Category Archives: JC Home

Zooooooooom, It’s Fall

I think I’m ready for Fall. I’m more a person who likes warm weather but Fall is pretty and it brings on the holidays. 🙂 I would like a bit of a break from yard work, because I suck at growing flowers. LOL

I will keep trying.

There has to be a flower out there that is meant just for me to keep alive. 🙂

My morning glories are finally blooming. I didn’t even plant that one this year, came up from last year’s soil. It is fairly thin of flowers though.  😦

I bought two things of mums and one is doing ok but the other is not. Sigh.

img_20180721_210835 I have done good with that purple flower thing there. I bought it in August after the extreme 100 degree weather we had. Forget what it is. I am too lazy to walk up there and look at the plant identifier thing in the soil. 🙂

Oh, look I have metal flowers! My kind of flowers! Bloom all year-long.  🙂

Normally, when it cools down I tend to start the inside projects. I have been muddying and sanding some of the basement walls. I’m getting better! We are not finishing the whole basement just the living portion. There is a big area on the other end of the basement that we keep for storage.

 

 

The alcove there is now one of the son’s computer station. I even decorated the wall with his sport stuff. He said mom, why. Because I can and you should be proud. 🙂 I found his kindergarten photo the teacher took on the first day of school. I had to hang that one!

img_20180902_140419 Hubby and I finished the flooring. I like it.  Didn’t do any where the storage area is though. We left that concrete.

Keeping with Fall, when I did the sanding on the one wall this showed up!

img_20180924_003554 Invisible spider webs! No maid I am. The drywall had been up for several years, just now muddying it. Yea that procrastination thing again. Amazing that I never saw the webs all the time walking by. I think maybe it should stay for Halloween…nope…it has been dusted and soon will have paint. 🙂

I have not decorated yet for Fall or Halloween. I did pack away the more springy outdoor décor to make room for Fall/Halloween. Perhaps by next weekend it will all be done! My goal!

Do you decorate and how early? I’ve heard some have decorated for Christmas! 

 

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Fun Outside

Last week was productive for household stuff, but not for writing or editing. Maybe I will figure out how to do both in a day or week. LOL.

I began painting the backyard deck again. We started the project last year and didn’t finish. Seems to be our theme. Oops. It was nice enough with a breeze that I ended up with a lovely farmer’s tan. Darn it. Now I will look funny in a sleeveless shirt. It doesn’t take me long to tan either. Must be that Indian blood in me from my mom. 🙂

I did get the railings painted on two sides of the deck. I was going to finish the next day on the outside and steps but the weather man said it was going to rain.

Wrong. It didn’t rain until Sunday.

Hopefully, later this week I can begin again.

I did plant some morning-glory and bachelor button flowers. They are from seed, so I hope they will come up. It has been awhile since I done that. I bought the marigolds already bloomed. The marigolds I put in painted recycled ice cream buckets.  The bright orange puts some pop of color on the deck. 🙂

Painting the buckets put me in the mood to paint the kitchen chair which I originally bought the spray paint for. Needless to say, I saw the next morning that I had painted the garage floor as well.

Hubby laughed.

I did put the chair on plastic first, just my aim sent sprays of orange in other directions. Believe it or not no orange on me! The color is slowly coming off the floor so not all is lost. 🙂

I’m not done with chair yet so I will post a picture later.

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I did 3 containers with the orange. That large planter has the bachelor buttons planted in it. There is another one that has the morning-glories. Can’t wait for them to start blooming.  🙂

I love solar lights. Makes a nice glow on the deck at night.

Even though I did not write or edit, I did edit three chapters today! So this week is off to a great start. Have a great week!

Do you like to plant flowers?

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Pondering More Changes

I have been busy with house and kid stuff lately so not much writing going on. Last weekend hubby and I painted and cleaned up the laundry room. It looks so much better. Here is a before picture. Hubby began painting.

20160227_154621It is rather narrow. The previous owners had spot painted where marks were and the paint did not match. It was a bit annoying to look at. Now it is a cool very light green. The color brightened it up from the tan! We had a wire shelf on the left side that got in the way of TALL people. LOL. Hubby kept hitting his head on it when he used the dryer. I didn’t have much problem though but it is nice having it gone.  Now, there is a nice shelf above the washer and dryer and we bought a pantry for all other items. I want to put my brooms and such in it but I can not get the pegs to come out to move the shelves. I need my he man hubby to do it. 🙂

I have not finished with the decorating so no finished picture but I will post when I get it done.

Also, in order for the washer and dryer to fit we needed to take out the trim work so we replaced it with nice white trim leading up to the appliances with a wooden end. It looks awesome! Picture to come soon!

My pondering mind has led me to finally delete my Facebook page. No one really read it and I stayed at the same numbers for years. I can utilize my time better actually writing. LOL. Where is that motivation? 🙂 It really is the pits that Facebook wants you to pay in order for all people to see it. I rather enjoy Twitter and Google+. I will concentrate more there. 🙂

What do you prefer for social media?

