Greeting The New Year With A Paintbrush...

On New Year's Day I got a bee in my bonnet. I wanted to start the new year off with a house project. Something a little more involved than vacuuming and dusting. You have no idea how much I dislike those glass doors on the guest bathroom tub, but I'll tell you. It's a lot!

Having them on the tub makes it difficult to bathe grandchildren or step into the shower (if you're tall). Let's not even talk about how hard it is to keep them clean! I have to get into the tub to clean the tub - and the doors are always water-spotted, even if you use a squeegee. Gah!

The walls have been that chalky white color for the whole nine years we've lived here. I'm sick of it. It was time to choose a color that would accent the off-white woodwork.

I went to Home Depot and brought home a bunch of paint chips. I love Behr paint and the great coverage I get when I use it. Handsome and I finally settled on this color - Wheat Bread. I wanted to make sure we didn't go too dark, otherwise I might have chosen Mocha Accent. I love the color, but didn't want to darken a small room that much. (I cut the color name off the bottom chip when I cropped this image.)

Anyway, Handsome and I removed those shower doors on Sunday morning and put them aside to donate. We tried the local Habitat for Humanities office, but they said they didn't take shower doors. (Really? They rebuild and refurbish houses and don't take stuff like this?) They weren't grungy or anything. They just needed a light cleaning and we'd been really careful to remove them without damaging them. In the end, we contacted the Suncoast Humane Society Thrift Store, and they were thrilled to have them. Handsome delivered them to their store on Monday while I started painting.

This is the "after" picture of the tub area. New shower curtain, rugs and waste basket. The color is actually truer on the second photo (below). This one looks more tan than it actually is.

This is better. See all those tiles across the back of the shower? They wrap all the way around, and they were installed in the house when we purchased it. There were two young children living here with their parents, and their handprints and artwork became part of the decor when the house was built. Perhaps some day they'll be replaced with our grandchildrens' artwork, but they'll stay for now.

This bathroom is referred to as "Jack and Jill", because it sits between two rooms and is shared by both. The tub area has its own sink and the linen closet is in this section. This is the "before" photo of the sink area.

This is the "after" photo. Subtle change, but we like it so much more in  this color. I decided that the heron print was more appropriate with the seashell shower curtain than the dog images, but I had to keep that Golden figurine on the sink. It makes me smile.

The toilet side of the bathroom has a sliding door between the two rooms. It also has its own sink. "Before"...

and (a blurry) "after" shot. This section of the bath doesn't have a window, which is why I was careful choosing a color. This side could have gotten really dark had we started with a darker shade of paint.

This is the toilet area "before" painting, with my favorite grizzly bear poster on the wall. He's looking at the camera as he scratches his back against the pine tree. This used to hang in our master bath in our northern house, and I wanted to make sure it had a place in our home in Florida, too.

It went back on the wall in our guest bath. So, that's how I spent Day Two of the new year! Day Three (yesterday) was spent emptying and sorting through my studio bath closet. I'm still not finished sorting through all the things that were in that closet, but I took a few bags of yarn to my friends in the knit group at Paneras last night along with two boxes of knitting magazines. I'd say that's a pretty good start.

I'll be cleaning up the transplanted closet clutter out of the studio today and then dealing with my "piling system" in my office area so that I have that mess under control before the end of today. I need to get back to creating in the studio soon. Doing this stuff wears me out!

Tuesdays With Tag - Week Five At Camp...

When we arrived at the ranch on December 28th, Mike let Tag out of the truck and I was surprised by how mature he's looking now. He's nearly nine months old (and I think a little overweight), but his training seems to have contributed to him looking more grown up.

We had so much fun watching Mike take him through his paces, and when they were finished, it was my turn. It was hard not to smile as Tag showed me how much he's learned.

Tag will be graduating on January 14th. Mike and Joann are going to deliver him back to us, and we'll be hosting them overnight for a change.

Rather than use up a lot of words in an attempt to show you how far he's come in his studies, I'm going to share a video from our day at the Ranch. I didn't put this one to music so that you can hear Mike's comments. (It was a windy day again, but the weather was gorgeous for a day of training.) The video lasts less than three minutes, but you'll definitely get a feeling for what Tag's been learning.

Wasn't that fun? I'm looking forward to having Tag back home soon, but there will be one more Tuesdays With Tag before he's her with me again. We saw his "house" training, but I'll save those photos until next week. 'til then...

"More Wagging and Less Barking".

Are You Ready?...

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope all of you enjoyed the holidays. Christmas and New Year's were quiet around here, but we had a nice time celebrating the season and now I'm ready to start putting some of those resolutions into action!

You might remember this little fabric assortment. It's going to be the basis for my 2012 ongoing quilt project - The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt. I'm going to host a quiltalong (QAL) right here at Brynwood, and you're all invited!

Now, please understand that this will be the most low-pressure, fun and mostly unscripted QAL you'll probably ever participate in. You'll be choosing your own fabrics, which squares you'd like to create, and the finished size of your quilt.

I'm going to suggest that once you choose your quilt size, you just make the number of blocks needed to complete one horizontal row per month. That's it. (If you're making a large quilt, that might be seven blocks, but if you're doing a wall hanging, your number of blocks will be less.) The large quilt has nine rows, so you'll be finished before November, and if you're an over-achiever, you'll finish long before that! I just want you to know there won't be any pressure and you can finish and show off your blocks - and completed quilt - at your own pace.

Even if you're new to quilting you can participate. You'll be choosing your own blocks, so you can decide on your own level of difficulty, and you can repeat blocks, if you'd like. No one says they all have to be different!

I'm going to show you which blocks I'll choose to sew, and I'll give you my reasons for making them a part of my quilt. I'll also share my thoughts as they relate to the original author of each block. I'll be setting up a Flickr group so that you can upload photos of your blocks each month to share with each other, as well as those who won't be sewing along with us.

If you'd like to participate, you'll need a copy of this book. I've found the best price at Amazon, and if you can click here to purchase your copy.

I also have a set of the templates from the (included) disc, which will print out in one document, so once you've decided that you want to participate and you have your book, please let me know (via email) if you'd like the templates and I'll share them. Understand that you have to have the book, or the templates will be of no value to you.

 

I'm going to start this project on February 1st. I'll post the names and blog links of everyone who chooses to participate. Now, don't worry if you don't have a blog. I'd still love to have you join in the fun. You'll be able to post your photos in the Flickr group and the only difference will be that there won't be a link back to a blog address.

Please respond in the comment section, or via email if you'd like to participate in my Brynwood Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt QAL. (Please include your blog url if you have one.) I plan to have special giveaways throughout the year for the participants, and will be surprising members of the "party" with a few other things as we progress.

Feel free to share this QAL on your own blog, too. I've made this button for you to put in your sidebar, and you can link it right back to this post.

I hope you'll agree that this will be a fun way to start the new year.

UPDATE: I've added a list of participants (and their blog links) to the menu bar at the top of my blog - 2012 Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt QAL. Just click on it to see who will be joining us. If you want to have your name added to the list, just let me know!