March 8, 2010 by larsinnh
I think it’s time for another small Declutter Challenge!
This is a photo of a (grimy!) old fridge that Handy Man used in college. We got it recently from Handy Man’s parents, and cleaned it up and sold it. If this was in our house, it would have left here long ago, believe me! We try not to keep things around for too long that we can’t use.
Today is the day to find an item that: you don’t use, you don’t need, or that needs to be given to someone. Are you holding an item that belongs to someone else? We all do this, at times. Give it back! Are you holding on to something that no one in your family can use, but someone else can? Bring it to Goodwill (if it’s an item acceptable to Goodwill. Ours doesn’t take appliances of any kind.)
Try Craigslist for selling, but don’t give out personal information, and for safety, try meeting in a public place for your exchange. That way, you don’t have to give out your home address. You might also try to put up an ad with a photo on your bulletin board at work, if that is allowed. Another way to publicize items is Facebook. I wouldn’t do this for every little piece of clutter, but if you have a large piece of furniture that you would like to move, post on your Facebook page that the first local person who responds about wanting it is the new owner.
I know that all of you probably have Just One Thing that could be donated, or given back to its owner. Make it a priority to get this thing OUT, especially if its just ONE thing that has been staring at you for months (years?). Today, or in the next few days, make arrangements to deliver that one thing to someone who could use it. You know, that thing that is looming in your basement or home…that thing that annoys you every time you look at it!
What is hanging over your head that you could return? Return it, and you will feel better. It will prompt you to get rid of even more stuff! Remember, you are not the storage facility for the world! Let someone else store it.
Posted in 365 Days of Decluttering | Tagged declutter challenge | Leave a Comment »
March 5, 2010 by larsinnh
We recently bought a new printer (Handy Man is great at comparing prices online for anything and everything we are looking to buy). The new printer we bought is a bit wider than the old one, so we started to look around for printer stands. I hated to buy a new piece of furniture just for that, but the new printer was way too big to put on either of our desks.
Of course, Handy Man did consider building a printer stand for us, but after doing some more research, he determined that we could just buy a stand at an unfinished furniture store for less money. It’s unfortunate that sometimes nice wood is just super expensive to buy these days. Of course, if we need a specialty piece that we just can’t find anywhere else, Handy Man will just build it.
Here is the stand that we bought at a local unfinished furniture store. Handy Man took it apart so it would be easier to sand and stain.
This is the top of the stand, and the bottom shelf. Handy Man said he used some 220 grit sandpaper to get a nice, smooth finish.
This is the stain that he used. Its Minwax Wood Finish, in Red Mahogany:
He used a rag to get the stain into all of the nooks and crannies:
I’m working on getting some more Handy/Crafty posts written soon. It’s just been hard here lately; we are all taking turns being sick, and the five day power outage really threw me off!
Posted in How-To, furniture | Tagged unfinished furniture | 1 Comment »
March 4, 2010 by larsinnh
Here is a photo of some of the uprooted trees near our house from the huge wind storm last week.
There were still some houses without power as of yesterday, almost a week after the storm. I can’t even imagine. There were still phone workers working on the lines today.
Apparently, today is National Grammar Day. I don’t know what that has to do with anything. Who comes up with these things?!
The Boy is now sick with a cold. We are all SO tired from the power outage.
I feel like I will never catch up with laundry.
Rob keeps saying that we need to move to Hawaii. I wish!
It feels like spring will never come.
Handy Man fixed the tub drain upstairs. Funny how small things like that thrill me.
I guess I feel like complaining today! I’ll post more photos of the storm damage soon. How are you all doing?
Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged National Grammar Day | Leave a Comment »
March 3, 2010 by larsinnh
Our power was finally restored at about 3 pm on Tuesday. We were all jumping for joy! For the record, it went out on Thursday night at around 10:30…I have LOTS of laundry and cleaning to catch up on.
New post coming soon, I promise!!
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 2, 2010 by larsinnh
Ok, I realize this is getting old, and I will make it up to you all soon with some good posts, I swear! It’s just been hard to deal with everything, and we even HAVE some electricity during the day.
Outside: the weather is nice and sunny. Snow is almost all melted. Lots of power trucks and crews around. The 1-800 number for our utility says that power “should” be restored to all remaining customers today…but I’ll believe it when I see it! There are still lines down all around us. Two minutes in 1 direction, there is power. Three minutes in the other direction, there is power.
Handy Boy: had school today!! WOO HOOOOOO! He was actually bummed, he was so used to staying home due to vacation and no school yesterday. However, he was so bored, I can’t believe he wanted to stay HOME again!
Handy Man: less sick, but still cranky. Decided to work from home today. Thankfully he is a computer geek and he can do that. His computer is hooked up to one of the working plugs, and we have internet. He is going to keep an eye on the generator today today, as usual. Keep it gassed up, etc.
Me: getting ready to load my tired hiney into the car and go to my sister-in-law’s house so I can do more laundry. I think I need chocolate…think I spotted some Easter candy somewhere around here…I am really hoping this is my last post like this!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged New England wind storm | 3 Comments »
March 1, 2010 by larsinnh
Handy Man woke up and realized the phone and cable were working, woo hoo!! But still no electricity. The sky is grey and its a bit windy.
