Window Boxes

Hope everyone in the States had a good Thanksgiving yesterday.  We celebrated by taking our annual family picture which we started back in 2003 when DS was just a baby.  We also had cornbread dressing (which the kids didn't like :-( ) and sweet potatoes for dinner.  Along with the un-traditional kidney beans!

So, while I was cleaning up the yard last week, I discovered the old window boxes I'd made out of the cedar siding we had on the front of the cottage and some leftover wood.  Here's a pic of one in its summer glory back in 2004.  (This is where our front master bedroom window is.) 

These pics must be later in the year, but look how little the spruces are! (And how overgrown the yard is :-))

 

Here's a more recent pic of the spruces! They've grown so much!  (Which gives me hope that I can plant a couple little round bushes in front of the porch and they'll grown to fill in the space.)

Anyway, back to this week, when I found the old window boxes out by the front shed I thought they'd be perfect to go on the rail of the front porch.  So, I went around the yard and cut a bunch of evergreens- spruce, pine and cedar- and some red sticks. I laid it all out on the back patio table where it's the warmest.

 And here's what I came up with.

Here are the boxes up on the front porch.

Here's a closeup of the left side.

And the one on the right.

Nothing too fancy, but a nice touch for some winter decorations.

I hadn't planned on doing the back window boxes, but I had a bit of leftover greenery so I said I might as well!

It looks a bit sparse so I may add some more greenery.  HH cut a bunch of branches out front so I may gather up some of those.

Here it is again with a bit of pretty snow!

Here's a funny cat face DD drew on the car! :-)

I didn't do much else this week!  Thinking of Christmas and crafts and gifts and stuff! :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Hi!

We had a good weekend.  It was busy with the kids being home for 3 days, but I managed!  HH & I got a break when the kids reluctantly went to Sunday School for an hour on Sunday!

Last night the kids and I went to the new Target in Charlottetown.  DS needed a new winter jacket.  I looked in Summerside last week and we went to town on Friday to look at Walmart, but nobody had a nice jacket in his size.  So, I thought why not go to C'town and find something there.  First, we went to Sears because they were having a sale, but all their jackets came with snow pants which he doesn't need.  So, off to Target where he found a nice jacket for $50.  Not on sale or anything, but he should get 2 years out of it so that's only $25/year-- Pretty good I'd say!  We also looked around at the rest of  the store.  DD got a new long-sleeved shirt and we bought new tennis shoes for DS.  The store is nice, but like I've heard, a lot of the shelves are empty.

I went for my walk yesterday all bundled up with my snowpants, jacket, gloves, hat and scarf to cover my face.  The wind was so strong on the way to the valley.  Today there are flurries, but the wind doesn't look so strong.  

We are out of lemons today, so I'm having a green smoothie with Flax milk, swiss chard, kale, banana & apple.  It's good!

Here's our loose menu plan for the week.

• Mon- Food Court at mall- Pizza & FroYo for kids, Bibimbap for me
• Tues- Frozen Pasta, Sauce, French Bread
• Wed- Brazilian Fish Stew with tilapia for HH & I, canned salmon for kids with veggies
• Thurs- Kidney Beans, Cornbread Dressing, Sweet Potato (American Thanksgiving!)
• Fri- Leftovers
• Sat- Pizza Duck at in-laws
• Sun- Chicken Noodle Soup by HH

Last year's meals.

• Mon- Tacos, Refried Beans
• Tues- Fried Haddock, Pumpkin, Pilaf
• Wed- Tuscan Bean Soup
• Thurs- Lasagna Rollups
• Fri- Panebello Pizza
• Sat- Frozen Chili
• Sun- DS cooks Mac & Cheese

Have a great week! :-)

What We did this Week

Hi!  No school for the kids today!  We may go to town to run a few errands.  And it's supposed to be a nice sunny day so we can get outside and get the yard cleaned up before all the winter snow!

So, you may have guessed by yesterday's post that I've got my gallery pics up in the hall!  Yay!  It was up for the book club and looks like I'd always thought it would so long ago....

