A wonderful weekend!

We worked on the house all weekend again, it was great. My husband installed the new bathroom window Saturday while I stripped paint off of the siding we removed. I also vacuumed the basement and sprayed it with a spider deterrent which will *crossing fingers* hopefully work!

Sunday the stripping paint work continued - as well as some sanding of the siding so it's ready for primer. I think I want to run over to buy some Benjamin Moore primer instead of the Behr we bought if I have time tomorrow when I'm working from home. Then we can prime the boards we have stripped so they're ready to go back up.

This week - the main goal is to get the house clean for company, just hitting every room with the vacuum and cleaning the bathroom, nothing fancy but just finding time for that alone will be tough with everything we have going on.

A weekend at my sister's house in the sweltering heat! Well the attic was definitely sweltering at least and that's where we were.

Projects included installing lights in a bedroom, closet and hallway. Installing outlets in 3 bedrooms. Installing a new light fixture in the hallway. - these projects were completed by my dad, my brother-in-law, my husband and I.

My husband also found time to cut down a small pine tree for them and my sister and mom worked in the gardens all weekend.

The weekend was rounded out by some good food and good conversation. We got home for dinner sunday night and have since been working on stripping paint from the siding we removed from the house and filling the nail holes.

This coming weekend will find us still stripping paint, also probably hitting the stripped siding with a sander and a coat of primer. My husband wants to try installing the bathroom window if we have time.

A weekend working on the house, socializing and I think life is back to normal again (after vacation).

Last weekend was very productive, as productive as it could be in sweltering heat and humidity! We removed the siding from the driveway side of the house (first story only) where the windows will be replaced once they arrive. This went pretty well actually and now we just have to strip down all the boards we saved.

I've set aside Celtic banner for now (oh... pictures to come because i worked a little more on it last week) and last night while watching TV I picked up my old Knotwork piece - the fishy! The fish itself is finished, so it's just filling in the background with colonial knots but it's relaxing so I'll try to keep at it in my free time (haha!).

And I can't believe July is almost over! This weekend we're going to my sister's house to help work on HER house for a change, I'm looking forward to that (and to seeing my whole family again). And only 2 1/2 weeks left of work until we take a vacation!!! Really looking forward to that!

Wow the month is half over and I haven't blogged at all.

What have we done this month so far?

Well July 4th weekend we went up to Lake Pleasant with my husband's family - it was great fun. We drove up friday and stayed through sunday. The weather was great for being on a lake but we made the best of it and had a blast. My niece is absolutely adorable and so much fun to spend time with that it really doesn't matter what we're doing as long as we can get her giggling.

I spent the following week after that finishing the new door we had ordered for our future TV Room. I stained it and then polyurethaned it all week (had to let it dry between coats and sides). It was all ready to be installed this past weekend when my family came out for our belated fireworks celebration. We spent Saturday at my uncle's house ending with our annual fireworks craziness (30 minute show it's up to now). Then Sunday we finished the install of the new door which looks great!

Oh and most importantly - I did some sewing last week (while finishing the door) - I should have pictures shortly so I'll give details then!

Okay sounding like a broken record but we've had a very productive weekend again ;)

Friday night we started right out with a bang, removing the aluminum siding on the lower left side of the house where we will be replacing the windows. We needed to do that so i could measure the windows and we could get an estimate for ordering new windows that will fit perfectly hopefully.

After cleaning up in the dark we just crashed Friday night and slept late Saturday. Then after I measured the windows we went to Marvin and gave them the information, I'm still waiting on the quote which I was hoping I'd get that day. Maybe monday.

Then home to spend the rest of the day in the basement. While my husband finished taking the aluminum siding off the porch (3 sides left on the turret to go) I cleaned up and organized the basement.
Here was my completed task list that I was feeling quite happy about:
- Organized the aluminum siding into bunches by size and tied together
- Organized storage in the basement with some new shelves we purchased (after I put them together)
- Vacuumed the basement.

The goal is to make the basement easy to work in next weekend since my brother-in-law is coming to do some plumbing for us, we don't want him to have to deal with cobwebs and stuff lying around so we're nice and organized now.

Then today we removed the old drain pipes (cast iron) from the downstairs bathroom, saving my brother-in-law a step in the plumbing project. We should be all set now for next weekend.

And to complete the weekend I'm now logged on to work to finish up some stuff. We have a deadline Tuesday that we're trying to meet so I figure i"ll work today and maybe i'll take next friday off to clean the house.

Another extremely productive weekend...

