How's the Weather?

Our winter is making a slow and bouncy start. We had some snow ... it melted. We had some rain ... it turned to ice. The days have been rather bleak with that annoying half light that makes the entire day seem like it's perpetually 4:00 p.m. Dark. Dreary. And on that happy note, I thought you might enjoy this poem written by someone who was obviously fed up with the weather. I found it in my Dad's desk and wrote it out. I remember my Dad reciting this poem verbatim for many years in his best Yorkshire accent, so it was a rather nostalgic find. When I read it to Dad I could see his lips remembered the words, but not his mind. He did remember the final line, however, which was oft quoted around our house on a drizzly day.

Judging by the descriptions of the weather, I'm pretty sure this was written by a Brit. Here in Canada we only have two weather variances ... freezing cold for eight months, and sweltering hot for four.

Just for the record, this is last year's snow.

April brings the sweet spring showers

On and on for hours and hours.

Austere and kindly May

Frost by night and hail by day.

June just rains and never stops

Thirsty days that spoil the crops.

In July the sun is hot

Is it shining? No, it's not.

August, cold and dank and wet,

Brings more rain than any yet.

Bleak September's mist and mud

Is enough to chill the blood.

Then October adds a gale,

Wind and slush and rain and hail.

Dark November brings the fog,

Should not do it to a dog.

Bleak December with wintry wind

Would though wert not so unkind.

January brings the snow

Makes your feet and fingers glow.

February's ice and sleet

Freeze the toes right off your feet.

Freezing, wet, blustery March, 

                                        then ...

Bloody April again!

author unknown

Hope you enjoyed it :)

Wendy

Christmas Crafts

Cody told me today that he thought you might like to be reminded of a few Christmas crafts we've shown in the past.  I'm going to show the photo of the craft, and you can just click on the link to the post with the tutorials. 

Crystal Snowflakes are a very cool craft where you actually grow the crystals yourself by using Borax, found in the laundry detergent section of your local grocery store (unless you live in the UK where it apparently cannot be found at all).

Feather Globes is another pretty craft for all the bird lovers out there (me being one of them!).  This is a simple craft once you have collected a few feathers. You could even purchase the feathers from the craft store if you don't have a stash of your own.

This next Ice Pendant craft, can only be made if you have temperatures below freezing. We're flip-flopping between winter and autumn temperatures here, so I won't be making this one just yet! Filled with natural pinecones, twigs, acorn caps & berries, they turn out really pretty!

Speaking of pinecones, you might enjoy making one of these Pinecone Wreaths for your front door. They look wonderful and last for many years. If the natural look is not your style, the pinecones can be spray painted in any colour!

If you have some candles leftover from last year, they can be melted down to create new Candles. Using a waxed, cardboard milk carton, just tape all the seams of the carton with masking tape. Poke a small hole in the centre of the bottom of the carton and insert a wick through the hole and up inside the carton. Tape over the bottom end of the wick to hold it in place on the outside of the bottom of the carton (tape it really well). Then tape the top end of the wick around a pencil and rest the pencil over the top of the carton. Break up the old candles and put them in a clean tin can (squish the top rim of the tin can gently together to form a bit of a spout). Set the tin can in a saucepan of boiling water. Watch it carefully as the wax melts. Pour the melted wax into the milk carton and position the wick so that it's in the centre of the carton. Save a little wax to fill the divet that forms as the wax cools. Now let the candle cool overnight. When the candle is completely cool, peel away all the cardboard carton to reveal your lovely candle!

If you try any of these crafts and have any questions, just ask and I'll help you out.

Kitchen Progress

Hey everyone, I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. Things here have ground to a complete halt as I continue working on the kitchen makeover. I'm able to get the bare minimum done on housework, and I think we're still wearing clean clothes, but other than that, the house is pretty much a shambles as I paint and paint and paint! I've not been able to even think about Christmas yet since this huge project looms foremost in my mind.

I've been immersed in the kitchen makeover for so many weeks now ... five and a half weeks to be exact! I hope to get lots done this weekend, and then (hopefully!) things will be finished enough so that I can move all our dishes back into the kitchen. I have to be able to free up my daughter's bedroom by next weekend when she's coming home for a visit.

I'm fortunate that I work from my home, and I've been able to work on this project for about three hours every weekday, and through most of the weekends. I've visited my dad regularly up until today, and then I decided I just have to get this kitchen finished and stayed home to work on it. I can't tell you how sick I am of sanding, painting and cleaning out paint brushes, rollers and paint trays! Here's my progress so far.

All the frames were sanded, primed and painted with two coats of taupe. We bought one can of taupe, and it was far too close to white for my liking, so we opted to buy a second can and we're really happy with the result. Of course, the colour is probably not very accurate in the photos, but we used CIL's "McClendon's Pass". 

Painting these frames took a very long time to finish. I had to paint them all with a brush, and developed quite a cramp in my hand from holding a fat paint brush. I also painted the bottoms and backs of the lower cupboards to brighten things up inside. I put adhesive shelf paper on the upper cabinets for the table dishes. 

Then I moved onto the cupboard doors, and I've been busy with those all this week. Painting the doors has been so much quicker. We used a tiny rubber roller for them, and it worked amazingly well.  I was a bit skeptical of the roller at first as I thought it would leave too much texture on the doors. However, the finish came out far better with the roller than the brush. Once you get the paint rolled on and leave it to dry, the paint slowly relaxes into the wood grain of the door, and there are no roller marks at all ... very smooth! 

The biggest problem with getting the doors completed is finding space to set them while drying. There are 24 doors, and I could only find space to have 12 drying at one time. We hung them from hooks in the basement rafters. We had them resting on counters and tables in the kitchen. We even have the pantry door leaning up in the bathroom. It's been a little crazy around here, let me tell you!

Thankfully, today I was able to start on the second set of 12 doors. They're all drying here, there and everywhere now, and I've had enough of it today. My husband and I went down to the hardware store and picked out the doorknobs, drawer pulls and hinges. The finish on the hardware is "black, oil rubbed bronze". It's a very subtle brushed finish with just a hint of bronze tint, and it looks great against the taupe. I can't wait to get these doors all back together again!

There you have it! I've been trying to get around to everyone's blogs to say hello, but have not been able to reach everyone. I'm just dying to get things organized for Christmas now, but I'm just going to have finish the kitchen first. There are still things I want to make for Christmas, but I'm not sure if that will happen. I really had no idea that the kitchen cupboards would take this long to complete, but at least the push to get them finished by next week is great motivation. I am so looking forward to sitting down to knit as soon as this kitchen is back together!

Thanks for dropping by!

Wendy