30 Fairy House

One of the things on our list was to make or get fairy houses.  We have 1 bazillion places we could have a fairy garden in our almost an acre yard so we may end up with more fairy houses in other places too.  I bought birdhouses on sale at the craft store.

We painted the houses.  Jones and Thea did the bases and some of the decoration and I helped encourage them to add patterns like stripes and dots and flowers to decorate them a bit more.  And I finished them off and put a coat of sealant on them.  We also found a old birdhouse in a honey suckle bush we removed and put it with them too.  

Jones calls this one the “mayors house” I like his camo he made for it. 

This one is one of Theas I love how she made a rainbow on the front and left the fairy a berry to eat. And that little stone path.

Here’s the random birdhouse.  Jones planted it wheat!

And these little ones are in the ficus tree.  The round one is Theas.

Anyhow it’s such a fun addition to the yard and we have since also painted acorns to add for the fairy’s as well.

Art

Something I haven’t really done since I left the bungalow is hang art.  I never really got settled in at my moms.  I just considered it her house not mine.  And now that we are in the new house I have less time but I have been trying to add touches that seem like

me.  Recently in my room I hung some art.  I ordered prints and spray painted frames I had as well as acquired some new frames which I spray painted bright pink.  I love them I need another big frame for the opposite wall and my new desk is on back order but slowly it’s seeming more like me.  

1) waiting for new art, 2) print by Lady Earthling 3) print by Carolyn Gavin 4) Print by Lisa Congdon 5) unfinished art by my grandma Ruth White 6) drawing by me.  7) rainbow by Thea and I 

I also hung some art up in our art room but I haven’t finished yet so more to come soon.

lambic

What seems like ages ago I gave up drinking almost entirely.  I have had a drink here or there but literally I hadn’t had one in several years.  So for my 40th list I added Drink some Lambic beer which is like a sweet fruity beer it actually seems like a raspberry cider to me.  This weekend while at Trader Joe’s I saw some and picked it up. I enjoyed it.  So did Graveyard Elsa who is our resident Skelton doll Thea got the other day.  I still have another bottle left to have another time as well.  

2 - bruschetta

I have wanted to make bruschetta for two years.  I don’t care much for tomatoes but tomatoes in things like fresh salsa and bruschetta are my jam.  I love them.  Bruschetta reminds me of my grandparents when I was in Michigan with them years ago i would make it as an alternative to my grandpa just pouring vinegar all over tomatoes.  

We recently got a Hello Fresh Bruschetta Burgers kit in our meals and I seized the opportunity to make the bruschetta.  This was okayish.  The balsamic vinegar included in the kit was not my favorite and honestly you needed like 25% less.  But I am crossing this one off.  If my tomatoes in my garden ever ripen I may make more or maybe I will make salsa instead.

29 - Geocaching & Hiking

We started some geocaching this last week it’s like a hike + finding things.  And this really made things more interesting for my kids.  It’s also helping them read maps and decipher how to describe things in relation to each other.  They love that some of them have little trinkets inside.  

I downloaded the geocaching app and so far we have only found geocaches available for free within the app. We do plan to meet up our friends to geocache with them sometime soon.  

I am counting this as one of our hikes for the year too because I have lost count of when we took them and when we didn’t. 

21 - quilt repaired

The quilt I keep on my bed has binding come undone.  It was hand sewn and probably poorly.  So I replaced it with new binding.  The new binding is much brighter pink but it was fabric on hand but I don’t dislike it.  

The quilt is mostly vintage sheets - both the flower prints and yellow are sheets so it’s sooo soft.  

Jones was my photographer and this one is so big I couldn’t really even hold it.  I need to find a tree in our yard I can hang quilts from. 

Up closer. 

From 2011 when I finished this quilt. 

40 works of art 1 & 2

One of my things on my 40th list was making 40 works of art.  I have wanted to do more experimenting with mediums for a while.  I considered making 40 works of art and sending them out to friends for my birthday but that never materialized.  So instead i am making 40 works of art and I may send them to friends, I put them in art boxes, I may figure out another solution instead I don’t know yet.  Anyhow here are the 2 I am labeling them on the back so they are numbered.  

Thea did this one with me we were experimenting with painting with textures rather than brushes.  I think we used cardboard, plastic, sponges, screws and maybe other things.  It turned out pretty fun.  She made her own which she almost turned into mud mixing all the colors together.

The second I did on my while my kids were playing actually.  I just picked three colors and painted it.  I have been really into neon colors and had this neon yellow from my failed neon yellow chair project.

1 - MOVE

Did I ever mention we moved? 

Back when I wrote this list we were still toyih with the idea of moving across the country to colorado.  I still wish we could have done that.  But cost of living + the house size we needed made it more of a pipe dream.  

We placed an offer on this house before the Pandemic was a thing even.  

So many times I questioned if we should proceed with buying our new house.  Does you still buy a house in a pandemic?  But one thing we learned from sheltering in place in 1000 sq feet was we NEEDED this.  It’s been such a blessing in so many ways.  We love it.

6 - 40 before 40

Last summer I started the 40 selfies before I turned 40.  And I finished it the night before I turned 40.

None of these are perfect photos of me, most of them I have messy hair or bags under my eyes.  But they are me, celebrating my last year of my 30s if you could call it that.  

40 List

I made a list for my 40th birthday.  I had planned to go on a trip with my friends but in a pandemic that seemed ridiculous.  Then I wanted to have a day without my kids but that didn’t happen either.  Babysitting in a pandemic is ridiculously impossible, when you are a single mom it’s ever harder.  I miss it sooooo much enough of that wallowing.   So instead I made a list of other things.  Things I like I want to do. I refined this list down from 30+ items.  

40 birthday list

Make lemonade

Watch Hamilton

40th Jar

40 works of art

40 donations

40 Take 3 trash pickup

Work on Secret Garden

Drink lambic Framboise

Send Cards

Hang Art

Thrift Store

Geocaching 

One thing I didn’t add was that i wanted to resume writing here more.  I still want to do it but i couldn’t quantify how much, just that i wanted to.  

I already got a jump start on my list too.  I picked up this trash:

I started my jar:

I made a donation actually two:

I made lemonade (which was so delicious):

Edited** this item was actually on my list for 2020 too.  I have completely forgotten and lost track of my list since this pandemic has derailed all things.