Have you Seen my Tape Measure?

If I have heard it once I think I must have heard it a million times in the last 2 weeks.  Boss,(that's what he calls me.  Says he's seen that job and doesn't want it.) have you seen my tape measure?  Yes dear, it's hanging from  your jeans.  Yes dear, it's right there on the counter, Yes dear, it's in the bathroom.  Yes dear, your holding it in your left hand.  If he's not careful, the Boss is going to staple the tape measure to some portion of his anatomy.  Oh wait, he's already stuffed it in his pants, asked me if I've seen it and when I turned around he had it extended out his fly 12 inches.  He dreams big when he dreams!  Anyway, that sight was enough to burn my eyeballs so I guess stapling it in place is out of the question. He'd be playing with it all day!

So obviously the kitchen reno is still a work in progress.  At the rate we are going it will be a work in progress in the year 2525!  The focus right now is on the pantry  but since the floor is to be laid this coming Wednesday, the focus is going to need to change to moving the electrical, and getting the plumbing ready to go for the new dishwasher.  I'm not quite sure how this is all going to be done by Wednesday but it has to be or no floor and that just isn't gonna fly!  So here's what the old pantry looked like.  Not very functional at all.  The opening was small and it was hard to find things way in the back.

This is the start of what will be the new pantry. 

after tearing out the walls

New back wall

looking better

with some stain

2 drawers ready

 

 Pull out drawers = functional.  You can ignore that nice orange color of the wood.  We will be painting all the cabinets but wanted to start with mostly the same finish on everything just in case it would make a difference in the final product.  Probably it wouldn't but I would hate to find out differently after we had painted.

 I was supposed to share our progress on the stitch a long but forgot to take a picture of Mary's.  I've emailed her and asked her to email a picture of her progress but in the meantime, I'll just share my progress on TR.  The section I'm working on is all done (or supposed to be done) with a double running back stitch.  Not sure that's what I'm doing and I can't say I am in love with the process but I am enjoying the results.  

Today was mostly spent cleaning the basement so Adam has a clean place to rest his head when he gets here.  The act of cleaning led me to putting some stitching stuff away which led me to seeing just how many different things I actually have started that I haven't finished.  YIKES!!  And to think I used to be a one project at a time person with no UFO's!!!  I will never clean again.  Cross my heart.  Done.  I do not need to know that kinda information.  No siree bob! From now on the basement will remain a filthy pig sty and I am just fine with that!

Dan is back from Menards, Amy is home from babysitting so I guess I should do something about feeding them.  Keep an eye open for a giveaway.  I've reached 200 followers and I think that deserves a celebration!  Just need to pull everything together for it. 

Have a great rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Tuscan Rose update

Happy Thursday!  The sun is shining this morning and life is good.  On second thought, as I'm sitting here looking out the kitchen windows and the sliding glass door...maybe the sun is not such a good thing.  Apparently I really need to wash windows!  Yuck!

Not much to report here.  The kitchen is moving along.  Tore out the pantry and Dan is busy trying to rebuild it for more functionality.  Not much to see yet so no pictures.  The kitchen is a mess so not much cooking is going on.  I'm not complaining but certain members of the family who shall remain nameless are. 

Spent yesterday waiting on news of the birth of a dear friends first Grandchild.  Marsha is so excited to be a GiGi as she wants to be called.  I'm happy to report Clara was born in the wee hours of the morning and mother, child and gigi are all doing well. 

Stitching is coming along.  This week I'm working on the Double Dutch stitch-a-long and will show pictures in my next post.  We have Last Saturday Stitch this weekend and will snap a pic of everyone's progress at that time. Last week I worked on Tuscan Rose.  Not a ton of progress but she's coming along nicely.  I have the itch to start something new but am fighting it off tooth and nail!

Need to leave for work early this morning as I have to go to the post office and get a package in the mail.  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a wonderful Holiday weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!  I appreciate so much the wonderful comments!

Take care till next time! 
 

