Wednesday, January 9, 2019

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!


7 comments:

  1. It was so good to catch up with you. I've been a terrible blogger also and hope to do better in 2019. I love your short hair but I'm not that brave, still wearing mine chin length. I loved #41 and will miss his wisdom very much. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So good to hear from you, Linda. I got so tired of all the time I had to spend on my hair over the holidays that last week I went to my hairdresser and just said, "new Year. I'm tired. Cut it all off." And I meant it. I wish I'd done this a long time ago but I wasn't very brave then either; so much easier now though. It's hard to believe that both George and Barbara Bush are gone. They were very kind to our kids on many occasions. Hope you are doing well Hugs back at 'ya! Cheryl

      Delete
  2. Wow - you have been very productively busy! Love your stairs & craft room. I too am a liberal Dem, but am sad we lost the Bushes & Sen McCain, as I respected them. Happy New Year! Mary in Dallas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mary, Thanks for taking the time to comment. Both the Bushes and John McCain always put country over party and had character; they were admirable no matter what party they belonged to. Unlike our current president. Elections matter but so does character, as we're finding out. Is it frustrating being a liberal in Texas or have you found others who share your values? I've been to Dallas a couple of times; beautiful city. Last time was to pick up our Casita camper in Rice, TX. Flew into Dallas and drove the camper back to Maine - so much fun! Glad you like my craft room. So do I! I spend over 50% of my time there now that I'm retires; what a luxury! Hope you'll stop back again, Have a good week. ~Cheryl

      Delete
  3. What beautiful photos and what energy! Do you live in a movie set?
    Thanks for the informative update, and good luck with your 2019 goals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kick, I am full of energy but don't live in a movie set, although Southern Maine often looks like one. I love it here although, when we travel, we have seen so many other beautiful places here and abroad. Some of our favorites: The South and specifically the low country around Charleston, S.C.,, northern New England, Arizona & Mexico, the UL, and magical Portugal. What a beautiful world we live in! Have a great week and thanks for taking the time to read my post and leave a comment. ~Cheryl

      Delete

I hope you'll leave a Comment . . . they make this blogger's day!