Hi Prairie-girl,

That non edit button is for sure a pain. Supposed to see it all in the preview but I always seem to miss something. We can usually figure it out. Not to worry. Great picture . Yes we do get the chinook winds about January . Always seems so strange and it will start a big snow melt and every one goes Ahhhhhhhhhhh and then it turns off cold again and we have a couple more months of winter.

In the link below you can see some of our valley from the hill above. Not quite a mountain at only 3300 feet. Well we do not call it a mountain. The valley we are in is at about 2550 I think. I should know that but it is escaping me right now. You will have to wait until morning. Dark out there now and only the lights show up.

Loretta. Such a pretty light display. I got as far as dragging my lights to the front porch and got too cold. We had taken a walk through town after we ate lunch and by the time we got back my tears from the cold were freezing on my cheeks and I decided another day would work to put up lights. Maybe tomorrow.

And you did the inside too. WOW You are ambitious Looks so pretty. With the little kitten I am not sure we will be doing an inside tree this year. Hoping to at least get the nativity out. I have not had the energy to do Christmas for the last two years. Hoping now I am not ill I can do something this year.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:199902}}

While I am definitely a warm weather gal, I just love to see pics of snow covered areas! I've always wondered what it is like to be snowed in (with lights, heat and food of course). When we get a little snow here it is a big deal. No matter how little the schools and businesses will close :)
Prairie-girl and Chris, those are beautiful scenes. I live in the flatlands - no hills (or bumps), lol. There is no interesting scenery to enjoy, sigh!
I used to put lights along the entire fence, in the trees in the front, side and back yard, (can we all say "overdone"?) lol. Each year I cut back more and more until I am left with just those pitiful amount of lights.

Chris, when I had my last cat, he loved to play with the ornaments on the tree. I ended up keeping the french door shut to the living room, so he could look through the glass but not get to it. My son was just telling me yesterday that he thought we needed to get a kitten. I'm just not sure what I would do with the litterbox, my bath is too small to hold it.
I hope you are not getting sick. I haven't had my flu shot this year yet and I'm gettin g paranoid about germs.

Hi idie2live (I like your ID), your decorations look very pretty! We've scaled back too this year. It seems that with the kids being gone so much now (both in late teens), the incentive is less. We are renovating our kitchen, which is spilling into the rest of the house. I really want a Christmas tree, but don't know where to put it where it'll be safe! As far as being snowed in, I've never been in snow that bad. We get wicked blizzards here that are not nice to be out in, but not really deep snow that other places get. Typically we have maybe up to a foot of snow on the ground in the winter here in town, but it melts often when we get warm spells (chinooks). It does get very cold here at times - sometimes down to -40 brrrrrr.

Chris, your location is lovely - the vista is wonderful. Is that link to a webcam? If so, that's neat seeing where you live. There's a snowplow in the shot right now. The picture I posted is not out of my house, it's about a half hour drive from where I live. I live in a small(ish) town, so the scenery out my front door is kinda boring. :o)

I grew up in flat country, and LOVE the plains (hence my ID). They are a short drive from my house, so I feel like I have the best of both worlds. Now if I could only sneak a beach in there somewhere ..... lol

Well this morning it is raining so the web cam probably does not show all that much. We went down to Weiser to look at new mattresses. Came right home after instead of having lunch out. How can we eat lunch out when we have so much here to be getting rid of. Heheheheh Darn I should have looked right when we got home. I have caught us in the web cam before.

We have been snowed in big time and it is one reason we moved to where we are now. Last house had 1/4 mile long driveway. Joe had to plow his way out in the middle of the night to be able to drive out to come down to Midvale 10 miles to plow the town out. Another reason we moved here. But he will NOT be plowing this year. Long story.

Anyway then when he came home would have to plow out the four foot deep drifts to get back in. So it was really not a fun place. Would not have been so bad if he did not have to go out at 3AM to start plowing. He is now 69 years old and does not need to be out in that weather any more.

WE always keep a full pantry and freezer candles and hurricane lanterns at the ready.I have a small propane stove on the front porch and we also have a kerosene heater if the power goes out. We have lived in this cold country for 23 1/2 years now so we try to be prepared for anything. Most of the city water system is an artesian (SP?)well so we should be good for water too. But heck there is always beer and wine in the fridge. Heheheh Joking of course sort of.

So today is not the day to put up Christmas lights. The weather is supposed to be better in a couple of days. I will chance it and wait and see. The rain might turn to snow later this afternoon. It is 36 now so could snow any time. For now it is still raining.

