Friday, April 27, 2012

April Showers

Tragedy has struck our family. I learned earlier this week that a close friend to my side of the family has been killed in an accident. It has shaken up the community for she was active and well known in my little home town and of course my family is feeling the loss deeply. Her life was taken too soon.

When these kinds of things happen it really makes you stop and think. We get so busy with our lives. And most of it is all necessary. After all those bills keep coming in. The kids still need clothes and shoes. They like to eat too.

But we get so busy that we forget to appreciate the little things in life that make our life worth while.  The time with our friends and family. The beauty that surrounds us each day. Flowers that are coming into bloom this time of year. The little animals we see around us but take for granted. All of these things my friend Audrey always appreciated. She was an artist. She loved to capture in her paintings the beauty that she saw thru her artistic eyes.

 And even though she wont be painting any more, I know that I will not be able to pass a bed of flowers or an old time truck in a field without thinking of her and how she would have exclaimed in excitement at a new art project. Walking around the house today showed me more evidence of her in my life. She helped my sister and I paint these boxes. She gave me a small copy of an original water color she did. In the kitchen I have a recipe book that she gave me when Dear Husband and I got married.
With her passing April has become a month of bittersweet memories, especially for my parents. Tuesday was their 30th wedding anniversary. With every thing that has happened I didn't get a chance to write a post on it and a nice dinner to celebrate has been postponed. So I am taking a moment now, to acknowledge both of these events. Happy Anniversary to my parents. May they have so many more happy years together, keeping each other strong despite the sadness they meet along the way. We will never forget Audrey. She will be in our hearts and memory forever.  Have you taken the time to say I LOVE YOU to someone close to you? Is there a friend you have lost touch with? Take a moment to do that. You never know when your I love you is your last one.

Till next time

Amanda

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Seedlings

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a couple of tricks up my sleeves to give us at least a small garden this summer, while I clear out the new garden spot. Well today I am going to show you what I have done! I have made a salad basket.
I wished it had green foliage for you already but that will just have to wait for another time.

  First off I have to credit the source, because there is no way I would have come up with this all by myself. I got the idea off of Pinterest(so whoever from pinterest put it there and came up with the idea I thank you). Its been one of the many projects that I have pinned with the hope of doing it some day.  Well that day came when I went to a yard sale and found just the basket that I needed for the project.
Only one buck for this guy. I was very pleased!
I gathered my supplies...
Next I needed to get my lovely little mesh things to fit into my baskets. It required a little cutting and coaxing but I got the job done!



All I had left to do was plant my little seeds and hang it out side! Now I just have to wait and see if I actually have a green thumb. I attempted getting some Jalapeno plants started from seeds a few weeks back, but I have not seen one little sprout. I think I am going to have to redo them. So hopefully in a few weeks I will have little sprouts of Lettuce, Spinach, and Basil to show you. Have you finished any Pinterest projects your self?  Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Till next time,

Amanda



The Pinterest Challenge

Monday, April 23, 2012

Mary Mary quite contrary...

How does your garden grow?? I believe that is how the song went anyway. Course I am thinking of the song from the movie The Secret Garden. I liked the 1993 British version of the story. Have you ever seen it? If you haven't I recommend it. Its imaginative, and like most good stories has an underlying issue than just a young girl with a garden. Although I admit even to this day I wish to have my own mystical secret garden.

Which brings me to my topic today.  Gardening.  We are in that time of year, where trees are budding, Tulips are blooming, and planning ones garden is in the works. Mine is definitely a work in progress.  What about you? How is your garden coming along? Is it all ready in tip top shape and all you have to do is maintain, or are you just beginning like me?
This is just one section of my yard. This spot I have designated as the garden spot. Now I have not decided yet if I want to make it the vegetable garden, or maybe my very own whimsical secret garden. What I worry about as far as a vegetable garden goes is that it is such a large area, that honestly I could probably grow enough veggies to feed our neighborhood!
One thing is for sure that I have A LOT of weed pulling to do! As shown by the lovely circle I drew on the picture.  And the arrow is pointing out a bush that I am not sure about. First off I am not sure it is even alive! It looks dead to me! But then again what do I know. I certainly do not have a Horticultural Degree! And if this bush is a live, I have no idea what kind of bush it is. I mean is it a flowering bush? A berry making bush? I have no clue. I think experts need to be called.


