Autumn Update

A clean kitchen is a happy kitchen!

Uncluttered counters leave room for food prep!

I took the white chair rail off the walls and like the look better. Eventually I'll remove all the wallpaper and paint the walls my favorite pale pink.

TopDad surprised me with a bouquet of gorgeous flowers!

Our first snowfall on October 14.

It began to look a lot like Christmas! And I'm not ready.

The cold, gloomy weather called for a pot of "Cowgirl Stew".

This image of the dining room ceiling is proof of why I can't just quickly paint. There is tons of prep work to do and I'm not sure of how solid the plaster underneath is. In other places the plaster is actually falling down!

The painted over wallpaper is cracking and separating from the wall. I had hoped to paint over it, but in the spots where I tested paint, it looks terrible so it must come off.

More cracks and separation in the dining room.

The living room is even worse!

No way I'm going to paint over this mess. It has to be removed.

More of the living room.

The walls are over nine feet tall, and the middle of the ceiling is almost eleven feet tall. It makes me tired just to look at it! I'm a slow worker so I'm not eager to tear into it and live in a mess for a year or two. I have to "gird up my loins, fresh courage take" and proceed! Anyone want to come over and help?

I love the space of this home. It is what I wanted for our family. Just have to get rid of the soul-sucking decor and paint it the colors that enliven my soul, put up my artwork and pretty plates, and then it will be as close to perfect as I'll get in this life.

Transformation Continued

I'm slow . . . at getting things changed and done around my house; at least in the redecorating department. I get daily and weekly things done like dishes and laundry. Anyway, last month I finally got my bedroom one step closer to being complete.

Before

After

I'm still working on curtains. But I think  it's come a long way. I love pretty things! The framed pictures were pages from calendars; the five smaller plates came from thrift stores, the larger one is from a set we used on Sunday's while I was growing up. The quilt is one my mother made for me, appliqued and liquid embroidery (Tri-chem). The butterfly pillows are from a thrift store as are the pretty pillow cases.

A pretty room is a restful room.

Ten Things of Thankful - Sunshine and Birdsong

I knew Mother Nature was just teasing us with those two nice days. She dropped a blanket of the white stuff on us last night. However, on those warmer days I thought about some things I'm grateful for.

1. Sunshine - I need light to feel energetic and cheerful. Dark, dreary winter days are hard for me to get through, I just want to hibernate until Spring. So when the skies are clear and the sun is shining bright I feel alive!

2. Birds - I've always loved birds; in fact when asked what kind of animal I'd like to be I can truthfully answer "a bird".  And not that I'm a daredevil or anything, but I'd really like to go hang gliding or para-sailing! I envy the birds ability to fly and soar and glide.

3. Birdsong - During the cold winter I miss the sound of bird singing and calling to each other. The birds are back in town and it's great to hear them again. I even recognize some of their songs and can identify the bird without seeing it.

4. Babies - Thursday night I got to hold the five day old son of a friend. He is so tiny, just over six pounds, and so beautiful, perfectly formed and sweet. Babies are miracles and I love them. I wish I could have had five more of my own!

5. Packages in the mail - This week I received two things I'd ordered; a 1940's pattern for a little girl's dress, and a new (to me) book. It's like getting presents, and I enjoy getting presents. I miss packages from my Mom (she died almost two years ago) because she'd put in little surprises and treats, odd things she didn't need anymore and often some money to spend on something I needed or wanted. Her love language was gifts and she was so very generous.

6. Music - When I'm listening to a CD of music whether it's Mormon Tabernacle Choir or K-Pop I am grateful. It lifts my spirit, helps me go for 30 minutes on the treadmill, gets me dancing, thrills my heart and makes life better. (Don't tell anyone, I get teary when I listen to certain pieces of music, it just touches my soul to the very core.)

7. Clean bedroom - and someday I'm going to have one. I'm neat and tidy, I make my bed everyday, and put away my clothes; but I can't get rid of the piles of paper. And there's always a pile waiting to go to the thrift store, a pile of ironing waiting for a free day, a stack of books that won't fit on the book shelf, etc. You get the idea. I'm not a tosser, but I'm working on it.

8. Laughter - it truly is the best medicine. When it's time to choose a movie to watch as a family we usually say "Let's watch something fun." Laughter relieves stress and makes the heart lighter.

9. Patchwork quilts - especially the scrappy kind. I think the combinations of color and shape are endlessly fascinating. Recently I've made choices that limit my time to sew (much to my regret), but I look forward to finishing what I've started and then getting back to sewing and quilting.

10. Pretty dishes - I finally got out my Blue Willow dishes to use everyday. My family is special enough for me to justify using my pretty dishes all the time. (Plus I was so tired of my old dishes!) I culled my serving dishes too, leaving just the ones I truly love and that are the prettiest. I'm worth it!

What are you thankful for this week?

Pictures, as promised

See the old color here.

See my pretty pink room, with a sparkling white ceiling!

The view from the window; such gorgeous pink walls!

Later this evening, with the help of Topdad and PW, we'll pull up the yucky carpet, scrape off the pad, (which has fused to the wood floor) wash the floor and voila! All finished. More pictures tomorrow.

By the way, I was very blessed to have just enough paint to put on two coats with no leftovers. I prayed mightily for that tender mercy and was granted my request. Thank you Heavenly Father.

De-Junking on a Large Scale

We live in a 90 year old house. The little old lady (and just as an aside, when I was working in Salt Lake City a long time ago in 1981, the receptionist called them LOL's), anyway the little old lady who lived here before us had carpet in every room, put in probably in the sixties. I've slowly been ripping it out to reveal the wood floors beneath.

Interestingly there are oak floors on the main level and pine upstairs. Today I worked in the room vacated by JET. It was the only room where the carpet and wallpaper actually coordinated and looked decent together.

This room is top floor, front of the house, facing south west.

 I really like the old doors in this house, with their original hardware.

I began pulling up the carpet and most of the petrified foam pad stayed on the floor:

This is the trail left by me dragging the rolled up carpet out of the room:

I swept up the crunchy debris, using a wide putty knife to pry it from the floor in some spots:

Then scooped it up into large trash bags:

After a thorough sweep and wash the golden pine floors look wonderful:

When Dandylion leaves, this will become my sewing room.

Ah, a job well done.  Isn't the sunshine pretty on the floor and door?