Moving To A Schoolhouse 1: Small Living Room on a Budget

My dear friend, Mary Elizabeth, is strong, creative, and never indecisive. Within a month, she decided to sell her home here in Applegate and downsize even further, to a new Senior Living complex just a few miles away.  In a matter of weeks, she has listed her home and moved to a newly renovated schoolhouse here in Falmouth.  We've enjoyed helping her.

This is Plummer School. It was built as Falmouth High School in 1931. and then served elementary students until a few years ago. As in many communities around the country, these beautiful old school buildings are finding new life as senior apartments.

It's kind of sad to see old school buildings giving way to modernization and yet, as a retired teacher, it makes me happy that they are not being torn down. In fact, Plummer School is on the National Register of Historic Places. Here it is just before renovation began. I can almost hear the ghosts of students past, gossiping between classes before the bell rings.

Each classroom makes a perfect-sized apartment for one or two people. Mary Elizabeth chose a small one bedroom unit , only 612 square feet. She looked at larger ones but liked the view hers has; it faces west and overlooks the old playground, which has been updated with flowering trees and walking trails.

So # 204 it is! Home Sweet Home!

Mary Elizabeth's living room is only 11 feet by 15 feet and has to do double duty as a dining area.

There were many challenges to decorating this room including : 1. Mary Elizabeth has a piano,  2. She wanted to bring her little electric parlor stove with her, and 3. Mary Elizabeth is on a limited budget. 

Although this is a work in progress, here's what has been accomplished so far. The walls are a warm beige; the woodwork is off-white. Neither can be changed.  I love the huge old school house windows and high, high ceilings. Both make the room look larger than it is.

We haven't spent much on this project so far (or should I say Mary Elizabeth hasn't; she always says hanging out with me usually costs her money!).  I love the curtains. We found them for only $12.99 a pair for 84" at our local Rhode Island Job Lots store.  Total cost to dress two huge windows" $26.00!

Mary Elizabeth loves both farmhouse and coastal styles and already had a lot of accessories we could use. I love the arrangement she did on her blue shelf above the stove. We updated further by adding the 24" tobacco basket which we found at T.J. Maxx for only $12.99. As you can see, there is still "stuff" on the floor to the right of the stove waiting to be unpacked . . . eventually.

While we were at it, we added a few accessories to Mary Elizabeth's front entrance. Since she spent her career working for AT&T, the wall phone was a must. The distressed chalkboard for messages and phone numbers was a Goodwill find (new) for $11.00.

And behind the door, we repositioned Mary Elizabeth's coat rack from her Applegate home, along with her "Falmouth" sign.

This is the living room before she moved in, taken from the window wall and facing the kitchen.

Mary Elizabeth found this adorable table and chair set for only $50.00 at one of her favorite antique shops. It's perfect here!

Today, DH and I went over to Plummer School to help Mary Elizabeth hang shelves and bedroom curtains. There's still a lot to do but I look forward to updating the blog with progress in the bedroom and storage areas of this cozy little classroom turned home!

So . . . can we live comfortably in smaller spaces as we age? Yes! 

Can we do it on a budget? Absolutely!

Can it be fun? For sure!

This post is linked to:

Homestyle Gathering 3 at My Wee Abode
Best of the Weekend Link Party at Calypso In the Country
Blogging Grandmothers Link Party at Grammy's Grid
Amaze Me Monday #300 at Dwellings
J & J Link Up #178 at Plunky's Second Thought
Flaunt It Friday #435 at Chic on a Shoe String

The Fat Trap

Since I last wrote about the "150 Project" back in April of last year, I really fell off the "healthy lifestyle" wagon. I just wasn't motivated. As a result, between then and now, I've gained at least 15 pounds -  and I wasn't tiny then!

 Christmas was the final straw.  I thought I went to a party looking like a foxy "Mrs. Claus" and then I saw this photo. Seeing it was a reality check, for sure.  Look at those boobs! Look at those arms! Look at that invisible waistline! I have to face it:

I'm fat.

So three weeks ago I rejoined Weight Watchers ("WW")  to work my way back to my goa weight of 150. It was a relief, actually. My eating had gotten out of control with travel and the holidays.  And, (Tada!) it worked: I lost 7.3 pounds my first week back!

I also went way out of my comfort zone and joined Planet Fitness.

Which I love because it's a "no judgement zone". 

There are people working out there of every age, shape and size.

My kind of place!

I always hated gym class in school, which is probably how I ended up fat. Running the track was my idea of hell. But as of week #3, this gym isn't so bad. I can exercise, or not, and work at my own pace. I usually do 2 miles on the treadmill at a fast walk (3.0 mph) and then some circuit training and stretches.  I'm lucky here too: DH is my personal trainer!

