Happy Pi Day!

I was a middle school Activities Director for 20 years which means I did lots of crazy things.

One of our "go to" websites was Brownie Locks.

Looking through the list of monthly, weekly and daily crazy celebrations provided my Leadership class with a lot of fun ideas.

One of my favorite Crazy Days was Hagfish Day when everyone wore ugly outfits.

As a former math teacher and a long time dork, I decided we would celebrate Pi (3.14) Day on March 14 at our house this year.

I invited JP and his girlfriend to come for pie and they requested strawberry - easy in our area where strawberries are a year round crop.

The kids were busy today so they asked if we could celebrate Pi Day on March 13 pointing out that this year the entire month is 3.14.

The table setting was dictated by the colors on the pitcher ( a vacation memory from a week in Taos, New Mexico) and the sweet blue hydrangeas I picked up when I was buying the strawberries at the produce stand.

The table was only set for dessert because JP insists on going to our favorite Mexican food restaurant whenever he comes to town.

Simple blue place mats, favorite yellow napkins. yellow handled flatware and of course the numbers 3.14 all made a festive table waiting for the slice of red for my primary color scheme.

Alas, there are no pictures of the slices of pie topped with vanilla ice cream - it was dark when we ate dessert and JP took the second half of the pie to his friends who got a kick out of the concept of celebrating Pi Day.

If you notice on the list of "days", tomorrow is National Quilting Day so I should do a post about the quilts I have made.

Or, the little quilted pillow I am making for a blogging friend, but

tomorrow my volleyball team has their first tournament and I will be in a gym all day and later there is a St. Patrick's Day party on the lane so I won't be posting.

via

I also noted that tomorrow is True Confessions Day so I will 'fess up' and admit that 

I have been avoiding work today

I am way behind in responding to e-mails 

I have been putting off going to the gym today

and

my Creative Space could be better described as Chaotic Space.

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Join me at

Sunny Simple Life - From the Farm Blog Hop

The Dedicated House  - Anything Blue Friday 

Little Things

Nothing spectacular going on in my life - just a lot of little things to make me happy.

The front of the house is shaping up.

Looking out to the garden always brings a smile to my face.

Flowers, planted in containers so Lulu can't dig them up, provide color in my life.

Painting the nightstand in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Old White and finding an old bowl in the attic to fill with heart shaped stones are the beginnings of changes to the bedroom.

One more step in the bedroom change is these pillows I made today out of dish towels I bought in January.

Swapping out red floral pillows for blue buffalo check pillows is the beginning of simple changes in the living room.

Sweet yellow weeds adorn the little red ladder which is another change in the living room.

A great bundle of little things all add up to a pretty good week.

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Check out these parties I am joining

Rooted in Thyme - Simple & Sweet Fridays

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup Thursday

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

a small change in the garden . . .

No skiing for us; instead, heavy rain, poor snow conditions and only 2 chairs open made for 2 very long drives in 2 days.

Today was a free day of sorts -nothing I "had to do" - so this morning, I got out the mate to this crusty old folding table which has been begging for a make over.

With a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Louis Blue, my table no longer looks crusty.

In fact, I think the little table actually looks quite pretty now.

It was a gorgeous afternoon so I took the time to sit in the garden reading ( actually getting ideas for a blue and white bedroom ) and enjoying a piece of the strawberry bread I made this morning.

Lulu sat waiting vigilantly in the hope that I would spill some crumbs.

I love the simplicity of the cape honeysuckle inside the polka dot pitcher, but after watching Lulu in the garden, I feared she might knock over the pitcher.

I replaced the pitcher with a rusty old watering can.

Tomorrow, it is back to the March List, but for today, it took just a little bit of paint to create a small change in the garden.

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Fresh, Clean & Organized

For the month of March, I am working towards a house that is 

FRESH . . . CLEAN . . . ORGANIZED

I sat down on February 28 and made a list of everything I want to do room by room including the front and back yards.

Oh, my goodness -

105 items on the list divided by 31 days in March equals crossing off at least 3.4 projects each day.

I got a head start on the last day of February and I am keeping ahead of schedule - 27 items are already crossed off the list.

Some items on the list are fun - like hanging a bag of dried flowers on the front door.

Some are necessary - like organizing the bathroom shelves.

Some are easy - like buying flowers for the front door bench or

putting flowers on the back porch arch.

Some have triggered bigger changes in rooms - like shells on our bedroom armoire

which led to beach beach buckets and buoys on the Expedit and now has me planning big changes in our bedroom.

Some items involve purging - I have already taken one bag to the Goodwill, but instead of tossing this vase, I put a flower in it and dropped it off on a neighbor's porch.

Washing the windows has begun, but painting all the molding, baseboards and doors will take me most of the month - I have to paint at night so Lulu won't rub against all the freshly painted wood.

I am making time for fun things too so Monday I finally got around to making a baby quilt for a friend.

There won't be any more goals met until Saturday because tomorrow Steve and I are headed to June Mountain for a couple of days of skiing.

I might not finish the list, but already the house is looking fresher, cleaner and more organized - and that is my goal.

A Sense of Accomplishment

I did it!

My February goal was to paint 4 different pieces of furniture.

Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Eulalie's Sky transformed my old worn out dresser; I vividly remember bringing home the complete 5 piece bedroom suite in 1987.

I painted the dresser on Thursday and yesterday, the last day to make my goal, I finished waxing the dresser.

With rain falling all day, I spent yesterday reorganizing my "creative space" because I did not want the dresser top to be as cluttered as it had been.

After setting up this room in January, I realized that the height of the dresser is a perfect work surface so the main items on the dresser top are the tools I use regularly.

I also decided not to put the mirror back on the dresser and had fun creating a colorful wall for me to look at while I create.

I updated the message on my grandmother's school slate (the one she carried to school each day as a child in Kansas) and found magnets to make an Art & Sand sign.

I received these wonderful knitted cloths yesterday from Karen of My Little Home and Garden and could not bear to use them so the card sits in my bicycle wheel and the blankets cozy up my grandfather's rocking chair.

While I was on an organizing kick, I switched the tables around to create a better traffic flow.

I want to paint both tables, but

with pillows to be sewn, a banner to be painted, a quilt to be made and fun license plates asking to be cut up for projects, the tables won't be painted this month.

With rain falling since Wednesday, I did have time to dress up a wooden wine box for KC with a coat of left over Miss Mustard Seed paint and rope handles.

I definitely have a sense of accomplishment - I met my January goals.

I met my February goals.

 My March goals are not much fun, but I got a head start last night and starting a day early might be the deciding factor on whether the goals are met.

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I am joining these parties

Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

My 1929 Charmer - Sunday's Best

Too Much Time on My Hands - Get Schooled Saturday

Pieced Pastimes - Saturday Spark

Classy Clutter - Spotlight Saturday