Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: Nearly done "ugly" Christmas quilt (which I actually quite like) and Rhubarb for scale.

This is technically the pinned version, but I completed this quilt yesterday afternoon, despite being sidelined by YET-ANOTHER-PAINTING-PROJECT. 

When our pipes froze over the Christmas holiday, we ended up having to move a whole lot of accumulated STUFF out of a space we call our "utility" closet, even though what it actually is is a mudroom that used to connect to a backdoor that the previous owners closed off. (Like, bricked--or in our case stuccoed--over completely. The only proof that remains is the back steps that go up into a wall in the backyard.)

At any rate, once the pipe crisis was over, we started the process of moving everything back into place, we, OF COURSE, ended up doing some reorganization and sorting. Shawn cleaned out a cabinet completely of the junk it used to hold and decided that she wanted to move it to the basement and repurpose it for "fancy dishes" overflow. 

I fully support this because our house is over run by three things: books, fabric, and fancy dishes. 

So, finding places that are more out of the way for excess of any of those three things is GOOD.  

At any rate, this, OF COURSE, first necessitated making room in the basement. Shawn found a good spot, started clearing a space (which again, involves sorting, tossing, and recycling--all good in our house!) and when we looked at the wall, she said, "You know, I've always wanted to paint this wall a fun color." I said, "Just this wall? I could do that in two hours. Let's just do it!" and so we did. We now have a lovely mint green wall in the basement, which Shawn also spruced up with some curtains to hide some of the uglier rafter bits and a fancy "new" dish overflow cabinet. 

Whoot!

Of course, we didn't finish putting the pantry/utility closet back together, but we really are finally doing somethings around the house that have been literally on Shawn's to-do lists for YEARS. So, that's a win.

How was your weekend? Do any reorganizing, cleaning? Or... anything fun?

Yesterday, I spent the entire day shopping for plants and planting plants.

Once a year, my family and I take the trip out to Shady Acres to buy herbs and some annual vegetables. You'd think that once I planned a perennial, I'd have it again next year.

Uh... no.

The only thing I seem to be able to do that with is our parsley, which is actually a biannual. But, the parsley comes back consistently AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME. Things that should live forever, die. I think partly because I'm a crap-a$$ gardener, but also because the light of our yard is constantly changing. Things that were sunny one year, are partially-shaded the next because we have so many trees.

Plus my gardening skills can be summed up thusly: dig a hole, jam the plant in, water it, and hope for the best.

I realize that this often works for other gardeners (with occasional weeding, which I do, too,) but for whatever reason, my plant magic is nil. It doesn't help that kids tear through both yard and garden with no regard for anything. We tell the neighbor kids to stay out of the clearly marked gardens, but that's like shouting into the wind. Though it might be better now that one of next-door-neighbor boys managed to jam his foot nearly all the way THROUGH the sundial in the back. (The dial was not that sharp, the force he landed on it was JUST THAT GREAT, a launch off the picnic table might have been involved, but I didn't ask. I just drove him and his moms to the hospital.)

So, when I was at FleetFarm yesterday, I talked Shawn and Mason into some garden whimsey. We now have Angry Birds in the garden:



Complete with hiding piggie:



The next purchase should be this, I think:



The Plants vs. Zombies lawn ornament.

It would actually be kind of a blast to fill Mason's garden with lawn ornaments related to iPad games. Because: screw pumpkins, what I really need is plastic crap!

Okay, no.

But, so beyond the silly stuff, we bought: parsley (for more edging, though lots came back), basil, thyme (which had died, and is now in a sunnier spot), oregano (again, same), marjoram (that Shawn is going to try growing on our kitchen/pantry windowsill), eggplants, bell peppers, pumpkins and cucumbers (for the container gardens). And... I'm sure I've forgotten the other herbs we got, but we managed not to (for once) go too far overboard, I think.

We also bought some paint at Menards. One of the other projects Shawn wants to tackle over Memorial day is to paint the second bookcase we bought for Mason, put it in the TV room, and then switch out the bookshelves from there to his room... because right now, he's got books on the floor in boxes---many, many boxes. I told her that what she really needs is for me to pilfer a couple of the book trucks from work, but this is a more legal solution (though she actually did look up purchasing book trucks, because: wheels!)

Happy Memorial Day, btw! We intend to actually grill out steak tonight, so wish me luck (I mostly do chicken on the grill and the occasional hamburger.)