...Despicable Me Minion...

...we loved the movie Despicable Me...if you've not seen it...it's really good...about an evil man trying to steal the moon as he cares for three orphan girls...whose love eventually changes him...of course...that's what love does isn't it?... ...anywhoo....one of the adorable minions was flying around downtown yesterday... ...it was such a fun surprise...and I wished I'd had my good camera... ...but I still wandered around the parking lot snapping photos anyway...it was a gorgeous day... ...and it's always just fun to see a blimp for some reason...

...Link to more pictures here...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend!...

...Super Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese...

...switching gears from home improvement for a bit...you know how we always need something quick and easy for dinner on Wednesday nights... ...well...this is about the easiest Vegan Macaroni and Cheese ever...

...just make some macaroni noodles...and slice up some Daiya Cheddar cheese...add a little bit of Earth Balance and some Vegan milk...I used Almond Milk... ...so creamy and good...and quick and easy too...

~Have a lovely day!

...F.O. ...the new headboard...

...does this count for W.I.P. Wednesday?... ...we stained the headboard...Minwax Provincial...was the best match for our existing furniture... ...one coat of stain... ...one coat of poly... ...and a second coat of poly...isn't that shiny and pretty?... ...and...Ta-Daaaaa!...a finished headboard...

...the only way the king-sized bed would fit in the room was along the wall with the window...so the headboard was made specifically to fit under that window...

...so now we really do need to do something about the window treatments...or lack thereof...

~Have a lovely day!

...a new Headboard...

...so now...on to the headboard... ...we drew up a rough (very, very rough) sketch of what we wanted the new headboard to look like...and took some measurements which we jotted down with the...ahem...drawing...

...the headboard has to fit underneath the window... ...then we went to the lumber store and bought some lumber... ...these are just the pieces laid out on the floor...they look so much like a headboard already don't they?... ...found the center of the bottom board...horizontally and vertically... ...that's where we'll start... ...placed the first of the slats for the headboard...centered it... ...did the same with the top board...and made sure it was square... ...drilled a couple of holes for the screws...we used a little collar to keep from drilling too deep...and I definitely recommend that for this project... ...then we laid out the rest of the center planks... ...I wanted just a tiny bit of 'wiggle room' in between the planks...so we used a folded piece of paper for that measurement... ...turned it over... ...and just laid the side and top pieces in place to make sure everything was lining up right... ...flipped it back over and screwed some plain 1 x 4's in place over all the seams to hold everything together...and make it nice and rigid... ...added the sides and the top...and we were done...

...and there you have it...a finished king-sized headboard...

...is there anything as satisfying as taking a pile of boards and turning them into something useful and pretty...

...staining is next...the same colour as the bed frame of course...

~Have a lovely day!

...a 'new' bed...

...whenever we traveled and ended up in a hotel with a king-sized bed...the Man and I always remarked about how nice it was...so big and roomy...you could turn over and not bump into 'anyone'...but we never did anything about it except enjoy having a nice big bed while we were on vacation... ...so we gave each other a king sized bed for Christmas...sorry...I should have told you about it sooner...but it just wasn't that photogenic of a post...in this state anyway...but that is all about to change...

...well the support system is actually two of these extra long twin sized beds...

...and we've been using them just like this since Christmas...unfinished and without a headboard...(with a mattress of course)...

...well...that needed to be remedied... ...so we picked out some stains...and did some swatches... ...put down some newspaper... ...and stained the bed to (sort of) match the antique dressers we already had...

...I'm sure you can see where this is heading...there will finally be a new headboard for this bed...soon...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...Indian cooking...

...y'all know how much I love Indian food...

...the boys...not so much...oh well...more for me...right?...

...well...the Rooted Vegan...an awesome fairly new vegan site...had a post a couple of weeks ago about the Best Indian Recipes of 2013...so far...

...so I bookmarked that...and copied a few of them into my binder...and here's the first one from the list...Tofu Saag Paneer from the Vegetarian Times... ...sautéed some onion, garlic, curry powder, 
and ginger... ...added some spinach, soymilk and soy yogurt... ...and topped with some baked tofu cubes...the recipe calls for you to sauté the tofu first... I just baked mine...

...so delicious...Thanks Maria and Kate!... ...so then I went to the library and got this book...do you do that?...try out cooking books from the library...this one was so much fun to read...like a family food story book...I loved it...

...do you like Indian food?

~Have a lovely day!

...tree be gone...

...we spent a couple of evenings removing an old broken chestnut tree from the back yard... ...an old photo of Scout climbing the tree... ...it was bigger than it looked - I think mainly because the branches were so thick...it's going to make quite a pile of firewood for next winter... ...y'all know what a tree-hugger I am...but we got rid of this tree for lots of reasons...it was damaged in the derecho last year...it leaves prickly burrs all over the yard...but mainly because the Man and Scout are both terribly allergic to it's pollen... ...the Man also cut down the two oddly placed holly bushes in the middle of the backyard - you can see them in this old photo...

...one of the really great things about a blog is that we can look back through the years at the way things were...changes we've made...things we've accomplished...when something happened...I love that... ...so now all the prickly things have been removed from the backyard...we cut them off right at the ground and we covered the stumps with dirt and planted some new grass seed... ...then we pulled all the brush around front and the city people came by with a big chipper and chipped it all up...

...it was fun being outside in the fresh cool spring air working together...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend...

...I ♥ eBay...

...I got a fairly heavy package in the mail yesterday... ...heavy, because it contained a bunch of my flatware pattern...(my silver came from a paternal great-uncle and that's a' whole 'nother post)...

...I don't spend a lot of time perusing eBay though...I had saved a search for my pattern...that's such a handy little timesaver...eBay will email you whenever what you're looking for becomes available...

...so I had a saved search for Imperial Stainless Kingstowne...and finally after many months I got the email... ...I am so thrilled...we had lost (you know...from picnics...or using silverware as tools...and we probably have thrown some away by accident too) a few pieces...and a few of the big spoons were...ahem...bent...by some ice-cream eater in our house who shall remain nameless...

...so I washed up all the shiny new pieces... ...and bought a new silverware tray for the drawer...everything used to fit in the little one to the left...and I just had various utensils and odd pieces to the right...it's nicer this way...

...I also ♥ organized drawers...

...What's your favorite eBay find?

~Have a lovely day!

...the Sr. High Youth Group SERVES again...

...our Sr. High Youth Group is doing their thing again...serving God... ...they gathered at a local men's shelter to give the devotion and serve dinner...they started by making some nice fresh salads... ...then they performed a skit for the devotion...it's about a woman who has a lot of bad things happen to her...she gets sued... ...she gets a disease... ...someone runs over her cat... ...and someone steals her credit card... ...that's right...guess who the thief was...that's Scout being led away to jail... ...but our non-plussed heroine shares Gods' word with him in jail and all ends well...

...I guess you're wondering how she ended up in jail too...well...she gets arrested for impersonating an officer...the funny thing was that it was Halloween...(i.e., her costume)...

...everyone really enjoyed the skit... ...then it was back to the kitchen to serve dinner... ...and dessert...

...Bless their giving hearts!

~Have a lovely day!