I’ve been a little busy. This house stuff, kid stuff and don’t-get-me-started-on-the-job stuff has been a bit much the past couple of weeks.

I did find time to have a friend over to the unpacking-construction zone of a house. I won’t name her, she would lose her mind. We’ve known each other for more than 30 years, she holds secrets and could use that power for evil if provoked.

She brought these lovely flowers to the house.

And insanely delicious pastries. The survivors of this box have been kept safely in our old-people freezer. I’m happy to report that they’re warm and delightful again after a 1-2 minute zap at 30% in the microwave.

The days/weeks lately have been a blur. The almost-5-year-old is about to start kindergarten. The registration process is complete, the long list of supplies has been purchased and handed to his new teacher, and his father won out in a battle over the new school backpack not having a character on it (sorry, Paw Patrol). The compromise is that the new backpack is an off-putting pseudo-camo with dashes of horribly bright green.

We finally replaced the outdoor lights. There are millions of outdoor light options and apparently the ones I really like the most are also the most expensive. We ended up going with the simple and practical solution. Overpriced outdoor light statements will be left to another time.

The old lights were old school, lantern style, you know the ones.

New lights.

 

I managed to plant a few succulents, you can never have too many.

 

The birdbath strawberry jar finally got plants.

This birdbath got dinosaurs. You’ll have to ask the husband what this is about. The birds and squirrels don’t seem terribly concerned.

We made slow progress in the unpacking in between all the busy life stuff. We even managed to get one car into the garage. The garage has been my workshop while dealing with the desk project.

Remember this desk?

After more coats of stripping solution than I can count…

And a nice beating with a hammer to remove the broken plastic.

 

Tape.

Spray paint.

Stain.

Three coats of stain and three coats of polyurethane (satin finish) later – and the desk for my office is finally done.

My office is far from complete, but I have made it functional enough for now.

Fun pendant lamp.

New rug, old dog.

And I found a great frame for this poster I managed to safely haul around for 20 years…

This is the only corner of the room remotely suitable for photos right now. Just out of this frame is a mountain of yarn, purses, sweaters and general nonsense.

Expect future a post about obsessive yarn organization ideas.

So. Much. Yarn.