"From Drab to Fab"

Drab window...

Fab window!

Well, I think it looks pretty. All I wanted for our guest room was a crisp, white, tie-back curtain. I looked around and didn't see anything I liked. They all had lace or ruffles, or cost 79.00 plus $49 shipping. So, of course, I made them. They used to be the curtains that acted like closet doors in our old house. Let me back up...they actually started out as two twin size white sheets. Then I made them into curtains for the closet in our old house and finally here they are today, re-hemmed and trimmed with ribbon. I got the ribbon from Jo-Ann's. I'm not sure how well you can see it in the picture, but there are two vertical rows of ribbon on each curtain. It is the exact look I was looking for. What do you think?

So, who has some great ideas for my living room, bedroom, and master bathroom?

Listen to the Falling Snow

Sunset on Long Lake, N-P Trail

Today was one of those days... Jonah woke up at 5:oo AM, took his famous 42 minute nap at 8:45, then was promptly a crank-pot. In addition, I must be PMS-ing.. yippee. It was the kind of day where it was better for me to be alone than to make someone else's day miserable as well. It was the kind of day that I just wanted to escape to the woods, far away from civilization. Fortunately, although my son's sleep habits are less than desirable, he is usually easy to please and ready for an adventure. I wanted to take him for a winter wonderland trek- I could strap on my snowshoes and put him in the baby back pack; but 19 degree weather is a bit chilly for a baby, so that was not a choice.

You see, I have this drive, this urge, this "call of the wild" of sorts, to go out in God's great creation in all kinds of weather and just GO... hike, bike, paddle, ski, snowshoe, work up a sweat, breath deep, aaaahhhhh. The Adirondacks are particularly delightful, but Harriet Hollister State Park will do for today. I just HAD to go, HAD to let my feet tromp even 20 feet in the fluffy fresh snow. And what I really HAD to do was listen... to snow falling on trees, to snow falling on snow, to snow falling on a frozen creek. You have to go far from civilization to really hear what I am talking about. Have you ever listened to snow falling in the woods? I can not put the sound into words; I'm sure some amazing poet has. I wish Amanda was there today, oh what a beautiful photo it would have been... then you could have looked at the picture and heard the sound I'm talking about. I am far from a "new-agey" person, but there is something truly magical about trekking deep into the woods and listening, watching, standing, being still.

Spruce Lake (I think)

Some day, Jonah will be old enough to trek along side me. For now, I must be satisfied with our brief but intense few minutes we had today at the park. We shared the park with one deer, who crossed the road just in front of us. Other than that, we were the only souls there- Jonah bundled in his hat, two hoods, a coat, and thick fleece blanket; me in just a coat and hat; I really just wanted to immerse my whole body in the crispness. I swear Jonah was trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

Clean and Modern facilities on the Cold River

Near the beach on South Lake
By the way, these photos are completely irrelevant to the snow theme, but I couldn't find any winter wilderness photos. I think all of my winter photos were taken before I had a digital camera!

Self-Portrait

Two questions:

1. Is this my good side?

2. Is there any way I could hibernate until spring?

I'm in love with my Bar Keeper's Friend

Please, someone be as amazed as I was when I finally got my tub clean. We had tried scrubbing, soaking, and various chemicals with no success. The old flower sticker things the previous owners used left a nasty orange stain. I Googled "how do I clean my bathtub that is stained with nasty flower sticker things" and a whole slew of ideas came up. I proptly went to Wegmans with my shopping list of cleaning supplies in hand. I would try all suggestions until something worked. It was either that or spend $450 to get the tub resurfaced, YIKES!

Lo and behold, all i needed was my Bar Keeper's friend to work a miracle! Check out the before and after photos. The first photo was taken after I had cleaned half of the tub. This was when I realized I had to document the transformation. I don't think even the photos do justice to this stain removal miracle:

I was so in awe at the results I just kept rinsing and rinsing, carefully wiping down my newly shined tub with a soft cloth and warm water. So long orange stains... hellloooooooo Bar Keeper's Friend!

Quote of the Day

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom".

-Anais Nin

Can you see my tooth?

Don't report me for child abuse, I was just trying to get a good photo.. it didn't work did it. Oh well, you get the idea. His little tooth is just one sign that our little "J-Dude" is growing up.

As for other news, Stephan has been busy working around the house this week. One this he has done is replace all of the 1950's light fixtures with updated fixtures, or in this case, a fan. The bedrooms all have fans like this:

We replaced all of the ugly brown doors with new doors and painted them all white. Stephan is now an expert at hanging doors. He reports it is not a very fun job. The one below is Jonah's door and he is sleeping behind it (yay!). You can see the brown trim on the left side of the photo. This is all getting painted white as well (note the white trim around the door). It really brightens up the place. I report painted doors and trim is NOT a fun job either. I would much rather paint an enormous room than doors and trim... but alas, there are two door archway things to paint, some trim around the floor, and two huge windows in the living room. Bless my husband for helping me paint the doors even though he hates painting.


Stephan rigged this canoe hanging system. It also functions as a coat rack.

Here is Stephan's workshop in the basement. He has been busy organizing and setting it up with electric, lights, bench grinder, and I don't know what else but I think its cool.

Here is one of the doors I stained for Jonah's closet. One of the old doors had a hole in it.. it looked like someone got mad and kicked it. I understand that feeling...

Well, we are off for our daily Lowes excursion!