I have a new blog name and a new blog url! Sorry to make this such a pain but would you all please bookmark or change in your favorites to the new address. Purty Pleeeze? Thanks!! I'll set to work fixing things up here soon enough. Bear with me! My Dark Oak Woman blog will remain up but all my new posts will be here. I'll have a permanent link to the old place though.

uneven edges...

My Dark Oak Woman name just wasn't suiting me any longer. I love having an "Indian name" but it didn't describe me completely. I have a history with uneven edges so this new name is more fitting. One of my legs is longer than the other. When I was a kid this didn't bother me but as I get older it causes me pain now and then. So, I'm physically uneven and more aware of it. It would be impossible to find someone who isn't uneven.

Alas, I am also creatively uneven.

When I made my very first pieced quilt I didn't understand the quarter-inch seam concept AT ALL. It was a disaster. But, I managed to get all of it lined up on top. You shoulda seen the bottom. Several years later I made a bowtie quilt and didn't like the size of my blocks so I cut them down. This time I wasn't so lucky with the outcome. It does add to the "charm" of the quilt though, don't you think?



Then there was my first afghan...

I dove right in without understanding how to end a row, make a chain and begin the next row. Luckily I thought of a way to fix it by crocheting an edge around all 4 sides and today my mistakes are hardly visible(this is a "before" picture).



Now, thankfully, I have figured out the quarter-inch seam and how to end/begin a crocheted row.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to trim your own bangs???....

Ocean Sapphire...

Sarah's friend got a Siamese Fighting Fish(betta) a few weeks ago and she's been bugging us to get one too. I resisted because of the cats, but finally gave in today. He's GORGEOUS!! (click to see larger images)



I wish his irredescence showed up better in the photos. He's a dark blue with slightly lighter fins.


Here he is backlit, showing off his greenishness. You can see a few of my needle-felted balls behind his bowl too, an nice foil for his coloring.


This is the truest picture of his color.


We already had the bowl and red marbles, a perfect habitat for such a beauty. However, we will be looking for a bigger container. They do better in 1-2 gallon tanks, this one is probably a half gallon. Why yes, that is a C3PO standing in the corner!

In other news...

I'm taking time this weekend to go through a newish(acquired last year) old cookbook, Rodale's Naturally Great Foods Cookbook by Nancy Albright(published in 1977). Is it ever full of good stuff! Not just recipes but instructions on everything from making yogurt, sprouting sprouts, and even grinding flour from pumpkins! Wowza!!! There are soooo many recipes in it that I'm dying to try out, like Alfalfa Sprout Gazpacho, Avocado Banana Dressing, Grainburgers, Millet Meatloaf, Broccoli Timbales, Yogurt Cheese, Sourdough Rye Bread, and the list goes on and on and on!!! I'm also reading another goodie called Cooking Vegetables the Italian Way by Judith Barrett. Lotsa good stuff there too.

We are supposed to be taking the last bits of wallpaper down from the dining room tomorrow. The paint we've decided on is called Caramel Cream, a rich, bright orange. All the playing I've done at Valspar's online room painting thingie points to this color. I think it will be perfect.


I'm sure it looks garish on your monitor, kinda looks washed out on mine too. Trust me, its really a rich, goldish orange with depth and a nice warmth. In fact, if you'll scroll back up to the third picture of Ocean(his true color pic) and look directly above his tail you can see a felted ball of red, yellow, and orange. The orange in that picture is very close to the wall color. I can't wait to get it painted!!

Guess that's all the goings on for this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more next week. Having a working teen who is also very social is demanding more of my time than I ever thought possible!!

New Shoes...

Yesterday was shoe buying day for some of the Soniers. Amy was outgrowing her Converse and wanted Chuck Taylors and Sarah found some brown and white checkerboard Vans that are just adorable! I wanted something with a little more support for my older model feet and tried some Eccos on just to see. Oh my GOOOOSH!! I never even took them back off!! They got their first workout today at the park and my feet feel wonderful!!! No sore spots, no aches at all! I am impressed big time.

HERE are the shoes I got. They aren't quite as bright blue as the picture, more of a greyish blue actually, but still very stylish.