Here is further evidence of work needing to be done. Can we say curb appeal? Or more like lack there of. I am in desperate need to get curb appeal. I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas on how to address this issue. Again its one of those things where it is just going to take time and I have to accept that. I don't want to. My inner "want it now" self is being quite loud and pushy. And while this could be a good motivating factor to ACTUALLY get something done, if she gets TOO loud, then she is obnoxious and hinders the process. In conclusion these are the areas I want to concentrate my efforts on. Clearing the garden area of all the weeds and dead shrubbery and adding curb appeal to the front of the house. Part of that will include actually relocating the brick.  In the mean time I have a few tricks up my sleeves to get a little garden going so we can have as much fresh produce as possible this summer.

Till next time,

Amanda

Blueberry Wine

This weekend there was lovely weather, perfect for getting together with friends and enjoying some Blueberry wine and a fire. Roasted marshmallows were just a natural step from there! How was your weekend? Did you get together with friends and hang out? Or get a lot done with house projects? Whatever it was I hope it was a good weekend.


Till next time,
Amanda

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Yard Sale Season


It is yard sale season and I am so thrilled...I love the hunt for that special item. Or that really great deal. I remember, when growing up, looking forward to the Yard Sales my mom and family would do. I would make cupcakes or cookies.  My mom would help me make cupcakes or cookies so I could sell them for a quarter at the yard sale. With the money I earned I got to buy whatever I wanted. It was always exciting to see the comings and goings on that would take place during the weekend of the yard sale.

Granted there came a time when I would have died of embarrassment to be caught at a yard sale or even a second hand store. It wasn't cool and I was ashamed that we couldn't afford straight from the store things. That had to be the reason why my mother shopped at second hand stores right? She didn't go to yard sales and second hand stores because she liked it, right? Ha that very much was the case. Sure there were times when the budget was tight(I know this now). But  my mom liked to go. She enjoyed the hunt and getting that great find. You know the one I am talking about. Where you get that great item you know the value of, but the person you are buying it from does not or does not care!

I have found, like mother, I too enjoy going to the yard sales to see what I can find, what can I re-purpose. And since I know, in my case my shoe string budget does not allow me to go to Pottery Barn when ever I feel like it to decorate my home, I have to be creative and crafty!

For example check out what I found at a few yard sales I hit last week...
This wonderful white rack is going to the bathroom. It cost me a grand total of $4. Now that I can afford!  I have been looking around for a shelf for over the toilet since we moved into our house four months ago, and I could not find anything under $20.  And look at this guy! He has great structure and character, what with the scrolls and the overlapping circle border! What is not to love? There is a chance he won't stay white, but that has not been determined as of yet.  Look at how nice he looks in the bathroom! Its a perfect fit.
Just needs some peachy hand towels to finish the look.

I think we need a new picture for that frame. That on of Dear Husband just doesn't fit the surroundings of a bathroom!
I scored this beauty for $2. Now I am sure you frugal pros out there are probably yelling at me! Two dollars you say, why .25 cents is all you should have paid. That would have been a score! And maybe you are right, however they just don't make things like this anymore. Not that I have found anyway. And it was coming home with me that was for sure!  And it makes a great addition to the bathroom, especially once I get the arrangement all right, because what you saw before was just a first attempt. I am going to have to live with it a few days to see what else needs to be done with it!

As for the fabric scrap I got at the yard sale, I picked it up for free. Now you can't beat that. I don't know yet what its going to become. I loved its color and the texture of the fabric. Who knows maybe it will cover a frame? Or become hoop art? It destiny is unknown at the moment. Clearly if this what I have discovered at the beginning of Yard Sale season, I feel that hold out high hopes of it being a treasure filled summer! What about you? Has Yard Sale season begun for you? What treasures are you hoping to get?