Renovating with Dan

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I must say, as much as I love my job, I am happy that I have the next 2 days off.  Between a lack of sleep due to thunderstorms and a doggy that is terrified of them, and all the things that need doing around the house I could use a big kick of ambition and a couple days of sleep.  One of which is not going to happen.  It's hard to get anything done if you are sleeping and the project Dan and I started last weekend really needs to get finished before Abby graduates in July and we have a house full of  people!  What project is that you ask?  Or maybe you don't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway...we are doing a partial renovation of the kitchen.  With the appliances starting to go bad or parts on them breaking, it is time to start replacing them.  Since the flooring runs under the dishwasher, I saw no sense in replacing the dishwasher without replacing the floor which was damaged.  Did you know that laminate flooring and water do not mix?  A concept that some do not entirely grasp in this house.  I saw no sense in replacing the floor when I wanted to remove part of the cabinets and counter and move the location of the dishwasher.  I have a one butt kitchen.  By removing the "L"  part of my counters, my kitchen becomes at least a 2 butt kitchen.  But this would leave a hole in the flooring as they do not lay flooring under the cabinets.   So it only makes sense to remove the "L", change the floor, replace and move the dishwasher which is unfortunately going to involve new counter tops at some point.  Since I am replacing the dishwasher with black instead of white, the other appliances will also need to be changed sooner rather than later.  Since I am loosing 4 of the 7 drawers I have in my kitchen by chopping off the "L" I need to buy a new cabinet to replace them and so forth and so on...this is commonly referred to in these parts as The Snowball Effect.  I would love to replace all the cupboards.  I am so over orangey oak...you have no idea.  But, I cannot afford to do that.  So for right now, it will be a partial renovation and who knows, I may end up loving my orange cabinets!  NOT!

My kitchen before:

as you walk into kitchen from front of house

to the left

sharp left

from the dining room

see how tight?

another example of how tight it is

Me, on tiptoe trying to reach 2nd shelf

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Furniture Mart and chose new flooring for the kitchen.  This was not an easy decision. I knew I didn't want ceramic tile or stone, too hard on the legs, knees, hips and ankles.  I knew I didn't want hardwood.  Water + hardwood = warping.  I have already been there done that with the laminate, don't need to beat me over the head with a stick to teach me a lesson.  I knew I didn't want cork, sheet vinyl or linoleum.  Which I have to admit doesn't leave much to choose from.  And then I discovered a product called Armstrong Alterna Luxury Vinyl Tile.  Has the look of stone, but more give to it which means it is easier on the body.  You can soak it in a bathtub for a week and it won't be damaged, it can be installed over an existing vinyl floor (we have one of those lurking under our laminate) it can be installed with grout to make it look more like real stone and it comes in a ton of colors.  We chose  Mesa Stone in Chocolate.  

Got the bid back last night and are set up for installation on June 8th! Only 3 more weeks of hand washing the dishes!!!

We (and by we I really mean Dan) started the demolition by disconnecting the dishwasher and removing the "L".  I gave assistance by overseeing and telling Dan to shut the breaker off after he shocked himself.  Which he did but since he shut down the wrong breaker, he shocked himself a second time.  Hence the nickname Zap.

After a full day of demolition and clean up we now look something like this:

to the left

from dining room

Big difference already!  We've purchased a new dishwasher and the drawer base cupboard.  Dan will have to rework the drawer fronts to make them match the exiting ones.  He's gonna need a new tool for that and it's gonna cost me extra.  That's his mantra whenever I want him to do something.  I owe the man so much by now that it's not even funny!   
 
Up next is the pantry redo.  Oh, I guess I didn't mention the pantry redo before.  I have one.  It needs work. But I'll cover that in the next installment of...Kitchen Renovation starring Zapper Dan!   We should have our own show on HGTV!! :)


And now my fine stitchy friends I must bid you adieu as I need to go to Hobby Lobby to get some fabby and trim for some flat folds I am doing for customers.  Ya'll have a great weekend and...

Take Care till next time!

Julie

 

Stitching, bad hair and the tree!

Happy Saturday/Sunday!  Not sure if I will get this done today or not so thought I would cover my bases by addressing both days!  It was second Saturday Stitch at the shop today.  Our group today was a bit larger than we had anticipated!  When I had checked my email for the last time on Friday to see who was coming and who wasn't, there were only 11 that had said they were coming.  We ended up with 16!  It was great!