Deliberate spontaneity or spontaneously deliberate....

I've decided I want to be more flexible and regain some of my muscle tone(this would be the deliberate part). I tried skating today for the first time in 9 years, it was NOT pretty(this would be one of the 3 spontaneous parts). Anyway, I've found 5 Element Qi Gong is an easy way to get back into exercising. Several years ago I did yoga all the time and LOVED it but one day it was too cold(I did my routine outside) and it was like hitting a steel wall. I have never done a yoga routine since then. This is fun and doesn't take long to learn or do(spontaneous thing #2). I follow along 3-4 times a day.



I've also started walking at a local park again(spontaneous thing #3). This is Julianna Park for the locals. My plan is to get fit enough to be able to skate. I took 2 semesters of roller skating in college and loved it. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in the swing of things but I've GOT to have better muscles in my legs!











Along the walking trail is a small neighborhood park(Ward Park). We lived a few blocks from this park before Ryan was born and I'd walk there when I was pregnant. It used to have old, dangerous equipment but yesterday we were pleasently surprised to see this being installed! Now, if they'd only add more tables and a bathroom we'd be set! Luckily its just a 1/4 mile or so to another park(at the upper end of the trail) with facilities. This looks like one to add to our rotation.

In Which I Ruminate...

As some of you know, we are dealing with Mark's mom's moderate to severe Alzheimer's Disease. She refuses to see a doctor, won't take so much as an aspirin, and considers herself to be healthy "pioneer stock". Mark's dad is doing the best he can and has taken over the cooking and such, but she's really way too much for him to have to look after. They are in their early 80s and he has health issues of his own. She's bad enough that she's preventing him from seeking the care he needs as well. Anyway, without going into all the gory details, it is time for her to be cared for in a facility and we are starting Monday with getting her evaluated and placed.

Soooo, in Mark's communications with his sister about all this, he was presented with the story of how he came to be a part of their family.

Mark's mom has always told conflicting stories about the adoption of their children. He was never really sure where he or his sister came from or the reason his parents couldn't have children of their own. His sister told him yesterday that his birth mother is a relative of a woman his parents knew socially here in our hometown. She claims to have seen this woman once and says there is a very strong resemblance. My mom, Mark and I have, on rare occasion, seen a young man(maybe 8-12 years younger than Mark) who could be his twin. Same hair color, facial structure, body frame, eye color. Mark knows the friends of his parents, he even saw the husband in Walmart last week. He has never, to his knowledge, seen the woman who might be his birth mother. We don't know the situation that caused her to give him up for adoption. Maybe she was a young adult, unmarried and pregnant for the first time, or maybe she was older, divorced and unable to take the responsibility for another child. It wouldn't be hard to find out these things without actually contacting this family, but it would be nice to hear the true story from someone who knows. It is SO unfair that the adults(when he was born) are the keepers of the knowledge. Even now, as an adult, he is, possibly forever, in the dark about his blood lineage while "everybody else" knows his history.

Does Mark want to know her story? We've talked about it and I think he does but not right now. He has an enormous volume of work with his new business and the goings on with his parents so it might be a while before he's able to focus on this part of his life. I hope he chooses to approach the family about finding his birth mother. There are medical issues he's dealing with that are adult onset, things we might need to know for the sake of our children.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with his mom and dad. Its going to be stressful for everyone involved rest assured.

A weekend day around the casa...

First we enjoyed the comings and goings at the bird feeder.





Then we enjoyed the company of our youngest three kitties.


(Tallulah, 7 months)


(Gypsy, 16 months)


(Jasper, 16 months)

Later, the girls helped out with the garage clean-up. Ryan helped too but I didn't get a picture of him.





Finally, I looked through our glass door at the afternoon sun. Can't wait to get it sanded, painted and installed!

Abundance Is....

(First I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my deliberate living post. What you all wrote was inspirational and has given me more to think about. I'm absolutely at peace with dancing to my own music, using my microwave, and sleeping in dyed sheets.*G*)

Now,

Abundance is...

Having enough to give away and never miss it.