Happy Yard Saling,

Amanda

Monday, April 16, 2012

3AM Brainstorm

Its been a while since I was awakened by my tummy growling at me insisting I feed it or else it would not let me sleep. I don't even think it was a gradual awakening either. It was instant. I was asleep and then I wasn't. It took me a min to kind of gather my thoughts, especially since I had like a hundred things run through my head at once. I was laying there like Sara Jessica Parker did in the movie I Don't Know How She Does It at 3am making a list. I was thinking about how this next week was going to shape up. What did I need to do? What about those carrots sitting in the fridge that really need to be used and how in the heck am I going to use them? Then my brain bounced to organizing, because that is something my head really only wants to think about lately(have you noticed?). How I haven't started on any of the house organizing or redecoration that I have talked about doing.  There are what feel like a million other little projects that need to be done, but what are they and how are we ever going to get them done?

Then my stomach growled again, even louder! OK. First thing first. I will eat something and then start assembling a plan or something till my brain says its ready to sleep again. So I am writing. First to help me organize my thoughts in my own mind, and writing has always helped me do that. And second, I felt like this is something I should share with you. How clearly abnormal I am. How cooky my body and mind are.  And how that I am probably accomplishing more in this crazy hour that I oddly happen to be wide awake at, then I have all this past week! I think the fact that no one else is awake, not even the dog to interrupt me is a factor.

Back to the question about the million other little projects I have running around my head and wondering how I am going to get them all done.  I believe I have found my solution. Already? I know, those must have been some power eggs that I ate! Now that I think about it eggs are a brain food are they not?  Anyway back on topic. Before attempting bed the first time I had been reading over Jen's Blog and all her lovely organizational tricks when I came across this in her free printables.
Now this is exactly what I have been needing! I need to actually write down what I need and want to do with the house! By doing this I can actually get moving on the projects, because they will be written down instead of rolling around in my head. Plus my head can finally concentrate on one from start to finish because everything else is on the list! What a cleaver gal that Jen is! So this is one area I feel can now be put to ease. I can stop spending so much time wondering how I am ever gong to get it all done and finally get some doing done! Did any of that make sense? I sure hope so. I sure hope this post flows and has some reason to all the madness that is me. I sure would hate for you to be reading along and all you see is wawawa??? wawa? wawaa! waaaaaaaa?

My plan for today is to print this project list organizer out and write down all my projects that I want to do!  Now that I have a plan I think I will go get some more sleep! As for the carrots, they are going to go into a soup. A ham and white bean soup to be exact. I am going to put them in the crock pot now, just so I can say I have a jump start on a few hours from now.

Till next time,

Amanda

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I have been pinned...



There is work to be done! I  know this. I have known this all day.  The pile of projects is proof of this. Its not getting any smaller. In fact I do believe that the yarn stash has crawled out of its resting place and armed itself with needles demanding to be knit. The books on the night stand are practically throwing themselves at me dying to be held and hear the whispering of my voice as I read over their pages!
 Don't even get me started on the stack of dishes that are in the sink needing to be put in the dishwasher but can't be because there are still clean dishes in there. Or the yard! What have I accomplished in that??  And what about the goal to get my house all put together? Do you think I am working on that? NOPE!

Because I have been on Pinterest all day! I have been reorganizing my pins, making new boards to better suit my goals, hopes and dreams. I am doing this in preparation of doing all that.  Think of all the organizing I will now be able to do with all my boards in an orderly fashion! The garden will just fall into place, now that my Garden Board is full of ideas. My home is going to flow with artistic design now that my Home Board reflects what I wish to accomplish!  That is what I have been telling myself anyway. There is some truth to all this, but lets face it...
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Till next time,

Amanda

Monday, April 9, 2012

How about some House Love??

Hello Everyone,

Its Monday and a bright sunshiny day. I am not bright and sunny today. Which is why I am mad at the sun for strutting its brightness all over the place. The sun with its golden rays is practically forcing cheerfulness down my throat, and I am just not up to that speed yet. Later today I will be after I have had my cup(s) of coffee.  Besides I love cloudy rainy days.  Especially when I have work to do in the house. A cloudy day represents to me  an easy going day. I clean, I straighten things up and then I sit down and watch a nice movie while working on the latest knitting project. However with a  bright sunny day its harder to sit and watch a movie. I want there to be light in the house, the windows should be open letting fresh air in and I should be outside. So you see my mood does not match what the sun is doing. Oh well we can not all get our way.  So instead of crying about the sunshine, I will talk about how it's Monday. The beginning of a new week. We usually base how the rest of our week is going to go on how Monday turns out.  I know I do. I feel like if my Monday was good and steady and I got a lot accomplished, then the rest of my week is going to go well and be productive. If Monday is hectic and chaotic, then I start chugging the espresso's because  I am not getting much peace or down time the rest of the week.  Well I want this Monday to mean a fresh start for a whole lot more than my week. I want it to be the fresh start on my housed debacle.

