I KNEW This Would Happen!!!

I got a slow start this week on my painting with too much to do on Tuesday, but I got going yesterday until the inevitable happened......

I don't like how the paint color looks!!!!  UGH!

 

See how DARK it is compared to the other color???  The walls look too white now!  And see how I stopped painting immediately after realizing I had made a (-nother) huge mistake by picking this color?  That's what happens to me with painting and choosing colors -- I take FOREVER to pick one, then I always don't like it once I start painting with it, then I freeze because all my motivation disappears from me feeling like I can never get this painting thing right!! :-P  I have a whole quart of this now, and it's a waste!  What can I DO??? :-P

So this time, instead of walking away disgusted and kicking things, I sent a panicked email to Duntie (as promised!), complete with pictures, asking her opinion! :-D  She said she loves it....PHEW!!  Since I can't trust my own judgement, I'm going to trust hers, and just keep painting!  I'm not even going to look at it while I paint -- I'm going to pretend that I'm painting it for someone else who loves it, and just get it all done!  Thank you for saving me, Duntie Elaine!! :-)

Actually, I bet I'll love it once it's all finished.....I think my resistance to change is why I have so much trouble with paint.  That and being a perfectionist about this stuff!
Now to pick a new color for my library room..... AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  Just kidding!!  Hahaha! :-D

Another thing that I am going to do is to make a floorcloth!
I've ALWAYS wanted to make one, and I've been saving a piece of canvas for that very thing.....

I already cut it when I made a canvas for my print last year! (remember?....that was so fun!!)
I want the floorcloth for my hallway, and while I was looking around on Pinterest, I found the perfect design that I want.....

I know this is stairs, but it will look great as a floorcloth! :-D  This is from CountrySampler.com in their Projects section, and I LOVE the color of it.....can you see it?  It's like a blackish-olive green! 
I want to make it a runner for my hallway, so I cut out the long piece......

It still needs to be hemmed, but only on one side and the ends -- the other side is already factory-hemmed!  I'm going to run the stenciled lines down each side, and I found the perfect stencil design for it.....

I traced it off of my computer screen (it wouldn't print), and enlarged it with my printer, now I just need to cut it! :-D

And I've also become obsessed with drying anything I can find in my yard!! LOL  A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of pretty yellow flowers bloomed all over my yard and on the side of our dirt road.  They were weeds, but so pretty!  So I went around clipping a bunch of them (Puppy thought I was nuts, I'm sure!), and I hung them upside-down until they dried.....

Didn't they come out great?!?!  I'm leaving them hanging for now, but I could put them in a wreath in the fall, too!  They are nice and stiff, probably because I sprayed them with hairspray that I got from the Dollar Store -- just a little trick I read about online! :-D
So driving home last weekend I saw (and smelled!) this large bush on the side of our dirt road with white flowers and a strong, sweet smell!  So I walked down there a few days ago and cut some branches to dry.....JUST to see what would happen.....

I'll keep you guys posted about them!  I'm sure the leaves will turn brown, but I'm so curious to see how they dry....they are so pretty!!

So another weekend is here!!!!  Time is just FLYING by, isn't it?? 
I'm hoping to get a few more boards for the kitchen trim -- all that's left to put up is the ceiling trim and baseboard.  I will probably paint those first before Brian nails them to the wall because it will be so much easier!  Oh, it's SOOOOO exciting!!!! :-D  Fun, fun, fun!!
Of course, I haven't done one LICK of gardening.....this is the latest I've ever gone without planting something!  Brian got it tilled last Monday, but it needs it a second time, and I don't have any plants ready, either!! LOL  What can I say - I'm having way too much fun inside the house right now! :-D
Well, at least there is a loooong growing season down here -- things grow into October!  So there is still plenty of time.  I can buy plants this year if I want to, and there's always the Farmer's Market if I'm really lazy! Haha!!

This weekend, I'm going to try making a recipe that I pinned awhile ago -- it's the Chicken Cordon Bleu, and it looks DELICIOUS.....

Here's the link..... http://www.whitelightsonwednesday.com/2012/11/chicken-cordon-bleu/
I'll be sure to report back on how it was, and if it's really "easy" like they say it is.  It looks worth it, whatever the effort needed!!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!! ^-^

SOOOOO Much Excitement!!!!!

Oh BOY!!!  This has been SUCH a GREAT weekend!!!!!! :-D

First, we got the floor done!......

