Blooming Again!
My mom has had the same amaryllis bulbs for years, they bloom year after year. Four years ago I purchase a few bulbs hoping I’d be able to do the same.
Luckily, they have bloomed every year since, I guess I got my mom’s green thumb when it comes to amaryllises. These however are not at all like my mother’s amaryllises. Hers are always in shades of pink, coral, white and red with big showy blossoms. She loves a colorful bloom and rolled her eyes when I gave her bulbs for a few green ones. Here’s a shot of her dining nook one year.
I don’t like those normal colors and always opt for something a little out of the ordinary. Mine are all various shades of green. This particular one is the ‘Evergreen’. It’s funny because my mom hates green flowers, though I gave her a bulb for each variety.
I have a few more that are in the bud stage, they’ll be green too. One is ‘Green Dragon’ and I forget what the other one is.
Do you have any flowering bulbs blooming indoors?
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So Long College Dorm Room
The room upstairs that we’re in the process of redoing was equipped with plastic mini blinds. Exactly like the ones that were in every single dorm room window at the college that Mr Chiots and I both attended. Needless to say, they didn’t stick around when we redid the room. They were replaces with nice wooden blinds from IKEA. These are great blinds, they look fantastic and are very inexpensive. They’re not the ones I would pick if I was buying them for life, but they’ll do for now. Eventually we’re going to redo the house and all the windows will be removed and replaced with larger windows.
They’re also nice because you can adjust the length so they look like custom blinds (which I hadn’t done in the photo below). These ended up being the perfect size for our windows. We originally purchased a set of these for our upstairs bedroom build when we lived in Ohio, we liked them so much I decided they would work perfectly here. Now I just have to replace 6 more in various rooms!
Of course I much prefer a more sheer floor length curtain instead of blinds, but the windows can use the extra insulation that these provide. Eventually I’ll make curtains for this room as well, but probably not until I find just the right fabric. These are also nice because they darken the room considerably when closed, no doubt guests will appreciate that when they’re visiting.
What kind of window coverings do you like best?
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Necessity is the Mother of Invention
I’ve been working on hand quilting a quilt that I made a few months ago. The original plan was to quilt it on my machine, but it’s not the best machine and I didn’t like the way the first row came out. Since I wanted this quilt to be a little more relaxed in feel, I thought hand quilting was the way to go.
The only problem was that I didn’t have a thimble. After finished a quarter of the quilt, my finger was very sore. Then I remember an old leather riding glove that Mr Chiots had picked up in a parking lot once. It was stashed in my sewing scrap box. Off to Google I went and found this pattern to make your own leather thimble.
After a few minutes of work my thimble was ready. I didn’t have to run to the store or spend any money and since I made it myself it fit perfectly.
After using it for only a few stitches I knew it was perfect, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever made. You can bet that I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for soft leather gloves to make thimbles for my sewing box.
I love it when I can avoid purchasing something by making it myself. It’s even better if I can use found object for my supplies. Whenever I can make do with something I feel like I’ve won the lottery!
Have you made something for yourself recently to avoid purchasing it?
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Friday Favorites: Lights
I love big Christmas lights, the C7 and C9 sizes are my favorites. For our Olympic party we strung up lights in an area of our kitchen. I love the low ambient light they cast so much I’m thinking about leaving them up. I’m really sensitive to bright lights, so lighting like this is perfect for me.
They produce the perfect amount of light, it’s not too bright and not too dark. It casts light into the kitchen, bathroom and dining room allowing us to not have to turn on lights when moving about the house in the evening hours.
Lest you think this is a little crazy, it really fits right in with the eclectic look of this place. In this room there is outdoor board and batton siding, deer antlers and an old glass ball light, which were all here when we arrived. The lights fit right in! I was thinking about getting cafe lights for our back porch, but I might get a string for this room. They’d be slightly less kitschy than the Christmas lights.
What’s your favorite kind of lighting in the evening hours?
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Busy Hands
As you know, we’ve been watching the Olympics. I’m not one to sit around and do nothing, even if I’m watching TV. I like to keep my hands busy doing something. Usually it’s writing and working on my computer that keep my hands busy, but all the cozy hats people are wearing at the events made me want to crochet. Luckily I scored some lovely yarn at one of my favorite yarn stores on Tuesday. I set to work last night working on a hat for a friend.
It turned out just how I had hoped, a beautiful mix of colors and textures. Araucania Liwen yarn was used in two different colors crocheted together since the pattern used a chunky yarn (here’s the pattern in case anyone is interested). I need to make a pompom for the top and then send it off. It’s too bad I didn’t finish it sooner, my friend would have been able to put this hat to good use during the cold weather in the midwest. At least she’ll have it for many years to come.
What’s your favorite busy work to do when you don’t want to waste time?
