Category: Home & Hearth
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Family Stockings
After many years of celebrating Christmas together, last year Regan and I decided it was time to make stockings for our little family. Some friends of ours saw those stockings and mentioned they might like something for their growing family. Nearly a year later, I finally got around to making that happen. These are made…
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Small Projects
Big projects are making me sweat. Lately I’m just not in the mood to mess up and so I find myself fitting in small projects here and there to try to build my confidence. Two years ago I picked up a chair at a neighbor’s yard sale. It was pretty perfect except the seat needed…
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December 1
Last night we decorated the house for Christmas and this morning we woke to flurries and chill. We followed a brisk walk in the park at sunrise with a breakfast of hot coffee and steel cut oats. I kept my ceramic mug filled with tea all day and worked happily away with Sufjan Stevens Christmas…
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With Fresh Eyes
During summer I spend as much time out of the house as possible, knowing that when winter comes somehow I’ll have missed out on vital sun and warmth if I don’t take advantage of each opportunity for Vitamin D. Even on muggy 90 degree evenings, I’ll drag Regan outside to have dinner in the backyard,…
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A Study in Opposites
Jack is very much an only dog. He devours all our attention and seems to always frantically seek more. For about a year we’ve been discussing the possibility of getting a new dog. We felt like getting another could be perfect for all of us … or disastrous. We haven’t been aggressive in our search,…
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Trimming the Tree
Grand plans for doing things (making gifts) don’t always see the light around here for various reasons (the plague I seem to have caught this weekend). But this week we did manage to trim the tree and make some stockings. This will be our seventh Christmas together and we’ve never really established a holiday routine…
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Long Weekend
As a reward for all the long hours worked over the past few weeks, management gave staff a four day weekend. Regan took these days off with me and together we had a bang-up time. We decided to throw a Halloween party. We don’t often throw parties because each time we have people over I…
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Priced to Sell
It’s rare I find anything at yardsales. I used to go with lofty expectations, but after sifting through countless bins containing half-used bottles of shampoo for $0.25 or packages of plastic Hawaiian leis, those expectations have been lowered. However, my mom seems to have a knack for finding just the right thing at yardsales- sturdy…
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List Making at its Best
I’m a born list maker. Whenever I clean out notepads from work I have to-do lists and household budgets interspersed with granting requirements and half developed curriculum. And it always seems like my goals are loftier than my abilities or my drive. Pretty much the only things that get knocked off my lists are the…