Good Day Sunshine

In the Garden (Coping with losing a pet)

Early gardening season is usually one of my favorite times of the year.  This year, I'm tending the flowers with a heavy heart.

There haven't been any posts for several weeks for a reason.  The advancing years began taking their toll on our beloved dog this past winter when she had to have a large cyst removed from her side, and it returned a few months later.  She turned 16 in March, and then things really began taking a turn for the worse a few weeks ago.

Our home turned into a doggy hospice, and my evenings were spent taking care of her.  She had numerous, ugly cysts that would break open.  We'd patch her up with extra large gauze pads and tried to secure them with ace bandages.  She lost control of her bladder so we attempted diapers.  I bought two types of steam cleaners and cleaned the carpets every night.

Deep down, we knew what was inevitable.  We didn't want to find ourselves faced with making that hard decision, but we were concerned about suffering.  She looked terrible, but her spirits seemed good.  Then she stopped eating her dog food.  I'd whisper to her while she was sleeping that if she saw a sparkly rabbit in her dreams, and he was running over that rainbow bridge, it was OK if she wanted to chase him.

Just run and don't look back.  

Either he didn't appear in her dreams, or she didn't listen to me.  She was like that.  One day, I came home from work, and it was obvious she hadn't moved for hours.  While I cleaned her, my husband called.  He said he had a bad feeling and was coming home early.

She couldn't get up on her own anymore.  We discovered a large lump on a hind leg that was obviously causing her pain, and the next morning, the entire leg had doubled in size.  Once we lifted her, she struggled to walk.  There was a phone call to the vet.  We gave her the best final hours we could.  We carried her outside and spent the afternoon sitting in the grass with her under the maple tree until it was time...

I had a hard time working in the garden this year.  I knew there was cleaning, weeding, planting, and mulching to do.  But my garden companion was missing, trotting along the parameter and running to the back door whenever I turned on the water.  I finally made myself get outside and get to work.  It was tough at first, but it is slowly getting easier.

I keep finding her old tennis balls in the flower beds, and I'm just going to leave them there.  I can't bring myself to clean her nose prints off the front door either.  Not yet.

Edie

1997-2013

Centerpiece for Spring

Life is keeping me very, very busy these days.  I'm really struggling just to keep up with day to day housework, and now that we are well into Spring, there's yardwork as well.

I'm realigning my expectations for the short term, but a couple of weeks ago, I took time to treat myself to a trip to Olathe Glass, a local glass supply company that also sells some lovely, small home decor items.  

They have a great selection of faux succulents and artichokes now.  They are a little pricey, but they are far more realistic than the stuff found at the chain hobby stores.  I picked up a small silver gazing ball as well and mixed them with the faux succulents and berries I already had at home.

The shop was using big glass bowls for their succulent arrangements.  When I tried to replicate it with a deep-sided glass serving dish I had at home, it seemed kind of flat.  I found a small cake stand I "won" in a white elephant exchange a few years ago along with a very stale cake.  Finally, that cake stand came in handy.

As luck would have it, it fit perfectly under my glass dish when it was turned upside down.

I think this arrangement should last through the summer if I don't have time to change it.

Overmantel Reveal

Hello again!  It's been a month since my last post.  Did you think I gave up blogging?  I've been working on a big project that consumed an entire month of evenings and weekends.

I've had crown moulding envy for a long time.

By the way, are you wondering if it's "moulding" or "molding"?  It depends if you are using British English or American English.  But like most things American, if we want to appear more upper crust, we resort to the British spelling.  So, I'm going to refer to it as "moulding."

After touring several new model homes, my husband was in agreement that adding crown moulding would make our house look less builder-basic.  While I was eager about adding crown moulding, I knew it was going to be a big project filled with challenges:

1. Our living room has bay windows.

2. There are two bump-ins flanking the foyer.  One is the coat closet ,and behind the other is the ductwork going to the second story which means lots of corners.

3. One wall is almost 20 feet long.  Another wall is about 16 feet long.

While researching installing crown moulding, I started to think about the mantel.  It's not a bad mantel, but wouldn't it be nice to beef it up a bit?  (Sorry for the nighttime photo). 

The first step was going to be to build a frame for the overmantel.  Fortunately, the existing columns were made of stock lumber.  Mitre saws don't bother me, but I am afraid of table saws.  I know someone who cut his finger off using a table saw, so I want nothing to do with them.