All the white specks are my camera (WHY??), but can you see something ELSE in the hallway picture....???  The boards that we put down yesterday are DARKER than the boards we put down first.....SEE....??!!!  I can't believe it -- HOW could that happen??  I used the exact same can of stain that I used on the other boards....!!!  I didn't even notice it until I flicked on the light to take this picture -- now what do I do about it?  Really, what can I do??  I guess I could sand the dickens out of them until they are a lighter shade, and then re-seal them with polyurethane.  Of course, NO ONE could use this hallway to get to their bedrooms or my craft room for 24+ hours, plus the terrible smell would kill some of our brain cells, but the floor would be "PERFECT"......OR, I could just leave it and put a rug down, like I already wanted to anyway! :-D

Besides, I have other things to think about right now -- like, see all the white/natural colored woodwork down that hallway, PLUS doors?  Yeah, two to three coats of painting are in order there!!

And then there's THIS......

Remember this area in my kitchen....?  And the bottom picture is of my corner I posted about awhile ago.....remember how it's been unfinished for months (and in reality, years!)??
VOILA!......

And in the other corner......

MORE TRIM!!! :-D
I am beyond excited!!!!  I keep going in the kitchen to look at it, walking over my wooden floors!!!!  YAY!! :-D 

We still have the laundry room doorway that needs trim in here, and the ceiling and floor, but we should be able to get that done by next weekend!  Yippee!!!
I also have a few pieces of wood for trim here, and if Brian doesn't get to nail it up, I might just do it myself this week.....!  Hee hee hee!!  I know how to use those tools.....all I'd need is the boys to help me hold the wood up! :-D 
Although, I DO have tons of painting to do now, so I might just leave it alone and tackle that....it will be fun to get everything painted, too!

OH!!  It is SO exciting!!!!!!  I actually want to paint NOW (it's 10:30pm! LOL), but Brian made me promise to just sit here and relax tonight, instead of "doing too much" -- Oh raspberries!!!  It's probably just so I don't wake him up while I'm working! :-P
Well, that's ok.....I can wait, and I'm also VERY excited because he has tomorrow off because of Memorial Day, so I will get to be with him an extra day this weekend! :-D  We will either work in the house, or work on the garden - our favorite things! LOL

The last thing I want to post about is my neighbor, who is battling cancer.  She had her last chemo treatment a week ago, and she seems to be feeling fine.  She gets a shot two days after each treatment that is supposed to stimulate her body to produce extra white blood cells, to help fight the cancer, and it always makes her feel like she has the flu!  It's just terrible to watch.  But I keep just being there for her when she needs me, and praying. 
Now she is on to the second part of her treatment plan, and I'm really nervous about it.  She is supposed to have radiation in about a month, and they will be doing another scan and tons of blood work to see if her cancer has been killed by the chemo, or if there is anything there.....that's what I'm afraid of!  I know she is worried about it too, but I put on a brave and encouraging face for her, because MY fear isn't based on anything but the unknown (like her's is), and I don't want to burden her with it.  So that's where YOU guys come in!! :-D  I'm telling you guys, and then YOU can all pray, too, that they won't find anything, and especially that nothing new has appeared.  It makes me feel much better to know that there will be more prayers for her! :-)
Her appointment isn't set up yet, but they told her it would be sometime around June 15th or so.  I will be sure to post again with an update as soon as there is one!  Thank You!! 

I feel like I had more I wanted to post about that I've been doing, but seeing my trim go up today, and walking on my wood floor has caused my mind to go blank about anything else! Haha!!
Well, if I remember, I'll post about it next time!!! ;-)

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!!! ^-^

Working, Working....!!!

I'm almost there!!! :-D
Here's the wood we got last weekend.....

It was only 2 sheets, and I had a Lowes guy cut it in the right widths for me.  So after we got home Sunday afternoon, Brian measured and cut the lengths for the spot next to the fireplace.....

We checked to make sure they fit, before lifting them back up and stacking them outside again, to wait for me to sand and stain them!  It was SOOOO tempting to just nail them down right then and do the staining and sanding and sealing while they were on the floor!!!  LOTS of people do it that way, actually, every example I've seen of plywood flooring being used in someone's home has been done by nailing the raw wood down first, then staining and sanding and urethaning! 

But I don't like doing it that way -- first, it's back-breaking to be crouched over for so long!  Second, I like the control of working with each board, and being able to stop for the day or night or whenever I feel like it.  And third, for this spot, it's the MAIN walking area to get from the front hall to the rest of the house!  So it's just much easier to be able to keep it open while the stain and two coats of polyurethane dry on the boards on the back porch!! :-D

And here are the boards for the hallway......

