Friday, August 26, 2011

Summer Wind-Down

my life this week…
Had a birthday, a lovely day.
Hot blowing prairie winds this week, the zuchhini are toast. It's kinda of like the summer edition of being on house arrest from sub-zero winter weather. We are reading Little House on the Prairie. Not sure I would have made it as a prairie woman, little bitty house with few windows, summer winds that parch and blast, no readily available lotion (sseriously!) abject isolation...shudder.
It was a week of taking care of bits and pieces and tying up loose ends.
Started reading Lawhead's Bone House. It's not grabbing me.

In our homeschool this week…
Feeche continues to watch the TC DVD's on Shakespeare and I continue to show solidarity by watching with him. The things we do for love. (It's good, really, it just puts me to sleep every.single.time).
Prep for fall; I'm co-teaching art for h.s. (drawing), creative writing for high school and writing for a group of 3/4th graders. I'm gathering guest speakers for the Creative Writing class. So far I have a publisher and a Children's author. It's gonna be fun!
I also finally printed the World Conflicts cards.
We read lots of Little House out loud this week, on the porch, out of the wind, with lotion near-by.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
One day at a time, baby.

My favorite thing this week was…
Last week my favorite thing was that Feeche got to do archery, then ballroom dance and then spend the next day boating with our friends and their church. Then home to a birthday party with more friends and food. His kinda fun. Lots of friends, lots of activity and lots of food.
Oddly my memory card bailed on me, thus I have no awesome pictures to share.




My favorite thing this week is coming up. Tomorrow we're all going south to see Paul Wilbur in concert as a combo birthday present for the 4 in 2 group (4 birthdays in 2 weeks). Added bonus, we are going to see our friend Reb Nate and co. along with Paul and Lynn from Fuller (Yippee!)
I’m grateful for…
This verse:
Proverbs 16:3 ~ Commit to the LORD whatever you do and your plans will succeed.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
'Photo Booth' wall. WANT    wood stairs with painted risers, white plank walls
This is what I'm hoping my stairs will look like at some point...well, soon. It's just a matter of sanding. Sanding some more and then sanding again. We rented a floor sander for Labor Day week-end, taking the holiday by it's word. It's going to a 3 full days of moving stuff, sanding floors, and being incredibly grateful for my buff husband and son.

Questions/thoughts I have…(I need your help!)
Check out the stairs above. See the kickboard? Ours are a combo of old and new wood, but it's all already the dark espresso color like the picture on the left. I don't want to sand the risers. I do want the treads to be the natural wood color (it's fir and be.a.utiful!). See the picture on the right? We'll have 12" of kickboard on the wall that leads into the living room which has beaucoup espresso stained wood throughout (floorboards, window trim -bay and 3 others, and crown molding) so I can't just paint the 8' of kickboard under the stairs white- can I? And if I do, I can't go back because how will I ever get the dark stain to match the other stain again??
 O.k., so my question is, what color do I do the risers? Will it look too awkward to have dark, espresso color wood, then white risers, then natural wood? Thoughts, opinions, pictures??

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know for a FACT I couldn't make it as a prairie Mom. The isolation would kill me I am sure.

Anonymous said...

Go for the stain! If you don't like it, you can always paint over it.
But, it would be much harder the other way around. And, if it was your birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Unknown said...

Hi- LOVE your site! I am your newest follower on GFC and Networked Blogs! Please stop by and follow me back at http://psbeautyblog.blogspot.com.

I look forward to reading more of your posts :)

Vicky @ Mess For Less said...

I am a big fan of dark. And I think you should go for the stain too!

I am a new follower from the Friday Blog Hop. If you can return the favor, stop by http://messforless.blogspot.com and say hi!

Vicky

Jonnia Smith said...

We just redid our stairs. (Is redid a word?)Struggling with the same question for the risers, we decided to stain them to match the treads, because as Theopanie said, you can easily paint over it. I love the risers being the same as the steps! There is still some white trimwork along the sides, and it all works together. My brother-in-law kept trying to talk us into black risers like he has on his basement steps, but in our foyer, I thought that would be too exposed. The stain solves the concern for scuff marks and blends in very well.

Glad to hear you had a good birthday!

Daisy said...

LOL. I fall asleep every time a movie gets put on at my house.

Sounds like a great week.

Unknown said...

I love the pictures on the walls, they are so cool. I am your newest follower from the hop. Hope you can stop by and follow.