The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I was so hoping that on this post I could show you our new carpets in place and our living room/dining area decorated. Our carpets were delivered this morning (the good) after many delays. We immediately set to unrolling the smaller carpet which goes under the dining table. Below is a photo of the carpet after I finished vacuuming it and getting the table in place.

We placed the chairs and I went on to organize the living room space to get ready for the larger carpet. Just prior to calling Mr. Squash over to help me unroll it, I decided it might be wise to open a small portion of the plastic over the carpet to make sure it was the right one. Sure enough - it wasn't (the bad)! After waiting nearly three weeks through delays, we were going to be forced to wait again. After calling the vendor I learned we could get the correct carpet, but it will be another 2 weeks of waiting (the ugly)!

On a lighter note, the other day while Mr. Squash and I were moving his office next to mine, his finger got caught in the flap of his desk - a pretty big boo-boo! Later that day I was out doing some errands and ran across this chocolate bar. One thing that really makes Mr. Squash happy is bacon! He frequently tells me "a pound of bacon" when I ask him what he wants for his birthday!! He is also a chocolate lover. I thought this bacon/chocolate bar would really help take his mind off his hurt finger --- and it did!

The painter is now workinghis way downstairs. By the end of the week he should be done - hooray!

Moving Again and 3 Winners!

Let's first get to the winners of my Dreaming of Summer Give-away! I used a Random Number Generator this time.

Winner #1 is Carrie P. who said: "We will probably just take weekend trips since we had a big vacation last summer to the Outer Banks." Sounds great - Mr. Squash and I had a terrific adventure there one year! Carrie wins the Morgan Lap Quilting Stands!

Winner #2 is Sherri who said: "We haven't finalized summer plans yet, but hoping for a week in the mountains and a week in Southern California...I love the beach and didn't get there last year...hopefully this summer!" Both those ideas sound like fun! Sherri wins the Ruler Holder!

Winner # 3 is Mary who is thinking about a cruise for her summer vacation! Gee - can Mr. Squash and I join you? Mary wins the Sew Necessary Project Book and L'Amour Charm Pack!

Thanks to all for their great comments! It as a lot of fun to see what everyone will be doing!

Now you're probably wondering if we're really moving again - only within the Squash House - thank goodness!! We decided to move the guest room downstairs to the "ensuite" room, which means Mr. Squash will move his office into the current guest room next to my studio. We cleared out the old guest room last night as the painter is working in there today. He should be done with that room today so over the weekend we'll move Mr. Squash in. Never a dull moment around here!

I've been trying to take photos of the painter's progress, but I really can't get the colors to show as true in most of the photos. Below is the chocolate wall in the dining area. We can't believe how great it looks - the wood surrounding it really "pops". The other walls are painted a warm honey color, but in this photo it shows as olive!

And to show you that I've actually done some sewing, here is the finished flimsy for Anne Sutton's Tisket A Tasket. I did it in what I call "pink-work". I have no idea where I got the pink fabric, or whose line it is - something from my stash. I set the blocks in Posies by Sandy Gervais. I bought a fat quarter bundle of it from Anne over at Cottons 'n Wool a while back and found that it coordinated well with the pink fabric. Now to figure out how to quilt it!

Dreaming of Summer Give-Away!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate how you've stuck with me during the past few months of moving to the Squash House! Your friendship and generosity has meant so much! Mr. Squash and I are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel in getting the house put together. We're also already dreaming of the summer to come - fly fishing, gardening, and being in the great outdoors in our area!

So I thought I would show my appreciation by having a "Dreaming of Summer Give-Away"! Please leave a comment telling me what your summer vacation plans are! I'll pick three winners - at random - on Friday, January 29th.

The first winner will receive these Morgan lap quilting stands! On the right is the 7/10 frame setup. Two hoops are separated by legs to make a unique stand for all your needlework projects. They raise your work to reduce neck and shoulder strain and give you the choice of two hoop sizes at the same time. The 14 inch add-on at the left comes with legs to attach to the 10 inch hoop. These are great for all of your quilting, rug punching or needlework projects! The second winner will receive this table-top ruler holder! (Rulers are not included). I own two of these and they're great for all sizes of rulers from your large 24" rulers, down to your little 4 " square rulers! I keep one loaded with my favorite rulers on top of my cutting table at all times!
The third winner will receive this Sew Necessary "Art To Heart" project book and a charm pack of L'Amour by Sandy Gervais for Moda! The book has all kinds of fun small projects to help organize your sewing area - pin cushions, thread holders, scissor fobs, needle holders, etc! And of course Valentine's Day is nearing and who doesn't love some fun Valentine's fabric?

Most of you know that there is always a little something extra included with my giveaways! I do ask that if you post anonymously, that you include an email address so I can contact you if you're a winner...this is a MUST for you to qualify. I can't wait to hear what you'll all be doing this summer! Good luck!

