Friday Favorite: The Winter Olympics

Mr Chiots and I are big fans of the Winter Olympics, so much so that we get cable TV just for the month they are on.  This year was no different.  We’re even having an opening ceremonies party this evening, complete with foods from around the world.


I made this great flag bunting for our living room, it’s a free download from Mr Printables.  Colored lights added to the ambiance as did paper chains and other fun things.


I made a few different kinds of soup and naan for the main meal, everyone else is bringing appetizers and beverages.  We also have opening ceremonies bingo to add to the fun.  Mr Chiots is pretty excited about curling and I can’t wait for the biathlon.

What’s your favorite winter sport? 

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Tedious Trim

The upstairs bedroom redo is coming along quite nicely. The walls and ceiling were painted with three coats of ‘Classic White’ Benjamin Moore eggshell paint and they look fabulous. The trim is being painted in the same color but in a satin paint so it has a bit of a sheen. The goal was a blank canvas and it worked. I’m excited to get the baseboards painted and installed so furniture can start being added.  Those are new wood, simple square pieces that will be painted white as well.

Meanwhile, I’m still painting the trim. It needed a good sanding first, as it hadn’t received that vital step before being sealed. The result was raised woodgrain that defied being dusted or cleaned. I gave all the trim (along with the walls and ceiling) a good sanding before we got started. I also filled all the nail holes with putty.  Then a few coats of primer were painted on to seal in any stain.

After several coats of primer, a coat of white paint was added and is still in the process of being added.  Painting moulding is a tedious process and seems to take forever.  All the trim in the room takes me about an hour for each coat.  So far I’ve painted five coats and will most likely do one or two more.  After that I’ll take my scraper to any paint that accidentally made it’s way onto the windows.

It looks fantastic though, crisp and clean, light and bright – just what I was hoping for. A good cleaning of the windows also helped brighten the room, if you’ve been reading here long you know I how much I appreciate a clean window (each window takes about an hour since I have to take out the storm windows and clean them as well).  I can’t wait to get all the shelves and tables in here along with all my sewing supplies.  Then I’ll be searching for a queen sized bed for guests, hopefully I’ll be able to find something old and interesting from a local antique store.

Has anything tedious been taking up your time? 

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ZZZZZZZ – Still Sleeping

My 5×5 garden is still sleeping, there’s a little snow on the ground now, but we’re forecasted to get a nice layer today. There will be no planting in my garden any time soon. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do, it’s planning time for the garden. Time to decide what you want to grow and plan out where they will go. For those of you that live in the southern areas it’s time to start thinking about getting started.

In case you’re wondering why there is short fencing in the garden – it keeps the chickens out. Last fall they kept scratching up my endive seedlings. Even though the garden is still asleep, I noticed my lemon thyme peeking out from beneath the snow. It will be ready to season delicious meals in a few months.

I’m undecided as to which vegetables I’ll be growing this year, most likely something different than the last. Lettuce is a sure thing, as are flowers of some sort and a tomato as well. The remaining sections of the garden are still up for grabs.

What do you think I should plant in the 5×5 garden this year? 

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Homegrown

On Saturday I was making venison stew.  As I pulled potatoes out of the bag from the root cellar I found this:

This isn’t the first time I have harvested a heart shaped vegetable from my garden. Many years ago I got a heart shaped tomato as well.

I love all the different colors, shapes and sizes of homegrown vegetables.

Have you ever harvested vegetables that were funny shapes?

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Cultivate Simple 64: We’re Having A Party

An honest and unrehearsed discussion about trying to live a more simple life. This is episode and today we are talking parties!

Books of the Week

What theme have you used for a party

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:16 — 36.6MB)

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