The next space to freshen

The next room that needs a refresh is the living/dining room.

Basically I just keep it clean and sparsely decorated so it's rather blah. 

Well, maybe not blah, but definitely needs freshening up!  My plan is to:

*patch nail holes and paint the walls (probably a similar shade of soft beige - not reinventing the wheel here)

*remove the vintage portraits above the china cabinet and store them

*refinish the top of the dining table

*remove the framed prints by the windows (not shown)

*give everything a major clean

*touch up the front door paint

*maybe get a new rug at the entry

*change up the window cling on the arched window? (not shown)

*rearrange furniture?

*get it all ready for Christmas!

Most of this will wait a couple of weeks when my shoulder is settled down more, and if it doesn't happen in October, it will have to wait until January.  I would like for the holidays not to involve big projects!  What about you?  Got any home plans for Fall?

Gina

5 thing Friday - latest read, the den, touch-up paint storage, curbside oops, Schlotzsky's

I found this book on a recent stop at Salvation Army (while keeping my eyes open for furniture for Bubbie).  It was on my To Read list on Goodreads and was all of $2.

I rate it as "OK".  You didn't get her full opinion and reflection on the premise of the book until the last chapter.  It was mildly entertaining, but also made me frustrated with her - mainly for choices she made as an adult, years after her mother died.*

Painting week, again.

This is a before pic of the area above the fireplace.  It definitely needed a glow up.

I gave Chat GPT the suggestion to redecorate it, with a green wall.  I had no intention of painting the whole wall, though.  And it left out the bookcase, but I loved the landscape, the candles, and the addition of a plant.

Painting it took me around the same time as the hall wall.  When I showed a friend my plan, she said she had a big canvas print that I could have, for free!  I set a chunky candle holder up there until such a time as I find a couple of taper candlesticks at a thrift store. The mirror went to live elsewhere and I'm not sure what I will do with the small terracotta suns.

With all of the natural light in this room, an accent wall here is not as dark as I thought it would be.

This little nook between the den and front rooms is always going to be in the shadows but its a small area anyway.  I think this one took me around an hour because I was being so careful with the edges.

The before on the main den wall - so much brown.  And I ended up moving that lamp and table after living with them a couple of weeks and deciding I didn't love them there.  A floor lamp will work better for reading, I think.

Such a beautiful color.  Rather than make it dark in here, it looks cozy and so good with the creamy white accent walls.  I will still need to address the rug and coffee table situation, but I will wait until the couch arrives.

Pillows tie it all together.  The pretty floral one I found at Target, the light green ones are courtesy of The Girl, and the fat boucle pumpkin is from Wal-Mart.

As I finish up a room, I store the leftover paint in a small container will all the details labeled on it.  Each one has a stainless steel blender ball and I placed these in the hall cleaning closet which is temperature controlled, unlike the garage. Only time will tell if this is a good plan.

A downside to ordering groceries curbside/delivery is that I frequently don't pay attention to the size of the item.  This week I got an 80 ounce package of frozen peas, which is comical.  Also, a much larger bag of green beans than I intended. The size of the bag of broccoli to the right is what I was aiming for.  I will be eating peas until the next scheduled rapture.

I haven't had a Schlotzsky's in forever and this week seemed as good as any to get one.  For the most part I have been cooking all of my meals.  Boring, but customizable, and much cheaper.  Still, its fun to let someone else do the cooking now and again.

Happy last weekend of September - can you believe it?

Gina

*incidentally, Sunday makes two years since Mom died

Scarborough it is...final answer

I was so on the fence about the color I had chosen for accent walls!

What I really wanted was something more green than blue.  So when I was in Home Depot I grabbed up a colorway swatch that I thought would work better, had the same color density, and just went for it.

This is the first wall to be painted, located in the hallway to the bedrooms. I had always felt like the pasty green didn't look great.  Maybe it was the sheen I disliked so.  Anything would have been an improvement, but I thought why not start with this smallish wall?  If I hate it, it will be easy enough to do over.

Ooooh.

I don't hate it!  And it took maybe 30 minutes of actual painting time. Which is great because I was supposed to be hitting the pause button on painting...

It looks just great with the white walls and trim and it coordinates with the colors in the Pena print nicely.  I feel more confident in proceeding with the other walls that will have this accent color: the wall behind the sofa, the wall over the fireplace, and the stand-alone bookcase nook just outside of the kitchen.  So.  That will be what I am working on this week!

Also I will: *take a gift to a friend

 *go to a chiropractic appointment for my janky shoulder

 *attend a work meeting via Zoom

*participate in a support group via Zoom

*pick up groceries

I'm trying hard not to stretch myself too thin, though.  What are your plans for the week?

Do tell!