I mentioned awhile back that I was having some house fits(here). Or more like I was having fits with my house.  I may have even declared war on my house. I think my house had nothing against me. It was just trying to do its job, by keeping me dry and warm. My problem with the house? The interior was not coming together like I wanted it to fast enough(that right there is probably my problem. I want it now but these things take time). I did my usual thing and started doing some research to see what help I needed. Frankly I just wanted the little house fairies to come and make everything pretty for me while I slept and I could just enjoy it. Hey I have a loose hold on reality, OK? When I came across the book The House Always Wins, I thought I found the ticket in. Don't get me wrong Marni was spot on, she was very insightful, she made me laugh and I knew I wasn't the only one suffering from this problem. But I felt like I was already doing most everything she had suggested. I felt like most of the rooms in the house were actually coming together. The one I was stressing about was the Craft room. Come to find out that wasn't the only room I was having problems with.

When my friend Jojo came for a visit I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to show her the house and get her opinion on things(because in my opinion she is the closest thing to a professional I am gonna get). I showed her this picture that is my inspiration for the house.
It has every color in it that I love and want to use thru out my home. It reminds me of some English town somewhere and back in older times gone by.  It makes me smile every time I see it. I thought it only proper to use it as my inspiration for my home. After all that is what the experts tell you to do. Find an object, picture or fabric that you just love and draw inspiration from that.  I had the inspiration but come to find out I sure wasn't using it to the full. I was trying to captivate the inspiration into one room. That would have been the craft room.  I wanted to hang this picture in the craft room where no one would see it but me really. 

Apparently I was not sharing the love. More than that I had become obsessed with the craft room. I had placed all my emphasis in that room and if it wasn't perfect I couldn't be happy. Thus why I was having a melt down by the time my friend came to visit. I was hoarding all the good things just for that room! But what about the rest of the house? Do I not care for the rest of my home and how it looks? Of course I do! That's when it hit me.  I needed to spread the colors of my inspiration thru out the house. I needed to share all the "good" things with the rest of my house.  Put a little of each room into each room. I needed to make this picture a focal point in my house, where everyone could see it and enjoy it!  Well Duh! I knew that. I had probably read that at least a thousand times. But clearly I had failed to apply it!  The second revelation of the evening was when Jojo went into the living room and said "This is the room that confuses me!" Huh? What?

 I have been attempting to go Safari themed in the living room. But frankly my heart has not been in it. I am not drawn to animal prints. I don't even own a piece of clothing with animal print in it. OK! I take that back, I do but I feel uncomfortable every time I wear it. That should have been my first hint that it really is not my style. I took one look at the living room and knew she was right. It was the room that was mismatched from everything else I had in my other rooms. So in that moment I knew it had to go. Fortunately I have not sunk a bunch of money into making a safari room. So some pieces in there are going to have to find a new home, the other pieces are going to be placed in different parts of the house.  Now I have a craft room, a living room and an office to redo.  The bedroom is on track, I need to add some more green to help disperse the purple in there. And I just need to add some pop of orange to the bathroom.  The whole house is in for redo! The bedroom and bathroom might have less done to it.

I have to say one of the biggest things Jojo did for me was redirecting me to John and Sheri's blog, Young House Love. I had kinda forgotten about them. It's a great blog and I can't believe I had shoved them into a dark closet and decided to give up checking up on them(when this happened I was not in my own home yet so I felt depressed every time I looked at what fabulous things they were doing). They do great, wonderful creative things and as cheaply as possible. I should be a devoted follower! Not ignoring them! They are accomplishing everyday, the same goals I wish to do, to be a DIY homemaker.  I should be learning from them.

