Pack It Up

• The car got a once-over by the Honda guys.
• The suitcase is (almost completely) packed.
• The cooler and snack box are packed.
• The iTunes and audiobooks and podcasts are loaded.
• The Garmin has a new voice.
• I have my passport.
• The car is washed.
• I have cash for tolls.
• I have hostess gifts.
• The cat-sitter is lined up.
• I need ice, breakfast, and coffee in the morning.

T minus twelve hours and counting.

One of my absolute favorite poems:

Travel ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.

All night there isn’t a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine steaming.

My heart is warm with friends I make,
And better friends I’ll not be knowing;
Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take,
No matter where it’s going.

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“skillful in underhand or evil schemes; cunning; deceitful; sly”

Oops, wrong definition of crafty.  I mean the one that says “skillful or with ability, especially in handiwork.”  Yeah, that.

I have been putting the new craft room to use.

I’ve been doing some sewing and mending, and then my friend Denise, Queen of Decoupage, came over this morning.

She decoupaged a picture frame while I covered a composition book to make a journal.

Then we both worked on the covers to our old 1970’s era sewing machines.

I added some printed itty-bitty kanji characters and cutouts of woodblock kimono prints.

But I think my favorite finished project was one I’d been meaning to do for a week.

When I got the sofa, I kept a couple of cushions from the old one.

They didn’t not match or anything, but I thought they’d look better if I re-covered them.

Using this extremely fast and easy method, I whipped out two pillow covers in well under an hour.

I found the fabric in the bargain bin at JoAnn.  I wasn’t sure about it at first but it’s definitely grown on me and now I really like it.

Altogether not a bad day’s work!

Knitters, do not despair.  I am still knitting away on the ESP (Enormous Stealth Project).  It is probably within two weeks of finishing (one hopes).  Especially since I go back to work on Monday.

Yes.  Monday.  Wherefore went thou, summer?

Not-So-Extreme Makeover, Home Edition

Before:

Back in October I started with this living room.

Over fall break I painted it.  Lacy donated two chairs and last week there was a trip to the Ikea store with Denise and Michelle.

On Wednesday, Denise and Lacy and I tore apart the house, put together the new furniture, and moved a lot of the old.

The little Ikea instruction guy recommends two people put together the sofa.

He doesn’t say what to do if your helper tries to bury you under it.

Eventually we wrestled it together succeeded.

After:

Then the office became the bedroom.

The futon from the basement moved into the former bedroom

and it became the guest room / office.

Finally, the basement.  Before:

Before the Great Ikea Trip, I put down carpet squares.  With a long table, bookcases, and lamps from Ikea, it became my craft room.

A place I can leave the sewing machine set up and spread out my work.

With an idea board.

And a distressed and decoupaged shelf.  Perfect to hold my knitting WIP bags so they’re not stuck hanging on the back of the kitchen chairs.

Now when things get hairy at work this year I have a perfect retreat at home.

And today, the icing on the cake.

Thanks Dad!

I truly have been very blessed this summer.

Someone else is pretty satisfied with it all as well.