's clearance for $0.49 each. (My daughter found 2 at 1 store and I found 2 more at another--yay!) I also have 2 ladder back chairs my friend gave me (yay free!) which I am painting to match. Then I can actually have 4 people sit at the table, will miracles never cease? HAHA

So whatcha think?

Dining Room Tweaks

I recently posted  about the command message center in my hallway. While I was working on that I did a few tweaks to the dining room.

Here is a picture of the dining room at Christmas

Here is the dining room now. Yep it's the same room, same paint color. What a difference a better camera and improved lighting will do! And yes the room REALLY is that small. The dining room is approximately 8 x10 ft.

Notice the mirror is low? Well I hung it for my height (which is Shorty Mcshort-short). The hubbs can only see his mid-section in this mirror, haha. Eventually  the curtains will be dyed to closely match those concealing my storage on the left. That is floor to ceiling storage my hubbs put in for me a few years back.  I keep towels on the dining chairs because they are white denim slipcovers. And I have a cat. And 2 dogs. I get tired of washing the slipcovers all the time so it is just easier to use beach towels.

My curtains are tied back using 6 inch grapevine wreaths. It was a quick fix and  frugal ($0.59 each). The curtains are a tad to long and puddle on the floor. They are white and I have animals, not a good combination. I needed them pulled back so Sam-Sam can get in the window without shredding them. Or the dogs trampling on them.

Here's the view as soon as you enter my house. The dining room is the first thing you see. Ok- maybe the second because chances are the dogs will be jumping on you. I like the Expedit bookcase because it gave the room a little more definition. Instead of feeling like a pass through (which it is really, the stairs are tucked back in the corner) it feels defined.

We still need to install new flooring (that's the 131 yrs old floor your looking at), new  baseboards and update the lighting.  Eventually  I hope to install custom made doors for the floor to ceiling closet on the left. For now it works. It feels warm and enveloped. We don't have any big or fancy spaces. Everything is fairly simple and indeed cozy.  What do you think?

So, tell me about your dining room or entry!

Shared on    Metamorphosis Monday 2/13/12

Shared on CHS#6 Thursdays 2/15/12

Shared on   2/19/2012

Dining Room Mood Board

This is the design ideal for my dining room.

The curtains are woodside block print curtain by Urban Outfitters.
Alternate curtain options: Paisley Print Gardenia by Pier 1

I already have my walls painted Smoked Oyster by Valspar as opposed to the depicted wallpaper.
It is really a smokey grey+ beige= greige.


The flooring in Tarket Grande Green linoleum. So far the best deal I have found is $1.59 per ft at Menards.

I have 2 of the Henricksdal chair with Gobo covers from Ikea.

This is my table. A $25 yardsale find. I still need to paint the base a brighter shade of white.

Maybe Foto pendant light from Ikea for $24.99?

I have the Expedit bookcase from Ikea

I have pulled in some of the colors depicted in the mood board with art and accessories.

I think I am on my way to making this the room I envisioned! So what do you think?