Emily's House

We finally got the built in bookcases installed at Emily's.

This little helper never stopped long enough for me to get a clear picture of him.  He was all over the place trying to help (and get the tools before the guys could use them.) 

They work together...each taking turns drilling.

Here's Austin...once again trying to get in some "tool" time.

Jared was also able to replace the old fan...

 with this new white one.

 There is additional trim molding to add to one end of the bookcase and along the top and bottom to complete the built in look.

 We'll need to stain the new trim to match what was salvaged from the original tear out.

While the boys were installing the bookshelves, Emily got into the small pantry area and pulled up the nasty dirty carpet.  The floor is dirty, but it can be washed.

This same flooring is under the new carpet in the office.  Emily hopes to tile the kitchen, laundry room and pantry area later on.  She felt it was easier to live with this floor than the dirty carpet.

 We had other helpers...but I'm not too sure how much they were helping!

I finally finished the kitchen curtains.  Emily bought an embroidered tablecloth at a friend's garage sale and really wanted to use it in her kitchen as curtains.

There wasn't enough of the embroidered tablecloth to cover all the windows, so I picked up another tablecloth with the same color scheme to finish the other areas.

 I made the topper to look like it had a "petticoat" underneath.

The lower curtains have a small ruffle made from the petticoat material.  This big window used the full tablecloth to complete the project.

Emily wanted a curtain for this opening.  "Someone" thinks the microwave is that low so he can push the 'butts."  (He can't remember the word is button.  He always wants to push the butts.)

I used the new table cloth for this area and...



to cover the window in the back door.

The two look nice together.  Emily is NOT into anything "matchy".  She's only into vintage!

Which is why the curtains covering the window over her sink are vintage tea towels...

The ceiling in the back room finally got a patch.  It will need a little more work to finish the texture, but we started painting in the hall...working toward that back room.  There is still a big chunk of the carpet left...she's threatening to haul it to the curb.  Anyone need a big piece of carpet?


We'll finish painting the hall this week...then move into the back bedroom.  We need to paint the ceiling and the walls in there.
 Only one bedroom and the small bath left to complete! Nearing the end!!!
Till tomorrow...
debi

Twirly Lasagna

It was my turn to host our "Life Group" this week.  There are 5 couples in our group, and we meet every other week.  The host home provides the meal and we take turns leading the group.  Currently we are studying the Parables of Jesus.  It's been interesting studying and discussing the Parables and hearing all the different points of view.  I've enjoyed getting to know our group better and learning about each person.

Things have been crazy around here lately, so I wanted something that would be easy to fix for dinner and wouldn't take me too long to prepare.  I opted for Twirly Lasagna. 

 I'm sure it has an official name, but that's what we call it around here! The whole dinner can be made (start to finish) in about 30 minutes - then 30 minutes to cook and you're done! Add a salad some garlic bread and you have a complete meal fit for company.

I'm not really into a heavy-cheesy lasagna and love the lightness of this dish.  I think if you give it a try, it may become your new favorite also!

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the process, but here's the final "product".

I was asked for my recipe...so here it is!  Enjoy.

Ingredients:
12 uncooked plain lasagna noodles (6 oz)

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 jar (14 oz) tomato pasta sauce (any variety)
1 can (8 oz) mushroom pieces and stems, undrained
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Additional grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package.

2. Cook beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in pasta sauce and mushrooms. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Pour into ungreased rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches.

3. Mix ricotta cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, the salt, pepper and garlic. Spread 3 tablespoons of the cheese mixture over each noodle. Roll up each noodle; cut roll crosswise in half. Place cut sides down in beef mixture.

4. Cover and bake about 30 minutes or until hot. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese.

This will easily serve 8.  I usually double and make one to freeze.

Enjoy...until tomorrow,
debi

Sunday Thoughts on Monday

Saved by Grace
Frances J. Crosby, 1891

Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing;
But, oh, the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King!

Refrain:
And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story—Saved by grace.

Some day my earthly house will fall;
I cannot tell how soon ’twill be;
But this I know—my All in All
Has now a place in heav’n for me.

Some day, when fades the golden sun
Beneath the rosy tinted west,
My blessed Lord will say, “Well done!”
And I shall enter into rest.

Some day: till then I’ll watch and wait,
My lamp all trimmed and burning bright,
That when my Savior opes the gate,
My soul to Him may take its flight.

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 (New Living Translation)


Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

For some reason this did not post yesterday...so words for Monday!

Sunday Thoughts

Revive Us Again

William P. Mackay, 1863


We praise Thee, O God!

For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.

Refrain:
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.

All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.

All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.

Psalm 85:6 (New Living Translation)


Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?

Re-start Emily's Project

Well...when we last left off at Emily's new house "makeover" we had almost all the rooms painted.  Work projects, vacations, conventions...lots of things have put us at a crawl.  I'm still sewing for the house (window treatments and other small items), but the big projects had come to a total stand still.