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Peaceful Swinging

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My swing is up! Thanks to hubby! I have had that swing for years. Originally was going to hang it at the Puzzle House but since we are not there as often I brought it here. We have the perfect porch for it. I wanted a privacy wall though because the neighbor’s kitchen table is right there. I felt like I was spying on them. Or maybe that I felt like they were spying on me. 🙂

I need to paint the privacy wall. We are changing the porch railings to a grey. I have yet to decide to paint it grey too or come up with something unique and pretty.

It is nice to go outside and relax!

Love swings!

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Hubby is going to put up another privacy wall on the end there as well. Eventually, we are putting up a fence and don’t want anyone jumping into the backyard from the porch. 🙂

I am getting a little writing done on my second book. Not as much as I would like but at least I am writing. The Creative Cave has cooled down with the cooler weather. I think I write better when it is cool. Basements are good for that. 🙂 Perfect spot for the cave!

I did not get around to posting my Halloween decorations so I will post those and the Thanksgiving one. I don’t like to skip Thanksgiving, too many pretty colors and we should be thankful for all that we have. 😉 I didn’t decorate much outside so no photos there. Hopefully, next year add to decorations for outside.

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Love having a fireplace to decorate! 🙂 The cats only attempt once in a while to get the decorations. They don’t like the water bottle! Or me clapping my hands loud! It is kind of fun. 🙂

Happy writing or whatever you are doing today! 🙂

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Books, Shelves, and More

20151009_121243 (Creative Cave Room, JC)

My current books on one lonely shelf. 🙂

20151008_223658 (Basement outside Creative Cave Room, JC)

This wall will sometime in the future be my rows of shelves for my books. I have not brought all my books from the Puzzle House yet. I am waiting until this is done so we don’t have to work around them. I have well over 1000 books. A few years ago I cataloged all but the paperback Harlequin novels on a phone app. I lost the app when I changed phones.

Bummer. I will catalog again one day. 🙂

I don’t think I will bring the Harlequin novels here, thinking I will keep them at the Puzzle House. After all, need books there too!

Summer%202012%20094[1] (Puzzle House, Oberlin)

This is my library at the Puzzle House. I miss those shelves. Hubby did a great job making them. Once all the books are off I need to sand and put a clear coat on so I can actually dust them. It is rather difficult dusting right now because the cloth sticks to the shelve. I didn’t sand only painted. I’m thinking of doing some wire doors in areas of the shelves. I think that will be neat looking.

Currently this room was our master bedroom. We are now going to make it our living, library, storage closet (to the left there which was my walk-in closet) and TV room. 🙂

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My favorite collection is my V.C. Andrews novels. I am behind on buying them and way behind on reading the new ones. 🙂 I first read My Sweet Audrina in Jr. High. I was hooked. I have only read this one and the Flowers in the Attic series. Yes, I am way behind on reading all the other series. I kept buying them because I knew I would read them someday. I think that day is coming.

Do you buy collections or series?

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Turn The Lights Down Turn The Volume Up

The Media Room. AKA The Boys Cave as my youngest likes to call it. 🙂

The beginning it was storage.

West wall
West wall and stairs
West and south wall
South wall
East wall or soon to be

The walls began going up, then the fun of mudding and sanding. Hubby had that fun. 🙂

West wall
South wall
View of room next to it.
The hallway to our caves!

Painting stage! Hubby painted and I did the touch-up. We are not perfect but I think it looks nice. In fact, compared to the pros that did this house our flaws are not much different from theirs. Sad. I would think the pros would blow us away. 🙂

Measuring for the floor covering
I love the blue.
West and south wall

The almost finished product. We love how the stain turned out on the baseboard and around the entertainment area. It really goes with the flooring we chose. We went with a new versalock vinyl plank. It was simple and it is water proof! A big plus! It required snap and go! No gluing! 🙂

Love it! Bed is temporary.
West and south wall.
East wall next to guest room.

The two end shelves have yet to be done but it will be covered in wood and stained to match the rest. 🙂 The cats have already claimed it to sit on. 🙂 Eventually the flooring will be the entire basement other than the storage area. We will add a drop down ceiling so we can still get to all the plumbing and ductwork. 🙂 I’m sure problems will arise.

Looking at the drop down ceilings, they have really made them look cool and sound proof. I like that. I saw that one could even paint them but I think we will leave them white to bring out some light.

The boys are enjoying their space. It solved the problem of electronics in their rooms. 🙂 Yay!

Now, if only I could find the right comfy furniture. 🙂 A couch is out of the question because the stairs turn and it is a mess to get things down there. I’m thinking comfy chairs or a lounge chair.

Pondering it. 🙂

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Glue Mess Gets Duck Taped

Duck Tape the desk My own photo! 🙂

Courtesy of my cellphone and a new app I discovered, BeFunky App. Love it!

My hubby built me my very own Creative Cave in the basement. He also gave me his old table he used for building his big model airplanes. He had knocked over a bottle of strong glue onto the table last year. We tried lots of things to get it off but only accomplished most of it.