Porch Parade

Mr. Squash reminded me this morning that I haven't had a post for a while. Between painting and worrying about Sophie with some yardwork inbetween, I just haven't had much to say. We've worked so very hard since we got here, that I think it was just time to slow down with everything!

The good news is that Sophie is doing really well on her new meds. That has taken a big load off our minds. I also finished painting the kitchen and fishing bathroom, but have been waiting for some good light to get pictures for you. The other good news is that we've decided to hire a painter to finish the rest of the house! It's so much work and a good painter can finish it in a fraction of the time it would take us! He came this morning to take measurements and will begin sometime next week!

I've really been admiring the great porches around our town, so I thought I would photograph some of them on my morning walk today! Also, stayed tuned as I'm going to have a giveaway soon!

This house below is a "wine guest house". You can rent the entire house for any of the many wine events the town holds, or for any other reason! The photo below this is a stained glass window on the side of the house that is a depiction of the front porch!





Even a small porch below (on this very large house) has been done with character!

Sitting porch below, sleeping porch above!

The house below is on the street directly behind the Squash House. It's a restoration in progress and truly incredible. The craftsmanship that has gone into the restoration is top notch! And...this one also has a sleeping porch above!

Do Like the Natives....

My lack of posting this week has been due to lots of things - mostly all good. I spent Monday and Tuesday finishing the rest of the painting in the kitchen -- it looks fabulous! But we haven't had much sun, so any pictures I take right now won't show well. I'll wait until a nice, sunny day to show you the result.

We've had a little snow and a lot of freezing rain and ice recently. I usually take my daily walks in any sort of weather, but with the bitter cold here I found that my feet just don't stay warm in my runners and I don't have the support I need on snow and/or ice. So I went winter boot shopping online and look what I found!

They fit perfectly, have lots of support and plenty of traction for just about anything but sheer ice! I remember how cold my feet were standing for 2 hours at the Christmas parade at night just after we moved here - next year they will be warm and toasty and fashionable - just like the natives!

I've also begun baking in earnest again thanks to Ulla and Melanie giving me a jump start with 2 great recipes! I've always used King Arthur Flour and just love the catalog they put out. I saved the last one I got at the old house, brought it here and decided to pick up a few things!

I've always had trouble proofing yeast, but King Arthur carries an instant yeast that requires no proofing! I thought I would give it a try. Also when I was packing up the cupboards in the old house I threw out the rest of my dark Dutch baking cocoa as it hadn't been used for quite some time. Now I have a new bag and there is a great recipe on the back for double chocolate brownies! I also got 2 bags of white icing mix for cookies or royal icing, and decided to try their Vietnamese Cinnamon. Wow - I wish computers had smellavision! This stuff is incredible! If you have some time, do visit their website - see the link I provided above - they have all kinds of recipes, too!

The other thing that kept us busy this week was Miss Sophie. She began throwing up every day a couple of weeks ago. Her wonderful new vet did some blood tests and didn't find anything. While we were waiting for those results, she had two Grand Mal seizures - nothing is more scary than watching your pet go through something like that. The vet then did a complete thoracic (sp?) workup and still didn't find much of anything. She decided that Sophie needed something to keep her calmer so she wouldn't have the seizures, or at least lessen them. We had to get a compounding pharmacy in Arizona to make up a lotion that is rubbed inside of her ear as she won't take pills or liquid. Check out the cute toys the pharmacy sent with the script below - how nice, and Sophie loves them!

This weekend I'll be buying paint to do the small bathroom off the kitchen. Two rooms done and 8 to go......

Fall Finish and More Baking!

I finished a little stitchery I started before our big move! All that needs to be done is add the back and stuff it to make a little pillow. A quick trip to Joann's for stuffing today and it will be complete! I used some homespuns from my stash to add borders as well as for the backing. The stitchery is from Primitive Stitches which I bought complete with fabric and wool from Karen at Farmhouse Woolens. I actually changed out the background fabric for a lighter distressed cotton, but will use the darker fabric that came with it and make this again - perhaps for a gift!

Melanie emailed me the other day with a recipe for Mincemeat Cake! It sounded so good that I just had to make it right away! Mr. Squash and I headed out to the grocery for mincemeat (the sweet variety sans meat) and commenced baking! It turned out perfectly and is Oh-So-Good!!! Thanks for a fantastic, seasonal recipe, Melanie, we'll make it again and again!
We have had a couple of fires in one of our two wood burning fireplaces so far. The first one wasn't so good, but the second (below) was a bit better. We've both burned wood fires quite a bit in the past, but it seems we need to re-learn the proper methods! We purchased a bundle of kindling that you can see in the picture below. It helped a lot for this fire, but it was short lived. Either our wood isn't quite dry enough yet, or we haven't built up enough ash below to keep it hot. We need to practice more for sure! We also need to purchase a good set of fireplace tools!
Monday morning I begin painting again. I took the past week off after painting my studio, but it's time to get back to the grind! This week it will be the kitchen walls, which will complete the room. Then on to the rest of the house!

