Inbetween contracts

Work is super slow right now. As in nilch. Nada. Nuttin'. Waiting for contract to be signed. But I still have to show up and sit and wait. All day. I do do some things, like turn on the lights. Make it appear like an active office. Pay a couple of bills. Look at some spreadsheets. And watch for the post man. That has been exciting; three different postmen over the past few weeks. Our usual postman was promoted to a better route. A better route for him, he tells me. "Less packages to tote around for delivery, flatter terra firma". We have had a few temporary postmen, until one lands this route.

Sometimes I see a matinee and then return to work. Yesterday I saw Ides of March. Last week I caught Elite Killers. The week before, Driver. Before that, Crazy.Stupid.Love. And I am forgetting a few in between. Ryan Gosling was in three of the movies that were released this fall. Lucky me. And Yes, it takes THAT long for a contract to be signed.

Sometimes I leave early. Like today. I will pick up my son after school and take him shopping. He went to school today wearing shorts, t-shirt and sweatshirt. Its 35 degrees and snow in the forecast. He asked me why I haven't done laundry. I asked him why he wouldn't wear one of the three pair of long pants that are in his dresser drawer.

He wins. Well, in the long run at least, as I'll take him shopping tonight. But I am pretty sure he was very, very cold after his 15 minute walk to school. I didn't know 9 year olds could be so particular about clothing. Although he had forewarned me. "No cords. No sweatpants (anymore)." And he is a Libra. Same as me. And yea, it can take me a few years to find a perfect pair of pants. SO I should know and more so, be understanding.

My daughter comes to work with me on Monday and Fridays. And we do nothing together for the day.  For a few hours on the other days she continues with her babysitter, so I can do the office stuff. As well, her babysitter is having her own baby in a few weeks and we thought it better to continue this way, until her baby arrives..  But this morning, as I dressed Lucy, as per usual, and tucked her little ribbed velvet blackish leggings into her shiny little black boots she said "bye". As in, "Bye dad, I'm going with my mom today." She cried while I tried shutting the door leaving her on the inside. I cried too. I console myself, as she gets to spend time with her dad; its wet and cold outside. I'm walking to work... But that moment cannot be erased from my mind, especially while I am sitting here with no work to do.

My days of nothingness... I did buy a mouse today. My 10+ year old mouse was dying. The past few weeks I had to bang the mouse down on the pad to move the cursor, rather then rolling it across the pad. The new mouse has helped significantly; blood pressure down, annoyance levels flattened.  I will be able to return to work tomorrow. If I waited a day longer, I may have quit.

SO along with a working mouse and oodles of time and my small new obsession, the CB2 Piazza velvet storm sofa. 

living room olio design board #6

Thankful for Olio boards (well, for a few minutes). And until the contract is signed, I can work this sofa on the design board and see if it will end up in my living room.

Linking up with The Woven Moments monthly best. 

Check out a bunch of best posts from the month of October.

Backyard Stage 1: Pea gravel patio

Like Autumn temperatures dropping, my backyard project winds down and my attention and efforts return indoors. Besides the 1 cubic yard of left over pea gravel I need to move before the snow falls (did I dream that, hmmm. Yes I did, snow had fallen last night, in my dreams) I leave you with some stage 1 backyard pea gravel patio pictures.

Some stepping stones.

Large stone edging and raised garden area - ok, this picture does it no justice at all, but there it is! (Amaranth was cut down and pile of soil leveled and darn weeds have returned)

Looking back
The Beginning (digging out grass and concrete slabs):

Progress (oops, some over growth):

Restarting:

Current (hmmm, it shouldn't be so square looking, the lines were more rounded and natural):

This weekend I may look for a shrub / tree to put in the raised garden.  The plan is to work at building a natural fence along the north side (left side of picture), then remove the chain link and perhaps put in a post and rail fence, but for the time being it is useful for keeping the dog in and block the view of a parking lot (its a student rental and their backyard is a parking lot).


