11/16/09

One stitch after the other, on and on...

I'm almost half way around Apple Pi, whipping the binding down. And, my mind is moving on to my next project. But, there's no need to start thinking about that now. There's no time to work on it, so why torture myself thinking about it. Speaking of torture, we're going to have to replace the carpet in our house...soon. Rob surprised me by walking through the flooring section yesterday, looking at prices. Now, me, I can make a decision, place an order and get the furniture out of the house for the installation without ever looking back. Rob, on the other hand will suffer long and hard to make sure he doesn't regret whatever we do. I think I've just about talked him into pulling up the old carpet and painting the floor and spreading area rugs around. The prices yesterday helped, that's for sure. It's so hot down here and I really think that having the concrete slab exposed would keep the house so much cooler in the summer. It would be colder in winter, but we only have one cold month a year anyway. It would be much cheaper to keep it warm for a month than to keep it cool for 6 months. We have two neighbors that did it and it really worked for both of them. But, they painted their floors flat and dark. I'd want something with some shine and a nice neutral. I teased that we'd paint it light green and paint a big red oriental carpet in the center. That did not go over very well.

Sydney finished her book yesterday while I ironed and embroidered. And, she finished the book report with a minimum of whining. It's a "brown bag book report" so not only did she have to write a short summary of the book, but she had to decorate a brown lunch bag and put 10 things inside that reminded her of the book. They decorated the bag on Friday while I took a night off from her schoolwork and we scurried around pulling things from around the house over the weekend to go inside. I think she's pretty proud and she certainly did "A" level work. Poor thing. She never gets to rest from Rob and my perfectionist tendencies.

And, yes, I did pull threads for that little bit of embroidery I wanted to do. And, I'm glad I didn't take it on a two day trip. It was more bulk in the luggage than what I originally planned to take as finger work and I was finished in an hour and a half. I'd have been so disappointed on the second night with nothing to do. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. I'd probably start something new!

While I'm in Cleveland, I've arranged for time away from the group and to borrow one of the cars to go quilt shop hopping. I've always wanted to do that, but there's never been time. This time, I took inspiration from Erin (My Patchwork Life) and decided I'm doing it. So, I've found the shops I want to visit and looked up the addresses and phone numbers. Two are near the hotel and one is nearer the airport. I have to take two co-workers to the hotel when we get there, but then I get the car. The stores closest to the hotel close at 5, so I'll hit them first and the third place is open til 8 so plenty of time. Then, I plan some Italian at my favorite Cleveland "hole in the wall." Back to the hotel early and plenty of time to play.

Y'all take care and have a great Monday. We'll see ya round blogland. Lane

6 comments:

Coloradolady said...

Lane, you can stain the concrete and seal it yourselves..I have a friend who did that and they are beautiful. the stain brings out different colors in the concrete...you can google it on line....you have to use concrete stain however....just a thought. Have fun looking in new quilt shops...that sounds like so much fun!!

Becky said...

I like the idea of the stained concrete, too! I've some that really turned out beautifully. Can't wait to see what you find hopping the shops!!! Have fun.

Auntie Em said...

Good luck on your shop hop. It sounds like you have a great plan.
Good for Sydney for doing a good job with her report.

Lisa said...

Oh, I'm with Coloradolady & Becky .....staining the concrete is the way to go. Check out the paint/stain section at your local Home Depot or Lowe's and see all the new colors available. Some of them are really awesome! The only thing you might have an issue with is when you pull up the carpet, there might be some cracks etc in the concrete that need to be repaired 1st. Those can always be the location for your new throw rugs though.

Vesuviusmama said...

Oh, yay, a shop hop! Be careful, though. Somehow along the way my shopping bags got heavier and my wallet got lighter...

Vesuviusmama said...

Wait, wait! When are you going to Cleveland? I'm going to Cleveland this Friday through Sunday because my husband's bball team is playing in a tournament at Case Western Reserve University. He coached there before we moved here to Virginia, and my oldest, Jason was born there. If we are there at the same time, I will stalk the quilt shops in hopes that I can actually meet the famous Lane from Blogland!