Visit Me at An Unedited Life

Work has been keeping me busy lately, and I haven't had much in the way of time for renovating, or decorating or even reorganizing The House. But, lest my loyal readers think I've disappeared from the blogosphere, I'm leaving behind a link to my other blog. Come visit me there when you have time--it's a whole different world from House From 1800, but it pays the old mortgage :)

Thanks for stopping by, and please visit me at An Unedited Life

My Precious

So in my spare time, I'm a professional freelance writer. This basically means I spend my days trying to keep my cursor away from Facebook long enough to make a little money. Unfortunately, I have a lot of interesting friends who have really cute kids and grand kids and dogs and cats and boats and lakes where they like to linger, so some days I just sort of follow them through cyberspace instead of doing actual work.

Also, we've been slowly working our way through "The Hobbit" movies here at The House -- you know, so the kids will grow up knowing what's really important and stuff like that.

But on those days that I do actually accomplish something that's not akin to stalking or slacking, I produce copy for several writing agencies.

My Boston-based company, WriterAccess, recently honored me with a featured writer spotlight, so I thought I would share it here.

It's my 15 seconds of fame, so I plan to milk it into old age.

Because, just like Smeagol and the One Ring.

"We likes it, We do."

Trash-Bag-Raiding Squirrel

So the trash guys haven't been around in over a week due to the snow that falls daily. This means we have a few bags of trash setting out on the back deck.

Today, the trash bags had a dinner guest.

 

In the famous words of Dug...

 

 

Squirrel!

 

 

Part of the appeal of The House is the back yard that borders Antietam Creek. In early spring we get wild geese coming in off the creek. They bring their babies whom we get to see grow up.

 

Geese grow amazingly fast, but that's a story for another day.

 

Do you have wildlife taking up residence in your back yard?



Cats and Dental Adventures

Remember that little plug I gave Santa Rosa gardens last week when cabin fever was causing a slight psychotic break?

Good, because today's post is along those same lines...but with teeth.

So two days ago I was up on the ladder, changing out the light bulbs that burn out like jet fuel around here, when I had a small incident.

Junior the cat loves ladders. When I'm changing out the light bulbs, she enjoys climbing to the very top of the ladder and batting at the pull chain on the ceiling fan. It's the feline version of racquetball, I think, and she's quite the champion.

But it's distracting. And those ceilings are pretty high.

I distinctly remember doing a Junior scan before getting on the ladder and she was nowhere in sight. What I didn't realize is that she was lurking on other side of the ladder, halfway up those rungs you aren't supposed to climb on. Just as my head cleared the top of the ladder, so did hers. For a heartbeat we were eye to whiskers and then she was gone. She had leapt from the top rung on the other side that's too far to reach. She scrabbled about for an instant, trying to get a paw-hold, and then she slid right off.

Because I'm pretty sure Junior is in a delicate condition at the moment, I made a wild grab in the dark to catch her before she hit the floor. Happily, I didn't miss. Unhappily, I chipped a tooth on the ladder in the process.

Now, the kids have a dentist, but he's just that -- a kid's dentist. I, myself, haven't been to the dentist in awhile. I had no idea who to call, so I did what any good freelancer would do. I turned to the Internet.

I typed in "find a dentist", and the rest is history. Within seconds, I found eight possibilities, all within just a few miles of The House.

To make a long story short, I called, I went, they fixed my tooth the same day. It was the most painless end ever to a less-than-stellar DIY story.

Yay!

Junior, however, is in the dog house. She really hates it too, can you tell?

Snow and Homemade Noodles

So, there's another 14 inches of snow moving in overnight. All the schools in three states are closed in anticipation, and everyone is on the snow watch here. So far it's just a light dusting on the windshield of the car, but by morning, the great outdoors should be quite impressive.

 

It was pretty darn cold and bleak out there today, so of course, this called for food -- homemade noodles. The ultimate comfort food.

