Blanket Flowers

I did it! I actually did it!

I planted my first flowers today.

The longest trip begins with the first step. And this is just one tiny step.

During the last chore today, we were contemplating a trip to the beach. But then this:

While we were planting the garlic, we got a little rained on. We are ever hopeful the garlic will thrive… you can see it in the pic, it’s that spot with the white dots near the fence. I’ll have to get better pics of it later.

Tonight we picked up 2 tomatoes, a jalapeño, and carrot seeds. I think I’m gonna need to extend the little garlic plot!

I forced myself to finish the next drawer:

Tomorrow the Hubs is gonna try his hand at the decoupage part. After that, there’s just 3 to go… I have the first coat finished on them. I don’t know why I have completely lost steam with this project.

It’s a shame, really, because I had planned to re-do the other dresser I have. Now I’m all about living with it just the way it is!

In other news… We watched Death on the Nile last night.

The Hubs is a giant Agatha fan, so naturally, we waited til this came to Hulu. Thank Heaven we did. It was painfully slow, and not interesting in the least. Even the cinematography left everything to be desired. It was so disappointing. After we had enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express a few years ago, we were excited to see what else the director would do with this adaptation of Poirot.

I guess he gave up.

Even Wonder Woman could not save this stinker of a movie!

TGIFriday!

Why? It’s not like any one day is different from another around here!

Last night I was super bored, so I dragged the Hubs to the beach. It was really pretty near perfect. I think I’ll go swimming next time we go.

I’m sad I didn’t have my bathing suit, because there was a sandbar really close to the shore and I have been dying to swim out to one! Actually, the one you see here was connected to the shore a little farther down the beach. It would have been the perfect opportunity to just walk right on out there!

I’ve been languishing on the dresser project. I did finally manage to get it into the dining room:

And one wall is done:

I’ve been prowling around the house looking for art to hang in here. At this rate, I’ll run out before I get to the next room!

I’ve begun in earnest to clear out the guest room. I’m still not 100% on where my desk will end up… Guest room? Living room? Dining room? I wish I could decide and get a move on.

But nope. Nowhere seems just right.

This weekend I’m gonna have the Hubs hang some stuff. Maybe that will get me motivated.

Probably not.

We do have some yard work to get done this weekend. A little mowing. A little raking. A little planting. A little mulching. I think we’ve decided on where to plant the first batch of garlic. I’ll be digging up a bit to see how much it sucks to garden here. Our last house had straight up sticky clay, so really, nothing is worse than that!

Have you ever noticed a cat’s pads look like a teddy bear?

You’re welcome.

Progress!

Yesterday I finished painting, more painting, and repainting the dining room. Turns out when I let the sunlight in there were a LOT of holidays:

Holiday

I think I got most of them.

Today I put some furniture in and starting hanging pictures. For now, it’s going to be just a dining room.

I’m having a bit of a time getting an accurate picture of the color.

I’ll be putting the dresser in here if I ever get it finished. I’ve been ignoring it for a few days now. But, I did finish one drawer ahead of the others to see how I felt about it.

Turns out, decoupage is NOT my thing. I could not get the wrinkles out so we decided to call it “rustic” and leave it alone!

From far away you can’t notice the wrinkles! I’m going to finish the rest of the drawers like this, but then… I have about 20 sheets of old newsprint… anyone want it?!

Oh jeez, I nearly forgot! The Hubs has been tirelessly testing every off-brand mac and cheese everywhere we go to try to find the best one. Well, it’s been a parade of fails pretty much since we got here, so in an either take-charge or desperate moment, he reached out to a Giant in NoVA and asked them to send him a case of his best choice.

And they did.

It showed up yesterday:

24 boxes of mac and cheese: $16.00

Priority shipping: $27.00 (you know, cuz it expires)

Long suffering wife: priceless

Yes folks, that’s what we do around here.

I already told you I found a light for the hall bath. Here’s what we started with:

We hung it last night:

I’m not in love with it, but the price was right. I really don’t like the clear glass, I prefer opaque. The Hubs suggested getting Edison bulbs to see if I like that better. Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. I just looked them up… at $8 a pop, I’m thinking not.

Bonus Post

I’m so thrilled with the day I thought I would share!

Why am I thrilled?

Well, after 22+ years, I got my first ever, “I love this color!” from the Hubs! Usually he’s a trooper and just tolerates the carnival I turn our homes into. But today, I got the holy grail!

I know, I’m embarrassed that I was so thrilled. But I was.

I started by doing my favorite thing: Painting trim. I knew I would never go back to it later. Afterward, I was glad I did because it actually made the cutting in at the baseboards a little easier. Lesson learned.

