A fix

I ended up with piles at the bottom of the stairs that just sort of lived there. My dog walking clothes, things headed up stairs.

The fix is two sets of hangers on the back door.

So now the banister and the stairs, can look like this -

The kids needed something to set things on in the living room, that was sturdy and carefree

For $10, I was able to buy an unfinished top from the lumber yard. Round and nicely sanded. And it was pine. So I was not going to be worried about it, at all. I was okay with it being painted.

It took middle about five coats to cover the (originally) red legs. The yellow is nearly the color of the walls.

This was a $10 redo, just the price of the top. We had the paint. We had brushes and sandpaper. Youngest was able to reuse all the bolts and screws to trade out the tops.

Stool with the original top, so you can see the size difference.

English style gardens

Over planted, lush, full. Lots of varieties. One plant here, another variety next to it. Lots of types all squished in together.

When we plant in that format, in the spring when things come up, we cannot tell the weed from “good” plant. We are afraid to pull anything. And we end up with a weed patch.

A large section of pachysandra in the front, showed me a different option.  It is so full that it keeps the weeds down. And if one pops up, it is easy to identify, and gets pulled immediately.

That has lead to our planting large sections of one plant only.

We can identify weeds in those sections. And if something “good” pops up, from a neighboring area, we can transplant it. Or give it to a neighbor.

And we still get that “full look”.

The secret to the English garden look I love, I think, is not being able to see the dirt.

Monarchs and milkweed

Two summers ago, I planted milkweed seeds, purchased thru a “save the monarchs” type group. Did not grow.

Last summer friend dug milkweed roots for me. He dug them far from farmlands and roadways. They came from a pond at a DNR fishery. (DNR - department of natural resources.)

Once milkweed gets exposed to chemicals, monarchs avoid it. Forever. That might well be adding to the monarch shortage. The milkweed along farm fields, is often now un-eatable. 

Root planted milkweed just outside our living room window. And it came up this year. A good clump of  it came up. And thrived. I was very excited.

Both my grandmothers would think I was a little nuts for starting milkweed in a yard. But I was smart where I started it. House on one side. Grass path on the other side. Evergreens, dense evergreens that can hold their own, on both ends. So it is a contained area. And if it goes under the grass to the next bed, I am okay with that and will let it fill that (currently empty) bed.

A month or more ago we were invaded by tussock moth caterpillars. My husband removed them all. And every day he checks to see if any more have hatched. Most days he plucks at least one.

https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/milkweed_ecology_answers.html

Today, we counted 8 caterpillars in our patch. And I think there are enough leaves to support them. Because my husband is removing the tussock caterpillars (which mow down leaves at an alarmingly fast pace), only the monarch's are feeding.

Pictures -

Milkweed patch outside our living room window

This is the good kind. A monarch caterpillar.
(Taken with my iPhone)

cold air returns

We have cold air returns in most rooms of the house. Interestingly, not the kitchen.

I have two Goldens that keep me company most days. They belong to a neighbor. It is a mutually beneficial situation.

However, middle and I both have asthma and assorted people have dog allergies. And I did not want dog dander pulled into the duct work of the house.

So our heating/air conditioning guys came and put filters on the three cold air returns that are exposed to dogs. We keep all the bedroom doors in the house shut when the dogs are here.

The cold air returns (with filter added) are in the living room, top of stairs, my sewing room. So these are in the “main” areas of the house.


Purpose of filter - to keep dog hair out of the duct work. The dog is only in the kitchen, hall, living room.


When the service man came to clean/check air conditioner, this past week, he took out the filters and had me wash them with the hose in the kitchen sink. Then he put them back. Interestingly, the cold air duct at the top of the stairs, is always the dirtiest, it must pull from downstairs kitchen. We do not have a cold air return in the kitchen/hall.

We are going to do the same thing in the late fall when he comes to check the furnace.



And we have two tower filters in my bedroom. And two tower filters in the other downstairs bedroom. There is also one in the living room. These are good quality tower filters from Target with permanent/washable filters.

aprons

Simplicity
Daisy Kingdom
pattern #7481

It was discontinued long ago.

They come up, new, unopened, on eBay for very high prices. High demand, low availability.

Clearly simplicity could sell a lot of them if they republished.

It is just a great style wrap around apron. No ties. It slips over the head.

I had been eyeing it, but refusing to pay $50 for a pattern. Someone gave me a certificate for $25. And I found one listed for $40 with free shipping. So I grabbed it. Unopened, never cut.

If you don’t know, patterns are all together. One back piece with the lines for all the sizes. If you cut it at the lines for a size small, you lose the rest of the sizes.

So I traced the XL on grid fabric, and am saving it. And I interfaced the tissue paper pattern so it is sturdy. I am cutting and trying the size L first.

And I am using odds and ends of fabric I already have to make these aprons. (I think for Christmas). So this is a clean out activity. I am lining all the the aprons. So they will use up a lot of fabric. A lot.

And I am piping them. Piping on the edges. Which is easy to sew, makes for a very clean edge, and looks very polished.