This is us coming down the hill last spring. There are three cars. One on the side of the road and we are the little dark car right next to it. That white car had just roared past us. This was taken in May.

Time to mosaic Hehehe my day off.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Kitchen reno? Congrats! Is this a full blow out to the studs? You must be excited.
-40 degrees? I can't even wrap my mind around that! Life is really intersting. People live in tornado alley, hurricane paths, earthquake zones, the frozen north and the sweltering south and learn to adjust and don't think its anything out of the ordinary.
(But I guess beer and wine in the frige would make things better, lol)

Dog gone it Prairie-girl, I missed your post. My computer is a touchy thing and scrolls so fast sometimes.

Yes the webcam is at the top of Midvale Hill. That is our valley and the town is to the left just out of the sight of the cam. The cam is really for highway conditions. They do have some sort of night lights on it.

That is so exciting you are doing your whole kitchen. I did that once and was so excited to finally eat home cooked meals again. For the week we were with out cabinets and sink we did have to eat out or get it out and bring it home. Got old really fast.Are we going to get to see before during and after pictures? :^)

We usually get the low of -10 here but when we lived in Challis we had -30 many nights. One night we were calving for a rancher and had -30 with wind chill of -92. That was horrible and we had 14 calves born that night to haul into the barn and care for. Got the moms to feed them ASAP and then I bedded them down, dried their ears and legs so they did not freeze and mulched them in piles of straw to try to keep some heat into them. Funny how wild cows become tame when they understand you are trying to help them and their babies. The owner came in at 6 AM and was surprised to see his calves all mulched up but they lived and at the time 500 a head was a huge savings to him for a little straw.

I am so glad it is not that cold here.

Chris

Talk about Beautiful Fall Weather. I did put up the Christmas lights today and the high temp got to 56 degrees. Shocking warm for this time of year. Was perfect for putting up the lights.

I need to figure my camera settings a little better. This picture is fuzzy. I have decided to buy one of those circle lighted trees that collapse flat to store to put on my table on the porch and then I can move the reindeer that is on the table now out front. Yeppers getting rid of that old tree.It is just too hard for me to haul from the loft out and back again. Hummmmmmmmmm Swore off buying more Christmas stuff but if it makes storage easier for me I think it is the way to go.

{{!gwi}}

This is it all I am going to do. I used to do so much more. This is enough. I will put lights up at the city office outside and since the Veterans Hall is attached and same awning I will also do it. I have permission. Weather supposed to be nice again tomorrow I might do that then.

Dinner in the oven. chris

Chris, that looks so pretty! I love Christmas lights. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
If you look at my outside picture, the little tree right in front of thr steps is one of those that collaspe flat. It really is convenient. Wonder why they don't make a full size version (6' tall)? It would be much easier to store.
Have fun decorating.

Thanks Loretta. I had no idea that little tree in your yard was one of those fold flat ones. I HAVE to get one and maybe one for inside. That 6 foot tree I have in the loft has to go. I just can not lug it around and up and down those stairs to get it and put it away. I leave the lights on it and it is just too heavy for me now. I have had it 12 years so that is long enough.GADS my DH will have a fit. I can just hear it now. "More Christmas stuff???" Heheheh

Chris

Thanks for the info on the web-cam, Chris. It's neat that you got to see 'you' in the shot. lol

That's quite the story about the cows. I don't think lots of folks know how much work it is to have a farm. I am sure the farmer was very grateful for your taking care of the calves. Doesn't it always seem that cows calve in the worst weather? I don't have much experience with sheep or other livestock, so don't know if they do the same.

I'm glad your hubby doesn't have to plow anymore. That sounds like a very hard job for a much younger man! I agree that having some wine and beer 'just in case' is a good idea hahaha

Your Christmas lights are beautiful! Thank you for sharing. :o)

idie2live, our kitchen reno is going to be pretty extensive. We have a severe lack of daylight up here in the winter, so I've been crying for a bigger window for years. We finally decided that this is the year. We are taking out all the uppers on one side of the kitchen, and putting in a 10 foot long window there (above the sink). In order to have enough storage we need to make our island bigger as a result. In order to fit a larger island in, we need to remove a couple partial walls. Once we remove the partial walls, we'll need to re-do the ceiling, and put down new flooring .... and so it goes. Hopefully in the end it will all be worth it. I am so so grateful that I married a very talented man, and he can do it all, so we don't have to spend money on labour. We will do everything except the new cabinet boxes. I think we'll buy those at Ikea, and then we can make the doors.

Whew ... sorry to ramble on so much. I am really shy about posting on the main kitchen forums because they all have such huge beautiful professional kitchens. I swear my little kitchen could fit in some of those pantries!