Snow Day!

We went to bed last night as the snow was falling and woke up to about 2-3 inches! I think I'd better get out and fill up the bird feeders! Here is a view to the southwest from our back door.

And here is a view to the East. Mr. Squash is out shoveling the driveway and sidewalk. Earlier we saw a group of neighbor women head out with snow shovels in hand to help some of the other neighbors! I know they walk together, so I'm sure this is a great alternative for walking today as well as doing a good deed!
And what else is one to do when you're retired and it's snows? Well, if it isn't quilting, then it must be baking Finnish Gingerbread! Here is a nice plate of Ulla's recipe made with the cookie cutter she gave us!

More Holiday Cheer & A Peek!

I hope everyone had as nice a Christmas as Mr. Squash and I did! Between packing to move, unpacking here, painting, arranging and working on getting things the way we wanted, we decided we were too pooped to get a tree, but we had each other and Miss Sophie and that was all we needed! Dinner was a small prime rib, Alice Water's Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and baked potatoes. We watched Juie and Julia after dinner and had a wonderful day!

The other day a package arrived from Ulla. This is how it looked on the doorstep! Mr. Squash said it must have fallen off the sleigh several times!

Fortunately, everything was there --- the only thing that went awry was Ulla's beautiful wrapping job. We repositioned one of the ribbons for the photo and quickly unwrapped the goodies! If you enlarge the photo you can see the wonderful Finnish card - we really love it!

Inside were so many thoughtful gifts - our enormous thanks to Ulla and Mr. K!!! Below you will see a package of Linden Tea...Mr. Squash had mentioned through one of my emails to Ulla that he thought a tree in a photo of hers was a Linden tree and that he had tasted Linden tea many years ago! We haven't seen it here, so Ulla sent him some! It's absolutely delicious! The long package next to the tea is a chocolate/gingerbread bar - wow - yum is all we can say! She also included her recipe for Finnish Gingerbread and a cookie cutter for it - I've already made up the dough - just waiting for it to chill for tomorrow's baking! Ulla also made a gorgeous thimble holder (with thimble included), scissor holder and scissors included, pin cushion and a fantastic needle older complete with various needle sizes!!!

And another package came from Nanette - a "random act of Christmas Cheer"! What a lovely thought, Nanette - thank you so much! There are numerous squares of some of her fantastic fabric finds - if you've been reading Nanette's blog, you know that she is has so many wonderful fabrics in her stash!! I already have an idea of what I will do with these!!

I finished painting my studio on Thursday - a light tan color which doesn't at all show in this photo. It took 2 coats and about 5 days in all, but it feels so much better in here with the blue walls covered! I managed to hang my favorite quilt, so I thought I would give you a sneek peak! I've had that oak quilt hangar for years but never been able to put it to use! After a "measuring mishap" I was happy to finally get it on the wall! On top of the 56 Drawer chest is Mary's little quilt she sent a while back, and Kaaren's painted lamp that I won from her earlier this year. Slowly but surely, the studio is taking shape!

We have SO much left to do, but are enjoying every minute! Tomorrow I'm going to finish painting the window trim in the kitchen and apply a test coat of paint to the walls. Figuring out the wall color for the kitchen has been a real dilemma, but I think I'm getting close! I'm also trying to get back to reading everyone's posts on a regular basis - I read them all Christmas Day and realized how much I missed keeping up!

Squash House Merry Christmas!

A Very, Merry Squash House Christmas to All!!

Color My World

I know I've been absent of late! The days go by so fast. This past several days we've been taking care of a lot of small projects - and some large ones, too! Today I welcomed over a window coverings professional. We hit it off right away, having many things in common. She helped me pick out woven wood shades for the master bedroom, a similar style for the guest room - only they are synthetic, and my studio is going to be a big surprise! I'll meet with her again tomorrow to find out how much this will all cost - and see if any "adjustments" need to be made!

The room that bugs me the most and I think needs attention first is my studio! It used to be room to two darling little boys. It's painted a light blue with planetary, dark blue shades! My brain freezes every time I walk in here - the colors are just not me - I can't even think in here! So I picked up some paint samples and chips today.

Obviously these won't come over the internet looking anything like what they really are! I painted a 2 x 2 foot area of Cocoa Butter on one wall a while ago, and will do a second coat in a bit. It's pretty, but may have too much peach in it...stay tuned!

I also received a package from another special friend, Carrie! She sent the nicest card, a box of wonderful Moravian sugar cookies, which were quickly consumed in a couple of days, a handmade towel for the kitchen (even the trim is hand stitched by Carrie), a handmade ornament, and a charm pack of one of my favorite lines, Nature's Chorus! The charm pack was wrapped with a really neat tag and a vintage spool of thread. I told Carrie I was even going to use the tag as an ornament! Thanks again, Carrie!

We have so much left to do, but are settling in well! We love the town, the people, the weather, and of course our Squash House!