I pondered for months what I wanted to do to cover it up.

Duck Tape!

Throughout the year I had seen the square sheets in several stores and thought yes! We went to Menards tonight to get some other supplies for remodeling the basement and I caught a glimpse of these. I knew that was what I wanted to do. I bought only three sheets for now to see how it looked and what design I wanted to go with.

I like it! 😉

I will continue the pattern the rest of the way across the table. The sheets were 1.99 each. Cheap design idea plus no mess or smell. I like the bits of wood still in the areas I won’t cover up. I hope the corners will stay down if not I will find more duck tape! LOL 🙂

I like the feel of it too. It covered up a few splinter parts as well. It will be easier to clean than the wood since the wood is not stained or clear coated.

Sometimes one needs to ponder awhile. Me, it seems like it takes months! LOL

Hope you have a great weekend, I think we will! We are going to go to my hometown fair where our other home is at. 🙂

More work to do there. Sad thing is we have not made it back much this year so it is in major need of cleaning and work. 🙂 That is ok, we will get to have fun in the evening at the carnival. Home owned and operated by local volunteers. I hear they added two more rides! 🙂

I can not wait to have a funnel cake and a pork burger!!!!

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Creative Cave Accomplished!

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My view from the Creative Cave and the computer desk area. Rather cloudy and gloomy day but I like watching the clouds. The sun tries to peek out once in a while. It will be fun to watch it rain. 🙂 Earlier today I watched seven military helicopters go by and then four more flew by. 😉

Yesterday, I saw the prettiest blue bird on the tree that is to the left but behind the trampoline. I did not make it in time to get a picture. Darn it.

Eventually, the trampoline will be moved once we have it tied down to stakes in the ground. The wind gets pretty vicious around here. I see a lot of trampolines destroyed in the neighborhood so we are going to tie ours down good! 🙂

In the future, we will put up a fence then I can plant some pretty things to look at through the window. But for now, I will settle for the sky. 🙂

I want to try my skills at making a fairy garden that will be outside the window. building-garden-3

I foresee something like this in front of my window! 😉

I think it might spark some creative writing.

Hubby wants to put mostly decking out back so this would work pretty good. Step off the deck to the fairy garden! 🙂

Happy dreaming everyone! I need to get back to organizing my Creative Cave!

Hubby says, no excuse to write now!

True! 🙂

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When Inspiration Strikes

orignal wall above fireplace 2014 jc Before Pic   Fireplace Green 2015After Pic.

I was planted on the sofa when a bright light bulb went off.

I can use the leftover green from the entryway to put some color above the fireplace. 🙂

Yes! It will be like a frame for decorating for holidays. Someday I would like to change the tile on the fireplace to something more decorative but for now I like it.

I think it will look good. I have to do some touch up painting and then I will take a finished picture with decorations.

There is an outlet for a TV but I like using the mantel for decorating, mostly because the cats have not found a way to get up there, yet. 🙂

I am slowly repainting the rooms. We bought the house last Fall and as we look closer at the walls we see the previous people did not match the tan color just right so there are spots everywhere. Eventually, all the walls will need painted. Weird thing is, there are no holes that they patched, so our guess is there were marks and they couldn’t get them clean or didn’t try. Funny.

Well, it worked other than when you are sitting and staring at the wall the spots begin to show. 🙂 I do that a lot trying to decide how to decorate. I still do not have all our photos up. I’m a procrastinator. Big time. 🙂

My inspiration for the green came from painting the entryway.

orignal entryway 2014 jcBefore Pic jc home - entryway2 2014After Pic jc home - entryway 2014

I will do a finished picture when I finish the artwork for this area. 🙂 I have not decided on the color for the other parts of the walls. It will be a neutral color like the tan or I am thinking a classy grey.

I will plant my butt back on the couch and decide. 🙂

Till later, have a great day! 🙂

Thanks for dropping by!

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Creative Cave is Coming!

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The beginning of my creative cave!

I am excited. I think hubby is too so I can get everything out of our bedroom. 🙂

I think it will spark me to write and do my art more.  🙂

My writing is coming along with the first novel. I have not begun the second novel yet for NaNo but that is OK. I feel really good after doing the edits on the first novel which had me dragging my feet for so long. It is already giving me more ideas for the second one. I know I will still have to do polishing edits but at least the structure is better than when I wrote during NaNo a few years ago. I kept putting off the edits because I was not happy with the story line. Of course, I shaved so many words out, it is now a mini novel. LOL

I think that will be ok. I like reading long and short novels so I hope others will too. 🙂 I may not be cut out for writing long novels, at least not yet. I think in time I will become better because I have read lots of new author books and they have really blossomed from their first book.

I think I want to release them close together so trying really hard to get it done. Perhaps in February and then April. This story is a trilogy so part three will be wrote after the release of the first two. The third may take a little longer but definitely be released in the Fall. 🙂

My goal!

If I do not write another blog before Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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