Thermalgal’s Temperate Mumblings

Pictures

I had a nice entry all typed out and I just had to add one photo. But stupid stupid web program, decided to open the link in the window I was typing in and not the other window I had open like I wanted and I lost it all. So, you are just going to get a fly by of photos…

Got more hall lights installed (even after being shocked by the ac power running through one of the outlet boxes, stupid stupid previous owners).

Did lots of stitching on Saturday surrounded by friends and good food.

Finished pigs and started lions:

And ash on the left side:

No pictures of woven scarf. Meeting yesterday for Honduras was cancelled (while I was driving to it). DH wisdom teeth out on Friday and it went well. I might have a new oboe teacher.

Weekend Update

I had a big review on Friday and I think it went well. And I actually got out of work early. Good thing, since DH and I had a three hour drive to get to Williamsburg Friday night. Then Saturday we spend the day with friends at Busch Gardens. Anheuser-Busch currently has a “Here’s to the Heroes” compaign going on and are giving free tickets to their parks for members of the military and up to three dependents. So, my friends to tickets for four and invited us along. We had fun until all the Howl-O-Scream people showed up. It was so bad that at one point we couldn’t make any forward progress. Shortly after that we were on the road heading home.

Yesterday was a very lazy day at home. I played on my loom working on a scarf made from Lion Suede by Lion Brand. I ran out of yarn before I finished, so I’m going to get some more tonight. I’m doing it as a test to see if I like the results. If I do, I think lots of family members are going to be getting scarves for Christmas.

I also did a test with a wallpaper sample I received for the dining room. I painted a small corner with leftover paint from the hallway and taped the sample under the chair moulding. It was a good test, since we decided to not use that wallpaper. The bamboo wallpaper didn’t look good with the brick fireplace we have in the dining room. We might have to go with real wood instead of wallpaper.

And at lunch today, I bought a new ceiling fixture for the front foyer. We currently have three lights in the hallway, one in the front foyer part and two on the hallway leading to the bedrooms. And they are all different (and ugly). I picked this one out and I bought one. I think it will look great with the new all color. Next up will be replacing the tile laminate in the front foyer to something warmer.

Time for lots and lots of Pictures!

First up… the hallway. I finished it on Sunday and took some pictures last night. I’ll start with what it looked like before (the picture is actually from December when we first saw the house):

Followed by two afters. I think the front door stands out so much better with the painted walls. The second picture is the long part of the L wallway that goes to the bedrooms (standard 70’s rancher house):

Next up is my weaving. I finished my first project (before that I did a sampler thingy to learn). I did a set of 4 towels for my DSIL’s birthday (in August).

Next is the project I started last night! I measured the warp, warped the loom and even started to weave all in about two hours! They aren’t kidding when they say quick weave. I got inspiration from the current issue of Handwoven and bought some Lion Suede to make a scarf. Here it is on my little loom. I set up the loom on the floor of the living room and weave while watching tv.

And a close up:

Kitchen and Hallway

For some reason, I’ve been on a home improvement kick recently. I’m about 2/3 finished painting the hallway and I’ll probably finish up the last 1/3 tonight after work. Then all that hallway needs is a new floor in the foyer (replace the cool pale blue laminate with a warmer tile). Next task is the kitchen/dining room. While at Target on Monday, I picked up a twig drawer pull to see if it was the right size for our cabinets. And not only are they the right size, but DH likes them too! So, we are going to try and replace all 50 of the pulls (both on the drawers and the doors) with the little twig ones. I think it will definitely improve the kitchen. We have good cabinets but they are the original ones from the 70’s. The hardware on them aren’t the orginial ones, but they aren’t much better. Take a look:

On the right is the old pull and on the left is the new twiggy one. I think it will look great since we want to have a bamboo theme in the ajoinging dining room. Right now we have a pennisula with cabinets above and below the countertop. As people walk by in the dining room, all you can see is from their neck down to their waist. So, I’ve convinced DH to let me remove two of the cabinets (it isn’t like we don’t have enough!) to open it up more to the dining room. That will be another project for us this winter. And if the tiling goes well in the foyer, I want to remove the carpet in the kitchen (who puts carpet in the kitchen!) and redo with tile too. Maybe even continue the tile from the kitchen into the laundry/fridge room that currently has linoleum.

Weekend Round-Up

Saturday was the Waterford Fair. I just joined the Waterford Weavers Guild last month and one of the requirements is that you have to work a shift at the fair. No problem since I think it is cool (I had to dress in period costume too!). So, Saturday morning during the rains, I worked the booth trying to sell the goods that the ladies made during the year (mostly weaving with some knitted items and even some handspun stuff). I’m already thinking about what I’ll put in the fair next year. And DH baked cookies for me while I was gone.

Sunday was yoga and then a stop by Home Depot to get paint for the hallway. Then we got some movies and I spun up about 4 oz of wool into about 170 yards. I think it is about a worsted. That is on the right. The yarn on the left is hand dyed yarn I bought at the fair.

I had off yesterday so after helping move the guild stuff from the shed to the storage place. I then went home and started taping the hallway. Then I went over to a friend’s and we ran around the block (which is over a mile). When I got home I made some dinner and finished up the taping and starting the painting! I have one wall finished. I haven’t broken out the roller yet. But the wall with the front door isn’t big enough for a roller so I just used the brush for all of it. The paint color is two shades lighter than the living room and looks like butter. In low light it almost looks white! I can’t wait to see it finished. Tomorrow after work I’m going to break out the roller.

Oh and guess what DH discovered yesterday morning! My orchid put out a shoot and I think we’re going to get some flowers! This is the first time it will have bloomed since I got it more than three years ago. The funny thing is that it will probably bloom just about the time that the lady who gave it to me gets married.