Fall is here!

I love the colors of fall, but I really hate the temperatures!  There hasn't been frost yet, and after the morning cover burns off,  it has been beautiful.  But really cold!! 

I've finished all but 2 of the boards for the closet down stairs.  Guess what I get to do shortly?  Wednesday DH will finish installing them, as well as some of the trim we are replacing in the kids' rooms. 

Popcorn sales have started for Scouts.  I love watching as the boys learn how to handle the various situations that come up, but it is exhausting!!!  There is something about watching them try, try, and try again, with the results being they made no sales that time, and learn to handle that with grace. Or that they made more sales than they realized and asking "how did that happen?"  Even the older boys are still learning, the difference is that their goals are bigger.

As for sewing, the only thing I finished was a bunting to hang in the entry way!

This piece has S2's favorite fall fabric in it.   The patch on the upper left.  It has the "helicopters" or "spinners" seed. I have no idea what tree they come from, I just know ALL my kids were fascinated by them.  Nothing says fall like those do!

The desk Daddy brought up has been amazing!  The kids are fighting over who gets to do homework first!  And it gave me an excuse to do another purge of the house.  I have no idea where everything comes from. I go grocery shopping once a week, and household/project shopping once a month.  With the budget being what it is, I don't spend much and I don't stray from the list.  I'm starting wonder if little stuff-bunnies are breeding in closets and drawers! 

This week is full of nothing.  Just trying to get through everything and get it out of my house!!  I do have quilts for D2 and S2 to finish, maybe I'll get one of those done!

Life just got a little bit easier!

Last week DH got the remaining pieces cut for the closet, only to have the last three ONE QUARTER inch too short!!  He isn't sure what happened, but he was able to fix it, but I had to wait until yesterday when he had a day off.  So my lining isn't all the way in like I wanted, but we are still making progress.  I think he left me pieces to seal today, which I'll do when it warms up a little. 

Also, S1 has been doing his schoolwork wherever he plants himself for the day, which has not been helping him actually getting it done.  So yesterday morning my dad called to see if we wanted a roll top desk.  S1 said he would love to have a nice desk to work at, so we had to rearrange the whole living room yesterday before Daddy got here, so they could just walk it in and set it down.  It looks amazing, and hold all of the homeschool books and supplies. 

I finished all of the canning as of last night, although blackberries are just coming in.  But all of zucchini relish is finished and they will be put away tonight.  WOO HOO!  I get my kitchen back!! Actually, I would rather can than cook any day, but we have a really small galley kitchen, so anything we do completely takes over.  And for some reason, the after canning clean up leaves my kitchen extra sparkly clean. 

I didn't get any sewing done, since I spent most of my time either in the kitchen, or working on the closet.  We'll see what this week brings.  I have a few things I would like to get sewn up, as well as putting things away after moving the desk in.

And lastly......

 this is a picture DH took last week while walking to the corner grocery.  This is a CORNSTALK growing out of the gutter drain.  It's taller this week.  We are wondering how long it will last before the wind knocks it down or the street sweepers get it.  It makes us smile every time we drive past it!

And another thing almost accomplished!

Last week, we did some some more canning, plum conserves. My goal was 25 jars, and we got it done.  We always give a jar to the neighbors that let the kids pick the plums, plus 2 jars a month til next year. 

We also got started on a house project that I have been wanting to do for years.  But it always seemed too big for our DIY skills.  Now that we are working on it, it is disgustingly simple.  Here is a photo of the space that we had.  We have no idea what it was for.  To small for coats or linens, but in the wrong part of the house to be a broom closet.  It was just a space where it was. 

 

This is what the bottom half looks like now.   We used cedar tongue in groove planks to line the back, although my hubby has to go get more because I am lousy at math!  The sides will be lined in cedar as well, and we will be spacing the shelves every other plank.  The perfect height for our DVDs to be in!  There should be plenty of room for all the movies we have, but I have already told the children and husband that if they don't all fit, something has to go.  My goal this week is to finish lining it while I look for what shelving I want. 

This is the one sewing project I finished.  It is the trial and error version of our teacher appreciation gift for Halloween.  I'll be making each teacher a set of two, as well as baking some treats to go into the staff lounge on the day of Halloween.  I figure even our single male staff need kitchen towels!  I hate getting stupid useless gifts. I can appreciate the though without appreciating the gift.  LOL, I've had a few of those in my life.  I tend to lean towards things are useful as well as attractive.  Although everyone has a different view of attractive. I haven't had any complaints yet, so I think I'm on the right track!

 
This week should see some progress on the closet, hopefully all of the lining in, and a few of these towels done.  I'm starting early, just in case life gets in the way!  With school starting up, so is everything else!!

School starts!!!!

My list was pretty short.  Get everyone ready for school to start.  Now, for some reason, my hubby seems to think it's like getting ready for grocery shopping. You get in and go.  But it takes a lot more than that!  Between school shopping, pep talks, getting back on schedule, all the paper work that must be done, it feels as if I need to get ready for the getting ready.  But off they went today, and came home happy! 

I didn't get any sewing done last week. Instead I spent my time in the kitchen and canned!  I love canning, but only when I have adequate help!  otherwise Things burn, break, and generally go sour fast.  We received zucchini from a friend and made several jars of zuke relish.  I think 18?  And I have more to do.  And we have 13 jars of plum conserve from the neighbors' plum tree. And I have more of that do do.  We didn't get quite enough strawberries this year, but I may make a batch of mixed berry jam.  YUM!  The kids aren't quite sure how they feel about the dried plums. No, they aren't prunes.  Those are a different kind of plum!  There are no pictures, since my hands were full, but maybe after I get everything moved to the pantry.  Hubby did get me a journal to keep track of what and how much I can after I over- and under-estimated how much we use.  So this year will be the first time I know how much is going into the pantry.  Then next year I can see how much we have left and adjust how much I need to make (or keep!).  I thought it was a great idea and very thoughtful of him!!

This week has more canning as well as a small home improvement project. I've been putting it off for a couple of years, but NOW is the time!! I am hoping to have it done by next weekend.  This weekend would be awesome, but unlikely!