Life at a "Swell's" pace

Yay, it's the weekend! Well, the end of the weekend. I planned on posting on Saturday, but we got back from our road trip to Crater Lake pretty late-1:30 a.m., a road trip well worth it! So here we are, on Sunday. We have had some rain this week and today the sun is shining a little bit brighter. Crater Lake looked absolutely amazing yesterday and I can't wait to post the pictures from that trip. I have to remind myself that April showers bring May flowers here in the Valley, but we've had a lot of flowers already, so I am not sure what this rain is for. Ha! Just happy to see the sun peek out here and there. Here are the things that made this week awesome!

FYI: National Pet Day was April 11 and I just want to show some love for these great critters.

Meia, Baz, and PITA

1. This House

We are on the house hunt, still. We have looked at houses until we are blue in the face. We have determined things we don't like, though, so I guess that's a start toward the right direction. Baseboard heaters, unfinished bathrooms, basements with no windows, close neighbors that share a driveway, no duplexes, houses without porches, etc. We do have choices and will wait until we find the perfect space for us. The house in the image above is my perfect setting in my head (no idea where the image came from). I am holding out hope that the perfect house will fall into our laps one day while searching and the future will come together.

2. This Little Machine

Because it's perfect for removing small pills. It was perfect for what I needed to do to the Mr.'s fire department hat. After using the lint remover his hat got a new life. The Mr. was happy that he could wear his hat without all of the little lint balls on it, too. You can get one here.

3. This Surprise Moment

My son is all boy, that's for sure, but in his boy-ness there are subtle hints of sweetness. Upon asking him for a small bucket of potting soil from the garden he brings me a snail surprise on the handle, but little flowers to show he cares. I love how even in small efforts he is so creative with his thinking.

4. These Bluebells and Tulips

Watching them grow and bloom for the spring is always a treat to see each year. They are the highlight of my front flowerbed in the spring season and I am glad to see them each year.

5. These Chocolates

They weren't what I expected, but were perfect for the moment. The Chuao Firecracker chocolate was a taste explosion in my mouth. I was expecting pop rocks only, but the hint of pepper was nice. There are so many different varies of chocolate bars from Chuao Chocolates, but my favorite is the Pop Corn Pop Bar. The coffee chocolates from Coffee Thins were interesting, but as a non-coffee drinker they weren't really my thing. The Mr. loved them though and he drinks coffee by the bucket-load.

In honor of National Library Week (April 10 - 16, 2016) The Bean and I visited the local library and also visited all of the local Free Little Libraries.

Don't forget to check out April's book reading selection. You can see this selection at the top of the home page under SNS Library. You can also check out the other suggested reads for the month and what was the selections from previous months, too.

Extras:

Should we be posting to social media on the weekends?
Cleaning the KonMari way. Do you do this in your home?
I've been watching episodes of Frasier on Amazon Prime lately. Antiques Roadshow Drinking Game?
Don't forget: From the 16-24 of April it's free admission to all National Parks throughout the U.S.
This offer from Reading My Tea Leaves. I've signed up and can't wait to get items to help toward our more sustainable household living here in the Valley.
Our house hunting took us to this listing. Could be a cute fixer-upper. Still hunting........
This camera my son, The Bean, is begging for lately.
Cooking with Wild Garlic and Wild Onions.
How Candace Cameron Bure starts her day.
What a crazy concept from Volvo.

Other work by me:

Turning a beloved t-shirt into a new beloved bag.

What happened this time last year?

My son quickly outgrows his clothes like he is the Incredible Hulk each year. Along with outgrowing clothes comes the moment that he outgrows his favorite clothes. I've seen the posts on making adult t-shirts into reusable bags, but wasn't sure how well it would work for a child's t-shirt. The Bean not wanting to let go of his favorite Star Wars shirt, I decided to give it a try. It was a hit!

All I simply did was turn the shirt inside out and cut a larger opening in the neck, but it can be left "as is" depending on what your child, or you, carry inside. I then cut off the sleeves and followed the stitching of the sleeve to keep it in from fraying later. I then did a simple straight stitch three times along the bottom of the shirt, which will become the bottom of your bag. And that was it! Really a simple task, even if you're new to sewing.

I plan on making a pocket inside the bag with the leftover sleeves, so that my son can carry small items and not have them get lost in the bottom of the bag.

He was so glad to still have his favorite shirt close, but be able to repurpose it in a new way. I was glad to be able to give him that. He has already used it to carry home books from the library and for his small items he likes to carry from day-to-day. He will really put it to the test on our big trip coming up in May.