Who are you calling a pansy?

I spent a wonderful weekend enjoying the fruits of my labor.  I planted pansies in our planter out front last week, cleaned up the yard this weekend, and planted the peony that has been hanging out in the fridge for a few days.  Saturday afternoon was beautiful and we decided to take Molly out for an exploratory trip in the backyard.  She was a little nervous at first but she quickly began exploring the yard and all of the new smells and sights.  We kept her on her harness but let her play a little by herself.  The sun felt glorious on my pasty winter skin and I lay in the grass. I am afraid that we may have created a monster because she spent most of the weekend plotting how to get out and meowing mournfully at the door.
Its funny but I always took a yard for granted until I didn't have one.  As a kid and later a teenager, yard work held no interest for me, in fact I avoided it like the plague.  When we lived in our apartment, we didn't have a private green space.  While that meant that I didn't have to tackle mowing the lawn and cleaning up branches and leaves, I never felt comfortable enjoying the pleasures of the outdoors, sitting in the grass, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio, choosing my favorite flowers to plant, etc.  Now that I have my own yard, I take pleasure in cleaning and caring for my yard.  I tackled removing the old rose bush and detritus left behind by the old owner with no complaining or procrastinating.  For my parents I am sure that it would be shocking!

Spring!

Spring has arrived!

It has been better busy around here the last few weeks. I was out of town last weekend for my knitting group's annual retreat, recovering from strep throat, and dealing with a sick kitty. Molly has been having some issues with gas since we got her and we took her to the vet to make sure that there wasn't something seriously wrong. After an x-ray and expressing some glands they gave us some antibiotics and recommended switching her diet to a gluten and grain free variety (read expensive). Since then she has had some diarrhea and even worse gas then before. It is pretty obvious she isn't feeling well and I can’t help but feel guilty for causing it. Hopefully she will adapt to her new diet and start feeling better soon.


In the midst of all this it seems that spring has arrived! I am excited to see what all of the green sprouts will turn into. I have already found some crocuses and am hoping that there will be some tulips thrown into the mix. It is a little like waiting for Christmas!

Better Late Than Never and Let Sleeping Cats Lie

I have been working on a very late baby blanket for Scott's cousin's new baby.  I was hoping to have it done by the time he was born, however, due to a combination of my own procrastination and the baby coming early it will be a late gift!  I really like the pattern, it is the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stich and Bitch by Debbie Stoller.  I bought this book when I first started knitting and to be honest this is the first thing I have made from the pattern section, however it is a super easy pattern and I love the way that it is turning out!

She looks so innocent when she is sleeping doesn't she? Who would think that in her spare time she does this?

Yes folks, at one time this was a complete box.  Our house is completely covered by small pieces of cardboard.

A Snowy Wednesday's Thoughts

The snow is falling softly outside the window this morning, blanketing our lawn and trees.  This is probably one of my favorite parts of owning a house (with the exception of shoveling the driveway).  I love looking out the windows at our yard in all seasons, seeing the subtle changes from day to day.  The experience of homeownership is unlike anything I have experienced before, and although it comes with a little bit of fear of the unknown, it is immensely satisfying.  I feel fortunate that we have the means to be able to afford this privilege.

Coming to a screeching halt

Well, I feel like we have come to a screeching halt on our home improvement endeavors.  The dining room light we ordered didn't work out, it turned out that it didn't have a hardwiring option despite evidence on the website to the contrary.  We haven't decided on a rug and although we have the primer and paint I have yet to start painting the bathroom.  Hopefully, in the next few weeks we can get it together and start to make some progress!

Change is afoot!

Hopefully there will be some changes in our Bungalow in the next few weeks.  We ordered a new dining room light from West Elm, have finally decided on some paint colors for the guest bath and our bedroom, and are almost done organizing the basement where we will be moving Molly-cat's litter box.  Future projects include actually painting various rooms (which I am afraid will require scraping and patching the walls where the previous paint has bubbled), deciding on a rug for the living room, installing shelving inside a few of our kitchen cabinets and closets, and the list goes on.  I am finally starting to feel that our house is coming together.  This weekend in anticipation of dinner guests I hung some of our artwork and cleaned up some of the shelving.  I know that this is going to be an ongoing work in progress, but I am pleased with the results so far!

A roof over my head

We finally had the roof replaced last week and now have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we shouldn't have to replace it for another 30 years.  The whole process took two days and with the exception of tromping on a few plants didn't cause too much disruption.  The arrival of the roofers did startle me a little bit.  I had stayed home that day to take care of Molly as she spent her first full day in her new home and recovered from being fixed.  I was dozing on the sofa when I heard footsteps outside the back door.  I would be lying if I said it didn't spook me before I realized what was going on.  The rest of the day proceeded with no small amount of banging and hammering which Molly took in stride.  I was a little worried the noise might scare her, but I guess she was used to the noise of the shelter.