It has been a while since I really blogged consistently, it's difficult because work is busy, house stuff keeps me busy and everything in between.

This weekend however my parents came out to help and help they did! My husband and I got started Friday night (actually I worked Thursday night too)...

Thursday night - I continued moving the pile of dirt away from the fence back to the foundation
Friday night - finished with the pile of dirt! Removed more aluminum siding off the front of the house (started that project last weekend).
Saturday morning - dump, Lowe's, dump, aluminum siding, parents arrive. Framing (2 doorways) and Electrical (removing old stuff in the basement).
Sunday - Electrical and more electrical (it's a slow going project) while my husband did some more framing and other odd jobs.

All in all a VERY productive weekend and I felt so good Sunday night falling in to bed! Hopefully next weekend my husband and I can keep up the momentum and the following weekend my sister and her husband are coming out to help with some plumbing!

What a great weekend, I love weekends with family and getting stuff done all mixed in.

Friday night we bought some more flowers for the garden and planted those (in the dark) :)

Saturday we worked on framing, then had company, then worked outside some more.

Sunday we finished up some framing, then I worked outside on gardens and moving dirt. It was a productive but relaxing weekend all in one.

We also had some roofers come Saturday and start on the project of repairing our slate roof. It's actually in really good shape for the most part, just one area was losing some slate and they repaired that, and the chimney we removed needs to be patched with slate. Plus our "turret" is leaking but it's not the slate that's the problem it's the "flashing" type metal gutter or something like that, we're trying to decide what to do there because it's very high up.

Unfortunately I've been fighting some serious neck pain/headaches the last few days, it's very annoying and I'm not sure what exactly is causing it but meds don't help. Hopefully that will clear up soon.

Celebrations weekend!

Well it wasn't as big a weekend for me as it usually is but I just bought a house so I have other things to celebrate as well as xstitch :)

Saturday my friends came up to my house, then we went over and shopped. The shopping turnout was actually a little smaller than usual but we each found something we liked. I usually have a hard time not spending too much but it was actually kind of hard to find things I wanted to buy this time unfortunately :( Our favorite shop was not there again :(

I did however buy 3 things - a french book of fantasy patterns which is adorable, a Scandinavian pattern that I've been meaning to get for a couple of years now to do up as a gift, and a kit which wasn't actually in stock but the shop will mail to me this week. It was the only thing I saw that just grabbed me.

Hopefully next year will be bigger but for now it's good I saved some money because this weekend was pretty expensive. We had to buy a lawn mower finally and mowed the lawn. Sunday I did some more work outside, put up our Compost bin I ordered and moved some dirt to our fill area by the foundation. I also cleaned our demo area up a bit and started doing some paint stripping last night.

I'm really looking forward to next weekend, I believe we're doing all house related activities. It may be the only weekend we're both home to get the framing that's left done and maybe start on the electrical. Then I can work on the rest of the electrical next weekend when my husband is away.

Celebrations this weekend!

Due to the new house I did not sign up for any classes this year but I plan to go and shop on Saturday for sure! I can't wait!

My sister's wedding last weekend was great, we had a wonderful time and took the scenic drive through VT home Sunday. This week has been a mixture of work and car appts (new tires and such before my inspection). I really can't wait for the weekend, get some stuff done around the house, get some outdoor work done on Sunday - should be fun!

Well the month is moving along quickly - Easter is coming this weekend!

We are having all the family up for Easter weekend, going to my Uncle's house for Easter dinner (saturday night actually), but everyone is sleeping at our house to celebrate my husbands' and my birthdays which are next week.

I'm excited to have everyone up, I wish I had more done around the house but time is moving too quickly. We have yet to finish cleaning up the yard, got some good work done on it Sunday but I spent so much time picking up broken glass that I haven't finished raking!

And all the time I spend cleaning for guests means I don't get anything else done around the house. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow I can get some work done though!

Ack and the wedding is fast approaching - luckily I have next weekend off so I'll finish up my sewing that weekend for sure. Plus I'm taking a few vacation days next week to work on the house. I can't wait for the break!

Some more unpacking!

We had a great weekend, we went back to my parents' house, spent time with family. My dad got us looking into spray foam insulation instead of fiberglass for our renovations, it depends on the price (if we can afford it) but we're looking into it now.