They are waiting to be done next!

I did the first set of boards yesterday, except the last coat of urethane.....

 

I got that done this morning!  I LOVE how they look!! :-D
Now they are ready and waiting.....

So here comes the tricky (FUN!) part.....the hallway boards!  I cut out most of the rug, and vacuumed up the disgusting dirt underneath (that white stuff is some kind of GLUE they used on the pad under the rug! :-P).....

Then I measured exactly the lengths of the four strips I would need.  After a little figuring, I knew the measurements of the short boards I would need, and never one to WAIT for anything, I decided to cut them myself!!!! :-D

It's not that hard, especially since Brian got the circular saw that uses a battery.....it's not too heavy for me, I've even used it before, my earliest followers will remember....!!! :-D

There it is!!!!!
Here's my two cut marks.....

 

See how I strategically cut out the ugly knot holes??  Yup, I've got brains! :-D
So I cut the first side, and it's a little loud, and I think I should be cutting faster because it chipped the edge!.....

OOPS!!!
I did a lot better with the second one.....

Now all I had to do is sand and re-stain these edges!
Here they are all set.....

They cleaned up pretty good, right? :-D

So I almost finished the rest of the hallway boards now.....

All they need is their last coat of urethane, and they are READY!

WEEEE!!!  This is SO fun!! :-D

I've been making tons of lists of things I want to do after the floor is completely finished, and I think we should move on to finishing the kitchen next!  There isn't too much left to do in there - not including me repainting the cabinets - and it's mostly going to be floor and ceiling trim, and door trim.  Then THAT room will be done, too!! :-D

Well, I don't want to get too ahead of myself! LOL  We are supposed to have a lovely weekend weather-wise, and Brian has a 4-day weekend because of Memorial Day!!!!!  I LOVE when he gets an extra day off!!  Now we'll have a chance to really get into the garden -- even without us working on the floor, it has rained for the past 3 weekends! :-P  So he will finally be able to till and dig up our garden area, and I can get my tiny tomatoes in the ground.

*Sigh!*  SO many plans!!!  Oh well, it's fun to make them!  Check back to see if any of them actually get done.....! LOL ^-^

A Fun Week!!

Well, I had quite a fun week!! :-D  It was quiet and laid-back, but I did some very exciting things (for me!)

The main Very Exciting Thing was that I got a surprise in the mail last weekend --- my very special online friend, Duntie Elaine sent me a present!!! :-D  I happened to mention how much I loved the old cookie cutters awhile ago, and guess what she sent me?.....

Aren't they awesome?!!!!  I LOVE the little feet sticking out of the big one!! :-D  I just LOVE them so much, I'd never be able to get something like this for myself!!!  Thank YOU, Thank YOU, Duntie!!!!! XOXO :-D  I look at them and pet them every day! :-D  
Now I have to think of something special to do for her......hmmmm.....! ;-)

And, I feel really good about myself, because I DID some painting!!  I painted the back doors, finally......

This picture shows only the left side painted, but I did the other side too (just forgot to take a picture!).  It took a little while to do all those squares!  I tried NOT to paint the glass, but I gave up after a few minutes......

As you can see, the whole window needs to be cleaned anyway, so what's a little paint on there??? LOL  They all still need another coat of paint, and I need to paint inside the door frame, and then I need to paint the outside of them! (a different color)  But it sure felt good to get going on it -- I'll finish it up this week!! :-D

The other very extremely, hugely fun thing I did was a garland!!!!!  I have been obsessed with this garland since I saw it on (ahem!) Pinterest.....

Isn't it WONDERFUL?!?!!!!  It's cranberry and string beans, and I just LOVE it!!  At first, I wasn't sure what the string beans were -- they are so papery and spindley looking (which is my favorite thing about them!), so I posted a question on the Primitive Place Forum, and wouldn't you know it, one of the members mentioned a past thread she remembered, and when I looked it up, it was the same garland!!!!!  I couldn't believe it!  The Pinterest woman was on APP Forums years ago, and posted this very garland with instructions on how she made it!!!

Oh, I was THRILLED, and I thought the woman who directed me to it was brilliant for remembering it!  We all know MY memory doesn't work like that!! Haha!  I just wish that woman was still posting on APP -- I LOVE her Pinterest boards! :-D

ANYWAY.....after reading the old thread, I bought some fresh, skinny green beans from the store and defrosted one of my several frozen bags of fresh cranberries.....

