Handmade Gift Exchange

For Heather

Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous hosts a Handmade Gift Exchange twice a year. Last Christmas was my first time participating. I enjoyed it so much, I signed up again this year. I hope my gift exchange partner likes the felt heart garland I made for her. It was made with love.

I am sharing this on A Little Birdie Told Me at Rook No. 17.

Update: I wrote a simple tutorial that you can find on my other blog Dutch Girl Originals.

Number One

Biggest buck he ever got

Number Two

On my very first visit to my parents-in-law, I held and shot a gun for the first time in my life. Where I come from guns are illegal and public hunting is limited and considered elitist, to be honest.

I shocked quite a few people back home when I included in my newsletter this picture of a five month pregnant me, wearing camouflage and sporting a magnum. Surprisingly I was a very good shot. I even out-shot my husband.

Opening day of hunting season is coming up soon and this year I “chopped the knot” to use a Dutch expression and decided to join my husband, his dad, and his brother in the woods. Not to keep them company, no, I will have a stand of my own and a loaded gun by my side. Naturally I needed to practice shooting. Being a good shot five years ago with a handgun doesn’t mean I am a good shot today with a rifle. For all I know, it was the hormones controlling my aim.

I needn’t have worried. I am still a good shot. Apparently it comes naturally to me. But this time Ryan out-shot me by half an inch. And we found out that being out-shot all those years ago by a pregnant woman with no experience stung a little. He is very pleased to have righted this wrong and now lovingly refers to me as “Number Two”. But I know deep down inside he is very proud of me.

Of course, only time will tell if I can actually shoot a deer.

Let It Snow

Inspired by a pin on Pinterest (which I could not trace to its creator - I'm sorry, I tried), I recreated Frosty the Snowman out of three grapevine wreaths, some burlap, and a piece of plywood cut in the shape of a top hat on the side of the garage. Lola looked on from the upstairs window, giving me the thumbs up when I finished assembling him.

For two days we have been promised snow, and contrary to what I said in my previous post, I was actually looking forward to it. It seemed a little unlikely with Monday being a gorgeous and sunny day with temperatures in the low sixties. And, even though it was a dreary and cold day, it didn't really surprise me that we didn't see a single snowflake all day yesterday or last night.

This morning the temperature had dropped even further but all it did was rain. Until thirty minutes ago...

Frosty the Snowman

I am sharing this on A Little Birdie Told Me... at Rook No. 17.

Update: a very basic How To can be found at Dutch Girl Originals.

Winter Prep

I read on a fellow Wisconsinite's blog this morning that it snowed last night in her neck of the woods. [Gulp] Snow! I am not quite ready for it. I may be in full Thanksgiving preparation mode and Christmas is only 50 something days away, but I like the sunny fall weather we're having. I want it to stick around for awhile.

Reading about her snowfall sent me into a little cleaning frenzy. The bird feeders have been cleaned and filled. The last of the window screens have been taken down and brought in. The outside faucet has been shut off and drained, and the garden hose is safely stored inside the garage. Lola's wading pool has also been stored away. And as soon as I bring in the last of my garden herbs (I just don't know where to put them right now), the outside is done.

And since it was such a lovely day, and I was busy cleaning anyway, I washed most of the windows as well. Martha would be very proud, I'm sure.

Halloween Rookies

To my surprise, I found out last Thursday that trick or treating in our town was not planned for the day itself, but rather Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 pm. After recovering from the shock I realized it wasn't too big of a deal. I had already done my candy shopping, most of last year's decorations were still in tact, and Lola's princess costume was good to go. All we had to do was carve a pumpkin for Lola to bring to school on Friday. No problem.

The pumpkin turned out lovely. The Halloween parade at school where all the elementary school kids dress up and parents, teachers, and high school students come to watch, was the cutest thing you have ever seen. The decorations went up in time on Saturday. All but the black umbrella with the witch's tights. We'll save that one for next year.

While rummaging through the box, Lola found last year's witch costume and decided on a last minute costume change. Dressed as Winnie the Witch as she called herself, she and I set out on a gorgeous, sunny, and warm afternoon to join the kids already trick or treating in the neighborhood. We left Ryan to man the front door and dole out the candy.