We filled the whole Suburban today with stuff for charity and gave a nice dresser to a needy family. We aren't finished, not by a long shot, but we were cleaning first, sorting out second. There are more weekends coming up.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Ecclesiastes 11:1-2.

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.~G.K. Chesterton

Abundance is...

Perfect weather, rain or shine.

The past two weekends were spent raking, moving, hauling, lifting, digging, bagging, and so forth. We got our entire front and back yards done! This Saturday we awoke to chilly, windy drizzle and it was just perfect because we had nothing to do outside(no yardwork). Ryan had to be at his job just before noon so we all got ready and dropped him off. We headed to Lowe's for some shelf holders and Jake's for guinea pig and dog bedding. The girls were hungry and decided on Taco Bell. Just as we were waiting for the light to change for us to turn onto that road, Mark had the brilliant idea that we needed something a bit more substantial so we headed for our favorite Tex-Mex dive. It was exactly what we needed on a gray day, very comforting and relaxing.

Today we had no plans to work in the garage but it happened. The weather, once again, was just perfect. Not too cold, not windy, sunny and mild. We didn't get hot on the west side of the house nor did we get cold fingers(except the girls when they washed some box lids). Now after hours of hard work, our garage is clean and organized with (almost)everything in its place.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway. ~Mark Burnett

Abundance is...

Experiencing one of the Earth's most powerful and awesome events and not being hurt or scared.

We had an earthquake early this morning! Actually, what we think is that it was an aftershock from one that happened north of Oklahoma City at 3:43am(Did You Feel It?"). Mark and I were awakened at 4:45 by a series of vibrations like idling in a diesel truck but there was no noise(our bedroom doors did shake a bit). The dogs had actually got me alert a few seconds before so I felt them before Mark. The shakes woke him up. It was unnerving but we really didn't think "earthquake" until we'd got up and around later in the day.

Which would you rather have, a bursting planet or an earthquake here and there? ~John Joseph Lynch

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. ~Frederick Douglass

Deliberate Living....

A new friend of mine said something that gave me pause. She said she needed to start living more deliberately. Hmmmm. As with all philosophies, some followers are rather militant, taking it to the very far extreme. Many, however, like my friends Cheryl, Kel, and Anet (and others of course) are just wading in and doing what their hearts tell them. Baby steps for me. I'm not sure I am ready to commit to any certain "thing" yet. It might be that I do as these women are doing and deliberately change the foods I serve to my family but it quite likely won't be exactly what they are doing. Maybe I'll work at reducing my plastics like Kel has done.

There are things we have that we cannot give up, like our swimming pool. Sure chlorine isn't the healthiest thing to be swimming in but does the exercise we're getting count against that at all? We can't afford to switch over to a salt water filter but I can research alternatives and possibly switch to a less toxic treatment or determine when the best times for swimming would be. There are other things out there that seem to be hype(or at the very least, overly dramatized) as well. I won't be giving up my microwave, sticking my feet in a detox machine, or exchanging our current bedding for organic, unbleached, undyed sheets. I have no room for a garden, nor do I have the inclination to dig in the dirt so that's out for me too. What I do know is that the phrase I heard at park day, "live more deliberately" struck a cord in me and I want to investigate further. How about you?

Here are more websites about living deliberately...

DeliberateLife.com

Deliberate Living: Slowing Down & Simplifying

Living Deliberately(a discussion group)

Living-Deliberately.com

abundance...

For Christmas, my mom gave me a book of affirmations called The Art of Abundance, a Simple Guide to Discovering Life's Treasures, by Candy Paull. I've just now had time to start reading it and found three wonderful quotes right away that spoke to me. They have a common theme not just about abundance, but about where it is truly found...

