Adieu to My Shoes (& Front Porch Update)

When DD and I went shopping Saturday, I got some new casual shoes to replace the old ones I've had for so long that have broken soles and seem to be too small.

I actually threw them away! I will miss them.  I hope my new shoes will be as nice to me.  ;-) (I tried on some neon shoes to be more stylish, but they felt funny by my ankle bone so I had to get these grey ones.)

It's a nice and sunny day (although cool at 6C (43F). We still have snow in ditches- when will it warm up?). I put out my flower wreath and some tulips in the window boxes.

Doesn't it look cheery? I got 12 tulips plus a silver bucket at the Salvation Army for $3. I thought that was a nice price.  I put 5 tulips on each side.

Here's the bucket with the 2 leftover flowers.

I've discovered that the fake greenery I've had in the back window boxes for about 2 years now is starting to fall apart. I think leaving them out during the winter doesn't keep them nice. I may have to bring them in from now on.  

I hope to have real plants in the front window boxes once it warms up.  Then I'll probably transfer the fake greenery to the back again, because it gets too hot out there for plants and I have to water all the time.  

One more thing- notice the smaller cedar tree in the corner, behind the side stairs?

 (Must finish those and paint the sides grey so it doesn't stand out as much. And do a real hand rail!)  Ok, I want to move that tree. I may start digging today! 

Happy Hump Day! :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Hi!

I actually went shopping today without a plan for our meals this week!  I looked at last year's plan, but wasn't really inspired.  Here's a rough plan.

• Mon- Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower (Kids had dentist appt and we were home late...)
• Tues- Chick peas  For adults- Brazilian Fish Stew with Cod & leftover veggies- green beans, cauliflower, snow peas, frozen broccoli; For kids- Frozen Fish Filets, Crudites- Broccoli, snow peas, carrots, radish; For all- Rice
• Wed- Chicken- Baked Garlic Legs
• Thurs- Fish Bean Burritoes with Black Refried Beans, Lettuce Salad
• Friday- Leftovers
• Sat- Frozen Spinach Pizza Lobster dinner at In-laws
• Sun- HH's Soup- Chicken (Gumbo-like) Soup, Hamburger in Lettuce Wraps

C' ya! :-)

Weekend Happenings

Mornin!

I'm posting on Monday!  We had a nice weekend.  HH gave his final presentation for his MBA program on Friday so he's officially done!  He didn't want to go to the graduation ceremony since we just went to his under-grad one a few years ago, so he's just going to pick up his dipoloma.  We are very proud of him!

On Saturday, HH and DS went on a long hike along a stream. It ended up being 2.5 km long, part of which was a swamp and hard going.  They had a good time, though!  They made a small fire and had lunch. DD and I went to town to do some shopping.  She got another swimsuit (a teeny, tiny bikini) so now her count is up to 8 suits! (She got quite a few pairs from a family friend!)

 I finally got some foundation make-up.  I've been in a quandry over what to get for some time now.  I'm trying to replace my products with more "green" ones and I'm almost out of the foundation that I've probably had for like 5 years or so! It's Covergirl Advanced Radiance Classic Ivory. I saw on the Canadian tv show Steven and Chris, that Vapour Organic Beauty has some good foundation.  I checked it out and was able to order 3 samples for about $20.  The product was nice, but when I went to actually buy a regular size, it would've cost around $50 because of the high shipping cost to Canada.  So, I thought that was too much and continued my search. Finally, I discovered Physician's Formula at Shopper's Drug Mart.  I waited for it to go on sale, which it did this week.  So, for $11 I got an $18 foundation- the SuperCC+ Light.  And, there's a $9 mail-in-rebate so it's an even better deal! Yay!  I will probably buy some eyeliner and maybe eye shadow whenever I run out of those.  I usually only wear those 3 products plus blush and Burt's Bee's lip balm.

I finished my Flower Wreath, but the wood glue was all gross- AGAIN!  This happened once before because my glue froze so I had to buy another container. I thought I was careful about this one not freezing, but it did and here's what it looks like.

I used it anyway and let it sit overnight with weights on top.

But it didn't hold.

Here it is on the porch with a petal missing.

So, I used hot glue.  

And hopefully this will hold it.  With the wind here, I think I need to anchor it somehow on the bottom.   Not sure what I'll use- maybe a small finish nail?

Oh, also, HH cut some plexiglass for the front hall door window.

There used to be plastic there,

 So this is much better. (We had the plexiglass already, so it's a bit scratched up, but still quite an improvement- it's really clear!)

To hide the scratches and the off-centered-ness of the front exterior door through the interior hall door window, I put a wreath up. It's a magnolia wreath (in homage to my home state Louisiana's flower).

I know others do put wreaths on doors, but it swings in and out a lot when the door opens and closes. I must also anchor it somehow...

And am I just supposed to leave the back like it is?....

Ok, have a great week! :-)

Flower Wreath

I made a craft this week - a new flower wreath for the front porch.

I realized that in my post about the Easter Banner, I forgot to say where a couple pics came from.  In particular, this wreath

which came from here on Etsy, and has inspired me to make my own.  (The other wreath was also from Etsy, but is no longer available.)

I started with an old piece of thin plywood, that used to be in our front room/living room.

I traced out a design

and started cutting.  I cut so much my hand got weak, and I had a hard time turning off the jig saw.  So, I took a break !

I tried a few different designs. Here is the light green with wood petals.

Wood with green petals.

Green with wood petals and center.

All interesting, but I decided to paint- white with yellow center.  I used home-made white chalk paint and yellow craft  paint.

This is after the third coat.

Now I need to seal it, glue it and hang it. I'll probably use wax since it's so cold still!  We had snow last night.

Here's how everything looked this morning!

I started working on the trim for the hall yesterday.  I got the baseboards cut and in.  

