Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts

17 July, 2017

Forced Expulsion and Other Happenings

Bear with me through this post, it has lots of photos and a weekend update too. This was my the state of my sewing room on Friday. Being banished from the studio has resulted in a change of pace and tidier, better organized spaces in other parts of the house; not necessarily a bad thing! I have to admit, just looking at the plastic drapes, floor cloths and chaos in my favorite room gives me a case of the jitters. But, the face lift will be worth it. Freshly painted wall surfaces, ceiling and trim will revitalize the appearance of the room and recharge my creative energy when I return.
At least that's what I keep telling myself.
So, late last week I tackled dresser drawers and my closet. The closet was a MAJOR undertaking. It was in dire need of cleaning out and organizing! I did not take a before photo. Trust me, it was bad. I organized from the top down. Shelves first, and then hanging items. At long last all of the wire coat hangers (how do the multiply exponentially?) are gone, replaced by cleaner and quieter plastic hangers.
I used the one year rule for identifying items to be donated. Some items had taken up valuable closet space for ten to fifteen times that! Of course, keepsake items have been retained. But, even with those were carefully scrutinized first. I was ruthless.
This was the final result. I thought I was done. Neat, tidy, organized. I felt like my clothes could breathe again, I know I was breathing easier having this task behind me, it had weighed me down for a very long time. Speaking of weight though, if only those closet rods could talk!
The donation bags ready to go. You can't tell relative scale here, these are 42 gallon bags. I "borrowed" the bags from my husband's workshop. They are "contractor grade" plastic, 3 mil thick, they're very strong and sturdy. It's a good thing because I filled them and they were HEAVY.  I am thankful now that those closet rods never buckled, in all truthfulness they've had the largest load lifted from them. Wow.
About the time I was finishing up the closet I received a desperate phone call from our daughter. She needed some help with Lucy Ann, our son-in-law was traveling and she and Mason were on their way to the hospital, he was in need of an emergency appendectomy! As luck would have it, our son was in the car at the time, near the Capital City. Uncle Kyle to the rescue. He picked her up and brought her to us.
Here's Mason after his successful surgery. It was a textbook procedure and he was on his way home (yes, HOME!) two hours later. His Daddy arrived back in town just before Mason went into surgery. The surgery, performed laparoscopically, plus an otherwise healthy young boy combined to make this procedure, in essence, one of out-patient status. This seems almost unbelievable to me. Twenty six years ago his own mother was in the hospital for three days when she had the same surgery; and she didn't get souvenir photos of her procedure to bring home! Mason not only has photos but stories to share too!
Meanwhile, back at Chez Goodneedle, little Miss Lucy Ann had a fun sleepover with Nana and Paw Paw and staged a perfectly wonderful fashion show on Saturday, modeling her mother's old prom dresses! These sparkly sequined dresses, a pair of rhinestone-studded sandals and her imagination were all she needed for a great morning of dress-up fun. We returned her to her family later in the day, she was eager to get home and check on her big brother. 
Yesterday after church I showed off my now clean closet to my son and daughter-in-law. (Yes, I lead a very exciting life!) My daughter-in-law, after complimenting me on getting rid of  all those horrible wire coat hangers,  graciously informed me that I was using the wrong style hangers for my slacks. She pointed out how this style (above) has the vertical posts to stabilize them for the weight of slacks on the bottom bar. I had no idea! A few substitutions were easily made and I was in complete plastic coat hanger compliance! Am I the only one who didn't know this?
All is well.
And back in the Capital City: Legos and a lap tray. Let the healing begin.
Life is Good!

03 July, 2017

The Closet That Keeps On Giving

The quilting is done on "Red Hot Summer", the binding and label have been attached, the handwork to see it through to completion is ongoing; in the meantime the next oldest flimsy from the stash closet is up, on deck, and ready to go. Quiltkeemosabe reminded me this morning of the year that this block-of-the-month represents: 2008. Nine years old, not bad. This one will be custom quilted, no pantograph this time. The pattern for these blocks came from Quakertown Quilts; I decided on the linear, on point, setting.  No name has been assigned yet; any ideas?
And so, I set to work; feathering everything in my path!
Each block will get it's own variation on the theme.


Meanwhile this is going on. Needless to say, it will all be worth it in the long run. However, dealing with this mess, dust and chaos on a daily basis are sorely testing my anxiety level. The kitchen is done, the dining room and foyer are currently under assault. Next week, the studio. YIKES! I may just break out in hives thinking about being banished for days on end. I have a BIG project planned during the painting session in there, clear down at the other end of the house, it's one I have been putting off and welcome the forced eviction (at least that's what I am telling myself today); a complete cleaning out of my dresser drawers and closet! 😲  That should take a while and keep me out from underfoot. We'll see... 

Life is Good!