We had asked the roofers to take pictures of the underlying structure of the roof so that we could see the condition of the wood.  We were concerned that they would have to replace a large portion of the roof running up the total cost of the job.  In the end it didn't turn out to be too bad, even though the pictures look pretty scary.  We had expected a certain amount of damage around the chimney where we had a leak due to the improperly installed flashing.  In addition, we were really worried about the roof of our addition.  At a house warming party a few weeks ago one of our neighbors mentioned that there was a problem with the roof.  It was previously shingled but because it is almost flat, we decided to install a rubber roof instead.  While not attractive, it is the right thing to do.  It will last longer and won't be as prone to leaks as shingles on a flat surface.  We were happy with our contractor and with the results.  His quote was fair and he didn't charge us for the wood that they had to replace.  I like the color of the shingles and siding that we chose and think that it will look even better when we get around to repainting the woodwork.  Now we can tackle the next item on our extensive list (repairing and refinishing the windows, replacing the gutters?), although it may be awhile before we can afford to do some of them!

It is so easy to judge...

I used to look at parents who slept with their children with no small amount of judgment.  What are they thinking?  By giving into their children's demands they, aren't teaching them to sleep on their own and to show independence.  Why couldn't they be strong and ignore the their crying for the greater good?  What a feel I was.  I quickly learned how a sweet face can break your heart to the point you are willing to do anything to make that child (or in this case cat) feel better.

This morning I woke up around 2 am to the sound of Molly crying in the guest room where we had sequestered her for the night.  We have every intention of giving her free reign of the house including our room, but we want to watch her for a few days to make sure that she isn't getting into anything she shouldn't.  Oddly enough Scott didn't wake up until I poked him so that he would suffer along with me.  I guess the recent article about a study proving that men don't hear a baby crying in the night is right!  We checked on her to make sure that something wasn't wrong.  After all, she is still recovering from being fixed.  As I am sure you can guess, she was fine, but just wanted some attention.  I gave in... I couldn't help myself... I decided that I would sleep in the guest room for the rest of the morning so that she would have some company.  How could this happen?? I always considered myself a rational human being. As I fell asleep with Molly curled up beside me I contemplated my future as a mother.  If I gave in so quickly to my cat, I don't stand a chance with a baby, Scott will have to be the tough one.

She's Here!

We brought home our new kitty Molly home tonight.  Molly is a 4 year tabby that we adopted from the local animal shelter.  She is recovering from being fixed but is doing really well.  She is already scouting out her new digs and looking for affection.  We are very proud parents right now!

Bringing Home Baby

A furry baby! Tonight we are getting ready for bringing home a new furry addition (or two) to our family.  This has been one of the hardest decisions we have had to make.  We set out to get an older cat and twice we thought that we had found the right one, but through various circumstances it just wasn't to be.  Tonight we went to the shelter once again hoping that the third time would be the charm and after a little hunting, I think that we found the right one.  We still have to go through the adoption process so there is still the chance that it might not work out, but I am hopeful that tomorrow night we will have at least one new family member.  Her name is Miley (I know, lame name right?) and she is about 4 years old.  We are also hoping to adopt a second cat at the same time and we are trying to decide between two older male cats.  We really do want to open our home to an older cat and we thought that it would be easier to get two at the same time in order to avoid territory issues.  I will keep you posted!

Help us decide!

We would really like to replace the chandelier in our dining room. The one that is currently there is okay, but looks kind of cheap up close and just isn't my style. It also holds about 6 bulbs which seem to go out quite frequently (can you spot which one is out in the picture?).  We have been thinking a lot about the type of light that we would like to replace it with. I think that I would like to go a little more contemporary as a counter balance to some of the other things in the room, such as my great grandmother's buffet. The only other furniture in the room is the dining table (which the previous owner kindly left us) and our Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs. Below are a few different pendant lights that I really like. What do you think?

A Birthday Contemplation

This weekend was a combination of blessings and curses. The first blessing, my lovely mother in law was in town and offered to help us get the house organized. She and Scott did a herculean effort and the house is beginning to look like a house rather than a pile of boxes. The curse was the stomach virus that put me out of commission for the weekend and caused me to cancel my birthday plans for a second year in a row. This beings me to second blessing, a second bathroom. Never before have I been so grateful that we now have a second bathroom, allowing me to pray to the porcelain god in privacy. Sometimes it is the little things in life!

