TGIF Thoughts

Hi!

Today is a day of school for the kids, but HH took them this morning to Summerside to spend the day!  I went for a walk with the walking group.  Now I'm home waiting for my coffee!

So, I tried the rug out in the front room.

At first, it seemed too busy to me, with the painted floor.

   

And I wasn't sure it went with the dresser.

 But I think once the room is all done, it'll look good.

The room will have a white bench with white "lockers" on the right in the above pic, wooden doors on the left, and the dresser (which could be re-painted, but may end up working in the space).  The walls will be white or cream and I'm leaning toward a planked white ceiling.  We have the planks from the kids' old room. I think right now there's just too much junk!

DS is learning at school about the food groups and how much of each group he needs. We realized we're all short on veggies and fruit!  So, I've been trying to serve more. I read an interesting article about how non-organic fruit and veggies are still good for you!  And it's better to eat a non-organic apple than an organic cracker snack pack.  I've fallen into the trap of not getting non-organic produce sometimes because I think it's "bad".  So, I'm gonna buy more produce now because the kids will eat it if it's there!  This week I've served cut up veggie sticks in little glasses with dip in the bottom.  I wasn't sure the kids would eat it or not, but they did! I must try to find that article again.  I was on HH's computer....

(Update: Here's the link to the article!)

Have a great weekend! :-)

Pineapple Stained Glass

Hi!

Way back, a long long time ago, our cottage looked like this:

We had the main cottage with the front porch added.  You can see our tv room on the right which eventually became DS's room, then DS's & DD's room, then finally DD's room.  Our front door was painted red.

Here is the door from the outside porch area.  The wall on the left is to the tv room. (After we had DS in 2003, we closed in this porch area for a tv room.)

 HH and I decided to take a stained glass class with some friends of ours.  We wanted something nice for our front door so we thought we'd make a pineapple, which means "Welcome"  (my mom had a wooden pineapple she'd made by her side door!). You can just see above, taped on the door, some glass pieces.

We made a pattern, and thru the weeks we made our pineapple.  Here it is with the sides coppered up.

We found a nice yellow glass that kinda looks like the inside of a pineapple to put around the outside.  

The pineapple stayed on the red door for a while, then we eventually moved the door to the breezeway/courtyard and painted it grey.

Here's a nice picture from June, 2013.

Here's another stained glass we have in the back room, that our friends, who took the class with us, gave us for a Christmas gift! 

Today is my fav day of the week.  HH is gone all day with work and a meeting tonight so it'll just be me and the kids home this afternoon.  We will probably go to the library.

Have a great day! :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Hi!

I missed posting yesterday.  No reason, really, just felt like I had nothing to say!  We had a good weekend, with the kids inviting friends over.

This week, here's what we're eating.

• Mon- Penne Pasta, Homemade Basil Pesto (with frozen basil from our garden), Tuna, Corn
• Tues- Salmon, Rice, Arugula/Spinach Salad, Crudite MiniCup w/ Carrots, Celery, Broccoli Stalk, Green Pepper, Dill Dip, & Broccoli 
• Wed- Slow cooker Lemon Chicken/ Lemon Olive Chicken/Lemon Braised Chicken (I used the slow cooker recipe veggies and the 2nd recipe spices, but cooked it more like the Braised chicken in the electric skillet- First time I've used it this way! It turned out nice, but the olive flavor was a bit strong!)
• Thurs- Lentil Shepherd's Pie Fried Rice, Egg rolls, egg (HH at meeting)
• Fri- Leftovers
• Sat- Pizza
• Sun- HH Chicken Noodle Soup

Last year's meals.

• Mon- Tuna & Pasta
• Tues- Crunchy Chicken, Fried Rice, Carrots
• Wed- Pinto Beans
• Thurs- Potatoes & Lentils
• Fri- Leftovers
• Sat- Dinner @ Inlaws with Uncle & Aunt
• Sun- Super Bowl (HH gone) Leftovers- Potatoes, Beans, Shredded Wheat

Have a great week! :-)

Weekly Recap

Hi!

This is another slow week for projects.  I only did a few little things around the house.  Such as, putting our tools in a toolbox!

  I didn't take a Before Pic, but the tools used to be in a plastic drawer behind the sewing machine. My first idea was that the drawer would stay in its holder, but it never did. Then it finally dawned on me, that that drawer was kinda like a toolbox without a lid. HH seems to like to collect tool boxes, so we had about 3 empty ones in the storage room.  I was able to put our most used tools into the small box above.  The rest of the stuff from the drawer went out to the tool bench in the breezweay.  So, that's another thing to clean up, but I'll do that on another, warmer day!

