Menus for December

In the Spirit of Christmas, I offer you this odd photo I took with my film camera right after we'd put up the lights earlier this month. It has snowed afresh today and everything looks as it ought. I wish I could show you that!*



It was quite the week. No headboard, but I did get almost all of our Christmas shopping done (husband had the week off and so we went shopping!), all the Christmas cards mailed (with accompanying photo of the kids and newsletter), and I've got the baking planned. According to my calculations, we'll need just over three pounds of butter and nearly 8 cups of sugar. Yeah, I'm not on any sort of reducing diet this month, that's for sure!

I've been scrapping up a storm, too. I've got most of the calendar for 2010 finished. And I decided to put together an album of past calendar pages for my Mom as a surprise Christmas present. The pages are all different sizes--so I had to figure out how to get them all into one format. Pictures from 2004 and 2008 have had to be scrapped up from scratch, as I didn't do a calendar for those years' pictures. I've got Volume 1 completed-- 2003, 2004, and 2005. We'll see how far we can get with Volume 2 (2006, 2007, and 2008).

Oh--and I've done the menus for dinner in December.

Here's the proof.


Big shop tomorrow!

*The digital camera is still in another city being repaired. I'm pining for it.

Living Room Rug

My digital is still dead and still in the shop, unfortunately.

However, I took a couple of photos when I put down the 8x10 rug to get an idea of what it looked like with the ten feet running lengthwise. Then, I decided to turn the carpet around to see what it looked like with the eight feet running lengthwise and realised it didn't look right. That's also when I realised I had FILM in my camera and wouldn't be able to post any pictures for your input until long after I needed to make the decision!

So, the film is finally developed, the pictures scanned into the computer. Here's a picture of the way I decided it should go--positioned with the ten feet running lengthwise--the eight feet running from under the couch to the chairs by the window. It mimics the shape of the room and makes sense. I took a shot from far away and at a bit of a low angle, just so Anne could see how far under the couch it goes.




I never would have imagined how much a rug "completes" the room. I've since added the couch cushions back to the couch, purchased some very nice pillows (in orange) and put up my "winter" brown drapes. There's a red Poinsettia on the ottoman too. It's quite cheery. I wish I could show you that.

Bedroom Week: One Project. Just One. I Promise.

(picture from the Covent Garden Hotel in England)

The Headboard.

It is time.

I went looking for "bedroom posts" on the blog today to see what I had posted for inspiration in the past. I discovered I had already posted almost exactly the pictures I was thinking of posting today.

And then I noticed the date on that post: October 1997.
In it, I mention I've been thinking about a headboard "for a year."

There is something very sad inside me as a result of learning that I can carry around an idea of something I want for so long without any action whatsoever. I'm not sure what it is. It isn't forgetfulness. A headboard has been on my mind almost continuously for the last three years. It isn't patience, either, though it would be nice to claim it. Nope: it's something like procrastination plus a recognition that the time, somehow, isn't right. (And do I say that because it is true or only for the small bit of solace it offers?)

It is time, now, though.

How do I know? I've called a place and got a quote for foam. I called another and got a quote for plywood. I've been to websites seeking directions. (Here's one from designspongeI need to look at further.) I've discussed how we should mount it to the wall with the husband.

Ive got some brown wrapping paper in the basement and tomorrow I am going to take it and make a rough template of the size I want. Then, I'll call for more precise quotes. If I place my order with the Foam place by Monday, they'll have it ready cut for me by Thursday. How great is that?

Here is the area I'm working with, for those who haven't seen it (or have forgotten).




In other Cure News:

I have my brown drapes back from the dry cleaners and ready to hang--however, I've decided to lift the curtain rod an inch so they don't drag on the floor. (Yes, it is much easier and quicker to do this than to hem them. Each panel has thirteen triple pleats and they are lined. And no, I lived with them "dragging" for two years. No matter how much I tried to like it, (that whole ridiculous "puddling" thing) I couldn't. They picked up all sorts of dog hair and dust. Shudder. They also cost close to $100.00 to clean--and that was a steal. I want them to stay clean for a long, long time.)

I have painted the inside of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom downstairs. Two coats.

I just finished scraping up all the paint spots on the basin.

I had my husband remove the brackets in the kitchen which used to hold the top shelf over the stove.

I got him to get me the caulking (and gun) and explain to me how to use it, so I can handle that repair tomorrow.

And I asked him fish all the paint brushes and rollers from our freezer and wash them out. Two of four are salvageable. And that's great because I've four IKEA chairs I want to paint white as well as some of the furniture in my daughter's room.

Lighting

Since this week is not just about bathrooms, but about lighting too, I thought I'd share a nutty thing I did to keep track of the various kinds of light bulbs I need for my various kinds of fixtures.

I was going crazy keeping track of it all--and I never seemed to have what I needed whenever we blew a bulb. For example, I need those teeny tiny stem bulbs--but some fixtures can only take 40 watts while others can handle 60. I'd remember to buy the bulbs: but forget precisely which wattage.

