WARPED Gift Wrap Project

I always have gift wrap on hand, but the large rolls of gift wrap have been stashed in the attic. It’s a mess up there. Scary stuff. Cleaning the attic is one of our long-term projects following a spring garage sale I’m going to have in Mike’s shop. That garage sale is yet another long-term project. It never ends.

I asked Mike to make me a box out of some leftover plywood he had on hand. My plan was to move the giftwrap out into the open as part of our home office reorganization/redo project. If your new to the blog, I’ve written about it here.

Here’s what he made which I spray painted. I’d meant it to be taller, like an umbrella stand, but he only had short pieces of plywood on hand.

It’s a little plain. I didn’t mention it to him as I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

I decided to put the word “WRAP” on the box. Liven it up. I decided this while we were making a trip to Lowe’s last week in Kingsport. We don’t need much of a reason to go to Lowe’s (my True Love) but I was especially excited because the Kingsport Lowe’s is near Michael’s Craft Store , and I had these letters spelling around in my head…”W.R.A.P” Here they are…I found them for $1 each. I had a 40% off coupon for one of them, and I saved a whopping 40 cents.

I spraypainted the wooden letters red as well as made patterns out of scrapbook paper. This was the tricky part. I used both scissors and an Exacto knife to get a neat cut on the paper. Mike asked me if I was related to Michael Jordan when he saw me working–apparently I had my tongue stuck out. Whatever.

Then I used Mod Podge so that the paper would adhere to the letter.

Next I pressed the paper onto the letter and put a top coat of Mod Podge.

I could not wait to hot glue these to the black box. Ideas of thousands of Pinterest pins were floating in my head. I flew up the stairs and then.. I could not find my glue gun! No where! I looked and looked! When I was organizing last week, I saw my current glue gun as well as a brand new one I’d lost before. Now, they are both missing! I’m wondering…is the U.S. government really after our guns?…and they’ve started with my glue guns? Is there a conspiracy? Or did I possibly throw them away when I was doing a mass throwaway last week? Hmmm…

So I taped the letters. I’m glad they are only taped because instead of spelling “WRAP”…I’ve spelled “WARP”. This project is going to wait until I find my glue gun and can adjust the letters. Also, there’s no natural light in the office right now for a decent picture even if I had my glue gun. Here’s the awful, humilating picture. The naked truth.

I think I can fix it tomorrow and maybe I can find the glue gun if I look again.

Here’s something that turned out better. After Mike accidentally destroyed my pretty Target lampshade, I went back to Target, and yes! There was one more!! I bought it and then, even though I hate buying things I already have, I bought the lamps that were with it. I love the clean way the look. This room is going to look good once I get the funny red sofa (that I’m not picturing if you notice) slipcovered in a nice, crisp denim. Easy to care for.

Mike and my brother-in-law, Gerald, made this little table. I love it. Would you pay $225 for it? I thought not. Drat!

Are you sure? Here’s another picture of it?

Finally, this is in my kitchen now. I posted it on my Facebook page so it’s really old news. Everyone has times in their life that they don’t fit in. It still happens to me, and I still have that awkward moment when I wish I’m someone else. But it’s okay because Dr. Seuss said so!

Mendota…Changes On Barnrock Road

I posted about the Barnrock Road project some time ago. I’m not against progress, and the road will be safer, but my nature is to be change resistant. I went to say goodbye to this house today. I’ve always loved this house…Granny Bott’s house…and I’ve imagined when it was new. It had a beautiful lilac bush by the road. True, the curve was so sharp that it was dangerous to pick the flowers, but many have done so anyway.

Here is the road construction site and a picture of the old house from a few weeks back. There are more posted here. It had an extraordinary charm about it.

Here’s the house today. Today was its very last day.

It hurt to watch this…

The workers looked on. For that moment, I think we were all thinking the same thing…a pause to consider the hands that built this house…raised babies in this house…sat down to dinner in this house.

The sign reflected my thoughts. I wanted to say STOP or SLOW DOWN. I did not do anything but take pictures.

This fella smiled when I pointed the camera at him…he’ll never know he’s in Blogland.

And then I left…in the funeral procession. I was in the midst of the equipment. Looking ahead through my windshield….

Looking behind in my rearview…right in the thick of it.

I returned about three hours later…it’s gone.

I thought of a song….

