Renovation Rambles

::Weekly Rambles::

What’s really on my mind and heart?

Decluttering and minimizing is on my mind. Not surprising considering the state of the house. I'm constantly looking around, wondering how I can best use the space in the basement, and contemplating what to get rid of.

What am I thankful for?

The sound of men working in the basement! Yay! 

What’s going on in school?

Columbus Day holiday! Everyone is happy to have a day off, and I am happy to have my college boy home for part of his fall break.

What’s on the needles?

Last night I picked up my Westport Shawl that I had put down weeks ago when I messed up the lace. I finally had time to tink (un-knit stitch by stitch) 4 rows until I undid the mistake and could resume knitting. After only 3 rows of knitting, I messed it up again, and I have just. had. it. with this pattern! It's gorgeous and it seems to be well-written, but I must not have the patience or concentration skills necessary these days to work on such an intense design. So, now I'm looking for something else to do with these two beautiful skeins.

What’s special about this week?

They are beginning (and ending?) the installation of our new basement floors today. Ever since the sewage backup in May the house has been a disaster (actually, before that, since we moved half the house down to the basement for new floors up here). There is clutter everywhere and I'm learning to live with it. That is frightening to me. Since there's so little "cleaning" that can be done, I'm getting seriously out of the habit!

What am I reading?

I've reached the halfway mark in The Boys in the Boat! I'm really tempted to stay up well past my bedtime every night and keep reading.

I'm also at the end of The Maze Runner audiobook, and I don't know if I'll have any quiet time for a few days to finish it. But once the floors are finished and I can get down there to caulk and paint baseboards, I'll have lots of time to finish that one and start the next!

What am I praying about?

• Our country
• For all our priest and deacons
• an end to abortion and, especially, Planned Parenthood
• for all the beautiful people suffering chronic pain and from illnesses like cancer

What projects are happening at home?

LOL. Basement, decluttering, cleaning...

xo,
Sara

Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading and I love sharing my projects and current reads here. I would love for you to join me over at Ginny's every Wednesday to share a single photo of what you are knitting (or crocheting) and reading too! Share your photo on your blog, on Instagram (#yarnalong), or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

My knitting project is getting closer and closer to the end, but these last rows seem interminable! I guess that's not too far from reality when you increase every other row by four stitches. Nevertheless, the yarn is getting smaller---I'm certain that I shall knit my last two rows of blue today (or whenever I get to knit!).

Instead of knitting, while I await the flooring delivery men, I am sitting in my front yard storing up vitamin D for the winter. And attending to my much-neglected blog via the Blogger app on my phone. I finished my painting session for the day (I'm tired and clean-up is too much twice in one day!), so I'm taking a break.

Knitting will resume shortly when I have had enough sun (soon---it's hot out here!), and I will listen to my current read which has kept me quite entertained during marathon painting sessions:  The Maze Runner. We've seen both movies, but I thought reading the books might help fill in some of the gaps in the story.

Did you know that there is a wealth of audiobooks available on YouTube? 

Update: I have good intentions about blogging, but then I get distracted by reality. Darn it. ;-)  I'm going to go ahead and post this anyway, even though I've already updated the flooring situation in my Quick Takes a few minutes ago. Go read that one, too! :-) 

xo,
Sara

October Quick Takes

~Linking up with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum. Drop in for more Quick Takes. ~

1.

True Confessions: I started this post LAST Friday and wasn't able to finish it, so I'm updating and, hopefully, coming up with a few more takes to make it to seven!

2.
Sitting at Chik-fil-A on Day 8 of the Whole30 diet while Meg does her schoolwork. There's pretty much nothing here that I can eat, so I'm gritting my teeth and drinking decaf. I don't mind just drinking decaf, but I can't stand their coffee. And I probably could have some french fries without too much guilt but I don't think that would really help the cause. (Another True Confession: I had french fries today because they're fried in peanut oil, momentarily, and conveniently, forgetting that peanuts are legumes and forbidden.)

3.
What's the cause, you ask? Aside from the never-ending quest to lose weight, it's to get the sugar and junk out of my life. Lately, my diet has been getting worse and worse, and I haven't put on more than a pound or 2, but they always invite their friends over, don't they? They find a happy place and invite everyone over for a rave. Pretty soon, someone needs to call the cops....That's the Whole30. :-)

4.
"Rika-Chicka", as one of my babies famously called this place, has the nicest employees. There's a lovely German lady who visits with us every time we come, chats with me about my knitting, and even brings free coffee! I shouldn't complain that it tastes bad.

5.
Meg and I made our 2nd of the 9 First Friday's today last week. We started because our schedule lends itself to the devotion right now, but I can see that it will be a struggle to continue if our schedule changes. I'm praying that God will grant the graces necessary to persevere! As I have had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for nearly 14 years, now, (My Margaret Mary will be 14 in January!), it's about time I attempted to make the 9 First Fridays. One of the great things about the parish we have been attending on Fridays is that the pastor actually stops to pray the Litany to the Sacred Heart and an Act of Consecration. It's a lovely start to the day.

6.

Our flooring arrived much more quickly than I expected, and the installer is faster than I expected, so installation starts on Monday---maybe even finishes! We had to hold him back a bit to have time to empty the basement. We've begun, but there will be a big push tomorrow to bring everything upstairs. I'll be so happy to have the next phase completed! It will still take time to get everything purged and put away, but I like that part a lot better than the messy painting and packing.

7.
So excited! I just sold another item from my Etsy shop Rosy Knits. I really need to knit more to add to the shop. I've been preoccupied with other things this summer. Like floors. ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

xo,

Sara

Continued Renovations

We put in an order for flooring in the basement, at long last! It is Coretec Plus---a wood-look luxury vinyl plank. I'm excited about it; I hope it lives up to my expectations!

Flooring should arrive in two weeks, so we need to empty the basement and I need to paint the two bedrooms while I have carpeting that can act as drop cloths! The first is 90% finished--and it's the biggest. I need to finish the ceiling because I ran out of paint, and I need to paint the window trim. It's gorgeous! Here's a not-gorgeous picture: 

Since I took that picture, I have finished the walls and the trim/doors. The navy is the old color. The new is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt, a pale gray/green. I am NOT excited about the idea of putting the yucky Cargo beds in here again! Since the boys don't live here anymore, maybe I can do something else with it? I'm thinking TV room with a sleep sofa, and maybe my sewing. The other, smaller room which is the craft room now, can be a simple guest room.

What would you do? What's the statute of limitations on adult children's bedrooms?

Quiet Time Yarn Along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading and I love sharing my projects and current reads here. I would love for you to join me over at Ginny's every Wednesday to share a single photo of what you are knitting (or crocheting) and reading too! Share your photo on your blog, on Instagram (#yarnalong), or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I'm sitting in my quiet spot in the middle of Stations of the Cross while Pip is in a meeting. Today I got my blanket out of the car to sit on since the grass here is unbelievably spiky. I hope they're not intentionally discouraging folks from using this space! The quiet was disturbed for a few minutes by a Religious Ed class taking a tour to learn about the Stations. But I don't mind. Since I actually get very little knitting done here, I need to be prepared to hike around the grounds next week as other parents are doing. It will eventually be too chilly to sit still, anyway.

Finished my little blanket that needs a blocking. It's soft and cozy, but smaller than I would like. I may need to turn it into a Book Blankey and put it in the shop.

I started reading The One Thing is Three, by Fr. Michael Gaitley, today. I love his books and find them inspirational, so I'm looking forward to it.

The Boys in the Boat is still on my nightstand and I am enjoying that every night. Every morning I am tempted to bring it downstairs, but then I won't get anything done!