I also came across some other great blogs that I think will help me in my house love quest. I love the sounds of and potential of this blog, called thrifty decor chick. Then to keep in step with DIY there is this blog DIY showoff. And the list would not be complete if there was not something about organizing. I am very obsessed with organizing and better ways to do it, which is why I was so excited to stumble across I heart Organizing. I am adding these guys to my inspiration list of blogs I follow!

So today, instead of being at war with my house I am gonna show it some love! First by starting with a clean slate. Making sure I am sticking to my inspiration and pulling strictly from it, not allowing myself to get distracted.  This means going back to the drawing board and rethinking what I am doing.  I am going to start taking the advice of John and Sheri more seriously when attacking DIY projects in my home. So stay tuned in.  There is going to be lots of home improvement going on here! To kick that off I am will start here.
With this window. I think it's about time to take of the winter decor, spring has quiet settled in and isn't going anywhere.  The other thing this window needs is a window treatment. Its a start.

Have a great Monday! Till next time,

Amanda

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Finally...

I know it seems kinda late to be posting, but I couldn't wait to share this with you. After two or more years and much stop and go, I can finally announce that the Cable and Lace Scarf is finished!

This scarf was so tedious in the beginning, but it got easier as time went on. There were 24 rows to repeat over and over. Thus the tedious part. So it was easy to become enamored with  another project. Which happened a lot. I believe in the course of this scarf, I have finished, four baby hats, three scarves, a shrug, a hat, a pair of leggings, and two cowel's. Not to mention little stuffed toys. And yet despite the tedious nature of this scarf, I love it! I love it's intricate lace pattern and the cable up the side.

Getting a bath!

Taking a stretch on the couch

Being blocked

I love it so much I want to cast it on again! I just hope not to take two years to finish making the next one! In reality it only took me three months, if that, to make this scarf. If you add up the actual time I sat working on it and not the time it spent sitting in my basket, looking forlorn and wondering if I would ever return. The bulk of this scarf was done while waiting in the hospital. Last summer my father in-law became very ill. He had been ill for some time but it had climaxed and he landed himself in the hospital in need of emergency surgery. At the time Dear Husband and I lived 8 hours away. As soon as we heard what had happened we jumped in the car and away we went.  That was 8 hours with nothing else to do but worry and knit. And the knitting helped keep the big worry at bay. Then there was the hospital. There was waiting, and knitting, more waiting and more knitting.  This was the perfect scarf to work on really because it required focus, which helped take my mind off of all that was going on at the time and what changes Dear Husband and I were about to have to go through. Then of course when those potential changes became reality, well then I needed something  that took less concentration to work on. I needed easy, simple and fast. Something I could see the progress on right away and feel the accomplishment of finishing a project. So then, yet again, Cables and Lace got pushed to the back burner. But not now! Now it is finished! 

Wow there is quite a story with that scarf. And here I thought I was just going to show you pictures of the finishing steps and call it good. I guess some things are not that simple. What about you do you have any projects that have much bigger story to them than you thought they would? That just started out as another project but grew into something more?  

Despite the personal story that scarf became involved in for me, it will be getting shipped off this week to its new home with my friend. I promised it to her back when I first started it. Thank goodness she was not in a big hurry to receive it! Well at least now it will be like a surprise for her. She wouldn't be expecting a scarf now!  

Till next time,


Amanda

Friday, April 6, 2012

About time!

Good Morning,

I have finally gotten around to getting pictures of the finished Tam hat! It's about time, it only took me long enough right? It was a perfect overcast day in which to take pictures yesterday. So I called my friend AnnE up and begged her to come be my model. I think she did a great job.
 I love how the striping turned out. I wasn't too sure of it at first. But I think it came out lovely. Dear Husband says it look like a sailors hat.
 Here is a better view of the back. I really think that is my favorite part! So thank you AnnE for helping me out by modeling my hat!
  There you have it. A completed project. And guess who is also almost finished?? The Cable and Lace Scarf! See look at how little I have left to do!
   It just needs the finishing border, to be bound off and a light blocking and then, wa-la! Its done!  Have a wonderful Friday everyone.
Photobucket

Till next time,
Amanda