Tackle It Tuesday

Thank you all so much for your Anniversary wishes! It is a week of tackling here as we are on a working vacation. It feels good to cross things off our list and to make some needed improvements to our home. I will share just a couple of tackles today. First, Sweetheart has done a huge amount of work out front.Everything was so void of color. First he trimmed the bushes and trees. Then he power washed the house. It was very dirty! Next he put down mulch and planted flowers and a fresh coat of paint on the glider. The effects are wonderful.
Forgive the mulch on the sidewalk...we had a terrible storm blow through last night. Yesterday he worked in the garage, reorganizing and building shelves to house the many cans of paint we own.

I have been tackling jobs in the house. All the kitchen cupboards and drawers needed cleaning out. Here is the worst of the worst, before and after (I am hanging my head in shame). My baking center/medicine cupboard/utility cupboard.

Before....

After....
The pantry (both of them) got a good cleaning out too. I still have the frig to do, then the kitchen is done.

I had to pull out the big guns for this next tackle....

To remind you of what Charlotte's room look"ed" like....
Now the area between the bed and the wall is a problem. Charlotte got her first pimple a couple of weeks ago. She asked for a tube of zit cream. I bought her one and explained how to use it. Here is the thing...I should have never allowed her to "have" the tube. She painted her carpeting with it!!!!
The entire carpet from her bed to the wall!!!!!!!
It must be the peroxide in the zit cream, but there was no fixing this. My Miracle Worker status would not even help. So now Charlotte's room looks like this.
The bed has been moved over to the edge of the messed up carpet. Everything looks "off" but at least I do not have to look at that carpeting. By the way, shampooing it made it worse!!! It is bad, but it could be worse...she could have done it in the family room!!!! Charlotte's zits will just have to heal on their own, as she will never get pimple cream again! Today is another day of storms and heat. The plan????

Painting. The little powder room is getting painted and the entryway will get sponged. Do people still sponge paint?? I doubt I will like the effect, but it is a quick fix to bad walls in the entryway. We will paint it properly when we have the time...it will take 6-7 gallons to do! The packet is a paint additive. It makes paint smell like something other than paint. My paint will smell like vanilla! I will let you know how it works.

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Blessings, Bren

Tackle It Tuesday and My Tuesday

Is there a room in your home that NEVER stays clean??? No matter what I do, my sewing room/office is always a mess. The desk is a catch all and my sewing supplies are everywhere. I clean it and in less than 24 hours it is a disaster again. So once again my Tackle is this, never ending, mess of a room.

BEFOREAFTERBEFORE (my desk top, blurred)AfterTuesday is my day to work upstairs, but I spent a big part of the weekend deep cleaning up here. Yesterday, the entire downstairs was dusted, vacuumed, and cleaned. What does that mean for today?Quilting Deadlines...I have so many of them, but will be able to finish this project today.

Another decorating dilemma. My mother gave me these pictures when my sister moved in. She says now that my sister has moved to her new home, she needs them back!! I understand that, but I need to do something with that wall. I would LOVE to hang my pre Civil War era antique quilt there, but Sweetheart is not big on quilts hanging on the wall. Sad for me, a lover of quilts.It is bubble gum pink and lime green. The quilt dates back to the 1850's, but a new binding was added over the original in the 1940's. It received a ribbon in the local quilt show!