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand- to see that heaven lies above us here in this world. ~ John Burroughs

One of the most important -and neglected- elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. ~ Thomas Merton

In those vernal seasons of the year when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth. ~ Milton







Abundance, for me, means enjoying the goings-on in our very front yard. That this Spring-like weather is tricking my daffodils into blooming is only part of it! I've got 17 flowers in my little "daffy patch". I also love the beautiful moss carpet that's shooting up new growth like velvet underfoot. If it wasn't 45 degrees at the moment I'd be out there closer to it. My dad bought a bird feeder for the girls and I after we returned from North Carolina. The birds have finally figured out how to eat from it and we've been enjoying them for about a month now. Sunday morning as I took Puppy-girl out for her potty break, there were 4 robins swooping and darting from the back yard oak to the front yard pines and all manner of other birds hopping and twittering in the sun. This morning there was a squirrel on the porch, teasing the cats as it stuffed its face full of sunflower seeds.





Abundance also means cooking the spaghetti squash that was languishing on the counter and anticipating the eating of said squash as if it were the finest meal in the world. For the record, I sprinkled it with ground sage, a tiny pinch of dried thyme, salt, and liberal amounts of garlic, oh, and a spoonful of smart balance margarine! It was a comfort food much like mac and cheese without the guilt! We won't be doing a "real" grocery shop until Thursday which means I'll have to make do with what we've got in the cupboard til then. A "pantry challenge". Mark just arrived with guinea pig food and hay, potatoes, and bread. We've got rice, pasta, beans, spices, chicken breasts, tortillas, dairy products, sausage, peppers, onions, fresh and frozen veggies, canned tomatoes(and beans, etc, etc.), and more, so technically we could probably eat for another 10 days or so. Having such a bounty is not just abundance but also peace and provision.



I hope you all find similar things to appreciate within the ordinary(and it is SO not, once you take time to observe) this day and this week!! Children seem to enjoy abundance naturally so I take a lot of cues from this chicka. She found the first anole of the season yesterday!

The flu...

We has it.

Ryan was sick over the weekend of the 17th, I came down with it Tuesday, Sarah on Wednesday, Amy on Thursday, and finally Mark on Saturday. Everyone except Ryan still feels bad. Bluck.

Maybe I'll feel like a real post by mid-week, I've got tons of pictures to upload, transfer and edit. I've missed it! However, I am having fun on Facebook. If yall haven't tried it, do so!!!

We are trying to get back on track today by cleaning guinea pig cages and litterboxes, vacuuming the floors and doing laundry. So far the vacuum is clogged and we've been unable to locate the wad of stuff so the floor won't be happening for now. You wouldn't believe how ready I am to not have carpet in the living area! I'm looking at tile online as I type this but my tastes apparently run to the expensive side. What I want would cost about $4500. Maybe we'll just paint the concrete and get some area rugs...

The Rearranger

I am not sleeping well with the bed under the window at all(we switched the dresser and bed spots a week or so ago). Our neighbor has a shop in his backyard with spotlights on it and they shine right into our bedroom! It is worse right at the curtains so its like I have a big green glowstick above my head as I sleep. Soooo, since the girls are not here and Mark and Ryan are working, I'm going to put on my rearranger cape and get after it! Of course I have to pick up a ton of stuff first.

The girls will have to clean out both piggie cages when they get here. All of a sudden, in the last 3-4 days, we've had a fly explosion! I'm thinking some animal must've died in the pool area or across the street or something. They tend to hang around the cages and the litterboxes so we've kept them poop-scooped every day since we noticed the problem.

I've got laundry going and have swept the kitchen and utility room. I hate sweeping almost as much as I hate ironing. Bleh. Now I need to figure out dinner and I'll have gotten a lot accomplished before noon!! YEAH ME!!! I'll grocery shop later today, we're out of most of my favorite things so I have to go. Mark's check was bigger than we expected, over a car payment bigger than usual, so I can really stock us up for the winter(including new curtains for the living room and maybe our bedroom!!!).

The Weekend....

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.
- Helen Hunt Jackson, October's Bright Blue Weather


Friday morning I took the girls grocery shopping with me while Mark and Ryan stayed home. It was a beautiful mid-morning and promised to be a lovely afternoon as well. I had the bright idea that we should spend time outdoors so I called Mark from the store to see if he'd be interested. We decided to wait til Saturday and head north to the Yamboree, a local festival celebrating that wonderful cash crop of the 1930's, the Sweet Potato, which is really not a yam. The Yamboree is one of the oldest folk festivals in Texas just behind the Tyler Rose Festival and the Jacksonville Tomato Festival.