I've been going to the gym 3-4 times a week for the past three weeks and finally eating right - lots of chicken and fish. Tomorrow is weigh-in day at Weight Watchers. I'll let you know how I do.

Meantime, hope springs eternal!

Do you have to work hard to maintain a healthy weight or does it just come naturally for you? Have you found that the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight? Or, like some of my friends of a certain age, have you reached the point where it just doesn't matter and you've accepted yourself at whatever size you are?  I'd love to hear how others cope with "feeling fat". Is it just me?

Yours in Bumble Bee Snack Packs!

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday # 485 at A Stroll Through Life
Amaze Me Monday #300 at Dwellings

My Sister's Dolls

Do these Ginny dolls look familiar? If they do, you're probably a "Boomer" like me. My sisters and I loved collecting the dolls and their outfits back in the 1950's.  These two dolls belonged to my "little sister", Nancy. Unlike me, who lost all of my old dolls over the years, Nancy took care of hers and displayed them on a shelf in her craft room.

Here is a photo of my sisters and I on Christmas morning 1953. I'm in the middle and Nancy is on the right - only 15 months old then. As you can see, we got dolls that Christmas. I still remember the ones my sister, Andrea, and I got because (with just a little maternal assistance) they walked!

When Nancy passed away in 2010, after a long battle with ovarian cancer, I was devastated. Her dolls were the last thing I thought about. They ended up in an attic somewhere, I think. I didn't care. I didn't care about much then, actually, except that Nancy was gone. It still aches every day. She was only 58 and my best friend.

And then, a few months ago, Nancy's widower, Aaron, called me. He was moving and found the box in the attic that held Nancy's dolls. He asked me if I'd like to have them. Are you kidding? Of course, I wanted them. 

I wanted to touch them again. To hold them and smell them and try to get a whiff of Nancy, of childhood, of happy/sad sisters' memories.

So now the dolls are on the shelf in my craft room. 

I remember how much Nancy wanted a Betsy Wetsy.

Our mother was reluctant because of the "mess" the doll might make but Nancy was adament and, that Christmas she got this one.

Over the years, she rubbed most of the hair of the old girl!

And then came the piece de resistance . . . Barbie! I still remember every detail of the day I got my first Barbie. Mine is long gone now. But Nancy kept hers.  Here she is, strutting her stuff in the Marilyn Monroe outfit our Mom made for her.

With the original Barbie case and all!

I'm so lucky to have Nancy's dolls. They bring back painfully beautiful memories of childhood and sisterhood that were almost lost.  Like sitting on the porch of our cottage at Wells Beach playing with our dolls together as the surf crashed below us. Like learning to sew at our mother's knee by making clothes for Ginny and Barbie on her old Featherweight. Like fighting, as only sisters can, over whose doll was prettiest.

Do you have keepsakes from your childhood that, when you touch them, make you feel six or seven or eight or ten years old again? Can you close your eyes and it's almost as if you're back there - just one more time?

Where does the time go?

This post is linked to:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Share Your Style Link Party #193 at 21 Rosemary Lane
Inspire Me Tuesday #486 at A Stroll Through Life
Blogging Gradmothers Link Party at Grammy's Grid
Amaze Me Monday #300 at Dwellings

Snow Day

There's something magical about waking up to the sound of the wind gusting outside the window, hearing the pings of hail hitting the skylight, and slowly opening the bedroom curtains to expose a world turned white.  I feel like a kid again, ready to yell, "Snow Day!"

As a kid, that meant getting out our ice skates and and heading to "the Pond".  Now, although my choices are a little less physically challenging, I still love that gift of unexpected, unplanned time.

Time to  . . . 

          Work on the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.

Sew buttons on the two cardigan sweaters my friend Margaret just completed. Margaret is my knitting "mentor". In exchange for her help with my simple projects, I sew the buttons on her more complicated ones.

                    Margaret's sweaters are always colorful; just what I need to work on on this gray day.

Yesterday, Margaret showed me how to interpret the directions for this hat project which I got at Fiber College. I love the hand-dyed yarn. I promised to allow myself some time to start this project today. We'll see. Snow Days have an uncanny way of flying by!

And, every Snow Day should include some time for a good book, right? 

Here's my current stash!

In addition to everything else, DH and I spent an hour of our snow day working on travel plans. We're headed to Portugal (a magical place!) and Spain in October. I finally hit "Purchase" and booked the airline tickets today: Boston to Lisbon, Portugal and then  home to Boston from Barcelona, Spain, Can't wait!