Oh Prairie-gal. What a huge job you have ahead of you. I can understand lack of light being a problem. It depresses me to be in dark spaces. I know you will enjoy your window.

We had a custom island built. I am just tossing this out there for you. I had the guy put a cabinet under the counter top then two deep drawers under the cabinet. Two shelves. Top one half depth of bottom shelf.It worked out really well. BUT if I had it to do over again I would have had two deep drawers on the bottom and four smaller drawers where the cabinet was. The deep drawers were side by side. He wanted to do open shelves on the end and I said NO WAY thinking my love for dusting as you said. NOT

Our island was not all that big. I think about 6 foot wide 30 inches deep ,maybe I do not remember. If your island is going to be deep then I would do access from both sides with divider in center. Thinking shallow shelves on one side for canned goods /pantry things if you do not have a pantry and other kind of storage on the deeper side.

I am so excited for you to get to realize your dream and I do hope you can post pictures. No kitchen or dream is too small for us here.Speaking for me anyway.

Chris

Congratulations on your kitchen reno, prairie-girl (as I turn green with envy). It seems like you have a lot of work ahead of you. But it's great that you married a guy with some serious DIY skills!
I understand about the big and beautiful kitchens. I lurk on the Home Decor board and some of the houses are so large and so beautifully done that it does make you feel intimidated. It is almost like having a plain baby when everyone elso has a beauty, lol. But it seems that most people are accepting and willing to offer great advice.
A 10' window sounds great. You will get lots of light to brighten up your kitchen. It's amazing how the decision to do a small remodel can keep getting bigger and bigger, but it'll be woth in in the end. (I wish it was me).

Hi, I am not sure I'm quite comfortable posting pictures of my house yet. Perhaps when we're done to show the before and after. :) It would be different if there was a way to edit posts here. I could put them up temporarily, then remove them.

As far as our island, we are just going to use regular base cabinets. So far the plan is 4 x 30" drawer bases. Our countertops are going to be butcher-block or some other hardwood, as it's way less expensive than many of the other options. Over the years we've collected many woodworking tools, so won't have to buy anything specialized to do the work.

Here's a screenshot of the proposed 'new' kitchen. It's using Ikea software, so not great (no measurements etc), but you should get the idea. The overall size is about 13' x 10'.

The countertop on the island is going to hang over maybe 12" to allow stools to be put underneath. I have a little cupboard that my husband made for me a long time ago that I want to put there for the time being. (no stools for me) Here's a picture of the cupboard (it currently serves as my pantry).

I have two more similar cupboards, one with glass doors, that I store my flour, sugar, etc in. I collect old glass canisters (gallon type) and have all my dry goods in there. Here's a link to a picture of them

Our table and chairs are to the right of the kitchen. There are patio doors there that lead out to our backyard. To the left of the fridge are stairs going down to the basement.

idietolive, I'm sorry that you want so much to do renos in your house, but it's not happening for you at this time. I know that we all have priorities. I am still having a hard time justifying the expense (little as it may turn out to be) in these times of uncertainties, especially when there are so many people in the world who have so much less than I do.

prairie-girl, those are really beautiful cabinets! I love the hardware also. You've got a very effecient layout for your reno. And that island is going to be so useful.
I took early retirement earlier this year and as a retirement gift to myself, I redid my bedroom. Itook my extra bedroom and used it to enlarge my bedroom and built a walkin closet.
I've been going back and forth trying to decide what my next project will be. I have 2 threads on this forum asking for advice. It seems like I have a new 'final plan' every couple of weeks. And it is hard to talk myself into spend money for something I 'want' but do not really 'need'.
I know what you mean about the pics. It took me a while to actually post pics of my kitchen so they could see what I was working with. Afterward all I could think about is that I should have ironed those darn curtains before posting! lol
Loretta

Hi Loretta, thanks for your kind words on the yellow cupboards. :o) The hardware is (are?) antique glass knobs and pulls. I love old things, and bought them long before the cupboards were even a thought. I think that's why I'm attracted to older kitchens. I have been going through a lot of 'before and after' shots and lots of times I like the 'before' better. lol I think that many times, the functionality of 'after' would be a huge plus though. My own home was built in the late 70's one, so nothing special here worth keeping.

I'll have to have a look at your other threads and see what you're dreaming of. :o) I kind of think that more people are renovating now, instead of moving, due to the economy. It just makes sense to spend less and get something that you like/need, rather than moving.

I like your idea of merging 2 bedrooms into one. We can't take it with us, and it might as well be functional for us while we're here! I think that if it's your 'last' house, it's easier to do. We're kind of in that situation (not planning on moving again) so decided to reno to suit us, and not worry too much about resale.