Are you lonesome tonight,
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray to a brighter summer day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart?
Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?
Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

The Last One

Update on 2/6/2013 — If you looked at this post earlier and saw the onions hanging down, you would have wondered what I was doing. Honestly, they looked like a bull’s private parts. Sorry! I fixed!

I came home tonight and fixed a quick bowl of minestrone soup. It was from the recipe that I shared a few weeks ago here. Looks good, doesn’t it? And note…this time, I didn’t use Parmesean cheese from the big green can…notice the bigger grated bits of cheese on the soup? I’m on it!

And do you know what else is in this soup? There were lots of them on my back porch last summer…

But there were sandwiches and soups and salads…and finally there was only one.

She had been on the potrack watching me wash dishes, checking out the feeding of cats and dogs, watching me dance to Adele…and now she’s gone. (Note…I checked the spelling of Adele’s name — ONLY ONE L!!)

Before and After Home Office Reorganization

First of all, thank you to those who viewed RiverCliff Cottage in January. My little blog had 1300 views for the month according to Google Analytics. Do you know how good you have made me feel? I am no one, but you took the time to look me up. I am so thankful. Basically, you’re like a piece of chocolate! Yum! You are delicious!

On Saturday it snowed, and then it continued to snow until the early afternoon on Sunday — a day to stay at home. I know I’m repeating myself, but let me say it again…I love snow. We did not have church. My worship experience occurred outside this morning with the camera following a breath of clean mountain air. Thank you Lord for showing us this once again!!!

Midday, I went upstairs and surveyed the office reorganization mess. I orginally talked about our home office reorganization here. Determined not to continue talking about it yet not doing anything, I decided to get the “Office” part of the home office at least 90% complete today.

I think I’m at 90%. Here’s what it looks like as I write this post…

Here’s the before of Michael’s side of the room…

Here is the after of his side of the room…

I’m happy with the results. Most of it was pretty straight forward — cleaning, sorting, discarding and organizing what was left. The printer and old desktop computer and monitor have gone to Office Depot. When we made the purchase of the scanner (here), Office Depot accepted them for recycling. Mike is a “keeper” and he had about 100 woodworking magazines which I happily discarded! It freed up space for notebooks on our house maintenance, health care, etc. to be put out of sight.

Now that I’ve cleaned and organized the area, you can see the nice desk as our shared workspace. I love this desk!

Mike made the desk for the two of us. I have my side and my drawers, and he has his side and his drawers. (Whoops…that all just sounds risque, doesn’t it?) It’s made of walnut, white oak, red oak and sassafras. We don’t really share it well as he encroaches on my side of the desk. Still, there is the thought!

I used a full can of black spray paint on this redo. Don’t those chairs look better black? I have no problem mixing woods but this room has so much wood…floors, desk, file cabinets, bookshelves…even the blinds are wooden! By spraying the chairs black, it gave them an opportunity to show off.

I took a look at the picture frames around the room and gave them a bit of spray, too. I didn’t want them all to be one color, but if they were brassy, they got a new life in red, black or silver. Here’s a couple that were brassy gold…now they are more cohesive with this busy room!

This one went from gold to bright red…

I even spray painted the cardboard boxes where loose pictures or CDs are kept! This box had been a hideous mauve and green…I had it hidden in the bottom unit of the bookshelf. If you look down in the “before” picture of my side of the room, you’ll see it. Ugly! Now, it’s back living the good life on the upper shelves.

The world is a better place with a full can of Krylon or Rustoleum (or chalkboard spray paint).

Here’s my side of the room before…I took this picture right when I started cleaning out the bookcase so I have the trashbag in the floor! Basically, this looks like a wreck.

And here’s the after…ahhh…I feel better just looking at this! This is a place I can work!

Here’s the whole office area again…

There are blocks in the top of the window…they’ll say “Organize” when I get the letters on them. That’s all part of my plan!

But now…it’s time for a….

Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. Do you like the office redo? I bought the pillows, the lampshades, one decorative box and spraypaint to give this room new life. Beyond that…it was just elbow grease. I’m just wondering why I let it go so long?

A Bit of Leah Vivian Sproles Barker

My mother’s name was Leah in the youngest part of her life. However, she was teased by other kids saying “Lear Sproles in Mud She Rolls. She was then called Vivian because, apparently, the rhyme didn’t work as well with Vivian as it with with Leah (or “Lear”).

