Do you rug shop online?

Soooo, we're in full decorating mode at the cottage.  One thing about phase two decorating is it takes So. Much. Time.  A commodity that doesn't run in abundance around here.  My mornings generally start between 4:30 and 5:00.  Yes, a.m..  And yes, it is VERY early.  I'm out the door about 6:45 and then arrive home between 5:00 and 7:00 (depending on whether I need to run errands or not).  Cook dinner, clean up, do a few things around the house and perhaps watch ONE tv program.  In bed between 9:00 - 9:30.  Repeat.  My big girl job keeps me very busy.  My adults kids and two grandkids keep me very busy.

 

Back to my original point, I don't have a lot of time to shop.  Thank goodness for online shopping.  I do most of my Christmas shopping online. Amazon Prime is a lifesaver.  I digress.  After browsing through website, after website, after website, I think we've settled on an area rug for the living room.  It won't break the bank and had free shipping.

 

 

 

I can return this one if it truly doesn't work in the space.  Have you ever ordered a rug online?  Tell me about your experience.  I'm linking up to Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesdays.

Decorating...Phase 2

I told you we we're in a decorating fury (frenzy?) around here.  Last year we had the new hardwood floors (6" distressed birch plank in a medium/dark brown) and painted all of the "living" areas of the house.  We ordered new furniture and took delivery on these two sweet chairs with side table last week.

 

 

 

 

It doesn't look like it but they are both push-back recliners.  They are sooo comfy.  We use this room in the winter to read and relax (we have a fireplace in here and no t.v.)  The little bit of cream furniture you see in the foreground is the new coffee table (I told you I'm not a good photographer!).  When the new sofa arrives I'll take pics of it and the coffee table.  I thought I might go look at lamps today but I'm just not feeling it.  We need an 8x10 rug for this room and a 5x8 for the adjacent entry.  When you change just one thing in your house, you get a domino effect!  At least now we've mapped out our priority list so I'm feeling like this room will come together by the holidays, yay!



Decorating Fury

I'm exhausted from the mother of all sinus infections I brought back from Alaska with me.  I'm also pooped because I spent four hours yesterday working with my furniture store on ordering new furniture for the living room.  It's the first thing you see when you enter the house and it has had the Queen Bea's things in there since we moved in.  The Queen Bea is 90 years old and well, frankly, the house had too much of an old lady feel to suit us.  We're headed towards a more coastal casual feel.

 

We have ordered 7 new pieces of furniture and possibly will order one more. God Bless Universal Furniture for standing behind Paula Deen and her furniture line.  We have ordered several PD pieces and the big hutch for next year is from her newest line (replaces our groovy 80's oak entertainment unit).  Now I'm working on picking out lamps, a rug and a few other accessories (I like to incorporate as many of the existing accessories that have special meaning as possible).  The picture of the whale's fluke will be blown up to 30x40 and put on a canvas with a gallery wrap to hang over the mantel (I'm super excited about it).  We hope to have our personal stamp on this room by the holidays.

 

I'll try to get a few pics of some of the pieces posted soon.  Right now I'm off to run errands.  Toodles!

A Whale's Tail

 



...is technically called a fluke.  See that gorgeous fluke in the picture above?  I shot that picture last week in Auke Bay, Alaska.  We had whales about 50 feet from our boat.  It was soooo exciting to experience.  The whale watching trip was definitely the highlight of our trip.  Getting the mother of all sinus/bronchial infections was definitely the low point.  The beauty of Alaska is really beyond explanation.  You just MUST see it for yourself one of these days if you haven't already.  We love it so much we went last year, this year and will go again next year.  Sick or not, life I good!

I Wanna...

...be an interesting blogger...have great pictures of fantastic meals to post...blog about the myriad of books I've read recently...post pictures of all the amazing decorating feats I've performed using free/nearly free/or found objects while having one hand tied behind my back as I'm on vacation to some exotic place.  Um, not gonna happen.  My days are anything but exciting.  Get up at 5 a.m..  Leave the house at 7 a.m.. Commute to my big girl job.  Put in a full day working for 3 bosses and the needs of 32 people in our department.  Come home pooped and still try to put together a nutritious, healthy and inexpensive meal.  Take care of the needs of my 11 yo grandson who is with us most days after school until up to 7:30 at night.  Wash face.  Brush teeth.  In bed by 9:30 p.m.  Repeat.  Hmmmm, wonder why you don't see any interesting pictures on my blog?  That's why.  I wanna  visit from my fairy godmother.

