Indoor Winter Activities

The great thing about winter is that it gives us a chance to relax, and instead of working outside all the time, with short days and long nights, we spend the majority of our time inside.  It feels good to start a fire and hunker down inside, while the cold wind and snow blows outside. 

One of our favorite inside winter activities include Lego (lots and lots of Lego!!).  The Girls have collected much Lego over the years, and they also have Art's from when he was a child, so their imaginations run wild with Lego!  Thankfully, I've only stepped on a few pieces this year!

Every year, around Christmas, we pull out a puzzle.  We do a new puzzle every year, and it usually stays out until it's complete.  Not all of us are puzzlers, so those that aren't can often be found curled up the couch, reading a book, while the others puzzle.  It's just nice to be in the same room, hanging out together.

We also enjoy baking.  Lots and lots of baking!  Truth be told, this happens all year round at this home, but it's fun to work on special baking projects, especially around Christmas!

This year, I taught The Girls to embroider.  I sat down to embroider a few flour sack tea towels as gifts, and a couple of the Girls asked me to teach them.  I was surprised at how quickly they caught on - the little girls especially.  They enjoyed embroidering some tea towels, and especially loved giving them away to friends.  I thought they did a fantastic job, and I'm always a little sad to see the towels go, after spending a few hours working on them.  An extra fun thing was that when my parents came out after Christmas, my Mom also got in on the embroidering bug, and her and I spent time visiting and embroidering together.  After my Mom went home, she was talking to my Grandma, who is 97 yrs. old, about flour sacks, and this is what she had to say: 

Flour sacks were precious as they were used for many things like aprons, boys boxer shorts underwear.  They were always in short supply.  Curtains were made from flour sacks and cut them with a scalloped edge, then crocheted around the edges.  They were the prettiest curtains and really make the old rundown house more beautiful and homey.  Nothing was ever wasted so even the thread from the flour sack was used to crochet around edges.   Women crocheted around edges of almost everything like tea towels, tablecloths, pillowcases, and aprons.  Anything to make it look pretty and some items were embroidered like the aprons.  My Grandma said she did a lot of embroidery even before 10 years old.

I'm fairly certain my Grandma could out-embroider me any day of the week, even when she was 10 yrs. old!  I really didn't learn, as a child, to embroider, so this is my attempt to try, and also to teach my Girls.  I think embroidery is such a lost art (as is baking such things as pies and bread!), but I'm thrilled to pass it on.  Here's a fact about me: every time I go to a thrift store, I look for hand made items such as embroidered table cloths, linens and aprons.  I just can't help myself from buying them, knowing how many hours went into making them.  And to buy them for a dollar or two.... it seems like they're grossly undervalued!

Of course, many hours are also spent reading, playing games, doing crafts and watching the occasional movie....

The great thing about living in the Prairies during our long winters is time spent together!

Before and After's

I figured it was time to get some "Before and After" shots on here, since the lion's share of our reno's have been completed.  I'm going to start with an easy room (or two)... so we'll start with a bathroom.  This is the main bathroom on the upper floor, and the little girls use it to shower, as well, company uses it when they are here. 

 

 

 

And here's the finished product.  We planked the ceiling and walls, took out the floor tiles, changed out the cabinetry, lighting and sink, as well, took out the really lovely plastic doors on the shower and put up a shower curtain.  It's kind of hard to get a decent picture of this space, since this bathroom is so wee.  I think this might be the only room in the whole house which is totally completed.  

 

Next is the little girls' room.  This room is in the back corner of the house, where the floor slants up  towards the window.  There was a "built in" bulletin board as well.  The really great thing going for this room is the exceptionally large window and closet. 

 

 

We replaced flooring in the whole house, as well as planked the ceiling on the entire upper floor, so that's a given for this room as well.  I had to paint 3 coats of paint on these walls because it was doing something super funky, but it ended up alright.  This room now seems so much larger, even though we've crammed 2 single beds in there, as well as dressers, a nightstand and various other articles which little girls seem to collect.

 

 

These next few pictures are of the kitchen.  In our original planning, I was alright with keeping the cabinets (for now) and painting them, but when we moved in, and upon closer inspection, we decided that there's no time like the present to make some changes.  That, and I know a great kitchen guy (my husband!!), and he insisted couldn't live with those cabinets.  The laminate in the kitchen was newer, but since we were replacing everything else, the new flooring continued in here.  The nasty, mouse infested cabinets had pipes running through about 8 ft. of them.  It was....interesting.  I think the pictures speak for themselves....