To re-fresh your memory, this is how the room originally looked when Emily purchased the house.  Yellow walls and green/brown carpet.

We got busy painting the walls and freshening up the woodwork, but at that point we did not have carpet for the room (and as we have since found out, what was underneath was NOT pretty - old 1960's linoleum!)

We eventually got carpet for the room...then it was a loooooong wait to get it laid.  That finally happened this last weekend!

The carpet was a "free" remnant from a friend of my husband who owns a carpet business (plus he threw in the pad!)

It really freshens up the room.

It has all of Emily's colors in her house packed into that carpet!

Here's a picture of  the same carpet that her sister had bound to use as an area rug in her living room.

 

Believe it or not there is still enough left for another room...I think I may need it in my own office! (It's the right colors!)

The next element to go in the room is a book shelf  "system."  Since Emily wants to use this room as her office...all the shelves are perfect.

Due to the fact my husband is a facility manager...he's always supervising the tearing up of offices to make room for new offices.  These book cases came out of a lawyers office in his building.  It's one of the components we've been waiting for (he knew they would be available when the lawyer left the space.)

 It's amazing to me that "stuff" is trashed and thrown away when a tenant leaves their old space.  Guess they think it's cheaper to "rebuild to the new space" than to take the old stuff with them.  (My husband is opposed to throwing away good wood!)  We've benefited many times from someones "throw aways"!

This weekend the guys will affix the shelves to the walls, trim them out and we'll start creating this room as a home office for Emily.  The shelves fit very nicely wall to wall!  They will look like custom built ins when all is said and done.

We are also working on a door "system" that will enable her to close off this room if she needs to. 

Well, unloading the shelves was enough for one day (I just watched. HA!)...more on them tomorrow...

till then,

debi

No Sew Curtains

I spend most of my working hours in an old house.  I love that!

The ministry I work for (3e McKinney) is actually located upstairs in this house, and another ministry (Seed Sowers) occupies the space downstairs. (Be sure and check them out!)

The house had been renovated for office use and is the perfect place to spend my working day. 

When Seed Sowers moved in they set about to re-arrange how their rooms were going to be used to better suit their needs.

There is a large room at the front of the house and Seed Sowers moved the conference table and chairs into that area because it was much more spacious than the prior space.  However, there are no doors in this area and they wanted a little privacy between the Conference Room and the work area.

Knowing that there's not a lot of money for fabric (we would need over 10 yards to make both sides pretty) I decided on the drop cloth route!

I stenciled a design around the edge in a light brown - then offset the stencil a little and came back with some black to make it look a little shadowy and "vintage."

One closet pole and some curtain hooks (all bought on sale)...finished the project.

Once I got them hung up I paper clipped the pleats so it would hang straight.

Since this is a "new sew" project - the excess fabric is folded over to one side.

The side toward the work area is stenciled on the edge, and is very simple.

Easy, easy project - Total $37.00!

We're back working on Emily's house...so much to show in the next few days!

Till tomorrow...

debi

Sunday Thoughts

Tell Me the Story of Jesus

Frances J. Crosby, pub.1880

Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”

Refrain:
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.

Fasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that are past,
How for our sins He was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of His labor,
Tell of the sorrow He bore;
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.

Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see;
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
"Love paid the ransom for me.”

1 Timothy 2:6 (New Living Translation)

He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message

God gave to the world at just the right time.

Labor Day Activities...

One of the luxuries of a holiday is having my granddaughter come over and stay with us. 

She coming to play and spend a little time away from baby brother...but she also enjoys learning new things.

This weekend we polished the silver (yes Tante Margrit...she had a lot of fun!)

This is a beautiful Tea Service given to me by Oma, and I have enjoyed it for many years now. 

Lauren learned all about tarnish, silver polish, "elbow grease" and drying your silver thoroughly.  She told her "Bapo" she had a lot of fun.

Next item on our list was breakfast...she spotted a "new" tool I'd picked up at an antique market and she wanted to know if we could use ...whatever it was for.  I explained it was for "juicing" - a totally new concept for her. 

After a little explanation and some more "elbow grease" she got the hang of it.

After fighting through squeezing 5 oranges...

we barely had one cup of juice.  We discussed how strong women must have been in the past and how they used their muscles for hard kitchen chores that we now have electric appliances to help us prepare.

Next, she learned about straining.

She was very pleased with her "surprise" for Bapo!

She also decided on the pretty table setting, and decorated the plates with some small champagne grapes.

Of course, lest we forget she is still a little girl...she wanted Mary Lou to have breakfast with us.

A great spread for a day off work!

Now...on to a day of swimming!  No more work today!

Happy Labor Day!

till tomorrow...

debi