The Hot and the Cold

On the upside, we now have a new fancy thermostat on the downside, our bedroom light and an outlet in the living room have gone out. The last time this happened, Scott got up on the bed and took out the lighting fixture. This was not before trying to locate the breaker to turn off the power. When he took down the fixture, a whole mass of old wires fell out and we both let out expletives that I won't share. After fiddling around with it we gave up for the night and Scott went to put the fixture back until we had daylight. It was at that point that the light turned back on. Looks like we didn't have the right breaker afterwards and the fixture was hot the whole time. Oops.
Tonight when I got home I noticed that the bedroom light was flickering and the memory of that mess of wires came rushing back. In the grand tradition of so many before me, I ignored it while I made dinner and let in the furnace man to install our new thermostat. It was at that point that I noticed the living room lamp had turned itself off. We either had a ghost or there was a larger problem than just the bedroom lamp. As I sit in the semi-darkness, the light has flickered once and then went out. I am afraid that this will have to wait until tomorrow, we have to figure out how to work our new fancy thermostat now as it is a little chilly.

Lack of Motivation

Have you ever had so much to do that you simply couldn't do any of it? It is just easier to sit on the sofa and get sucked into a 4 hour mini series rather than face the boxes that still need to be unpacked, the closet that needs yet another layer of paint, or the mountain of laundry that needs to be washed and folded! Hopefully the imminent arrival of my mother-in-law will give me the kick in the pants that I need.

Enjoying Home Ownership or My Weekends Are No Longer My Own

This weekend Scott and I decided that it was time to tackle one of the projects on our list that was way overdue, painting the hall closet. I am sure that some of you are thinking "How can painting the hall closet be at that top of our to do list? How bad can it possibly be?" Let's just say my nickname for the closet is "the mouth of hell." One of the former owners decided that painting the closet in glossy (shudder) bright red paint would be an excellent idea! This combined with the lack of hanging space made the closet virtually unusable.

After careful consideration we decided to go with Behr Premium Plus Paint and Primer in Swiss Coffee. I know this will sound like a commercial but the paint has done an excellent job of covering the red paint without the extra step of priming the walls. Unfortunately the walls were not in good shape and we took down some of the shelving and non-functional hooks so I spent quite a while patching the plaster. I have to thank my father for teaching my how to spackle dry wall as a child, this practice came in very handy! We were a little concerned that the original paint contained lead and the the sanding would present a health hazard so were were careful to wear face masks.

We still have one more coat to do and we need to get a saw in order to take down the remaining strips of hooks (you don't want to know) but even in its rough state it is a huge improvement!

My Current Obsession

This past spring I discovered the brilliant textile artist Chris Roberts-Antieau. I love the way that she combines traditional textile methods such as quilting and needlepoint with humor and bold designs. It is both a nod to folk art and a sophisticated use of color and texture. I will be visiting her booth at the American Craft Exposition in Evanston on August 28th-30th!

http://www.chrisroberts-antieau.com/000_home.html

The mystery of double knitting and why I am a visual learner…

After scrapping my original idea and yarn for a baby blanket, I picked a pattern that looked simple yet elegant and seemed to require no seaming. I should have known that it was too good to be true! The pattern I picked turned out to have a double-knitted portion in the middle. This is territory that I have never ventured into before. While I have made some inroads in lace, very comfortable with socks, and have completed several sweaters, this technique seems mysterious and magical. It allows you to knit a fabric that is actually two fabrics knitted at the same time. It creates a fabric that is warm, stretchy, and best of all, has no wrong side.
I spent about 2 hours trying to figure it out from books and the internet to no avail. I guess that I will just have to get someone to show me!

Gearing up for Baby Knitting

Several of my friends are expecting later this summer and I am gearing up for all of the baby knitting that I am going to do. I have already completed on Baby Bolero from the book One Skein and I am working on a baby blanket. I ordered the yarn for it last week however I think I am going to return it. I am not really crazy about the color or the boucle texture. I may have to rethink my yarn choices!

Vegas Baby!

My hubby and I have been away the last few days in Las Vegas for his niece's wedding. We rented a house with several family members instead of staying in a hotel. I was a little worried about how it would work out, but over all we had a great time and saved a lot of money. It was nice that we didn't have to get dressed for breakfast and we had a private pool. I wish I had pictures but my camera wasn't working! The wedding was held at Sunset Gardens and was beautiful! It was a short but very touching ceremony and we had a great time at the reception. We were having such a great time at the reception that we continued the party at the newly built Planet Hollywood Casino. The next day was rough, but we made it back home safely.