Once again....

I have been gently reminded from overseas that they want to see pictures!  :-)

I've been working on several t-shirt quilts.  No pictures of those yet.  The kitchen is still a work in progress.  When I'm not sewing this is my wardrobe.  Yes that is sub floor under my feet.  Another project waiting to be finished.

It's been too cold to paint around windows and doors so some of the trim still needs a second coat, but I really needed for the mess to be gone and the surfaces cleaned!  To that end, I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor.....the old fashioned way.  

I am now way more intimate with my floor than I really care to be.  Some of the tiles are cracked, the grout is funky, it's treacherous when wet, it's cold, and hard on my feet and back, but it's mine....and it's clean!  (for a few minutes anyway)

Once the floor and counters were cleared and cleaned,  I got on with some gluten-free baking.  Brownies, banana bread, "white" bread, and Historic Grains bread.  Also oatmeal cookies and a poke cake (not pictured).  You can't see it here but the two big yeast loaves are really bizarrely shaped.  They rise so high in the oven that they crack open and then collapse while they cool.  I did a bunch of research before this batch to figure out what I could be doing "wrong."  Of course most advice is for gluten breads, but I cut down the amount of yeast and was careful not to let the loaves rise too much.  Didn't work.  But I'll try again.  (and again and again and again.....)  :-)

While the oven was working I washed all the various kitchen items that were spread around the first floor.  I am so thrilled to have my dining room back!  Finally, a civilized place to sit and enjoy a meal.

Late last week I was somewhat consumed by listing some of Mom and Dad's excess furniture on Craigslist.  If you price things right you get floods of emails!  Yikes.  But it all is worth it in the end.  Mom and Dad have their moving date and we are also very excited as it looks like their house maybe sold.  Fingers crossed!  This week we also took Mom and Dad to see "In The Mood" in Raleigh and "And Then There Were None" at the Cary Arts Center.  Both very good.

Polya posted this photo of "his girls" on Facebook.  Love it!

And Evil Stepdaughter sent me a photo of Grand #3 lounging in his dressing gown with a snack.  Too cute!

It's been soooo COLD this weekend.  Brrrr.  We just aren't used to it!  And windy!  The birds have been mobbing the feeders and I've been making sure I keep them full.  This morning all the birds looked like puff balls.  :-)  Among many others were the bluebirds.

I had to get my book out to figure out that this little yellow bird is a pine warbler.

You can see the wind ruffling the water on the pond.  Brrrrrr.  In the mornings I'm looking into the sun and can't avoid the reflections in the window.  Like my quilt?  LOL  And that's me, in blue.  :-)

I believe this is a yellow-rumped warbler.   It kept flying at the suet and grabbing bits but not landing.  Funny to watch because it isn't built for hovering.

And I give you.....Zombie Dog!   :-)

While I watched out the window Maisy slept in her sunbeam.   In her usual twisted way.

After running back and forth today....several times....between Home Depot and two Lowes stores we finally have this.  A breakfast bar.  Woot!  I have two of those old green stools to repaint and recover which will do for us until we find something....possibly better....that The Tramp and I can agree upon.  :-)

I also have my living room back.  Yay!  Charlie and the dog crate are back in the kitchen.  The Tramp cut a new piece of plywood for the top of the dog crate and we covered it with a remnant of red vinyl we found at Hancock.  Well darn.  Now I'm wishing I had enough for the stools.  I also picked up a small lamp at WalMart so Charlie has a new sun.  Now I don't have to keep the overhead light on all day every day.  We also moved the china cabinet in from the garage and put some new hardware on it.  I still need to paint it, but for now I've loaded the glassware in it rather than have it spread all over the dining room table.  We also took a couple of box-loads of stuff to the thrift shop.  I mean really, how much glassware can two people possibly need???

The other two suns in Charlie's constellation are the new ceiling fixtures.  From Home Depot, and of course one came out of the box cracked and broken.  Sigh.  (What else is new?)  So we had to run around between stores to find another one.  We were determined!  They were deeply discounted ($15 instead of $60 each!) and besides that....we really like them!  Also the style was called a "Diner" light. So what's not to like?  :-)

So now my view from the business end of the kitchen has greatly improved.  I don't have to duck to see Charlie and the the workspace is lit from all sides.  Wonderful!   Of course I'm still losing dark colored objects on the black granite.  :-p

Oh dear.  Those bananas look like they need to be baked into something.   Tomorrow.   Maybe.  ;-)