Back home on Sunday I started doing some more unpacking (really just moving things around) and we put furniture up in the "office/guest room". I left room for a mattress which we hope to go buy tonight, so we're ready for guests at easter :)

The goal is to get the large red room downstairs cleared out after easter to start demo in there and the bathroom. That way we're doing 3 rooms at once and can maybe afford the spray foam insulation that way. We definitely don't want to do one room at a time with that stuff. So we'll see how this all goes. We'll continue to work on the blue room until we demo the rest after easter.

And in sewing news - both bridesmaid dresses are hemmed! I also strung the pearl necklace for my sister and knotted it. I just have to add the clasp now so I'm very excited! Next on the list is to finish the flower girl dress maybe this weekend and adjust the straps on my dress.

I love spring! (except i wish the sun would come out today...)

Kate's Necessaire (from 2007 Celebrations)..

Picture coming soon but I finally finished this! I spent time on Sunday putting this together and really enjoyed it. It was very relaxing and I'm so happy that this is finally completed!

That ended a weekend of babysitting all three of my little cousins! It was a crazy weekend but they were on their very best behavior and we had a good time baking cookies, playing games and watching movies.

Well work continues to be busy but I'm looking forward to more cross stitch time finally in the evenings!

No news on the house front yet, waiting for the water to be turned on so we can get the inspection, still keeping fingers crossed that we get approved for financing!

More xmas craft progress!

Pictures soon! I have now completed 3 of the 5 aprons for xmas gifts. This weekend I spent at my sisters' house teaching her how to use her sewing machine, we made curtains for her new bathroom and a dog bed for her puppy.

When I got home last night, after cleaning, I finally got to settle in and do some of my own sewing. I made the inner block for the two Amish quilt block gifts I'm making. They took about an hour to cut and piece the two blocks. Now I just need to add borders and quilt them. They are very cute and most of the points even came out :)

This week I hope to make the two other aprons and maybe get the borders on the blocks so I can get those quilted next weekend. Going to be a busy week, possible in-laws coming next weekend so I need to clean and organize and do some decorating too! Yikes!

December! I never even made a goal list for november - good thing since it's already over!

We had a good thanksgiving, my husband got free box seat tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra Wednesday night so we went to that show. Then did the drive back to NY after the show (arriving at 2am!). It worked out well though because we didn't miss out on any Thanksgiving day activities (baking and games).

The holidays were mostly relaxing but we were very happy to get home Saturday night and have all day Sunday to relax at home (Lord of the Rings style). I got some quilting on my amish quilt done and started a new book.

Now it's time to get into the xmas mood, we need to buy gifts and get decorating! I also have some things I'd like to make so I'm hoping this coming weekend is very productive!

December Goals:
1) Finish Leslie's NRR
2) Finish cross hatch triangle 3 on Amish quilt
3) Kit up baby sampler and wedding samplers for January starts
4) Make mini quilts for gifts

I can't see fitting much else in.

Shower this weekend.. both kinds :)

My sister threw a bridal shower for me this weekend, she did such a great job hosting a large part (about 30 people showed up with the potential for 40). I got to talk to lots of people I hardly knew but knew me (I grew up in a small town) and lots of people I haven't seen in a long time.

And I got to give the bridesmaids these gifts I made (here is the final necklace with earrings that I made):
And my definite favorite of the gifts was this quilt that my Mom, Grandmother and sister made for me! I got to pick the fabrics so I already knew I'd love it but this was just beyond expectation. Here it is on my bed (as soon as I got home!):
Here is the patch my grandmother stitched for the back!
And my grandmother made me a matching runner for my dresser! She also made me matching pillow cases (not shown) - what a surprise!
She also made me another table runner to replace my christmas one she made me since I told her I leave that out all year, here it is on top of the christmas one. I love it - the bright colors are definitely "me".
I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my family and those that will become family in just under 10 weeks time! I can't believe how close the wedding is, so much to do but yet so much is already done, I really feel like it's soon now!

I also finished the 4th flower girl dress this weekend and left it with my grandmother who is going to hem it. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture because i finished it the morning we left Friday to go back home. It's the same as the purple one I did but it's in green :) One more to go!

Very hot and humid!
We spent the weekend sweating it out - not turning on the A/C just yet (turned it on today though!). So the weekend consisted of activities I could do in the livingroom and diningroom under the fans!

So I've almost completed making a dress form that exactly matches me - pictures to come after I finish it hopefully Tuesday night. It's my height with my heels for the wedding on, since the goal is to use it to hem my wedding dress. If it can hold the weight of my wedding dress that is... it's a bit flimsier than I'd like.