While researching patios and ideas for my backyard I discovered there is a huge LOVE / HATE relationship for pea gravel patios. When I stumbled across this idea, I thought it was perfect for the backyard and my needs. 1) The patio was meant to be somewhat temporary, until I build the deck off of the dining room window. 2) I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, since it's an in between stage to the deck project. 3) I wanted to do it myself. 4) I loved the look of pea gravel patios and decided that a raised deck off of the dining room with steps down to a secondary patio would be really cool.  Pea gravel also works works well for my back yard as there are no trees around the area which means low maintenance / no dead leaves to pick out of the gravel. (Scroll to the bottom of any of the "idea" & "pea gravel patio" links to see other pea gravel patio inspiration photos or check out my pinterest board)

Considerations for backyard
1) I wanted the backyard to be accessible from the main level house. Right now I have to go to the basement to let the dog out. That became OLD very quickly.  Building a raised deck and changing a window to french doors is the long term plan.
2) I also want a BBQ in easy reach of the kitchen/dining room. Going downstairs and thru the basement to get outside completely discourages me from BBQ'ing.
2) I want the backyard to remain a play area for the kids, which, right now, means a long stretch of open space to throw a football. The garden will go down the side of the north fence in hopes of becoming a natural fence line so I can take down the chain link.
3) Get rid of chain link. This will open up the south side of the backyard, and the stone retaining wall will serve as a boundry between driveway and yard area.
5) The back of the yard is a steep, rocky but manageable cliff with a line of trees. This gives us privacy from the back neighbours and a fun, challenging area for Chaz to play.
6) Sitting area. The deck will be smallish and the pea gravel patio will serve as the mingling area. I want a large spool for a table. I used to have one of these industrial sized spools that I used for a dining room table. And then when I moved to my first house, it became an outdoor table, stained black. In retrospect and sadly, I left it behind because at the time, under the circumstances I was in, and it being the very last item to move, it happened to be too big to fit through the gate and I lacked energy and will, so I said screw it and left it for the new owners. But now I want it.

black spool, on its side, under a carpet, 331 kensington, circa 10/2005

The to do, overtime, list
-test soil-buy trees/shrub plants for fence garden
-choose some edible plants (blueberry bush, perhaps) to plant
-collect more stones to edge the raised garden
-work on dry stream bed
-place pavers down between stream bed and fence
-remove bad tree
-build deck and french doors in place of single window. Or just extend a paver patio area.
-build fort
-remove chain link fence.Yep. That has to go.

BUT for now, I need to haul the rest of pea gravel to back yard so it doesn't cause a problem with shoveling and snow plowing when winter arrives. Ugh.

A {easy to make} Tutu

You will need an elastic head band and some tulle.  I used 1 yard of tulle.

Cut the tulle in strips, approximately 1/2" - 1" wide.

Tie the strips around the elastic band.  The dots on this tulle make it a bit tricky to get a snug knot.

And voila, a tutu. (Trim the length of tutu as desired)

And the tutu in motion. She was eager to test it, twirling around and moving things, so fun for her, hard for me to get a decent photo.

This is her witches costume tutu!  I still want to embellish the skirt with some gold or silver string. And we have a tulle cape that I made for my son when he was around this age. And a witches hat, of course.

Ribbon or fabric strips would also make a cute tutu!

Due credit: I snagged this easy to make tutu idea from the book Crafty Mama by Abby Percoriello

Fall favourites

Crocheted hats

via Etsy

Argyle

via Anthropologie

and sweater dresses

via

Elbow patch sweaters

via

and colourful cords

via

Tunics

via

and Leather boots

BUT, my absolute all time fall favourite ...

via

PUMPKIN PIE for breakfast

Sunday Autumn recipe - mixed Dahl

1/2 cup yellow split peas
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup split mung beans
2 tblsp ghee (indian type of butter)
3 tsps black mustard seeds
1/2 tspn black onion seeds
2 medium brown onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tblsp grated fresh ginger
1 tblsp ground cumin
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chili powders
 2 x 400g cans tomatoes
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup cream
2 tblsp chopped fresh coriander leaves


-------
rinse yellow peas. place in a bowl of water to soak (30mins).
rinse lentils and beans and set aside

heat ghee in large sauce pan; cook seeds, stirring until they start to pop.
add onion, garlic, and ginger; cook stirring until onion is lightly browned

add ground spices; cook stirring for 1 minute
add yellow split peas, lentils, beans, undrained crushed tomatoes and stock; simmer, covered.
30 minutes or until red lentils are tender

just before serving add rest of ingredients; stir over low heat until heated through.

compliments of Women's Weekly Indian cooking

Oh My Darling! Colourful fall

Dress: H&M - our new, favourite dress
Cords: Old Navy - and our new, favourite cords
Boots: Marshall's