Outside: Crews continue to work in our area. Still no activity in our immediate neighborhood. School was called off today, since the school has no power, either.
Handy Man: Still limping a bit. Now his cold is somewhat better, but his nose is running endlessly.
Handy Boy: Glad to be watching Spongebob on cable TV. Happy there was no school today. This is because he knows we are going to Grandma & Grandpa’s to wash clothes today.
Me: Happy to have a chance to get OUT of the house and do laundry…how lame is THAT?!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged New England wind storm | 2 Comments »
February 28, 2010 by larsinnh
Day 3 of no electricity, no phone, no internet. (I’m trying wi-fi at McDonald’s for the first time. Very cool!)
Outside: still a lot of trees down. I counted about 5 broken poles or broken wires in a 10 minute drive from our house to McDonald’s. There are branches and trees down everywhere; it looks like a war zone. The power to the main route where I am now is on (mostly), but I think it’s going to be a while for our neighborhood. Snowed some more over the weekend. Lost three BIG trees in the woods behind our house. I think we heard them fall overnight on Thursday.
Our house: thankfully, we have a generator running the essentials (see yesterday’s post.) One of the neighbors came back and put on a generator, too. Neighborhood is pretty deserted.
Handy Man: has a cold, and his gout in his foot is bothering him. Yes, handy man has GOUT like an old man. He’s been sniffling, coughing and hobbling around whining. I think he needs to go back to work…SOON!
Handy Boy: bored out of his mind; winter vacation last week wasn’t much of a vacation. There may be no school tomorrow, I don’t think the school has power. He’s fighting me on finishing his book report. Hard to concentrate, hard to see with only 1 lamp on, lol.
Me: tired and aggravated. I may have to go to my parent’s tomorrow to wash underwear.
Everytime we hear a truck or car on the street, we rush (or hobble) to the window to see if its an electric company truck.
Supplies are running low…I’m going to bring some milk home. SEND HELP SOON! **sighhhh**
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged New England wind storm | Leave a Comment »
February 27, 2010 by larsinnh
Hi everyone! I haven’t been able to update the blog, as we had a HUGE wind storm on Thursday night. We had winds of over 50 mph; trees are down, lines are down. Poor Handy Boy was TERRIFIED of the noise! It was so awful.
Thursday at 10:30 pm, our power went out. As I write this (2:00 pm eastern on Saturday), we STILL have no power. So, no power, no phone lines, no INTERNET, aaaack!! I am posting this from my friend Holly’s house. Thanks, Holly & Sean, for letting me use your internet!
Holly just re-did her downstairs bath, I asked her if I could take pictures of it to show on the blog here, so watch for those soon.
Handy Man is at home, keeping an eye on the generator. Thank GOODNESS we have a generator that powers the basics: heat, hot water, the fridge (so food doesn’t spoil)…and the TV and VCR. That was Handy Man’s idea, of course. Gotta make sure the TV has power! We can’t watch any cable TV, but we have DVDs to watch. Handy Man also hooked up his computer to the generator; but with no internet service available, there’s not much we can do with that.
I’ll be sharing some photos of the storm damage when I can. Thanks for sticking around; I’ll be back when I can!
I hope those of you in New England who were hit by the storm weren’t out of electricity for too long. I’ll update when I can.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged New England wind storm | Leave a Comment »
February 24, 2010 by larsinnh
We went to Scott and Magdalena’s house recently, and my sister-in-law made a wicked good salad with a wicked good dressing that I wanted to share. Yum! Even Handy Boy ate it (we just recently got him to eat salad!)
Salad
mixed spring greens
apples
red peppers
carrots
Dressing
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-2 lemon wedges
salt and pepper (to taste)
The dressing was nice and tangy and flavorful!
Posted in Magdalena, recipes | Tagged salad | Leave a Comment »
February 22, 2010 by larsinnh
Here is the new/old book case we bought at the antique store. It was painted green, was very dirty, and had a wobbly board on the back of it.
Remember what it looked like before? Handy Man put two coats of white glossy latex paint on it, and we moved it to the guest room. He also removed the board on the back of it. I started to put some pictures and trinkets on top of it, and moved some books into it. I don’t have all the books moved up there yet, but I like how it looks so far.
And yes, that is the Twilight series on the second shelf. I am still on the first book! (Don’t laugh, I have been super busy blogging, and I just got the set for Christmas. Never mind that its after Valentine’s Day now!)
We have quite an oddball collection of books. We have new and old books of all subjects. On the same shelf as the Twilight books, you may be able to see some light blue books. Those are my Little House on the Prairie books. They are paperback and I have had them since I was a child. I suppose I could buy nicer hardcover copies; but I like the worn paperbacks.
On the top shelf are books that I have already read. I bought several of them at Goodwill for 25 or 50 cents. Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to books that I want to read (as you can see, with the Twilight books!), so I like to just buy them and have them around for a while. If I don’t love a book, when I’m finished with it, I will pass it on to someone. If I love it, I’ll keep it. Most of those paperbacks are books I probably won’t read again, but I wanted to check them out.
Do you have a lot of books around?
Posted in before & after, books, decorating | Tagged painting a bookcase | 2 Comments »
I think it’s time for another small Declutter Challenge!