We watched the Queen's Parade, ate some fair food, rode a huge ferris wheel, gawked at the crowds, visited the exhibit halls, the ag barns and all the other things most people do at festivals. Ryan found several of his friends in the ag barns with their livestock so he was busy socializing while the girls, Mark and I petted pigs, goats, calves, and bunnies. I think Sarah would have brought a baby cow home if she could have, or a goat! Then we hit the vendor area but didn't end up finding anything we couldn't live without. One of the exibits we especially enjoyed was the junior art and photography division. There are some very talented young artists in east Texas! Amy and Sarah are wanting to enter the drawing category and maybe photography too for next year.

As you may have noticed, there are no pictures. I decided to take a break from the camera this trip. Its a big, clunky thing and I did not feel like wagging it around all day. You'll have to imagine the dappled sunlight on the courthouse lawn, the chilly breeze, the greasy food smells, laughter, screams from the scary rides, and the sound of fiddles playing. You are off the hook as far as imagining the lovely livestock smells.

On our way to the car, we stopped at the monthly flea market across from the exhibit areas. Patricia, my homeschooling friend had a booth there promoting her business, Herbal Grace. She sells mineral make-up, organic teas, soaps, and much more. I left with a new eye shadow color(nutmeg) and some fantabulous organic seasoned salt. Her soaps are to die for too, LOVE them, and we use several of her other formulas.

We also nabbed a huge bucket of sweet potatoes for $4. Wooo hooo! Could have got a bushel for $13 but I didn't think we'd eat that many. How wrong I was...

Several days ago I came across a blog post featuring sweet potato fries and Hungry Girl had mentioned butternut fries not too long ago as well. I googled to get a good idea of what to do and went for it!

I preheated the oven to 425, sliced up our two largest "yams" into french fry sized pieces, layered them on two baking sheets(it is best if they don't touch and have space between each fry). I sprayed them with butter flavor cooking spray and sprinkled them with the new seasoned salt mixed with cayenne, onion, and garlic powders, and paprika. They went into the oven on the middle and lowest racks for 15 minutes. I stirred well and switched their places on the racks, baking for another 15 minutes. We scarfed them down with ketchup and there were no more. They are woooooonderful!!!! With a texture like a steak fry, creamy and soft on the inside, but not starchy(gritty) like regular fat fries, along side frizzled spiral ham and a spinach salad, these made a wonderful meal.

Today I'm working on our bedroom. We decided to try the bed under our window but I don't know if it'll work with the kitties wanting to be in the sill at night. I've swept and thrown away a whole bagful of garbage. Mark turned off the Cowboys game, too painful to watch. He's washing his car now and Sarah's got Dirty Jobs on.

Later we'll have more ham in some form, maybe a quiche or something. I'm not sure yet. Meanwhile, back to the room for me!

As Promised, New Hair!

This is 40 hours after washing it, a windy park day, and a loooong walk with the dog this morning. It can look better, trust me! I didn't straighten or blow-dry it, this is just what it does. I'll put better pics up tomorrow probably.







Gypsy with Tallulah on the coffee table last weekend.





In other news....

We are going to finish working on the garage this afternoon, I think. I would love to park some of the unused furniture on the side of the road and see how fast it gets hauled off. I'm also rearranging our bedroom to make it less easy to pile up laundry baskets full of clean stuff. And cooking spaghetti(we had nachos last night instead), an apple dessert of some kind... Lots of busy work going on here today.

OU/Texas is on tomorrow. I'm a Sooner and Mark's a Longhorn. He has the kids brainwashed as well. Sigh.

more decluttering going on....

Yesterday we tackled the garage. Again. But, this time we didn't just restack what was there. We tossed stuff. Three huge bags of trash were filled and many bags were filled for charity and the suburban is stuffed! Including a tall kitchen bag full of yarn that I'll never use.

Found items included a plastic shoebox full of sunflower seeds(birdseed style) inside another box, hidden from our view. This was on a shelf right outside the door and would explain why we startle rats when we go out there. It is tossed so maybe the rats will go away.

