Slogging away thru my 10 in 10.

Well today 2 jobs were completed, not very exciting but at least I got them finished. FINALLY!

Every year Jesse grows a large mint garden. Every kind of mint that he can find. We hit all the greenhouses in the spring. Hint: It keeps him busy on the long trips as I wander peacefully thru the greenhouses. No Whining because he is looking for his own garden. Anyway this year instead of tossing the plants as they won't last the winter outside, I said that I would try bringing them in and put them in the front window. I really didn't realize what a huge job this would be. I didn't realize he had found over a dozen different types this year. I had to re-pot, fertilize and then find a good window to put them in which ment furniture rearranging which is now becoming a total redecorating project. All because of one of those " I wasn't really paying attention SURE I'LL TRY's that Mom's do when they are busy doing something else." Jesse is the King of knowing when to ask me a question when I'll just absent mindedly say sure.

I bought the cords back in August for Jesse thinking that he was about to hit a growth spurt and then they would be the right length. I was shocked when he didn't grow any taller so I figured I better just chop off 2 inches from the bottom so he could wear them now.

DP Miniatures

http://www.dpminiatures.com/

I want to let all my friends know what a a great company my Mom - Danielle has. DP Miniatures is the bomb. I love just checking out her site. I'm not into miniatures really but I love getting a few little pieces here and there for an unexpected surprise in my decorating. A beautiful painted display hutch on my boring old bookcase, a fish pond complete with gold fish on my window sill in the middle of winter, a one of a kind hand crafted basket on my night stand to put my favorite earrings. The possibilites are as wide and varied as your imagination. My favorite is a one of a kind room box that Mom made me for my 40th B day this year. It is taken from a Kim Jacobs' calendar page of a root cellar. Please check out her site and let me know your ideas of how to use miniatures in every day decorating. You can click on the title or url under the picture.

30's Lamps

AFTER

BEFORE

Lamp Bases: Free

Lamp Shades: 3 for $3

Trim: $15 a meter/ 1 meter needed for 2 shades.

Living with a piece of Perry family history in my home priceless.

My 10 in 10 Days.

Well unfortunately the kids and I had a cold all week so I didn't finish all of my 10 in 10 but I plan on finishing them off this week.

Winter is coming!

I know all you readers from down south have a limited winter but our first day of snow was October 7th. I know that is even about 3 weeks early for us northern girls. We had a week of snow about 6 inches in total and then it warmed up and melted away for a week. This week it is cold, windy and the green leaves are even giving up and falling off in the wind. It has been so cold that they never had a chance to turn colors. I truly miss that. If you look carefully at the family portrait collage at the top you can see the driveway with it's over hanging trees and carpet of colored leaves. Not this year just puddles of mud and green leaves stuck to branches that fell in the wind. I always get the panic twangs to put up for the winter in the beginning of Sept. but this year both Shawn and I went crazy. On holidays we got a freezer full of fish and crab, we bought huckle berries and made jam, cucumber for hotdog relish, our own garden was put up, raspberry jam, crab apple vinegar, every little thing possible. It seems our DNA is telling us it's going to be a long cold winter.

May Long Weekend 2009

Picture 1: Bailey getting her hairstyle figured out for the wedding.

Picture 2: My cousin Donna Lepage getting married for the first time at 45ish to Larry Boudreau. Too Cool!

Picture 3: Bailey with the bride cousin Donna. Gloria and Ron's middle child.

Picture 4: Mom, Dad, Jesse, Bailey and I having lunch at the Chinese Restaurant in Barkerville. What great food. I love going to Barkerville. There is a new wonderful idea around every corner.

Pen Holder

I saw this idea in the Rona Design magazine. You know the free one they give out at the store. The minute I saw it I thought how perfect. I have all the stuff for that and all I need to do is put it all together. I don't know what the trough like box was used for here on the farm but I found it in the tall grass while mowing when we moved in.

Antler Hat Rack

This set of antlers is from 2 years ago. We kept them because they were nicely matched. Last year I bought a mounting kit from Wholesale Sports and some how it got taken down to the basement and forgotten. While packing for holidays I found it again and became obsesive about getting it hung to get all the ball caps Shawn brings home from work up off the dresser. Ta Da What a difference a 5 minute project can make. Note to self: Antlers point upward. When Shawn came home I proudly showed him my project and his first comment was "It's very nice but upside down." Ok take 2 was much better.

My 10 in 10 Days.

1. Antler Hat Rack
2. Kids Mirrors
3. Plant indoor Mint garden
4. Pen Holders
5. Front Flower Beds
6. Jesse's Bug Box
7. Hem Jesse's Cords
8.Recover Sewing Bench
9. Recover Computer Chair
10. Finish 30's lamp refinish

I am hoping to finish these 10 jobs by Oct. 20th. These are along with my normal everyday never ending list of chores.

I'M BACK !!!!!!!

Well summer is over and I'm finally ready to tell you all about it. But first I must tell you that at 40 I finally learned to make bread. I have been wanting to learn to make bread forever. I'll try 2 or 3 loaves and after left brain, the kids, the dog and the sparrows all turn up their noses I give up for awhile and move on to something else. Left brain has been promising to teach me to make bread our entire married life but we never seem to have time. I'll always trade lessons for some cuddle time saturday morning. I discovered a recipe by hearing about it referred to on the blogs I follow and then finally tracked it down on google. It is the No Knead Rustic Bread recipe(New York Times). It only makes one loaf at a time and needs minimal attention. The first loaf I tried out on the kids. They ate it all in one sitting. The second I made especially for left brain as he came home from work it was all warm and smelling great. This recipe takes 2 days to rise so it isn't a spurr of the moment thing, but it only takes 5 minutes each time you deal with it. It's the perfect busy mom recipe.

Seeing as you all missed out on my summer I will start with the May long weekend and work my way thru till we are current. I'm also taking the 10 projects in 10 days challenge from The Shabby Chic Cottage blog so I can get caught up on all those unfinished projects before I start Christmas projects.