                  And finally, this unplanned Snow Day is providing time to catch up on my little blog.

So much to do at Applegate Lane.

Happy Snow Day!

This post is linked to:

Sundays at Home Party at Little Farmstead

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #254 at Bluesky at Home

Amaze Me Monday #298 at Dwellings

485th Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life

Procrastination

Happy New Year from Maine! I haven't posted for almost two months and I apologize to my few, but loyal, blog friends. I love to write, take photos, decorate, or go on adventures and blog about them and I've missed doing it. I promise to do better in 2019!

Winter has arrived here in coastal Maine but it has been mild so far. This is our street; across from it is beautiful Casco Bay, which leads to the Atlantic Ocean near Portland (the "other" Portland!)

With my stair project done, you'd think I would have taken a break but . . . you'd be wrong. The stairs came out so good sans wall-to-wall carpet that I plowed right ahead and started on the second floor, which houses my craft room, our master suite, and a second-floor laundry.

Which required squeezing every bit of furniture, clothing, and decor into the laundry room and bathroom while we worked on the floors. What a mess!

Here is a "before"picture of our master before the icky old aqua carpet was removed. 

We replaced it with red oak flooring. It was quite a learning process for me as there are so many new flooring products on the market today. I had no idea about the virtues of vinyl planks vs. engineered hardwood vs. laminate and so on.  After lots of research and speaking with helpful professionals,  we chose red oak engineered hardwood to compliment the floors downstairs.

We did have the flooring professionally installed and it looks beautiful. What a change!

 Here it is in my craft room, one side . . . 

And the other.

When  the floors were done, I decided to add some curtains to the craft room. I love how "boho" and unexpected these are, with their mix of colors and textures.

And since I've been reading at my craft table (and I LOVE to read), I treated myself to my very own reading corner in the newly-floored craft room. I had the lamp, bought a little C-table at Home Goods for my books, and ordered the chaise from Wayfair.  FYI: This was my first purchase from Wayfair and I couldn't be more pleased; they sent free fabric samples when I was deciding on the fabric and shipping was free and fast. If you've never seen my craft room, here's a link to a post I did about it. I spend most of my time in this room!

By the time the second floor was back together, it was Thanksgiving. Literally. I love these little bottle-brush turkey place card holders I found at Home Goods. Only $1.99 each. I gave them to my sister as a hostess gift on Thanksgiving Day. Heck, she was doing the cooking this year!

We  had barely finished all the Thanksgiving leftovers when the Christmas season got started. The first two weekends in December are "Christmas Prelude" in Kennebunkport , a great time for Christmas shopping, fireworks, and catching up with old friends.

Speaking of Kennebunkport, I have to acknowledge the passing of President Bush #41. He will be missed by all of us who he considered his neighbors. I am a liberal Democrat but knew him to be an exceptionally honest and caring man. He will be missed.

And then it was Christmas . . . .

I spent all my time making Christmas gifts and not enough of it working on my blog. 

I love this stamp. I had it made at Staples and use it to make my own gift tags, gift bags, gift wrap and Christmas cards on plain brown paper. Simple to wrap or embellish with plain old garden twine.

I found these vintage Bingo cards at an antique shop in North Carolina last March. 

With some cut and paste and a little ribbon, they made tree ornaments, a holiday banner for our fireplace, and Christmas cards for special friends.

I posted Tips for Stenciling Flour Sack Towels in August and, between then and December 25th, completed 46 (OMG!) of them to give as Christmas gifts. I found images I liked on the Internet and cut my own stencils on Mylar using an Exacto knife. 

                    The Kitchenaide mixer stencil took awhile to cut out but it's my favorite.

                                      Whew! No wonder I didn't have time left to blog!

             And then there were the driftwood Christmas trees to finish . . . 

Homemade Maine Christmas folk art with driftwood collected in Searsport, Maine.

But on Christmas morning, all of the preparation was worth it.

After Christmas Day, a walk on Wells Beach was exactly what was needed to center myself again.

For the New Year, I decided to go crazy and cut off all my hair. Really!

Here we are before; halfway before anyway . . . 

And after. 

Short, sassy, and oh so easy!

And, ever the optimist, I rejoined Weight Watchers AND Planet Fitness for 2019. 

Hope springs eternal!

Last weekend, we had a great day outdoors at the farm of our friends Survivor Bob and Peg Crowley in nearby Durham, Maine.  

The occasion was the Crowley's annual "Christmas Tree Burning Party".

So much fun and so nice to be outdoors on a mild winter's day .

Which brings me to today.

I think we're actually caught up.

I promise to be less of a blog-procrastinator in 2019.

Happy New Year!