This dirt fragments of the ancients The fathers & brothers turning its weathered surface to glean nourishment hidden within Planting seeds and praying for rain The inheritance only tears soaking into the land Copyright (C) 2020 Penny Wilson
Tag: work
DIY
I’m a DIY kind of girl. I’ve had to be. Most of my life, I could not afford to hire someone to do things for me, so I’ve always had the mindset of make do, figure it out on my own. DIY. My mother, bless her heart, taught me to sew before I ever started Home Economics (I don’t think that still exists, does it?) in school. At about the age of 5, she sat me down and taught the art of hand embroidery. I was her shadow in the kitchen, learning to cook. Mom did well at preparing for me for as lot of things in life. Because of this, I’ve never been afraid to tackle something if I thought I could do it. Things didn’t always work out, but I tried. I do know my limitations, most of the time, and if it’s something out of my league, I leave the project to someone else.
I scour the internet and YouTube looking for instructions on how to do things all the time. I recently made my own bar soap. The kind made from lye, the real deal. It turned out lovely and I gifted some at Christmas time. I also tried homemade laundry soap, but I’m still perfecting the recipe. Not so sure about that one. I was taught a couple of very basic crochet stitches and have since taken to YouTube and have followed along teaching myself more. I gift my crocheted projects all the time.
I’ve painted and laid tile. I added shelving in the kitchen, bathroom and garage. It seems as though I’m always tackling a do it yourself project. There is a lot of satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself. Being able to stand back and look at what you’ve accomplished.
The VW Bug above was pictured in a article about DIY gardening. While a lovely thought, I’m afraid that I would just end up with a rusting hulk in my yard. I know my limitations. 🙂
How about you? Do you DIY?
Copyright (C) 2020 Penny Wilson
Laying Low
My apologizes for being so quiet recently. Most of you know that I have a day job, that I am not an independently wealthy blogger as some of you are. 🙂 Work has been brutal lately. I’ve been going home pretty worn out. So today, there will not be a Friday Favorites. I’m sorry.
I’ll be back in the swing of things soon.
Stay strong, my friends. Keep doing what you do. Thank you for joining me on this journey. ❤ Penny
Fence Me In, Yes!
The Lovely picture above is my view from the deck in my back yard. I love my little house, but there were issues with the back yard. There was NO privacy. A neighbor on one side of me has junk galore in his back yard and mows his yard 2 or 3 times a year, whether it needs it or not. 🙂 Then I have very nice neighbors behind me that just put in a swimming pool. They have teen aged kids. I know this will mean a lot of activity in their yard, which is completely exposed to my yard. It was time.
Below are a couple of before and after pictures. I’m sorry the quality is so bad in the before shots. But you can see that the fence has made a HUGE difference! There was a terrible, falling down, ancient, chain link fence in place. The new fence just went right in front of the old one.
For Christmas, my brother and sister in law gifted me this awesome hammock swing!! See below. I got this hung up on New Year’s Day. Yes, me. By myself. 🙂
I had been wanting a swing just like this for some time and I guess Santa told my brother that I wanted it. I didn’t. But this is what he got me for Christmas!
Here’s another shot of my swing on my back deck. The swing is where I was sitting in my first picture of this post. My back yard was in terrible shape when I moved in. I’ve pulled hundreds of weeds. ALL the grass was dead. So it’s come a long way from where I started. I need to stain the fence and the deck. So there is still a lot of work to do. But my back yard is becoming my little sanctuary. I love spending time out here with my little dog, drinking coffee, writing, etc. One the weekends, I take my bowl of cereal and my cup of coffee out there and enjoy my little slice of heaven.
My little homestead still needs lots of work. This last summer I had the attic insulated, I put a new floor in the bathroom, now a new fence. Next? Maybe new gutters. I’m not sure. Of course there is still TONS of painting that I need to do inside the house. Slow but sure, I’m making this little gem shine! 🙂
Copyright (C) 2019 Penny Wilson
Let’s Change EVERYTHING!
Although I love my little house, since buying it, I’ve realized that there are a lot of things that I want to change. Mostly…everything. 🙂 Most of the interior paint colors are very dark. While dark colors can be chic, on cloudy days, I felt as though I was living in a cave. 😦 And the previous owners did a sloppy job of painting.