Here are some pics.  First, I got all my picture frames out of storage and laid them on the floor to get the rough arrangement.

 I had three sections of wall to fill.  One on one side and 2 on the other.  It's mostly pictures with a couple of silver plates for roundness, our wedding invite for sentimentality and the chalkboards! I just nailed everything up with finish nails and secured with Sticky Tack.  (I only made 2 wrong nail holes, but they are covered with pictures!)

Here's everything up on the wall (looking toward the kitchen).  :-) 

In other work, in the master bedroom I've moved the hamper to the closet behind the curtain.  I got my mirror I made out of an old door to put in it's place. It will be nicer when it's up on the wall!

Before:

And in more exciting work, HH got the master bedroom heater installed.  It's a new high efficiency one that's smaller than normal.  It says the paint has to be cured on the wall it's on for 30 days before use or it could discolor the paint.  So, I guess since we're using the heater now, I'll have to wait for spring to paint. ;-) 

And one more thing!  I think I figured out my curtain between the back room and kitchen. 

  I sewed a 3" hem and put in the grommets I bought so long ago at the beginning of August!  Then I hung it from old rope I found in our stash of ropes.  I also put a 1x4 on the face of the 1x3 that holds up the curtain rail (with HH's help) to make it look more finished.  It's primed, but needs one fnish coat of white.

I tried tying the ropes to a 1x3 like my inspiration,

but it didn't look right.

Here's how it looked before.

Slowly, but surely, we're getting there! 

 Have a great weekend! :-)

Chalkboards

Hi!

I love Thursdays.  I guess it's my first "free" day of the week with no where to go! 

Yesterday I mentioned that last year I had begun my Christmas Crafts.  This is one I did for the kids' teachers.  Chalkboards!  

I was inspired by something I saw online (but can't find anymore).  Someone had made a chalkboard with really nice wood and used chalk that was made out of a stick or something.

Here's how I made mine. I used some leftover 1x4's, cut to length on the miter saw and then jig sawed on the top corners. I drilled a hole in the top and smoothened it out with the dremel sander.  As you can see below, I did a couple with wood on the back and a couple with white paint, depending on how the wood looked. I think I stained one wooden one and left one plain.

 .

I used 2 coats of chalkboard paint on the front.

 I got some old belts at the Salvation Army and used those to hold the chalk.  I glued them on and also put a little finish nail on the front and 2 on the back. I looked for chalk markers, but couldn't find any.  Martha Stewart had some chalk, but it cost a lot more than the regular chalk and just looked like regular chalk with a pointed tip. So, I used just regular chalk.

I kept 2 of my first "test" chalk boards for us.  They are on the hall wall. 

This one I painted gold on the back!

It was a nice little project.  One of the teachers was surprised to find out that I had actually made them!

:-)

Wet your Whistle Wednesday

Hi!

I made it thru the bookclub meeting!  It actually went fine and wasn't a big deal.  There was a time when I would've been more nervous about hosting something, but I'm starting to grow out of that!  Anyway, there were just 3 other ladies and me.  We talked about the book, Wolf Hall, which nobody liked and other things.  The kids behaved themselves in the kitchen and got to bed on time.  ;-) And the house is nice and clean for when we'll put up Xmas decorations next weekend after American Thanksgiving!

We got our first snowfall last night.  Not too much, though and it will probably melt away tomorrow when it's supposed to warm up a bit. Here's a pic of the back yard.

Here's what we're eating this week.

• Mon-Chicken Nuggets, Quinoa, Carrots
• Tues- Frozen Lasagna, Arugula Salad, Bread
• Wed- Black Beans (based on this slow cooker recipe)
• Thurs- Haddock Cakes (based on this and/or this using leftover rice)
• Fri- Pizza
• Sat- Leftovers
• Sun- Roast Chicken Soup made by HH (we are starting a new thing where HH will make soup for dinner on Sundays! :-) )

Last year's meals.