Here's a pic of the laundry closet.  It's currently in DS's closet and will eventually be in the hall closet.

As I was in a cleaning mode this week, I moved the white plastic drawers (similar to where the tools used to live, but that was smaller and in the kitchen). They used to be in the above pic on the right.  Below is a pic of the future laundry closet, looking into the master bedroom closet.  You can see the drawers on the right.  The laundry will eventually go kinda where the shoes are... 

And in the most exciting news this week, we got our rug from Cottage Industry!  I got a gift certificate Christmas 2012 and this is what I finally bought a couple weeks before Christmas 2012! It came in last week.  HH went to Charlottetown on Tuesday and he picked it up then. 

So, here it is! Since it took so long to get here, I was afraid it would be different than I remembered but it's pretty much like I thought it would be, so that's good. 

This is an indoor/outdoor Dash & Albert rug that will go in the front room. However, because it's been so cold, HH suggested it go in our bedroom to help keep the floor warm. Here's a pic from the bedroom looking out into the hall. Doesn't it go well with the painted hall rug?  It's not exactly the same, but it looks nice.  

Can you believe I haven't even tried it out in the front room yet? I may do it today! :-)  The front room floor colors are the same as the hallway floor so I'm sure it'll look good.  Except the front room is such a mess now.... Oh, well.

We are supposed to get more snow Saturday night.  This time it'll be right around freezing, so it'll be slushy snow.  Have a great weekend! :-)

Another Blizzard (and where the snow goes)

Mornin!

We had a blizzard yesterday.  The kids were home from school with an hour delay today. I never thought much about blizzards when I was younger, but when I did I just thought it was a bunch of snow. Actually, it's not really the amount of snow, but the blowing of it.  It's really fine, dry snow that blows all around and decreases visibility.  Last night the weatherman said visibility was reduced to 1/4 mile.  With such fine snow and high winds we always get snow blowing into the breezeway from the courtyard. Here's the snow HH has to walk thru to get to his office.

It's hard to see it below, but it's even on the wall!  And piled up on our containers of salt and sand (to put on the snow for traction.)

This is another reason to re-do the breezeway in the spring.

Last year, we left the old vents up on the side of the gables and snow blew into the attic above DS's room.  It was a mess. Now it's fixed! I had to seal up all the holes from the inside with plastic and TuckTape.  The outside still needs to be shingled and Tyveked. 

 Maybe this summer?  I shingled up as far as I felt comfortable on the ladder, now HH has to finish the rest.  He doesn't seem to mind the heights as much as me!

I was concerned about snow blowing into the attic from the back where the breezeway roof fell.  It was fine, but snow still got in above where the hot water heater is. (It's in the taupe plywood closet below.)

Ahh, the joys of winter!  On the bright side, it's a beautiful sunny day!  I will try to get out and enjoy it. :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Mornin!

It's only 11, and I'm already home and done with my shopping!  I only had to go to the SuperStore so that was nice. It's frigid again Neg15C/windchillNeg26! (3F/Neg17)and we're expecting 15-25cm of snow with blizzard conditions tomorrow so I'm glad to be all stocked up!

Here's what we're eating this week.

• Mon- Rotini Pasta, Garlic Sauce, Massaged Baby Kale Salad with Blood Oranges, Apples, Celery, Hemp Seeds, Oil & Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing (Everybody liked this dinner! :-))
• Tues- Salmon Patties, Leftover Scalloped Potatoes, Veg
• Wed- Indian Spiced Beans (Vegetarian Slow Cooker, pg 126) Pepper Pot Soup (Vegetarian Slow Cooker pg 46)
• Thurs- Hamburgers/Lentil Burger, Roasted Potatoes Baked Fries, Spinach
• Fri- Pizza Chicken Nuggets, Whipped Potatoes, Chinese Veg. HH & I VH Thai Red Curry with Veg & Leftover Noodles (Curry just ok- I'm still searching for Thai Red Curry Paste!)
• Sat- Leftovers (or if I'm feeling ambitious Pepper Pot Soup (Vegetarian Slow Cooker pg 46) Frozen Chicken Quesadillas, Salsa
• Sun- HH Soup- Souped Up Canned Alphabet Noodle Soup

Here's what we ate last year.

• Mon- Chicken Noodle Soup
• Tues- Spinach Frittata
• Wed- Salmon, Potato, Squash
• Thurs- ChickPea Patties
• Fri- Pizza
• Sat- Panfried Haddock, Fries
• Sun- Kraft Dinner (Macaroni and Cheese!)

