Carpe Minutum!

Am feeling a little more in control of my life again at the moment which I realize is probably a passing fancy here, on the brink of The Holidays...but hey! Today I took the kids to their first theatrical production and left the baby for the first time...(He did great, my friend Nutmeg rocks!) and feeling thus emboldened...I decided to paint a little. There are such ugly risers on our stairs...potentially pretty but so scuffed and chipped and splotched with various colors that they are pretty uninspiring. Have been itching to paint them a nice gloss white for ages and ages. Why not now?!? Since dinner is in the crockpot, the kids are asleep and I don't have to dash out again for the afternoon doctor's appointment for another half an hour...I'm all over it. Ha! Feels so good!

Am trying to become an expert at carpe diem and even more realistically in my life carpe minutum...seize the minute. My life is a woven thatch of moments right now and so there are not often whole days but there are always moments. Must read more books and less reflexive facebook checking, must clean one little spot, sort one little box, lay out an outfit for one child and spend less time standing there wondering what I was doing, wishing I had more energy or lying in bed hitting snooze. There is a place in life for letting go and relaxing your mind and your frenetic To Do List but there's also a lot to be said for doing little things here and there to make your life more peaceful and happy and productive. Am ever inspired to do better with what I have....better than most people say I have any right to expect I can be. Thus we achieve...by trying.

Spotlight on the Playroom

Whole lot of paint on my fingers and toes lately as we start to really get into Remodeling Land.

Little mini-tour of an evolving room in our house today. I have shown you bits of the playroom before, but today you'll get a little glimpse into its hopeful future too. Right now, we are mostly calling it "the playroom" by default because it is the place where all the toys and many of the kids books live, but it will also be the room where we will homeschool.

The walls are all faux-wood paneling in a dark brown which makes the room feel very close and cave-ish. But, that is changing! We are now halfway through painting the walls with a gallon of flat white paint that, believe it or not, I found in the basement. (How fabulous is that?) The beauty of knowing that everything will be eventually getting painted and that the floors will eventually be refinished is that kids can paint too! No worries about "messing it up" really. The boys think that's the best thing ever.

Finished walls...just trim left.

Art hanging finally! Love that purply watercolor on the right...Dee's work.

Kid measuring chart, a cool housewarming gift from the next-door neighbor

Where I've stopped at the moment...and you can see our new stand globe, the recently hung curtains and our two free chairs that will belly-up to the table I'm still looking for.

I got a gallon of soft periwinkle blue ('Blueberry Buckle') for $5 in the reject paint section and slapping that on some or all of the walls will be the next step. I think once we've opened the space and made it more breathable with the white its going to be fun to add a little character and homey love with a touch of color.

Found this old metal tray and the two wooden crates below it at a free neighborhood swap. Am planning to have Dee help me organize the rest of the Matchbox cars in it.

Other ideas on the way include:

• A thrifted heavy, very large baroque style frame, painted gold mounted on the wall, around a chalkboard, right at kid level. Something like what this woman did.
• This giant zebra rug, made with just glue, scissors and felt
• A big, sturdy table of some kind that I am hoping to find for free on Craig's List or else curbside
• Some of these nature posters
• A cheap cd player/tape player for listening to books on tape or music together
• A frame like this, and a rotatable set of "The Great" artist's works to put inside
• A simple, big  wall clock with hands and numbers
• And...one or both of these very cool cupboards which the sellers left down in the basement 

Beeing...

We were up at the farm this week again (as we are every week) and I was reminded of a special obsession that I have and will hopefully finally get to live out. We were sent to a new field we've never visited to pick cherry tomatoes (Sun Golds, my favorite ever by the way!) and we accidentally stumbled on the farmer's bee hives in all their glowy white glory, humming away by the stone wall, not far from the side gate. For years now I have dreamed of keeping honey bees and in the new house we will finally have a yard of our own and enough space to make my dream a reality.

This afternoon we'll be going over to our new house with A's family who are visiting and taking lots of pictures. I will be looking at the house with lots of thoughts in mind (is there room for my giant dresser? where to set up the sewing machine...or can I set up both of them? where could we wedge a dishwasher into the kitchen...etc. etc. ). There is no real end to this sort cozy, nest feathering train of thought. But in the yard....I'm going to be dreaming about where to put the bees.

I promise to update on this topic once the bees have been ordered and a location settled upon.

Believe it or not...that is how you get honeybees these days. You order them. In winter, so that you can get them in the mail in a humming, alive package in the spring. I cannot wait! I am dreaming of ridiculous amounts of homemade baklava with our first honey and little pots of honey butter for spreading on winter loaves, hot out of the oven. Christmas presents all round? I cannot wait!

House Option #3!

So, intially...way back in spring of '09 there was this house. Remember that anyone? I still drive by from time to time, watching how the new owners are slowly sprucing up the place. I'm a creepy house-stalker person. I can't help it. I got all attached...and I'm living vicariously.

And then there was a long break, a lot more looking and eventually...a few minutes ago....this house. We put in a knowingly low offer and the seller's agent scoffed in our general direction and we waved goodbye.

Take three and my current dream.

 We toured this house on Saturday and have been mulling it over, looking through our pictures and piling up comps to examine since then. The neighbors are incredibly kind and friendly, the sidewalks broad, the street green and leafy, there's an apple tree in the yard and the doorknobs are glass...it sounds good.

Whaddya think? We're hoping to put in an offer this week. I can see myself canning in this house.