"THE LIST"

My list is getting a bit smaller I am pleased to say:

   decorate the powder room - that is totally doable, so I see no problem doing that (will be starting on that on Tuesday)  DONE

decorate the master bedroom - that is iffy, that job may go into March - no progress here - still the same

menu plan - that was only partly done in January, so need to work on that - did it last week - failed this past week

finish knitted baby blanket for dd, we should know the sex of the baby by this upcoming weekend - we hope - nearly done  DONE

finish two baby quilts.  One is cut out the other is not - one finished, other not started need to order some more material. - MATERIAL ARRIVED, DO NOT LIKE IT...BOO...WILL USE IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE....SO NEED SOME MORE MATERIAL

encourage dh and help him in the basement to get all the framing done and make a good start on the electrics.  There are a lot of bulk heads to make in the basement which equals a lot of work. - done a little more - SON CAME OVER AND THEY GOT A BIT MORE DONE

sort out the basement and see what we don't want and try and sell those unwanted items. - haven't started - NO PROGRESS

knit a pair of socks - this is proving to be a pain in the butt and I think it has something to do with the yarn I have? - need a new plan of action here - KNITTING ANOTHER BLANKET INSTEAD

cut back on grocery spending and use what is in the cupboards - menu planning will help with this - work in progress - JUST THE SAME WORK IN PROGRESS

try and save as much money as I can and not buy anything online all month. - so far so good, but I do need to order material; however I have the money put aside for that - BOUGHT THE MATERIAL AS PLANNED.......BOOKOUTLET HAS A SALE ON AND THAT IS CALLING MY NAME AGAIN..........THERE ARE SOME BOOKS I REALLY, REALLY WANT...........

sort out my blue air miles card, as I want to be able to cash in for groceries not just goods. - done!

Happy Valentine's Day.....

A sugar cookie for my sweetie!!

Another job crossed off the list.......

Sorry I haven't been around this week, but have been busy with this and that.  My main job for this week was decorating the powder room.  I have to say I am very pleased with how it all turned out.

They may not be the biggest rooms in the house, but bathroom's do tend to be fiddly.  As we do not have a window in our powder room, I knew I could get away with a darker colour.  The colour I painted it was a milky coffee colour.

 At the other end of the room behind the double doors is my laundry room.  Very handy having it on the main floor. Painting all the doors and trim white really makes the colour on the walls pop.

 I had these artificial flowers downstairs , so figured that would add a bit of interest in the powder room.

Now that is done, I guess I should be thinking about the master bedroom...........

Updates on a couple of past posts..........

the stinky towel issue, didn't resolve itself.  They are not as bad, but not 100% cured.

I cleaned out the washer, I leave to door open all the time, and I am not allowed to hang out laundry where we live.

Original post is here.

Remember the Chamomile scented toilet paper?  Original post here.

Now I am not saying I am totally relaxed because of the scent, but will admit it is very pleasant and will continue buying it.  So thumbs up for whomever invented this.

Went to Wal-Mart and picked these three onsies and paid a total of $3.23 for all three you can't turn them down at that price.

Remember my to-do list from the beginning of the month?  Here is my progress on that:

     decorate the powder room - that is totally doable, so I see no problem doing that (will be starting on that on Tuesday)

decorate the master bedroom - that is iffy, that job may go into March - no progress here

menu plan - that was only partly done in January, so need to work on that - did it last week

finish knitted baby blanket for dd, we should know the sex of the baby by this upcoming weekend - we hope - nearly done

finish two baby quilts.  One is cut out the other is not - one finished, other not started need to order some more material.

encourage dh and help him in the basement to get all the framing done and make a good start on the electrics.  There are a lot of bulk heads to make in the basement which equals a lot of work. - done a little more

sort out the basement and see what we don't want and try and sell those unwanted items. - haven't started

knit a pair of socks - this is proving to be a pain in the butt and I think it has something to do with the yarn I have? - need a new plan of action here

cut back on grocery spending and use what is in the cupboards - menu planning will help with this - work in progress

try and save as much money as I can and not buy anything online all month. - so far so good, but I do need to order material; however I have the money put aside for that

sort out my blue air miles card, as I want to be able to cash in for groceries not just goods. - done!

So overall not too bad one week into the month.  How is your to do list progress going so far this month?

In no particular order.........

I am back to knitting the baby blanket..........can you guess what dd is having!

 I picked up the February issue of Simply Knitting and it came with the knitting notebook and it cost me nothing as I had a $10 gift card.

 When Our Little Munchkin see's her baby sister for the first time, she will give her a present and I suggested this would be great in a newborn size to bring her home.  Dd agreed, so need to pick that up at Wal-Mart, maybe later on today.  They had onsies on sale for $1 in baby sizes, so I picked up a couple the other day and will look for more today.

