Begin as we mean to go on

I'm not a big one for New Year's resolutions, but I do like a fresh start, and I believe in beginning as I mean to go on. So I started early, spending the end of 2012 filing our (huge!) pile of paid bills and papers and documents. I moved old files to boxes in the basement so that the filing cabinet wouldn't be too full to access, and I cleaned up the file folders too. Boy that felt good! It'll make tax time a little easier too, because we'll be able to find the documents we need. It always amazes me how a good clearing out can lift my spirits!

The new year also started with signing up for an exercise class. I have been to this class a lot over the years, but I had lapsed, and hadn't gone in close to a year. I guess I got busy, but mostly I got lazy. The class gives me really good core-strengthening exercises, and good stretches that I never really get around to doing on my own at home.

On the house front, here's how far we've come on the construction of the three-season room. (I say "we" but really our contractor and his crew are doing all the work!)

The side of the house: the double doors are part of an extension of the garage

From the back corner of the yard

Inside three-season room (boxes are kitchen cabinets)

The other project I've started on is moving my sewing room. As the big construction project is moving along, the crew will be moving into the house soon to tear down walls, build a new laundry room and expand and remodel the kitchen. The room with my office and sewing table will be changed, and I don't want my sewing machine anywhere near all that construction dust. So, as my oldest son gets older and spends less and less time here at the house, we are ready to convert his bedroom to a guest room/sewing room. He's not really broken hearted, as he is already making plans for post-graduation (spring 2014) and those plans don't include moving back home. He IS enjoying telling all his friends at school how his parents started converting his bedroom a mere 2 days after he went back to school though. Ha!

Since I've been cleaning up the sewing area and starting to move things, I've also been inspired to take care of some of the mending that's been patiently waiting for me, along with some small projects.

 Here are 2 open-wide pouches that I made using the last few remnants of a favorite fabric. I found a tutorial for them online here on a blog called Noodlehead - quick and easy and great results. I used only fabrics and linings and zippers that I had on hand. A good way to work down the stash and get something useful out of it.

In addition to the sewing, I used up some more fabric covering boxes to use for yarn storage. I keep some of my knitting projects in the living room and the pretty covered boxes look so much nicer than old cardboard. I first tried using good old Elmer's white glue, but soon I made a trip to the hardware store and bought some spray adhesive. That moved things along much faster, though it's much messier. Notice the newspaper covering my work table in the "outside fabric" photo below.

starter box

add lining

add outside fabric

  

add grommets and handle

on the shelves

 Well, the shelves still look kind of messy, but it's a much tidier mess than it used to be.

Wishing you all the best of luck with your own fresh start.

Shelley in CT

Happy New Year!

I can't believe my last post was way back in September. I meant to post about the half-marathon, and then Stitches, and then Hurricane Sandy, but somehow time kept marching on and I kept putting it off until I had time. So I'll catch up a bit.

The Half Marathon: The weather was glorious, not too cold and not too hot,and sunny and clear. My husband had to go out of town for business THAT MORNING before I even got up to get ready for the race.  My daughter was away for the weekend doing some volunteer work for the foreign exchange program she was involved with, which left my younger son to come cheer me on. He was a great sport and cheered loud and took lots of pictures.

first loop (of two)

close to the finish line

I ran with the woman I have been training with all summer and we stayed together until the last 2 miles when I pulled ahead. I finished in 2 hrs 3 mins, which isn't bad, though if I run it again next year I'd like to shoot for a sub-2 hour time.

Stitches: I go to Stitches every year with my knitting buddy Iris, and we stay with a friend of hers, about 20 mins away from the Hartford Convention Center, where Stitches is held. It's a good compromise: we save hotel costs and the 20-minute drive in is so much easier than the hour's drive from home. I enjoyed the classes and the banquets and fashion shows, though the market seems to be getting smaller.

Hurricane Sandy: We survived this storm with only a 3-day loss of power, though after our experience with Irene in the fall of 2011, I had less patience with all the inconveniences. But I must focus on the fact that they were only inconveniences. We had no major damage, and good friends who offered us hot showers and power to recharge our electronics and get email messages out to friends and family, and I am thankful for that.

As soon as we got our power back, dear husband and I flew off to Houston, TX to visit our older son in school at Rice University. We left the younger two at home on their own for the two nights we were gone. That was very brave of us if I do say so myself, and the kids survived quite well. We had a wonderful, if short, visit with our older son.

We've had a few other things happening at the ol' homestead these days.  We had a new roof put on and then solar panels installed. we've already generated a fair amount of electricity, though with snow on the roof as I type, the power generation has slowed down considerably.  We've also torn down our screened porch (which was rotting away) and are rebuilding, along with a kitchen renovation. Well, WE aren't doing the work, we've hired a contractor, but you know what I mean. So far it's looking really good, and our contractor and his crew are really nice guys and very easy to work with.

new sun room in progress

In the middle of all of this, the water heater started to fail. That's not really something we could put off, so we had a new water heater installed. Then the clutch on the oldest car started to give us trouble, and get worse and worse. So the car went in to the shop for a new clutch. And the other cars needed new tires, so they went too. Are we tired of spending money yet?

You may think that through all of this I haven't gotten much knitting or sewing done. And you'd be right. My knitting slowed down a lot this fall, but I have made some progress on my younger son's cardigan,

 and over the winter break I knitted myself a hat (with yarn that I had gotten as a door prize at Stitches!).

My sewing is down to occasional mending. Soon I will need to move the sewing stuff out of the office/sewing room to clear the way for the construction work.

For the past week and a half everyone has been home, which I have really enjoyed. We didn't have anyplace we had to go, and had a nice, quiet holiday at home. Even dear husband was home from work for almost two weeks. We've had time to play games, clear out closets, sleep, cook, be lazy, and  stay in our pajamas all day if we want to (that's the kids' favorite part of the Christmas holiday). Dear husband built a fire in the fireplace every day. But tomorrow it's back to school and work, and older son leaves on Friday to go back to school in Texas. It sure was lovely while it lasted.

Wishing you a wonderful 2013!