Tag : T Tuesday

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I guess I should actually say an eventful week and a half, both good and bad. I’ll start my tale at the bad beginning…

Two Friday’s ago we awoke to a flooded basement. Completely soaked carpet and over half the basement wet. It could have been much worse…it was our water softener that caused the mess so relatively clean water. I didn’t mention my mess on the blog last Tuesday as we were celebrating the 3rd anniversary of T stands for Tuesday!

On Tuesday I mentioned that we’d be out and about like usual for our Tuesday. We were heading to my inlaws (where incidentally we were planning to go to flood Friday) when something hit my drivers side window and it exploded in on me. I was in the inner lane driving 50mph in traffic.  This is where my school bus driving days had me at an advantage with sheer experience on the road. I was able to pull over and figure out what I was going to do. I ended up driving back home after stopping at a hardware store to get something to at least clean the glass off me and my seat.

T Tuesday eventful week edition

I had some small cuts on my arm and embedded glass under my leg that I must have ground in as I drove. Adrenaline…never felt it until later although Mini-me did get out the first aid kit and cleaned up the blood a bit as I scooped glass from the van. Mini-me had a couple tiny pieces in her leg as well…small enough that we used duct tape to remove them. J was spared as he was in the passenger seat of the minivan. Again…things could have been much worse! I could have lost control and gotten into a wreck.

This is were my tale turns for the better… My neighbor decided last minute to have a garage sale so I was going through the house trying to dig up some things to sell.  We did ok but ended up spending most of our profits on a new hutch…well, new to us. Our neighbors just remodeled their kitchen. We took it home thinking we could use it for storage in our game area.

T Tuesday eventful week edition

Looked pretty good there…

T Tuesday eventful week edition

and Marvin also approved. Then overnight Mr. G had a bout of insomnia and realized that perhaps the hutch would be better served in our dining room. So we moved it again….back up the stairs it had come down….

T Tuesday eventful week edition

This way we are able to actually see the beautiful set of dishes from my paternal Grandma.

hulda

As I age I am looking more and more like her, at least in my opinion.

T Tuesday eventful week edition

I feel as if I’m at Downton Abbey when I open these doors. I think it’s the big soup tureen that gives me that feeling. Love, love, love these dishes! Notice all the tea cups… full set of 12. Anyone want to join me for tea? As a kid my mom had them out only on holidays or when we had “fancy” company. These are certainly not my everyday dishes but we do try to use them occasionally because otherwise…what’s the point?!

T Tuesday eventful week edition

We decided to take the door off the one side and just use open shelving.  It’s amazing how much more open it feels with that simple subtraction of the door. Marvin went back to his favorite spot next to the door…that way he can keep track of everyone’s comings and goings.

T Tuesday eventful week edition

He’s just so dang cute! I’m planning to put a little curtain across the wine rack area to keep them in the dark. I was thinking it might be fun to use a vintage table cloth  as my fabric. Perhaps I’ll make a matching mixer cover at the same time.

Our new hutch took the place of our old buffet. The buffet now resides in the game area.

T Tuesday eventful week edition

It really looks nice there and holds a ton of games. So after all the heavy lifting and switching things around we sat down and played a family game and got thoroughly trounced by Mini-me.

Thanks for sticking with me through my long post.  I have no idea what Tuesday has in store for me…other than I feel as if perhaps I should just stay home.

What are you doing today?

It’s a celebration! T stands for Tuesday turns 3 today! Wowsers…has it been that long already?

I thought for today I’d go back through my posts and pick out a few that show the diversity of our weekly get-together.

t tuesday collage

It’s so much fun to touch base with everyone one a weekly basis….even if I am really late in visiting sometimes. :) Thanks to Elizabeth for continuing to host our virtual tea (or insert your beverage of choice) party. I love seeing photos and art from the group. I feel as if I am taking mini vacations or at the least living vicariously through them.

I’ll be out and about again…it is Tuesday after all.  I will be around to visit later though…

What are you doing today??

For several weeks I’ve been meaning to share a little garden art piece. Last week I didn’t even make it for T stands for Tuesday.  In my defense, last Tuesday didn’t even seem like Tuesday since Monday was the Independence Day holiday. Enough with the excuses and on with the project.

