Week 13 - And it's finished!

Last week I showed you the finished re-hab of the pantry.  It was bare shelves and it made me so happy.  Today, I am showing you the completely reloaded pantry.  It makes me even happier.

Before:

After:

Not all the shelves are full or even used....and very little on the floor, which was one of the goals. 

We've had lots of rain this past few days...we sure did need it.  All the grasses are green, the trees and leaves are really shiny.  I think spring has actually sprung around here.

The next project on the agenda is to install ceiling fans on the front porch...that should only take less than a day since all the wiring is already done.  It's just a matter of getting the fans and installing them.  Will post pictures once that's done

Other than reloading the pantry, there hasn't been a lot going on here at Pieceful Harbor this week.  So I won't even try to fill up a page.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 12 - FInally!

When John built this house back in 2003-2004, he made room for a huge pantry.  We always planned to put in permanent shelving but never could agree on the design...wire shelves, wooden shelves, glass  shelves?  Well, after lots of talks and discussions and disagreements we finally came to an understanding that wire shelving was the way to go.  John decided he was finally ready to start this project and I recommended he start with one wall and go from there.  We've used flimsy metal shelves that we bought as a stopgap when we lived in military housing in Rhode Island. (see picture #4)  He went last weekend and bought the hardware to begin the project...while I was at work on Friday he emptied the pantry (wow is that room big!). And he began to attach the standards and brackets and shelves...Here is what I came home to on Friday...

 

Yes, there was food and utensils and pots and pans everywhere, even in the foyer.

He spent all day yesterday while I worked again and all day today and this is the amazing result.

While John was and drilling and doing what men do when they have power tools to play with, Mom and I went through all the food items and pitched everything that had expired.  Then we labelled all the containers so we;d know what was in them - wheat flour, cornmeal, saltines, cereal, etc.  We are now slowly re-loading the pantry, Anything that we don't use, or haven't used in the last 5 years, is being donated to the local LDS Church for their garage sale next month, the proceeds of which go to camp scholarships. This picture makes me so darned happy!  

And now you know why I call him Mr. Wonderful....he only does quality work and I never have to worry that things are going to fall down on top of me.  

We got a donation at the library - well, that's nothing new...we get them a lot-- this week there was one particular book that had all us girls tickled.  The book was a small one,

 We learned a lot from this little gem. For example, 

Flowers sent by a secret admirer might be coated with poison. 

Or, 

Gesticulate like crazy to stop an ornery ox.

And here's another:

Never interrupt a voodoo doctor. 

Or this one:

Even with an active lifestyle, being prompt is important.

But my favorite was:

When the lights suddenly go out, hold onto your diamonds for dear life. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Week 11 - Busy Week

This past week was quite lovely, in spite of the tornado watch/warnings on 2 different days.  

Tuesday mom and I had dentist appointments, just 1/2 yearly cleanings and no cavities for either of us. Yeah!!! We grabbed some lunch and then treated ourselves to a movie.  Several years ago I came upon a book that really impacted me.  The Shack  is one of those books that stay with you for a long time.  I bought a copy for my mom and she got several copies for friends.  And this past week, the movie they made from the book came out.  It's spectacular! I mean it's really, really good.  Spent a lot of time with tears running down my chin and left the theater with a wet collar.  We both agreed when this movie comes out on DVD, it's going to become a part of our collection.   

Both on Tuesday and Thursday nights we had tornado warnings/watches.  The weather was a perfect combination of warm ground and cold air to spawn tornadoes.  There were several all around us but, as usual, we were spared.

On Friday, we met with friends for dinner at Mangia.  We usually meet with these friends about once every 6 weeks or so...And we try to go to different restaurants. We have some favorites that we go to again and again but this time we tried something different.  Oh, golly, the food was amazing and our server, Ali, was the epitome of Good Service.  

I love Italian food and this was so yummy...everyone had something different and we all agreed that there wasn't anything that was less than stupendous!

Finally, I'm still working on the qualifying sock/s for Sock Madness.  The pattern is quite trying, to say the least and I have resigned myself to only completing one sock by the deadline this Thursday.  That will put me on the cheerleader team and will not allow me to compete but I will receive all the patterns for the competition.  And, I'm okay with that.  Some of the seasoned competitors from years past are also struggling with the pattern and will not go on to compete either.  I'll show you the finished sock once it's done.  

Got this picture earlier this week. This one was taken way back in the early 1970's...not sure exactly when.  It's my brother on his motorcycle...we were all so darned young then, weren't we?

John has been working on finishing mom's closet this weekend.  And it's now done.  Mom is tickled to have so much storage room now.

         

And she can hang her clothes a lot better now, too.  These pictures show the two closets that sit side-by-side, 

Well, I'm off to knit some more on my sock...until next time. Thanks for stopping by.

Week 10 - In Which the Madness Begins

The annual Madness has started....Sock Madness.  Yes, folks, SM11 began on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. my time.  With the release of the pattern entitled Twisted Madness, the international sock speed-knitting contest has begun.  I downloaded the pattern and printed it out as soon as it came out but I needed to finish work before I could cast on.  Once home, the needles and yarn were put to use immediately.  I diligently knitted that evening, again on Friday once we got home from running errands, and again on Saturday and even today...I got as far as the gusset/heel and then ......then....I noticed several things.  First, the sock was never going to fit over my heel. Second, there were 3 different mistakes on each of 2 different rows on the leg, Third, I'd somehow knit row one of the pattern twice in the heel and really messed up the whole thing!  Since this pattern involves twisted stitches - a lot of twisted stitches - there was nothing I felt I could do except rip the whole thing out and start again, this time on larger needles and paying much better attention to what I was knitting.  So now, I've knit the cuff and 14 rows of the 60 rows I need on the leg before I can start the heel/gusset again.   Most of you might say, no big deal...but let's add in the fact that I lost 2+ days of knitting and I MUST get the pair done by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16th and you can probably see why I might be just a tad stressed.  I've been having a really good heart-to-heart with myself this evening and I believe I have come up with something that makes me not so stressed.  You see, the whole idea of qualifying was to get onto a team and compete...that's what I've done each of the last 10 years.  But, if I can be satisfied, this year, to only finish one sock, then I will not be put on a competition team BUT will be on Team Cheerleader and still get all the patterns. Not bad consolation, right?  All the pressure is off me now...I know I can get one sock done by the deadline....if I get another one done, so much the better.  So I'm knitting the sock correctly and not worrying about getting a pair done.

Yesterday was a lovely day here in the Ozarks, a bit chilly but sunny and bright.  John got the harrow from our neighbor and spent the morning harrowing the two fields so the cows didn't have to dodge their cowpies ....the harrow is so maneuverable that he was able to use Eyeore, our Kawasaki mule to pull it around the fields.  

Mom and I have dentist appointments on Tuesday and then we are going to see the movie The Shack.  We both loved the book and are so excited to see how Hollywood treated it.  I always saw Queen Latifah as the main character but I see that Octavia Spencer has the role.  I really enjoy her acting so I think she will do justice to the role of God.  Will report back next week how the movie measured up.

Thanks for stopping by.