Silver Linings

Ever have one of those weeks? You know, the kind where more goes wrong than right? It's hard not to focus on the bad stuff and instead find the silver linings. I really have to work at being positive instead of negative during those times.

Anyway, I had a couple of weeks recently where my stress level was high and my outlook rather gloomy. It all started off with the phone company digging a ginormous hole in my backyard  and because of where they were digging, we had to take down my greenhouse. Which meant I had to move everything in it - including moving the pea gravel floor. Oh yay. Then it took them a week to come back and fix the cable. Of course, they came at a very inconvenient time for me. I had to completely change my plans so I could be home. Then it was another two days before they came back and refilled the hole. (I won't mention the now dead grass).*sigh*

In between all that, we planned and held a birthday party for my mother-in-law. A good thing but a little stressful trying to get everything and everyone coordinated.

(It turned out great and we all had a wonderful time!)

And then there were just lots of little things that just added to my frustration level.

I've learned during these times I have to step back and find perspective; look for the good things going on. So what were my silver linings?

First of all, in having to move the greenhouse - I got it all the junk cleaned out that normally gets put in there over the Spring and Summer. Now it will be ready for Winter! Yay! I'm ahead of the game!

Having to stay home on a day I was supposed to be somewhere - I was able to work on some projects I wanted to start - the ones it's been hard to find the time for. So hurray, they're started!

Then on a day when I was feeling really down, I got two emails. One from Shirley over at Hospitality Designs telling me I'd won her giveaway of the book  French Accents by Anita Joyce. I'd entered thinking it was a long shot but I love all things French and farmhouse so I thought I'd try. I was floored and ecstatic when I found out I'd won.  The book is wonderful. Anita walks you through what French decor is and how to add it to your house. I just may have to recreate that look somewhere. :o)  I'm smitten!

Then Beth from Farm Fresh Vintage Finds told me I'd won her giveaway of a HomeRight Finish Max Fine Finish Sprayer! No way!! Two giveaways? I won two of them?(I thought I wouldn't win this one either!) Oh wow, I am one lucky blessed girl! I wish I'd had this a couple of years ago when painting the farmhouse and stuff. I'm so excited to finally have one because let's face it...there's a lot more painting in my future! Beth has turned out some wonderful projects using hers. I can't wait to use mine! I'm on the lookout for the perfect victim, um project. I think I may have a candidate in the garage. ;o)

Silver linings indeed! We just need to recognized them in the middle of our messes.

Sometimes they are easy to see, like me winning the giveaways and my mother-in-law enjoying her party. Other times, I have to search for them. But they are there if we just look hard enough!

Hope your silver linings are shining through your clouds!

It still doesn't feel very Fallish around here - the mornings are nice and cool though and the heat isn't as intense. So that's a silver lining!

I'm still trying to get my table and chairs finished. I'm loving them so far. I need to get them done and moved back inside so I can decorate the dining room!

Starting The Bathroom Remodel

We finally got started on the bathroom - it was our anniversary present to each other and I'm thrilled with the way it's coming along!

Bruce took the week off last week to get as much done as possible - the tub got demo-ed and the shower and floor tile went in. Ready to see the process? Here we go:

Bruce told me not to take pictures of him. oops, already did. :o)
But he's off to a good start!

Goodbye to the yucky tile surround

I can't help it; he's just so darn cute and working hard!

 There was a bit of mold but it all got torn out anyway.

The tile is gone, the tub is history!

Breaking out the first row of floor tile to put shower curb in - can you say messy?

Shower curb started and drain in

liner and cement board in

floor tile all out

 Fortunately, we didn't run into any surprises so it was just hard work with long days. And the back porch was all set up for relaxing in the evening plus Bruce had his hammock for taking a nap break.
                                                                              :o)

It's going to look great. The tile is just what I envisioned with the beautiful decorative accent.

decorative tile on left, shower tile on right

We are leaving the beadboard on the walls - have to add more where the old vanity was. Plus I'm going to paint the door and window sill white to match the rest of the trim - good-bye matches nothing stain.

The floor is just wow! I love how it looks like rustic wood planks.

And my beautiful buffet. She needed a bit of cleaning up and then I started putting the polyurethane on her:

Yikes! Disaster! By the 3rd coat, the poly turned the paint really yellow. Yellow clashes with my tile so off to the store to buy stripper. What a headache, because of course, the paint came off too. Ok, deep breath; find a store that sells chalk paint, drive 38 minutes to Tyler, buy paint, drive back, paint, and poly again. whee. But I have to say I love the new color even better than before. Here's a sneak peak of the drawer with the lion head handle:

ASCP "Coco" with white wash

A different brand of poly this time and she's ready to be made into a vanity and start her new life.