So, I took photos of all my light fixtures and inserted them into a word document detailing the wattage of the bulb I needed as well as the quantity. I guess you could call it a "Light bulb Inventory" except I have another sheet of paper I keep in the closet called "Light bulb Inventory." I'm not posting the latter though, since I don't use it much--not now that I'm in the habit of just buying a package (or three) of whatever light bulb I happened to replace that week.

Making up these sheets was helpful, though, not only in determining what I needed but also in figuring out what could be switched over to Compact Fluorescent--as indeed some of these have been.

Ready for my own brand of household management nuttiness?
Here they are. (I hope you can see them properly: I just scanned in the pages).






P.S. On the bathroom front, I worked in the downstairs bathroom today. I took down the shower curtain, the shower curtain liner and the window curtain and washed them all. I even ironed the window curtain and put it back up: all before bath time tonight! I also washed the open shelves over the toilet and emptied and washed out the medicine cabinet. I threw out some cough syrup that had actually crystallized on the bottom and some Neo-Citron dated to expire in 2007.

Then, using my step ladder I washed all the walls (and door) from the ceiling down--as well as the blue ceiling over the tub/shower. I have yet to wash the tub, the walls from standing height down, the baseboards, and the floor. I'm also have to deal with the caulking yet. I'm also going to re-paint the inside of the medicine cabinet and the back of the mirrored door tomorrow morning. I just realised today, after living here for ten plus years, that the back of the door is actually blue--and not white as I had always thought.

January Complete

and I am underwhelmed.

I'm making a calendar for my Mom, my M-I-L and my own Grandmother as a Christmas present. I do it every year (except last year). My mother gets the original pages and the others get copies done up at Staples.

Essentially, what I create are 8x8 scrapbook pages which I affix to a pre-made 8x8 coiled calendar. This year, to keep things simple, I decided to print the pictures 5x7 and stick to one design scheme: a quote, a piece of patterned paper and an embellishment. This year, all the quotes have to do with education (since I had already collected a number of them for a Home school planner I'm making.)

This is what I came up with for January, last night. I'm not sure what to think.


(The picture was taken in January of 2009. That's my nephew in the middle).
Bah Humbug.

The Bathrooms.

My least favourite week, ever.

I'm sorry I can't give you a tour. There are a few pictures, though. Nonetheless, this is really no more than a ramble and a To-Do list.


The Ramble.

I have some great "fishy" tile at the back of the sink in my downstairs bathroom. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought and installed it, but fortunately, I still like it. It just makes the room hard to change into any other sort of "style" --which as it isn't that expensive to do, is unfortunate.

However, the colours I have to work with are yellow-orange, orange, navy, and green. (I allow all sorts of blues with the navy, though.) The last time I did up this room, I went with the brights: an orange curtain, yellow and orange towels, a Toftbo shower curtain. (See this post from 2007 if you want visuals).

This time, I want things more subdued, more relaxing. I also have to fix this:
(gross alert):



My husband thinks it's caused by the hot water tap and water coming from the surface of the sink deck. Looking at it now, I wonder if it isn't the plastic "frame" around the tile capturing the water from the sink deck and channeling it over and down. It's rotted the baseboard underneath it, too.

Does anyone have any ideas? I can scrape and re-caulk--but that's not a long term solution.

The To Do List:

Clean shelves
Declutter, and clean medicine cabinet shelves and mirror
Replace towels with blue ones (done)
Wash walls
Wash tub and tub surround (It really should be replaced).
Wash floor
Wash drain pipes
Wash toilet, inside and out.

I did manage to take a few pictures of my upstairs bathroom before the camera died. But I really cannot show you. This bathroom embarrasses me greatly. It is tiny. I measured it so we can buy new flooring: it is 52" wide--and 52" long. I will show you the shelves over the toilet, though, just so you can see the challenge of putting up anything for storage.

(That's not dirt on the toilet tank: it's actually metal. I believe the toilet bowl and tank are original--and the tank is painted metal. The paint has peeled away and the tank top has rusted in many places. It's quite the eye sore.)

For this room:
Repeat above list (except for washing the tub and tub surround as we haven't any in the upstairs bathroom)
Re-think the storage
Buy new toilet
Buy and install new flooring
Put up a curtain (It's a casement window. But so what? I rarely open it as it is dangerous to the head of anyone who sits on the throne.)
Decide a colour scheme and style. This all-white business is depressing.

Blech.

The Camera has died.

Somehow, the lens got "stuck," fully extended. No matter what I do, it won't retract.

I have to send it to another city for servicing, too. (This is quite common in Canada. The entire country has fewer people than one major U.S. city, or something like that, right?).

I am at a loss.

I am just flitting from one thing to another, all organization and all sensible plans gone.
Pffft.

The husband says that if it's going to "cost too much" then it may be time to "upgrade." And although I've been wanting a proper digital SLR, the idea of getting one under these circumstances is distressing. I need to research. I need to figure it all out, first.

And, really, all I wanted to do was take pictures of the living room with the rug today for you. And the shiny clean office. And the bathrooms.

Poot.

(PS--In a pinch, I can still take pictures with my film based SLR. The lens is really lousy, though.)