Tam-o'-Shanter

Got in a spot of knitting this morning. Working on my first Tam-o'-Shanter.

Doing Drywall

This wall obviously had some leaking problems. Chris fixed it inside and out. Then he put up the heavy looking plywood, a piece of luan and then the drywall.

Counterweights

While insulating around a window I ran across these weights attached to cables threaded through the window frame.
Old timey for sure.
We assume they are counterweights.
As much as we didn't want to cut them out we had to.
I need to get the insulation in.
There were four of them on this window. Two above and two below.
Quite heavy.

Insulation - Friend or Foe?

The first day we put in insulation I didn't wear a mask. Um....the second day, which was today and Margaret helped me, I wore a mask. Just the little blue kind you would use for light duty dust. It made a huge difference. Insulation is no easy task, although it seems easy enough. A lot of bending, climbing on ladders, cutting and UGH! the staples. When the staple gun worked, it was great! But like our computers....when they don't work.....things get ugly. :) We made it through and she and I will hopefully complete the task on Monday.

Flooring- Closet and Bath

What the previous owner was going to make a large bathroom, we divided into a walk-in closet and smaller bathroom. The floors needed some TLC.

He cut out the bad spots and patched them then in the closet laid a big thick piece of plywood with a vapor barrier on the back (it has a name but I don't recall it). He went to a nearby town to purchase the plywood at half the price of regular. :)

He laid a different type of flooring down in the bathroom. It was thinner...again has a name...I don't know what it is...luan or something.

You can see the separation with the 2 x 4 of the bath and closet.
We pulled some boxes of *stick on* tile from The Pile and proceeded to have fun.

A view from the kitchen looking through the 'wall' at the flooring after set the tub in to get a visual. The tub has two additional pieces that create a surround effect. My sister and her husband had this tub stored in their barn and when they realized they couldn't use it they graciously gave it to us.

Venting

The microwave hood in the kitchen and the vent in the bathroom needed to be vented outside. Chris went to the store to get the venting. When I walked in to the house I saw pvc sewage pipes. I asked if he would be working on the 'sewage' that day and he said...no, these are half the price of the 'shiny' venting. In reality the air needs a tube to travel through and it doesn't care what kind it is..it just wants to go outside. (sometimes you gotta think like air-LOL)
He DID purchase the proper joins and so forth, but decided to go with the pvc for in between.

before

after

Bathroom-Ceiling light-vent

The previous owner of the house had purchased several items to be used in remodeling it. When the house changed hands, basically, those items came with the house. It is up to us if we want to use them or not.
Since we are on a mission to be house payment/mortgage free by next summer we are using as much of that as possible. There wasn't a bathroom light/vent in the *pile* so we picked this one up at Lowe's. What I like about it is that there is no visible 'vent grating' (I not sure what they are called but it is where all the unsightly dust ends up)

Here is a little insight on how we pick things out.
There may have been 12-15 light/vent units to choose from ranging from inexpensive to expensive. But then you have the 'sound' rating to consider and how fast the little blades in the fan turns, and so on. (lol) I am not into that so much as: is it cute? Chris on the other hand can figure all of that out in the amount of time that it takes me to decide if something is cute. And in all honesty, I don't really care, just as long as it functions properly. Because it can be cute all day and not work right and then things get ugly. Somehow, this little unit worked for both of us. :) yay.

'pick Knittin'

Kitchen Lights

Our new home was built around the 1920's. I don't know how many occupants it has had, but it has had a lot of wallpaper and floor layers. The fella we got it from had gutted it. He didn't get too far into remodeling it before he found another home more to his liking. We are basically working from where he left off. He had the kitchen ceiling dropped and the light housings in. Chris wired them up and they look great.

Ceiling, wall and floor....coming soon ( I hope)

Krazy Kat

After having taken a trip to the city in the back of my husbands work truck a few days ago ( he didn't know she was there and she hopped out when he opened the back up-Margaret and I happened by on our way to the library just at that moment and we saw her dash across the street...a couple alleys, yards, fences and a garage/old car later, she was recaptured and promptly driven home) it looks like she didn't learn her lesson. Here she is resting on the bumper of our truck getting ready to pull out.

In case you are interested, she does need a new home....we can't take her with us when we move.
Any takers?

We had a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Molly played with her favorite ball, the cat lounged and we watched clouds.

New Digs - Stairs

Before

After, but not finished.

New Digs

Chris doing a little work on the chimney.

The hardwood floor in the entry way had layers of tile and then some "wonderful" glue. The makers of that adhesive should be very proud because it really does 'adhese' (sp) is that a word?
We had to buy some special glue remover and it takes the glue off, but also the varnish, etc. that was on the wood floor.
Soooo, the floors will need to be spruced up and refinished.