Cheers! :-)

Skating

Hi!

Something happened with my Friday post.  It didn't get posted, so I just put it up today.

We had a nice weekend.  DD had her Canskate Element Event and Exhibition on Saturday.  She got to skate by herself on the ice and show the skills she's mastered so far!  Here she is showing off her fancy skating dress at home.

And here she is, waiting to skate.  They got to wear their coats on the ice until their turn, so she's just about to skate.

Not much planned for the week.  It's turned a bit colder and we got some snow yesterday. I think I'll try the cross country skis this morning!

Have a great week! :-)

Friday Re-cap

Hi!

It's been another slow week for projects.  I guess it's just the wintertime!  Although, it has felt like spring this week, so I'm not sure what the problem is!

Thursdays are usually my favorite day of the week.  I get to putter around and do whatever...  So, what did I do yesterday?  I cleaned DS's room!  I should've taken some before pics, but of course I didn't think I'd get that into it. 

Here are some current pics.

Before, there were lego/toy cardboard boxes beside the chair along with other toys and a Boston Bruin light that all got moved.  I made the airplane hook holder by attaching the airplane hooks to a scrap piece of 3/4"plywood.  This way I only had to put 2 screws into the wall instead of 6!  I also took down an Ikea sconce that was up high by the window from when the bunkbed used to be there.

The shelf above the dresser is also leftover from when the bunkbed used to be there.  It's hard to hang, so I've never moved it.

DS wanted a shelf for his new collection of Archie Comics.  So, I took the old metal shelving that used to be above the old chore chart and put it on some Ikea shelf brackets.  I moved the star hooks to go under the shelf and I helped DS put up the Boston Bruin light.

I know these pictures don't look all styled, but it looks so much better than before, if you can believe it!

I went for a walk with the walking group this morning. It was nice to get out!

Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

Orange And

Mornin!

As I've said before, I started making home-made Christmas gifts for my family last year.  I made The Owlies for DD and StacRobots for DS.  Well, I even made something for HH.  An Ampersand!

I found it somewhere online (I think Etsy, but when I searched I couldn't find it- most of them are more curly.)  Anyway, here's a picture of my inspiration.

Once I printed the picture, I pretty much measured it and figured out how long each piece needed to be from that.  Then I just made my measurements bigger for the 2x4s. Here are the measurements I wrote down.

I used scrap boards.  Some from the back screened/trellised room we'd torn down. There it is in the back left-hand side painted blue, yellow and green.

I used the miter saw and cut all those angles which are my least favorite to cut. But it worked out and I only had to re-cut a few!  I used wood glue and screws in a couple places where the screws would be hidden by another board.  And I just used wood glue on the rest.  Because I don't have good clamps, I laid out the pieces and put a bunch of books on top to weight it down. Kinda like I did for the Wooden Flower Box!

Since some boards had paint on them, I couldn't leave it natural like the inspiration pic.  Therefore, I painted it.  Orange which is HH's fav color!

HH has it hanging on his office wall.  It sits nicely by itself and I hadn't meant for it to be hung up, but I think it looks nice there!

Here's a pretty picture of the light shining on the back room wall.  It's so nice to be back there in the day when it's sunny! 

Have a great day! :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Hi!

Our meal plan for this week:

• Mon- Frozen Cheese Ravioli, Sauce, Krispy Kale, Sauteed Kale stems with red pepper flakes & garlic
• Tues- Cod Soup
• Wed- Beans for me, Hamburger for rest, to wrap in lettuce with cheese, salsa, carrot
• Thurs- Crispy Baked Chicken (How to cut up Chicken)
• Fri- Pizza
• Sat- Leftovers
• Sun-?

Last year's meals.

• Mon- Frozen Kidney Bean Enchiladas
• Tues- Sushi
• Wed- Cauliflower Pasta Bake
• Thurs- Baked Chicken, 2 veggies
• Fri- Border Bean Burritoes
• Sat- Pizza
• Sun- Slow Cooker Chili

See you later! :-)

Monday Musings

Hi!

How was your weekend?  Ours was nice.  We had a big rise in the temps and a rain on Saturday, so a lot of the snow has melted!  This week is supposed to be above normal temps (above or right around freezing) so it's like Spring!

We watched "The Phantom Menace" Saturday night and will have to wait till next weekend to continue with the next movie. 

I got a little project done in the master bedroom.  I put up the full length mirror.

It used to look like this.

Not much different really!

  

I also made some temporary shelves for HH's sweaters to go in the closet.

