Monkey Lobster

reclaimed

A little before, during, and after:

The shelf is located along our new interior wall where the ladders are in this photo.

As soon as the vinyl siding came down I stared thinking about the many ways I would have to use these pine boards.

I managed to choose the coldest day of the year to work on this project. These are the days that I am grateful for my ridiculously warm and absurdly ugly super fill down jacket.

The creative process on a larger scale is such a novelty for me, I used a jig saw for the first time and cut some curves following the knots in the pine. So fun.

I was hoping to create something unique, modern, and industrial looking while maintaining the original shape and appeal of the boards. I love the big circular saw marks, holes and wear that the boards hold so I sanded enough to keep fingers and books safe. If you can't tell I'm thrilled with how it came out.






I plan to put Uncle Peter's painting "big coloured mama" above the shelf and hang musical instrument around it on the wall. The house feels more and more like my house everyday.

Wood and Wheat

So this is my woodworking studio, well it's not really mine but I use it once a week for a few hours. And this is the truck that was suppose to be a Christmas present for Cyrus.......oh well, it's done now. 

 And while I was working, my husband was at home feeding my kids and baking this loaf of bread.

And now I'm eating some, MMMMMMMMM.  He calls it his ugly bread.  It is a very simple no knead bread, really NO KNEADING.  It's a very crusty loaf and will go great with our french onion soup tomorrow night.

I love my mud-room

I can't believe that I am saying this.  It is usually a big cluttered mess, but with some creativity and organization everything has it's place. I was inspired by Amanda Soule's post of some initial labeled mitten baskets and made some of my own.

Last year I made this coat tree and it worked great so this year I made one for the kids. 

 I used a piece of bannister for the pole (because it was so much cheaper), some old dowels and cut a circle from a piece of poplar (but a square would work too).  I screwed the bottom to the post and glued the dowel in. A saw, a drill with a big bit, some glue and about $10 is all it takes.  Working with wood is not as hard as I thought it would be.The best part, is that is all gets put away with the warm weather and the mud-room becomes a porch again.

The contents of my fridge

No really, that's it.  What is there to write about when my biggest accomplishment is making it to the store and back.  Go ahead, take a look, I always wonder what other people have in their fridges and shelves.  O.K. have a peek at that too.................... any similarities?On the subject of food, Elsa is writing a book about How to Keep Your Body Healthy .  This is an ongoing conversation for us.  Her best friend and neighbor gets to "eat food that makes her happy", and we, her parents don't give her things to make her happy.  Now this of course is not true, we do however "give her (for the most part) food that makes her body healthy, that in turn makes her happy".  This is a battle that I am willing to continue to fight.  Anyone winning yet?Chickens and their eggs play an important role in our family of course.  There's nothing like cracking a warm fresh egg in the morning.

I also had to include this shot of Cyrus playing with this car and ramp I built him months ago, and has been ignored up until now.  Ahhhh so satisfying for ME.