Slow Weekend Tidbits

Hello!

It's been a slow week here - taking each day in stride, trying to focus on our health and Matt's surgery recovery. We've been going for walks and riding the Peloton regularly, and adding in some strength training workouts that hurt for days (for me anyway!). It's also been computer heavy on the creative side - with me working on adding all of our jewelry listings. We are up to 44 active listings on the Hide and Hair Gems Etsy account!

Yesterday I went outside to clean up a mess I made two weekends ago, and ended up weeding the raspberry patch/flower patch next to the deck for roughly three hours. It was my first sunburn of the season...and wasn't nearly as bad as they have been in the past. But my raspberry patch looks better than it has in a long time!!

I also worked on a commissioned Mala this week. The beads I used were gorgeous Labradorite 8 and 10 mm round beads. The flash in some of those beads were unbelievable. 

                                               

In addition to spending a ton of time on my phone/the computer for the Etsy listings, I've also still been working on uploading our photos and organizing them into folders in Google Photos. We are trying to consolidate our Japanese honeymoon photos and our wedding photos into one place so we can pick out a couple of pictures to hang on our walls. It's going to be a tough decision I fear. 

Hope you all have a lovely week coming up!

Etsy Weekends - Decor Details

A while back I took a photo of Norman in the bedroom, and when I was looking at it later, I realized just how terrible our light switch cover looked. It had been screwed on too tightly at some point and cracked from the pressure. I mentioned this to my husband, who pointed out, as he often does, that "This is a rental Kirsten." I countered that beautiful light plate covers are an affordable way to add personal decor details, that we can VERY EASILY remove and take with us when we move. You just have to keep track of where you keep the old plates. :) Anyway, here's one I think I'll ask for at Christmastime this year. It is after all only six months away.

Light switch Cover from Ideas in Wood

July Tidbits

Hello Everyone!

It's been two whole weeks and I don't have much to report craft-wise. I started taking allergy shots to help combat my allergy issues (turns out I'm really allergic to grass, and regular allergic to pretty much everything else lol) so I've been pretty focused on that. I have to sit for a half hour after each shot - which would be a great time to knit, but my current project is the baby blanket, which is huge and difficult to carry around...so I've been reading! It's been a rough year for reading, and I've only just finished my second book for the year. (They were both children's books too...lol)

Jasper Fforde

I did spend most of last weekend working on a small brick-work project in the backyard. The gate to our backyard has bothered me since we moved in - it was uneven, difficult to mow, and the fence was poorly wrapped, so grass would grow up between the fence pieces and it was not easy to close the gate handle. It's looking pretty good after two weekends of work! The weekend before last I purchased some of my materials, cut the sod, and starting evening out the soil. I was rained out before I got too far, so last weekend I did the bulk of the work - evening out the soil the rest of the way, laying down weed fabric, placing the bricks and the pebbles. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination - but for my first project, I'm pretty pleased. Plus, it's a rental...so there's that. 

A little work still needed.

 

I worked yesterday morning, and spent the afternoon working on listings for the Hide and Hair Gems Etsy shop. I've been trying to focus on my physical health (which is usually relegated to "if I have time" because I tend to put myself and my needs behind other things I think are more important) so I've been riding the Peloton quite a bit this last week. Yesterday I did a class that was in German on accident - but it was actually kind of fun not really understanding what was going on. I've also been using an inhaler before exercising the last few times and I've never been more sore lol. I guess when you have better lung capabilities, it's easier to actually work your muscles! 😂

The old computer is slowly giving up all of it's treasures, and once it is clear I am going to set up a soldering station for my jewelry. I am super excited to expand what I can create - and am anxious to do so! Hopefully next week I'll have more news to report on that front. Til then - have a great week!

Etsy Weekends - The Kitchen

I keep working at it piece by piece, and someday my kitchen will be exactly how I want it. That's the story I tell myself anyway. Of course, it's taken me four years and I still don't have a hanger up for my pizza peel, which is wooden, and gorgeous, and would go to the right of the rolling pin, while the item I'm sharing today would obviously go to the left. Duh. :)

Wire Garlic Basket from Charest Studios

(These folks also make those spherical wire baskets, and I'd like a couple of those, onions in the "pantry" and something cool over the sink. Maybe fruit. But like pretty fruit, not Matt's ugly bananas lol.)

Etsy Weekends - For the Neck that has Everything

I know I only just recently shared my love of opals (see my post from June 6th...) but gosh I can't help myself. Just look at these necklaces!!! They are fantastic. Seriously.

Dainty Raw Opal Necklace from Catching Wildflowers

4th of July Weekend

Hello!!

My employer decided to give us Friday off as observed Independence Day, so I have enjoyed a three day weekend! Matt also went back to work this week (he was off for his surgeries, and then the museum was shut down for COVID-19) so I had yesterday all to myself, and I'll have today as well!

Beautiful Bozeman, Montana

I've been plugging away at the brown baby blanket I started back when Matt had his first hip surgery in March. It's slow going, but we are at the point where it takes forty minutes to do two rows, and I have roughly eight rows of pattern left, followed by ten rows of stockinette after, and the three-ish rows of decorative edging. So it'll be some time still. I did stuff some cat toys and got those listed on Etsy last weekend, but I really need to wash another fleece so that I have stuffing for the next round of toys. I was also approached to donate toys to an animal rescue in California - which I am only just now remembering. (It was a wild week mentally.) 

Cat toys!

Friday Matt and I went for a walk, relaxed a bit, made a yummy pizza with ingredients from the garden, and started work on a small landscaping job in the backyard. It's coming along nicely - but the daily rain has kept me from finishing it. 

A friend we made on our walk.

Yesterday I set to work in the laundry room. I've had grand plans for that room for years, with drawings and hours of thought put into it, but during our walk on Friday Matt and I discussed the realities of it - do I move forward anticipating that my plans are achievable? Or do I accept that it has been roughly four years, and that plan is dead? So I headed into the room yesterday morning with that in mind - brought a notebook, pencil, and measuring tape, cataloged the inventory I already had, and made up a list of things I needed to purchase in order to put the room into some kind of order. I set to work with the materials I already had, and then after lunch I ran to the store to purchase my other requirements, and finished up what I could before Matt got home from work. He helped me run some things through the table saw, I did some quick sanding, and after a little less than eight hours of work, I had four new shelves, a hanger for my pizza peel, hooks for our grocery store bags, a freshly cleaned and reorganized fridge top/over the fridge cupboard, and plans for one more big shelf to be installed today. Matt was pretty impressed with my accomplishments - and laughed when I told him I was inspired to do it all so that I could wash a fleece in the garage today (the water to the garage washing machine has to come through the laundry room, and the door to the garage was blocked with a giant stack of stuff that I moved yesterday.) :)

Coming along nicely.

Thursday would have been Grandpa Arneson's 100th birthday. It was a difficult day, but also one filled with happy memories. I hope you all enjoy the coming week, and do something for yourself today - if you are good to yourself, you may just follow in Grandpa's footsteps and live a long and healthy life. 

Grandpa Ross Arneson, and Kirsten

Etsy Weekends - Happy 4th of July!

Whether you are celebrating the holiday with friends, family, or yourself - we hope you enjoy your patriotic national holiday. Although there are many treasures to be found on Etsy that champion the complete enjoyment of this day, I really prefer the simple pleasures. Like this beautiful candle, which is as American as Apple Pie. :)

Apple Pie Candle from RNR Candles