Some Stuff I'm Growing...

And it only took 5 Trips to Walmart

I hated the first yellow I put on the living room walls, but the second attempt turned out well, until I ran out of paint. That was three trips.

And then I did the blue in my bedroom and wasn't so sure about it at first, but then, when I decided to cover the brown accent wall, I knew I would like it after all. But again, I ran out of paint and headed out this morning for my 5th can.

And I like it.

I mowed. It snowed.

I spent a good chunk of Thursday outside, in a short-sleeve shirt, gardening and pulling a hammy while starting the mower for the first time this year. While the front yard has that weird brown grass (is it Bermuda grass?) the back yard is almost entirely lush, green and weedy. It proved to be quite an adventure as I was turning the compost bin, I found all kinds of interesting things: first, the biggest black widow I've found to date here...easily bigger than a fifty cent piece. Fortunately, I was wearing gloves. Next, I found the clippings from the forsythia that the team from Vintage had cut back in the fall. The cuttings were blooming!

But this morning, the effects of a Rocky Mountain blizzard are catching up to us. I covered my blueberry bush and I'm hoping my newly sprouted tomatoes and squash are warm enough inside the cold frame I built. I suppose it is only March after all. I hate March.

So Sad

The three trees in March 2007.
















So, with not enough paint to effect the kind of magic-wand change I was hankering for yesterday, I went outside to whip up a batch of Vitamin D. That led me to observe the state of my yard and garden. Which led me to the sad discovery that the three trees that had escaped the wind storm and the ice storm with no damage whatsoever were DEAD. So dead that one of them pulled out by the roots. I noticed that these were looking poorly last summer when they started to loose their leaves, but I don't really know what they are and I was hoping they would bounce back. I don't know what happened to them, but all three of them just inexplicably croaked.

I need you to understand though, the comedy of me cutting these trees down all by myself with a bow saw and a hack saw, a hammer and chisel, and the sweat of my girly brow. Just because one came out by the roots, don't think that removing the other two was a simple job. And I may have mis-estimated the size of the largest one, which is going to need a little trim before I can drag it past the air conditioner...but that will have to wait for a day when my arms aren't like sticks of butter...or if the chain-saw fairy arrives. Picture the most comedic moment with me rocking the largest tree loose, ripping a hole in my sleeve, wiping my forehead with a leather glove, that I realized too late, I wore while picking up dog poop out of the yard.

My jeans fit better today, though. And that's all I'm after, really.

I've got QUILTS!

Hit an estate sale this weekend and got a deal on these quilts and quilt-tops. I am estimating these to be from the 30s and 40s, made of floursacking (flour and sugar were packaged in fabric bags, which thrifty housewives kept and used for quilts). Most of them are entirely hand-stitched and hand quilted. I'm probably going to sell most of them, but I like them too much right now to let them go. I will probably be more motivated when the credit card bills comes next time!

KISS

Keep it simple sweetie.

That's what we did with Christmas decorations this year. Since we are headed up north for the festivities, we really couldn't justify a real tree this year. So when I found this ultra skinny tree at the thrift store (18 dollars, I'll take it and thank you very much) I figured it would be great for next year's craft fair. I couldn't resist putting in the white sticks, though, so at least SOMETHING was "real." Honestly, by the time I got the Yankee Candle to mimic the right tree smell, it would have been cheaper to get the real tree....

I love my husband's take on the nativity scene.

Been reading too much Country Living....

....and Pottery Barn catalogs.

The Final Cut

So here's what we came up with as the final cut for arranging the furniture. I am flat out thrilled with the result. I still have some wires to hide and my white cupboard to wedge into place, but this is the gist of it. I'm ready for company!

Like a Rich Man through the Eye of a Needle...

So also is squeezing a piano through my bedroom door.

It took me several days to figure out how to arrange the furniture with the new couch and tv-stand. It felt like I couldn't think or get anything done until I did. So after several attempts, I finally decided that the piano needed to go down the hall, around the corner and into our bedroom. Easier said than done:

I had to take the door off the laundry closet, unhook the dryer and push it into my room. Then I took the door off my room. And then the pushing started. And the measuring, straightening, and reapeatedly climbing over the top of the piano to pull for awhile before going back to pushing.

When I finally got it to the door, I realized that while the piano technically "fit" through the door, it tilts backward slightly. After much standing around looking at it, I propped it forward with a screwdriver, which got so stuck, I had to hit it with a hammer, which rammed into the hinges which caused sparks to fly!

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, when I got it through the door and to the last part, there was nothing to hold on to to push. So picture me running at it like I was trying to break a door down...

I decided to take pictures just in case I died, so somebody could collect my Darwin Award.

And I'm so sore today, the only thing that could coax me off the couch is another pound of candy corn. That's right..I said another.

A Giant Leathery Hug

Ok, like a year ago, I won the Pioneer Woman's photography contest and got a big ol' gift card to J.C. Penney. And I toyed with using it for this couch...remember?