I know, a little "dorm-room-ish", but I had the crates in the storage room just sitting there empty so I decided to use them to see if this is a good use of space.  We used to have the hamper in there, but I've moved it in front of the mirror.  The sweaters had no home. Once I got them out of their summer storage duffel bag under the bed, they stayed on top of HH's dresser.  So, this is definitely a better spot for them!  There's now some space behind the shelves.  I'm not sure what I'll put there.

In other news, remember when the kids were sitting on top of the breezeway to slide down the big pile of snow?

Well, look what's happened! 

 It's fallen! :-(  It's down about 3-4 inches. That vertical 2x4 is bracing the top.  And you can kinda see a metal brace with holes in it which is attached to the outside wall to keep it from spreading!

Well, at least we don't have any basement flooding with all the rain and melting.  (Since we don't have a basement!)  Our plan was to re-do the breezeway this spring.  So, it definitely need to be re-done now! It is a big mess.

Have a great week! :-)

Responsiblity/Chore Chart

Hi!

I went for a walk this morning with the walking group.  It's supposed to be for ages 55 and up, but I was invited and they said anyone is welcome.  It was a nice group of about 8 ladies who walk from 9:00-10:00 on Mon, Wed, & Fridays.  The pace was a bit slow though so I never really warmed up much.  I am trying to do so now with my coffee!

So, what did I do this week?  Well, not much really.  Except on Sunday the kids helped me with their new Chore Charts.

I'm trying to give the kids more responsibilities and thought this would be a good way to keep track. I remember seeing this 

on Under the Sycamore and I thought it might be a nice craft for the kids to do.  We got rid of the magnet chore chart we had such good luck with 2 summers ago since it didn't really work for during the school year.  I replaced it with some hooks so the kids can hang their coats and snow suits there. This is temporary until the front room is done. It works for now because it's over the heater and keeps their stuff warm!  If they have to leave stuff in the front room (which is unheated), things get really cold!

  So, here's what we did.  After I explained the concept and DD stopped crying and DS stopped complaining,  they painted their boards and clothes pins and we made labels on the label maker for their "responsibilities".    Each day they have to do 3- Breakfast, Homework, & Plate (taking plate to dishwasher after dinner).  For this, they get to use the computer the next day for around 45 min.

Then there are daily chores which they get paid $.50 to do.  Such as (Taking out the)Trash; (Folding) Clothes; (Unloading) Dishwasher; (Helping with or Fixing) Dinner or Lunch; (Cleaning) Bath(room sink and mirror); Sweep(ing); and (Setting or Clearing the) Table.  When they do a chore, they move the clip to the top.  Or in DS's case, the side. 

The bigger white pins are weekly chores- Vacuum(ing); (Helping with or Doing the) Laundry; Dust(ing): (Cleaning the whole) Bathroom; and a Bonus for whatever.

Probably about a year ago, I tried another system where they had to do chores to watch tv.  I felt they were watching too much and thought this would be a good way to limit it.  Well, it turns out that it did limit their tv, because they just didn't do any chores!  I hope this turns out better!  They know how to do all these things, it's just getting them motivated to help...

Also, they do have other responsibilities when they get home from school.  They have to put away backpack; take out lunch can and put on counter; hang coat and snowpants to dry; put mittens in basket to dry; and put boots on boot dryer.  These are pretty automatic by now so I didn't include them in their chores.  And whenever they go somewhere they are responsible for packing their own stuff.  Usually it's for an overnight trip to Grammy and Grampie's and they don't need help with that, but they even pack for longer trips.  They usually need a list of clothes to take, but they get it done and even pack a little bag of stuff to do on the way! This is something they've been doing for a while and I'm glad not to have to do it as I still have to pack for myself and HH! ;-)

Have a great weekend! :-)

StacRobots

Mornin!

As I've said before, last year I started making home-made gifts for my family.  I already told you about The Owlies for DD.  Well, here's what I made for DS- StacRobots!  

I had them wrapped with a card-stock label I'd printed and when DS opened them, he thought they were from the store!  High praise, indeed ;-)!

Here is how they "stack".

 When I was looking for something to make out of wood, I found this link, which made the stacrobots from skateboards!

I tried a few different cuts from 1x3 pine,

 but these smaller ones didn't quite stack the right way.

So, I made them bigger using 1x4 pine.  The silver ones are the size of my hand. 

I used the miter saw to cut the length, then the jig saw to cut the rest. I also used the dremel tool to sand the round part between the legs.  Then I sanded the whole thing with sandpaper and painted with some silver                                                                 paint I'd bought at the Restore.

                                                                   Happy Stacking!

:-)