The night before...

 The day began with grocery shopping.  The fridge was FULL: 

And the pantry stocked: 

There was a little decorating to be done...

(Sorry, can't reveal any more of that until tomorrow...)

Then the cooking began:

These were the beans ready to go in the oven.  You are looking at a massive foil pan, and these have been a Godsend this week.  I came across them at Sam's Club last week, and there were 15 for $8.  They have been such a blessing for bulk cooking, and have saved on some really yucky dishwashing.  They were more than worth the 50-or-so cents apiece just in the work they saved.

This is my automatic fruit and veggie washer:



Every kitchen should have one.  :-)  I was also pleasantly surprised by a visit from an automatic grape plucker and carrot peeler.  I forgot to get a picture of it in action, but he's handsome and works for red pepper scraps.  ;-)  Fruit and veggies washed/chopped...  Dip, BBQ sauce and salads made...  Pork thawing.  Beans in the crockpot. 

Oh, and Gretchen even had a bath and is all pretty for the shower:

 

I'm so thankful for a productive day! 

It was long and I'm exhausted, but I love advanced preparation because it means more time for me to enjoy the day tomorrow!

Garden Arch

 Seven years ago or so, I stumbled upon garden arches at Michael's Craft Store 

for    five...dollars...each.

$5??

So, I bought 3.  Two to use, and one for parts.

I love getting a good deal on something.

Even more, I love seeing the Lord use those things.

These arches have seen a lot of showers, weddings, and receptions in their lifetime...

Here's the arch on display for the first time:

(Wow, it's so weird to see white walls in my house!)

And here it is a year later at my niece's wedding:

Planning her wedding was my 2005 spring project... As I was looking for a picture of the arch, I got distracted looking at the pictures and remembering how much work that was!  :-) That will go down as one of the most challenging projects I've taken on, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. 

Wasn't she a beautiful bride?

She hand stitched this dress. She was the first of the Walters girls that "we" married off... About to marry off another one this spring. Sigh... Anyway... So, I'm planning this wedding shower for my dear niece Bethany and her soon-to-be husband Isaac.  They're simple...  Kind of "earthy"... So, I want the shower to reflect their simplicity. It's a "his and hers" shower, so I want it to be a mixture of rustic and elegant.. masculine and feminine... We'll see how I do.  :-)  The first project I took on was the old garden arch. I'm not so much into "garden green" anymore.  The colors for the shower will be muted, natural tones...so it was time to spray bomb a wedding arch.  My husband draped a couple of layers of plastic over our tables in the garage...  

 and I was in business.  It was messy...  

 ...and did you know that spray paint completely devours plastic?  Now you know.   Good thing my hubby had the good sense to double the plastic!  By the way, I've done a lot of spray bombing in the garage...and if you're looking for the all around perfect paint to keep on hand for those random urges to blast something, this is the one to get: 

 It is the most perfect ultra flat super-dark brown and it works wonders on anything metal. I always used to use satin paint.  Never again.  I am all for flat paint.  It hides flaws.  It dries in less than 15 minutes.  It holds up just fine to wear and tear.  And if you need to do touch-ups, you can spray a spot and never worry about lap marks.  Good paint.  Not only that, but there's something about flat paint that makes everything else stand out.  I use flat paint everywhere now--I won't go back.  Alrighty, so, time to assemble the newly painted arch: 

Thank you hubby!  I was so glad he was willing to put it all together.  I've assembled these arches a good many times over the years, but I "tweaked" my back a few weeks ago.  (Who am I kidding?  Tweaked is a polite way to say that I've been waddling around like a granny...)  I'm so grateful it's FINALLY improving.  (I was beginning to wonder if this shower was going to be even simpler than I'd planned!) 

And, fully assembled...the new brown arch:

  Decorating begins... 

The garlands went on amazingly quickly...

 

  But then, I had the brilliant idea to use fishnet instead of tulle around the arch... 

  ...and piecing that on did not go quickly.  Finished: 

 I'm always slow to decide if I like something or not...but I think I like it.  I'll decide for sure when it's placed over the punch table at the shower.  :-) So, if you're ever in need of wedding decorations...  I keep an entire wedding in my attic at all times... Seriously.

Forbidden books...

Do you have any forbidden books on your bookshelf?

We've had one for quite some time.