Do you have pics of your bedroom here somewhere? I'd love to see them.

WOW Prairie-gal.Your kitchen plans look great!! Very workable kitchen . You already have discovered the value of drawers. So handy.

The cabinets your husband has built are wonderful. I have an old I think it is called Jelly cabinet that is very much like the two you have only solid doors and not nearly as nicely built as yours are.

Loretta you crack me up. Forgot to iron your curtains. Hehehehe I am tempted to go back and look. I never saw it. For myself I do not worry about my pictures on line. I know I am crazy and do weird decorating stuff. I guess I am old enough not to care much. We enjoy our house.

I got caught up in the cottage look when we had the last house and I was so depressed there until I went with light and breezy colors and lots of white. Also the white has a health benefit for me. My eyes are very bad and I can see better in a room when there is lots of light white things.

Chris

Forgetting to iron is the least of my worries. ;o) lol
I snooped around this forum a bit and saw some pics of both your houses. Chris, yours looks so cute - you've done a lot of work since you moved in. It looks very calm, welcoming, and comfortable - a very nice cottage look. I LOVE your jelly cabinet. (Did I mention I love old things? lol) Your town sounds like a wonderful place to live - yes, you have the hottest mayor I think. hahaha Loretta, I found your plans - sounds very ambitious - I always think adding on is SO much work. I'll have to do some more looking and comment on your other threads. :o)

Weather was great today at 48 high and when I got up this morning it was 16 degrees.Beautiful Sunny day and bright blue sky. The weather man says it is due to change soon.

I got into the Christmas decorating. Done all I plan on doing. One thing I put up in the kitchen I am not liking so it is coming down. too much clutter for me. Just a garland hung on the mirror so I might move it to the top of the china cabinet instead. Then again I might just put it away.

So this is big for me I have not done anything since 2006.Health issues. I am fine now. With little Abby ,kitten, I am afraid to do too much and really I am not all that into it myself. I put up my nativity and a few of my favorite just glass ornaments and call it good.

Thinking small house think flat. Heheheh And it works for me. Maybe next year I will drag all the old old indent bulbs out. I have had them for 40 years and they were my first husbands grandmothers. I do not trust the kitten with them yet.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Small house decorating.

Wow, you've been busy, Chris. Your decorations look very pretty. :)
Love the pic of your kitty and puppy watching TV.
I snooped through and saw some of your mosaics. You are very talented! What a neat (and unique) art form.

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. It sure does take it out of you when you're not up to snuff.

It's been so cold here. Supposed to snow like crazy tomorrow (up to 25 cm). It makes me nervous as one son drives into the city to univ. every day. I guess it's just one more thing when your kids are old enough to 'fly the coop'.

I still haven't done any decorating inside. I honestly don't know what to do. Anything I put out will get dirty when we spray the ceiling even if I cover it with plastic. This may be the first Christmas (married 20 years) I haven't done anything. :( We are still dismantling walls and re-doing electrical so I am not hopeful the spraying will be done by Christmas. It's kind of neat seeing all the old paint colours and wall-papers as we demo though.

~ Missy

Here is a link that might be useful:

Chris, your decorations are beautiful! The gun cabinet is dressed up really nice.
I was looking through your pics. First let me say that I really love your sitting area. It's exactly what I would love to have. And the white-on-white is so soothing.
Next, tell us about your headboard fence, dishpans, etc. Did you collect all of it over time (knowing what you planned)? Or did you come up with the plan, and happen to find what you needed? It is such a neat idea.

Praire-girl, show me any shade of green and I love it! If that is your old color I love it. If it's new I love it mo' better, lol

Chris - re: shoveling out for the dogs, a friend told me that they use a snow blower in their yard for a path for their dog, so I tried it last year and it worked great!! When I finished the driveway, I continued on a concrete walk on the side of the garage, then on to the grass and into the back yard, where I made several wide swaths for him. Sure made a difference for him and easier for "cleanup" for me ;-)

Thanks on the decorating compliments. I did enjoy seeing my things again after a couple of years being packed up.It only took me about an hour to decorate. It was the clean up before that took the time. I HAD to straighten my studio room because it was just bugging me and making me sad every time I went in there. Not conducive to creativity. I am enjoying seeing my Nativity again and I am already planning to use my indents next year just on the garland with no tree. Unless I get really brave with the kitties.

