Snow Update and Paintings Finished

Remember the snow from yesterday?

The forecast wasn't for very much... 

...And we ended up with close to 6 inches.

So no work outside for me. Although I might walk to the grocery store if it gets above freezing.

On a better note, the paintings are (almost) done!

(you can see the inspiration here and progress here and here)

The blue print IS done. I just need to get a super fine tipped pen to finish up all of the small writing and designs on the map. It doesn't quite look complete without it.

And I'm very happy with how both of them turned out...

(Sorry if these are a bit blurry... Living in a basement isn't good for taking photos w/o flash and the flash just washes them out.)

I even hung them all by myself.

They might look a little small for the wall, but we're not here permanently, so I consider their placement temporary.

And now I've got to get back to my "spring cleaning..." Who knew washing walls, windowsills and baseboards is so time consuming?

Linking up to:

Spring Cleaning

I was really hoping to get another coat or two on the table today, get the legs sanded, maybe even start work on the chairs....

And I wake up to this:

I mean, seriously. Spring has started. But apparently the local weather missed the memo.

So instead, I'm going to do some spring cleaning.

Image courtesy of Martha

And as crazy as this may sound to some (but not at all crazy to my mother), I've never done a spring cleaning before. Because, well.... I hate cleaning. It's not therapeutic for me. And yeah it's nice once everything is clean, but even that's not enough of an incentive.

But, we found out we will be moving in a few months, so I might as well get a jump start on it now and have less to do and worry about later...

So I went on the hunt to find an "ultimate spring cleaning checklist" because I know there are things I should be cleaning that I haven't even thought of. And of course, the master of all things house and home, Martha Stewart, has a pretty thorough checklist.

And while I'm elbow deep in Pine-Sol, Miss Freyja will be doing what she does best....

Napping.

And hopefully not making extra messes for me to clean up [which she LOVES to do :) ]

Best. Invention. Ever.

Okay, so maybe not the best invention of all time (because I know if you asked the bf, he'd say the iPad), but it's definitely my favorite invention of the week:

The Bounce Dryer Bar

I hate doing laundry. And unlike most people, it's not just the folding. It's everything about it. I've got to cart loads of clothes (we seem to have more laundry than most two person households), re-sort them (because the bf usually just tosses things into either side with no regard for color), fight them into the machine (it's one of those stacked W/D combos), pour in soap (which inevitably makes a mess), bleach if necessary (which is ever so tedious, trying not to ruin the clothes I'm wearing), actually remember to move them (I seem to have to rerun them again far too often), dry them (and hoping I remembered a dryer sheet), fold them, put them away, fight the dog for the dryer sheet and clean up pieces of said dryer sheet for days.  

No one likes doing laundry.

But this little invention makes what is an unbearable a little more bearable. No worrying about whether I actually used a dryer sheet. No problems with running out of dryer sheets (at least for three months). No more fighting the dog for the dryer sheet, having to pull pieces out of her mouth and cleaning it up off the floor. not to mention it's actually cheaper (at least here) than a box of dryer sheets that would last the same amount of time.

I've had mine for a week now and it's working great. I did see (via some googling) that a lot of other people have had problems with them falling off, melting, ruining clothing etc. I haven't had a single one. 

My recommendation? Buy one and try it first with a load of old towels. Because it's totally worth it.

Now I've got to get back to DOING the laundry, not just whining about it [if only whining DID really get things done :) ]

The joys of ironing

I am not a domestic diva. I hate all housework, with one exception: ironing.

I learned from my dad how to iron because "it looked fun" and somehow, it still is. So I do 99% of the ironing in our house; even though none of it is mine. 

It doesn't hurt that the bf can't iron to save his life (but that's okay, he's good at lots of things I really hate doing). And I can't send him to work looking like a kid that just started dressing for school on his own.

So, I iron a few times a week.

And there's something kind of rewarding from turning this:

into this: