Project Days

September was a month of several projects...and progress continues! A few of the most recent accomplishments include:

1. Applesauce! I got 36 quarts of applesauce made from the apples on one of our trees outside. I didn't think I would be able to do so much with what we had out back, but it ended up making ample!

This was the first batch. I ended up canning the other 24 quarts because I ran out of freezer containers. 

2. Craft time. I needed something to hang on one of our walls in the living room, so we combined Goodwill with Pinterest to come up with this! The Amazing Grace was sitting in a closet downstairs, previously from Hobby Lobby with no place to go. The rest involved a fallen-apart hymn book, some mod podge, a few decorative flowers, and a frame from a second-hand store. And a decent amount of helpful input from Matt! Fortunately, I have him to be the creative eye in this house.

3. Tim and Laurie's house...I went over with Matt's mom and sister a couple weeks ago to help clean up Laurie's house after their renovations. This was the first time I had seen the house since they started working on it, and it is completely different from before...talk about a project! They have been hard at work for several months. Along with some other additions, they poured a basement and moved the house back from the road to sit on top of it.

4. A Room Painted! Yep, the bedroom across the hall from us finally got a new coat of paint, thanks to some help from Josie! The John Deere yellow-and-green room is now a calm gray...and I LOVE it!! Or maybe I just didn't realize how much that yellow and green was bothering me until I saw the room in gray. 

I don't really have much of a before picture, but perhaps this can give an idea. Green on bottom, yellow on top. 

After: So much calmer! Still needs some furniture...and I'm hoping to make some valances soon! 

This room is only the second in the house that has been painted since the last people lived here! Two reasons: 1. The other walls looked fine to me anyway; and 2. I really don't like to paint.

5. Windows are (were) ALL CLEAN. I spent a week deep-cleaning all of the windows and doors in the house (something I have never done before, and may not get around to doing for at least another twenty years). The day after I finished, ladybug season came upon us and now there are bugs all over the windows. I'm sure it will be better once they go away.

Who ever knew there was a beautiful view of a pond out that window?! 

Ok, so I don't mean that I just cleaned the glass in case that was the impression. I do intend to do that before 2035. Or so I say...

Next up on my list is to continue deep-cleaning and organizing the house. This week I am getting started on the kitchen!

6. LEGOS! Matt left me at his parents' house one evening so he and his dad could go work on the thermostats at church. I spent most of the evening playing with Legos and ended up creating this piece of artwork. The office desk was complete with a computer, speakers, books, a trashcan, a pencil cup, a lunch box, a swivel chair, a water bottle, a file cabinet, and of course, a plant and a small fish tank. When there was nothing else to add, I finally called Matt and he came home. 

This photo made it to Mel's Monday Memo, so I figured I should probably share it. 

It is so much fun to keep checking things off my list!! What accomplishment one can achieve with a lot of extra time! :)