They were wet and drippy after they defrosted, so I dried them on a towel (that I didn't care about getting red stains on!)......

And then I got myself all set up!......

I used a really strong thread (that I use for everything!)......

.....and I started stringing!! :-D
I guess the cranberries get mushie from being frozen, because they made quite a mess.....

I just strung on about 9-12 cranberries and 4-6 beans at a time, until I made it as long as I wanted......

It's tricky, because you can't tell how much it's going to shrink when it's fully dried -- it looks long and feels heavy, but that's how I want it to be so it will be a good length when it dries!
I found the perfect hanging spot.....

Haha!!  Why not, when I have all my other project supplies stacked all over this hearth while we work on the wood floor!  It might actually look NICE, except I'm using full quart-sized paint cans and a hammer to hold it up there!! :-D 
This picture is from several days ago, when I first strung this up -- the beans have already started to shrivel a little.....although I think the cranberries are going to take a little longer.  They were a little drippy when I first hung this, but not really bad.  And any juice dried by the next morning.  In another week or so, I'm going to start sliding everything together, so they don't stick in place and make big (ugly) gaps!  If it turns out as nicely as the picture, I'll definitely make more of them!!!

Tomorrow we are getting the last two boards I need -- YAY!!  I'll get them ready this week, and then we can nail them down next weekend!  I'm also going to finish painting down the hallway, too.....Imagine it......completely finished....!  Phew, that's hard to imagine -- what will I do with all that space in my brain when I don't have to think about and plan the family room and hallway???  Life will never be the same....!!! LOL  GOOD! :-D

There were a few other things I was going to show you guys, but it's taken me 7 freakin' hours to type out this post!!!!  People just won't LEAVE ME ALONE for 15 minutes around here!!!! :-P
*Sigh!*

We had a great day today -- we took the kids out after an eye exam to a pizza buffet!  Boy, we get our money's worth at buffets with Brian and my two boys!!  I wish I took a picture, but I FORGOT the camera, of course!  Then when we got home, they worked on getting our pool ready -- usually we have it filled by now (like, in April!), but it's been such a cool spring, it hasn't been warm enough until now!  So they cleaned it out and started filling it.  I love swimming when it's hot out -- nothing cools you off quicker!!! :-D

I hope everyone has a TERRIFIC weekend!!!!  I'll post again with any new fun updates!  There should be a few.....! ^-^

The FLOOR Is (almost) DONE!!!! :-D

YAY!!!!
And what I mean is, my plan, my diagram is DONE, and all the wood we had is down.....but there are still two areas that need more wood.....

I was expecting this, just because I didn't try to get right to the other side of the room -- I wanted to do the main room, and then re-figure the last 4 feet or so, to make sure I could get the measurements right.  And then I didn't plan on doing the hallway until after, either, so that's the last area that needs flooring pieces. 
I spent last night measuring and figuring, and all we need is two more sheet of plywood - to cut, stain, sand, seal, sand, seal, and dry! LOL  Oh, it sounds worse than it is!!  One of those sheets I'll only need half of, and after doing SEVEN of them, it will be easy-peasy! :-D

Here's Brian cutting one of the boards yesterday.....

He looks SO attractive when he's working on my projects!!!!  Hahaha!
Here we are figuring out the layout.....

And here it's finished.....

BEAUTIFUL!!!  (the white streaks and spots in the bottom picture are from my camera -- I had to clean my lens, I guess!  And the flash always catches dust particles floating around! :-P  That's NOT GOOD in MY house!! LOL)

Obviously, I have alot of stuff to put away, and I'm going to have to wash my couch cover after this! Haha!!  But I'm going to wait until we get the rest of the floor DONE.  Then some of those things can get put away forever!!

*Sigh!!*  I am SO happy and content having this finally done! :-D

I spent the morning making a list of the other major projects for the house after the floor, and it's all bedrooms and bathrooms after this!!!  Painted floors and beadboard, wainscotting, and painted walls -- fun, fun, fun!  
Of course, I won't be pushing Brian hard for those things right away.  We still need to put trim in the kitchen, and then I have tons (and TONS) of painting to do.  And it's really time to focus on getting the garden going -- we've had such unseasonably cool temperatures alot of the nights (like last night even!), that I can't put my tomato seedlings in the ground yet!  And Brian hasn't been able to till the whole garden area because we've been working on the floor. 
So major house-projects will be taking a backseat for a little while -- at least the projects I need his help on!!!  I CAN do plenty of stuff myself! (hee hee hee!)  Maybe I can find something to use my precious new saw on.....?!!! :-D  (oops!....after painting, of course!)

