In Minnesota from November to April, most days are gray. Winter is long and cold and long and cold and long.
I’m complaining, but that’s just something that people do when they don’t enjoy gray. We just wait and sometimes months and sometimes hours later the weather will do a full 180.
That full 180 is what happened last week when we had an amazing, unseasonal 60 degree day…IN FEBRUARY!
I took full advantage of the sunshine and walked from my house, around the lake to the little cabin that is being renovated.
And….I wore a sweatshirt. No big heavy bulky winter jacket, gloves or hat.
So, I thought it would be fun to show you what a warm sunny day here looks like in my neck of the woods.
After walking through the neighborhood, I enter the Lake George Regional Park from the back side.
This entrance is not used by the general public because there is an official entrance about a quarter of a mile from this point.
Not that I have a lot of experience visiting regional parks, but in my opinion this park is very well cared for with several shelters available for picnicing, a clean and safe playground, a well groomed beach, a volleyball court and great exercise paths.
But as soon as the temperatures drop, this park is typically only used by the residents that live around the lake.
As I walked through the park, I met several people also enjoying the sunshine.
Total aside, I met a young girl on her skateboard being pulled by her dog. She had on a tank top and shorts 🙂 Oh to be young again.
After soaking in the warm sun, I made it to the other side of the lake to the little cabin.
Kris and George, the owners, let me know that most of the progress was made under the house in the utility room.
They have updated everything. You name it, they have it. The new, shiny, 2017, up-to-code not exciting, but necessary it.
What is exciting is the changes in the house!
Ready for some before and during pictures?
As we enter the cabin, this is/was the bathroom.
The kitchen now looks nothing like a kitchen.
The big blue wall is almost unrecognizable.
Things are going to shape up quickly now. Kris said that the kitchen cabinets are going to be installed this coming week.
They are going to be white! Be still my heart.
I’ll keep you updated!
~Wendy
P.S. Two days after these pictures were taken, the temperature dropped back to the 30’s and south of us, they received over a foot of snow.
Earlier in the week our local meteorologists forecasted a cold week. Then on Wednesday, they changed their tune. What was originally a forecast of cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper teens, changed to sunny skies and mid 40’s!
What? Something was said about El Nino and jet streams. Don’t care why it changed, just happy it did!
I took total advantage of the 30 degree difference and went to work in the garage. Over the winter months, there is very little time spent in the garage doing any long projects. If anything, I grab whatever tools I need and bring them into the house to work on things.
Case in point: Wade adding the hooks onto the metal level….in the livingroom…..on the floor…..on the carpet.
I am not the best at putting everything back where it belongs. It’s cold out there so I just toss everything on the work bench. That has made a big unorganized mess at Wade’s work bench area. So I buckled down and put levels back on the wall, screwdrivers back in their holders, drills went where drills should go and on and on. It really didn’t take that long. I briefly thought about tracing the shapes of the tools onto the peg board.
Briefly thought about it. We still have a lot of cold days and projects ahead of us. 🙂
Standing back and admiring my handiwork, I realized how much I still loved the black door that goes into the house. Previously it was white. A dirty, creamy white.
I had used a canyon black Rust-oleum American Accents brand paint. In addition the handle was taped with green frog tape to make it easier to paint around. The coverage was excellent which made for another quick project.
Here is the after and after. I forgot to take a picture of the before so just imagine the door as white orginally.
I still love it. You can never go wrong with a crisp black and white.
Sometimes its the little projects that make all the difference.
Sometimes I have no idea what to blog about. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I have a list of things I could blog about but I mentally filter those ideas as to what makes it onto the blog and what doesn’t.
That filter has one question.
Would I be interested in reading about this? That’s it. One question.
For instance, today I was going to share about this little Christmas tree that I have set up. But, it’s 61 degrees outside and I’m not feeling it. By the way the average high in Minnesota in November is 41 degrees. Believe me, no one is complaining but it’s not normal. Last year on this date we had 3 inches of snow on the ground.
Wait, where was I going with all of this? Oh yeah, my filter.
Christmas décor didn’t make it thru today’s filter.
So I took advantage of the warm fall day and went on a walk with Nikki. Nikki as in Jimmy and Nikki.
When we returned I had a text from my Mom.
She saw on my Instagram account (OldLakeGeorge) that people have commented on the green glasses that are in this picture.
These were given to me by my Mom. And now that I really look at that picture, so was that duck, the lamp and the card catalog. 🙂 My Mom has great taste.
The day that she gave me the glasses and decanter, I was at my parents house and my Mom asked if there were any dish sets I wanted. She has so many beautiful sets of dishes. The set I wanted is a blue and white set that for me represents the many loud and festive family dinners we shared. BUT, she was not quite ready to give them away. That only makes it more special for me knowing those dishes hold great sentimental value for her.
So as we moved on to other things, I spotted these green and gold glasses and decanter in her glass front kitchen cupboard.
I thought they were pretty but I don’t remember seeing them around our house as we were growing up. Reason for that; my Mom had recently purchased them at a garage sale.
So, the text she sent read, “Hey, I just saw the comments about your gold and green glasses I gave you. Did you look up how much they are worth? I got them at a garage sale for probably $10.”
I read the Instagram comments, which I love getting and someone mentioned that they might be Culver green and gold glasses. So I googled Culver green and gold glasses and yep, that’s what I had.
This is a set of 3 double Old Fashioned and 6 Old Fashioned glasses along with a decanter. The pattern is called Valencia. The gold is 22k and I found prices from $10-$20 per glass up to $250 for the decanter and 6 glasses.
Told you my Mom had great taste!
In honor of Veterans Day and green and gold cocktail glasses, let’s raise our glass to all of the Veterans, men and women that have served and are currently serving our country! Thank you!
The first WOW started on Friday night when my Etsy shop stats went crazy! Crazy in a good way. So crazy good that Etsy contacted me that they had noticed a significant spike of views because of a product I have listed.
People were looking at this listing.
These rustic birch candle holders are made by me. People have used them as wedding décor, to make arrangements in their non functioning fireplaces and seasonal décor on shelves and mantels.
This glorious increase in views means that more logs needed to be cut.
This is where my second WOW comes in. My husband Wade and I worked together and accomplished cutting up more logs. Typically we don’t work well together. (Two Type A’s). But we rocked it!
Then I realized that I have never shared how to make these.
So here is the DIY to make these rustic candle holders.
Here’s a supply list:
Tree branches
Chain saw
Chop saw
Drill press
Tea lights
First, collect various widths of tree branches.
As I have shared previously, my neighbor brought these over from the tree farm where he works. I selected birch and oak branches that were between 2 and 6 inches wide.
The smaller branches I cut with my chop saw. The larger branches I needed a chain saw to cut them. I have no experience with a chain saw and this was not a weekend I wanted to learn. 🙂 That is where Wade comes in. I think I have introduced my husband before, but if not, this is Wade. Wade this is everyone.
Working together we measured and cut 2,4,6 and 8 inch sections. Okay who am I kidding, I measured, he cut. But just like the chainsaw, we were a well oiled machine.
After cutting the various sized sections, each piece then had a 1.5 inch circle drilled down into it for a tea light to be placed.
It’s that easy. Cut, drill and place a candle on top.
These candle holders are not treated or stained. They are a simple and natural way to decorate your home.
Oh and for the third Wow, it was the weather. To say it was perfect would be an understatement. The opening picture is from our afternoon fishing trip on the lake. Warm breeze, 75 sunny degrees and good fishing.
Wow!
Now go and collect some tree branches and get creative. 🙂
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