Puttering at Projects

~ Erica

I've been working my way through my project list 15 minutes at a time. I'm getting a lot done and getting more ideas about personalizing our space. I took all the pictures off the walls 10 years ago when we raised the house and put in a new foundation and I've never gotten them back up because I wasn't sure where and how I wanted to do it. I'm spoiled because the old half of the house has solid wood walls under the sheetrock so it doesn't matter where I put a nail- the new half of the house is modern construction and looking for studs is a pain. I've used quite of few of the 3m hangers that are like velcro.

In our bedroom I hung the silhouettes I made of the kids along with the silhouettes from Disneyland- the upper one is me when I was little and the bottom one is Nathan and Rush from 1996. The lamp has to go, I think I'll bring the floor lamp in from the family room and the candlestick lamp cam sit in the window of the family room to give me a little extra knitting light, the purple shade will have to go. The paint and wallpaper are on my Project List but we need to change out a window and repair the sheetrock before I paint.

This is in the new schoolroom.

I finished my chalkboard! I'm not totally excited about the chalk pens but will use them for now. The kids aren't detail orientated so a general overview of the events of the week is all they need.

A place for featured art or cards. I may try and paint over the blue stripes, or not. I think I got the idea from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss I had the frame stashed in my closet, it's glass got broken a long time ago.

I replaced the Armed Forces Insignia poster with my Narnia map- this was a Christmas present when I was 12 and I've never found a replacement for it. It's old and tired but aren't the best maps the aged ones? This is the hallway (can you call it that when it's only a door width deep) between one of the bedrooms and the bathroom. I thought I wanted a cool Ikea full-length mirror here but then I decided that maybe I didn't want that many glimpses of myself.

I decided to hang the maps in the stairs, there are always handprints on this wall so laminated maps are a good choice. Next time I will put 2 kids on the corners while I step back and check that they are level rather than asking the kids to tell me when its straight.

I still have a chalkboard to hang in the kitchen and I want to paint some rocks with the rest of my chalkboard paint and move a bulletin board so I can hang a phone center next to it but that has to wait for Ryan to remove the thermostat from that wall...

Finally, baking was on our list of things To Do this summer. Arin wanted to try the Petite Vanilla Bean scones at Starbucks and I told him we could make them from Pioneer Woman's recipe. They turned out okay- I didn't have cream or vanilla bean so we had to use half & half and vanilla extract. They baked a little too long so they were crunchy rather than soft.

Then my mom went blueberry picking and we made a pie (you can see the crust).

We froze about 20 pounds and dehydrated a couple of pounds. We thought that blueberry scones sounded really good. I don't have a picture but they were wonderful. I didn't add any vanilla, I used 1c dried blueberries (soaked in water- next time I will simmer them or at least use hot water), I still didn't have any cream so I used half & half instead, which made them a bit wetter, and I dropped them in big spoonfuls on my baking stones. I glazed them with powdered sugar glaze made with half & half.

We have one more week before school officially starts so I guess summer's over. We're hoping for a few nice days next week and if it does get warm we'll try and go agate hunting or go to the rock farm to get my chalk board rocks. We won't get to go to a parade, there's one in Hoquiam on Saturday but Tovah has soccer pictures and the Jamboree. We'll save our NW Trek passes till later this fall when the leaves are off the bushes and the grass has died down- a sunny winter day is the best day to see all the animals, they come out to lay in the sun on the warm blacktop tram road.