 

 

We planked the walls and ceilings, replaced the flooring, put in new cabinets, lights, appliances and plumbing.  Basically, we gutted it.  We also made the doorway bigger to go to the dining room to be more accommodating for a larger family.  We still have a few things to do in the kitchen, such as install the hood fan and finish up the door to the basement.  The lovely thing about this kitchen is that there's lots of natural light, with that huge window above the sink that looks out onto the front porch, as well as garden doors which lead out to the back. 

 

 

The last set of before and after pictures I'll do today is our main living area.  The before pictures are a bit hard to explain, but I'll try.  The picture below is taken from the doorway to the kitchen.  There was a wall there, with a closet in it.  It made the entrance area extremely small and cramped (which it still is, only a little bit less), and it felt like you were coming into the house and walking into a wall.  Once we took out this wall, we realized that it was a supporting wall done wrong, so we had a friend come and put in a beam in the attic to do it right.  It was probably the single best decision we made in this reno.  It opened up the room completely.  The closet has been replaced with a row of hooks (we're not really closet people anyhow...hooks are so much easier!)

 

 

This picture shows the large windows on the south and east side of the house.  I especially love the lace curtains.  Unfortunately, they HAD to go!

 

Lastly, this is the wall in the dining room, from where I stood to take the last picture.

 

The After's:

This picture is taken from the front door, looking at the large picture windows.  Those windows are so wonderful - great for watching the birds out of!

 

 

This view is front just in front of the dining room table... I have big plans for the fireplace area - I'd like Art to build me a mantle, and we'll do something with that brick too.  For now, I've just painted it white (of course!) to get us over the exceptional ugliness of the brick.

 

And lastly, the dining room, with that long wall.  We left space for ourselves, if we want to put some cabinets there.  I wasn't sure if I felt like I'd have enough storage space, with our kitchen being substantially smaller than our last home (and by substantially smaller, I mean it's a third of the size!), but for now, I think everything has worked out fine.  I will keep my eye open for some cool pieces at farm auctions over the next few years, but I'm wondering if that'll make the space seem too cramped?  We'll have to wait and see. 

 

The only changes we made in this main living area is flooring, paint, planking the ceiling and removing that wall.  Sounds simple, doesn't it?  (Yikes!)

 

I'll do some more Before and After's in the future, when we've got some more projects completed, but until then, here's a pretty good overview of what we've been up to for the last year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Tuning

Every year, after we've taken down Christmas decorations, I always get the urge to rearrange and redo things.  Since we haven't quite figured out where everything fits in our new place, it's been fun (for me!) to try out new ideas.  This is the wall in the dining room, and originally, I had the whole wall full of black and white photos.  That didn't seem to fit, though, and after Art had painstakingly hung them all, I took them down, filled the holes and touched up paint.  Then, I replaced them with these old doors.  I've had these doors for many, many years, sitting outside, just waiting for the right time and place to be used. 

 

The sign is a very cool Christmas present which we received, and the stars were laying around in various places around the house.  I love the idea that I can create a new look without spending any money.  These doors were literally dragged out of old barns and outbuildings that were being torn down, and although I have (more than) a few of them, I love how they look, and the instant character they give a space. 

 

 

We've talked about putting some sort of cabinetry along this wall, to give me a bit more storage, but that solution is so permanent, and I'm not 100% sure that's what I want.   So, for a short (or long) term solution, we repainted this jam cupboard Art made, many years ago, and threw it in the corner. 

 

This cupboard was the first piece of furniture Art made for me when we were married.  He used 2x4's and a hand saw, and constructed it in the living room of our little basement suite.  Methodically, he stapled all of the chicken wire to the wood.  I then painted it navy blue, and the top, which is pine, was stained with a natural type finish.  Once we moved, I put it outside, where I've been trying to "weather" it, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  The white painted chicken wire is especially eye catching.  I have another old cabinet sitting out in the shop, waiting for shelves to be cut and installed, which I might use in place of this, but I was too impatient to wait.  For now, this'll definitely do the trick.    

