Odds & sods

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Our girl is officially one year old! I know everyone says time flies, and it definitely does. But when I look back over the past year and think of everything she’s learned and how much she’s grown, it feels like it has to have been a year.

It’s amazing to watch a human grow.

Collage of 12 months of baby photos

We celebrated with a big pizza party with Matt’s and my families. It was really special–and also completely overwhelming. So many people. So many presents. So much food. We ended up delaying Ellie’s final tractor picture to the day after her birthday because it felt like we were trying to do too much. But I managed to finish a tractor cake for the big day–after Matt did an emergency run back to the grocery store for more icing sugar.

Baby with tractor pedal car

Tractor birthday cake

Our other excitement this month came courtesy of Baxter. He met up with someone or something in the woods and came home with a few gashes. One on his neck ended up needing stitches. He was not happy with his vet visit–nor the haircuts that were needed for his IV and to assess his various wounds. But we are happy that his injuries were relatively minor, that we have an amazing, kind, caring, gentle, skilled, generous team at our vet, and most of all that he’s home safe. He’s now on leash any time he’s outside, especially since he is completely fixated on the woods, apparently looking for a rematch.

Baxter looking into the woods with stitches in his neck

And now on to some of the inspiration I’ve come across over the last month:

Rambling Renovators living room

Jen at Rambling Renovators has amazing style, and she is going behind the scenes, sharing her process of how to decorate a room. She shared how to start and how to layout the furniture. Bonus, she’s updating her daughter’s room, which is a super fun project… not that I’m planning Ellie’s tween bedroom yet… much.
A reminder to not get stuck in our to-do lists and make time for family and fun
I’ve never made macaroni from scratch. But I’m trying to find an alternative to Matt’s favourite Kraft Dinner. I had high hopes for this vegan version (Chloe’s recipes have great flavours), but it was not a hit. Deb’s endorsement of Martha’s (non-vegan) version is making me think it’s the way to go. Any suggestions of how to get the flavour of KD with more real ingredients?
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Inspiration from Arthur Ashe via Thelma Golden in In The Company of Women by Grace Bonney.

My writing elsewhere:

Did you celebrate anything this month? Or have any excitement courtesy of your pet? Do you have a macaroni recipe to share? What’s inspiring you these days?

The baby’s first build

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Growing up, my parents always included my siblings and me in whatever was happening at our house. Maintenance, building, painting, renovating, cleaning–we were all involved. Some of it was chores. Some of it was just how our family rolled.

Looking back, I can see how these experiences gave us confidence, responsibility, skills, teamwork, work ethic, understanding and much more. This foundation set us up for our own homes and our own lives.

I don’t think my parents necessarily thought too deeply about the long-term benefits their approach would have. They liked doing things with us and wanted us to be involved. Or they needed help, and they had 8 extra hands hanging around. … Or, more likely, they had 8 extra hands and needed to keep them busy.

Today, a year into parenting, my sense is that most people spend a lot of time thinking–and worrying–about how to raise our children. What type of person do I hope my child grows up to be? How do I help her become that? I don’t think our aspirations are too much different than those of our parents. But I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and spend a lot of time reading different theories, trying different techniques and thinking about how to set our children up for success.

Admittedly, I’ve only been doing this Mom thing for a year. I have a long way to go, and I expect that we will face many challenges. However, I’m hoping that I can channel my own parents and remember how much I benefited from simply being involved in whatever they were doing.

Ellie and I did our first real build recently. You’ve seen her previously helping to make our invisible bookends and supervising some sanding. But this time she actually got her hands on some of the tools and materials. Of course, she also got her mouth on them too.

Baby playing with screwdriver and drill

My Mom gave Ellie a set of table and chairs for Christmas. I decided that since they were hers she should be part of putting them together.

Baby leaning on a box

I of course spent a fair amount of time making sure she didn’t drop the drill on herself, stick the screwdriver too far down her throat, cut herself on the scissors, or eat too much of the packaging. But we also had fun talking things through, finding the right pieces and putting it all together.

Baby excited to be holding a piece of wood

Fun is the best word I have to describe how it felt to build this little table and chairs with her.

Mom and baby sitting a child size table

I hope we have a lot more fun in the future. And I hope that she grows up to be a confident, capable, helpful woman, in part because of the things we do together.

The red room

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Growing up I always thought to myself, “When I have my own house, I will paint one of the rooms red.”

When Matt and I bought our first house, two of the rooms were painted red. We repainted one, but kept the other.

By the time we moved, I was so tired of that red room.

Red room

As I’m gearing up to paint the dining room, one of the colours on my list is chocolate brown. I think it’s a holdover from our first house where top on my list to replace the red was chocolate brown.

However, I’ve learned since moving here that I don’t love strong wall colours. I get tired of them quickly. I don’t feel as relaxed in a vibrantly coloured room as I do in a subtle one.

For example, our bedroom. I painted it trendy Hale Navy four years ago (holy moly how is it already four years ago?). It looks awesome. But I don’t know that I love it and sometimes I think I’m ready for a change.

Navy blue and white master bedroom

In contrast, the living room, hallway and kitchen are all a light greige (Abalone from Benjamin Moore mixed at 75% intensity). I love this area of our house. I spend most of my time in these rooms and I always feel very comfortable.

Hallway painted Benjamin Moore Abalone

Greige may be boring and a non-colour, but it works for me. I’m likely never going to be a white walls person. They look nice on Pinterest, but they’re not something I want to live with.

I’ve learned I need a bit of colour. But not too much.

So as I’m working on the dining room, I’m not thinking chocolate brown any more. I’ve decided I’m going to stick with my tried and true Abalone. Our dining-living room is open concept enough that picking the same colour makes sense, and more importantly it’s a colour that works for me.

Do you have a tried-and-true paint colour? Are you a fan of vibrant rooms, or do you prefer subdued colours? Who’s on team white? Do you have any painting regrets?

The first project of 2019

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I think I’m going to paint the dining room.

I know. I know. Such an assertive, decisive statement.

I find it difficult to plan very far ahead these days, and I’m hesitant to start a project that I won’t be able to finish in a reasonable time. But Matt thinks painting the dining room is achievable, and I really want to believe him.

Baxter sitting in the dining room before it's painted

The dining room is our last “easy” makeover in this house. Easy meaning mainly cosmetic. Honestly, it’s mostly a coat of paint. However, I’ve been holding off on this room because I want it to be more than a coat of paint.

You saw in my post a few weeks ago that I have plans to do something to the ceiling in this room, whether scraping off the stipple or covering it up. The responsible, logical DIYer in me wants to do the ceiling first, then the walls. That way, dust or plaster or what-have-you doesn’t fall on my freshly painted walls.

Vaulted ceiling in the dining room

However, I have no idea what I’m going to do to the ceiling or when I might do it. And waiting no longer makes sense to me. We’ve lived here nearly 7 years. I could have painted the walls when we first moved in, and I’d have no hard feelings about repainting them now.

So I’m going to avert my eyes from the ceiling and work on the rest of the room.

Here’s my to-do list:

Sand and patch walls (like all of the walls in this house, the texture is like sandpaper)
Prime walls
Remove corbels from the archway (too small, not my style)
Paint trim (I like to paint trim before the walls)
Paint walls

After that, we’ll see what else happens.

I have some things to hang on the walls. I’d like to finally figure out how to style Matt’s grandmother’s piano. I have plans to paint the entertainment unit/china cabinet (and build doors or have them built for me). I’m pondering curtains. Some day I’d like to refinish the table and chairs.

Maybe by then I’ll have the ceiling figured out.