Thankful for a new glider that arrived & was assembled yesterday.
It’s my Mother’s Day present from the girls, and replaces an ancient one that had plastic straps upon which cushions would sit. The straps were giving up — there’d been a belt standing in for one for quite a few years already. And my mom had something to do with its arrival — she’s been gone almost 12 years now and that glider appeared at least 10 years prior. So, yeah. This one is a little roomier, and I love it!
Granddaughters…
…are amazing. There aren’t too many things better than a “Dear Vicki” letter!
Ideas for my quilt…
…keep percolating. This is the latest mock up — very rough & mostly to get a sense of scale. I had a couple other ideas but they were taking over. The quilt will never be viewed this way — it’ll be on the bed, where the center design covers the surface, and the borders will be around the edges. They’re not quite separate things, but they need to look good as separate elements while also being harmonious. That’s what I think, anyway. heh.
Friday…
…is for Eye Candy. My little old lilac (literally, it’s a very old bush) has more flowers this year than it’s had in years!
The upstairs apartment/Airbnb bathroom is finished!
Here’s a before-ish shot — the tub surround had been rebuilt, but painting hadn’t begun:
After:
Every single paintable surface in that bathroom was touched in the re-do! I’m happy that we did it, I don’t want to do it ever again.
Here’s a shot from the other doorway (three doors in that room)!
It was finished in the nick of time, as we had guests arrive on Monday!
With that project done, Rusty moved on/continued with rebuilding the basement stairs. Did I ever mention that? They were awful — slightly uneven, covered with linoleum & with weird aluminum strips at the edge of each. Honestly, it’s a miracle that no one has ever tripped. On top of that, when we did the kitchen/porch/garden room remodel many years ago, the original doorway to the basement was moved around the corner from the kitchen to the garden room — it was a straight shot, then, but the original “winder” at the top of the stairs remained… and there were a couple of other issues due to the way the door opened, evolution of space/storage, etc., etc.
I don’t have a “before” photo, but there’s a “during.” There used to be drywall on the side where Rusty’s working on the new stringer, but it was rotten at the bottom & wasn’t really doing anything, so he removed it, making the stairway more open. It feels a lot nicer & will be even better when a handrail is installed (there never was one).
There are at least two other people peering through the basement door window at the “show,” and Rusty got a big round of applause when the last tread was put in place.
Kate has a very good friend who does a lot of salvaging for her old home & other projects — and sometimes ends up not needing things that she’s acquired. We were very fortunate to be on the receiving end of some old maple stair treads & risers that she had, which Rusty refurbished. It was “big pick up” trash day yesterday, so all of the old stuff is gone… and this project is also nearly finished!
And now, tooting of the horn…
Some years ago, Rusty wrote a book for Storey Publishing about clubhouses — kind of a “how-to” for beginner builders, aimed at kids & families. The book was rather unfortunately titled KEEP OUT (that’s a Thriftbooks link, but available lots of places), which… well, kind of gave the wrong signal (even though it was cute & amazing). He was approached a while back & asked to re-jig the book, still aimed at beginners, but more toward an adult audience. The Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Building was published last week!
Sunday was Mother’s Day & Ali came over with the kids.
We had a very enjoyable afternoon — inside games, outside games, and food! Kate & I had made a couple of runs to the home improvement store & bought a couple of raised beds, which she & Junah put together side-by-side.
He’s always loved putting stuff together!
We (Kate) tore out a weird old bed & installed the raised beds in their place — and it will be much easier to access the things growing within! We drive down to the CSA farm on Saturday to pick up veggie, herb & flower plants. Can’t wait!
There’s been a lot going on around here, y’know? A bathroom remodel, birthdays, a couple weeks of dog sitting, “longer” days… sometimes (quite often, actually) we don’t sit down for supper until 8! So, I’ve been knitting, but it’s slow…
I didn’t measure, but I’d say I’m a bit past half-way on the back of my Farfalle Cardigan. That big Noro egg is deflating but I don’t think I’ll be cracking the second until I’m working the fronts — there’ll likely be quite a bit left over.
I don’t knit in the Garden Room very often — Knitting HQ is at my chair in the living room — but it’s a great spot for photos (and morning coffee/meetings/chats/word games).
QUILTING
I’ve looked at it a few times, gathered fabric, played around in Excel with border ideas. So far, the borders seem to compete too much with the blocks. I’ve considered adding more blocks instead to get the desired size, but I feel that would throw things off in a way that I don’t think I could live with, so I’m back to the borders & trying to simplify! Wish me luck.
READING:
Last night, I finished The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. It took a month, but it’s a well known fact that I read at a snail’s pace… haha.
I was delighted to learn this morning that my copy of John of John is on its way!! That’ll be up next, and I cannot wait.
About two years ago, when the Swiftie Bracelet Factory was in high gear, I had my first appointment with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). I was having pain in my hip & with the trip to Amsterdam & the Eras Tour Concert on the horizon, I couldn’t imagine hoofing around the city and navigating through concert crowds in that condition. At that time, he said that surgery/a hip replacement was in my future, but we weren’t there just yet. I had a cortisone shot, instead, and it worked incredibly well!
Last year, I had another visit/another shot… that one didn’t work quite as well.
This year… ow! Ow!! OW!!! A long, active weekend in Philly, closely followed by two weeks of dog duty have really taken a toll, not to mention just the overall increased activity that naturally comes with springtime!
I had another appointment on Friday. We’re there.
My right hip (the bad one) on the left; my left hip (the good one) on the right. There should be a little space between the ball & socket of my right hip; instead, it’s bone-on-bone & bone spurs to boot.
I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I’m starting to get my ducks in a row, and we’re maybe looking at July. Stay tuned.
As a palate cleanser (‘cuz, whew, that’s a lot & I cannot dwell)…
I could type words into a generator like that all day long! If you hover I love discovering the locations of all those formations — you can click on coordinates to see it on a map.
And it changes! In this version, the V is Lake Cataract in New South Wales — about 4 hours SE of Maddy & Viv!
Our Ginny-girl is 10!TEN!!!!!!!!!! Double-digits! How crazy is that? (Some great throwback photos if you want to scroll through May 2016!)
I had the girls overnight on Friday & we went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, all of us having had a refresher the week before, so we were primed. (Ginny wanted her picture take with Michael, too.) There were a ton of garage/yard/rummage sales, so we hit a few before meeting Ali for lunch.
. That big Noro egg is deflating but I don’t think I’ll be cracking the second until I’m working the fronts — there’ll likely be quite a bit left over.