I used a 1x8 for the fronts and 1x3s for the two sides.  I like to prime and paint two coats before installing trimwork.  The final coat of paint I do at the end, and it's just to cover the nail holes and any scuff marks from installation.

After a test fit and making sure it was level, I drew a line on the wall as a guide.  I screwed scrap pieces of 2x4 into the top plate and into the existing mantel then nailed the frame into place.

I had a piece of hardboard cut at Home Depot for the backing, and from this point, it was all about adding trim.  Lots and lots of trim.  But it was so worth the time and living the with the dust and sawhorses because the room is completely transformed.  Notice the secretary desk which replaced the bookcase?  I found it at ReStore while I was in the final days of finishing the project.  It fits the space so much better.

Other than the crown moulding itself, which I bought at Lowes since it's closer to my house, most of the trim came from Home Depot since they sell it by the foot.  I did have to go to a lumberyard that caters to the pros to find the trim to match the the front of the existing columns.  Since our house is about 20 years old, I was concerned I wouldn't find a match.  Sometimes "builder-grade" isn't a bad thing!  Unfortunately, the existing artwork doesn't quite fit the space.  I'm not attached to it, so it will do for now.

I have a month of projects waiting to share.  It's so good to be back!



I'm linking up...
Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Handy Man, Crafty Woman
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Chic on a Shoestring
The Shabby Nest
A Stroll Thru Life

Using Photoshop for Home Decor

I'm certainly not the first blogger to use images available on-line for non-commercial license for economical wall decor.  The New York Public Library has a wonderful digital image library, and recently I discovered the Botanicus Digital Library.  It's indexed, but it takes some digging to find publications with wonderful images of natural studies.

I found several bird and botanical studies, and settled on two to use in the office.  I took advantage of Michael's Presidents Day sale to pick up some frames and mats.  Frames were half price with another 25% off with coupon!

I couldn't decide how to hang them, and since I hardly have any paint leftover for touch ups, I had to get it right the first time.  I took advantage of an existing nail in the wall, hung one print and snapped a picture.  Right now, it's too low, but that won't matter in a minute.

Selecting only the framed print, I copied it into a new file.  Next, I "repainted the wall" using the
stamping tool creating a virtual blank wall.

Copying the image of the frame twice into my original file, I'm ready to digitally arrange my prints.  Are you with me so far?

Originally I thought about hanging them vertically, but I didn't like how much taller they were in comparison to the painting on the left.

Next I thought about hanging them horizontally.

It's better, but they seem to be floating over the desk chair.  Let's try staggering them a little.

That's the winner.  Time for a hammer and nails.

Mr. Cat is oblivious to the activity.  I've often admired vintage botanical prints, but they are so expensive.  I'm so pleased with these.

They took some touching up with Photoshop to get them to a standard 8x10 image as well as a little adjusting of brightness and white balance since I wanted to print them on cream-colored cardstock.  I even flipped one of them so the bird would be facing the left instead of the right, a process which involved multiple layers and careful erasing so the text wouldn't be backwards.

Let's have one more gratuitous shot of the French doors.

Making the Best of It

I've tried to make the most of our unfortunate kitchen.  Yes, I actually had a kitchen remodeling estimator call it "unfortunate."  Too small, too open, lousy ventilation, no window, very limited natural light.  I really like the rest of my house, but I dislike the kitchen.  My husband and I are beginning to formulate a strategy for it that would involve the least amount of investment in case we move eventually.

In the meantime, I thought some clutter control might help, starting with the space over the cabinets. Most of this hasn't changed since we moved in about ten years ago, but it's too much little stuff, like the canisters.

Back then, I thought I needed to fill every little space up there.  It obviously wasn't the right approach.

I cleared everything away and started over, mostly incorporating things I already had around the house.

The corner is extra deep, and I had a huge brass planter with a wonderful tarnished patina I found at ReStore.  Together with the ceramic thrift store rooster and the tall glass canister with wine corks, the corner is now filled without looking too cluttered.

I think eventually we'll look into bumping up the cabinet above the stove so we have more clearance on the stove top, but in the meantime, I gave more visual height over the stove with a tall vase and large basket.