So the first room I wanted to tackle is the living room. The picture above is the BEFORE picture. Below is the AFTER.
Huge difference! It really brightened up the space!
The room in the distance is my kitchen. That will be the next room to paint.
The living room flows into a hallway that leads to the bathroom and bedrooms. I had to decide how FAR I wanted to go with the painting. Below is the hallway BEFORE.
The hallway goes down and then turns to the right toward 2 more bedrooms. Below is the AFTER picture.
I decided to go just as far as the first bedroom before the hall made that right turn. I figured that was a good place to stop.
Every room needs to be repainted. Seriously. EVERY room. I hate the flooring in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s way too dark. Almost black. The bathroom walls all need to be resurfaced. So that whole room needs an update.
That’s what I meant about changing Everything!
There is still a LOT more to do. But I sure feel good about what I’ve done so far.
Thank you for joining me on this journey! ❤
Back to Reality
I’ve been back at work for just a couple of days now. The time off was good for me. I didn’t realize how much I actually needed the time away. I feel refreshed and can look at things at the office with a clear head.
It will take me a little while to get back into the swing of things. I sort of feel like I need to be retrained! I haven’t taken this much time away from work in a Long time! But the pieces are falling into place.
I’m still adjusting to the new house with my morning routine. I haven’t quite got that down yet. My travel time to work is just a little longer. (so worth it!) So I need to get that figured out.
While I was off work, my mind has been percolating on a couple of story ideas. So I am itching to sit down and really dig into these plots! Soon!!
You should be seeing a bit more of me here now. I’ve just about caught my breath. I miss you guys!
Thank you for joining me on this journey! Penny ❤
A Good Tired
Have you ever heard someone say that they were tired, but it was a Good Tired? That’s how I feel. I’m getting settled in my new home and I am loving it! Although there is still a lot to do, I’m making good progress. I go to bed Very Tired at night and sleep like the dead. 🙂 But it is a Very happy and satisfied tired.
I’m glad that I’ve taken some time off to get settled. By the time I go back to work, I won’t be done, but I’ll have made a good dent in things.
My writing has taken a back seat for the time being. But I will be back and posting again soon.
I am looking forward to creating my little writing/office oasis. I’ve not had a real designated place to write so designing this space is going to be fun.
Thank you for joining me on this journey! Penny ❤
Getting Ready to Get Ready….
I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in a while. Between getting the new location ready, work and packing and organizing things for the move, I am just bone tired. I know it will all be worth it, but I’m wore down to a nub. 🙂 My move date is the 14th, so this will be my last weekend to finish ALL of the packing.
I’ve got piles of mess everywhere, in preparation for the move. I have looked for something that is already packed a few times. So everything is pretty much in chaos. Stressful for me to have my life so disorganized.
I’m not sleeping very well either. My brain just won’t shut down. I keep thinking about everything that still needs to be done!
I will get back to a regular posting schedule eventually, but it’s going to be a few weeks. I will continue to peek in when I can, I miss you guys!
Thanks for joining me on this journey! Penny ❤
I give myself very good advice … — Robbie’s inspiration
Please enjoy this delicious treat from Robbie’s blog. I’ve disabled comments here. Please visit Robbie’s blog to leave a comment.
My favourite Disney movie of all time is Alice in Wonderland. I feel I can relate to Alice who was so bored listening to a book being read by her sister that contained no pictures or conversations that she followed a talking white rabbit down a hole. My favourite song in Alice in Wonderland is […]
Muse, Friend, Companion and Spoiled Baby
I’ve written about my little dog, Rocket, several times here. He is pretty much my constant companion and a never ending source of inspiration.
I decided I needed a proper work area for my writing. Figuring that I would be more productive. So I came up with this:
It’s working out pretty well. It gets me away from the TV and it’s much better on my back than sitting hunched over the keyboard in my lap, or sitting up in bed. Although I am still looking for a better chair.
Usually, while I’m writing, Rocket is right there beside me, snuggled up against my side. He asks only for the occasional scratch or a tummy rub and a few words of adoration. That’s very little in payment, considering the muse that he has become.
Penny Wilson Writes 