 

 

I also wanted to get my office in some sort of order, so I enlisted of The Girls to help.  We organized, purged, created storage solutions and found homes for most everything which was crammed into my office.  That room had turned into  the "I don't know where this should go so throw it in my office" room, and it needed help!  I drug out an old, solid maple table which I had sitting in an outbuilding.  We bought this table a few years ago at a farm auction, and I think we paid about $15 for it.  (Sidenote: it's so great to have a husband who is a woodworker, who can see the beauty behind the nastiness of old things, to support me in my crazy farm auction purchases).  I was going to paint the table, but upon further inspection, I realized it wasn't as bad as I had remembered, and instead just needed a good clean.  I also spent too much time scraping off chewing gum from underneath the table (who does that?!  Yuck!!), and used a whole lotta disinfectant to make me feel like it was somewhat clean.  We lugged the heavy beast into the house and threw it in my office to set up a sewing area for me.  Oy.  Such excitement on a Friday night in these parts!  I puttered around, put up some pictures on the walls and found a lamp or two, organized some more, and Voila!  Here's the result....

 

 

For years, I've dreamed of having a room all to myself, where I can leave out sewing or craft projects.  Now, instead of lugging everything to the kitchen table, where I have to clean it all up every time we eat a meal, I can (in theory), chip away at a project a little bit at a time.  The Girls were awfully excited about my "new" office, and especially the fact that I could do any small mending immediately when they require it, instead of waiting for months for me to pull out my sewing machine.  I suppose this means no more excuses for me...

 

 

Sometimes I think I have a serious problem... keeping old furniture on the chance that one day, I'll use it.  But then, when I grab something like this old cabinetry or table, and put it to good use, I feel completely justified.  I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing...

 

Randomness

Here's a bit of randomness for this Monday y'all....

 

1.  Have I mentioned that we have sheep? (again...)  The Girls are doing a market lamb project for 4H.  And I am the leader.... Nothing like the blind leading the blind.... Anyhow, we picked these ladies up a few weeks ago.  And it was an adventure, that's for sure.  They are due to lamb towards the end of the month.  The Girls are pumped to have some lambs.  Hannah named her sheep "Mary", so when it lambs, she can tell her friends, "Mary had a little lamb!".  Abby, well she just picked the biggest, fattest ewe she could find.  She's hoping for triplets.  Truth be told, I am too....that way, the girls can repay their loan to us quicker!

 

 

2.  We've been renovating.  Again.  This time, it was the two upstairs bathrooms.  This was a project done on the cheap!  (and by cheap, I mean it cost us less than $60!)  I sanded down the vanity cabinets, which had already been painted white by the previous owners of this house, many, many moons ago.  It was starting to look nasty and not-so-white.  Amazing how sanding some of the paint off makes a cabinet go from drab-to-fab!  We put in a new sink that we found for $10 at Rona, found an old workbench of Art's in the shop, sanded it down and stained it, and then threw up some bead board we had laying around the house from a previous project.  The mirror is from an old dresser of my sister-in-law's, that the little Girls have in their room.  I've been on the hunt for a few window coverings for both bathrooms.  The girls' bathroom is pretty much a carbon copy of ours, and I'm thrilled with the results.  I've realized that I really do need to be consistently creating something, whether it's a small reno, painting furniture or changing up my house in some way.  It's good for my soul, this creating thing.  And it makes me happy...and sometimes crazy....but mostly happy!

 

3.  Art brought me home a bouquet yesterday.  Not a bouquet of flowers, but rather, a bouquet of soups.  He wrapped them up like a bunch of flowers and gave them to me.  What a keeper, that man is... Nothing like some delicious soup hidden in my freezer for a day that I just need a little something to warm my old bones.  I'll take soup over flowers any day of the week... (at least in the winter!) 

 

4.  Last week, we headed out to the barn to ride a few afternoons.  One of the afternoons that we were there, the beloved Buck, the 33 yr. old horse that my little girls' ride, was colicing, and had to be put down.  Oy!  Such sadness!  Here's Molly, saying her final good bye's to this ol' boy.  Buck trucked my girls around for a good few years, and was such a great pony for them.  He would put up with their antics and tricks always.  He will be greatly missed....

 

5.  For Christmas, in my stocking, I received some merino wool socks.  Why have I never had such things before?  These socks are ah. mazing.  Even for this sweaty-footed girl...They keep my feet dry and un-stinky, and are so crazy comfortable.  I waited and waited to try them out, and only when we were super low on laundry did I put them on.  And after wearing them a day, I went out and bought six more pairs.  Is there anything else life changing that y'all know about that I'm the last one to the party in knowing?   Please, tell me now!

