Befores and Afters

 This has been a good month. In past years, I sit and think to much. I am so glad this year, I have been busy. In fact, this has been the fastest January I can remember. We finally finished our big project. We painted the living room, kitchen, the hallway the entry and the dining room, last but not least the laundry room. I painted the island as a last minute project. I am so glad I did. I have a few before pictures but not really good ones so these will have to do. 

We had just finished half of the kitchen in this picture. It has the old flooring and carpet. You can see above the hutch, how brown the walls were. My bedroom is even browner. It took three coats of paint to cover the brown. What a hard job! 

Now its all white and the floor and carpet is finished. It just makes me so happy every day I walk in here. I have always liked bright and sunshine colors. I like white because I can change the colors of my accents and not have to change the room. 

I haven't worked like this since when we were getting the other house to sell. I think it feels so nice to think I will get to enjoy it for awhile. I have never really been a house beautiful type. We always had so many people and animals in the house I just wanted functional and easy to clean. This was stretching for me in every way.  I still want functional, and I still like a house that people want to come in and visit and stay awhile. So I think this fits the bill. Hopefully though, this weekend its nice enough I can go work in the yard. I have been in the house way too long. 

Now the update on the rug project. I was able to finally start the background. Its a lighter background that I originally wanted. I wanted a black background. I ran out of wool to dye and only have bits and pieces not any big enough for a background. I ran out of black dye and the only piece I had big enough for a background was light so its a light background. I like doing background because its just auto pilot.

Its a cute rug I think. I am having the worst time with my hands though. I don't know if its because I panted so much but at night my hands ache so much I can hardly sleep. I can't even hook at night like I normally would do, because my hands just hurt. I don't know if its cold or just too much over use. I hope this goes away soon. 

 I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am so happy to be here this weekend. I have to take a break from painting. 

I  hope that its a wonderful weekend for you wherever you are in the world.

~Kim~

“When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.”
"Kristen Armstrong"

 

 

An Update on My Rug

 Happy Monday!! 

I am stopping in for a update on my hook-along. I set a goal for myself this weekend. I thought I would get the tree finished. I didn't. I have never felt hooking a rug, to be done by the seat of my pants. I had to stop and dye wool, for two days. My first batch, came out not a single color I was hoping for, I was hoping for green, and I got brown and a funny rust color. The second day I dyed wool, I finally got green but not the color of green I had in my head. It doesn't matter though, I love dyeing wool so much anytime I get to do that is just fun for me. 

Here is my progress so far. 

I think its going to be cute. Just not like I thought it would be, I think no matter what I am trying to hook or what style, it always comes out cartoony. Maybe its like how I really am. I can understand Spanish. But I quit speaking it because people would laugh and laugh because of my accent. I always wondered do I have a Spanish accent like Zsa Zsa Gabor? Well, my primitive rugs come out looking like that a cartoon accent. Aw well, its fun. 

This weekend, I thought we would be finished working on the house. Nope, the guy is coming today to put into the carpet. On Saturday, I painted the island in the kitchen, while Ron put back baseboards. Then we decided at 2:00 we were almost finished, why not finish the laundry room. So we did. We ended up working 12 hours on Saturday. 

We needed to go to the grocery store in the worst way, and while we were driving there, I got the bright idea to have all the kids to come over for a BBQ. I was going to the store anyway, so why not. I texted and they all said yes, so we had a dinner. It was fun, no furniture to speak of in the house. We sat outside until it got cold then we brought in lawn chairs and sat in the living room, and had a wonderful time just talking and laughing. Even though we were tired from working, it made this weekend so much fun. The food was great too, Ron just smoked the tri-tip all day, so it was a treat. I am so glad our family puts up with my hair brained ideas. 

I hope things will get back to normal after this week. We are going to take a break from the rest of the painting. I can stand only so much chaos and then I have to take a break. My rug is calling my name so I am going to hook today, after I get a handle on all of the laundry, that I couldn't do because the washer and dryer went on a short vacation in the garage. 

Have a wonderful Monday,

~Kim~

“Anne came dancing home in the purple winter twilight across the snowy places.” L.M. Montgomery.

Cold and Winter Days

 Good Morning.

Happy Friday! Still painting but its going to be so nice and bright. I feel like its a win,win. De-cluttering and getting in shape and also refreshing the house. All at the same time. I think it is amazing how I can always do more than I think I can. Especially when flooring people are coming next week. This is the first time we have ever done this for ourselves. We normally only do this when we sell a house. So this feels so nice to finally be doing it for us. It only took 42 years.   

I joined Saundra at Woodland Junction, for a online hook-in. We will all be doing a version of a Granny Donaldson cow rug. If you go to the link above she has the info and pictures of what one looks like hooked. One of the things I love is early Americana and Folk art and antique rugs. I am currently working on Magdalena's Goat, from an antique pattern by Magdalena Briner. Saundra, has a wonderful selection of Magdalena rugs. Here is my progress so far.

