Category : Around home

219 posts

201605/11

The lost art of bartering

I don’t know about you but I love it when I am able to barter for something. It truly is becoming a lost art. People now days just go buy or hire someone when they need something. I feel it stems from our lack of community. People don’t know their neighbors. They come home, park in the garage and never step into their yard except to perhaps finely manicure the grass. We are lucky here as we DO know our neighbors and have a good sense of community at least on our block.

So with that in mind, a friend is finishing off their basement and is starting to buy accessories to match the rustic style of the decor they’ve chosen. She’d been telling me about wanting feed sack pillows for the couch but was overwhelmed by the price on Etsy. She purchased feed sacks at an antique store but then was stuck. She was afraid to cut them plus she didn’t have a sewing machine. I told her to bring them on over and we’d get it figured out.

Marvin decided he really needed to “help”.

After getting him interested in some toys we were able to cut them down and stuff the pillow forms inside. I left the hand stitching to my friend to do at home.

Look how awesome they look!!

So what does this have to do with bartering…well they had leftover stone veneer from their fireplace. I got to take it home.

I’m hoping that I’ll have enough to build a fire pit. The rain is supposed to clear out tomorrow so then I can lay things out to make sure before buying the materials to complete my project.

Around home | Blog | Crafts | Outdoors

Hazy day

After record breaking heat yesterday, I awoke about 1:00 am to the strong smell of smoke. We’d left our bedroom window open since the weather reports said a cool front was going to be blowing through. The wind blew in the smoke from both the Canadian wildfires and some in Northern MN.

I jumped out of bed worried that something close by was one fire. As I looked out the window, all I saw was thick smoke in the low light from the street lights. I wish I could have taken a photo but I know the light was too low.

This morning, before the sun crested over the neighboring houses, all we could see was a thick haze of smoke.

As the sun appeared over the houses we saw the orange glow of the sun filtering through the smoke.

There is this special weather statement for much of Minnesota today.

Yard work was on the list for today but we’ll postpone for health sake. Mini-me and I are going shopping today though and picking up birthday/Mother’s Day sushi for a late lunch. Can’t wait!!

Lets keep all the families and firefighters in our thoughts as the fires still rage.

Handmade cutting board

Look at this fantastic cutting board Big J made in school! He gave it to me for an early Mother’s Day gift.

It started as two planks of wood. One hickory and one oak. The mix of woods gives interest to the board.

It’s nice and thick…more of a butcher block. It’s beautiful.

I can’t wait to see what he makes next in the metals portion of this class.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Remember to be good to our planet today and everyday,

PS…stop by my friend Elizabeth’s blog today and wish her a Happy Birthday!

Blog | Kitchen

T Tuesday: meet Marvin edition

Welcome to another edition of T stands for Tuesday. Today I wanted to introduce you to a new member of our family.

After having to make the tough decision to put Miss Gracie down mid- February (no I never mentioned it here) we had a hole in our lives.

We had talked about getting a kitten…or two and had been actively seeking them. Then we met Marvin at a local rescue.

He’s a curious guy. He literally stops to smell the flowers each time he walks through the living room. He is also a very big boy.

This is the loveseat…easily seats two adults. We believe he has either Norwegian Forest Cat or Maine Coon in his background. He can put his front paws and face up on the kitchen table if that helps reference his size. Hmmm…so we went from wanting a kitten to getting pretty much the biggest cat we could find.

He is such a lover though. Especially to us girls.

I was curious how he’d be with the kids headed back to school. He loved all the early morning activity such as lunch making.

Another busy Tuesday ahead…

What are you doing today?

Late start for plants

I can’t believe how late I am this year starting my seeds. I usually start them around St Patrick’s Day. Somehow it slipped my mind that week then the next was a disaster of monstrous proportions when Murphey stopped by and overstayed his welcome.

I settled on two kinds of tomatoes and green onions this year. At least for now. I’m not ruling out starting a couple more things. Last year my small starter plants didn’t fair well once transplanted so I’m not sure if it’s worth the time and effort,

I decided to try planting my green onion seeds in egg shells this year. For one…they are so cute! And secondly, I can just slightly crush the shell when planting the sprouts in a bigger container instead of trying to move those spindly little onions one by one. Experimentation is always fun.

I’ve been saving my larger plastic containers for transplanting the tomatoes out of the disposable cups (which BTW I’ve had on hand for ages!! Not terribly “green” but they are a necessary evil when hosting a large crowd. ) I decided to cut up a lid and use it as plant markers. This works so much better than wooden popsicle sticks!!

Hopefully next time I share photos the containers will be sporting little tiny green seedlings.

Around home | Blog | Outdoors

frugal living, gardening

1 Comment

halleday

201603/29

T Tuesday: natural dye edition

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday. Hope you had a lovely Easter.

Last week I decided to try a new technique with my natural onion skin dye. I’ve done natural dying in the past and always amazed how different the results can be.

The only leaf or flower I had on hand was cilantro, so I made do with that.

I didn’t have a ton of onion skins so I decided on 4 eggs. I tucked the eggs into the onion skins and filled the pan with water. I also gave a generous splash of white vinegar to the mix. I cooked the eggs like I would for hard boiled eggs. Bring to a boil uncovered, boil 1 minute, cover and turn off burner. Let sit for at least 20 mins. Perfect eggs every time. These eggs I let sit much longer…until they were lukewarm since I wanted the dye to have as much time to work it’s magic as possible.

Oh yeah magic. Look at how dark that color came out.

They are so interesting to look at. I want to try this again but with other leaves and flowers.

I was so mad at myself after I dumped the dye water down the sink. What was I thinking!!! I could have thrown some bits and pieces of fabric and lace in there. My mind was preoccupied. Good old Murphy of Murphy’s law had paid us a visit. While boiling the eggs I notice the digital display for the oven wasn’t on. Obviously the cook top worked since I was using it. Yep the control board was shot. On the bright side, I hated my old stove. And this lovely news came the day after finding out I have to get a root canal. Nothing like waking up with a swollen cheek and painful mouth.

There are a few more things that Murphy contributed to over the past week as well but I’m done complaining.

Time for a decadent cup of coffee before moving on with my day.

What are you doing today?

Blog | Kitchen

frugal living, kitchen, natural dye, T Tuesday

14 Comments

halleday

201603/22

T Tuesday: making do edition

So whats a girl to do when she’s hosting some friends for brunch and suddenly the love seat decides it needs a bit of ventilation.

Frantically, search through her totes of fabric to find a slipcover of course.

Not too shabby if I say so myself. I’m so happy I grabbed this piece of rich upholstery fabric from a garage sale a couple years back. The girls are nearly here so this will be short and sweet.

I do have to show you my new pint glass though.