Gina 

5 thing Friday - curtain spiff, Dubai chocolate, a good dinner, stitching, Empty Nest

Projects around the house were very low key this week.

I installed a regular curtain rod in the office and ordered a simple rod pocket panel in a dusty blue: 

The walls in here are a gray called "Train", but it has a hint of blue to it.  And since I decided that it was rather plain, I added a beaded fringe along the top and the hem.  Is it perfectly done? No. If you examine it you will see a messy hem at the bottom, since I seriously underestimated how tricky it is to machine stitch not only that fringe, but the flimsy fabric as well.

The fabric is a crinkly gauzey polyester and slippery as an eel.

It's hard to get a good close-up of the beads, but they are lovely.  Its sort of boho chic and I kind of love it. 

I finally got to try a Dubai-style chocolate bar and it was as delicious as I imagined it to be.  The chocolate was Belgian, which I find a touch sweeter than your usual milk chocolate.  I think that it would be even better made with dark chocolate.  At $8 it was a splurge and not something I will be adding to my usual grocery order.

To balance out the candy, I made a seasoned curry rice and some honey carrots to go with pan fried tilapia and that was also quite good!  I find that I can cook for myself with no great trauma about 3 nights a week.  I'm still working on it.

A work friend is leaving soon, and I bought her some wine she likes and thought I would stitch a quick something to hang on the bottle.

Also not perfect!  But heartfelt.

If you've been reading this blog a bit, you know that this has become an unofficial Cannary motto, and one I try to remember daily.  The rest of the quote states that "optimism is a magnet for good luck".  I am hoping that is true.

We did it, Mark!

I wish you could be here to share this milestone.

I got the last Cannary kid launched into his own apartment, living life on his own.  He took the rest of his things yesterday and whatever he didn't want went into my donate pile and directly over to the Habitat Restore.  As I told him yesterday, "you got this, I love you and am very proud of you, and don't forget: you know where to find me".  For launching four of them into adulthood with strong family support and a mom on their side, I'm proud of me, too.

Gina

What the week holds and hitting the pause button

Last week I finished up as much of the bonus room/guest room as I could before the workweek began.  It is an underwhelming makeover, just from the one lone photo.  But it represents a big investment in my time and energy.  I estimate that I've spent $215, which includes bed, mattress, linens, curtain rod, mini blinds, outlet covers, and paint.  I hung an un-used art canvas, brought in a brass floor lamp I spray painted years ago, and added an empty straw basket for under-the-bed storage.  The plant stand is courtesy of The Girl and I'm not sure it will stay in here.  Same with the reading pillow. I think I will arrange pillows for more of a daybed look.  But this is where I am leaving it for now so that I have time to just rest and enjoy my days off.

I love the late afternoon light

Next up on the list of things to do is paint the accent walls in and adjacent to the den where the new couch is going, but that will wait until next week when I have a full 5 days off.  The mind is ready and willing but the body says "Whoa, Nelly".  Meanwhile, it is beginning to turn to Fall here with cooler mornings.  I really want to focus on my daily walks this week so I can increase my strength and energy.

Happy Monday - let's start the week off slowwwwwly...

Gina

5 thing Friday - concert, plumbing, bonus room, front door, Chloe

I took myself out on Tuesday night.

Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra were performing at the Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus.  Finding my way to the theater from the parking garage should have been easier, but there is a lot of construction and I exited the garage on the wrong level!  I went to UT for 2 years and was a tour guide with Alpha Phi Omega, so you would think I could find my way around?  I guess not!

He entertained the audience with his quirky wit before the show.  My tickets got upgraded to the orchestra section for free so I had a great view.

And they were very talented.  They were joined by a singer from the Broadway cast of Wicked and she was really good, too!  I didn't get a photo of her because I was livin' in the moment.

I kept hearing a sound that I thought was the toilet running.  Couldn't figure out how and why...turns out, it was the faucet in the tub.  Running a steady stream of hot water, no matter how far to COLD it was turned or how hard I pushed it in.  At least 5 days of that - I will hate to see my water bill.

So, $355 later, it was fixed by a guy my plumber sent over, who informed me that I could "get one of my sons" to caulk around the tub drain until such a time as I could buy a new tub insert.

Look.

First of all, no sir. That, in fact, does not require whiskers. And stop calling me Miss Gina.  Second of all, no one takes baths in here, so I'm going to caulk this my damn self and go on living my life.

I spent HOURS this week trying to hang mini blinds in here.  Twice, I brought the wrong size home, even after I felt like I had measured it correctly.  Then I had to use the new hardware that came with the blinds, so I had to remove the old brackets and install the new ones which was a pain in the rear, and then it was so hard to get the new blinds snapped it.  I also discovered that the casing for the curtain was too narrow for the curtain rods I bought.  So I adjusted that with my trusty sewing machine, cleaned the curtain, and FINALLY called it all done.

