Happy List: #180
Hello, friends! Welcome back to the Happy List! Some of you have had a 4-day week. Some went back to school. Some of you have been dealing with all the wildfires in your state. I’ve been thinking of you all. I spent this week doing one of my least favorite things, making behind-the-scenes tweaks on this website, so thank you for your patience. It has been, shall we say, a character-building experience. I have a few more things to do, so I’m continuing to blog with fingers crossed. This week I did manage to share a new post about all the things we learned from gardening. I put a lot…
The Year of the Garden and What We Learned
2020 sure has been the year of the garden, hasn’t it? You thought I was going to say the year of bread making, didn’t you? Well, that too. So many people seem to have a renewed interest in growing all manner of fruits, veggies, herbs, and other plants while stuck at home with extra time on their hands during a global pandemic. Or maybe they just like dirt under their fingernails? That’s probably it. It definitely has been the year of the garden for our family. I don’t think we would have dove into gardening so heavily if this had been a normal year. Drastic times called for drastic measures…
Labor Day 2020
Happy Labor Day 2020! I had planned on a new project post for you today, but this weekend we had a “critical error” on the website. This is what I get for running an “update.” Thankfully, we had a FaceTime date with friends to distract me from the website not allowing me to do anything except gaze wistfully upon it. The distraction worked! We stayed up way too late laughing until we cried. Today, while I wish we were doing something exciting like playing at the beach, I am going to try and fix the last of the problems. Please cross your fingers for me that Wednesday’s regularly scheduled blog…
Happy List: #179
Hello! Much to the dismay of my children, remote school started yesterday. I kept our first day of school traditions alive, but it was strange without the usual pomp and circumstance associated with the first day of school. Our kids have 4 sixty minute classes per day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Cameras have to be on for the entire time class is in session so the teachers know they are engaged. They get a ten minute break between classes and there’s no homework. On Wednesdays their schedule is a little wacky because that’s when they have all the extra classes like PE, music, Spanish, etc. Personally, I like…
Found Decor in Previous Homes
I’ve found decor for my home in many different places including dumpsters, barns, sides of roads, and in a variety of the homes we’ve lived in. In my experience, people often leave items they no longer want in a house when they move out. It’s not like anyone ever calls these junk leavers to come back and get their broken ladder. Or whatever it is they left behind. No, we just grumble about it and continue moving into our new home. In my case, I grumble about it. Then I get excited about it when I realize I might be able to do something with that junk. Then I write…
Back Porch Shelves for Drink Storage
Some folks build shelves for important things like books. We build shelves for equally important things like drink storage. Reading is important, but have you ever been dehydrated? I rest my case. After living in our home for a year we had a pretty good idea of its problem areas. No, I’m not talking about the leaky roof, the rotting deck, or the oven that randomly switches the temperature display from Fahrenheit to Celsius. Do NOT get me sidetracked on the oven that is messing with me. We’ll be here all day. Today’s problem area was the back porch where we stored all of our canned and bottled drinks. Wait.…
Happy List: #178
Hello again! Welcome back to the Happy List! How has your week been? Ours has had a bit of a Groundhog Day feeling. That endless loop of hasn’t this happened before? Ha! This week on the blog I shared a big milestone as it relates to our curb appeal. I’m also proud of myself for keeping the weeds out front under control. Although, the extra thick layer of mulch I put down may have something to do with that. I also shared my strong conviction that there must be treasure hidden somewhere in our house. Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I should leave something for the next person…
Searching for Hidden Treasure in Our Home
I am convinced there must be hidden treasure in our home or somewhere on our property. Don’t laugh! It might not be probable, but it is possible. Our home is close to a quarter of a millennium old. You can’t tell me there haven’t been coins, letters, gold bars, jewelry, or cash hidden under a floorboard at some point in time. After all, I grew up reading Nancy Drew and watching Scooby-Doo. If that doesn’t make me an authority on mysteries and secret hiding places, I don’t know what does. There are several creaky floorboards in our house that are my top contenders for concealing hidden treasure. It’s not just…
The Colonial Farmhouse’s Curb Appeal
When we bought our Colonial Farmhouse I knew there was one thing that would instantly improve its curb appeal: actually being able to SEE the house. Funny how curb appeal works. If you can’t see past the curb there is no appeal. If you’ve been reading this blog for the past year (thank you), then you’ll know we’ve been working on that one facet of our Colonial Farmhouse’s curb appeal since the day we bought the place. Are we that slow or was the job just that large? Yes and yes. Yes, we are slow because we tackle things around here in spurts and starts. Yes, the job was just…
A Poem and Another Staycation Week
It’s another staycation week for our crew! I’m not sure how our quiet summer has zipped by so quickly. I feel like our days have been full, but not necessarily busy. I rather like it. I don’t know what we will be doing this week. Probably trying to decide if I’m buying school supplies or not buying school supplies. Ha! But seriously. Before I leave you to your own devices this week, I thought I’d share a poem I’ve enjoyed lately from Emily Dickinson. As imperceptibly as Grief The Summer lapsed away — Too imperceptible at last To seem like Perfidy — A Quietness distilled As Twilight long begun, Or…
