Grateful

Loretta (across the street neighbor) brought supper for us. Again. This time it was roast beef, gravy, ceasar salad AND dressing, and pickled beets. 

We are so lucky to live here. 

Latest (completed) Project

Ok so I have another project on the go but it seems to not be "going". Know what I mean?  

So in the interest in instant gratification Maddy and i decided to spruce up our dressers. 

These dressers (she has the tall one, Jason has the long low one) were my Grandma's and she did not buy them at Ikea. Those puppies are solid. And they have good lines. 

Just really (really) ugly drawer pulls. 

Exhibit A

I have a dream of painting the dressers a creamy white. That may happen around the same time I finally get some epic wall paper into my room. 

Instead we went with a cheap, cheerful, and QUICK approach. 

Left over spray paint! 

First we made sure they were shiny clean and dry. 

Then we dug through the spray paint bin (of course i have a bin, you should too). 

Maddy went with "fun". 

I went with a bit more of a classic, dark walnut. (ok, true confessions: first I did a matte gold/champagne - but it looked a liiiiitle too Elton John)

Tadaaaa!

And now back to the garage to keep working on my other project. Stay tuned. 

supper

One Pot Pasta

(with Basil from MY garden). 

And guess what:  Jason had seconds!  

Dammit

I have a case of the Sunday Nights. On a Monday. 

Sigh. 

Just finished four days off. Relaxing introverted days most of them. But today went too fast. 

And now im dragging it out when i should be sleeping. 

Deep breath. Relax. Focus. 

Latest Project

$20 on kijiji. King size project. 

But first I need to stock up on supplies. 

Getting Stuck

All families have their traditions.  

One of ours was Getting Stuck.  For reasons that still remain a mystery to me, my Dad would load my brother and me up in our old truck and off we'd go to some horrible road and drive down it.  And then get stuck.  

This will likely come as a shock, (#betternot) but I was a pretty anxious kid.  The idea of getting stuck ON PURPOSE was pure hell for me.  I mean, what if we were stuck FOREVER???  I just didn't get it.  

So today Britt says, "want to go on a little Jeep tour?".  It took me a long time to realize we were Going to Go Get Stuck.  (Ok, I didn't realize this was the goal until we actually got stuck the first time, then it all came crashing back to me).  I should have known something was up when he said Maddy couldn't come.  He takes her everywhere.  

About 3 seconds before we Got Stuck the first time (it happened at least 5 more times) Britt said, "this is the place where I was stuck for 6 hours.  

SIX HOURS? Are you KIDDING ME?  

How am I even related to these people?  

Luckily, the years have been kind to me.  And so has medication.  So I knew we wouldn't spend the rest of our lives stuck in the mud.  And we likely weren't going to die.  Although it was touch and go until we found the Muskol.  I came close to dying from mosquito bites.  

On this little adventure I saw amazing mushrooms (for Treena), some kind of fungis that looks like coral, wild blueberries, and two waterfalls.  Of course we couldn't stop and explore and take pictures.  Noooo, this was not THAT kind of adventure.  So I took mental pictures.  Which are just as good but much harder to instgram or blog.

"But Jenn, why didn't you just take pictures from the Jeep?"  

Obviously you have never been on a Jeep Adventure.  Would you seriously take out your shiny new iPhone while this thing is moving?

No.  Please note the absence of walls and a roof.  I'm fairly sure it is worse inside than than out.  The cup holders are full of muddy water.  But see that beautiful winch on the front?  That's the reason I'm not snuggled up taking selfies wtith a black bear right now.  That winch is the difference between 1982 and today.  

Dear Progress,

You're beautiful.

Love, Jenn

I did manage to get a quick picture when the jeep was not moving. 

August Long

We spent the weekend relaxing at my mom and dad's in Flin Flon.  

Maddy, Jason, Britt, and Dad went fishing all day yesterday.  I stayed home.  Alone.  Nothing to do but watch TV, play solitaire, read my book, sit in the sun.  It was pretty rough.  

Just before supper mom and I got the great idea to (finally) make over the two chairs and table she bought a few years ago. 

Back Story on the Table and Chairs:

- The Bessborough (beautiful old hotel, looks like a castle) was redecorating.  This meant my favorite store of all time - Great West Warehouse had all their old stuff.  Chairs, tables, bed frames, mirrors.  All of it.  Such a bargain.  I bought a beautiful mirror (hangs in my entrance) for $12.  True story.  Mom bought the two chairs and small table (all solid wood and heavy as hell for less than $85.  A STEAL.  

Fast Forward to yesterday:

Although they are sturdy and have beautiful lines, they were banged up and ugly.  Hello?  They'd been living in a hotel for who knows how many years. 

Here's a before of the chair:

Mom wanted matte black.  I thought she was bonkers.  But turns out (as usual) she was right.  She bought the fabric a few years ago so that was just sitting and waiting for us.  A quick trip to Wal Mart and we were back with enough spray paint (I think in the end we used about 4 cans). Almost $7 a can, that's $28 bucks.  We are still barely passing the $100 mark on this set.  Fabric was likely $9 a yard and I'm guessing there wasn't 1.5 yards there.  

WHO DOESNT WANT TO SPEND THIS KIND OF CASH??  That's the kind of price point I can get excited about.

(Allison, keep me in mind when you're filling that beautiful new cabin!)

Ok.  Here's the during.  Just to keep  you waiting. 

I forgot to do a before of the table.

This is a sweet little chair from the garage.  Her friend is blue and lives at my house in the spare room (aka Jenn's Hide Out)

AND....the moment you've been waiting for:

TADAAAA!

Beautiful.  Don't you wish you bought these?