Combustible Quick Takes

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This is what my son wants for his birthday.  A Combustible Lemon......alrighty then.

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Isn't it great when you're trying to plan your busy day, and get to All the Places on time, when you suddenly discover that a major time window has been opened up because you don't have your homeschool co-op in the afternoon?

That hasn't happened to you?  Well, that's my day today and it makes me so happy!

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Finally....after talking about it for months....I spent 30 seconds setting the alarm on my phone to ring for the Angelus at noon!  

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I am looking forward to the Year of Faith since I've signed up with Flocknote to receive sections of the  Catechism of the Catholic Church in my inbox every day.  If I read them, ;-), I'll have read the entire Catechsim by the end of the year!  I know some dedicated people who can manage to read the Catechism from cover to cover, but I'm not one of them, so easily overwhelmed am I by the size.  But an email, I can handle that!

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My goal this weekend is to spend a lot of time reading a book that a agreed to review.  Not that I'm not enjoying it, but I find that I have a dozen or so books at my bedside which I really like, but have never managed to finish.  Honestly, these days I think I'm a bit ADD where books are concerned!

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Stitching away on a new dress from the Alabama Chanin line.  Since I'm using a more intricate decorative stitch, it's going to be a while before I wear it!

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In the interest of full disclosure, I'd put my own Amazon Affiliate links in my posts if my account with them wasn't all messed up, so instead, I'm using links from SQPN.  You're supporting them if you click through to Amazon on one of my links and buy something!  :-)

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Join the fun at Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes!

Annie Sloan Rampage

I found a local antique mall that sells this Annie Sloan chalk paint that I've heard so much about---it's very popular on the decorator blogs.  Its major selling point is that it covers practically anything with no sanding or priming beforehand.  I've had a few projects that I wanted to do, and a little cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to dive in.

The first thing I did was to paint the kitchen island.  I was just tired of all the white and wanted to update it a little.  Our cabinets are basically laminated particle board, and the laminate starts to peel off the drawers and doors after 20 years.  Ugh.  So, we peeled it off in about 5 minutes, and painted the whole thing Versailles green.  Now we have that "coordinating" not matching look going on in the kitchen!

The other project(s) is my bedroom furniture which belonged to my parents when they first got married.  Mom got it in the divorce, and I got it when I got married.  My mom and dad furnished their whole house with this traditional Ethan Allen line, which I've always disliked, though I have been grateful that I didn't have to spend thousands of dollars on furniture that no one sees but us.  (And now the Internets!)  

Mom painted the china cabinet ("hutch" in my native parlance) white almost immediately after the divorce.  It made my dad and my brother furious because "you don't paint good wood"!  But you do if you can't stand it!  I can't stand it either.

That's not to say that I didn't feel incredibly guilty when I first started painting, because the inside is really beautiful, but the finish, which is pretty scratched and marred after all these years, is a really thick paste that essentially prevents you from seeing the grain of the wood.  I would have been happy refinishing it, but I don't have the energy or knowhow for that.    In any case, someone else can refinish it in another 20 years----or when I give it to a child who gets married.  ;-)

I like it sooooo much better now!  It's slightly distressed, and painted Old White.  We polished the brass hardware, but I may still look for something to replace it with.   

We don't want to be all matchy-matchy anymore, so I'm painting dh's stuff Greek Blue.

Distressing this stuff is so easy, because you don't even need to use sandpaper---you just use a damp rag, and there is no dust!

The color on the previous picture is different from the ones below, and I don't think either one is the same as the sample on the Annie Sloan site!  

This bad boy is all that remains to be done---that, and getting rid of the clutter.  Tell me that your master bedroom gets a little cluttered because no one goes in there during the day!  I'm never in my room after getting dressed in the morning, so the buildup doesn't bother me as much as it would if spent my entire days in my bed.

 But now, I love the new look when I am in my room!  Just please, please, don't tell my dad or my brother that I painted them!

Have you painted anything that you shouldn't have?  Or that you hated and now you love it?

Celebratory Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...
The sun is coming up in a perfectly clear sky on a very cool morning.  It might be just about time to put the down comforter/flannel duvet on the bed since the temp in the bedroom has dropped below where we set our thermostat!

I am thankful...
I'm so thankful for the afternoon in Athens yesterday with the whole family.  We went there to celebrate last week's birthdays, and had lunch/dinner (at 4 p.m.) at the sketchiest looking college restaurant where they served pretty amazing Cuban food!  We sat outside---well, I guess you have to sit outside there---and stuffed ourselves with Cuban sandwiches, taquitos, burritos, fried yucca, and more.

It was wonderful, as usual, to be all together, if a little awkward because cramped, college apartments occupied by 4 young men don't generally lend themselves to family get-togethers!

From the learning rooms...
School is going well with 2 students.  I really like the fact that we're doing Mother of Divine Grace primarily this year.  I enjoy the program, but I keep thinking about how hard it was to do it when I had 4+ kids at home!  If someone has figured out how to get it all done with lots of kids, I'd be interested to hear how you do it!

In the kitchen...
Too much food and cake this weekend, so I'm off duty this week.  Fix yourself some eggs.

(kidding.  totally.  except about the too much food and cake.)

I am knitting...
Still not knitting, but getting the itch to do something simple.  However, I have enough projects to do at home and books to read that I don't think I should start anything right away.  I did pick up the crochet hook and a giant spool(?) of cotton that my mom+ bequeathed me, and I'm making some cute, nubby washcloths in the car.

I am praying...
The Novena to St. Therese.  I have several big requests for her this year.  I don't expect all of them to be answered in the 9 days, but I know she'll be working on them!

Maria sent me her paper rosary which I begged her for.  For years without count (okay, maybe 20ish), I tried to keep track of a rosary prayed on the fly as I washed dishes and did laundry, but I couldn't do it. I know it didn't matter (still doesn't) that those prayers didn't form a perfect rosary, that they were still useful, but it would have made me feel better to know that I had prayed a full rosary during those days when I felt I didn't have time to sit down and pray it all at once.  So now I can keep track during the days, and probably still find that I don't pray a whole rosary (unless I'm in the car), but I'll know how far off the mark I am!

I am reading...
That deserves a whole post of its own.

Around the house...
I need to finish painting the furniture in my bedroom.  All that's left is dh's chest of drawers.  And then clean it all up and make it beautiful!

One of my favorite things...
My kids.  They make me laugh, and I love hanging around with them.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Painting, cleaning, reading.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

He didn't care for cameras or tail-pulling. (Some other kid did that.  Not mine.)

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