Floors, The Final Item...Sorta

The floors were refinished-- the final item on our punch list for the kitchen.  The contractors, in moving appliances, grooved the living and dining rooms.  The solution? The floors had to be refinished!  Surviving four fumey days (Will was out of town and Stirling next door) was a feat in and of itself.  However, looking at the final product, it was worth it.  They are just beautiful!

Course, we then had to paint all the base boards in the two rooms.  When the shoe molding was replaced, the paint chipped off the base boards.

Then I got the bright idea to repaint the fireplace in the living room, since that trim has yellowed with smoke from the fireplace.   I don't have the steadiest of hands, so I had to get some of the wall paint to straighten the edging around the mantel.  I used the paint from the kitchen-- we used the same color after all.

Only, that is was not the same sheen:

The paint in the kitchen was a semi-gloss, but a flat paint in the living room.  Therefore, we had to paint the walls in the living room.  Ahem.

Such a snowball effect that was the kitchen remodel.  It required the walls of the living room to be repainted.  But, for real, we are done with any house works.  After all of this unplanned work, wouldn't you be?

F

Squish.  Happy birfday, Fiona.  Kees kees.

Spring Planting!

We have started our seedlings! New veggies are germinating as you read this.    We decided to keep the selection of vegetables and herbs small this year, in hopes to have bigger crop yields, vs. the variety of crops.  

We focused on big tomatoes: red, orange, yellow, and a pink one.  All huge, heirloom tomatoes.  We are tired of getting a million small grape or cherry tomatoes; we really want the beefsteaks and big boys this summer.  

We are growing a few varieties of peppers, some herbs (we still have lots of fresh ones in the garden from previous plantings), only one type of carrot.  Bush beans.  Zucchini.  Cantaloupe. I am sure I am forgetting some.  

We planted them yesterday and so far, nothing has come up. 

A Little Off the Top

Sylvia was visiting us for a week--checking out the new kitchen, seeing dear old friends, visiting her #2 son.  Though she was busy with errands for friends or dinner with other friends, she still found time to do a bit of our heavy gardening.  I came home from work to find this: 

Tree Debris

One of the trees had grown too big.  It was pushing one of the crepe myrtles over too much, and not allowing anything to grow underneath (which is probably why we have a mud pit at the end of the path).

So, she hacked away at it.  Will helped too, but I think that was more with the clean up of the debris.  And you can see that there is a fair amount of it.  

The trees have been sufficiently trimmed back and in the summer, we will enjoy the new growth--hopefully of the tree itself but of the grass that we will now plant to help with the mud pit.

Angus

We are watching Angus again.  The neighbors are off for a quick trip, so we have a house guest for a few days.  He certainly is making himself comfortable.  And he knows that he has it sooooo good. Just look at his face!  

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNABELLE!  Hope your day is perfect!!

XOX, Mim and Will

Eleanor's Blanket

For my nieces and nephew, as a 'welcome to the world' present, I cross-stitched them blankets.  The theme is always the same: Beatrix Potter's characters.  In fact whenever I make a baby present, a birth sampler, pillow, bibs-- I always use her charming creatures.  Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Hunca Munca, Jemimah Puddleduck.

So, when I heard my youngest sister was pregnant, I started on blanket #5, with a pattern I had set aside for her baby.  I had been waiting to do this one for years, as this pattern was made just for her. When she was younger, I would take her shopping with me.  Now, don't think that it was me being a nice elder sister.  Oh, it was really selfish.  I used her for my calculator. "Becca, I have $45.  This sweater is $29 but is 15% off and these earrings are $12 but 10% off.  How much will that be and do I have enough?"   She would be able to do the calculations, including the tax, in her head within seconds.  Very useful to someone who has an issue with just straight adding.  Ahem.

Anywho.  I heard Becca was preggers, and I started sewing her baby's blanket with Peter Rabbit and his friends and numbers 1-12, taking a total of 10 months to complete (I admit that there were a few weeks I didn't work on it--like in Copenhagen or when I was on pain meds for my broken toe.  Medication and counting generally do not mix).  Once the baby was born, I added her name and birth date.  I added a back, some stuffing to make it warmer, my initials. Then I packed it up and shipped it off.

Only, once it was in the hands of the post office, did I realize that I hadn't taken photos of the finished product!   All that hard work and nothing to remember it by.

But, now that issue has been resolved.  Becca sent photos of Eleanor on her blanket.  She laid it out on the floor and had Eleanor pose for me, by her current favorite numbers: three with Hunca Munca, four with Benjamin Bunny, and five with Miss Moppet.  I am thrilled to see the blanket again and remember ho sweet it was.  Though, I think that the best part of all is having Eleanor also enjoying it.  Soon she will be able to read the numbers, and then she is just a hop, skip, and jump away from the higher mathematical skills of discount shopping.

Eleanor with Hunca, Benjamin, and Miss Moppet.

The entire blanket.