Gretchen, great list

https://gretchenrubin.com/2018/07/25-secrets-of-adulthood-that-ive-learned-the-hard-way

I have no idea if it is junk or a valuable thing that is floating around the house, no idea

Oldest and youngest, home for a visit, sorted thru a box of weird electronics stuff, so helpful.

The winter I had surgery, 2013, oldest went thru a massive pile of cords. Like every stray cord in the house. Sorted, labeled, discarded, kept. He got it into one bin. With a lid. And the bin was not full. With a shelf for it in the garage. It was a bin that could live on, practically. And has.

This sort project was every weird “electronic” thing in the house, I had it all in a box. I have collected as we have sorted thru the house. A controller from this. Remote from that. Discs. Tapes. Cords. All kinds of orphan things. They sorted. Middle was their running girl. Garbage. Donate. It goes with this or that. A lot of stuff, sorted. Box now empty.

Fabulous.

Forever known as BAD ASTHMA JULY 2018

This week and part of next, a food and Med schedule:

6am
Food
Oral steroid
Zpac

10am
Two inhalers

Noon (food)

6pm
Food (last food of the day)
Oral steroid

10pm
One Inhaler
My regular meds

Nebulizer every 4-6 hours as I want it. Hint - I want it, every 4 hours. I can't make it past 4.

Still rolling thru the kitchen

Before -

After -

Everything came from Bed Bath Beyond.
This was the most expensive drawer.
The plastic in the old knife drawer had massive cracks and was discolored.
  I had 20% off every item at BBB. All these drawers will now probably last the rest of my life. Many other drawers were free, so I felt free to get what I actually wanted.

I have no before picture. Just visualize wraps and boxes spilling out the top in a wadded up mess.

Yes, those are two US post office boxes. I looked at several stores and could not find plastic bins the correct size. I dug through my box stash and these worked perfectly. Free.

I have no before picture. Just imagine small plastic ware in a big mess. Lids, containers, so many small pieces. I sorted everything. If it was Tupperware brand, I kept it. But I moved it to my large Tupperware containers in the cupboard above our microwave. And they are sorted. One size and the corresponding lids in one large container. There are 3-4 large containers will small sets in them. So yes, if I want to use the big container, I have to dump the little ones in something else. I am okay with that. The big ones do not get used very often. I have several of each.

This is a giant, empty drawer. My second empty drawer. 

Yes, those are also ten empty shelves.

Drawer envy.

This is what started it.
I was looking for a pair of scissors at our neighbor's, the dog's house. Her kitchen drawers were lovely. I thought they were custom, built with the cupboards, because I have a couple drawers like that. But when I asked - Bed Bath and Beyond.





Both our girls were home for spring break. And on Saturday/yesterday, we all made a trip to BBB.

I was smart, the girls cut pieces of paper to fit exactly in the two drawers getting a makeover. So then we had a visible grid to figure sizing/placement. Middle was smart, she took the before pictures (below) so we had an idea of what was being stored in those drawers.





The second most used drawer in the house. second to the flatware drawer.
We have lived here over 15 years.
And I think it has been cleared out 2-4 times.
Each time it looks great and then falls to the wayside.

Drawer one BEFORE -

AFTER -

Drawer two BEFORE -

AFTER-

I debated for about 12 hours on what to do with this drawer. We got the tool bin of the garage and picked out these items. There are duplicates of things still in the tool bin. So if you open this drawer, you do not have to look in the garage. And if you get out the tool bin in the garage, you do not have to come in the house and open the drawer. Two full sets. And by the way, when we were done, you could not tell I had taken one thing out of the garage tool bin. It is still very full. 

If you are wondering where all the batteries went, they moved down one drawer and are now here -

This is a deeper drawer. If we had taken a before picture, it was full of paper. FULL. Of all the paper, a few things were saved - the instructions for the snowblower, the instructions for my bike, three cookbooks. Those all moved to new homes. The tape rolls from all over the house now live in this drawer. And the angel box, which was sitting empty in the kitchen from another clean out, is full of batteries. 

These next three drawers did not get new furnishings, instead they got sorted and scrubbed. Before pictures would have looked pretty much the same. These drawers were already pretty good. I think the key might be dividers. The more sections, the better. Maybe.

These drawer dividers are built ins. 

These drawer dividers are built ins. 

I have one drawer (below) left to sort. It is the knife drawer. BBB has several options made specifically for knives. There are also many different kinds of dividers. It is a big drawer. I taped the two pieces of paper from the other drawers together to make a template for this drawer. And it is in the car. So the next time I am near BBB, I am ready.

My potholder drawer by the stove was left as was. It is just a drawer full of potholders, no dividers.

Ditto with the kitchen towel drawer. Intact.

And the drawer that holds table knives, napkins and a Kleenex box is untouched also. If we moved any of those items, people would be forever confused. So those things stayed where they were.

One other drawer held rolls (plastic, aluminum, baking). And birthday candles that have rarely been used (we usually have pie for birthdays). Those items moved to a very deep, large drawer full of paper bags and zip-lock bags and that sort of thing. That drawer is a jumble and one simply digs for what they want. Adding 3-4 rolls made no impact on the jumble.


And this is my last drawer -

Gretchen has her empty shelf, and I have my empty drawer, at least for now.