There was enough food to feed a small army and of course the companionship was the best!  Such a fun group of ladies, each delightful in their own way.  I used the group as guinea pigs today and tried a new recipe for crock pot macaroni and cheese.  Trying a new recipe on people outside your family is not necessarily the smartest thing to do since you never know if it is going to turn out okay or even edible! It was pretty okay and several asked for the recipe.  I still prefer my regular recipe but for a pot luck type of dish  this is something I would make again.  If you are interested you can find the recipe here.   

Since it was a stitching Saturday, I was able to take pictures of the stitch-a-long project Mary Ann, Mary and I are doing.  Mary of course is the furthest along.

I think I might be next but I'm not sure because I discovered something today.  My mind does not work like everyone else.  (Connie, quit rolling your eyes and saying you knew that already!) Mary and Mary Ann are stitching their projects a page at a time.  I am stitching mine in rows.  I thought Mary Ann was the odd one when she said she was doing it that way and now I have to come to grips with the fact that it's me that's the oddball!!!  Inconceivable!

Mary Ann  hasn't had a lot of stitching time the last 2 weeks so she hasn't made much progress.

Crap, I think I have to turn the dang furnace back on.  It's cold in here!  Hold on, I'll brb.

A couple of weeks ago I won a give away from Robin over at Robin Pich    I won this beautiful pincushion made by her own two hands!  Robin makes some wonderful hand made items that she sells on Etsy.  Head on over to her blog if you aren't familiar with it and check it out!  Thanks Robin!  I love my pin cushion!

I've got an update on the take down of the tree.  Dan has most of it down except for the trunk and a little tuft of branches at the very top.  He thinks it's cute and should stay this way.  I think he's  got another think coming!  And tell me, what person in their right mind wears their dress clothes to do this kind of thing?  Does anyone else have a husband that refuses to change into appropriate work clothes to do yard work or painting or any other kind of physical type chore?  Drives me nuts cuz he's forever getting paint on his dress slacks  or tearing holes in his shirt!  

Ewwww, I just noticed my elephant skin in the pics of the pincushion!  When did that happen?  Gross!

Guess I better wrap this up and feed the hubby.  Can't expect him to make birds on an empty stomach! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.  I'll leave you with this final image.  Please don't judge, she was having a rough time of it with the storms! LOL!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Happy Mother's Day! Pine Mold and stitchy update

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

It's a windy but warm Sunday here in the heartland.  My plan for the day is to do nothing that looks anything like work.  I think I'll stitch some, maybe do a bird or two but that's about it.  Dan got up this morning and had breakfast waiting for me when I got downstairs, he made homemade biscuits and gravy with sausage and orange juice.  Very good it was!  (said in my best Yoda voice)

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful day, whether you are a mother or not!

Yesterday, while Dan was teaching, I decided to start taking down the last of 3 dead/dying Evergreen Trees in our back yard. Pine Mold is a bad bad thing! 

I've heard it can spread to other types of trees too and there is nothing you can do for it either.  This tree should have been taken down last fall but Dan kept saying it would "come back".  Yeah, right.  I really think Dan was thinking "I don't want do all that work".  I've done it twice already.  So while the cat was away this mouse decided to take the bull by the horns and get 'er done! 

Here she is after 3 hours of work.

 And after 5 hours of work....

I found some interesting things while I was chopping away.  Garbage bags, wire, cool whip bowl, part of the shed, a golf ball and this little guy!

I think he's been out here a while!  He has an incredibly poopy butt!

Then there was the tragedy.  Now keep in mind, although I am currently not very fond of birds (see previous post) I wouldn't deliberately throw a baby bird to the dogs but sadly that is what happened.  I checked the nest before chopping that branch off and it was empty but apparently, it must have been flung out prior to that without my seeing it because when I found it, it was in Gracie's mouth and she was chomping away.  I screamed and she dropped it only to have Kallie swoop in and pick it up and start chomping.  I yelled SPIT!  (handy thing to teach a dog to do btw) She SPAT but it was too late.  Baby bird did not survive.  Rest in Peace baby bird.  Bad dogs!  Bad Bad Dogs!! 

