Encompassing Designs
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Kits
    • Patterns >
      • Christine Little >
        • Signature Designs
        • New Designs
        • Seasonal Designs
      • Deborah Sweet
      • Susan Leslie
      • Patricia Perry
      • William Morris
    • Supplies >
      • Backings
      • Frames
      • Hooks
      • Books
      • Extra
    • Wool >
      • Abrashed
      • Custom Dyeing
      • Dyed Bundles
      • Dyed Curly Mohair
      • Dyed Spots
      • Dyed Values
      • Dyed Yarn
      • Jacquard Dice Dyes
      • Natural & Colours
      • Plaids & Textures
      • Dye Books & Swatches
  • Ordering
  • Blog
  • Workshops
  • Our Story
  • Contact Us

Sunday doesn't mean a day off.....

5/25/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Sunday was beautiful.  It started a bit chilly so we made a fire in the wood stove but by mid-afternoon we were opening windows and putting the screens on the doors to let the beginnings of summer breezes flow through the house, a little late in coming but after hail and snowfall again on Saturday in various parts of the province, this promise of better things to come was welcomed.   I washed the car and we puttered in the yard and looking longingly at the water as a sailboat or two drifted by, windswept and exactly where they wanted to be. 

Pollen is heavy in the air so hubby is suffering with seasonal allergies and my toe was still aching from having the nail ripped off so we were a good pair.  Both of us looked like old farts grunting, bending and getting back up with anything but ease.  I stubbed my left thumb fingernail on a rock and tore it back to the skin, what’s with all the ripping and tearing of nails lately!  It sure would be nice to live in an apartment without any of these headaches.   I could sit on a lounge chair with book or computer, sipping tea and eating seasonal fruit under a big umbrella to shade my delicate skin.  Put a little leisure in my life something rare around my house.    I wonder if I'd be happy or still find something to whine about?

Sunday is my day off and I had a set goal when I rose.  I’m having a wedding shower for my daughter-in-law to be the middle of June and there is a list of improvements needed doing before I host an afternoon bridal tea.  You’d think with a list it would be easy to stay on track but as you check off one item you look around and four or five others become glaringly apparent so off I go on another tangent that takes me farther from plan.   How did scraping wicker furniture lead to gardening?  Weeding was not on the list at all for this weekend but I ended up elbow deep in the warm dirt anyway and I won’t bore you with the bridge to that chore but distractions are everywhere.    There is a heck of a lot of work to yard and house maintenance! 

The heavy rains washed dirt into our crushed rock pathways so we had to shovel  it on to a strainer on top of the wheelbarrow.  Hubby did the digging while I pushed them around so the dirt fell through the holes leaving the rocks clean.  If you don’t do this then grass grows in the walkway and I have an aversion to that!  I like my grass on the lawn where it belongs but it continually tries to outsmart me.  Our drive way and parking area is gradually turning green.  Paving it right now isn’t an option so I’m going to have to tackle that soon with a pitchfork to loosen the gravel so I can pull the roots out.  I can’t use chemicals because of the dogs, I wouldn’t do that anyway so it’s a manual fight for territory.   This was terribly hard labour intensive and physically draining but it sure looks great.  I wonder how many more years we’ll be able to do this kind of work.   I can see about twenty years from now the entire yard will be grass and we’ll have to weedwack our way to the car! 

We attached the window boxes and as the screws were going in I’m wondering when I’ll find time to visit a nursery and actually fill them.  From the road they look pretty empty; the blue paint against the yellow house is yummy!  I wonder what degree of tacky would be registered sticking fake flowers in them.  No one would know from the road and I’d look like my green thumb was put to good use.  Only I would know the difference and as busy as I am these days, maybe I could live with that kind of fakery.  It’s cheating but the end goal is to have a bit of colour around the outside of the house and I really don’t want the upkeep of real plants stressing me out.  Window boxes look great most of the time but the rain sometimes drives the dirt up against the window and the plants sometimes fuse with the wooden sill so it is constantly washing and cleaning.  Beauty = work!   Maybe I’ll leave the boxes empty and tell people I’m going for the minimalist look. 