For the last 3 years, everytime somebody picked up this book...

...my husband got very nervous.

Because for the last . . . three . . . years . . .

He's been drying leaves in this book.

I wish I would have gotten a "before picture" of the leaves neatly arranged in the pages with post-it notes marking their location.

It's been one of those "out of sight out of mind" projects that seemed to fall into the black hole of good intentions around here.  I have a whole basket of those in my sewing closet.  (And that is just what was left after I purged several of bins from the closet a year or so ago...)

Anyway, the other night, Elizabeth dared to take this book off the shelf to look up the meaning of a name...

After a bit of a scafuffle, we decided that maybe it was time to laminate Daddy's leaf collection. 

So, Beth decorated a box:

And Mike started laminating leaves:

 A couple hours later, I had them all cut out, and it definitely felt like fall in the school room.  :-)   We might be a little confused on our seasons around here, but Daddy's long awaited leaf collection is now complete! And Strong's Concordance is no longer the "forbidden book" on the bookshelf . . .

Not so favorite things...

 Now to write up the blog entry that I intended to write when I sat down at the computer: Lately, I've been itching for a project.  But I haven't had a whole lot of time to take on any major household projects.  So, I've been thinking about potential projects now and again. I'm definitely not a type-A personality or anything like that, but I like to be busy. When we have time to sit down and relax as a family, I like to have something to do with my hands.  And when I am occupied with the work of the day, I am usually dreaming up some grand project in my mind.  I suppose I'm more of a visionary than anything, because most of my grand ideas are just that...ideas.   There's a certain item of furniture in our home that gets in the way of my grand ideas on a fairly regular basis. Our living room couch.  

Sigh...

This couch was one of the few things in our marriage that we bought on a whim.

If you know my husband, you know that he never rushes into a decision.

Even the smallest decisions are usually slept on till morning.

And once he sets his mind to do something, you can count on him following through.  He's a very steady man--married to a very visionary wife.  Makes life interesting...

However, one day in the spring of 2000 when our house was well under construction, we ventured to Owatonna to look at furniture, and we happened upon this couch.  At the time, I was fond of antiques, and this was a replication antique.  My husband did something very unusual for him--he made a down payment on the couch that very day.

Within a matter of days, I remembered the many reasons why I wanted a neutral couch, and I pleaded with my husband to cancel the order.  But a decision is a decision, and his mind was made up.  This couch was destined to be in my living room, so may as well make the best of it.

And we have...

But I must admit that I've been hoping for the demise of this couch since the day it arrived in my living room.

And believe me...

This crazy couch has endured every desecration life can throw at it.

I could tell you, but you wouldn't want to sit on it.

One time I thought it was doomed for sure, and I actually took the couch pillow on the deck and poured several pots of boiling water on it!  It looks almost the same as the day it was delivered--minus 2 buttons.

It won't die.

And to this day, my husband loves this couch.

Now as an aside, I am very thankful for my steady man.  Because I happen to benefit from the fact that once he decides something is beautiful, he doesn't change his mind.  One night, many years ago, in a college parking lot, his eyes toward me changed, and he determined that I would be his wife.  By God's grace, that steady man found something beautiful in me, and he's never wavered.  While I'll never understand his faithfulness to me, I sure am grateful.

Anyway...

This week I got to thinkin' about how I sure would love to quilt and sew and design inspirational wall art for our living room.  We've talked of getting an estimate to reupholster the couch as a compromise.

So, a funny thing happened.  I found a furniture store in the Cities that claimed to have competitive prices and offered online estimates.

I filled out their form and attached a few photographs, and within 24 hours, this quote arrived in my inbox:

The Lord has a sense of humor, doesn't He?

So, I'm thinking I may as well accept the fact that this couch is my lot in life for now.

Funny thing is...  I don't know quite what I'd think if this couch up and disappeared tomorrow and was replaced with my dream couch.  I'd like to think I'd head down to my sewing room and get busy on some pillows.  But sometimes I wonder if I sorta love to hate the couch. 

Good grief, it's survived against all odds. 

It may be loud and harsh and demanding and attract more attention than it should.

But then again, sometimes so do I...

And my hubby doesn't give up on me.  :-)

So, I guess I'll just redirect my attention to other projects.

Maybe some curtains for the guest room...

And I suppose I'll live in peace with the couch.  For now.