Top: Me at the Kiewit Luminarium yesterday morning
Middle Left: Garth and Talyn having a snooze in the guest room (Talyn likes to hide between the pillows and the headboard so all you can see is tiny grey ears)
Middle Center: Talyn and Eric snoozing together
Middle Right: I made a very practical, very quick, knitting project that will hold a cable needle or other small notion while I’m knitting
Bottom Left: A cheap and cheerful solution to me not measuring for the new fridge properly (why I lived with doors that didn’t open for so long is still beyond me)
Bottom Center: Lancelot’s first tattoo
Bottom Right: For the first time in the 22 years I’ve worked at the university I actually attended a graduation ceremony
I’ve been staying busy, clearly. The weather has warmed up and life feels pretty good these days. We’ve been doing things with friends, projects around the house, and getting everyone settled with the new kid. I have to say that I feel like the good is most definitely outweighing the “not good” right now.
I am still trying to figure out why we didn’t come up with the solution to the kitchen cabinet situation sooner. When I measured for the new fridge, several years ago, I managed to get it “right” in that the fridge fit in the opening. However, the doors of the fridge extend up just enough that when it’s flush back in the space for it you couldn’t open the cabinet doors above. And that meant any time we wanted into that space we had to pull out the fridge.
The other day I realized that honestly, we don’t need to keep those doors on. So I took them off (stashed them in the garage in case I ever change my mind) and installed a simple black curtain rod and a valance that’s pretty damn close to the color of the walls and is machine washable. I see no sense having anything fabric in a kitchen that can’t go in the washing machine. Now my toaster oven and ice cream maker don’t have to live on top of the cabinets and that space – still not an area we’ll get into much – is a whole lot easier to deal with.
I’ve been doing a lot of that lately – looking around with a slightly more critical eye and thinking about what small and inexpensive changes I’d like to make. My next project is going to involve changing out the window treatment in my office. We’re really lucky that all of our windows have blinds between the panes of glass, so all I’ll be doing is adding a bit of “flair” to the window. Right now it has a lovely cornice board at the top, which really is nice but not my style. I’m hoping next week I can show y’all what I’ve decided to do instead.
I think it’s interesting how you really have to live in a space for a while before you realize how you actually use it and what you want it to look like. After three years of living here together Lancelot and I are still finding that we need to change things up a bit periodically. But I enjoy it. I like to keep things fresh.
I’ve also been doing a fair bit of crafting lately. I had been trying to not let myself start any new projects until I finished the things I had already started, but then life happened and now I have 7 projects on the needles/hook plus I’m making some knit washcloths for a friend. I’m going to trade her those for some polymer clay earrings she’s making me. I’m not one who sells things I make, but I’ll happily trade for them.
randomly erin 