I’ll have more about mother on this blog as I find things.

For today, when I was cleaning out the storage area of our home office, I ran across this picture of Mom and her family. It’s probably taken in the 1930’s and I”m sure it was taken in Mendota.

Left to right: My maternal grandfather, Will Sproles; maternal grandmother, Eva Fleenor Sproles; Aunt Lou; Aunt Lorene (I hope I spelled that right); Mother, and Uncle Ralph.

Mother was wearing jeans…she was a tomboy and didn’t like dresses. This preference lasted all of her life.

There’s lots I can and will say about Mother, but today, I’ll sum it up with a letter she wrote to me. I look at it several times a year and wonder if she knew what a gift she was really leaving.

Mother — I draw on that account every day.

Do you remember anything about my mother that I might not know?

Pop of Red and Other Stuff

This is a Seinfield post. It’s all over the place. First, let’s start with the home office reorganization/redo. Do you like that red pillow with the black chair?

I like it.

I got that pillow from Target this morning. By 11:40 am, I had made two trips to Bristol from Mendota! Mike and I went to town in the truck early to avoid the crowds since it was predicted to snow. He dropped me off at Walmart at 7:15 am while he went to Lowe’s. We were home by 9 am. However, as we were returning home, headed down Nordyke Road into the valley, I knew I was going in the wrong direction. I should have went to town alone as I wanted to go to TJ Maxx and Target to look for a few things for our home office reorganization/redo.

So…I got home, unloaded the groceries, tidied up the house, saw Patsy at the Mendota Post Office and headed back to town. I wanted to get there before the snow started.

Can you see where I’m headed with this room. It’s a working space, and it’s primarily khaki, white, red and black. However, since it is a working space, I’ve changed the couch slipcover to be denim. Danette, who will be doing the slipcovering, will be coming over this week provided (1) the creeks are not out; (2) the river is not in the road; and (3) it is not snowing. All three of those conditions have to be met in North Carolina where she lives and in Mendota where I live.

Introducing the denim which will be on the couch….

Add the burlap pillow I’ve had for years. I’ll probably use this on the couch and I may stencil a “B” on it. The lanpshade on the floor is also going to be used, and this picture does not do it justice. I love it. Whimsical.

So…that is where the room is headed. There will be some red and black checks here and there, too. The lampshade is a bit feminine,so you may be wondering how my husband feels about that. The answer is that he probably will not notice it! So long as I’m happy with the room, he doesn’t care. He’s got his shop and he likes that more than anything.

Speaking of the shop, Jenna, Ashley and Mike are all down there today. They’ve been working on a few projects such as…

My entertainment center. Here’s the wormy chestnut top to the entertainment center.

After working on this, it’s important to have a major hit of sugar and peach tea. Check out Ashley after her first drink…I pride myself on introducing them to Pal’s peachy tea. They’re liking it more and more. Soon, no trip to Bristol will be complete without a swing through Pal’s!!

They are also working on some shelves for Helene…here’s what this looks like thus far…I love these young women! They are going to help me when Mike has his knee replacement surgery.

More later. Time for a nap with Gracie.

Gracie’s Trip to the Vet

This Sweet Girl visited the vet today. Mike said she was so very brave!

Dr. Steve says that the “warty” like thing on her eye has to come off. He’s trying an approach of squeezing it (yes, she let him…she’s a good dog) and I’m applying a steroid ointment at night. If it goes away or is reduced enough not to bother her, then we won’t attempt surgery.

He doesn’t want to do surgery due to her age…she’s almost 15. He listened to her heart. It beat strong. He watched her walk. Her arthritis was still manageable. He felt of her lumps and bumps (too many to list). He made a loud noise. She didn’t hear him; her world is quiet.

Most dogs Gracie’s age are very thin. She runs to fat. Yes, her arthritis would be better if she was a little lighter, but Dr. Steve is delighted that she’s not thin.

She still finds joy in her life. She loves riding in the truck, running to the shop, eating, and laying by my feet or on the couch beside me. I’m her “important person.” Mike is her “second important person” but not quite as high as me.

And I love her. With all my heart.

Not a Lottery Winning Day

I am having one of THOSE days…everything just goes askew. I realize that on my worst day, my life is better than most. However….