Pantry Challenge Week 4

 

 

One of these days I'm going to find more time to blog (famous last words!).  I've  taken the Pantry Challenge and even though I've done well at cleaning out the pantry and not buying much, I've been hitting some great meat stock up prices for the freezer.  My freezers overfloweth!  Because of this, I plan to average my spending over two weeks.

 

Humorous story, we made a quick Costco run yesterday and I'm trying to just buy things we absolutely need.  The main reason I needed to go was for some beauty/health products. As I'm deciding I don't need some of the things on my list DH looked at me and said "are we having a money problem?".  I laughed and said no, I'm just trying to use what we have and not spend extra.  It's a challenge.  He doesn't get it.  He does not  budget or plan!  Need I say more?

 

Today is a holiday for me so I'm going to cook and shred some chicken in the crockpot.  DH likes to have meat to throw in a burrito if we need to make a meal quickly.  I'm going to make some chicken tortilla soup and freeze some lunch size portions for work. Dinner tonight will be bbq half of a London Broil we bought we for 47 cents (I had a $10 off coupon and say WE because I was sick so dh went to the store for me), with an oriental slaw.  Tuesday will be baked or bbq'd chicken breasts and baked potato (sweet potato for me).  To be honest, I haven't thought further than that.  I have a bazillion things to accomplish around the cottage on my day "off" so I guess I'd better get cracking.

 

Join me at Good Cheap Eats Pantry Challenge to see how everyone is doing.

 



Clean Pantry = Ahhhhhhhh

Please tell me I'm not the only one in blogland with an out.of.control pantry.  And tell me I'm not the only one that can spend 5+ hours purging, cleaning and organizing your pantry.  But most of all, tell me if you fit in the first two categories you stand back like I do and open the pantry door and sigh a big ahhhhhhhhh.  The Prodigal Son thinks I'm weird.  So be it.

 

Here's proof of the pudding of how bad my little walk in pantry was:

 

 

 

There isn't any way to take a picture of the entire pantry at once.  It's in the corner of the kitchen with the doorway at an angle.  It is 3.5 feet by 5 feet.  The ceiling is 10 ft. high.  Son #1 and I were going to add a shelf up high for storage of items that are only used a few times a year.  I bought the wrong supports.  The shelf has been sitting in my garage for two years.  It's on my "to do" list.

 

And here is the big TA DA:



   

Can I have a big AHHHHHHH? Am I the only one that just feels like her world is in order because the pantry is in order? Doesn't matter. It doesn't take much to amuse me.



New year, new beginnings.

 

 

 

 

An hour long walk along the Pacific Ocean can really clear the brain and give one a little perspective on life and the beauty of His majesty.  I can't imagine looking at that view and doubting God's existance.  It felt so good to enjoy the cold wind on my face and the mist of the surf and give my legs a good workout.

 

I realize that I really fell short on some personal relationships this past year.  I'm hoping to start fresh with this new year and make some meaningful changes in my life.  I've entered a little different phase this year as I try to gear down and look forward to retirement in 2015.  The biggest problem I have is learning how to gear down!  I'm so used to having twenty things on my plate at once that it is very difficult for me to focus on just one or two important things at a time.

 

Goal #1 - finish painting the big hutch in the breakast room and clean out and organize the pantry and cabinets.  When you have five people putting things away in the kitchen, it can all become a jumble. 

 

Goal #2 - organize the office.  This past fall we painted the entry, den, living room, main hall, kitchen/breakfast room, hall bath and small hall and put hardwood floors in all of those spaces except the kitchen/breakast room.  I painted the office which became the nursery before Munchkin #2 inhabited the room and now we need to move in the computer hutch, my desk (which I have to paint) and have grandma's old platform rocker slip covered.  While this is being done I'll be taking old paperwork to a shred event and organize said desks.  I'm an administrative assistant by trade so being organized is very important to me.

 

I could go on with more goals but if I can accomplish these two major goals (that involve a bunch of mini goals) in January and February, I'll be a happy camper.  Can you tell organization is very important to me?  I just need some calm in my life and absence of clutter.  Have you set any goals for yourself in 2013?



 

 



 

 

 

Ah yes, the infrequent blogger strikes again!  Yes, life has been crazy.  But somehow I still survive and on it goes.  I won't bore you with the details, but life has changed dramatically (again) for us this past 4 months.  I've many things to share over the next days (weeks...months???).  But like many people right now with the new year looming (2013 in another day?  really?), I reflect on goals for the new year.  The Prodigal Son, Cute Redhead, Munchkin #2 and Devil Dog moved out in August.  I don't need to buy or cook food in the quanitities I did before.  I have self imposed dietary restrictions and the Comedian watches his portions and carbs too.  The Queen Bee?  Well, she'll pretty much eat anything (and everything. except burritos. go figure.) that are put in front of her.  Sorry, I'm getting windy here.  The whole point is, I'm joining the Pantry Challenge so I can #1, clean out the pantry and freezer, #2 lower the grocery bill this month (I was able to get it down to $270 last month) and #3 be a better steward of what we have.  Since tomorrow we as a nation will probably be going over the Fiscal Cliff, I'm going to try to tighten up our fiscal belt at the Cottage and hope for the best (nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?).  I dare you to try it too!