I also worked on thank you cards, making a design I like for the shower thank you's and cutting all the necessary pieces/colors for the card (about 60 even though i hopefully won't need that many).

I also made the earrings to match the bridesmaid's pearl necklaces and I'm very happy with them, so I made up the little boxes with matching cards to give them at the shower this coming weekend - wow - it's coming up so fast! I just have one necklace left to finish and one bridesmaid won't be at the shower anyway so even if I don't finish it until the following weekend i'm fine!

The unbelievable part is that I didn't read at all this weekend, not until last night before bed when I started "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" which I bought at BJ's. I've been on a reading craze lately, maybe it's good I slow down and get other things done for a while and read a more serious book in my evenings.

It's going to be a busy week with friday off to go back home and help my parents around the house (for the wedding) - I swear every third word out of my mouth is wedding - i can't wait until it's over and life can resume normalcy!

I'm still here - i promise! Wow - May was a really light month blogging - things were just so busy with work!

I did manage (after a late night friday) to finish off Wendy's RR so i could mail it to Leslie on Saturday morning! I took a picture so i'll post that as soon as i have a minute.

This weekend we helped my sister move into her new house!!! She owns a very nice (and large) victorian in Manchester, CT! I love the house and the property, i'm so proud of her for making the jump! Hopefully we can afford to follow suit a year from now :)

Other than that it's just been work work work around here. I took every free minute I had to work on Wendy's RR. I'm hoping June is better - I'm back on the Body For Life diet for the 12 weeks before the wedding - yup - 12 weeks left! Yikes and so much to do!

Well back to work! I promise - I owe lots of pictures and they are coming!

A trip to California and some knitting.

My oh my where is April going??? I can't believe it's half over already! (just about). Last week I unexpectedly had to go to California for work - I hate last minute trips but it was a good trip and I got a lot done. And before I left I made sure to get my little Lamby all finished up! Finally some pictures!!!

Here's Sammy the Lamby!
Here he is on his side. I'm not sure the pictures really show it but this guy is pretty big!
I'm sure my coworker will appreciate it, especially as a matching gift to the sweater and pants another coworker is knitting in the blue yarn (the same yarn i used for the collar).

With that done I think my knitting is done for a while. I have to focus on wedding projects!

Speaking of wedding projects - the third flower girl dress is coming along, all I have left is the finishing (adding the zipper and doing the hand stitching) so I'm very excited. Hopefully this weekend I'll not only finish that dress but start the next one!

Well it's been a long night working so i'm going to cuddle up and read a book - I read 3 books last week between planes and hotel nights - better update my reading blog soon!

Goodbye easter, hello weekend at home ... halfway there ;)

Easter weekend was packed - my sister and her fiance came up on Saturday, my sister and I worked on invitations (wedding and shower invites). I've got the wedding invites all cut and folded to size, and then I rolled the swirly stamp in versamark on the front - that took a while but it's all done!

Sunday we went to my uncle's for a large family get together, it was fun but exhausting as usual, the little kids were tired and overly excited (when aren't they!) which made for some interesting moments and not a lot of happy pictures unfortunately.

This week has been crazy at work so far - monday was a very long day and each day feels long by lunch time.. is it only 10:20 now! Last night I punched holes in the centers of all my purple daisies for the invites and thank you notes. So that's one more step done on the invites! Next up is getting the embossing started - this coming weekend hopefully!

Lots to do this weekend since we're home... I have a lamb I need to finish by putting together :) And then some invites to work on.

Vacation!

My fiance and I decided to take a 4 day weekend off for our 8th anniversary this year so we're smack in the middle of our mini vacation home doing absolutely nothing! It's been great so far - here's a recap:

Friday night - Hit BJs to stock up on stuff we needed then I cleaned - the whole apartment top to bottom - it's nice to start vacation with a clean apartment! Then I stayed up late reading - finished my book actually!

Saturday: Hit the grocery store to stock up on good food for the weekend, then we did almost nothing except watch Dexter Season 2 and stitch! I've been working on Deb's NRR and it's coming right along! I'll have pictures after this weekend of stitching!

Sunday: A very productive day - I cooked - LOTS! Then I settled in to do some sewing (see next post for pictures) and finished the second flower girl dress! I even knitted a bit while we finished Dexter Season 2.

Hmm... after I finishing writing entries for my blogs I'm going to pick up Deb's RR while I continue listening to my audio book which I'm hoping to finish this weekend as well.

And still 2 more days to go!!! I have a long list of stuff I want to do - so hopefully I'll have lots more pictures in the coming days!!