 

 

I have no idea what the recipe would look like for these -- something like a few cups of  flour, an egg, a little water and a pinch of salt. I haven't measured the ingredients in my homemade egg noodles since forever. I just watched Mom and Grandma make them enough times that I finally got the hang of it. Drop a few handfuls of these babies into some home-stewed chicken broth and all the bad things go away.

 

Mine are still a little thicker than they should be, but all-in-all, they turned out pretty tasty. Someday it would be nice to have a pasta machine, but for now, the old rolling pin works wonders.

 

Do you have a favorite comfort food?

The Sweet Spot, by Kate Supino (Guest Post)

 

Today's guest post comes to us from my good friend Kate over at A Good Living. She has a lot of sweet things to say, and if you knew Kate, you'd know she means every word. Stop by and visit her when you get a chance...you won't regret it.

The Sweet Spot

I watched a movie the other night called “The Company Men.” It’s about a group of highly paid executives who get laid off one by one, and are forced to reevaluate their lives spent accumulating status symbols and possessions. It had Ben Affleck in it, whom I admire for his acting work. (By the way, I was a Ben Affleck fan long before it was cool. I even stuck with him through that whole J Lo debacle.)

The movie made me think about where the sweet spot lies between uber-wealth and abject poverty. When do our possessions begin possessing us, and at what point do we begin yearning for a mani-pedi and a hot stone massage?

I’ve always shaken my head at the concept of placing one’s foundation in financial stability in the hands of a corporate giant that can decide to cut the cord on a whim, like in the movie I saw. I subscribe to Charles Ingalls’ ideology of making one’s own way in the world and owing nothing to anyone. (That’s not to say I don’t have a credit card and don’t shop with it. I am a girl, after all. Let’s be reasonable.)

But as a lover of the creature comforts, I can definitely see the allure of owning designer clothing and high-end kitchen appliances. I have no desire to struggle financially, or to “rough it.” So where is that sweet spot? When is enough….enough?

For insight into the answer, I can look to my good friend, Anne Goetz, owner of this blog that she is graciously allowing me to guest post on. Anne takes the ordinary and transforms it. What I might blithely buy at a yard sale and hang on my wall with nary a second thought, Anne would think, “I think I can make it better.” And she does.

One of my favorite singers, Sheryl Crow, has a great line in one of her songs. “It’s not having what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got.” I love that line. I think maybe the sweet spot between excess and poverty is in the ability to take what you already have and work with it. If you can’t afford a house, maybe you can have an awesome one-bedroom apartment. If you can’t buy a brand new car, get a used one you can afford and keep it immaculate. If all you can afford is yard sale items or your grandmother’s bedroom set, keep coming back to the House from 1800 for inspiring decorating ideas.

You don’t have to live up to anyone else’s concepts of wealth or success. Live cleanly, love your family and let them love you back. Pay your bills and eat your vegetables. Do all that and I think you’ll find the sweet spot in your own life.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

Thank you, Kate. You rock!

 

School Cabinet Possibilities

This is the school cabinet. For the longest time we kept it in the living room to house backpacks, boots, umbrellas, hats, coats, gloves and more -- everything needed for school -- all in one place.

 

Before pic of the school cabinet.

 

When we put the Christmas tree up this year, we had to find a new temporary home for the school cabinet and it found it's way into the master bath. It wasn't supposed to stay there for long, but I've become really fond of having it in there. When I put folded, fluffy towels in those deep drawers, they stay refreshingly cat-free. I like this.

 

A lot.

 

The finish is shot on the school cabinet though, and I can't help thinking how different it might look covered in a shiny enamel, two-tone paint treatment.

 

What do you think?

 

Something like this from the CreateInspire Blog ?

You know I'm loving this :)

 

Robin's Egg Blue Dresser redo from CreateInspire.

or maybe this? From OneCreativeCouple

 



The green dresser Redo from One Creative Couple






 

These colors speak to me :)