Food for Life?

How's your "food plan" (I refuse to use the word diet) working for you?  I've been working on mine for the last 3+ months and have been doing very well.  I'm following the "slow carb" method from the book The 4 Hour Body.  I have to admit I'm a bit of a junky about reading books on diet and nutrition.  I don't want to EVEN go through the long laundry list of "food plans" I've been on the in the past 40+ years.  Yep, tried many, MANY of them.  So back to my original thought.  Since I'm home for the long weekend and the weather is a bit on the cool side, I decided to download a movie from Netflix yesterday.  My daughter told me Super Size It is an interesting movie but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) it wasn't available for download.  Up came a list of movies Netflix suggests as being in the same genre.  Here's the one I decided to watch:



Besides being thoroughly entertained, it was chock full of very interesting information.  It reminded me of how Big Brother (read that our government) doesn't think we can decide for ourselves what is best for us and our loved ones.  Give me a break!  Who are they to come in like the Twinkie Police if we should decide to down one or two or a dozen of the fat loaded treats?  It makes me want to find a cave or deserted island to get away from the madness.  Anywho, I feel like I'm on the right track with my food plan.  How's yours working for you? 

Down the Rabbit Hole

I feel a little like Alice in Wonderland, going down, down, down the rabbit hole.  The rabbit hole of Pinterest.  I've resisted until this past week and Lord have mercy, I could stay up all night looking at the images!  I'm a very visual person.  I love being able to pin all of my decorating ideas on boards so I can gather it all in one place. 

We're currently redecorating the family room/den.  I mean starting from scratch baby.  The paint color and new hardwood flooring has been picked out.  One chair and lamp bought and the entertainment unit on order.  We'll order the sofa, chair and half, occasional chair and cocktail table in April.  I have two pieces of furniture to paint (after getting one reglued).  The big basket from Pottery Barn will be ordered today.  The last piece of the puzzle will be to find an area rug.  Click the Pinterest button above to take you to my boards.

What's on Your Reading List?



I love my Kindle Fire!  I read the Hunger Games a couple of days ago and started the second book in the trilogy, Catching Fire,  yesterday and will finish it this morning.  I go back to work tomorrow so probably won't get to read Mockingjay, which is the last book in the trilogy, until this weekend.  I need to get some things done around the house (like clean, yuck) but I'd rather be reading!

Christmas Confession

I have a confession to make.  Christmas is one of my least favorite holidays.  Mind you, it's not the meaning behind the reason we celebrate Christmas that makes me dislike it...it's all the hoopla, craziness, overkill of buy, Buy, BUY...bigger is better...more is better...make yourself crazy trying to be the "perfect" hostess, giving the "perfect" gift, yada yada yada.  I know I sound a little "Scroogish" but it's honestly how I feel.  It doesn't help when you're sick over the holidays.  I've already started to dismantle the decorations.  I like the clean feeling of the house after everything has been taken down, put away and scrubbed clean.  Fortunately we have a short winter here in the big valley (about 6 weeks).  I'll hunker down for the month of January enduring the fog (if we ever get any rain!) and cold weather.  Then as if magic about mid February the fruit trees start to blossom out.  By the end of February the Blossom Trail is resplendent in her colorful glory.  Ahhh, the promises of spring that will shortly follow. 

I hope your Christmas was everything you had wished for.  I think next year I'll spend mine on a Caribbean Island.

A Purging I will go, a purging I will go...

...hi ho the derrio, a purging I will go.  And I don't mean purging as in puking my guts out, lol.  I've had "stuffitis" these last few months and have been clearing stuff out and trying to reorganize in hopes of doing a little redecorating.  Even though I'm down and out with a nasty cold/sinus infection, I can still go through old magazines while sitting here and keep the (few) pages I want and toss the rest.  Really, with so much available to us online, why keep the mags?  Don't get me wrong, I love nothing more than to sit with a hot cup of coffee and peruse some beautiful pics in the magazines but my time is limited so I'm trying to scale down on purchasing magazines and either get the online version, or just use my blog perusing to satisfy my visual urges.  I have resisted getting bit by the Pinterest bug because I know once I do, I'll get NOTHING accomplished!

