...Teen Appropriate Valentines...

...it's been a couple of years since we've made Valentines...

...but Scout's Youth Group was having a Valentine's Day party...and he needed to bring about 30 Valentines to exchange...

...he decided to wrap a heart shaped lollipop with a heart maze - this heart one is pretty difficult (they're teenagers after all) but there are lots of simpler ones out there - just search for 'heart maze'...and a sweet little declaration...'You're A-maze-ing!'...he just made that using WordArt...printed roughly same sized hearts in two columns...printed those out...then put a lollipop in the middle and glued the edges then cut them out...it was super easy...and fun...

...this really has nothing whatsoever to do with the Valentines...I just wanted to show you my sweet vintage wall phone...I still have Mamaw's Phone too...but it's a desk phone...and I needed a wall phone in the kitchen...

...I know there's a hole that needs to be patched there...I'll get to it...

...hoping....

...that the snow and frost and cold wind doesn't kill the pretty fuzzy little buds on the tree in our backyard...

...one of the joys of moving in the wintertime is that you sometimes have to wait until spring to identify all of your trees and plants...

...a new grill...

...one of the things that we didn't move was our old grill...we left it at our favorite spot at the lake...for friends to enjoy...(and us too when we come back for visits)...

...so we followed the directions for the...AHEM!...40 minute set-up...HA!...it took us at least twice that long...maybe that's the amount of time it takes the guy at Lowe's to set one up...after he's done a couple hundred...

...anywhoo...we love it...and the weather is so mild again that it's nice to be outside grillin'...

...PS...I know that there are still two boxes of blue dishes back there with paint cans on top of them waiting to finish the wood floors and get the China cabinet in place before we unbox those...(there's a peek of the wood floors behind the grill - we've ordered some white oak baseboards but they've not come in yet - remember the flooring was only in stock because it was someone else's order)...and the paint is for the kitchen...later...we had a 25% off coupon that was about to expire so we went ahead and bought the paint knowing that we weren't ready for it yet...we're just all frugal like that...

...so that's how we roll...one project to the next...

...2.14...

...we had a lovely Valentine's Day...complete with flowers, cards, candy, a quiet date lunch...all the requisite amounts of sweetness...

...hoping yours was just as sweet...

...new wood floors...

...I showed you the lovely oak hardwood floors that were under the blue carpet in the bedrooms...

...but there was only plywood in the main part of the house...

...we contacted a local lumber store (we always choose local over big box when we can)...and they had a bunch of white oak flooring that was ordered by someone and never used...so they were kind of stuck with it...and they gave us a really good deal...and we didn't have to wait as it was already in their warehouse...bonus...bonus...bonus...

...here we are mid process...Oh...I should have also mentioned that we also found oak stairs under the blue carpet as well...so another bonus...you can see a glimpse of them here...and of course, there's a whole foyer post coming up...but unfortunately we can't do ten projects at once...trust me, we would if we could...

...I know there are no baseboards in the pictures...I just couldn't wait to show it to you...we've ordered them (apparently whoever ordered the flooring didn't order any baseboards to go with it)...and they'll be here in a couple of weeks...then I can show you a finished-finished photo...
...the white oak boards are three inches and the red oak from the bedrooms are 2.5...

...and of course, being white oak...it's a slightly different hue than the red...but it's lovely...and we love it...

...a day in the Snow...

...we woke up over the weekend to a sugar coated world...

...our front door...snow shovel at the ready...and two sweet little trees...dusted white...

...a bush...iced with snowy frosting...

...Scout's tracks around to the backyard...

...where he's patiently waiting on me to join him for a 'hike'...

...so we head off into the woods...

...past a huge tree...that is creaking and moaning in the wind so much...it's almost funny...in the eerily quiet snowy woods...

...there's a sort of a trail...so we decide to follow that down the mountain and see where it goes...there are no houses behind ours...just woods...and it's so quiet...when we first started down the trail you could hear neighborhood kids out squealing and playing in the snow...but once we were down below the ridge...just muffled quiet...and the whoosh of the snow as it fell in clumps off the trees...

...Scout looking to see where a little mouse/shrew/vole thingy went...

...there were lots and lots of fallen trees on the path...but they were easily crossed...some over and some under...some were for sitting and taking it all in...

...another fallen tree...this one uprooted recently - judging by the dirt still clinging to the roots...just wondering about that...

...some pretty lichen covered rocks peeking out of the snow...

...a lot of standing dead wood seen through the trees too...practically perfect for firewood...

...it was just fun to be outside...in the snow...talking...walking...taking time to be together...it was perfect...

...so where does it end...the path (such as it is) winds down through this ravine to a little paved two lane road...I'll have to look it up on a map...and yes I know I should have taken a picture...but there was really no destination for this winter walk...

...then we hiked back up the hill...it somehow seemed steeper on the way up...HA!...and Scout climbed the chestnut tree in our back yard and had a little rest...

...then it was time for some sledding...

...our backyard gently slopes down to the woods...but after a couple of runs to make a good path for the sled...it was perfect...


...that little red sled is the Zipfy mini luge...so fast and fun...

...and the exhausted late afternoon crash...that signifies that it's time for a cozy fire and some cocoa...

...from my back deck...