It started last night when I realized it was 1:30 am and I was still up. I had to get up at 6:30 am and feed the animals. Mike had to take my Prius in for service. I had to meet him at the dealership. He had a dental appointment. We didn’t get back home until 3:30 pm and we were both tired…maybe grumpy. My mouth was hurting. I hope it feels better tomorrow, but this afternoon, it felt like I had 8 kernals of popcorn stuck in between my teeth and in my gums. I was fantasizing about a swish of warm salt water on the way home from town. When I finally got home and did the swish thing…ahh…it was wonderful.

So we’re home and Mike goes to the shop. I go down, too, to…well do some spray painting…isn’t that what I do a lot of the time? I’ll show you what I painted later in the week. Anyway, I saw this girl…she has to go to the vet tomorrow. She’s so cute…she looks like she is quinting at me.

She has bumps and lumps all over her. She’s had a wart on her eye for a good while. I’m afraid it’s going to start causing her discomfort, so she’s going in for a consultation with Dr. Steve tomorrow.

I’m worried that any day she will die. I can’t help it. She is over 14. She sure can bark good though.

I also went to see the bees today. There was one single bee outside of the four hives. I keep wondering…are they alive and just in the hives doing what they are supposed to do which is clustering around the queen? One was outside the hives, so I tried to peek into the top of each hive but I didn’t see any activity. I keep wanting to mess with them, but there is not one thing I can do if they are in trouble. We have extra food for them in the event that they run out of honey. We have done everything that we’re supposed to do. It’s just wait and hope and pray.

I asked Sam the cat who went to see the bees with me…Sam..are the bees alive?”

Sam said…”Who cares? Why ask me? I’m a cat.” Look at those cool green eyes. Self-centered cat!

One of the things that I did while in town was go by Short Sheets and buy my slipcover fabric for the couch in our home office. Guess what? I got home and I’d taken the wrong bolt of fabric. Yikes!

So my day has been spent “waiting” on cars and dentists; my dog has warts on her eye; my bees may be dead; and my couch fabric is wrong. Yikes…I will not buy a lottery ticket today! For sure!

I did do one thing that was fun. I purchased a small basket at TJ Maxx for $4.00. It’s cute. I’m not sure what that little round thing on it is.

So…I now have a basket…and I’m thinking about one of Mike’s bookshelves that is not very organized. It has Mike’s junk on it.

Add one of the many canning jar rings and a little bit of scrapbook paper…and now…that same little shelf is all organized. No more white bowl.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

I still have a long way to go in this room.

Life Unscripted

Isn’t this a pretty church? It’s over 100 years old.

Joey led this morning’s prayer. He said, “Thank you for staying with us during the snow and ice and power outages. Thank you for riding shotgun with us Father.” Our worship is not scripted.

Here’s some more to be thankful for…it’s our friend Helene and her two house daughters, Ashley and Jenna. Ashley and Jenna have been hanging out with Mike in the shop a lot this week. Like Joey’s prayer today, these three independent women are living life unscripted. They delight everyone they touch.

And…Jenna and Ashley installed a new, tiled entry in our guest house apartment! Mike had removed the old vinyl and had the ceramic tiles cut and laid out, but his knee surgery is on the near horizon and kneeling isn’t working well for him right now. Jenna and Ashley had never laid or grouted ceramic tile, but they did an awesome job.

It looks like wood, but it’s ceramic tile. I love it!

Neat Desk Scanner

Have you seen the commercials from Office Depot on “Jane at Work?” I’ve been eyeing all of the great black and white desk organization items. I was thinking I could get a cardboard box and with a glue gun, Cricut, chalkboard paint and some creativity, I could make something similar for free!

Mike saw me watching this commercial, and I thought he was just being observant. However, he was watching something else, and it had nothing to do with saving money — quite the opposite.

He was eyeing the Neat Desk Scanner that also appears in the commercial. And guess what? He went and bought it! Now, he will HAVE to get rid of some of those 20 or so notebooks. He bought the scanner, and now he’s obligated to scan!!

Here it is on the desk (still haven’t moved the rug or anything much on this side of the room).

And a little closer….I’m so glad he’s addicted to gadgets. He’ll be scanning for hours. For days!

While he’s scanning, I can do meaningful, important things. Like pin things on Pinterest. Or play games on my iPad. Or surf the internet for crafts and decorating ideas! I’m in love with that scanner already!