I've just ordered this set from Kohl's for our bedroom:

and am coveting this for the end of the bed (which the Comedian really likes too):



and I plan to move some accessories around and repaint the old roll top desk (which I have taken the roll top off of and plan to use my grandfather's desk chair).  Oh, so typical of me to have soooo many grandiose plans but will the time and energy follow?  Let's see how many things I can pull off before the end of this decade!!!

Agapantha Haircut

Do you know what an agapantha is?  This is an agapantha

They are really pretty planted in masses like they are around my front flower beds.  Pretty until your over zealous gardener decides to give them a haircut...down to the ground...arrrrrgggghhhh!!!   I think that was the last straw with the gardener.  Last year he gave my lavender bushes a haircut, they didn't survive.  The year before he gave some of my society garlics a haircut.  They were DOA when spring hit.  I have to TELL him when to prune my roses.  What is up with that?!!! I was having a really pathetic work week and this was the icing on the cake!  Help me Hannah!!!





Word for 2011

Last year my word for the year was BALANCE.  I'm not too sure how well I did with that word for the year.  I tried to strike balance between work, family, friends and me time.  Somehow I think the scales were more heavily tipped toward the work/family side.  My word for 2011 is:

D E L I G H T

I plan to delight in the Lord, delight in my family and delight in my job in 2011.  I have such a tendency to live in the future and not live in the moment and enjoy what is happening.  My mother always tells me not to wish my  life away.  With my 58th birthday looming in front of me I realize I need to be gratified with what I have, where I am.  Do you have a word for 2011?

It's That Time of Month Again

NO, not THAT time of the month, lol.  That hasn't happened to me in many years.  It's the last week of the month.  It's always a dreaded time for me.  You see, I get paid once a month (the downside of working in education).  Sooo, the last week of the month is when I start ahem, "creating" new meals/menus based on what's in the freezer and pantry.  Plus, to tell you the truth, I'm just pretty much out of motivation or inspiration.  That's not entirely true.  The motivation is the checkbook is pretty skinny right now.  The inspiration?  Na, that's not happening so much.  Plus our near 100 degree temps don't help one to be inspired (unless it's to eat out...which isn't happening!). 

A new "normal"

The past month has been a veritable blur.  So much time spent at the hospital...so much time spent at the bedside of a dying loved one...so much time spent making arrangements...so much time spent taking care of bills and paperwork that aren't even mine...so much time spent helping a loved one with memory loss adjust to her loss...loss of husband, loss of home, loss of self identity.  So we settle into our new "normal".  Through all of this I must say I have been very impressed and deeply touched at how well The Comedian has handled this new normal.  Today I took a vacation day to journey over to The Nana's house to clear things out so the The Bride and Groom can move in later this month.  We aren't ready to sell the house because of the poor housing market so we will rent it to them and know it is in good hands.  I have sooo many projects at the home front untouched and neglected.  My bills and paperwork are stacking up waiting for some attention.  I either want to bury my head in the sand or run screaming from all that needs to be done.  But I'll take each day as it comes.  Learning to deal with my new "normal".

When Life Gets Broken

Our hearts are broken yet we are rejoicing too.  The Papa has been called home to heaven to sit at Jesus' feet.  We are sad that he is gone from us but happy that he is no longer suffering.  It has been a long haul these past two years.  We are so thankful we were given many more months than originally anticipated.  We are very grateful to the fantastic care he received at St. Agnes Medical Center and through Hinds Hospice.  The people we dealt with have such an incredible gift.  Farewell Papa.  We'll see you on the other side!

A Bountiful Harvest

I'm sorry to disappear again after I said I was going to try to be better about blogging.  But I had a good reason.  The Papa is on his way out of this earthly world.  His leukemia has reared it's ugly head.  Between work and going to the hospital, I'm spent.

Today I tended to domestic chores and my sadly neglected garden.  Boy, you can't let that thing get out of control!  This is what I harvested this morning:

My tomatoes are going nutso.  I am growing four varieties.  The small cherry tomatoes are called sweet 100's and they are like eating candy!  The larger cherries didn't have a tag on them to tell me the variety but they are really good too.  I picked two small hot peppers (ya baby, there is salsa in my future), a green pepper and a zucchini.  We had the zucchini with ranch dip for dinner.  The larger tomatoes made an appearance in my lunch.

There is absolutely nothing better than a BLT with tomatoes fresh from the garden.  I can hardly wait till I can grow lettuce again.  It is still fairly hot here so I'll probably wait a week or two to plant the lettuce and spinach seeds.  I want to totally revamp the garden (the zucchini and tomato plants have totally taken over).  My basil is going gangbusters too so I'll probably make some pesto tomorrow.  Yummo!