LOL on the garden junk. I have collected this stuff for years and hauling it around. It is a given when we move the junk goes with us.DH does not even try to argue about it we just move it. When I sell our houses I just tell the people none of the yard rust stays. Usually I have it all taken down and stacked up before I start to show the house. This time I hope we will not be moving from here. We have moved 11 times in 24 years. In and out twice at the same house. :^(

I started with two smashed headboards and had a big collection when the flood hit at one of our houses and I lost many of them down the river. The headboard fence had been such a hit with the neighbors many people brought me their old headboards to replace the ones lost. This is a good place to live. We were so blessed in our time of need.People opened their hearts and houses to us to live in even people we did not know just mailed us keys to their homes. We were out of our house for 3 months before we could make it livable again.

So then my collection built up. And the silly dishpans just started appearing at yard sales and I was using them for planters when we were moving all the time I planted my favorite plants in them and took them with us.This last move I know it was three 6 by 16 foot long trailer loads of just plants and containers came to this new house. A good thing because there was only one small tree here and weeds waste deep.

And the galvanized buckets the same as the dish pans. They just started appearing. I do not yard sale much any more. I am a bit over whelmed with too much junk. I still have lots more to do to this yard. My job got in the way this summer. Next summer things should be better and I should not have to work so much.

My health is fine now.Still getting a tumor here and there to deal with but really I am doing very well. I had BC in 2007 and we moved in 2008 and a new yard and house and as much as I hate to fall back on the age thing I did turn 60 this year and just not as strong physically as I used to be. That is just the worst for me. I get frustrated when I can not do what I used to be able to easily. GGGGRRRR OK whine over.

Chris

Hi Loretta, I love green too! It's my all time favourite colour. :o)

The green in that pic is my before (and after) green. We had talked about getting rid of it, but I can't bear to, so are just going to touch up in the same green after we're done. Thank goodness I saved the paint chip! Green is a very hard colour to choose. I seem to recall we had a half a dozen different 'swatches' on the wall trying to pick.

Here are a couple of shots of the table area before demo. One's in natural evening light, the other with a flash.

I have a very non-traditional light fixture above the table. When we were shopping for one, I just could not find a nice 'normal' one that I liked. I found this one with roses, and decided that 'not-normal' would work for us. lol

Please forgive the air compressor and other accoutrements of 'almost done-ness'. I took these a few years ago when we were just done painting. I'll work on uploading some newer pics soon. The area looks a bit different now, as we've moved some furniture around a bit, and I have the two new cupboards that my hubby built for me.

prairie-girl, that is a nice pic. That green works with your dining room set. It seems like you already have a spacious dining (and kitchen?) area. So, I'm looking forward to what your reno will look like.

Chris, you have an adventerous life! Floods, moving 11 times! However you came accross your treasures, you have done an excellent job of using them.
Have you ever looked at the forum about yard art? They also have a lot of neat found objects that they use in their yards.
I have 2 friends who had BC - both are doing fine, thank God. One of them has to take some horribly expensive meds for 5 years and she says that it always saps all of her strength. On the days when she has to 'be busy' she takes them later in the day so she can run errands, go to appts, etc. I certainly hope you continue to do well and take care of yourself. My new favorite saying is:
"Old age ain't no place for sissies". (Betty Davis)
If we're gonna be old, we'd better be tough!
Loretta

Hi, sorry I missed your post before, Chris. I am kind of slow when typing and it seems that sometimes when I post I miss one or two if people are posting at around the same time.
I am glad you are a 'survivor'. I agree with Loretta on the strength required. It takes guts and courage to deal with something like that - you can never fully forget.

Sounds to me like you're doing very well for 60! I've been reading about all the work you've done in your house/yard, besides working outside the home. You are inspirational. :o)

Loretta, I think our main floor (entry, kitchen, 'dining', and living room) is about 650 sq ft. Our house is a 4 level split, so top level is bedrooms, main is main, down one level is bedrooms/bath/mudroom/back door, and basement is family/laundry/storage. I know lots of folks don't like splits, but we always have because it feels like the beds are more private or something.

Love the "Old age ain't no place for sissies" quote!

I took a pic of the snow with the lights on our hedge in the background. I think it's safe to say that fall is over and winter has arrived up here. lol

Oh Prairie-gal your green is delicious. Do you have what they are calling a tray ceiling in your dinning room?Your green would make a wonderful accent wall in our living room with the green we have in the kitchen. I am also a very green color person and purple too. I painted our last two houses perfect mint. Walmart paint.

Am I confuzzled. Are you adding that wall or removing it between kitchen and dinning room?

I really am fine and no meds for me. I used holistic herbs and salve, prayer, and attitute to get me through this. I am just upset with myself for being so slow to get things done. Next year I hope to do better.