But of course, we used that for Christmas and the couch once again, became just a dream.

But as we were cleaning out the house this past week, I turned this mental corner in my mind. I just thought, you know, it might be time to stop acting kind of pathetic and buying cheap crap now. We can save up for something better. Everything was selling so well at the garage sale, I called and asked Robb if I could get rid of our couch. I figured we could live without one for a while and it would be good motivation to save for a new one.

Of course, everyone thinks my relationship with couches is so funny...well it IS a little odd. But your couch is like your clothes and your car and when it doesn't fit your personality, it's just kind of annoying. Seriously, in the grand scheme of life, I know it is just a thing, but it is a thing you sit on a lot and invite other people to sit on, and spend time with your family on, etc. etc.

So one of my friends casually mentions, "Hey, have you tried the Lucky Horseshoe?" Nope, never heard of it. It's a scratch and dent furniture store out on 412. So on Monday, with that much information, I meandered out that direction, after stopping and looking at my other gyp-joints and junque-piles...which were well stocked with UGLY couches.

In my mind I knew a couple of things for sure: Robb would need to love anything I picked out. Not that he's so difficult, but I have made him live with a lot of things he hates over the years, and I just really wanted him to be happy with what I picked out. Secondly, I would not pay retail, not even at an outlet store. I know the markup on furniture and I just flat out refuse to pay it. With where we are in life and who we are trying to honor with our resources, I just couldn't justify paying full price or even close to full price for anything.

The Lucky Horseshoe is a dusty, crowded, pile of furniture shoe-horned into a small store front, with about 50 different pieces of furniture out front that couldn't possibly fit inside the store....I have no idea what they do when it rains. They've been there for about 6 weeks and used to be in a location two towns north of us.

I squeezed in the front door and laid eyes on the prize. Not sure what to expect, I checked the price tag. It was so reasonable, I fulled expected the entire back of the couch must be ripped off. I inquired. A scratch on the back of the arm. Some dings in the wooden skirt. The obligatory furniture fabric underneath torn loose. That's all.
Robb came and looked at it, and it was simply, a no-brainer. At less than one third the original price, it was brand new, but not so perfect that we needed to scream at our kids continuously for even looking at it. As Hannah so eloquently put it, I didn't need to pay an extra six hundred dollars to put my own dings in it! And the best part? I already had that exact amount saved up.

So here it is: it is just like the one I dreamed of a year ago, only nicer! I'm not a health-wealth gospel person AT ALL. But I feel really blessed....it was nothing for God. It was the littlest thing in the world for the Ruler of the Universe to drop a couch into my life. It was a piece of cake for Him. But it's a really big deal to me. He actually cares about me. He actually cares if I have a couch that I actually like. I know...I know it's just a thing. I know there are other needs out there....way more important ones. I don't know why He chose to bless us, other than just because He's God and He is nice like that and wanted to encourage us a little bit with a nice thing. But I said it in the store and I'm saying it now....This was God setting this all up for us. I'm not trying to be cheesy. I don't think I deserve it. I'm just really grateful.

Now, if I could just figure out how to arrange the room....

SOLD

Here are a couple of goodies that sold at the fair this weekend. Since they were new, you didn't get a chance to see them and I thought you might like to....especially my friends who gave me the great hand-painted tiles in the brightly colored piece which could be used as a back-splash, table top, or simple wall-hanging.

quick update

One more day of the show, and I (and about 50 other vendors) are hoping that business picks up tomorrow. I sold just two things today around 10 a.m. this morning and then the day went on 'til 8 p.m. Yesterday was pretty good, though. I had a great time networking, however, today. You never know how things will play out when you are able to connect with other people....your ideas plus their ideas....it gets interesting.

I got sick on Wednesday night and lost my voice, not to mention the craziness involved with getting the show together with more ideas than time to execute them. When Thursday morning rolled around, Robb got ready to leave for work and tried to kiss me goodbye and I just cracked....like a fragile little egg. I just burst into tears and begged him not to leave me. And you know what? He took a vacation day and stayed with me. He took the kids to school and got me coffee throughout the day and just generally was my hero. I feel so spoiled and a little ashamed for falling apart, but I was just so freakin' tired and spent and, as we say at our house, frail. I must have told him ten times how much it meant to me to have him be there for me. It was just one of those moments...

Today, my girlfriend Jasmine came to sit with me and help. She helped the day go by so quickly. It made the day very enjoyable, even without making much by way of sales.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow. All total, I have sold 9 out of 40 pieces. I won't feel too badly if it's not all gone because it will be good to have some stuff in my Etsy store. I've met some wonderful people and I have so enjoyed the display and merchandising part of selling that I don't usually get to do with the online store. It's fun to see people's faces as they study each piece. I've gotten a lot of offers to teach some classes, which I will most likely do, when I can. This is the kind of craft you don't mind sharing your tips about since everyone makes it differently.

Enjoy the photos, Mom!