Third doll wardrobe

So, to recap, it all started with my grandpa's gun cabinet. My brother was moving, did not want it, I got it when I picked up the roll top desk and the millstone.

My whole house is very attached to anything "family". If it has a history as a family piece, we make room for it.

The doll wardrobes have great economy of space. Tiny footprint in the house, hold a lot of stuff. And doll clothes are best stored on hangers.

My brother, yesterday, text, said "really cool re-purposed items!" and yes, they are.

Gun cabinets 2 and 3 were found on the Facebook Marketplace. 2 was more modern, and had covered shelf and drawer which worked great for youngest's 3 dolls. Felicity has a lot of hats. 3, like 1 was made by a grandpa and was old knotty pine.

This is 3 when it came in the house.

It has a folded sock under it to tip it back slightly because we did not quite trust it to stay upright. Very heavy glass door. So heavy that if you open the door, have to hold on to the case or the whole thing fell forward. L bracket on the top confirmed it had always been bolted to the wall.

This cabinet has no drawer. And only stands 5 1/2' tall.

We debated. Find some type of drawer thing to put under it? Just find a spot and get it secured to the wall won. We did not want to run any chance of it crashing over and the glass being broken.

After a bit of house scouting, a nook in our room was the perfect spot. Very little traffic. Fit perfectly.

These shelves are my next project. Middle's books are going there. 

It is at the end of a set of shelves, next to my closet, in the far corner of the room.

Two shims under the left side squared it and then the door opens and closes much better. Two L brackets pointed down, behind it, hold it firmly in place.

Then I thought I spelled something odd in the inside. Faint. But there. My mother's nose confirmed. We think just old wood that had been closed up for a long time.

Two coats of sealer. One coat of paint.

We closed up the room and opened the windows and slept in the other end of the house for the sealer phase.

The baskets that were on my shelves are now on top the doll wardrobe. And they help give it more substance, and hold doll things.

Shelves are nearly empty. Good progress on that this week.


UPDATE -

(That weird pile is genealogy stuff).

Anne - her mom’s wedding dress. Very clever.

https://altopower.wordpress.com/2018/01/27/what-i-did-with-moms-wedding-dress/#comment-14033

2nd doll Wardrobe, Christmas gift

I had been eyeing these all season at a local store, they were 75% off after Christmas and middle bought them for me. Took two trips to two different store locations to get them all. The best part is I can add plain red pieces if I need more (like plates for example) in the future. Or I can add plastic Christmas kid pieces later too.

Anne is writing her way thru a very fun genealogy project, you might want to read along. . .

The first one is here,
https://altopower.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/getting-started-52ancestors/

The second one is here,
https://altopower.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/52-ancestors-2-favorite-photo/

My mom said it does not feel like Christmas unless she is sewing, especially doll clothes. Yes, she made all these outfits. Detail is exceptional. Really great. And each is in keeping with the doll's time, color choices and style. The two girls (23 and 19), my mother (76) and I (56) "played" with the dolls for hours on Christmas day. Dressing, doing hair, taking pictures. The pictures were all taken with my iPhone 7 in the light coming into the room from a french door with a west exposure. Really great, clear pictures.

This is Kirsten, American Girl. She belongs to middle. We have had her for many years. This is her St Lucia outfit (which is still the custom in Sweden). My mom made the dress. We got the wreath and socks, all American Girl brand, on eBay.

This is Molly. New to us, but an old doll (from eBay). She belongs to middle. The skates and fur pieces are American Girl (from ebay). My mom made the outfit. Yes, she embroidered the jacket.

Kailey. American Girl of the Year (2003). We got her from American Girl at that time. She belongs to middle. Kailey is a surfer girl. Middle has all the pieces that originally came with her. But that does not include a lot of clothes. Mostly surf stuff. This is the first outfit (dress and hat) that my mom has made for her. Shoes are from the original Kailey set.

Middle's Christmas presents from my mom. (She started sewing in June on Molly's skater outfit.)

Josefina. American Girl. Belongs to youngest who has had her for years.  This is a camisa, a skirt and a corset. Three pieces. And a lot of trim and lace and ribbon. This is very detailed and advanced piece. The shoes are American Girl brand for Josefina (from eBay).

Felicity. American Girl. Belongs to youngest. (from ebay). Very detailed. The gold is a skirt. The top is like a jacket that goes over it. The cape is "velvet" and has a hood. You can't see them in the pictures, but Felicity has dark red velvet shoes that match the dress perfectly that are American Girl.

Youngest's Girls. We have added Samantha to youngest's collection (old doll recently acquired from eBay). But Samantha did not get a dress this year. 

Kit. American Girl. Middle bought her for me, last year. Ebay. The shoes are American Girl. My mom made the outfit and hat, including the belt.

Addy, from American Girl. Mine. She and Kit are my favorites. My mom made this Christmas dress out of the fabric from a child's dress. The ruching on the bodice is from the original dress. The black is "velvet". The back of the bodice is black velvet also. 

One of my xmas boxes - Bananagrams, Yahtzee, extra Yahtzee score pad, Monopoly Deal, UNO, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, 2 decks of regular cards