They are made of pine 1x6's.  These actually came from the old living room and were hanging out in out bedroom (former old living room), so I didn't even have to buy anything! 

Now I need to figure out miter cutting again for the crown moulding!

Have a nice weekend! :-)

Tasty Tuesday

Hello!

We had a nice Easter.  We dyed eggs on Saturday.

The Easter bunny came and hid eggs outside.  We went to church and the kids sang a couple songs.  My MIL's stove is broken, so instead of having dinner there, they came up here.  It was fun- gave me an excuse to clean up a bit and set a pretty table.

Later, the kids tried on their wet-suits in anticipation of boating.

They also put out the hammock.  Notice the snow in the background in front of the grey trees!

 Yesterday was a nice day off, too.  HH took the kids canoeing on the pond for the first time this year.  

Also, DS went fishing with his grandfather.  They didn't catch anything since it's probably still too cold.  And, both kids had friends over for a visit and dinner.

This week's meals are.

• Mon- Spaghetti with Ragu & hamburger (we had friends of DS & DD for dinner)
• Tues- Chicken Strips with Milk wash & Cornmeal/Flour coating, veg
• Wed- Beans- Haystacks
• Thurs- Fishcakes- Leftover Potatoes & Haddock, Red Lentils, Frozen Green Beans
• Fri- Leftovers Frozen Pizza
• Sat- Pizza Kale Frittata, Frozen Bran Muffins, Blueberry Yogurt Smoothie
• Sun- HH's Soup- Turkey, Potato, Carrots, Peas (with a friend of DD's)

Have a great week! :-)

TGIGoodF

Hi!

It's short week this week (and next) with Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays for the kids and HH.

Even though the snow is still around (and it's cold today), the pussy willows are right on schedule!  The good thing about the snow being around is that I can reach the high branches in our ditch.  

Usually, the snow is gone and I can't reach those high pussy willow branches with the fuzzy grey things.  I have to go down to the pond.  But this year I was able to go right up on the snow! Here are the branches I cut. 

I plan on putting them in the front window boxes 

 along with some of the fake greenery that's been in the back window boxes

 for a year or so.  I didn't want to buy any new fake greenery yet, so I'm just moving the stuff that I already have.

A lot of the puddles have dried up (or frozen, since it got below freezing Wednesday night!), but here are a few in the back yard.  

This is where the pool used to go. It'll need a little filling this year!

Also, the patio has a bit of a puddle! 

The patio is due for an overhaul (along with the breezeway).  Not sure if this will happen this year or not....

I went for a walk again yesterday and today.  When I went Tuesday, my right shoe rubbed the back of my ankle in a funny way and left a sore spot.  I'm wearing a bandaid now and put some moleskin on the back of the shoe.  That seemed to help a bit. I also walked funny, toe first, yesterday and now my calves are sore! 

I guess I got these shoes about a year ago.  I may need to replace them. 

Happy Easter! :-)

Tasty Tuesday on Wednesday

Hi!

Oh, it's so nice to see the snow melting away!  Except now it's MUD, MUD, MUD!!

DD learned to ride her 2 wheel bike on Monday!

 The fall of 2012, DD had briefly learned to ride her tiny little bike without training wheels.  This was her first bike, that she got in 2010 from my parents.  

However, this bike was too small for her.  So, the spring of 2013, she got this new bigger bike from HH's parents and she never learned to ride it until now! 

Yesterday, I was busy running errands, so I never got to post the meal plan.  Here it is.

• Mon- Chicken Rice Soup (with leftover rice) (Usually we have pasta on Mondays, but HH made pasta on Sunday so today we're having soup!)
• Tues-  Salmon, Potatoes, Cooked Broccoli, Raw Sugar Snap peas
• Wed- Dinner at In-laws with Uncle from NS who's in town
• Thurs- Falafel (All About Vegetarian Cooking, pg 44), Pitas, Tabouleh from Dino's
• Fri- Leftovers
• Sat- Pizza with garlicbites crust
• Sun- Easter! Turkey Breast, Potatoes on BBQ Ham (that MIL cooked at her place in slow cooker), Sweet potatoes cooked on stovetop, Frozen Broccoli cooked on stove, Corn Casserole, Lemon Cake with bunny on top, Trifle (from MIL) :-)

Enjoy the rest of your week! :-)

Monday Musings

Mornin!

We had a nice weekend.  We had an early morning Saturday with HH & I going to the PEI Home and School Federation Annual General Meeting in Charlottetown.  It started at 8:45 am, so we had to get up early at 7:00 to leave here around 7:20.  We dropped the kids off at their grandparents' and on the way we discovered that the long-awaited opening of the new Giant Tiger store was happening.

And there were lotsa people!

The PEIHSF AGM was good and productive. They passed all their resolutions- a few with some friendly amendments.  The meeting also included a lunch (BBQ chicken).  

After that, HH dropped me off at Value Village.  He does not like to shop, so he went over to Seoul Korea across the street to get us dinner!

I found some pretty cloth napkins.  

I imagine they were in some old lady's collection for years and never used.  They are almost too pretty to use, but I'm going to!  They came in 2 bundles of 6, costing $3 each. Sometimes I think VV's prices are a bit high, but they do support the Canadian Diabetes Association so at least that's something good!

We held off on giving DD her antibiotics and she seems to be better now.  

The snow is melting.

I went for a walk on Friday, and could've gone today, but it's a bit rainy.  I guess I'll have to start tomorrow!

My phone storage space is running low, therefore my pictures don't upload. I'm trying to transfer my pics to our long-term storage, but it's slow.  I thought I was supposed to do it from the SD storage, but there seem to be no pics there, so I'm doing it from the USB storage. We'll see how this goes...

Have a good week. :-)