This is the first time we celebrated Halloween at our own house. I had no idea what to expect as far as the number of trick or treaters we would see or how much candy I should buy. We live in a small town, 575 people including the three of us. How many kids could there be?

HUNDREDS!!!

I don't know where they all came from but they came to the house in droves. And we had nowhere near enough candy. Midway through I jumped in the car and raced to the store, dodging ghosts, ghouls, vampires, witches, and the occasional Green Bay Packer on the way. With arms full of toffee, chocolate, and lollipops, I returned.

After replenishing the bowl, Lola and I set off to scare the neighbors and local shop owners into giving her some more candy. We came back to find the front door locked, the lights turned off, and Ryan hiding out upstairs. We had run out of candy again. Instead of going out to buy yet more candy, we decided to join Ryan in his hideout.

Next year we'll do better. Happy Halloween!

Off With Her Hair!

Photograph by Lola

Adventures Of A Housewife

You may have noticed it's been a little quiet around here lately. I know. It really bothers me, in fact. It's not that I have nothing to share, there is more than enough. There is a plethora of pictures to publish: the local fall festival, the pumpkin patch, Lola's field trip to the apple orchard. Ryan I have been to beautiful Bayfield to celebrate our fifth anniversary. We have visited family down South. We have all been sick over the past three weeks. And then there's the kitchen update. I am sure you would like to see what those lovely pee stained doors look like and if they've grown on me. Why yes, they have.

So why the silence? Because there is something I have to write about first, something I have been struggling with. I am looking for a new job. Why? Because I lost the one I had. About a month ago I was told my position had been eliminated, effective immediately. In fact, an entire layer of management would be cut out, I was told. Seeing that the casino is a bit top heavy in that respect, it makes perfect sense to me from a business perspective. From a personal standpoint, not so much. Enough said.

Dancing around that subject has caused me to clam up, save that one extremely frustrating kitchen cabinet door incident. I have started several posts, but haven't been able to finish a single one. Now that my secret is out, it should get better. So brace yourselves for lots of fall pictures. In between the job applications and painting projects, there is plenty of time to update you on the adventures of a housewife.

Progress Report

Before we even moved into this house, we started working on the kitchen. I took down all the cabinet doors and drawers to transform the gloomy seventies look into a more modern one by painting them white. In the meantime Ryan ripped out the ceiling, painted the walls, and replaced the fixtures. The painting took a bit longer than anticipated. In fact, it is still not done. But, we are making progress. Sort of.

You know how they say "When it sounds too good to be true, it usually is?" After reading some rave reviews on the web, I decided to use Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformation kit. It contains everything you need for a complete cabinet make-over: a bottle of de-glosser (overpriced Spic & Span, if you ask us), a bond coat, optional decorative glazing, and the final clear protective top coat.

Supposedly two coats of the bond coat will turn those nasty dark tinted doors into fresh white colored ones. Not true. Even after three coats, you could still see brush strokes here and there. I was okay with that, though, and felt a fourth coat wasn't necessary. There is perfection and then there is completion.

We have 27 doors and 11 drawers. The doors were painted front and back, three coats on each side. 27 x 2 x 3 = 162. Add the 33 coats of paint on the drawers to that and you have 195 coats of paint. That does not include the 65 coats of the clear protective top coat still to be added, nor the painting of the cabinet frames. It's a lot of painting. A LOT. I cannot begin to tell you how much I have come to detest this project.

But the end is in sight. All of the doors and drawers are done, as well as half of the cabinet frames. But then. I found out the clear protective top coat is not really clear at all. It dries yellowish, like aged varnish. My white cabinet doors all have a stained, dirty look to them. Every single one, though some worse than others. As if someone peed all over the cabinets and did not wipe it off. It's hideous!

Can you spell F R U S T R A T I O N?

I am sure if you use a different color than white and/or apply the optional decorative glazing, there would be no problem. But we did not. We wanted simple white cabinets. Argh!!! I must say though, when I just walked downstairs to pour myself a cup of coffee, I was nice to walk into a kitchen with doors on the cabinets instead of on the dining room floor.

Perhaps the pee stains will grow on me.