And that my friends, was the week of hard work. We are tired but happy with the progress we made. I'd like to give a big shout out to my MIL, Bonnie, who was there the first weekend and helped haul debris out (she's awesome!) AND to my brother-in-law, Michael, who was there the following Friday and Saturday and helped Bruce get the shower tiled. He saved me from having to cut the tile (I really dislike that job!).  My sister and I left them to work and ran to Canton for the day. haha! It was a nice break from the dust and noise.

We are taking a couple of weeks off to rest up but we Bruce will be grouting and getting the vanity in next. (I get to clean out grout lines where the mortar oozed through, paint the door, window sill and beadboard, and the fun part of decorating.) Yay! Can't wait!!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Cecilia

Fun Finds and a Visit

How much is that chicken in the window? The one with the adorable dots? How much is that chicken in the window? I want it lots and lots!

Cute, isn't it? And yes, it did come home with me. My twin sis and her husband, along with their border collie, Tag, came up to visit us at the farm. She and I went shopping in downtown Palestine while the guys cleared brush, trimmed a couple of trees in the front, and cleaned out Martin houses.

We found some really cool stuff -
A cute chicken mug:

Don't you love her kerchief? She makes me smile!

A metal heart ( I want to find some freeze-dried roses for it )

A old coffee tin and a Gingerbread-scented candle and of course, my chicken pitcher.

I can just see it in various places over the house.

I had Theresa hang up my husband's baby clothes on my clothesline in the laundry room as I can't climb a ladder yet, and no, I didn't take a picture of them. I forgot. Lol.

I also took a canvas painting someone was going to toss, repainted it with chalkboard paint ( can you have too much chalkboard? ), and then wrote wintery sayings on before hanging it over the mantle:

 I love it! I'll be changing it up each season. Oh what fun it's going to be!!

We really enjoyed our visit. The guys got to go flying with our neighbor in his little airplane:

 He flew them over the property and Bruce took pictures. How cool is that? You can see the barn, house, and shop:

In the next one, you can see the neighbor's vineyard to the left:

We also walked the dogs around the acreage - Tag is a good influence on my rowdy youngsters:

 He doesn't run off so we were able to let Buddy run leash free and Herbie only had to be leashed when we got close to the pond ( he tends to bolt after wild life ). Herbie did so much better in listening and staying when told. Ha, ha, I need to borrow Tag to show them what to do more often.

We had a great time with them.
Here Michael and Theresa are watching Bruce plant a couple of blueberry bushes:

Me and my twin sister:

You can see we are not identical.

As always, time flew by and it was time to leave and head back to the city. But until the next time, our memories will keep us smiling.


Hugs,
Cecilia

Back from Vacation

I feel like I've been MIA...

The truth is I've been on vacation ( we went to Washington state with friends to visit friends who'd moved there ):

Bruce and me with Mt. Rainier in the background

Mt. St. Helen - yikes, it's a long way down!

The group - great friends! And yes, that's snow we're standing in

Pike Place Market, Seattle

Space Needle

Then when we got back, we had to help our daughter move. So I haven't had much time to work on projects at all this month. But I'm back and caught up on things; no more excuses, right?

We did run up to the farm this past weekend. I am attempting to rust some tin using safe ingredients but I may give up soon and let Bruce spray it with muriatic acid. I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet...I want my method to work!!

I need some time to work on the laundry room (or need to feel motivated, more like ). I have curtains to sew, ceiling and walls to paint, wainscoting to hang, and art projects to create. Some I will work on here at the city house, but whew! I need to get with it!

The hollow core door is going to get replaced with an old door I found at an antique store. It has tons of character and I'm adding a fun element to it. Can't wait to show you that.

I added curtains to the back porch too. The back of the house faces west and it gets hot in the summer evenings. We took galvanized 1/2" pipe, hung it, then clipped two 6x9' drop clothes on (slipped the curtain rings on before hanging the pipe).  Easy, instant curtains. We use rope to tie them back. You can see them in the picture below. I'd like to eventually add grommets to the curtains but the rings work for now.

I stayed until Wednesday and my oldest sister came up with two of her grandkids. Because of the rain and an unusual weather pattern, we had unheard of cool temperatures ( high 70's-low 80's not the normal 100s for July!) so we built a campfire one evening and toasted marshmallows. Fun! ( Thanks, Christine, for the picture! )

Me and the kids

We also went up to Tyler to the zoo there. All in all, a fun visit. I enjoyed their visit and the kids had a blast playing with the pups.

I will have to take loads of pictures next time we are at the farm to make up for the lack this time. Hope your summer is going well.


Cecilia