When we hung the front screen door, I noticed the two flanking carriage lamps had oxidized again and flaked the black paint pretty badly.  Large chips had fallen off so white showed beneath.   You can buy plastic ones but I didn’t have that choice when I bought ours…probably would have opted for the metal ones anyway as I seem to have an aversion to plastic.  Unfortunately the black paint only lasts a couple of years before it degrades.  Sure I could buy new ones, that don’t need constant maintenance, but the ones we have are perfectly functional so every year I get out the Tremclad metal paint and a sponge brush and give them another coat.  You need to scrape off all the loose flakes of paint first, then  use a toothbrush to rub away the white oxidized aluminum powder that forms and is the reason the paint won’t stick.  Once the surface is prepared then carefully brush on the new paint.   I do it while they are on the house so I don’t have to fuss with electric work.  They once again look brand new for very little effort and time.  Maybe they degrade faster in the salt, sea air so inland this might not happen but it is probably an inexpensive cast aluminum meant to be discarded after a few years of use so the big box store get another sale.  The frugal aspect of my personality tries to breathe new life into the inanimate objects I grow attached too, as well as keeping the money in my bank account.   It’s faster than driving to the store and doing the electrical work to swap them out.   After the paint dries I get out the vinegar and wash the beveled glass and the lights glean once again.  I’ve resuscitated them for fifteen years, that’s a lot of savings and they have plenty of life left in them to cover the next couple of decades. 

An exciting moment of the day was finding an old silver, five cent coin from 1911 while digging in the garden.   I looked it up and it’s worth between four to six dollars, don’t quit the day job hubby!   Not a bad investment if you have a few thousand of them.  I’ve dug in that patch of soil for years and never spotted it before.  In past years, I’ve unearthed blue willow pottery fragments and broken bits of colours glass; it really makes me reflect on the generations of people who lived in our home before us. 


2 Comments
Shirley
5/25/2015 05:25:17 am

Christine,
You will still be happy when you are too old and achy to do all that cleaning, bending and stooping. I was much like you and now am 80 and sitting in a wonderful apt. close to my daughter and still doing the fun things I've always enjoyed (crafts, knitting, painting etc) now it's rug hooking.......remember, I ordered your 'Bliss' kit. Every day is a blessing filled with so many things to do. Now they are just different. Enjoy your life now and continue to squeeze every minute full of what you love.

Reply
Elaine
5/25/2015 06:34:19 am

You had a very interesting weekend for sure.....

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

    Picture
    Picture
    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Picture
    Picture
    Gift Certificates are available for that special rug hooker in your life!  Any denomination, no expiry date! 

    Picture

    Categories
    (Click on the categories for past blogs)

    All
    Announcements
    Beginner Class
    Christmas
    Colour Planning
    Contests
    Copyright
    Coupon
    Customer Rugs
    Cutter Servicing
    Dyeing
    Equipment
    Featured Hooker
    Giveaway Draw
    Guest Blogger
    Guest Blogger
    Health & Fitness
    Home & Heart
    Hooked Rugs
    Hooking Groups
    Hook In Talk
    Initially Yours
    Jibber Jabber
    Just A Bit Of Fun!
    Life's Experiences
    Life's Experiences
    New Design
    New Ideas
    Pattern Of The Week
    Patterns Hooked
    Pets
    Rants
    Recipes
    Rememberingfbe7326ff7
    Rug Schools
    Show & Tell
    Show-tell
    The Rant
    Tips Technique
    Tips Techniquef0cd117ab4
    Visitors
    Workshops

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture





















    Picture
    We have a pot to "Fiz" in!

Shop Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Saturdays 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
We are closed during ice and snow storms
​so please call ahead.  If school is cancelled we probably are as well.  

Toll Free: 1-855-624-0370
Local: 1-902-624-0370​
encompassingdesigns@gmail.com

498 Main Street
P.O. Box 437
Mahone Bay, N.S.
Canada B0J 2E0

​Follow us and keep up to date
on our specials, new products
​and events!
Picture
Picture
Picture


Home
Shop
Ordering
Blog
Our Story
Workshops

Contact Us




​​​© Copyright 2023 Encompassing Designs. Website by SKYSAIL