I also found two of my good pairs of sunglasses, missing fabric and quilt patterns, and ***dddrruuumrollll please*** the remote to the dvd player!!!! It had been missing for at least a year now, maybe more.

We have several pieces of furniture that need to go as well but they won't fit in the suburban so we'll probably just drag them out to the curb and hope someone claims them. Mark hates to do this because it looks junky and he's always afraid that nobody will get them and we'll have to drag them back inside. I tend to look on the positive side, that someone will snap them up within hours(which is usually what happens). Anyway, that's for another weekend.

In other news....

I made a heavenly chocolate pie for dessert last night. My grandmother used to make them but I didn't really care for the taste. My version used dark chocolate cocoa powder and followed this recipe, sans meringue, over at Homesick Texan's blog. Ooooh it was rich!!! There is just a small slice left too so I'll be forced to make another one today probably.

A friend of mine called later and asked me to meet her at Books-a-Million for Bluegrass night. Some local musicians meet up there once a month for a mini-concert. They were ok. Not great but certainly not bad either. I didn't go til 9:30 and they wrapped up shortly before 11. It was nice but a late night.

Today we'll be getting the girls' friend from a nearby town for the afternoon. They are out of school tomorrow for a teacher work day or something so she might spend the night. Soon I'm headed out to walk at my favorite walking trail before meeting Mark and the kids at the bookstore for coffee and magazines.

Later this afternoon I plan to get my craft corner thinned out. There are boxes and old suitcases full of junk that I just don't need to keep. Things like fabric from the mid-80s we've saved for quilt backing and such as that.

Yesterday I started some adorable needle-felted balls. I left the felting loose so I can wet felt them the rest of the way. The first attempts at this were very successful and didn't take but a few minutes. I'll share pics tomorrow.

Desk Hunting!

We're going to eat our Wheaties, take our showers and head out to find a desk! I am hopeful. Wish us luck!


(former way too big desk)

It really doesn't look all that big in this picture, but this thing is almost the size of a twin bed! Mark dragged it home from a used office supply place and we used it for a long time in the living room. We decided to rearrange and move the computer to the dining area on a smaller desk and took this one down. The drawer space is unbelievable. If anyone local would like to have it, please let me know and you can come collect it out of our garage.

Blue Doors

What is it about a blue door? This one used to be the pinkish-beige color that the trim is but the cats and other animals had weathered it terribly. I mixed the blue from our hutches and the sky blue from the girls' bedroom walls and got this beautiful azure.


(I had to take these at night because during the daylight hours the sun comes in so strong I may as well have painted it black)


(it matches my mantle display too)

We have an odd living room layout. Its a large room with entry, bedroom, back door and dining area entrances all on one half. The other half has a large window, a huge display wall and a smaller wall(broken by the dining entrance). Basically we have 90% of our furniture in the back half of the room. It is more than a little crowded.


(this shows the back half, you can just see the dining room entry to the left of the light switch next to the vacuum cleaner)


(hutches flank the loveseat now centered on the wall, and there are two chairs in the middle of the room-right on the halfway line-you can see these in the second pic of the door)

There is no other practical way to arrange things due to the traffic patterns from the four entrances. Anyway, that's one of the reasons I painted it a dark color, it brings a balance to the side of the room with little furniture. Its has more of a visual presence than when it was the lighter color. That and I love the color.

Curtains are hung!

We finished painting a few weeks ago* but hadn't put the room back together since we got busy with the pool liner and other things. Over the weekend I managed to get to Lowe's so I could get a 1/2-inch copper pipe to use as a curtain rod, a few brackets, and a light bulb for the kitchen fixture(which didn't light up so we might have a bigger problem). Anyway, Mark and I put the curtains up last night and here is the result! I'm very pleased but wish I would have measured with the curtains actually on the rod before we cut it. I used a tape measure and it looked like it would work but the curtains actually hang down about an inch inside where I thought they would. It ended up being ok but it would have been better if they were out an inch on either side. Sigh. I'm still searching for finial ideas. I saw some homemade ones out of sculpey(?) clay but I get horrible headaches when that sort of thing is baked in my house. Maybe some glass door knobs or something will come along.

