Sunday, March 28, 2010

Spring Gardening

 I had some snow after the crocus started blooming.  What a pretty sight to see them in the snow.

This picture was taken the same day as the one above.  The snow didn't last long.

I did some clean-up in the garden Friday.  I get emails about gardening in Iowa, and she said it was time to get out there and rake.  There is a lot of new growth and so far everything seems to have survived the winter.  I updated all of the markers and replaced those that seemed to have disappeared.  St. Francis is back out and the bird bath is filled with water.
The 70-degree temps that are forecasted for later this week will really get things growing.  The lawn mower will be needed soon.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Bathroom - Part II

As promised here is Part II of my bathroom project.  I knew immediately I was going to really like the color.  I had decided to go neutral so that most any color of decor would look okay with it.  I don't want to have to paint it again.  I hate painting bathrooms...they take too long.


The finished painting project.  I'm still working on the tiles around the tub.  At one time they were green.  Right now I don't want to go to the expense of having them replaced.  You never know what could happen to a wall when the tiles are being taken off.  So I decided to paint them.  Even just having primer on made a world of difference. 




Friday, March 26, 2010

Shopping Trip

I took advantage of the sale Target was having this week on games.  I picked them up to have on hand for the Christmas toy drives.
2 - Connect 4 - $7 each ($13.99 reg)
2 - Monopoly - $7 each ($10.99 reg)
1 - Cheerios - $3.29 ($3.99 reg)

Used coupons:
2 - Connect 4 - $4
2 - Monopoly - $5
1 - Cheerios - $1

Total paid including tax $13.92.  A savings of $39.91 according to my receipt.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Bathroom - Part I

Once I finished my sewing room, it was time to tackle the wallpaper in the bathroom.  I was hoping it would come off as easy as it did in the spare bedroom and the kitchen.  No such luck!  The paper wouldn't peel off in big pieces so after the first ten minutes I knew I had to run to the store and get a scorer.  That worked much better, but it was still a very time-consuming process.  All of the seams had extra glue (not a paste) behind them so there was a lot of time spent on scraping that off too. 



After 27 hours of peeling and scraping and sore muscles, it was finally off!

The paste needed to be wiped off the walls so after another couple of hours that was finished too.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sewing Room

One of my 2010 goals was to finish my sewing room.  I finally finished it.....or least as much as it can be.  I'm sure there will always be new things to be added.  Originally one of the spare bedrooms was going to be for sewing.  I even had it painted.  But then I decided to move it to one of the rooms in the basement.  There's more floor space for laying out quilts and the ironing board is always set up down there. 

I knew I wanted to paint it yellow, and once I knew it was going to be in the basement, I wanted a bright color.  I think everyone thought I was crazy.  Even I had second thoughts but now that it's complete, I love it.  It really brightens up the space.  Two walls are bright yellow and the other two are lighter.
Next came the shelves.  It was my first attempt at putting something like this up.  It took awhile but I didn't have too many problems finding the studs and getting them up. 

It took me several months to find the cabinets I wanted.  Finally found them at Lowe's but then had to wait for a sale.  Mom was down in January and helped me put them together.


Just this past weekend, I put the finishing touches on the room.  Lisa's quilt was the first project I made in my new space.  I think the next one will be a quilted wall hanging in yellows.  I've been wanting to learn how to hand quilt so this will be a smaller project to get me started.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spring Has Sprung

Since a lot of the snow has melted in the past couple of days because of the warm temps and the rain, I decided it was time to go out and check the gardens.  I was surprised to find the crocus and daffodils coming up since just three or four days ago, the entire yard was still covered in snow.  I looked at last year's pictures and everything is on schedule.



I finally got the spiral Christmas tree taken down since it was no longer buried in snow and the Easter decorations are outside.  Now if the sun would just shine, the grass and garden will really take off.

I think something was also burrowing under the snow and making paths in the grass.  I found several of them throughout the entire yard.  From a distance you'd think it was cracks in the yard in July because of no rain...but that's sure not the case right now.

I've had water running in the basement drain, but today it's down to just a trickle.  I hope that's not a sign of things to come.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Pumpkin Cookies

I got a recipe for pumpkin cookies from my friend Ann today.  They are fabulous.  The recipe doesn't call for walnuts, but they would be a great addition.  I didn't have any on hand tonight, but I will definitely add them the next time.

Cream
1/2 c. butter, soft
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. pumpkin
1 egg
1 t. vanilla

And then add:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. salt

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Shopping Trip

Got some good deals at Target the other night.
Transaction #1
2 - Olay body wash $11 (reg. $11.68)
1 - Olay bar soap $5.50 (reg. $6.14 for a 6 pk - I got an 8 pk)
- $1 coupon
Total out of pocket including tax $22.19 plus I received a $5 gift card for my next purchase.  I can also submit this for the $15 Olay rebate.

Transaction #2
1 - light bulb $1.92
2 - ceiling fan light bulbs $5.18
- $2 manuf. coupons
- $3 Target coupons
Total $2.35 which I paid for with the gift card from above.

After gift card and rebate, I will have gotten all of the above for $4.54.  I love a bargain!