Chris

Hi Chris, the ceiling is not a tray ceiling (had to google it). It's a popcorn ceiling that we scraped in that pattern (straight around the edges and a quarter circle curve in the corners), and then painted the same colour as the walls. I don't have a closeup but maybe this will show it a bit better.

We did the same kind of scraping the edges in our old house, but instead of painting the whole edge, I put a stripe around it, and painted a rose in the corner.

We are removing the partial wall between the kitchen and the dining area (along with another partial wall), in order to make room for the new window and larger island. The wall has to remain to some extent, because the kitchen is a 'bump-out' (going from about 7 feet or so to about 28 inches). It works out to just about the depth of the bottom cabinets, so that works out well for us. :o)

Here is a link that might be useful:

Now I have "snow envy", lol That is a beautiful picture! Can you believe it snowed in Huston, Texas and in southern Louisana today? That's just crazy. We're supposed to have freezing temps tomorrow night - and then it's back into the 60's, lol

Well, Chris, this may sound crazy, but it is true. Whenever I put trash in the rollcart, I would always go down the steps, put it in and jump back up onto the porch w/o using the steps. I'm 5'11" tall so I could easily do this. Well, about 5 years ago, it suddenly ocurred to me that I was having trouble getting back onto the porch (not enough strength in my legs). I almost cried. I realized that my 'young' days were truly behind me. Sigh, it only gets worse, lol

Hi Loretta,
I will see if I can find the yard Art forum. Sounds fun. I am not so sure my junk is art. Heheheheh

Yah I am very frustrated I can not do as I used to be able to. I am not giving up I have come a very long way in the yard here from nothing but weeds and mud to what is here now. Hoping next year I will get into the fine tuning of the yard. I am not a landscape designer. I really do not have a clue what I am doing. And to do it all at once sort of boggled me. Most of the hardest is behind me now. I am looking forward to spring but first I want to enjoy my winter.

Prairie gal I just love your ceilings and the painting you did. Already see your color is great. The added ceiling details just make it so interesting and it looks so pretty!! It really looks like it is different levels i the ceiling. Just so pretty.

Now I see the wall that is coming down.

Your chandelier is great too. I love fancy lights.

Chris

Trancegemini_wa you inspired me to try to finish a project. I did the tile on my window sill months ago and did not like the way it turned out so I removed the part I did not like and did it over with other glass. I also got paint on the wood holding the kitty door out to their kennel. I do need to do another coat of paint but it needs to dry first.

Still not great. I needed tiles on the sills because there is no formal sill and if I tried to wash them the texture came off so I just tiled them The kitties sit on the sills and make them dirty so I am wiping at them all the time.The glass part is purple but shows black in the picture.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Chris, the name of the forum is Garden Junk. I think you'll love it. They do some really cool stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Junk

oh I missed this post, I love everyone's xmas decorations! I havent put any up yet,maybe next week lol. If I wait long enough I wont have to put them up at all.

prairie girl you've got some serious renovation going on! I cant wait to see your kitchen unfold and I love those cupboards you have! I also love the feature painting you did it looks gorgeous

shades that's great, I always get inspired when i see other people doing things. I LOVE your sill! do you have a close up of the tiling? That's a great idea tiling them because of the cats.

wow there's just so much going on in here and I was missing it!

I missed reading this post. Figured no one would be real interested in my temps. On the other hand we do have 2 degrees out and this doesn't include windchill. Odd summer, fall got frozen out (no changing of the leaves) and 3 snow falls with these horrible temps.

This is great that Smaller Homes is getting to know each other.
Everyone seems to have so much in common and a bond of interests.

Chris, I went to look at all of your pics. You have done so much. Like you, my age cuts productivity time. Irks me getting old.

Prarie, your area looks so much like the Rockies in CO, just up the road from me.

I'll try to catch up along the way. Hope we continue to share.

Sandy in CO

Good morning :o)

Chris, your window sills look wonderful! I'd love to see closer pictures too.

trancegemini_wa, I am very recently come to this forum. but I'll welcome you anyways! Thank you for your kind words! lol @ waiting long enough for Christmas decorating in order to avoid it completely. hehehe I finally broke down yesterday and went and bought a tiny tree. I just couldn't bear the thought of *no* Christmas tree! I will put bare minimum deco on it, and post a picture after.

Loretta, any time you have 'snow envy', you're welcome to come and visit .... you might freeze your nose today. On the morning news this morning they were mentioning places that are colder than we are today - the moon actually came up! It's bitter out there (-27Celcius or -35 with wind chill = -17 F)

Sandy, we must be stuck in the same weather pattern. I think that's often the case as you are directly south of us, and the Rockies seem to play a big part in what happens. I have friends down there, and have seen pics, and you're right - the Rockies look very similar whether you're here or there. :o) I'd love to see some pictures of your area.