*Except for the trim. We've narrowed it down to either Bistro White or Betsy's Linen(both Valspar colors from Lowe's) It has to work with our paint and the girls' turquoise too since we need to do their room.


(taken from doorway)

My next project is to make some tie-backs for them out of a coordinating fabric. I was thinking of using a cobalt blue, it really sparkles with the green fabric and storm-colored walls. However, with the quilt on the bed having lots of warm golds, red-oranges and purples, I'm going to go with purple. I have lots of scraps left of the quilt border fabric so that's the likely candidate. My plan is to make a tube about 2 inches wide by 7 inches long and put two snaps at the end so I can undo them easily for nighttime.


(taken from bathroom doorway, the paint color is almost dead-on in this pic)

Yes, I need to de-junk-pile again. I'm thinking of getting a piece of tempered glass to fit the top of my dresser. That way I could put doilies and other decorations under it and not have to worry about getting make-up on them or the cats destroying them. That would be a while down the road though.


(taken from corner opposite bathroom, no flash)


(bed wall)

Now for the headboard. I had a vision last night of what I want to do for a headboard. It involves plywood, padding, and a rich red-orange rusty fabric covering(that I have to find). It may not come to be, the cats may end up keeping fabric off the headboard, but I'm hoping they won't. If not, there is another idea I'm exploring. Old window frames with fabric covered panels inserted where the glass goes. Or, if nothing else, I could use paint in the color I want and just do some wooden slats. I don't know for sure but I can't wait to get started on it!


(entire bed wall)

We also have to decide what to do with our shelves. This last picture shows a LOT of wall above the bed and shelves! Wow! Our bed will probably be on risers by the time everything is done but I haven't ordered them yet(no stores in our area sell them). So, do we paint the shelves to match the walls? Paint them in a coordinating color(I'm thinking a deep, almost black plum)? Trade them for something else? What? I have another shelf identical to the blue one(on Mark's side of the bed) so we could get truly symetrical if we wanted to. I like my shelf because it is slightly taller and holds taller books but since I've got my books on the bookcase in the hall, this isn't necessary now. Any input is more than welcome!

A Lucky Break!

I know a few people know about me losing my BAM bag(booksamillion) but I didn't mention it specifically on my blog. The last time I remembered having it was when we went fishing at Gladewater Lake, back when I thought I saw a baby alligator way back on June 8th. It couldn't be found for our last camping trip. Thinking it was stashed in a pile somewhere, I didn't worry about it. Things have been busy since we got back and the bag's whereabouts were pushed out of my mind... sort of. It nagged me that I couldn't find it. NAAAAGGGED ME. Bad.

I have literally torn the house apart several times looking for this bag. Its loss was the catalyst for my latest decluttering efforts. Finally I decided that I must have taken it to a park day and left it there, though I couldn't remember having it at the park since before the alligator trip. So, I drove to the lake to look in their lost and found, drove to the park and combed the woods, had false memories of putting it down and walking away, nightmares even. I do NOT lose things and not remember!


(bag booty included about 75 hexagons for my Victorian flower quilt, my peppermint essential oil, 3 pairs of scissors and my handmade hussif-sewing kit- with pocket made from one of my dad's few neckties from my early childhood, a pair of silver earrings and a pack of gum)



Anyway, this morning Amy was looking in the hutch, one of the blue ones, where we keep the guinea pig polar fleece and towel bedding. She spied MY BAG!!! YES!!! I didn't lose it!! Wooohoot!

In other news:

I slept past 9 this morning and did not do a dang thing all day long except eat and watch tv. My hip was killing me as well as the top of my foot(aggravated by swimming unfortunately and keeps me from walking a lot most days). I did manage to watch the girls swim for over an hour, make a pan of brownies and a batch of spaghetti sauce. Oh and laundry, I did some of that too. But no working on my shelves at all. Oh well, I have tomorrow.


(here they are, mostly done)

Just because my bag was found does not mean I'm slacking off on the decluttering! I'm hitting it hard and heavy tomorrow morning. I want to get some done before we do our "fun thing" with the kids, yet to be determined.