Hello again. Here is my May wrap-up. I have read a bunch this month, and will include pics of the books I enjoyed. I’m not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but I haven’t ordered anything from a certain online retailer since the 10th of February. It’s embarrassing to admit how impossible I once thought that would be. Sewing-wise, I altered a hand-me-down men’s shirt to fit me, and added a cute collar I received as a gift. The collar was meant to be used as an add on accessory, but shifted whenever I tried wearing it. Attaching it to this shirt solves this problem for me. Not the first weekend, but I also made a vest to match my Chinese New Year tablecloth pants this month. The back came out busted looking, so I have a plan to make it look nicer. If I finish it before the month is over, I’ll include a pic. Lastly, I made a mock up for a jacket. To be fancy, I made it reversible. It’s not 100% done, but I love it so far.
We also put up the pergola. When I say we, please know it was mainly Seth and Zach with Emma and I providing moral support, reading the directions, and holding up posts while they attached pieces to them. We used a kit I bought through Wayfair. The brand was Veikous and we got the 14 x 12ft one. Seth and I pre assembled as much as we could which helped. It took about 4 hours for them to put it up, and I’m thrilled with how it looks.
Last month only had three weekends, while this month has five. It’s crazy how much we’ve been able to get done. On the second weekend of this month, I spent most of Saturday gardening. I asked for gift cards to Lowe’s for my birthday, and bought two planters, and a ton of plants. This summer, it will be five years since we moved here. The backyard has always been a work in progress.
Soil conditions plus lots of shade, made it hard to grow grass and other things that claimed to be shade loving. Then, we lost two evergreen trees after an aggressive (not planted by us) ivy took them over. The year before last, Emma and I added a fire pit area with a walking path to it, and extended another path. This helped take up some of the area where nothing would grow, and was also pretty.
At this point, plant-wise my backyard is in maintenance mode while I wait for stuff to grow. I learned a saying about roses that might apply to other plants as well. It’s, the first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap. I’m ready for all of my plants to leap. Of the eight milk jug planters I did over the winter, only three of them seem happy. I plan to try again next year, but maybe using a different method. At some point, maybe in July or August, we plan to drain and shift the hot tub six or so inches to the right so that it’s better centered in the space. Once it’s moved, all hot tub related goals for the year will be 100% done!
Now, before I write about what we worked on this weekend, you’ll need a backstory. While I love my house, there are things within it that irk me. Since we moved in, the part that has annoyed me the most, was our stairs. They were painted white by the previous owner. The treads and risers, both white. They were bright and inviting, but impossible to keep clean. Also, even with vacuuming daily, there was always at least a strand or two of hair from one of our four fur babies on them. Then, we learned under the white paint was dark grey paint. I tried touching up the paint when it got scratched, but couldn’t keep up with it.
Out of nowhere, a guy who did work on our last house, reached out to Seth to see if we needed any work done. Seth checked with me and, oh boy I did not hesitate to say the stairs. The glee I experienced in imagining my annoyance with these stairs would soon be coming to an end. All I needed was a quote. I’m pretty sure I would have agreed to almost any estimate, even in this economy. This guy ghosted us. He friggin fell off the face of the earth. I hope nothing bad happened to him, but I got all excited about not having white stairs anymore, and I was going to do something about it.
After doing some research, it seemed like a heat gun would be the safest way to strip the paint without making a giant mess. Even though video after video I watched showed home renovators using their heat guns inside (with proper protection), it didn’t end up working in our house because our smoke detectors are super sensitive. We even tried taking out the batteries and they still went off because they are actually hard wired to our electrical panel. Good news is, we will are in great shape early fire detection-wise, bad news is, no using a heat gun to remove multiple layers of paint.
I’ve previously mentioned our four pets. They are the reason chemical stripping also isn’t on option. That left us with sanding. While messy, and it was incredibly messy, I’m kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Was the process fun? No. Did I break one sander and have to run to Lowe’s to buy another one six steps in? Yes. Are we 100% done? No. The side and back edges are so not done, plus the front bits of the bottom three or four steps, and the bits around the railing.
We did the bulk of the sanding yesterday, and I’m in no rush to finish it. I need to reenergize a bit first before I even think about it. Our eventual plan is to stain the treads to match the oak floors on the first floor, and then touch up the white paint on the risers. I want to leave the columns (is that what they’re called?) of the railing white, and sand and stain the top hand rails. It’ll be a fun game of sorts to guess the month it’ll all be done? Any takers? What to you think? This year, or next?
I think I’ve mentioned I have hyper fixation meals. I’m including a pic of the prep work for my overnight oats. Now, there are loads of recipes for these online, with tons of variations. This is just how I make mine, and the brands (pictured). I take 1/3 cup oats, 1 tablespoon, chia seeds, 1/4 cup ish of Greek yogurt, a cup ish of milk, and a heaping handful of frozen sliced strawberries. I measure with my heart so the above is all approximates. I have this for breakfast almost everyday. I microwave it for 1 minute, add chocolate syrup (I like the 5 ingredient Hersey’s simple syrup), and stir.
Gosh, it’s becoming very clear to me that there is no theme for these blog posts. Thing is, I’m cool with that. This blog, like me, is both scattered and focused. I’m including images of the books I read (and very much enjoyed) this month. One book I read was I want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee. Whilst reading, I learned of her passing. Knowing she was gone, changed the way I read this book. Now, her family has not disclosed the reason for her death, given the subject matter she wrote about, there is speculation.
I have never personally struggled with long term depression, short term, maybe. I can be socially anxious, I’ve struggled with stuttering when publicly speaking, or over sharing when I feel an awkward silence or a conversation ending. I pick apart things I’ve said after the fact and have had big time imposter syndrome over the years. Maybe my ability to navigate these is some formula of internal optimism, and having wonderful family and friends.
I saw a video where a guy was talking about wanting to call mom, but not his mom. No, that relationship was not nurturing, it was toxic and draining. In the comments people talked about the idea of wanting to go home as a concept, but for their situations a place like that not existing. I can call my mom, I call her all the time. We went to Scotland together last year. If I need her, she’ll come running and vice versa. Even though it isn’t the house I grew up in, wherever she is, is still home or a safe harbor. My first book was dedicated to her. I wasn’t planning on writing about my mom, but especially since it’s May and we celebrate Mother’s Day this month, it seems fitting.
See you next month!