Thanks for the compliments on the window sills. Right now they are just ice cold and I need to grout them. I am not sure how it would be to grout such a cold space. I do know my fingers would not like it. I have a closer picture of one I did on the studio window.It is same tiles different edging. The edging in the bedroom is just those glass globs. All the window sills need to be grouted. I will wait for warmer weather and more time. This week is going to be bad for projects for me because I need to prepare for another council meeting next Monday. UGH

Speaking of weather we are also especially cold here . It was 7 when I got up at 8:30 this morning and Joe said it was 5 when he got up. Our high was 33 degrees. Down to 29 already. I was laughing at the wild kitty trying to get a frozen hotcake off the ground. So I heated him up a waffle I had in the freezer. Hehehehe I know not all that good for their diets but there are four of them and they will share it. We feed them regular cat food mostly.

I too am so glad this forum is taking off again. Maybe we drift away in the summer when there is so much outside stuff to get done.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Studio window sill.

oh I love the sill shades! Im really tempted after seeing that to pull the tiles off a sill somewhere and give it a go :) I'd love to add some built in mosaics to my house somewhere and one of the things I love so much about your mosaics is how you do that and make it look it so right, not gaudy or overdone. You really have a talent for some brilliant ideas and designs. How long have you been mosaicing?

Trancegemini,

These sills are so easy to do. I use silicone to set the times and glass pieces. I did use white silicone on the colored glass to give them good backing for color. So it is just tiles from Home Depot and I also got the colored glass pieces there too. I do have a grinder to knock off the cut edges so they will not cut you. A person could also use a dremel tool.

I do not remember when I started to do mosaics. A few years ago is all. I am not really that good. I do enjoy it.

What I find so interesting is many people that do mosaics have also done quilting. We seem to be people that like to cut things up only to put back together again.

So is this some psychological thing. Are we wanting to fix everything and make it right. Or do we always think we can make things better. by changing some one elses design. Just something to ponder.

Thanks for the compliments. Mosaics are very fun and also very addicting.

Chris

no you really are very talented. Your mosaics look incredible to me but especially the way you choose your patterns and colours. I thought you must have been doing it for years.

I have trouble doing it now because I bought a pup just over a year ago and every time I try to mosaic she picks up little pieces of tile and walks off with them and tries to eat them and I just dont have anywhere to do it where I can shut her out. It worries me so much that I've hardly done any since I've had her.

oh I forgot to post the pics of the ones I did for the patio. It's just a little plaque and matching pot.

oops, I have to upload them to photobucket again...

Chris...As a child I got in more trouble at school for not following directions. Like sewing, always had to change it to something else. My life has continued that way. A project is never just simple, my signature needs to be on it. I think this is just our creative side, visions anew, not taking the straight and narrow road. Has caused me to make messes that take time to get out of too.

Trance..your mosiacs are beautiful too. Such patience in all of these. I can see the issue you have with your little pup while breaking up tiles. Maybe a little soft muzzle while all of this is going on...or not. They don't really like them and you would probably have more diversion from your little friend.

I wish I could send tile to both of you from Habitat Restore where I volunteer. We get in tile company sample books and lately there have been many of the glass tiles. One customer makes stepping stones from all types of tiles and sells them at the farmer's market. They are embedded in different concrete shapes.

I'm freezing here and sick of listening to the furnace go on.

OH Man I understand hearing the furnace go on thing. YUCK I just see $$$$$ floating around out of our wallet. Sigh. This house is pretty good to hold the heat but like you we have been pretty darn cold here the last week.

trancegemini, Your mosaics are really pretty. We have a kitten and I am having the same trouble as you. And have to keep all the glass bits covered and put away when I am not using them That trunk is in our kitchen and too big to move to my studio so I can not shut it off. I have to close her up while I work or hope she is sleeping. Then when I do have to stop I use tape to hold things down.

Loretta I missed the Garden Junk like earlier. I will check it out. Probably will get me in more trouble. Heheheheh

Up early to get some work done and it is not happening sitting here. :^(((

Chris

Prairie-girl, I love those little emoticons (sp?). It seems like most of you are having cold weather. It was 74 degrees here yesterday (unseasonably warm). People are still wearing flip flops and tank tops! (Not me, though).

trancegemini, your mosiacs are very nice. I'm realizing that I have not got a creative bone in my body! But I sure do enjoy the results of other peoples imagination!