I used a strand of memory wire, beads and a fishing swivel to create this whimsical edition to my flower garden. I started out with a wildly random color assortment but didn’t love it. After some thought, I decided on blue, white and silver. I felt this combo would contrast nicely with the surrounding greenery.

suncatcher

I was really hoping the fishing swivel would make it twirl in the wind. So far it hasn’t seemed to spin. Perhaps if there were something flat or paddle shaped at the end instead of a faceted bead it would have enough wind resistance to spin. Oh well….

I must also mention this was a stash busting project. Absolutely no cost. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

It’s a good thing to since I was saving my pennies to buy a set of these pretty copper mugs for our new favorite summer drink.

Moscow mule

So pretty and the customary vessel for a Moscow mule. By keeping the copper mugs in the freezer they retain the cold for much longer.  You have to be careful with this vodka and ginger beer concoction though….they go down quick but sneak up on you. Don’t even ask how I know that one.

I have errands on my list this morning but I’ll be around to check in with the rest of the T stands for Tuesday gang later.

What are you doing today?

Last week for T stands for Tuesday I promised an update on my garden this week.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

It’s flourishing! Tons of blossoms. I think we are just at the cusp of production.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

There are already jalapenos on the plant…

T Tuesday late June garden edition

and roma tomatoes…. come on fresh salsa!

T Tuesday late June garden edition

The deck box garden is doing really well too.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

I ended up pulling up the horse radish that was growing in here since there is another plant in the big garden space and planted my Egyptian walking onions instead. I saved the bulbs from the top of the plants last year in a paper bag in the shed. They overwintered out there will seemingly no ill effects.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

The planters along the railing are also looking great with the herbs and green onions. I’ve been thinning the green onions by using them…so nice to have those fresh green literally right outside my door. I couldn’t be happier.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

It meets Marvin’s approval as well.

Over the weekend I adding a little bit of ambiance to the deck with a string of lights.

T Tuesday late June garden edition

We have yet to try them out at night but I think they will be a lot of fun.

I also noticed some birds have been very busy….T Tuesday late June garden edition

I do remember seeing a chickadee hanging around here quite often. I’d have to bet he is the guilty party.

I’m also going to continue to share my CSA box each week as I really believe that its well worth the cost to bring fresh organic veggies to your table each week…provided you have enough people to eat all those veggies.

CSA week 2

Week 2: cilantro, basil plant, kale, green onions, garlic scapes, mixed spring greens, head of leaf lettuce, strawberries, carrots, kohlrabi, broccoli and white turnips that are eaten like radishes. Can’t wait to see what the next box brings.

Today I’ll be finishing a commissioned seamstress project. I was asked to shorten some curtains and sew lining fabric behind the thin linen for some actual light blocking.

What are you doing today?

Last week we received our first box of produce from our CSA. What a bounty!

All of that came from the 3/4 bushel box on the table.

Loon Organics CSA week 1

Another really cool feature is a “swap box” at the pickup site. If you see something in the box you’d rather have, you can swap it out for something in your box. That’s how I ended up with 2 bunches of radishes. I swapped the second bunch for a bag of arugula.

Carrots, beets, bok choy, garlic scapes, mixed spring greens, spinach and radishes all in week one! AND the basil plant in my deck box. I knew from seeing the boxes last year that we’d likely get one so I didn’t bother planting any…just left a spot for it instead.

CSA basil plant

Between the CSA, our home garden and the garden space at my in-laws, we should be eating super healthy this summer!

I’ll update you on my gardens next week. They are growing like crazy. I’m so happy to walk out there every morning to see the growth. I don’t even mind having to pull a few weeds and use the watering can to hand water the spaces with our collected rain water.

I hadn’t realized until just a few days ago how much my focus changes to the outdoors in the summer. Likely because our winters are so long and sometimes harsh that we tend to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

Mini-me and I are off for a small adventure today since J is at work!! He got his first job and is at his second day of training today.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday…grab a your favorite cup and stay a while.

