Every Little Boy Needs a Tent

After seeing several of these on Pinterest, I decided that Blair and I could easily make one.  We whipped one up in about an hour for under $30.  I got a large dog bed and a new pillow for the inside.  He loves his special reading tent.

Home Cooking

Apparently, I have food on the brain lately.  I promise it's not the only thing happening in our house.  For instance, yesterday I vacuumed up a harmonica.  However, Blair and I have been reading through the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and so much of that series revolves around good food!  I first started reading these books as a five-year-old.  I've read them all at least once a year (sometimes more!) for the last 22 years.  I adore them.  I have much of them memorized.  Blair, however, has never read a single one.  I was almost offended.  However, rather than taking the offended, emotional route, I took the educational high road and handed him Farmer Boy.  He loves it.  He hasn't finished it yet, because he is a very busy man (much like the male characters in the series), but he reads a little of it every evening. I'm pretty sure if there was a farm house for sale in our county, we would be buying it and raising livestock.  Tomorrow.  Instead of falling into financial ruin by buying a house and animals we can't afford, I have been channeling that homesteading energy into the kitchen.  Last night I baked parmesan crusted chicken (locally raised, organic, and free range), creamed potatoes and peas (both garden fresh, though the potatoes were from a friend), corn on the cob from my parents' garden, risotto, my Mama's Biscuits, and chocolate peanut butter cookies.  I probably went a little overboard, but I shouldn't have to cook for the next couple of days.  I don't have a single photograph to show you, but, despite Garth Williams' amazing illustrations, neither do the Little House books.  I shall just let you use your imaginations.  Now, go read a book and bake something!

While We're At It

Yesterday, I showed you how I had rearranged the living room to make it a little more "cozy".  It still needs a rug and a table and two arm chairs, but, hey, for now it's more cozy.  Well, while I was in the mood to move things around the house (which apparently is a chronic condition of mine), I thought I would tackle the wall in the den by the built-ins.  At Christmas, I took an old window frame we got for free from the Chadwick farm, and used it to display my grandmother's vintage Shiny Brights.  After Christmas was over, however, I didn't really know what to do with it.  So, I just threw some random stuff on the wall and called it a day.

It's really been bothering me.  I didn't like it when I put it up, and it never grew on me.  So, naturally, I decided to move it.

It helps fill out Little Man's new corner, but it left me with two big empty spaces.  One here, in the living room where the painting of the violin used to be,

and one here in the den.  I'm currently looking for things I can get for free or cheap to put on top of the piano to help fill it out (spray paint can work wonders), but I really wanted to go ahead and tackle the wall in the den.

I opted for the same technique I used for the art over the tub in the guest bath.  Free frames, slap on a little white paint, old paint chips, and a circle punch.

And, voilá!  I used different shades of gray for the majority of my circles, with only four colored ones mixed in on each frame.

It's really one of my favorite projects so far.  They fill out the wall so nicely, and the white is so crisp and bright.  I made sure to leave enough empty space at the bottom of the wall so I could get a narrow entryway table (eventually).  Much better than that haphazard frame situation.  Don't you agree?