I don't know how I've managed to miss the updates on this thread.

Big welcome to Prairie-Girl! Your house is great. I love the way you did the ceilings. What a lot of work but it is gorgeous! You said in an earlier post that you wish you could delete pictures after posting them. You can. You can either delete them from your photo hosting site, or change the name of the file on your photo hosting site, and they will disappear from here.

Chris & Loretta, I love your decorated houses. That doesn't look like a folding tree to me either Loretta. I need two of those. Chris, how did you do your nativity scene? I love the greenery around the mirror and couldn't figure out how you had everything laid out. I have a nativity scene but no background for it and it always looks so bare just on a table.

jumping in here late to this post..we have just experienced our first blizzard of the year with about 18" on the ground now..son plowing as I type..

I put out just 3 strands of icicle lights..on the front porch, but inside..not as many as Chris did..didn't do any other outside decorations this year..as much snow as we have they would be buried anyway.

have done some really simple things in the house..but may not put up a tree, we have no company at all over the holidays..

i have a quilt on the dining table and a wreath around a candle holder and a few other things ..bouquets of greens, snowglobe, some other seasonal things..but it is very very simple right now..may get more complicated in the next couple of weeks..we'll see.

Martia8a, The greens are just those wired garlands. There is one strand of larger white bulbs shaped like pine cones would around in the garland and a couple strands of the little white lights. Then I tucked the garland behind the corners of the morror on each end. Threw some beads at it and called it done. If you do not have a mirror just use a coulpe of hooks to hold it up. they are not all that heavy. I used some batting on the top of the gun cabinet and then this plastic iridescent stuff. Had it for years and keep using it over and over and it sort of gives the whole thing a dreamy look. When I do my village it is really fun with that plastic stuff. Course then I am picking it up until March all over the house.

Hehehe Council meeting Monday night Might wear some in my hair. Sheese they would KNOW I am insane. But what the heck I think I will do it. I am 60 and have earned the right to be crazy. My husband will be so embarrassed.OH Can't Wait. Hehehehehehe

Chris

trancegemini_wa, your mosaics are beautiful!
marti8a, thanks for your welcome, and the info on pic removal. I'm getting braver. :o) We'll see how it goes down the road.
Chris, I love the idea of wearing some batting in your hair for the council meeting! lol What a fun thing to do! (my hubby thinks I'm crazy too!!)

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry! It's snowing here (again) and getting very 'wintery'. It's actually kind of unusual - most years we seem to have 'brown Christmases'. It's rather pretty - if a pain to get around in.

~ Missy

thanks prairie :) how are the kitchen plans going? I cant wait to see pics of it once you get started your DH must be so handy after looking at those cupboards he made.

Hi trance :o) I'll work on getting some progress pics up today (likely in the 'winter weather' thread. It's going very slowly (which I think is pretty typical for DIY renos). It doesn't help that we are so cold right now. The window manufacturer phoned and wanted to deliver the new window last week, but we put them off and asked to wait till this week. It's supposed to warm up towards the weekend. It still might be too cold to install, but we'll see.

prairie I totally understand slow, even my little projects take forever so a kitchen reno will take some time. How about starting a whole new topic so we can keep a watch of your progress? I find it really motivating to see other people at work, and I honestly cant wait to see what you do with this. what were you planning to do with the cupboards your DH made, are they going to be part of the new design or will you use them somewhere else? me, I couldnt part with those and would want to use them somewhere.

Hi trance, I am definitely going to keep and use the yellow cupboards that my hubby made. They are among 'my favourite things'. I plan on putting one on the end of my new island, and the other two should pretty much stay where they are now - as a sort of divider between the LR and kitchen. Well, that's the plan anyways lol we'll see what happens when we're done. :o) If there isn't enough room for them where they are now, they likely will go on the other wall, behind the table.
I am kind of embarrassed to start my own thread. I don't have a lot going on as far as progress yet, and my house really is pretty plain jane. I haven't found software that's easy enough to use to draw nice plans to give folks the idea of what I want to do, so I worry that it might be too confusing just randomly posting.

~Missy

Awwwwwwwwww, Prairie-girl! Please go ahead and start a seperate thread about the reno. We know progress is slow, but it'll be a place to keep all the updates together.
--my house really is pretty plain jane.
Well, most of us are in the same boat - just doing the best we can. When I did my bedroom last summer, I was super excited to see it come together. I can still see all of the finishing details that need to be done, but I still have put that pic up lots of time, lol So some people might think its plain and not quite "done", but I'm pretty happy. And everyone on this board is super supportive.
Post away!