Strange stains...

Still working away on the mud porch project. After two coats of Kilz, I still have brown stains seeping to the surface. There is some linoleum backing residue that we couldn't get off... and this seems to be the problem. I am applying a third coat today which will hopefully seal it in.


On the fabric side of things, I received these absolutely beautiful Printmaker International prints in the mail.

I ordered them from Fashion Fabrics Club after my friend Mo sent me a fabric alert email. I'm hoping to make Miss Elsie a summer dress out of the ranch house/BBQ one. I've got a whole stack of mending to get through first to clear my sewing table for fun projects.....(sigh) there's always something holding up the fun.

Do I really need another project?.....

....Yes, I do!
Backstory-
This past winter a local cat decided to mark our mud porch screen door as his personal territory. Our three cats decided to return the favor by marking the inside carpet. After cleaning repeatedly with a carpet cleaner, using pet odor neutralizer, and Febreeze, we cannot get the smell out. To top it off the spouse purchased a different formula of cat litter last week that for some reason smells fruity. So we have fruit and cat urine wafting into the house occasionally. Not pleasant!

So yesterday, I ripped out the floor coverings. The first layer was indoor-outdoor carpeting. The second layer was a mid-seventies vinyl that came apart in pieces like construction paper. The third layer (which was over the wood floor) is real linoleum. Our house was built in 1921 and the linoleum is of that vintage. Unfortunately it was completely unsalvagable due to the mass amount of glue used to hold down the aforementioned vinyl. So now it looks like this:



I was delighted to see the wood floor in good shape... no holes or anything rotten. We are planning on painting a good coat of Killz over it (too seal in any remaining stinky stuff) and then paint it grey for low maintenance. However in the process of scraping off the remaining residue this morning, I wore off some of the skin on the palm of my hand. Took me awhile to realize that that was why my hand was burning inside my gloves... a little slow sometimes. So I have one corner left and the spouse has agreed to help finish it tonight when he comes home...


It already smells so much better!!!! The new paint will perk up that space, and I've cleaned off my grow light shelves, so as soon as everything is put back out there, I can start moving my plants and seedings out. Spring has sprung!

Finding Spring

This morning is so beautiful and warm with blue skies! I could hardly resist, so I grabbed my camera and headed out in my pyjamas to snap a few pictures.




They have this strange lighting quality about them, because my flash kept firing. I kind of like the way the daffodil one turned out.... and you can see the wonderful blue sky!

We are off to Home Depot this morning to buy lag bolts to hang our bathroom cabinet and to buy a new microwave. The handle came off 3 weeks ago and we've been making-do with the stump that's left. It won't last much longer, and if it breaks off then we can't get the door open. Miss Elsie and I are heading to the farm on Tuesday, so Dave will be installing the microwave while we are gone.... I like those kinds of projects.

Recovering from the weekend

I have just returned from a wonderful 3 night ski trip to Mt. Bachelor with my best friend. Neither of us have skied in 5 years, so we were taking it slow and enjoying ourselves. We spent the nights at the Seventh Mountain Resort which was wonderful. We took advantage of the fireplace and the bathtub. What a luxury to have a long soak without the interruptions of a toddler or husband! We also treated ourselves to an evening at the day spa after the first day of skiing. We were both rather sore after day one, but rallied for day two. It was a spectacularly beautiful morning- bright sun, snow sparkling like diamonds, and freshly groomed runs. It couldn't have been more perfect. Here are two pictures from that morning....


Now it's back home and back to projects.... I spent the whole morning getting through everything on my desk. I have greatly reduced the piles of "To Do" paperwork. Now it's on to finishing the tax prep and getting lists organized for the basement project... as well as taking care of a sick Elsie. She doesn't feel too poorly, just not too perky.