Sunday Autumn recipe: Brown rice, lentils and spices

brown rice, lentils and spices

• 4oz brown rice
• 4oz puy or french indigo lentils (gotta have the tiny brown lentils that do not get mushy)
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1oz butter
• salt, pepper

rinse rice and lentils in sieve and leave to drain.
gently heat oil in sauce pan
add the spices and mix in oil / cook for a minute
add the rice and lentils and cook, stirring to coat the rice and lentils in spices

add the butter and 14fl oz of water

cover and bring to boil
stir butter into the rice and lentils

reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook the mixture with the lid on for about 40 minutes or liquid steams away


If you want caramelized onions:
2 onions, 2 tablespoons of olive oil

heat  2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook over medium heat stirring frequently for 20 minutes or until the onions are caramelized

season to taste

stir the onions through the rice and lentils. Cover and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving

delicious as a snack or with grilled salmon, or snack with tomatoes

355kcal
8g protein
21g fat
35 carbohydrate
3g fibre
3.5mg of iron

from Pregnancy Food by Sophie Braimbridge & Jenny Copeland SRD.

This recipe is a staple of ours, regardless of our maternal state.

Pea gravel transit process

That is slow work, bucket by bucket. And now, the raining weekend has slowed me down even more.

Kitchen floor tile

I may have, *almost*, made a very, very important decorating decision!  Yep, headline news, at least in blog world.  Floor tile for the kitchen AND the vestibule.

I had been considering some kind of rock for the kitchen. Perhaps slate.  Actually, previous to the slate idea, I was certain I would have Mexican terra cotta tiles. This is what I grew up with and I love my moms kitchen floor. BUT then I discovered "Scandi decor" and have been drawn to it ever since.  While researching kitchen inspiration I seemed to pin a lot of kitchens with black floors.  Natural textured it had to be; slate seemed perfect.

But there were a few considerations I have to work through with my contract-Her; mostly whether my kitchen can sustain the weight of slate. And the thickness of slate set beside the joining rooms.

Then one day I went to a museum and used their restroom facilities. I was completely taken with the small squared black tile floor. Huge space, little black ceramic tiles, maybe 2"x2", with dark gray or black grout. I really liked the look of it.


And THEN, this past weekend, we were visiting my parents to celebrate Canada's Thanksgiving weekend. My mom and I went to Home Depot (she is finishing her bathroom reno) and I was browsing the tiles when I stumbled across Thee Perfect Solution.

CityScape - Carbon
"Cityscape is a contemporary stone-look series that creates a sophisticated feel for any room."

I am not necessarily aiming for contemporary, but stone-look, yes. And a natural footsy feel, definitely. At a mere $2.49 / sq ft. Compared to a possibility: Daltile 12 in. x 12 in. Brazil Black Slate Floor and Wall Tile $28.26 / sq. ft
(I haven't done any price research on slate as of yet, but these are today's prices on one companys' website)

I also like the Cityscape Mosaic for the vestibule. This small rectangle is what first caught my attention in tile section of H. D..  Oddly, the small rectangle tile does not appear to be available on the American website, which is where I am.

Dining room update

8 months later and the dining room light fixture is dangling in all its sweetness!

That works out to 2 weekends / 1 week spent trying to do electrical work myself.  Another week anticipating that the Contract-Her would finish my attempts. 6 months and 3 weeks to call an electrician. 1 week to call a different electrician. 3 weeks turn around / waiting time for the electrician to show up.  And 1.5 hours of electrical magic to make my lighting dreams come true.

And after all that time, I still love 'em. Phew!


Product info: West Elm Industrial Bulb pendant, UrbanOutfitters Damask Curtain, Pier 1 peacock dining chairr (that will eventually be replaced), Artwork: Milkweed b&w photos by me; Letters from Micheal's Art store, painted by me.

Farmland Autumn inspiration

I have posted some farmland photos on my photo blog, if you are interested in some autumn colours.

Oh My Darling! Welcome Fall cozy clothing

jacket:  Zara - Moss fleece for the fall
vest: Kanz - fuzzy fleece for the fall
shirt: H&M - light pink stripes
pants: H&M - cable knit leggings for the fall - I could use some of these!
shoes: Stride Rite - big girl shoes! - hand me downs from big brother
hat: knitted w/ fall colours from Ayten - my hat, actually