T stands for Tuesday

This summer I’ve been tackling projects and items long overdue on the to-do list. I’m drowning in half finished goals. It’s really beginning to drive me a bit crazy. I start my morning or my 3am bout of insomnia with thoughts of how my day is going to go and then BAM…I get hit with a curve ball or worse yet, am distracted and start another project.  I haven’t even finished a pot of coffee lately, which is totally out of character for me. (Ah ha…just there….see how I worked in a beverage reference) :)

But seriously, the frustration with myself is mounting. Every “not used daily” surface has something in progress all over it and that’s not even mentioning the outdoors. I think I have too many ideas and unfortunately have enough stuff around to get started but either run out of steam, ideas or gumption to continue. I even totally blew up my blog over the weekend and am still working on fixing it. UGH! The blog backup I used definitely didn’t work the way I thought it did….I could not recover what I lost.

I am feeling a bit of accomplishment with both a personal project and a household one.

I completed the cover on my heART journal just yesterday.

heART journal T Tuesday progress edition

Here are the inside pages. The earliest page was from Feb 2014. Good grief…talk about taking a long time to to 6 pages.

heART journal T Tuesday progress edition

Mini-me and I did get her room painted. Here’s an old before and the after side by side.

T Tuesday progress edition

What a difference. She’s had the green and stamped flowers since we moved in 13 years ago. It had just been painted so we just left it as is. Definitely time for a change.

T Tuesday progress edition

We’re slowly going to be replacing the accessories such as the fabric bins in the cubbies. Mini-me had yet to decide what color she wants for her accent color.

T Tuesday progress edition

It’s definitely more sophisticated already. Agh…my baby is growing up!

So today…I’m going to try my best to finish a thing or two I’ve started. Wish me luck!

What are you doing today?

Welcome to another rousing edition of T stands for Tuesday where we grab a cup a and share what we’ve been up to. I’m taking a bit of liberty with that rule this week and I know our wonderful host, Elizabeth, won’t mind a bit.

Before we begin I must apologize for the poorly lit photos. My laundry room/craft room has both florescent and incandescent lighting. Choosing the right filter for proper lighting is nearly impossible.

Now on with the show…

As I was cleaning out the school supply shelf which holds both new and partially used supplies, I happened upon a spiral bound sketch book from one of the kids elementary school days. The cover and drawings were long since gone, the spirals smashed and many pages crumpled. I decided to salvage what I could before the whole thing ended up I the recycle bin.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

So now what. I thought binding them into a journal would be a good choice but boring white pages have never made me want to use them them. Aged pages always draw me in.

This technique isn’t new, I’ve used it myself on many occasions. The one thing that really appeals to me is the randomness of dyeing or staining. You never know exactly what your going to get.T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

Since I had a large stack of papers I wanted to make sure that there was irregularity of staining throughout the pages. I sprinkled instant coffee grounds every few pages in the stack.T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

I used a spray bottle to gently wet the coffee to start the staining process.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

After letting it sit for a while I poured in more water and used a second container filled with water to keep the papers submerged.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

I left the pages for a day…perhaps a little longer.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

Now I had a stack of really soggy papers. Since I don’t have the room to lay each out individually I had to come up with a quick and easy solution.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

I used old shower rings through the wire shelving to hold a metal knitting needle. They were able to drip dry over the laundry sink. Worked perfectly.

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

Just look at those yummy pages…the color and texture really make me happy!

T Tuesday: coffee stained edition | Halle's Hobbies

Now that I’ve got them all folded I have to decide what sort of book I want to make. The last book I made with coffee stained pages really turned out well. I cut up a suede jacket for the covers. I’m pretty sure I used all of the suede while making some Ren Fest pouches. It is garage sale season though so I might just get lucky and find something that speaks to me. Until then I will set these aside.

This should be my last really busy Tuesday for a while since most things are winding down for the summer break. I may start back with my knitting group occasionally which is Tuesday mornings. Of course.

Today I’m meeting girlfriends for a birthday lunch. Gosh, lots of May birthdays. It’s the last little hurrah before school is out on Thursday.

What are you doing today?

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