I have steam cleaned this carpet 3 times.  I don't know what all Bubbie spilled on it, and I'm trying not to complain about it so much but it was also a giant pain in the rear.  All I wanted to do was get this room cleaned and painted and set up nicely. Sheesh.

I took a break from working on the guest room to put together a Fall basket for the front door.  Cost was zero dollars.  I guess it will stay this way until I decorate for Christmas.  Doesn't that seem far away?  Its only 105 days away, folks.

And, finally.

Today is The Girl's Birthday.  These are photos from her first morning at home. Her name is Chloe Erin, aka Coco, aka Coconut.  She is my smart and beautiful only girl and I cannot believe she is 34.  Mark and I looked so young, but we were about 30 years old and thought we had a lifetime ahead of us.  Seeing him with her wrecks me a little.  She was Daddy's Girl.  Its a bittersweet day here, for sure.

Gina

Fall 2025 home projects

I haven't done so bad with home projects this year - a lot of things have been crossed off the list.  But I'm giving myself a reasonable timeline to keep working on them.  I have realized lately that I am OLD.

At least I am feeling that way!  I want to:

*Replace the carpet in the house.  This will be a big project that will spawn smaller ones, like painting all the baseboards in the carpeted rooms.  Furniture will all have to be moved, so this project will have many stages. 

Probably going to get a similar color, though.

*Level the paving stones in the red rocks area with some paver sand (which I bought already).

I will also power wash everything back here and set up the firepit.

*Paint my bedroom

Probably the same, color-wise, but I don't have any of the original paint left, so it will get totally refreshed.  I'm going for a mushroom/taupe shade which is a soothing color.

*Paint the front rooms

A slightly lighter shade on the walls, and I will consider adding a large area rug.

*Add weather stripping to the front door

Also, give the front of the door a fresh coat of paint, and power wash the brick portico.

*Pick out the paint for my desk and printer table.  Get a new office chair.

I want to use Silk Fusion mineral paint for this.

*Finish up the den with the addition of a new couch, new accent wall colors, and a room size rug.  

I will create a "library" where I can read, listen to music, and work on my puzzles.  I already moved the rocking chair out and won't likely hang curtains, so this one will have a shorter list of To Do's.  I haven't decided what to do about the coffee table yet, nor the small rug.

Hopefully, keeping myself engaged in these projects will keep Empty Nest Syndrome at bay for a few months.  But at the same time, I want to move along at a slower pace so I don't get exhausted or discouraged.  Everything can't happen all at once, so it may well stretch into 2026.  What about you - got any plans for spiffing up your spaces?

Gina

5 thing Friday - easy meals, painting, tired me, new couch, moving decor around

I've been doing fairly well at feeding myself reasonable meals lately. 

One night this week I made a noodle bowl with bowtie pasta, broccoli, lemon pesto, and a sauteed tilapia filet.  Easy, quick, and filling, with no leftovers.

Another fairly easy meal was smash burger quesadillas.  Not low cal by any means, but super delicious.

Bubbie has gotten into the swing of meal prepping again, now that he has his own kitchen.  Looks like he is focusing on veggies!  This makes my heart happy.  I know he was so ready to be out of my house and into his own space and I don't blame him one bit.  I should have him cook for me!

On Wednesday I tackled cleaning and painting the closet in the bonus room.  I also took all the switchplate covers off, removed the shelving system, patched nail holes, and bought the paint.

The color I picked is called Misty Surf and is a dusty greenish blue.

Once I painted the inside of the closet, I realized I needed to touch up the door frame and door.  (of course, because one project always spawns a few more)  I took loads of command hooks down and I may not replace them.  With 4 kids, I have purchased enough Command hooks to keep that company in business.

I felt so out of gas the first half of Thursday and I will admit, I was laying on my couch for most of the morning.  However, after lunch I rallied and painted the bonus room in record time - 2 hours.  It helps that I had already done all of the prep.  The color doesn't look all that different in this photo, but in person is so pretty and soothing.

I also made plans to paint this wall in the den  in the color "Blue Blood", which is from that same paint palette.  Because guess who bought herself a new couch?

It is being made now, in a gorgeous deep soft navy.  I am so looking forward to getting cozy on that chaise and read to my heart's content.  I'm going to look for a neutral rug and I have already moved some things around in the room.

Like a signed Pena print from 1988 (that I cannot part with), and these sconces which went to live in my bedroom temporarily (which will also get painted!).  I am shopping my house to change things up. But I am getting ahead of myself - got to work on the bonus room today and get ready for the work weekend.  Lots of plans, but all in good time.  I am definitely going to rest today!

Gina