Fair weather blogger

I'm not sure why this is true about me, but I feel like I can't blog or write when life is kicking me in the shins.  I sometimes feel like since I started this blog to discuss house/home type things that I can't write when I am not really doing those things!
I feel guilty that I have cut and designed all the parts for the coffee table I am buidling, but yet I can't find the time to sand the legs and get it all painted.
In all, when I say life is kicking me in the shins, it's relative.  Life is pretty 'normal', but little things keep me too busy working, too busy caring for D-bear and too busy running to get it all done.
Somehow I miss the fact that every day I feed and care for 2 horses, 3 dogs, 7 hens and 1 cat.  Everyone is happy and shiny and fed.  I also manage to run a business, pay all the bills, raise a kid with significant special needs. I also get to the gym most of the time, ride my horse and even did a few shows last year.  I also manage to keep the floor swept, the dishes done, the laundry washed and everybody vertical on any given day.  Yet I feel guilty I haven't sanded those dang table legs!  LOL

I'm going to try to be less of a fair weather person.  I tend to get so caught up in 'perfection' that I fall victim to "why bother" mentality. 
This Christmas I was hating myself for only getting TWO Christmas trees up.  What is wrong with me?  that's two more than some people!  LOL  So...I am going to try again to focus on the moment...and if that coffee table EVER gets done I will surely blog about it.  If it doesn't, I'll just keep trucking.

Do yourself a favor this Christmas. Don't hold yourself to a higher standard than you would a friend!

Merry Christmas!

Inherited treasure

My Aunt calls me a few weeks ago asking if I want my grandmother's dresser.  I am thinking of the 1950's blonde set she had and wondering what possessed her to think I would want it.  Then she tells me it is an antique that was in the 'front' room, not grandma's room.

My aunt was bringing some other things from Jacksonville, so she could bring it to Southern Indiana and I could meet her.  I honestly didn't have memories of this dresser, as my mental picture is that blonde set and grandma's hairbrushes there.

  There are two stories on this peice.  The one my aunt tells is grandma bought it for 50c from my great great uncle and fixed the finish and some damage to it.  He then offered her $2 to get it back, she was offended.   My dad, however, says he remembers going with my grandfather to buy it at an auction.  Since, all firsthand parties are no longer with us, I may never know.

However, she fits nicely in my home.  I got her home, unwrapped the marble top and put her in place.  I quickly shoved a few items on it so it wasn't naked and snapped this picture for my aunt, so she knew it had gotten a good home!   The little guy on the right was my Dad's teddy.  I thought it only fitting!

I opened the drawers and was surprised to find I DO remember the shelf liner in the drawers!  Funny how memory works.  I believe every drawer in grandmas house was the bright stuff!

I love to have her dresser and cook with her wearever pans.  If I could bottle the love she gave me I would wear it everyday.  These pieces bring a little of it closer to home. 

I love my new/old gift from Grandma!  Thank you Aunt Barb for knowing how much it would mean to me!

Just Obstacles

It's one of "those" days.  I am feeling in a panic for no "real" reason.
Not that I don't have reasons to feel pressure.  I am running my business, raising my special needs teenager, caring for my menagerie and trying to keep fit and healthy.
I often feel one or more balls are falling while I juggle, occassionally clattering to the floor and rolling away from me.  I don't call it failure as long as I crawl under the sofa of life and grab the cobweb covered ball.
This weekend I have a Father's day gathering at my house Saturday and a horse show Sunday.  I am telling myself I am not worried about the show but I am having nightmares where my boots fall off while I am riding, I would say that's a sign!  Reminds me of the 'showing up to a final exam for a class you forgot to attend' dreams of my college days.

I realized today though, that like a jump course, you are never jumping 10 or 12 jumps at once you are doing them in sequence.  So, I am going to acknowledge my obstacles and start hopping over them.  I will get the house clean enough to have company, host a fun gathering, clean my boots, braid my pony and do my best at the show on Sunday.  I choose to see the blessing that is the life I am leading right here and right now!

What obstacles is making you overwhelmed and how are you going to tackle it today? 

So many projects so little time

Well, this is the start of ONE of my projects.  In the back are jump poles (think horses) that I painted.  I have cut this old door down (Was glass at top) and am making my new coffee table.  I have spindles from my Dad's old house to build the legs.  THey are also cut.  Now the question of the hour:  How do I find time to sand the spindles, paint the parts, paint again, distress, assemble etc. ?  I need a maid and a yard guy so I can do more of these projects!  LOL   But then I would have to work MORE hours to pay them.  Vicious circle.  I often wonder how other bloggers get so much stuff done.  I am picturing some sweat shops in their garages, honestly! 

I am always proud of my projects when they are done, but sometimes they feel daunting when I start.  I remind myself that I planted roses this weekend, filled out rest of front garden, weeded and put mulch around the property.  I can do it...one step at a time!

HOpe you guys are are all conquering your PILE of projects too!

Mother's Day gift to myself!

I should probably NOT be going on Craigslist and typing in things like "buffet" or worse yet, for me, "Horse".   I did it last week though, I didn't buy a horse or even tall boots, I found this lovely buffet.  I have been desiring a sideboard/buffet for a long time.  I got the price I wanted for her and after some planning to go get her (an hour away).  She came home.

She isn't without "issues"  Slightly too large for where I wanted her, I chose another wall, and if I center her under the windows you might not make the stair corner with a load of towels in a basket!  While watching someone else flip over a buffet might be good slapstick, it's not most realistic for daily living.  Well now she is just not quite right here.  I will figure it out.  Maybe moving my "almost finished" china cabinet to the right. (That's another story!).  Then there is the "What color do I paint her issue?"  I love the white, love grey, contemplated a bright undercolor with grey or white over and let life distress her.  
Then there is that SHIP!  Look at the top pic!  A lovely ship is on the bottom drawer!  Do I make a circle around it and not paint that section.  If I do that do I refinish the top to match?
Also she had been in storage for awhile so I had to scrub her pretty good and I am gonna do the insides with a dilute bleach solution again to get the "storage" smell out of her.  By the time she is painted and refinished she is going to be JUST what I wanted.  Now, can I buy TIME on CL?

Tell me what you think!

 By the way, MARY some of the goodies you gifted me when I first moved are in the cabinet to the left see if you an find them!  Proof that the picture wasn't staged is the dust on said items!  LOL

Beauty

It's all around. Sometimes hiding. Sometimes in things others don't see. This was all in my back pasture.

Stepping

I am again glad I chose "Baby Steps" as the name of my blog.  It is definately the only way things seem to get done in my world! 

The above photo is the front of my house the day I put the offer in.  The plants in front of the wall are in pots, and there is nothing but dusty dry soil below.

That was three years ago.  I have wanted to do something about it for all those years.  However, feeding living beings, mowing grass, riding horses and raising my son have eclipsed this "job". 

This weekend I finally got some horse manure toted up there, ran a tiller and dragged the stone up from the barn (one wagon at a time).

It isn't done, plants come next, but again my steps are baby ones....but I refuse to stop stepping! 

This photo is horrendous, but you get the idea.  I can't wait for it to be full of hostas and impatiens.  Looks alot more like the cottage I am growing it into.  Now I just don't know if I wan to sit on my back deck or in my front yard more.  It's a good problem to have!