Spring

Aaaah. The first day of spring. Between the bouts of rain and blustery wind we managed to get quite a bit of outside time yesterday. Miss M is such a happier girl if we get outdoors. We played in the grass, and sang Ring Around the Rosie (yes I know the song's origin, but Miss M still loves it). She sat in the wagon, and I pulled her around and around and around the yard, between the raised garden beds and up the hill and down the hill, and all around again. She loves her wagon she received last year for Christmas from Nana and Papa.

We're getting ready to get a couple of goats. They're for the blackberries and later for milk. I'm allergic to cow's milk, but I can handle goats milk just fine (something about the proteins). We're going to look at a pair of doelings tomorrow. I've been working on getting an area fenced for them. Since the goats we're looking at are just a few weeks old, I'm not planning on sending them up the hill quite yet. So I've fenced off an area of grass and made a temporary shelter for them. We'll see how it works out.

Kitchen Progress

I don't have pictures of our kitchen progress, but above is a shot of Miss M from this past Thanksgiving. Isn't she sweet? I'm such a sucker for handknits, smocking and mary-janes. Thank goodness Miss M is a good sport about my girly aesthetic.

Things are moving forward with the kitchen. I feel like we've turned the corner, and starting to win the war on the peachy-pink kitchen. As of now, the only pink item left is the countertops, but we are calling that "Phase-Two" and may not be upgraded for a bit. However, we are making good headway. So far we have:

• Ripped out the upper cabinets by the window, which will be replaced by open shelving
• Cleaned, sanded, deglossed and painted the lower cabinets a medium green color 
• Painted and painted then repainted the walls (the first color was way to close to the living room color and wasn't right)
• Primed and painted the the trim
• Cleaned and sanded and primed the upper cabinets
• Cleaned, sanded, deglossed, primed and painted the cabinet doors
• Replaced breakfast nook storage with ladder-style shelves from elsewhere in the house 
• Removed wallpaper
• Removed backsplash from behind sink and oven
• Painted the ceiling 
• Replaced light above sink
• Replaced ugly ceiling fan with three beautiful new lights
• Replaced drawer hardware with pretty bin pulls, and door hardware is waiting to be put on
• Purchased shelf brackets for open shelving

The "Phase-One" to-do list:

• Finish painting the trim
• Paint the upper cabinets white
• Paint and install the open shelving by the window
• Drill cabinet door hardware holes bigger, and install new hardware
• Spray paint the hinges with oil-rubbed-bronze paint (as new hinges are outside the budget)

So close! Spring break is next week, and we're planning on finishing everything during spring break. Pictures coming soon.

Phoebe Wahl

I’m a huge fan of art depicting families, especially mothers and children. My newest discovery has been Phoebe Wahl (Who also hails from the Northwest, woot!). I first saw her artwork in Taproot several months ago, and instantly fell in love (and have been stalking her blog ever since). I love her use of curvy ladies, happy children and flowers. See more of Phoebe’s work here.