Messy Middle – Stone Carriage House Gym Conversion
The messy middle of any project, but especially converting a stone carriage house into a gym, feels exceptionally long. Sometimes it actually is long. I realize time is annoyingly relative. A long time for you might be nothing to me and vice versa. But trust me when I say that when the hours turn into days then weeks of repointing stone walls, you’re allowed to say and feel that the messy middle of this project is taking way too long. I don’t make the rules. I do love to whine about them though. Here’s where we started with the stone carriage house gym conversion. Yes, there is a fireplace wall…
Saving a Historic Window Drip Edge Detail
When we had the rotten siding on our colonial farmhouse replaced, the window trim needed replacing too and I was adamant about saving the historic window drip edge detail. It was not a necessary component of the window trim but it was part of the home’s character. I just didn’t realize this decision would cause a bit of drama later. To be clear, we were not able to save the actual boards that made this historic window drip edge detail. They had served their purpose and helped direct water away from the house for decades. Decades! And it showed in how the wood had rotted. Some of our windows already…
Happy List: #355
Hi! I’m thrilled you are here for today’s Happy List. Whenever I take a week off the blog, I miss sharing the weekly Happy List. To recap, it was a fun week on the blog, for me at least! Ha! I shared how to make a Wood Leaf Wreath for the upcoming fall season. I love these wood leaves SO MUCH. I may buy more to make a garland. Have you noticed that I enjoy crafting with wood, particularly for fall crafts? It’s the best. I also shared the plan for converting our Carriage House into a home gym. The plan involved a hammer and some crying. Ice cream was…
Plan To Convert A 250-Year-Old Carriage House Into A Gym
Let me share our plan to convert a 250-year-old Carriage House into a gym…a plan we came up with AFTER the hammers came out and the dust started flying. When most people are spontaneous, they go out for ice cream. When we are spontaneous, we embark on back-breaking work to repoint the stone walls of a Carriage House. I think we’re doing spontaneity wrong. Here’s the current exterior of our Carriage House. You can be horrified by the before pictures of the roof here and marvel at how paint transformed this building here. Having a space to exercise at home, specifically to lift weights, was something we’d been contemplating for…
Wood Leaf Wreath
Wood you like to make a fall-themed wreath with me today? (Pun intended.) I hope so because that’s what we are doing…making a wood leaf wreath. You might end up loving this craft more than pumpkin spice. It’s that good! The star of this craft is the new-to-me discovery of wood leaves. Just look at these things. The shapes. The wood grain. Talk about love at first sight. Thank goodness for online shopping from the privacy of my comfy bed because there was no way I would have been able to play it cool if I stumbled across chunky wood leaves in a regular store. The gushing out loud would…
August Break – So Much To Do In One Week
Hi! I’m taking the week off the blog because summer is almost over for us. (whomp, whomp) There are things to do. Fun to be had. Mortar on the Carriage House to be done. Please note that the “fun to be had” is different from the work on the Carriage House. The work on the Carriage House is satisfying but I wouldn’t necessarily call it fun. A well-rounded life has a balance of both. At least, that’s what I tell myself while my hands are covered in mortar and I’m immersed in a seemingly neverending repointing project. Did you notice what my shirt says in the above picture? Take it…
Happy List: #354
Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m so glad you’re sharing this little spot of the internet with me today. Can you believe it’s already August? This week on the blog I wrote all about flower monogram embroidery and all the different ways I love it and want to incorporate it into my life. Wreath sashes, clothing, wall hangings…so many possibilities, so little time. I also shared a blast from the archives, a post about our hot press when we lived in Ireland. Don’t know what a hot press is? Think it might be a good way to make a panini? Go read the post to find out. As…
From The Archives: Want To See My Hot Press?
Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published way back in 2017 and the experience is still seared into my brain. Enjoy! Moving to a foreign country – even one where you speak the language – is a humbling experience. My advice? Settle into the feeling that you are going to be the biggest idiot in the room. A little humor and humility go a long way toward settling in. When we were looking for a house in Ireland we toured an owner-occupied home they were putting on the rental market. During the tour, the owner made a passing reference to the hot press. “I’m sorry. A hot what?” In hindsight, my…
6 Flower Monogram Embroidery Ideas
To stitch or not to stitch? Earlier this year I was really into flower embroidery and even tried my hand at flower monogram embroidery. I had sew much fun. Everyone asks me, “What are you going to do with your creations?” All 31 of them. And I still have more hoops to use. Told you I was into it. Ha! Besides simply enjoying my creations, I could hang them, gift them, sell them, use them as Christmas ornaments, turn them into giant necklaces, make a keychain I’d never lose because it was so big, or maybe leave them around town for random strangers to be utterly confused when they find…
Happy List: #353
Hey, hey! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It’s good to see you here. This week on the blog was a random one. I shared how to fix headphones with misshapen earpads. What I didn’t mention is that when earpads start to wear out, they will leave little black flakes on your skin. I’ll be looking at Handy Husband freaking out that he has skin cancer and then realize, nope, it was his headphones deteriorating. *sigh* I also shared how I plant the hydroponic lettuce that I buy from the grocery store. This week it was on sale for $2.50 a head. It makes me feel very victorious when I…
