It's the small things

You gotta find joy in the small things.  Right?  I've been moaning about my shoes lately.  Sewers know, it's hard to sew in big clunky outdoor sneakers or shoes.  Socks or bare feet are the best.  But it's winter, my feet are cold!  So I wear my socks, over that a pair of The Tramp's wool socks, and my fuzzy slippers.  It's warm, but I'm tired of schlepping around the house all day in my slippers.  I've been on a quest for something light, no clunky treads, no fall-off-my-feet mules, just normal shoes.  Yesterday I met my fellow Patchwork Memories sewers for a nice social lunch at Noodles.  We're a great team!

And afterwards I explored the shopping center for shoe stores.  And ( I was so amazed) I found exactly what I need.  Nice flat sneakers with a smooth sole.  I was so excited I bought two identical pairs!  So comfy and now I feel like I'm actually dressed for the day when I go to work in the Sandbox.  It's those small things......

As soon as picked up the camera and stuck out my feet Ivy was right there.  As usual, she's looking for a foot rub.  One of the small things that make her day happier.  :-)

 Oh dear.  I stopped.

Let's see.  Small things.  Oh yes!  Small grands.  Grand #4 is nine months old.  Hard to believe!

And we got a great photo and little video of Grand #3 in New Zealand practicing flower arranging.  Apparently he is very much into picking  and giving flowers right now. :-)  Sweet.

Today was warmish...not cold anyway...and we mostly worked on the kitchen project.   We did sit out on the porch in the sun at lunchtime.  That's our Maisy.  Enjoying life in her small way.  The humans obligingly provided her with a cushy pile of canvas drop cloths in the sun. 

And you are bothering me why??

Ok.  You can take my picture.

But I'm keeping an ear out!

We don't need a drop cloth to enjoy the sun.  The important thing is that the humans are eating hot dogs up on that table.

The hot dogs are gone?  I don't want to cuddle.  I want to go back to my drop cloth!

I went around the kitchen again this morning doing the fingernail scratch test on the woodwork.  We decided it was really only the doors that needed to be re-sanded and re-primed.  A smaller project than I had feared.  Yay!  (I think)  This time we were smarter.  Plastic drop cloths taped up over doorways, cabinets, and in the pantry, and safety glasses, ear protection and new face masks.  The Tramp did most of the power sanding as the noise got too much for me.  When he was done I washed everything down with TSP.

It worked really well!  The primer went on so much better.  :-)

 The walls are primed too.

And the ceiling patches have been re-popcorned.  Sort of.  What a comedy.  First we tried the stuff in a spray can.  Oh MY!  It was like spraying runny oatmeal.  Yuck.  It was all over us, the counter, the cabinets, the floor, in our hair.....but not the ceiling.  Sigh.  So we went back to the store to return the nasty icky stuff and got some pasty lumpy stuff instead.  Urgh.  Now the ceiling looks diseased....but at least it's up there.  Maybe it'll look better in the light of day.

There's always hope.  :-)