It's going to be a good day.

Things are not easy right now. All over, they are not easy. In our own home, things are not easy. Still, I try to remember things could be much, much harder.

It seems popular right now to reflect on the Great Depression. I think that's a good thing to do, especially if we remember that as dark as things seem now, they don't compare to then.

My Grandma's family was very poor during the depression... so poor that they were basically squatters in a ghost town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Now that's rough.

I love this poster from http://www.dazeychic.etsy.com/ "Today I Will Be Happier Than A Bird With A French Fry."

I'm trying to remember that life is good, even when times are tough and sometimes life is good because times are tough.

They're here

Well, it feels like I started this project years ago, but I think it's really only been a couple weeks. Some women seem to whip up this kind of stuff with a family of five in tow and all without breaking a sweat. I am not one of those women. I just have one 2-year-old and found it excessively difficult to find time to finish these and keep him from destroying the house.
Thank goodness for grandparents. My son went for a visit and now my blinds are complete.

This project was surprisingly easy, when you have time to concentrate on them. The instructions came from this helpful blog http://jenduncan.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/11/roman-blind-tutorial-in-20-pictures-or-less.html

The only thing I would do differently in hindsight is I would buy the sewing tape that has the little rings sewn in...I found that the most tedious part of the job.

I'm calling this my first official sewing project and if you look too closely you can tell, but all in all I'm very happy with the results.

Did I mention that this fabric is silk ... I'm so in love with it. The best part is I found it for only a $1 a yard.

Alright, on the the next adventure.

I wanted to be posting about Roman Shades

Isn't this little lady cute? I bought her to sell, but I can't bring myself too. It gives me hope that I may one day golf again. Although I can't be hopeful about what the results will be when that day does come.Well, I've been hoping to post pictures of the new Roman Blinds I've made, but I haven't had the chance too finish them yet. I'm following the directions from this blog http://jenduncan.typepad.com/whats_new/2008/11/roman-blind-tutorial-in-20-pictures-or-less.html And the directions have been good, finding the time to follow them has been trickier.
I bought this cute little rabbit family about seven years ago and I think they've only been on display once. Springs have been very busy for me. I got married in the spring, had a baby in the spring, moved in the spring. While all those previous springs have been blessings, I'm thankful this year for a spring that's a little less busy.

I think this little rabbit clan is too... who wants to be kept in a plastic bin for seven years?

A project is never done

When I recovered a pair of chairs too match each other I thought they were done, but that never happens for me... I can never leave well enough alone.

Case in point, this little pillow... I got it through freecycle.com and I loved it, but it looked a little dingy and I didn't really think it could be cleaned without risking total destruction.
So, I took off the buttons and made a new pillow and simply reattached the yoyos! I added some buttons too. I think it looks as good as new. Now, if I can only keep my son from pulling the buttons off. (:

I also decided these chairs needed a little something more, so I added skirts to them. I just love them now. They have a casual, elegance and I like that they aren't showing off their legs. Sometimes less is more. If I ever decide I want them to be daring, little hussies again, the skirts can be removed easily.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Okay, so not so long ago I had a piece of flair on my Facebook page that said, "The Irish Are Hot." and my sister wrote something on my wall like this,"Rene, why do you have that, you're not even Irish!"

I patiently explained to my dear sister that even though our maiden name is Rosencrantz, we have a Farrington in our ancestry on our mom's side, not to mention that on our dad's side has more scotch than any neighborhood pub.... So, were Scotch-Irish too (which, I just learned on Wikipedia may not bolster my argument http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch-Irish_American.) Not that we actually drink the scotch, because we're uptight protestants.

All that doesn't matter, because apart from our ancestry, I wasn't saying I was hot, I was saying "The Irish Are Hot." Hello, has anyone seen Bono lately? Does the man age? And he's out there fighting the good fight, what could be hotter?

I have red hair. I think that's why I've always been drawn to the Irish side of myself. My Irish ancestry may be paltry to some, but it beats deeply in my heart.

That could be why I love St. Patrick's Day so much. Every one's Irish. I don't have to justify my love of cabbage, soda bread or Conan O'Brien. Or why I named my dog Shamus. Or why a little Irish brogue slips out every now and again. (Okay, I still have to justify the brogue to my husband. He hates it, but his last name is Wheaton and you know how reserved those English are.)

So, Happy St. Patrick's Day, whether you're full bloodied or your heart just beats Irish. Today, you're hot!

Now, I have some soda bread to bake.

It might just be here!

These little signs of Spring are brought to you by our home's previous owners. Last year, spring was a bit of a blur. We moved into a new house, amidst snow and ice. I didn't have time to notice flowers. I was busy settling into life in a new place.

This year, despite all the economic uncertainties, things feel a little calmer and it's good to feel like life is renewing itself.

I'm a gal, who loves the beginning of every season, but Spring is especially heartening. It's so full of promise. It feels like a new beginning is possible, even when times are tough.

If a little crocus can push it's way through the cold dirt, surely my family and I can muster through some hard economic times and an uncertain future. We do, after all, have our health and each other.

I know All-State is just trying to sell insurance, but I like their latest ad campaign that says something like, "Times like these make us appreciate the simple things and the simple things are pretty good."

I don't know the lady who planted these bulbs, but where ever she's living now, I hope she has a little flower blooming in her yard too.

I hope you do too.

What I'd like to be...

I'm often trying to figure out what I'd like to be. Who I am. Yesterday, I found an old yard stick in our basement...probably left here by the homes original family, who bought the place back in the late 1920s.

It's a happy yellow color. On it it says, "Reduce Your Heating Costs" and "Sun Shine Collectors."

As much as I'd like to reduce our heating costs, I think I'd like to be a sun shine collector even more.

I'd like to collect the warmness of the sun and have it fill my soul on days that seem too dark to bare.

I'd like to take the happy moments found in everyday life and drink them in, cherish them and recall them in the moments I need them.

After a long winter, it's always easy to appreciate a sunny day... but what about sunny day number 30?

So, I want to be a sunshine collector ... and possibly a distributor, it sounds like satisfying work.

Should it stay or should it go?

One of the dangers of rescuing anything, whether it be a kitten or a table is that you want to keep it for yourself.

I picked up this ugly table thinking I could do something with it and unlike most my chairs, shipping wouldn't be too expensive.

I thought I'd make it the first piece of furniture in my Etsy shop, paddywackdesigns.etsy.com but now I'm not so sure. I kind of like it ...

What do you think should it stay or should it go?