...it's still snowing...Scout is thrilled...plans for today include a tromp through the snowy woods...a fire in the fireplace...and some cocoa...

...do you have snowy plans for today?...

...Right Now...

...it's snowing...

...and I'm drinking the first cup of tea made in my new Brown Betty teapot (the one on the right - it's hard to tell them apart)...while I'm watching it snow...Scout will be thrilled...about the snow...not so much about the teapot...

...I think old Brown Betty will become a flower pot...

...Sawtelle...

...lest you think I'm only working on the new house and not knitting at all...

...of course I am...doing both...

...this is the beginning of Sawtelle...which started out as a popular child's sweater pattern...and then because of it's simple classic lines it was made into a grown-up version...

...I love it...of course I'm using yarn from my stash...the aqua is left over from my Grand-Nephew's afghan...and is the Bernat Premium...

...and the grey has been in my stash for a long time...I think I purchased way too much Caron Simply Soft in a grey heather colour for these scarves...way back in 2006...so I'm happy to be using it up...just hoping that I don't run out...I know that the band says no dye lot...but over the course of 6 years (not to mention a 2000 mile move)...I'm not quite sure I'd get a perfect match...I've got about 3 skeins so maybe I can make it through the body and if the sleeves aren't a perfect match maybe it won't be too noticeable...so happy to use up some stash...

...I'm going to be using more stash yarn soon too...as I've joined the Prayer Shawl Ministry at Church...unfortunately they meet on the same night as Scout's Boy Scout Troop meets...so I won't be able to go to the meetings and sit around and knit with everyone very often...but I'll contribute as many shawls as I can...

...Small things...

...one of the small things we are enjoying in our new home...

...a fireplace...we had one in our house we built in the mountains of North Carolina...and then a small one in the Vicarage for the year the Man was a Vicar...but other than that...we've been without a fireplace for about 10 years...so it's really nice...

...do you have a fireplace?...

...moving casualties...

...a couple of little things that were damaged during the move...and I should note that all these were packed by moi and not by our awesome moving crew...

...Scout's Mayflower mast...from a kit he built when he was 5...fixable...just a little wood glue...

...Scout's Trumpet on a stand metal pencil sharpener...from a weekend antique-ing trip...fixable...(I think) with a little super glue...

...funny that the Mayflower and the trumpet were both in the same box...

...Sadly the only real casualty then is my old Brown Betty teapot...and I'll be very sorry to see her go...I think there is a hairline crack around the handle...it's almost impossible to see but you can sort of feel it if you run your finger across the area...I've made some tea in it since we moved...just catching the drips with a saucer underneath...but I'm afraid that the handle might just come off while I'm pouring so I don't want to risk that...

...so sad and sorry that it got broken - Betty has been with me a long time...and you know she's been used every single day...

...I'll be buying a new one soon...this Betty came from England...but I've found a much more local source here in Tennessee at Fox Run Pottery...and in the meantime I've been making tea in my Liberty Blue teapot - you can see it on the top shelf of my China cabinet here...

...and completely unrelated to anything...today is my favorite author's birthday...
...Dickens...

...Ch...ch...ch...changes...

...have I mentioned that Scout's school is only 1.5 miles from our house?...

...so we thought...AWESOME...right?...

...that is until I started taking him to school each morning and going back to pick him up each afternoon...

...guess how long each 3 mile round trip takes...

...45 minutes...YIKES!...

...so we had a little talksie...about wasting that amount of time each day...and that amount of gas...and all of the polution that causes...

...and now Scout rides the bus (for the first time in his life)...and he likes it!

...from my back deck...

...I think I mentioned before how familiar this place feels...

...just the dewy mornings...and the light here...and the trees...and the hills...and the cawing of the crows...

...all familiar and all home-y...

...The projects...keeping me from unpacking...

...as we continue to unpack and (try to) put things away...

...we keep running into little projects that need to be done before we can accomplish what we started out to do...

...one example was the contac paper project...

...and now we have the linen closet project...

...the former owners certainly seemed to like things covered up...carpet/wallpaper/contac paper, all abound here...

...when I got to the boxes labeled linen closet in the garage...I carried them upstairs to the linen closet and started to unpack...


...only to find that all the shelves had been coated with wallpaper...

...so I peeled off what I could...

...and left the shelves to soak for a bit in a tub of warm water...

...apparently the wallpaper glue was not enough as they had also used some other sort of glue as well...

...luckily it was water soluble...

...I just scraped it all off...gave the shelves a good scrub and left them to dry...

...so what should have taken about 30 minutes to unpack...took all afternoon...and then because I wanted the shelves to be completely dry before I put the linens on them...I left them to dry overnight and finished the job this morning...

...A really big surprise...

Guess what we found under the blue carpet...

...only in the bedrooms...we'll still have to get hardwood for the living room, dining room and hallway...but having it in the bedrooms already is such a blessing...

...this is Scout's room...and yep...there are still a couple of boxes in there...

...housewarming...

...we've had so many nice people bring by food and housekeeping necessities...

...but I wanted to show you this basket of vegan goodies...

...all locally obtained...

...so happy to be living in a vegan-friendly place...

...and a

BIG THANK YOU

to everyone who's stopped by with welcome wishes!!!

PS...see that little bit of bare floor behind the table...the blue carpet is gone...