• Mon- Frozen Chili
• Tues- Salmon Cakes, Green Beans
• Wed-Stir-fry frozen veggies, Marinated Tofu
• Thurs- Pumpkin Carrot Loaf, Not Mashed potatoes (cauliflower?) Beet greens
• Fri- Panebello Pizza
• Sat- Leftovers
• Sun-  To inlaws for dinner.

No school on Friday.  I see on my grocery list last year that I had already started on making my Christmas Craft gifts.  Must think of some things for this year....

:-)

Weekend Wanderings (Plus front room, hallway, etc.)

Hi!

The kids had a great weekend in Beford!  They got to Summerside yesterday in the afternoon, and HH & I were invited in to dinner for lobsters!  The kids were tired this morning, though!

So, while the kids were off wandering, HH & I got a lot of work done this weekend.  Where to start.  I guess with the front room.

All the big sheets of drywall are cut and either up (like in DD's closet) or waiting to be screwed in after some wiring is done (like in our bedroom).

Here's the front room now when you walk in and look to the left.

I finally got my table under the window where it belongs! Oh, and I also insulated all the walls.

Here's the before with all the drywall!

Here's looking to the right where our master bathroom will be.

How is it that I did all this work, moving stuff and cleaning, and it still looks a mess?

Anyway, here's the before.  There's some improvement right? ;-)

Here's standing at the door to the hallway, looking back at the front door to the left.  We have extra foam insulation on this north facing wall. 

The before.

Here's to the right of the door. 

And before.

I also worked on the hallway.  Here's from the front room looking toward the kitchen.

This is from the kitchen looking toward the front room.

I just have to paint the top of the chair rail now. And then I can put up my family gallery wall!  Of course, there's also the baseboards, crown moulding, door trim and that last piece of drywall by DD's door.  Still lots to do, but we're making progress.

I decided to put a piece of drwall above my dresser to make it built-in.

HH put in the last piece of flooring between our bedroom and bathroom.  This meant the last stud could go up.  And now that that's done, I can put in the drywall and the heater can be installed.  We've been making do with a plug-in heater, but it'll be nice to have a "real" one for the winter!

I also worked on DD's closet nook. Except, I'm not supposed to call it a "nook" because according to my kids it's weird.

Here's a pic.

Isn't it cute?  And below, you'll notice the floor is even done! 

Here's how it looked  before I put in the wall do separate her closet from the hallway linen closet. 

 And here it is with the back wall up before I put in the side drywalls and did the floor.

Not sure what I'll do today.  Maybe paint the hallway....

Have a great week! :-)

TGIF (Hallway & Master Bedroom Progress)

Hi!

I skipped posting yesterday.  I'm running out of old projects!

So, this week was busy.  Doing drywall mud mostly.  Here's my progress in the hallway.  I've got the chair rail up on the right side. I should be able to prime the left side today and put up the chair rail there.

Here's a Before.

The "hidden" door is done.  I angle cut the chair rail so it fits flush.  I also routed out a groove on the bottom of the rail so you can open the door.  I used our Dremel tool. It worked great.

 In the master bedroom, I'm thinking of building in my dresser in the closet to face the master bath.

This leaves a funny little opening to the closet.

I thought we could widen out the doorway, but the pipes for the washer (which will be to the right of our closet) come up right at the end of the wall.

Also, I got up a piece of drywall up in the bedroom. 

Here's how it used to look.

Sometimes, I think drywall and all the mudding is funny. It seems a strange way to make walls.  Anyway, that may be just me! ;-)

This weekend, the kids are going to Halifax with their grandparents to visit their great-uncle and great-aunt.  They'll leave today after school and be back Sunday.  At first, I think "Great! I'll be able to get so much work done!"  Then, I'm sad because they'll be gone so long! They always like going over to visit, so I'm sure they'll have a great time.  And it'll be nice for HH and me to have some time to ourselves.

I'm hosting out book club on Tuesday night so I really want to have the hall done.  It's a self-imposed deadline!

Have a great weekend! :-)