Last week, while trying to entertain myself so I wouldn't keep thinking about my floor, I tried to do some things on that list I posted......I didn't really paint anything, but I DID make the wreath!!! :-D
I'm not that happy with it, it's a little skimpy, but nice for now. 
Here's what inspired me.....

Isn't it WONDERFUL?!?!!  I found it on Pinterest (where else?) and I pinned it, too! :-D  Oh, I just had to have one!!!
So I looked around for thin, long viney things to make into a wreath shape.....I actually have the perfect plant.....

An overgrown weigela bush!!! (there's actually two) -- DON'T EVEN get me started on what I think about the front of my house....!! :-P
Anyway -- I clipped some of the thinnest and longest branches(??), and picked off the flowers.....

Then I started shaping them into a good-sized circle.....

I used masking tape to hold it together for the first two vines, but I wouldn't use it again -- I didn't use anything with my second wreath and it was fine.
Then I just kept adding the branches.....

I twisted some around the circle so I had a good "holder" for the Sweet Annie.
I kept adding them around until the thickness looked right, then I clipped off anything that was sticking out too much, and voila!.....

The one I used is on the left, and I made another simpler one with what was left.....I have another wreath idea from Pinterest (where else?? Haha!) for that one, so I'm saving it!
I think they turned out pretty good!  Those weigela bushes have another purpose now!! :-D

So after this, I started putting my Sweet Annie stems randomly into the spaces.....

I tried using my glue gun for a few of the pieces, but it didn't work at all -- the stems were too thin, maybe -- so it was back to random stuffing!!  I just kept going around, adding and moving them to get the look I wanted.  I ran out before I felt like it was enough, so I did the best I could and then tied on the twine and hung it on the front door......

NOT BAD, right??  I guess I like it.....I like the simple, wildish look of it, but I think I need to get more Sweet Annie to add to it!

Which brings me to another "project" I thought I was doing -- remember how I planted the Sweet Annie SEEDS that I got on ebay???  Remember the picture I posted of them, how teensy-tiny they were??  Well, since then (and two subsequent planting attempts), I haven't been able to figure out WHY they won't sprout!  I was starting to think maybe I just got a bad batch of seeds (it happens), but then I stumbled upon THIS picture in an ebay listing for Sweet Annie seeds......

Now look at my picture of the seeds that I got.....

Can you see how THEY AREN'T THE SAME THING???? 
So I guess the mystery of why I don't have any little plants sprouting has been solved: I never got real seeds! :-P
It's discouraging, but not a total loss, because I think one of my sweet online friends is willing to send me one or two of her many re-sprouted plants, so I may yet get my own going this year!!  I'm not going to contact the seller or anything - I only paid $3 for the seeds and shipping, and I'm sure he made an honest mistake.  And I learned a really good lesson!
On the up side, my fennel plants sprouted perfectly, and need to be re-planted into bigger pots!  That's a project for later this week!! :-D

One last fun thing I did last week, while waiting for the floor (and not doing ANY painting that desperately needs to be done!), was to crochet a dishcloth!!!  I found the pattern on (wait for it.....) Pinterest.....

And I had the perfect dusty teal-blue yarn for it (cotton, of course).  I got it done in one night, and I love it!!  Now I just want to coffee or tea stain it, and it will be just right!  Of course, if I don't repaint the cabinets, it's kind of like putting lipstick on a pig, isn't it?? LOL  You might think "pig" is a little harsh, but if you could see the mess I'm looking at right now, you'd know I used the right word! 
Happily, I have control of the camera, so no one will EVER see this mess!!!  Phew! LOL

I need this sign!!!! :-D

So let's see how much painting I can get done this week.....that's my goal -- TO PAINT.  Not to look at other people's painted stuff on Pinterest, either!  To paint MY stuff!!

And I want to say thank you for all the comments I got about the floor (and all my posts!) -- I love reading them, and having special friends who admire and appreciate the same things that I do is such a joy for me!!  If I didn't have the internet and blogging, I would only have two friends and four sisters -- none of whom love any of the same things as me!!  So I get such happiness out of sharing with my online friends, knowing you all are with me when I find the right paint color, or find the best way to scrape paint off of perfectly good furniture to distress it, or why old grungy things are awesome, or why building a new cabinet crooked is the best thing.....I could go on and on!! LOL 
I think you guys are THE BEST!!! ^-^