Sorry about the glare, its kind of like that today. This is a big rug. This is really different style for me, but I do like it. I try and think about Magdalena and her life and how she hooked for her families comfort and I do it for art. 

I got my pattern for the hook-in from Here is my pattern.

 I think its very cute and I think it will be fun to hook with others and enjoy seeing the other projects. 

Ron is back from his errands. Time to get those paint clothes on and get in gear. Turn on the music and start painting. I am such a slow painter. I am glad he is painting with me because he paints circles around me. But it looks so pretty. 

Have a lovely Friday,

~Kim~

My other house on a foggy morning. I always liked seeing the sun rise like this through the fog. It was foggy like this today. We have had a lot of fog this year. It reminds me of the years when I was a kid and we had fog all of January.

Odds and Ends

 I am trying to be more of a blogger this year. To be more aware of my time and what it is I do all day and before I know it, Its time to cook dinner and I couldn't tell you what I did all day. I finally got the rest of the pieces of my new hooking frames last night. 

Here is the floor stand. It has that telescoping bar, I had to use it really early this morning and its going to be so nice. I am working on that huge rug, called Magdalena's Goat and Saundra drew out for me.

Then this is the little stand I got to do punch needle.

 Its going to be nice to try punch needle on that frame. No matter how hard I try when I am doing punch needle can I get the fabric tight enough. I hope this works. Still it will be fine for smaller rugs. 

We painted on Friday. We had to do two coats because the color of the walls was brown. I didn't realize how brown until we painted. Now when I walk by that room, I think the light is on, because its so bright. Before I really ignored the dining room because it was like a cave. 

The flooring will be put in next week. I am so excited. I guess I am keeping my dining room table. I offered it the boys when they got their new house. But Elliot's wife's parents have a pool table that they wanted to get rid of so they decided to take the pool table. I am glad because after I told them they could have it, realized that I use it for drawing out my rugs and I wondered what I would do then. So it all works out. 

Lauren had this link on her blog. I was looking for a small project to do during Christmas. It took me so long to hook it and then even longer to bind it. I have no idea why. But it was a fun project. Now I can put it away until next year. 

I am going to be hooking this pattern for Saundra's Granny Donaldson's Cow rugs. I had never heard of that before so it will stretch me I think.

This is Karen Kahle, Primitive Spirit. I think it will be fun to do something like this in between painting and tearing up the house. We have to get the flooring tore out before next Friday. It will get me into some kind of shape. 

I hope you have the best day,

~Kim~

 

"Joy is the best makeup." Anne Lamont

 

A New Year

 Happy 2022! 

As I slowly lift my head into the new year, I am very careful at how I greet this 2022. As I look back 2021 was okay as long as I remembered to keep the news off and stay off my phone. Life threw some curve balls that I didn't see coming. Ron is still working from home. The two weeks to flatten the curve, turned into almost two years. Now I am used to him working from home, I will have an adjustment to make when and if  he goes back. He is supposed to next week, but this is California so who knows. I am ignoring mostly everything that comes out of Sacramento now. 

I saw this and I pretty much hoped it wouldn't be a weird year. So my words for this year will be, "It is what it is." 

We are going to start painting the house on Friday. The walls in this house are brown. Lots of brown. My office is Millennial pink. We wanted to get the yard done last year, because we spend so much time outside. We bought the paint and I am ready to get started. We are going to get new carpet and flooring.

I thought that was a good way to start the new year, to freshen everything up. We are going to have a man who painted our old kitchen in the other house come in and do the cabinets in this house. Its hard to decide what I am most excited about.  

This year, I asked for new hooking frames. I had to pick it out because Ron didn't know what to get. So I did. Yesterday it finally got here. I found it on Etsy.

I hope you can see all three frames. Plus it came with a metal floor stand. It swivels and is very nice. 

It still smells really strong of stain so its not put together yet. Its going to be so nice once I start using it. I love my old frame, but it is old and the screws are starting to pull through. So I love this and man are those grippers grippy. So that is a nice addition to my hooking life. 

I am always undecided what is prettier, woods filled with snow, or the desert in the winter. I like them both. 

Though California is nice after the storms are past. I am enjoying a cold winter this year. I wish you the best for this year. I have decided, to live one day at a time. These first four days have been great. Last year my words were "Finding joy in the unexpected." It sounded pretty awesome and pithy, but things happened that just knocked me around. Maybe I am getting older and smarter, but I really doubt it. 

I wish you the best and I am going to try to laugh more, ignore those things that are out of my control. To just accept the changes and not get too upset when they don't. To love more and count my blessings everyday. To not drive my family crazy is big on my list this year. At least try not to drive them crazy. To try very hard to keep my opinions to myself, and look, I have done a blog post with lots of opinions. 

So that one is out. I wish you the best, and really I wish you a Happy New Year, welcome 2022. 

~Kim~

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” —George Herbet