A Super Great Day

Ready for The Big Day

"It was a super great day!" Lola said to me when I picked her up at school yesterday. She loved everything about her school: her teacher, her class room, the new friend with the purple dress (Lola is horrible with names), recess, pizza for lunch, and no nap after lunch.

That's right, now that she's a kindergartener, she doesn't think she needs a nap anymore. When it was time to rest, Mrs. L. played a movie for the kids that don't take naps and Lola considers herself one of those now.

This is Lola at 6:30 PM. Out like a light on the couch while I was preparing dinner. She murmured something about being super hungry but try as I might, nothing could wake her up. 

Those super great days, they wear you out.

Countryside Snapshots: Sun

I cannot remember the last time I drove past a field of sunflowers but I know it was in France. I have never seen them growing in such abundance anywhere else. Imagine my surprise when I was driving down a Wisconsin country road and happened upon this sea of big yellow sunflowers amidst the fields of corn.

Fall has started to set in up here. The lush green of the foliage is gone, the ferns alongside the road have turned yellow, and I see a little fiery red peeping through here and there. But standing in front of this bright sunny patch made me briefly forget summer is about to bid us farewell for another year.

Too Close For Comfort

A Cow Girl she is not (yet)

The Real Thing

Miss Lola is going to start Jr. Kindergarten next week. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday she can be found at school. Not a school-like daycare, but the Real Thing. She is so excited.

It became very real when we visited the school to register her, two weeks ago. We were given a little tour, took a peek into her classroom, the gym, the cafeteria, the playground, and the Principal's office.

Last week we went back-to-school shopping together to make it even more official. Markers, crayons, glue sticks, and two pairs of new shoes; everything has been checked off the list. We had a wonderful time together.

The only thing we are still going back and forth on is the size of her backpack. I think her current small one can still do for a year. Lola is trying to convince me she needs a big backpack now that she is a big girl. Not to mention that all the other kids at school have a big backpack, too. Or so she claims. Given the importance of the occasion, I will most likely cave before next Wednesday.

I am taking the day off to take her to school on her first day. After that, she will take the bus. Finally she gets to ride the big yellow school bus she always points out to me when we are on the road. In Lola's eyes, that just might be best thing about going to school.

Another milestone. My daughter truly is a big girl now. I just know my emotions are going to get the better of me next week when she disappears into that classroom. And possibly (probably) again when I take her picture as she steps onto the bus for the first time. I apologize in advance, Lola.

I Will Survive

Since moving house, my commute is back up to fifty minutes. In the summer that is. I expect it to be quite a bit longer in the winter. The road I take now is not a well traveled, well plowed, well salted highway like the one I took last year. No, these days I drive down an itty bitty country road, with lots of lovely curves. The first part is not too bad, but as I get closer to the casino the road gets rougher. About twenty minutes out, I have to make a choice: take F, which has co-workers shoot me looks of pity, or C, which, in the winter, is certain death.

But even in good weather it’s a tricky drive. I practice my dodging skills daily with the help of care free bear, oblivious deer, and suicidal poultry. There is the occasional raccoon family to avoid, or the odd sandhill crane. And if it’s not an animal testing my reflexes, it’s the Fedex truck tearing around the corner like a bat out of hell. The drive is even more fun in the dark, as you can imagine.

I am however, determined to survive the months ahead. I have replaced the tires on my car with all weather, all terrain ones and had them slashed for extra traction. My subscription to OnStar is renewed and I have started to stock the car with emergency supplies. I should be fine.

Fingers crossed.

And maybe send up a prayer or two.

Pitiful

Meet our tomato plants: Mr. Stripey on the right and Black Krim on the left. Heirloom tomatoes they are, and high maintenance I found out.

They were bought at Fleet Farm earlier in the summer. The plan was for them to find a nice home in our soon-to-be vegetable garden. In the meantime I planted them in freshly painted pots with topnotch potting soil.

However, the vegetable garden plan has been rescheduled for 2012 and the tomato plants stayed in their pots. I don't think they like their pots much, especially Mr. Stripey. A whopping two pieces of fruit he has given us. At $2.99 a plant, that is $1.50 a tomato. Who said growing your own food was economical?