You can see the area where the remover has been applied and where the glue still is. Margaret scraped and scraped to get the glue off, but it was not gonna happen.

New Digs

If you have read my posts labeled "Troubling Times", you know that we have been looking for a new place to live.
God has delivered. Again. There was never a doubt that he would.

Our new home will be "in the city" compared to "in the country village" that we currently live in.

We were able to get this little house at a reasonable price. It was gutted, needs new water pipes and drains, um, floors, walls, ceilings, etc. etc. We should be able to have it functional before our required exit date of June. We acquired it last week and have been working on it everyday this week. One of the main things is peeling off layers and layers of flooring to get to the original floor. This house has had three to four layers of tile or linoleum over the years and wall paper. It has no insulation.....how cute....but it will. It has a fireplace: cute! The previous owners mercifully spared the hard wood floors in four rooms. I didn't care what kind of floor our new home had ( I secretly wished for hard wood) as long as it wasn't carpet. I think carpet is a bit over rated. It has these gnarly uneven arched door ways here and there. CUTE. This house has potential for a lot of character and just quirky enough to be c. u. t. e.

Our dirty hands and my wounded thumb.

Stay tuned ......

Stitch Markers

My daughter and I were away from home when I started this mitten. I didn't realize I needed stitch markers. I have used waste yarn before in a pinch. When I mentioned that I needed a stitch marker she handed me her ring. I used it for the first one and I used my wedding ring for the second one. A fun temporary fixed.

Until Next Time.

Blocking Makes the Difference for Me

I wanted to share one last thing about this purple sweater.


The pictures in the sweater post are of the garment BEFORE blocking. In the excitement of finishing a project we sometimes want to skip the blocking process and just wear it. But, blocking, to me, adds the finished look that it needs. It seems to set the stitches and make everything in the universe right. lol

So, here are pics of the blocked sweater.

Until next time....

doodle Hat

As one would doodle with pencil and paper, I was doodling the other day with needle and yarn. I cast on for a regular little hat and ended up just changing yarn whenever and knitting straight up with no decreases. Once I decided I had knit enough. I kitchener stitched the opening closed and added a couple little do-dads on the ends and tada! a doodle hat.

The foam head is @ 20 1/4 inches around.

The Purple Cardigan

A month ago I didn't feel like knitting.
A few days after I left the hospital I started my first top down cardigan. I finished it yesterday and it is blocked and drying right now. It knit up fairly quickly. I did my first steek. A little scary but after viewing a few YouTubes on the subject, I went to work. It wasn't so hard. It has a pucker at the top that I must eliminate next time. I was able to use up some buttons that I bought a while ago just because I thought they were neat. Not until my husband saw them did I know that they represent Indian Head or Buffalo Nickels. I alternated them. So here is the sweater....just in time for our trip this Thursday to Wheaton, Illinois. We are going to the Family Economics Conference.

My Favorite Cornbread EVER!

I have always 'liked' cornbread...but never LOVED it. Things have changed. Surprisingly, this gluten free version is my favorite. Go figure.

The flour blend mentioned and the book I got it from are here.


1 and 1/4 C. cornmeal
1 C. flour blend
1/3 C. sugar or fructose powder (I use sugar)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 C. milk (2%, rice or soy)
1/3 C. canola oil

Mix the dry ingredients together and then separately mix the wet ingredients. Combine them and mix just til it is moist. Pour into greased cast iron skillet. Bake 25 minutes until top is firm and the edges are lightly browned. Serve warm. I use a LITTLE butter on mine..but not as much as I used to.
Great with soup beans, which are very good for you.
If you add cumin to your beans while they cook-about 1 tsp or so- it helps your body digest them easier. Plus it tastes good.

My skillet is about 8 + inches across the bottom and 10 inches across the top.

Bad Fats

Saturated and trans fats wreak havoc on your heart. These fats are solids. They are found in animal products: butter, cheese, whole milk,etc. Don't freak out about these, just limit the intake.....buy low fat, 2%, etc. I won't ever buy margarine so I will just use less butter.

Good Fats

Heart friendly fats are unsaturated fats.

• Monounsaturated fats: olive oil, canola oil, nuts, avocadoes, etc.
• Omega 3-fats (fish oil): help keep platelets less sticky. salmon, sardines, clams, anchovies, flax seed, etc.
• Omega 6-fats: soybean, corn, safflower and sunflower oils...but don't over do it and forget about your omega 3's...there needs to be a balance.

Note to self: EAT MORE FISH.