(Notice I haven't changed the brassy door hinges yet?  Classy, huh?)

I had found a wonderful tole tray at the thrift store a few months ago, but I couldn't decide how to use it. It makes a lovely vignette with the tea kettle and lantern.  We've had the map print from our broke-college-student days, so I'm on the look out for replacement artwork.  Regardless, this cluster is probably my favorite.

Part of my long term strategy is beefing up the crown molding, but overall, I think it looks a lot better up there.

A final note: Popcorn ceilings in a kitchen are a pain in the neck.  Literally. They develop stalactites of grease and dust that are hard to clean. Gross. Do you know what I've found works best for cleaning the popcorn ceiling in the kitchen? A lint roller, especially the ones made for upholstery since roller is perpendicular to the handle.

Just gently roll it across the ceiling.  Very, very gently.  You want to catch the nasty stalactites on the sticky roller, not press their greasiness into the ceiling or crush that lovely ceiling texture.  Tear off the sheets often.

Take heed if you have an older home:  Popcorn ceilings may contain asbestos and should not be disturbed.

Tragedy and Thundersnow

It's been a rough week for us in Kansas City.

First, there was an explosion at a popular restaurant on the County Club Plaza on Tuesday evening. If you are not familiar with Kansas City, the Plaza is the aesthetic heart of the city. Designed after Seville, Spain, it comes alive at Christmas when every building in the multi-block shopping and entertainment district is outlined in lights. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary at this particular restaurant a couple of years ago. Considering that so much of the Plaza has given away to national retail and dining chains, it's so sad to see a more authentic piece of the Plaza gone, and the terrible injuries and the loss of life are tragic.

And then came the snow. All week, the meteorologists were making their dire predictions. The investigators at the scene of the explosion were racing to beat the storm bearing down on the region. Considering that many local weather reporters seem to take their cues from Chicken Little and the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf, would we really get the snow they were predicting? Six inches? Eight inches? Fourteen inches?

Thursday morning :
5:30 am - Got up, looked out the window. Absolutely NOTHING.
6:25 am - Let the dog out. She comes back with thick heavy flakes on her back. The thunder begins.
7:30 am - Open garage door. About an inch has accumulated in the driveway and still falling heavily. No call from the office about closure. Do I really want to do this? Taking a PTO day is sounding like a better idea.
7:40 am - Main streets are practically abandoned. Roads haven't been bladed yet but are still quite passable.
8:00 am - About a quarter mile from the office. Visibility is now almost zero. Wipers are clogged with snow. Can't see the curbs from the road anymore.
8:10 am - Arrive at work. Managers are looking very concerned, waiting for directive to close the office. Don't even take off my coat.  Regardless of the decision, I'm not staying.
8:35 am - Dig my car out of its parking spot. Handle breaks on scraper/snow brush.  Dang it!
8:40 am - Make it out of the office park, but as soon as I arrive at the main road, I get stuck. Traffic is now terrible. Motorist Assist is on the scene but says there is nothing he can do for me and walks on. I limp to the side of the road by rocking the car forward and backwards, occasionally getting out to brush the snow away from the tires with my broken snow brush. There are four other cars stalled with me. Call managers to tell them I'm abandoning the car. One of them picks me up on the side of the road in his big truck.
11:30 am - Finally arrive home.
1:00 pm - Snow begins to taper. Time to start shoveling the driveway.
3:30 pm - Getting concerned about my car being towed. Call non-emergency line of the police department. Dispatcher says they won't tow it right away if it's not blocking traffic.
5:00 pm - Word goes out that police department is starting to tow cars stalled on major streets. Load two snow shovels into my husband's tiny car and head out to find mine.
6:30 pm - Thankfully, the car is still there. More shoveling.

 

Lessons learned:
1. Next time, I'll stay home from work.
2. It may be time to look into chains? Our Midwest weather swings wildly in the winter. It was 60 degrees on Monday. I've seen snowfall of eight inches when the forecasters only called for two inches.  Some years we only get a dusting of snow.  Other years, we'll have snow on the ground for weeks. Considering we can have 70 degrees one week and snowstorms the next, I don't think winter tires are feasible unless I want to be on a first name basis with the tire shop.  Has anyone used chains before?
3. Guts don't lie.  Listen to them, especially when there's snow and thunder involved.