finishes and progress!

life has been busy here... a "big" upgrade started here in our house 2 months ago, when the 4ft.  lightbulb in the laundry room died. what started as a quite simple "hey, Dave, can you please put a new light in the laundry room fixture" turned into:

1. buying a NEW light fixture for the laundry room. (in the 13 years since it was installed, those 4ft bulbs became obsolete, requiring another fixture altogether...) 
2. drywalling the laundry room ceiling
3. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the laundry room
4. painting the laundry room ceiling
5. installing new "luxury" vinyl plank flooring in the laundry room
6. closing the access hole between the  laundry room and the master bathroom
7. installing new "luxury" vinyl plank flooring in the mudroom
8. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the mudroom
9. painting all the trim in the laundry room (white)
10. painting all the trim in the mudroom (tan)
11. painting the bathroom ceiling (!?)
12. painting the bathroom wainscoting
13. replacing the sink base cabinet in the kitchen
14. getting a new sink/faucet for the kitchen
15. installing new quartz countertops in the kitchen
16. installing a new granite island countertop in the kitchen
17. finishing ALL. THE. TRIM. in the kitchen
18. painting all the trim in the kitchen (white)
19. painting MORE trim in the kitchen (yellow)
20. i think that's the end of the list... 

so, actually, our *tiny* home improvement project became a lot like the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. (there are several books like that- If You Give A Moose A Muffin... If You Give A Pig A Pancake...) I'm sure you're familiar with these delightful children's books...

anyway- NOT complaining at all! we really stalled out in the home improvement/DIYprojects in the last 10 years or so. it's really nice to have these 3 rooms DONE! 

so: on to the quilty stuff- i know that's why you really came! 

February is aqua- and i have more than i thought... i made all these HSTs, in the "magic numbers" of 3, 6 and 9. (read more about them, and magic numbers here.)

while cleaning/tidying some of my baskets in the sewing room last month, i came across these fabric sayings on a panel. i divided them up into quilty sayings, Christmas sayings and bible verses. i decided to work with the quilty sayings first. 

i remembered that i had some pieces left over from a Kona cotton honey bun after piecing this quilt for my 3rd granddaughter, AK. i thought to improvise log cabin piecing around each saying. again, i used the "magic numbers" theory, cutting each block/rectangle some variation of a 6", 9" or 12" square or rectangle. 

 and finally- here's the shoo fly and donut quilt (one of them) that I pieced during RSC21. it's all finished and on its way to the PA Relief Sale. 

so, now you're caught up on the recent happenings in our neck of the woods. (mostly, anyway!) thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to Angie, our hostess with the mostest for all things RSC. and stay tuned: i started a few more RSC projects that I'll be sharing about shortly... 

if you care to see our kitchen in its raw, recently purchased state, and follow along on our progress in fixing it up, just click here. 

and here's a bit of the back story (and cool features!) of our mud room. (just read the first couple posts. they're the most relevant)

why i rarely have time to write in my blog anymore...

the college kids came home last weekend (what a wonderful mother's day present!) and even though we have some extra hands to help, it's still very busy around here!

here's the list that i wrote on the mudroom blackboard. it's almost done, and we're working very steadily to keep ahead of things.

I'm finding that i have several choices concerning blogging:

#1: i can write about what i should be doing
#2: i can write about what i am doing
#3: i can be out there doing what i should be doing

lately, it's been #3, so the posts are few and far between!

it was a stroke of genius on my part!

this morning we made play-dough. we had some previously, but it's all dried out and yucky now, so it was time for a new batch.

first, mix together the dry ingredients. try not to get them all over the place and make a huge mess!

next, mix together the wet ingredients, adding the food coloring BEFORE the oil. then cook the mixture on the stove, stirring constantly. don't burn the play-dough, and don't burn yourself!



when it's done, the play-do will form a ball in the pan. turn out onto a plate to cool.



now it's ready to play with. gather dull butter knives, rolling pins and cookie cutters.



an added benefit is the play-dough is the same color as the mud room floor! (or nearly so...)


Home made Play-dough


1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 T cream of tartar

mix together.

in sauce pan mix:
2 cups water
10 drops food coloring
2 T oil

cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. will form up into a ball. knead, cool and have fun! store in an airtight container.

he's mr. neat, and i'm mrs. tidy

we are so all about being neat and tidy around here. no, that wasn't sarcasm, why do you ask? anyway...now that we are slowly finishing stuff around here, I'm trying to teach (or re-teach) the kids to pick up after themselves, and put something away when they are done with it. and while I'm at it, that would be a good lesson for Dave to learn, too! she said fondly.

we do have these handy storage baskets in the mud room, and they are perfect for all those hats, gloves, mittens and lightweight coats. every one has their own basket, and even A and B know to put their stuff away when they come inside.

but wait! what is that furry hat i see in the bottom basket?


it's not a hat! it's the cat! we store her in the basket. cuts down on the cat hair all over. because remember, we are all about neat and tidy around here!

country living- not for the faint-hearted!

most of us have been thoroughly enjoying our transition to the country. i find it very satisfying to teach my children the practical things of life, and strive for a level of self-sufficiency and provision that is uncommon in today's world. while we'll never be totally self-sufficient, and don't anticipate even trying to meet that goal, there is a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that we are heading towards (and might i dare to say living?) a lifestyle of simple Christian agrarianism.

so, all those lofty and idealistic thoughts aside, there is the practical and down to earth reality of living in the country. it's not all gentle streams babbling on their way to the river, beautiful scenery and idyllic wildlife glimpsed at dawn.

here's some of the reality that is our life:

*tractor ruts in the front yard

*mud as far as the eye can see

*chicken poop on the front walk

*tractor ruts in the back yard

*don't even think about mulching the flower beds! the chickens like the mulch for a dust bath

*chicken poop on the side walk

*5 gallon buckets strewn about seemingly everywhere

*what little bit of mulch the chickens don't scratch up, the pigs will root up

*tractor ruts in the side yard

*did i mention the mud?

it's a good thing we have a *mud* room! the mud around here last week was unbelievable! here's a picture of the doormats in the mud room. shoes everywhere. we don't even have this many people in our family!

and that's all i have to say about that!

this is the last post about the mud room- I PROMISE!

well, i guess I'm ready to sort-of, almost, maybe, kinda-sorta call the mud room done. at least, I'll stop talking about it every other post. ( and i know that you're eternally grateful!) i saw this sign at a post over on CDW, and immediately knew that i would love to have it for my mud room. so i scrounged around in our ample wood pile, found some paint and an old paintbrush, and made this little sign- for practically no $$$!

I'm ridiculously pleased with it, and keep walking out to our nice and clean, bright and cheery (and FINISHED) mud room to look at it. it's silly, really, i know, but i can't seem to help myself. i even hung it myself, and after a trial run, managed to hang it centered in the doorway. (Dave informed me that if i had asked a professional to hang it, it would only have needed to be done once. but the professional is supposed to be working on the kitchen...)

since i'm considering the mud room "done", in the next few days i'll be taking down the running to-do list from the mud room (in the side bar), and replacing it with our overwhelming current kitchen re-do list. (just in case you want to follow along on the blow-by-blow progress!)

the sign is hanging in the doorway between the mud room and laundry room. technically, the mud is supposed to stop about 6 feet before this, on our door mat, but technicalities have never bothered me before!