Pardon the Garden

Confessions of a lazy wannabe homesteader

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3 hours

January 20, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

Three hours to get a single wall taped, primed, and painted. And it really could use a 3rd coat, but I’m avoiding it at the moment. And hoping that maybe once things are put back together and the curtains are sewn and hung and the pictures are on the wall that no one will notice the fact that I suck at painting, or that the ‘edge lock’ painters tape failed and the trim has bits of paint on them.

On to walls 2-4.

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Toasty toes

January 20, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

Strange – I’ve gone most of my cold winter hibernation not having the desire to really sit down and knit or spin. And then the other day it really hit me hard, so I finished this pair of socks I’ve been working on for what feels like forever.  And I sat down at the wheel to spin, and now I’m 3/4ths of the way done with the plum fiber I was working on.  And I ordered new fiber (not that I needed it).

We got a lovely snow yesterday, though the roads were awful, and they’re calling for more snow overnight tonight. I have a project to keep busy this weekend – painting our home office. I had a hard time picking out a color, and I finally decided on one called “Satin Weave” – but now I’m second-guessing myself because in the store the paint chip looked a lot more yellow than the off white/tan I wanted. But I did the whole “tape the chip to the wall in the room” thing to make sure it looked right throughout the day, and it did, so we’ll see. I have to tape and prime the walls first (paneling, not my favorite thing to paint over but I certainly have more than my fair share of experience with it).  Hopefully, when all is said and done, I’ll come away with a really lovely new color for the office so I can sew and craft and work feeling more at home and less like I’m in a dark cave.

Posts home, knitting

On a January morning

January 15, 2012 Marie 2 Comments

This is not an every day occurrence. I wish I could regale you with stories of some sort of tradition we have around the house. Or talk lovingly about how awesome eating dinner at the table like an effing adult feels (those moments are few and far between despite drawing ever closer to my 30s – NOT at all how I pictured my life and how I’d feel when I was a kid). I’d like to pretend that everything about my life is how I want it, and how I love and cherish the little things such as a simple breakfast.  And some days are like that. Today, dear readers, is not that day.

I do wish, sometimes, that my life was like this every Sunday – homemade bread, fresh-squeezed orange juice (SO GOOD!!), a menagerie of foods to indulge on while chatting with the family about plans for the day, things that need done, etc. If I were living my ideal/dream life I’d be in an old farmhouse with maybe a rooster crowing in the background while things sizzle on the stove, the eggs would be fresh from the coop, homemade breakfast would be at least an every weekend thing, and we’d all sit down at the table together as a family and children would entertain us with stories as we eat. Then maybe we’d all go off on our separate ways, or maybe we’d take a trip to the used book store to pick up some new reading material, and maybe just perhaps a quick stop into the fabric shop to pick up some pretty fabric for a certain child’s new pajamas. And then we’d all collapse back at the house to read, craft, draw, and play. Or maybe we’d pack up a picnic and and go lounge in the sun, children and adults reading and lazing about enjoying a warm, summer Sunday. Or maybe we’d go pick fresh berries from the property and can up a batch of homemade jam, so we can savor the tastes of summer when it’s the middle of winter with a foot of snow on the ground and not a single berry in sight.

It’s all very pollyannaish. I realize that. And maybe it’s a silly dream. I’m a silly girl, sometimes. I know nothing is ever perfect, and rarely do things ever go how you want them to. But a girl can dream.

(It was a very lovely breakfast, even if my family does think I’m crazy for suddenly deciding that we need to start eating at the table instead of in front of the TV. Eating at the table, in my opinion, is a lost art that I feel like I’m desperately trying to foster back to life in our little home.)

Posts family, food

Love like winter

January 14, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

AFI on Pandora. Practicing my embroidery on some scrap fabric (not that I need a new hobby or anything). Spinning ever so slowly through the fiber on my wheel (just some generic merino/silk blend I ordered ages ago). There is plenty to do around here, but I’m putting it off until tomorrow. One day of relaxing and playing with projects around the house won’t hurt anything.

Posts embroidery, spinning, winter

The perfect remedy for a bleak, cold, rainy day?

January 12, 2012 Marie 3 Comments

I loathe this time of year. It’s dark, dreary, and no amount of daylight ever feels like enough.

I picked up some fat quarters the other day. I fell in love with this fabric – the colors, the pattern, the flowers. It seemed like it would be a good remedy for days like this. We need some new cloth napkins, or at least that’s what I told my husband when I came home with these. (Though at this point I think he knows me enough to see through that and know what’s really going on!)

I haven’t decided, yet, if I want to edge them with a contrasting color bias tape (or maybe just a plain plum that matches them?) or if I just want to leave them with a plain hem. What do you think?

Posts home, sewing

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