Sewing, shopping & swag (light)

Friday, February 21

We were up and at ’em at 6:30 this morning thanks to some noises on the porch. We jumped up and found the black cat on the porch again. We’re not sure which one of the cats he was after but our being there interrupted whatever was going on and he eventually left.

I like getting up early on my days off. I feel like I’m getting some ‘extra’ time off!

After coffee I headed up to my craft room to mend a top sheet for work…

I brought it home to mend before the entire seam ripped out. Since it was a small section that needed mended it was an easy fix and didn’t take too long…

Good as new! I’ll take it back to work with me tomorrow, iron it, pair it with a bottom sheet and two pillowcases, bundle them all together and put the set on the shelf so the girls can grab it and go.

Once that was finished I started another project that I had been pondering for a few weeks now…

… making an angled curtain to hang down from the upstairs railing and covers up the stairway. This fabric was given to me – it’s like duck cloth so it’s nice and sturdy – and I knew I had enough of it but what I didn’t realize was how yucky it was until I had already started piecing it all together. There were stains and what looked like black mold throughout the fabric. Once I finished it I hung it on the line and sprayed it down with Thieves Household cleaner (that stuff work great on moldy walls!) and washed it twice using bleach as well. It brightened up and most of it came clean but there are still a few stains and a couple of areas that are speckled black. I threw the leftover fabric in the trash.

Once I got the curtain in the wash we headed up to the cabin to hang the gutter back on. Thankfully it didn’t take long as our fingers were froze and my poor exposed toes (because yes, I had my flip flops on in the dead of winter! Call me lazy to find socks and closed shoes to put on or call it that there’s still a bit of Florida in this girl. Either way I had my flip flops on, ha!)

I made some tabs that would wrap around the bottoms of the stair railings and I spent the evening hours sewing on snaps.

The other day CountryBoy drove some stakes up by the cabin to show people where to drive and where to park…

We lack one, maybe two loads of rock to finish out the cabin road and parking area. The gravel will define where the guests can drive and park and it will help from becoming a muddy mess when it rains. CountryBoy called early yesterday morning but the guy wasn’t able to get to us before the ground thawed that day. So, meanwhile, these stakes will guide people to where they should park and will help keep the soggy ground from getting more tore up…

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Farm news: 18 eggs

Saturday, February 22

I woke up a little later than yesterday but still early. While CountryBoy slept in I tried to get the fire going again but it just would not cooperate. He eventually got up and after several tries finally got it blazing. I’m not sure what kind of wood we’ve got right now but it did not want to light up. And, although the sun is shining the fire is still going to help keep the house at a comfortable temperature.

My glands and sore throat were almost gone then this morning they are swollen again and painful to the touch. I guess I slacked off my wellness routine a little too soon. Back to square one again.

After coffee, I started the laundry and finished sewing on the last couple of snaps for the angled curtain. After breakfast we removed our bedroom ‘doors’ (shower curtains) from the stairwell and snapped the new curtain on. So far it’s working as it should which is keeping most of the heat downstairs and not escaping all upstairs.

Once I am finished with the laundry we are going to the big town to do some grocery shopping and treating ourselves to a dinner out. Probably Red Lobster. We still love our seafood!

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It’s funny, maybe coincidental even, that I spent some time sewing yesterday. Monday starts the week long annual quilt retreat that I used to attend. I’ve seen posts about the ladies prepping, packing and getting all excited about the week ahead. I miss being able to attend. Maybe sooner rather than later I will have some time off and will be able to attend once again.

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Once in town we stopped at Lowe’s to pick up a swag light kit, large round light bulb and a few other small things. After that we went to Red Lobster. The parking lot was rather full for that time of day but we gave it a shot. We were told there would be a 30 minute wait. I was too hungry to wait that long so we drove a few miles down the road to Logan’s Steakhouse. We started in on the peanuts right away. CountryBoy ordered the Ribeye special and I got some seafood – fried shrimp.

After eating ourselves silly we forced ourselves into the grocery store to gather a month’s worth of groceries. Yes, a month’s worth. We shop this way for several reasons – one, we try to avoid the bigger town with all the shops & traffic so buying groceries in bulk while we are there helps; two, it helps us stay within our budget – the fewer times we are in a grocery store the less impulse buys end up in the buggy; and three, neither one of like to grocery shop so once a month is enough. I do stop at our local Save-a-Lot every now and then for items such as milk and fruit that don’t last all month.

We made it home around 7 p.m. and after all the groceries were put away and the animals were taken care of I spent the rest of the evening reading.

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Farm news: 22 eggs

Sunday, February 23

This morning we made coffee on the stovetop with a percolater coffee pot. It took a while but it was worth the wait as it was delicious! The coffee was smooth with no aftertaste which was weird cuz it was the same coffee we usually use.

I asked CountryBoy if he would work on the hanging light before church. It took some doing but we finally figured it out. There were some extra components that came with the light but that we did not need with the swag kit.

We had it almost done short of attaching the switch when we had to fly up the stairs to get ready.

After church I quickly changed and went to work. CountryBoy finished the light while I was gone. It looks awesome!…

Here’s a closeup of my $15 stained glass light plus $19 for the swag kit…

Not a bad deal. It’s perfect and goes with the house and color scheme. I can already see my sister-in-love sitting on the couch reading under the light during one of their visits :). And I can see myself sitting there on many nights reading, crocheting or knitting. Our house has lacked decent lighting since we’ve moved in. This will help and I’m glad it’s hanging and off the floor.

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I only worked a couple of hours then came home and picked up my hexagon afghan rows to join them together. I had only about 1/4 of the row left to stitch together when I discovered that the row was upside down. sigh. So, I ripped it all out and started over. It was not going as easy this time so I put it down to do some journaling/blogging.

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Farm news: 21 eggs