 

Family Day Weekend

This past weekend was a long weekend for us, which is always so wonderful!  Hannah was off for her birthday date to beloved Auntie Frieda's from Friday until Sunday.  She was so excited about it, and although I love that they get to do these special dates, I do miss each of my little chickens when they are gone. 

We worked on our ongoing renovations on Saturday (complete with a ladder falling out from under Art while he was climbing into the attic, moving electrical outlets, stacking dryers...good times on a Saturday night!)

Sunday, we had a young couple over....they used to be some of our 'youth kids', so that was fun to catch up with them.  They have 2 kids of their own now, which always makes me seem SO old!

Finally, the pièce de résistance was on Monday, when we had some new friends over, whom we have come to adore!  Our kids played with their kids, our husbands played in the shop, and her and I got to have a wonderful visit.  We ate, we laughed.... it was a great day!

Now, another weekend is upon us, and we will do much of the same - that is, work our butts off on our house!  The "reno room" is coming together, finally, and the mudding was completed this week. We started painting tonight, and tomorrow, we'll finish painting and start putting up some of the trims.

We have to move our entire upper floor of our home somewhere.....I'm not sure how that's gonna work yet.... but since we are replacing the carpet, it must be done.  It's gonna be a terrible job, that's for sure, but I keep telling myself that the end product will be worth it.  We'll see about that...

Today this is what I know.  I know that it's Friday.  And I love Fridays, because it means that I get to spend the next two days with my favorite people...my family!

Happy weekend, y'all!

More Reno's

When we bought this house 12 years ago, I never dreamed of all the work that'd we'd put into it to make it how it looks today.  And that's just the main level!

 

Upstairs, off our master bedroom, we used to have a hot tub.  The hot tub was in the "hot tub room", which was actually originally a balcony that the previous owners closed in.  It had a skylight, which leaked (into the hot tub), and a roof, which leaked (into the hot tub room), and a hot tub, which leaked (into the garage).  So, we took out the skylight, redid the roof and added a dormer, took out the hot tub, and are finally getting around to fixing up the room.

 

The room had cedar clad walls and ugly tile, minus a big hole where the hot tub was.  We've used that room for Art's office, for a nursery for a bit, and most recently, as a room where junk collects.  So, after years and years, we put our money where our mouth was and started.  First, we ripped up all the tile, and then had to rip up the sub floor under the tile to make sure that we get the floor to our bedroom even.  Then, we took all the cedar off the walls.  Then, we took off all the plywood from the walls, and then, the insulation.  Of course, this happened to be during a week when it was -30, so our bedroom, I'm sure, was a good -10!  Good thing for my heated blanket... (I love that thing!)  Our electrician came and put in all that stuff, and then, we quickly closed it back up so that our noses wouldn't get frostbite while we sleep.  After that, we polyed the walls, put down a thinner sub floor and this weekend, we finally got to the drywall stage!

 

After gazing  on an ugly plywood wall right before I go to sleep, and first thing in the morning, I was quite excited to see this happen!

I know it doesn't look like much, but in my mind, the finished product is gonna rock this world!  I was helping Art until it was time to make dinner, and then, it seems, I lost my job.  Ellie Mae came in and took it.  When I went back upstairs, she was Art's special little helper, and she was quite certain that I was there to be her assistant.  Umm, I don't think so!  She was very intent on handing Art screws, and organizing the screws, and standing on the chair looking quite busy and important...

 

Good thing for her, though, because I got to go back downstairs and sit on my butt and eat bon bons.  The story of my life....

 

This weekend, I'm hoping that we'll (you see that I say "we", but really, I mean "Art!) get the drywall finished and then have our friend, who just happens to be a mudder come and make the drywall look good.  After that?  It's emptying our entire upstairs so that the carpet can be replaced.  Won't that be a fun job!  Anyone want to come for a visit and do stairs?

New Lamps

I bought these old oil cans at an auction last summer, and they've been sitting around my garage for the last year, patiently waiting for me to make them into something useful.  I've also had a lamp kit patiently waiting for me to use it.  This past week, I (actually, my miracle working hubby) drilled some holes, added some silicone and made some magic.  Here is the result!

I actually made 3 of these.  Two of them are small, and I have a larger one.  I've been searching the globe for lamp shades, and this one is (I think) a winner....unless I can find one I like better. 

Each of these little ones went in one of The Girls' rooms, and the other large one went into our room.  I have yet to find a shade that will work with the big one, but eventually, I'll find one!

Here's to re-using old junk!