Here is something else I wanted to show you. How many of you buy organic meat? I love organic meat, but at 6.99 a pound for ground beef, it is not a good choice for our pocketbook. I sell my homemade soy candles at our local health food grocery store "Choices". When I get my money from these candles (after splitting it with my partner, Rachel) I spend it on organic meat and seasonings, which I normally could not afford to buy. Last night while making tacos, I could not believe the difference in the organic ground beef and the Kroeger ground round! The organic beef was so much leaner and darker than the Kroger beef (which was suppose to be much leaner!)Little TJ came yesterday while Rachel had her sugar test. He had a rough start!
Lot's of whining and wanting something, then not wanting it. Yelling at Zach (who is his yelling role model), when finally I said firmly, with pointed finger, "TJ! That is enough. No more yelling and you talk nice, or you will get a time out." Zach was sitting there watching the whole thing in awe....TJ's bottom lip came out and the tears started to roll. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Zach watched this all happen and looked from the sobbing TJ, up to me. He looked very concerned and said, "Don't buy it, Mom!!" I started laughing and could not stop, which turned TJ's sobs into laughter and Zach standing there shaking his head with a look of disappointment on his face. "Too late", he said! Anyway, TJ was a much nicer boy after that, so it was a success.

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Tackle It Tuesday

Like I mentioned yesterday, this weeks tackle took place at my Mom's house. In her kitchen to be exact.Sweetheart put up the wallpaper and border in her kitchen countless years ago. Really, I can't remember it has been that long.Well, it's comin' down!!! No, that was not the tackle...she hired people to come do it and then to paint her kitchen and a spare room which will become a computer room. My tackle was to help her prepare for the hired group. I cleaned all the wood in the spare room, door frames, window frames, baseboards. Clean away all cob webs. Also in the kitchen. We also cleared her counter tops.Look closely at the counter top. It is a sage green paisley out of the 60's or early 70's. She wants to replace it, but I LOVE it and so did the decorator she hired, who thankfully convinced her to keep it! It is in great shape. She actually tried to burn it several years ago so they would HAVE to replace it. No luck...it would not burn.

I also wiped down all the wonderful tile she has. It, too, is original and so great! I love it...she is rethinking her hatred of it.Isn't it great??? She IS replacing the sink though. I don't blame her on that one, though I would keep it myself and just replace the fixtures. It is also sage green.We got everything done in short order. The kids played a game while we worked. I will be sure to show you the end result next week. I am going back on Monday to do all her cupboards inside and out!Afterwards Grandma took us to lunch at "The Red Flame" Can you believe they had an Atkin's section on their menu??!!While waiting for our food, Zach snacked on a dinner roll and loudly asked me

"Is this where ALL the old people come to eat???"
After looking around, I whispered, "Yes, Zachary, it certainly appears that way!"
My mother blessed me in another way too. Lunch was great, but wait til you see what treasures she gave me!! So wonderful I can't even stand it!!! I will show you tomorrow!

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Tackle It Tuesday Revived

The Dungeon

I have never taken you downstairs before. Oh, wait...I have taken you to Kyle's room in the past. Let me show you the rest.

It is a safe bet to make an immediate left at the bottom of the stairs.....

Yes, Kyle always keeps his room tidy and neat. It is the one area of the house I never have to worry about. Every once in a while I need to remind him to use Hazel's hose around the ceiling and floor boards.

Now if you had taken a right.... This is the furnace/storage room. This is actually the after pic. The before pic would have been horrible. Sweetheart took care of this room solo 2 weekends ago.
It was all in preparation for the movers to take my sister's things she had stored here to her new house. She moved last week and many of her belongings were kept here.....

This is a large rectangle shaped room. One day the entire basement will be finished. There is a shower stall and all the plumbing is piped in for a bathroom. One day....

In the mean time, it is cement galore!!!! Here is the other end....

Those are before pictures. What did we do with this space????

After

Still lots of concrete and cement, but a usable space for getting a good workout. There is a bench for upper body and then another for lower body and upper too. The treadmill is again up and running. There is even a stereo and television with cable and a small play area for the kids if they are invited. I may evict them from this area before they even enter it!!!! I have lost another 4 pounds and am 1 pound away from when I "gave up" a few months ago. When I hit 10 again can I go buy another yard of fabric???? I think not.

The area with the pink chairs is a mix of storage and Sweetheart's music. He plays guitar and sings for pleasure. That was a BIG tackle and I am SO glad it is done!! Now on to the laundry challenge!!!!!

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