 I bought these via a friend, free run/range eggs.  Quiche will be on the menu this next week for sure now!  Menu planning is on my to do list today as well.

Finally finished the baby quilt, so one down, one more to go for this month.

That's one way of getting my butt into action......

Angie at The Knitting Basket is having a competition and you have to submit photos of how you organize your stash of yarn.  So I decided to sort it all out and put it in some sort of order and without spending any money.

We have some Ikea storage baskets in the basement so figured I would use one of those. 

As you know I have been knitting less than a year, but have been quilting for many years.  So I knew all about "stashes," and as I have enough material downstairs to sink a ship, I was determined not to go down that path with yarn.  I can safely say I have failed!!  However I do know I can/will use this yarn at some point, just as I can/will use my material stash at some point!!!

If you are on Facebook I will post the link to the contest, maybe you can vote/like my photos, as that is the way to win this, by getting the most likes for your photo(s).

Lovely advertisement.......

I love that advert.  The colours and the song is perfect.  I have never been to Newfoundland and Labrador, but this advert makes me want to go. (IF YOU HAVE TIME, WATCH THE ADVERTS AFTER THE INITIAL ONE AS THEY TOO ARE LOVELY)

The song is sung by Catherine Allen from the group Fortunate Ones.  You can read more about the group here.  Personally I have never heard of her or the group, have you?

Is it summer yet?

We have had some glorious weather these past few days and what have I been doing, staying inside and sewing........I know I should have been out enjoying the weather, but other than going to the mail box haven't left the house.

I am determined to have as many no spend days as I can; and one way of achieving that by not going out.  I was tempted to go out on Wednesday as I have a $10 gift card for Chapter's that has an expiry date on it.  However I decided that doing more sewing on my quilt was more important.

 

The online shopping diet is also going well. And so far so good with sticking with the menu plan I did at the beginning of the week.  I will be going out today as it's my knitting day.  It costs a whole $2 for the sitting fee, which in turn gets donated to our local humane society.  Angie is very generous that way in donating to the community.  So along with that $2 and $2 for a coffee and muffin at McDonalds, it's a cheap day out for me.

I am not taking knitting though this week, as I want to get the binding hand sewn on the quilt I have been doing.  Here are some photos from it:

This uses a total of nine fabrics, seven for the main body, one for the border and one for the binding.  I bought it as a kit and then did my own thing.  It measures approx, 40" x 44" which is a decent size for a baby quilt.  To my mind it is more of a boy quilt than a girl one.  I have some pale mint green, grey and white fabric that I am going to make the next one in.  That is more girl like than boy like and when we see what "R" has she can take which one she wants or both, it's up to her.

Menu Planning and lots of photos:

I actually got my menu plan written out on Monday morning.  I am sort of organized for most of the week, which I count as a success in my books. Now whether I stick to the plan we'll see.

Here are some photos of the front hall, kitchen and breakfast area that we just decorated.

We were given some money at Christmas so we put it towards this rug for the front door.  It's from Pier 1 and despite the fact it looks green in real life they reckon it's blue?  Here is a link to the rug.

This is our breakfast area at the front of the house.  You can see my bird feeders in the front garden. 

Did you notice the oranges in the bowl in the middle of the table?  Well they are my $50 oranges!  You can read more about them here.  I got them when we were selling our last home.

This is looking into the kitchen from the breakfast area.

This is looking the other way and you can see the chalk board on the wall.

It all looks lovely and clean and very neutral, just the way I like it!

February already........where did January go?

Pleased to see February as it means another month of Winter is over with.  We have been so lucky (touching wood) with the weather I have nothing much to complain about weather wise.

Anyway I want to post a to-list for the month in the hopes it will make me accountable and actually do the things I post on the list.

• decorate the powder room - that is totally doable, so I see no problem doing that
• decorate the master bedroom - that is iffy, that job may go into March
• menu plan - that was only partly done in January, so need to work on that
• finish knitted baby blanket for dd, we should know the sex of the baby by this upcoming weekend - we hope
• finish two baby quilts.  One is cut out the other is not
• encourage dh and help him in the basement to get all the framing done and make a good start on the electrics.  There are a lot of bulk heads to make in the basement which equals a lot of work.
• sort out the basement and see what we don't want and try and sell those unwanted items.
• knit a pair of socks - this is proving to be a pain in the butt and I think it has something to do with the yarn I have?
• cut back on grocery spending and use what is in the cupboards - menu planning will help with this
• try and save as much money as I can and not buy anything online all month.
• sort out my blue air miles card, as I want to be able to cash in for groceries not just goods.

We have three birthdays this month.  All cards have been purchased and I only have one that I have to give a present for.   We do have a wedding the beginning of March, but the money is saved up for that and the card has been purchased.

I may add to this list throughout the month and re-post it as we go along