Washerwoman

Somehow, even on a relatively lazy Saturday where little else is done, there are always laundry and dishes to do. To be fair, I don't even mind laundry. Of all the domestic tasks, I enjoy it the most.

Did I mention that my next kitchen is going to have a dishwasher, by any chance? And I don't mean Len.

To be fair, I did have a helper:
Making sure the water is getting on the clothes properly.

Yup.. these are ready to be dried.

The folding she leaves to me, though. Isn't that nice? (By this time she's returned to her regular scheduled programming: napping.)

I'm also responsible for the unmatchables.

Now for the dishes. I find it highly unlikely she has any interest in lending a hand with those. She's not the most reliable labourer, but she'll do.

XIX

1. What a week! I had grand blogging intentions, having all sorts of intriguing and insightful things to say, but just never got around to it. Turns out Len and I were have such a lovely week of evenings puttering about the house, going for a mall crawl one evening and generally just enjoying being together that blogging just didn’t rank. Neither, as it turns out, did Farmville. Gasp!

2. With Len off his meds for over 48 hours it took a bit to restore equilibrium to our household. It’s hard to explain how that works without making it sound like a big dramatic thing, and yet it’s a reality in our relationship that pain meds make life better for both of us. So this week was lovely and joy-filled.

3. Since he was feeling better, Len was finally able to volunteer at school! He had a great time, and looks forward to going again. One of the teachers has already asked whether he’d be willing to come in a bit earlier (before school starts) to help her with some prep, so it looks like the school will be blessed by his participation! I knew they would be!

4. Work continues to be a zoo. Quite happily, I have an assistant starting on Monday so hopefully in time I’ll be able to share part of my workload with her and carve out more space for the projects I haven’t even been able to touch, look at or think about. You know those projects where the deadline continues to creep forward regardless of how busy you are? Those ones.

5. With work being crazy (and frequently being pulled in a million different directions), I’ve developed an attachment to the word ‘magical’. I use it frequently. For instance, this morning I went through the whole warehouse (climbing over and around skids) searching for a skid of cartons that was delivered Monday but have since vanished into the black hole of ‘Inventory Mayhem’. My response to not finding them: “Magical. Just magical.” (Hopefully you can hear the sarcasm dripping on the floor.)

6. I also find my job, the direction it’s heading and the things I’m realizing about myself a little surreal. But that’s a whole other post. Stay tuned.

7. I am going to bake banana bread this evening. It will be delicious. It will make my house smell scrumptious. You are welcome to pop on over for a slice if you’re in the neighbourhood. For a complementary beverage you may choose a nice hot cup of tea, a cold glass of delicious milk, or some raspberry juice. Advance notice not necessary.

8. Tomorrow evening (Saturday) Len and I are heading over to The Town Where I Work to see my friend, A, who moved back to Canada after living in France for far too long. I can’t believe she’s been within spitting distance for almost three months and I haven’t seen her yet! I am uber-excited. (Yes, I said uber.) Apparently her husband is an avid SG1 & SG Atlantis fan, so I’m sure he and Len will have plenty to talk about while A and I catch up.

9. Today is Friday the 13th. I mostly care that it’s Friday. Hellooo weekend!

French Memo Board

I love French memo boards. I first fell in love with them when I saw two that my sister-in-law had. They're great for holding all those photos of family and friends. When we drywalled and painted the dining room, the denim blue memo boards I had just didn't match anymore, so I decided to make my own.

Tonight, I finally got around to it!

It started off simply enough. Measure out the material (in this case, some funky upholstery fabric that was on clearance for $3/yard at Fabricland) and the traditional batting; lay board on top.
Pulling the fabric tight as I folded it over the edge, I stapled through both the fabric and batting into the wood. This requires more force than one would expect.
I left the corners free while I tacked down the edges. I then trimmed back the excess material and tugged the material nice and tight to form a neat corner.
With all edges and corners finished, it was time to place the ribbons. Turns out the 3/4" grosgrain ribbon spool I bought at Fabricland was about two feet shy. Happily I had a chocolate brown grosgrain in my Stampin' Up supplies, and was able to swap that out instead.

I hemmed and hawed about how to situation the ribbons so they would be evenly spaced in a criss cross pattern, and decided to do the obvious.

I let the Len take over. He promptly hauled out his calculator and measuring tape and got us all set up.

He's much better at such things than I am... I just get all flustered and decide I don't care if it's straight, which makes me very grateful to have him on my team!

With some excellent teamwork, we finished it off quite beautifully!

Tomorrow Len will put some heavy duty frame hangers on it and hang it so I can return the beautiful faces of our family and friends to their rightful place!

I'm quite pleased with the final result, and can't wait to casually mention that I made it, when people asked where I got it.

Aren't we crafty? (In a artful, non-sneaky way.) Next project: use extra upholstery fabric to refinish the cushions on the dining room chairs!