Out With The Old...

We're redoing our laundry room, here's the before and after as of now. The picture on the left was taken in February and is representative of how this space has looked since we built the house, almost twenty one years ago. Mr. Goodneedle had always wanted to build the cabinets for the house. All that time ago we were eager to get it done move in and, after designing and building most of our home ourselves (sub-contracting some jobs like shingling and brick work) we contracted to have the cabinets made and installed. And so, here we are today, that burning desire of my husband's to build cabinets has not waned. Last year he said he'd like to re-do the kitchen. He proposed building the cabinets in a lighter wood, we agreed that maple might be a nice change, lighter and brighter (our kitchen cabinets are currently dark cherry). Somehow, the more we talked about it, we decided that a good place to start might be the laundry room, an area to sort of "audition" what we had in mind. I'm well pleased with the appearance (and tickled to pieces to have upper cabinets in there now!), isn't it pretty? Not only did he make the cabinets but added crown moulding at the ceiling and replaced the old fluorescent overhead light fixture too! It's becoming a dream space, I simply can't wait to have this room completed! Mr. G has most of the lower cabinets ready for finishing. The existing oak lower cabinets will be removed and the counter top will be replaced with a lighter colored surface as well. 

The new uppers now hold laundry supplies, good usable rags, lightbulbs, baskets, planters and vases; all those things that I had shoved behind doors and on shelves where they didn't belong. Having this much organized and arranged has brightened my entire outlook on doing laundry, it doesn't get better than that!

You can see from my vantage point here in the kitchen, 

looking back toward the laundry room, what big, big changes are afoot!

Stay tuned, it's all good.

Life is Good!

When In New England...

We made a trip up to New England to visit with family and spend Mother's Day with my mother. As of this morning we're home again and the washing machine is working overtime. Our visit north was blessed by the weather gods; lovel, sunny (albeit chilly) days and crisp, cool nights. It was glorious! My sister and her husband met up with a lobster fisherman on Saturday afternoon and brought back TEN(!) of these beauties. She set up a pot for boiling in the back yard on Sunday afternoon and in they went! It was a full New England experience! 😀

We all (not just the Moms) feasted on tender, sweet and succulent lobster that evening, it was a true Mother's Day treat to remember! We were able to score some delicious fried clams while in the area, as well. It was nice to see the mask mandates loosening up in New Hampshire; while we were there the "masks required" signs were being replaced with "masks recommended" in restaurants and stores, as well as those one way arrows being lifted up from the floors of the grocery store aisles. Progress...

Yesterday was a travel-back-home day, someone took full advantage of his "car time" by sleeping the day away. We didn't encounter any of the gasoline shut-down at all until we entered Virginia, in the evening. With an eye to the possibility of pumps being out we kept our tank filled, stopping to top off wherever we could along the way. That was a good thing! Our daughter loaned me her copy of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, this passenger in the car couldn't put it down; it's a compelling read- but brutal! I haven't quite finished it yet, we'll see how it ends. 

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig! 

😉

Life is Good!

Coming Clean

My husband is taking apart a 1950  Farmall tractor and restoring it; piece by piece. The laundry challenges produced by 60+ year old dirt and grease are daunting. I had never tried Fels-Naptha before. From here on in it will be my go-to product. It's no wonder that it's been around since 1894, this simple bar works, as advertised. My laundry room is now fully equipped.

Life is Good!

Go, Big Red!

"Go, Big Red"

Two blocks down, four to go, a lap quilt is born. I attended Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA last week; you'd never know that from the number (zero) of photographs I took while away, you'll have to take my word for it. I had my camera with me but had left the memory stick at home in the laptop! The only internal memory the camera has was occupied with photos of the grandchildren and  I was not deleting those. Can you blame me? No way could I erase these all-too-fast fleeting moments in their lives (and mine): 

So, instead, I'm sharing the initial results of the workshop I took from Augusta Cole last Saturday. These blocks are big; measuring 24", they are easy to piece and use up LOTS of scraps, making a really big dent in the red section of my stash! I chose to use all scraps and a consistent white background fabric. Red and white always reminds me of high school, our colors were crimson and white; "Go, Big Red!" was an oft chanted cheer back in those days. In honor of that and the BIG bite this took out of the stash as well as the BIG block size I feel like a cheerleader at a pep rally for this quilt. Before I left home I divided twenty two different red fabrics into three stacks and prewashed them using the method pictured below, it worked great.

Back home now, I've recovered from all the fun and frivolity and put away all of  the treasures that I found in the vendor's mall. Thursday morning we awakend to heavy snow falling in Hampton, VA; the show and merchants area at the Convention Center was nearly deserted, it was eerie in there... those if us who shopped that day felt like we had our own private quilt shops open exclusively for us! I felt bad for the vendors, I know they were anxious, but the attendance did pick up on Friday and by Saturday the crowds appeared back to normal volume. All tolled, I believe nine inches of snow fell and was a record for the area on that date. For me, it was the best of all places to be snowed-in!

Today I've got my work all cut out for me, this one should go together quickly; so much so that I feel a cheer coming on: "Go, Big Red!"

Life is Good!

A Public Service Announcement

You're all familiar with these machines; let me warn you, however, about what to look for before you stick your cup underneath to dispense your beverage of choice. Make sure that the spout (black tube apparatus pointed out here) is, indeed, present and accounted for before you proceed to fill up!  How do I know? After choosing strawberry lemonade last week I was showered with red food coloring spraying out in all directions covering my arm and white pants (glad I wore those for the occasion!).  I looked like I had been through a massacre for the rest of my errands that evening. The manager, upon being informed of the machine malfunction, indicated that those spouts sometimes blow off, being under pressure, and can end up in an unsuspecting diner's cup! He did canvas those eating there at the time, all cups were clear except for drinks and ice; a "to go" customer likely carried away the prize!  The good news is that my pants did come clean! I soaked them overnight after treating them with Carbona's Stain Devils for coffee, tea and juice; I have a full complement of these specific stain removers and can whole-heartedly vouch for their performance; no laundry area should be without them, especially if you like strawberry lemonade!

Life is Good!