Ten on Ten - January 2015

still decorated for Christmas....

thankful for heated seats on a cold day

too many choices!

picking out gas logs for my fireplace.....

on the way to lunch

enjoyed a long afternoon tea party with friends

quick grocery run

ready for this giant red oak to finally drop all the leaves

laundry

keeping my toes toasty in handmade slippers from Nepal (memories of our fun Christmas trip to NYC a few years ago)

Linking up with other Ten on Ten bloggers here

Ten on Ten - March 2013

I'm finally in my new house.....so enjoy some peeks.....maybe one day soon I'll have time to take real photos and give you all a full tour of the house.  :-)

after 6 months of transition, finally back in my own bed!

one view from the couch in my new house

doing the first real loads of laundry in the new house

8 foot ladder now hangs on the garage wall

spent part of the afternoon switching out traditional incandescent flood lights for more sleek, energy efficient LED  recessed lights

my fancy new tech-y thermostat.....still learning how to use it, but I LOVE being able to control it from my iPhone

shelves assembled in the garage for a place to keep up with the sorted recycling

finally stopped for leftover BBQ chicken pizza from Schlotzsky's

catching up on money stuff and NCIS:LA

one of my favorite springtime sweet treats - I *try* to limit myself to these only at Easter time

Check out more blogs participating this month here

Kitchen Backsplash Project

When I bought my house, one of the things that sold me on it was the kitchen.  Beautiful black granite countertops, high end stainless appliances and great cabinet space.  However, the backsplash was always just .... meh.  Not awful, but not great. And the one thing that made it even worse, the prior owners grouted in the switchplates when they installed the backsplash. Not the right way to do it, but not enough reason to rip out the tile.....UNTIL one of the switchplates fell off and I had no way to put it back up.  

before.....basic 4x4 tile.

before

the infamous grouted switchplate

and the one that fell off....which started the whole project

I finally decided it was time to remedy the situation and contacted my friend David who has done quite a bit of other work for me in the past.  He was pretty busy, but willing to squeeze me in on weekends and evenings if I was willing to be his helper.  So, I took him up on the opportunity to learn a bit about tiling and to save myself a little money.


Spent hours and hours online looking at photos of kitchens and finally settled on mini subway tile. (did you know Home Depot will check out a tile board and let you bring it home to see the tile at home?) 

So, one Saturday a few weeks ago, David came over bright and early and we got down to the business of demolition.

Ended up having to take it down to the studs.....the tile just didn't want to let go of the existing sheetrock.  While the studs were open, I took the opportunity to write scripture in the walls as I also did when we remodeled the master bathroom.

After a full day of demolition, we ended with fresh sheetrock and plans to tile later in the week.

Over the next two weeks, one night at a time, we tiled one wall, then the other, then grouted. Here are a few shots of our progress.....

first tiles going up!

sink wall completed - waiting on grout

stove wall completed - waiting on grout

stove wall grouted!

sink wall grouted!

And finally, new outlets, switches and switchplates installed and everything put back on the counters!

the finished product!

the finished product!

So happy to have it all done!  Living in chaos for 3+ weeks was about to drive me nuts. But it was definitely worth it.

New sewing machine

So, I asked you guys a few weeks ago if you had any recommendations for me for a new sewing machine.  I also put the question out on Facebook and got several responses there as well.


I ventured into a local machine/fabric shop 3 weeks ago and spent about an hour with Nancy who gave me lots of good information.  They primarily sell Pfaff and Babyloc machines, though have recently become a Viking dealer as well.  Her recommendation was a Pfaff.  German made. Solid metal construction.  A machine that will last.  Even though I went in asking about a basic mechanical machine, she showed me their base electronic line as well.  I walked out that day lured by the technology of the electronic machines, but just not sure I wanted to spend that much money.  That same afternoon, I headed to the Bernina store as those had also been highly recommended.  I didn't get the same good feeling being in the Bernina store, everything they carry is MUCH higher in price and they didn't even stock the machine I was most interested in.  Suffice it to say, I wasn't impressed.


So, after visiting JoAnn last weekend and perusing the electronic Viking machines, I headed back to The Fabric Affair, my local shop.  Talked some more, asked more questions. Still undecided.  Came home and spent some time on the phone with my folks and finally decided to stick to my original plan to get a basic, no major frills machine.  Even though I *think* I want to get into more projects, whether I do or not remains to be seen.  And this machine still does WAY more than my old one.  My old machine was a pioneer of the electronic machines, but has started to die and only will only sew straight stitches now.


Yesterday, after spending the morning playing in the park and visiting turtles/ducks at Northpark with Kelly, Adrian & David, I headed back the The Fabric Affair and pulled the trigger on my new machine.....the Pfaff hobby 1142.  At the store, Nancy unboxed my machine and taught me how to thread it and wind a bobbin.  Practiced a couple of stitches, then I was off and ready to go!


And today, I decided to break it in!  Sewed a couple of burp cloths for a girl at church. While I was out yesterday, I also picked up a few fat quarters of fabric to just play on.

So, here's to new projects!

Saturday Project

So, in the new bedroom configuration, my old bedside table isn't really cutting it anymore in terms of scale.  I've been on the hunt for something new and a few weeks ago a friend at church let me know that she had *two* that I could have for free!!  So, I brought them home and after trying them each out for a few days finally settled on which one I wanted to keep (the other will go to the church youth group garage sale).


Today was repaint the bedside table project day!  Enjoy the progress.....

before

after sanding, one coat of primer -- not sure it was really necessary, but oh well, it's done now

after two coats of black paint

testing out possible knobs

 The knobs options a little closer....any thoughts?

Other things accomplished today: finished and wrapped two baby presents, cleaned out my stash of vases and am sending several off to the youth garage sale, collected other items for donation, straightened the house.  Now to relax a bit more.....