I have not yet finished the room, tomorrow I’ll do the window wall. I have to take down the draperies and there’s some obstacles to deal with, so I figured I would wait til the morning. And then I’ll have the chance to identify and take care of all the inevitable holidays in the rest of the room while I have the roller out.

Look at me learning better and more efficient ways to paint a room!

It looks like madness, doesn’t it? Like I just up and quit in the middle of the job!

I was thinking the color was going to be too dark, but it got the Hubs seal, so I guess it’s OK.

I also finished the frame of the dresser, so once I bring that in I’ll get better pictures of it. On to the drawers…

And I’m wondering why I do this to myself.

Whole Lotta Blah

I forgot to post this the other day:

These funky pelicans are all over the place downtown.

I went on walk-about Friday and finally stopped into some antique/thrift stores. In one I found this:

I just think it’s cool so I added it to my collection.

I did a first coat on the dresser:

It’s a little hard to tell the color in the garage, but in person it looks good so far. I am not getting any bleed-through yet, so that is an added bonus. I’m on track to finish up the frame tomorrow, the drawers will take a while longer.

I finally ordered a light for the hall bath, so we took down the old one in anticipation for the new! Turns out it needs a box, so once that is acquired, the Hubs will hang the new light!

I’m also working on the vent covers. Some of them are fine, others are growing fauna, so I’ll be taking them all down for a little cleaning and refresh.

Looks like my drop cloth will hold three at a time! I’ll be done with this project by June!

We’re still fighting with the garage. No matter how much we bring in, the volume in there stays the same. It’s frustrating and it’s pissing me off.

But we’re forging ahead.

Bye Bye Riley

I spent one day this week living the life. Now it’s back to it!

But first…

If you look really close by the wire, you might be able to see a couple of Blue Angels.

I’m never ready when they are close. But I stepped outside yesterday and saw them, so I thought I’d share!

We saw this when we parked at the restaurant:

I know they are big, but this cargo ship is like whole block long!

Then while waiting for Dominique, we tried to decide:

Choice A

Choice B

I guess Choice A would be more for day trips… but if we were running from the law, it would definitely have to be Choice B. It might actually be bigger than our house.

Not much action while we were lunching, but it’s mighty pretty!!!

Then we went for a walk around the historic part of town. Turns out Dominique’s husband is quite knowledgeable about the history here, so it was a very informative walk! I had a lot of fun.

But today…

It’s back to our real life.

Among other things, I painted the inside of a drawer. I’m kinda digging it and wish I had more of this paint! I might have enough to do a second drawer, but we’ll see.

I picked up my dining room paint this evening. And yes! I did pick a color for the dresser:

It’s light enough to be cheery, dark enough to cover any imperfections, and shiny enough to feel smooth as glass.

On the outside, the dresser will seem respectable, but when you open the drawers, the secrets will be revealed!

I’ll start the repair work in the dining room tomorrow. Depending on schedule, I’ll start painting maybe Monday.

We got some blocks and mulch so I can make a ring around my one palm. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s the one plant in the yard… unless you count that bamboo in the back which is so scary I haven’t been closer than 10 feet!

I also got my first FL houseplant:

I hope I can keep it alive!

Speaking of alive… The Hubs has had great success with his garlic:

Next week the moratorium on digging is up, so hopefully we’ll have some luck picking a plot and getting all his garlic in the ground and within a year or so we can be inundated with garlic!

Of course, once that is passed, I’ll have no excuses not to get out there and prep the front for some… something…

Not Much to Say

As if that has ever stopped me!

Been a little slow this week, not much happening. Been keeping up with maintenance chores, mostly. Making plans, getting quotes. Being ignored by vendors.

The usual.

Did a little work on the dresser:

Today we got here:

The priming is done. And now decisions have to be made. I was thinking I was going to paint it white. Now I don’t think it’s what I want. So we’re on hold here for a minute.

OK, more than a minute, you know it takes me a coon’s age to pick a color!

Hopefully it won’t take me that long, since it’s 5-7 years! (Yes I did, as a matter of fact, look it up!)

I’m planning on getting some paint for the dining room Friday, maybe I’ll know by then.

Whatever. It could happen.

In other news, I’ve been nesting a little.

I know, it sucks. But It’s a WIP. It’ll get there.

I’m not putting on the numbers til I paint. So for now this is my clock.

One of many…

We have this weird beam thing between the living and kitchen. I cannot imagine what the architect was thinking, but we’re kinda stuck with it. The Hubs looked inside it and it’s mostly empty. We thought about taking the reciprocating saw to it, but it ends weird on the other side so it could turn into a bigger project than we’re ready for! Plus those 2 angled doodads to the right would have to be dealt with, and they were tiled around. This taking out the beam just turned into a major reno!