And after another hour or so of clean-up we have this.

The rest Dan will have to do as my short little self couldn't reach that high up!  I'm hoping it will get finished today.  I must say this was one of dirtiest jobs I've had to do.  I don't even want to know what kind of creepy crawlies were in there.  That's one of the reasons I wanted this done sooner rather than later.  Later gives the creepies time to really settle in and I just can't have that!

After all that work I took a shower and sat down to stitch for the rest of the night.

Just got a Mother's Day call from Adam!  He's planning on doing some sight seeing in Alaska today.  Not much is open up there yet but he wants to see what he can while he's there.  Abby just got home, she gave me a nice card and Amy posted a really nice thing on FB so all my chicks have checked in today.  I'm lucky to have them, they turned out to be good kids.  Even if they do drive me nuts sometimes!

Snapped these pics of Abby yesterday before she headed out for the night.  She said it was her Grunge look.  WTH is a grunge look?  I didn't want her to think I didn't know what she was talking about so I just said cool but inquiring minds would really like to know!

Think I will go do something productive now.  Thanks for stopping by and leaving the great comments on the last post!  I have printed them out to show the ladies that participated!  Keep the comments coming and Welcome to my new followers!  Looks like I am approaching the 200 followers mark.  Best start thinking up a giveaway!

Take care till next time!

Julie


 

Needle Art Exhibit and a stitch a long

Oh gosh, time has slipped away from me again!  I had the best of intentions to post on Saturday but after Last Saturday Stitch at the shop I was pooped and just couldn't do it!  Stitching was tremendous fun as usual although I didn't get the opportunity to stitch at all.  We were on the go the entire day!  I didn't even get to talk to most of the gals that were there.  Saturday we announced the winner of our 3rd annual Needleart Exhibit.  This year we didn't have many entries which completely bummed me out but still it was fun to see the ones that were there.     I have made it known to all that next year I expect better participation and I followed that announcement with "the look" which according to my kids is enough to scare anyone into doing what they are told.  LOL!  I'm a bit sad and confused that none of the guild members brought any of their pieces in for the exhibit.  I know they do fabulous work and I would love to see them in the exhibit.  I don't understand why they didn't participate.   Anyway, here's a pic of the entries for this year...

I was thrilled to see that despite being up against a Lavender & Lace Angel (they always seem to win), One Nation managed to get just enough votes to take the top prize.  It's a beautiful piece, especially when you see it in person.  Congratulations to Mary H. who stitched this wonderful design from Bygone Stitches. 

Second place in case you didn't guess went to Angel of Hope by Lavender & Lace.  This beautiful piece was stitched by Shellie. 

The only Hardanger piece entered won third place.  Kasja was thrilled to hear she won when she stopped in today to pick up her framing.

Honorable mention goes to Connie who couldn't win because we don't allow employees to enter.  Her Jardin Prive Eiffel Tower deserves to be mentioned as it generated the most "do you have that chart" comments!

A little over a week ago I was eyeballing a Sampler Cove chart called Double Dutch.

I mentioned to Mary Ann that it would be cool to have it stitched up in 3 different colorways to which she immediately said she'd stitch one.  Then I wrangled Mary H. into doing a third color and Voila we have a stitch-a-long going!   I am way behind the other 2 though as I started mine and decided I didn't like the colors I'd chosen.  So I started over with new colors.

Mary Ann is doing the chart using Carrie's Creation silks in colors that mimic the called for fibers.

 
Mary H. decided to use Mardi Gras colors again using Carrie's silks.

My second choice of colors were picked to be something different from the other  two also using the Carrie's silks.

I've also stitched on Tuscan Rose some but haven't made much progress since I have had to stitch twice as much on Double Dutch than I should have! I don't care if I like the colors this time, I'm not starting over again.

Think I will stop here for the night and maybe go stitch on TR for a while.  Glee is on and I need to eat some supper yet.  Thanks for stopping in, hope you enjoyed seeing the winners work!   

Take care till next time!

 Julie