At home during the month of ennui

... or something like that.

Anyway, I still haven't painted the ceiling in the kitchen.  And all I have to show you is that our furniture is here and our walls are pretty well full.

There's a Middle Eastern wall

and a Yukon wall

There's also a short term missions trips wall, which you can't really see because I had to move the hall table because I GOT A DESK!  I mean, an actual desk.  I have been using a tiny vanity table in the bedroom, but that was only okay as long as all I needed to do was follow my favourite blogs and facebook.  As soon as I needed some reference material, I was in trouble.  But I found a desk today for $40.  Yet another refinishing project... sigh.

So there you have it... another entry in my TADIM (think about doing it myself) blog.

Yeah, well... I can explain...

So by now you probably expect that I've finished de-spackling the kitchen and at least the two bedrooms, right?  Well... no.

I did get the kitchen ready to paint... eventually.  And now I know you're supposed to read the instruction BEFORE you start.  I didn't think to seal off the area until after I started sanding.  And actually, I didn't realize I'd have to sand until after I tried painting.  Sigh.  But this is where I got to.

You can just see the amazing morning glory stencil at the bottom of the picture.  Here it is in all it's (morning) glory.

C'est magnifique, non?  There's a story about that.  When I was cleaning up the popcorn glop, which required some wall washing, I actually wondered if they had done the stencil with water colours, because there was this brown/green stuff running down the wall.  Then I realized that the brown/green stuff was dirt... nay... filth.  When they painted the house prior to putting it up for sale, they didn't paint over the art feature, but neither did they wash the wall.  Then I realized that the same amount of filth is actually under the last coat of paint all through the house.  Which is disgusting. But that which cannot be changed shall be ignored.  Anyway, ceiling paint next week, and wall paint eventually.

But I said I could explain why I stopped working on the kitchen, and I can.  But it's as gross as the dirty wall.  His Grace discovered that we had carpet beetles!!!!  As in BUGS!!!!!!!  So we rented a carpet shampooer from Ace and did almost the whole house.  I say "almost" because I forgot the walk-in closet and the two hall closets before we returned the shampooer.  So I got some borax and sprinkled it liberally in the closets and on the mattress in the guest room ('cause I got it 2nd hand).  It seems to have worked; we're not finding any more little black beetles.  But that was hard work, and that is why, dear reader, Her Grace hasn't finished the kitchen ceiling.

Well, that and a real life project that had to be done.  

Finally, Her Grace Does Something

(other than shop, of course.)

So today I determined to begin the actual decorating work.  At first I was going to sweep out the garage so that I could paint the bedside tables, but I thought no... it would be better to actually start on the house painting part first.  You know, bake the cake and then put on the icing.

So I decided to tackle the spackle.  His Grace convinced me to start small, so I began on the ceiling of the kitchen over the table.

This is me beginning the work

and this is me at the end of the day

Which doesn't show all the glop on my t-shirt or the stuff I'd already washed off my face.  This is a messy job!  Nor does it show the 1/2" popped blister on my hand.  Sniff.  But the spackle is half gone in the tiny (about 6x4) dining area of the kitchen.  Monday - assuming that I can move my arms and shoulders - I'll finish the kitchen.  And then on to the bedroom.

Random Blitherings by way of an Excuse

It's not that I've forgotten about this blog or that I'm no longer interested in decorating, it's just that His Grace and I went on a road trip back to Canada.  We left on May 21st and got back July 3rd - 6 weeks and 6,000 miles.  And 6 pounds, but that's an entirely different whine.

Anyway, we got back too tuckered to tweet, or blog as the case may be.  But not too tired to shop.  I mean... get real... it's me I'm talking about.

So, remember the purple couch and the teal recliner?  They have been replaced.

The love seat was a whopping $35 at the Lutheran Thrift Store and the recliner was marked $89, but it was 1/2 price day on some furniture items, so I got it for $44.50.  

One of the best things about this thrift store is that they deliver for $25 per load.  It doesn't matter how many items you have, it's $25 per load.  (And they hauled the teal monstrosity away for nothing!!!)  So I scouted around to see if there was anything else I wanted, and found this headboard.

I'm still thinking it may end up hot pink or fuchsia, although I'm a little concerned that His Grace might go into palpitations if I do that.  

So other than perhaps finding a book shelf or 12, I think we have all the furniture we can handle because...while we were in Canada we arranged for all our stuff that has been stored for the past 12 years to be shipped to AZ.  WE HAVE STUFF!!!!!