And I have a few more medium sized projects to get to before that. Like putting away my clothes and linens. Yes I know. I really need to get that done.

We were supposed to go to the beach tomorrow with Dominique, but she called it because it’s only going to be 75! So we’re doing lunch and a hang out downtown. We picked a place on the Bay, so we can dine and chat while watching the water action. I’ll be sure and take some pictures so you can think I live the life of Riley!

Yep!

He is Risen indeed!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all got to be with your people and the day was glorious!

Our day was wonderful here! It was a beautiful out – mostly. Church was inspiring, and the beach was spectacular! Dinner was also good!

It did rain a bit while we were on the beach, but who cares, right? We were on the beach!

There is much to celebrate and much for which to be thankful!

We wish you all a very…

A New Project

I am sufficiently over the filth. I am officially bored of updates.

And I’m in a holding pattern waiting for the Hubs to do some stuff so I can start again.

But mostly I’m over this house for this week.

So I’ve started a project I’ve been researching, reading up on, studying other people’s techniques, et cetera, et cetera.

OK, now it’s going to sound stupid.

I’m going to paint a dresser.

It’s unfinished and I’ve had it for a long time.

I stumbled on a blog where someone took an old desk and refinished it. And I was hooked! Because I happen to have an old desk that I, well, the Hubs reads this, so let’s just say I would not have picked it. But it’s my desk and I’m stuck with it.

I attempted to sell him on the process. He smiled and nodded and made the noises. But it was very clear he was not a fan. So I’ve moved on.

And I happen to have a dresser that never got any love:

I’ve been planning this for a while. But now that it’s on deck, I don’t know what color to paint it! But I do know what I am doing to the outside of the drawers. I do pretty much know what I doing to the inside of the drawers. It’s the public part I’m not sure of.

But I had some prep work to get done, which I did today. You gotta fill in the knots so they don’t bleed paint. Then you gotta sand so it’s all silky smooth. Then you gotta prime. And everyone is saying 2-3 coats of primer.

Yuk.

And I’m doing it in the garage.

It’s kinda sticky out there, so I am committing to one coat per day. Just so it has time to dry well between coats.

Look at me making plans! How about some action?

I filled, I sanded. I got out the primer and brush. But I don’t seem to have any of the right rollers. But I wanna get started.

So I did.

I took off the knobs – I already like it much better! and I even put down a tarp because I’m a responsible painter

Nah, I’m really not.

But I’m going to be getting personal with the floor here, and, well, look at it. Would you sit on it? I thought not.

I did a little brush work:

And I did the inside of the one drawer I might not have enough paint to do several coats:

But on the flat parts I am getting a lot of brush marks. That’s no bueno. So I quit while I was still ahead.

I came in and did some more research on rollers. No shortcuts I had in mind will work. So I gotta go and get some roller covers. Probably good to drop back a little and decide on a color for this little gem.

This will be a long term project, so you’ll get dribbles as I make progress. And who knows, if I like it, I might just go nuts and paint more! Maybe my desk…

If I wanna get this from the Hubs:

War on Blinds

This week I’ve been waging war on the blinds. I really don’t love a window blind.

If you do, vaya con huevos.

When I was a pup, I loved mini blinds, they were gitchy and cool and we didn’t have them. I wanted them. Until I had them. They are dirty and the strings break, and they are never level no matter how much you try. There are other reasons, but suffice to say, in this house the blinds are mismatched, filthy, and in some state of broken. All of them.

I’m happy to say that I am down to one now! But it’s in the guest room, and we all know what that means…

In fact, I sent this to the Kraken yesterday inviting her down and her response was, “Nope.” And no, Cat, I have not yet painted in here!

Here is today’s triumph:

Pretty, right?

It’s very difficult to get a good window pic during the day!

This is just the inside, I got the rod yesterday and it’s on the list for the Hubs this weekend. And then it’s down to 2 colors… moody or not. I’m having trouble deciding how I want the dining room to feel.

Or

Usually I pick colors by their names. So if I stay with that, it’s Chilly Blue all the way. On the other hand, it also makes me sad because we lost Blue last year.

He was a very wonderful boy. This is him helping me make the bed.

This is him about to rip someone a new one!

Anyway.

I’ve finished the return grate:

In situ

It looks tons better. I’m still deciding how to treat the frame, paint it wall color or paint it grate color? But since I’m still deciding on wall color, I have time.

I added sheers to the master, still nice and bright, but not so exposed.

It’s kinda lovely to forget the shit view we have beyond the fence!

And while I’m waxing nostalgic about my favorites:

Wasn’t she just beautiful?