The Photo Wall Project

This wall has been begging for something, anything, to dress it up.

It's been begging for awhile now. A long while. A very long while. It's just sad really. But in our defense, the Husband and I just could not decide what we wanted to do.

Did we want book shelves on either side of the television stand. Did we want a photo wall. Did we want to get rid of the television all together because it takes up too much of our time. Pffft!(can't believe I wrote that last part with a straight face. -ha ha ah sigh-) 

Decisions...decisions.

After some thought, we finally settled on the photo wall. Yay! It only took us...forever! Oh well, these things happen. Right? 

Right? 

Please say I'm not the only one.

And moving on...

We selected a variety of frames that we thought fit the look we were going for and I numbered each one.

Check out my photo bomber in the upper left corner. 

Then I traced each frame on a large piece of tracing paper, giving each paper cutout the same number as the frame. This would allow me to know which frame was going in what location on the wall.

I laid my plan out on the floor to get a rough idea of placement for the wall.

Following the rough pattern from the floor, I moved my cutouts to the wall. 

I used Scotch brand Removable Poster tape for this. Scotch poster tape is wonderful! I use it all the time! It holds well and comes off so easily. Did I mention it's wonderful?! 

Once I had all my cutouts in place and made a few adjustments, I realized I placed everything a little too close together and had to spread things out a bit, - love removable poster tape - the Husband helped make sure everything was lined up and level.

Poor man was probably glad to help out, he needed the break, he'd been working on taxes while I was working on the photo wall. I definitely got the better job!

With all the cutouts in place, and a little measuring for nail placement...

make sure to measure from the side in as well as top down for exact nail placement!

 (I just pounded those nails in the spot marked on the paper.)

one by one, I swapped paper cutouts for frames!

To make the wall a little more interesting I added a few extras.

Initial of our last name.

The wooden bowl made from the apple tree we had to remove from our yard, this small plaque, and an old skeleton key, which I forgot to get a photo of.  -ho hum-

It took us a few days to decide what to put in each frame, but I think it turned out very nicely!

Yep, very nice indeed! Makes the living room very cozy!

Of course now we want to paint the room a different color. Here's hoping choosing a new paint color won't take as long to decide on! -bah!-

Christine

Have You Ever

Have you ever washed a sink full of dishes, decided to take a quick minute to check Facebook before drying them, only to realize 40 minutes of favorite blog reading later that you completely forgot you were in the middle of doing dishes?

Have you ever taken a basket full of freshly folded laundry, set it on the bed in the guest bedroom, fully intending to return very soon to put the clean laundry away, only to have one of your children, 4 days later, ask you why they can't find any of their undies?

Have you ever walked by a plant 2 dozen times thinking, I really need to water that, only to find it looking sad and wilted 2 days later?

Have you ever put the dog outside...to do what dogs do outside...only to remember 20 snowy minutes later that you forgot the dog was outside?

Have you ever snuggled up on the couch to read your new magazine, thinking I'll just enjoy this one Dove chocolate while I relax, only to wonder where did all those wrappers come from?

Have you ever?

No?

Oh...well...um...yeah, me either. I was just wondering.

Eh hem. You may feel free to forget I asked!

Have a lovely weekend!

Christine

Fairy Garden

A handful of branches.

A pile of birch bark and dried moss.

One hot glue gun.

And a little imagination...

Voila! Fairy Garden!

Miss Sofia recently learned how to use a hot glue gun.

She was fascinated!

She suggested we make little fairy houses so she could use the hot glue gun again. She's clever that one!

They turned out very cute!

I can't wait till she comes up with another craft idea for using the hot glue gun!!

Christine

Seeking Swans

We took a little trip into Hudson, Wisconsin yesterday.

We wanted to see the swans that gather on the St. Croix river this time of year.

We were not disappointed!

They're beautiful creatures.

They're majestic,

and calm.

I'm glad we got to see them before they move on.

This guy was not calm.

He was all sass,

and spit,

and full of fight. He slammed right into another goose here!

Then he was all...that's right I'm bad. You want a piece of this?

I didn't think so!

Order was restored shortly thereafter. Whew!

We even ran into a friend! Hi Scott!

He took this photo of the family.

Love it!

Christine

A Renewed Passion for the Garden

Over the last couple of years my usual joy for vegetable gardening has turned to discouragement.

I still want, and appreciate, meals made with fresh ingredients right from my own vegetable garden.

Chicken covered in, fresh from the garden, chive vinaigrette

No produce from the grocery store EVER has the same incredible flavor as the produce right from your own garden. Can I get an amen!?

Salmon packets with fresh from the garden green beans. I've posted this recipe before. Click on easiest salmon recipe ever if you missed it and would like to check it out.

But the last couple of years the harvest from my garden just hasn't been what it once was.

I used to have an abundance of tomatoes, tons of crisp green beans, and oh the cucumbers, herbs, snap peas, and lettuce! It was wonderful!

This however has not been the case in the last couple of years. The weeds in my vegetable garden have been a big problem. The harvest has been very small. Some seeds never even grew last year. -bah- 

I've been very frustrated.

So frustrated that I suggested to the Husband that we give up on it. Just rip it out and forget it! I'll just stick to flower beds!

-SIGH-

Fortunately he's encouraged me to hold off. He and the girls were such a big help getting everything planted last year. I was, well, mopey about it. Yep, there's the truth of it. Big ol' mope, that was me. 

I think some of the problem has been weather related. We've just had odd weather the last couple years and it hasn't helped the garden any.

And maybe the vegetable garden would have done better if we spent as much time weeding...

as we spent doing this. Maybe.

But then again the weeding never seemed to end!! It's just gotten worse with each passing year. -grrrrr-

Maybe the problem is that the Husband hasn't worn his kilt enough!

Oh Baby!

Okay, so that probably wouldn't actually do anything to improve the garden, but it would make me happy!!

Anyway, what I'm saying is, I was ready to give up on growing my own vegetables. Done! Enough! No more!!

Then I saw Paul Gautschi in Back to Eden. Here is a short teaser. Click on Back to Eden to view the entire video. 

It's a bit long. I had to view it a little at a time. But it was so worth the time it took to watch! Paul has so much wise advice on establishing and maintaining an organic garden. He is inspiring! Watching Back to Eden has renewed my passion for my garden!

Now I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can dig in (get it?) and begin to apply all that I learned from Paul to my own garden!

I'm so excited for my garden to once again be a thing of joy!

Please continue to check back, I'm going to keep you posted on my progress!

Christine