My Deeto

Back when my family first moved into this little square farmhouse, all I had were brothers. I had six. Six brothers. Every time my mother had another boy I would weep. Seriously weep. Don't get me wrong, I always loved my brothers, every single one. But my heart longed for a sister. One I could dress up and brush her hair and tell secrets to. I wanted to share all the girl stuff with a sister of my very own.
After my baby brothers would be home for a while, I would initiate each one by dressing them up like a girl. (Not my two older brothers of course, no telling what would happen to me if I tried! ) There are photos to prove I did it, but won't dare post a picture without approval. (No telling what would happen to me if I tried!)
When I was 14 years old The Lord answered my prayers and finally gave me my precious baby sister, Rachel Anna Sheldon. I was so happy to see that she had bright blue eyes like my mama. Oh, I loved her SO much. To this day, we have never had a real fight. I'm sure our age difference had a lot to do with that.

When she learned to talk, she would look at me with those big blue eyes, stroke my hand with her little pudgy one, tilt her head to the side, and say, "Oh...my deeto."  Translation: "My sister". Yes, her sister, and she is my Deeto, too. We call each other by that name. I love it.

My Deeto is active and rocks at anything she does. She is way more adventurous than me. I'm afraid of getting hurt. Not my Deeto. She has a weird ability to be the biggest tomboy, yet the the most feminine.

She always ran with the boys

 She's mastered clothing, hair and make-up. To be honest, I'm much too lazy in the grooming department.

Rachel Anna Sheldon AKA, My Deeto

My Deeto has a heart of gold. Everyone that meets her loves her, She is one of the most gentle, compassionate people I have ever met...and talented... SO talented. She sings, writes music, plays guitar, piano, banjo, flute...really anything she wants to play she does. My Deeto loves children and children love her. Parents love her. I love her..So, SO much. She was blessed with so much beauty and many talents and abilities, but my sister always, always gives The Lord credit for all things. Spiritually, I look up to my baby Deeto. She a has faith that could move mountains. She is SO beautiful.

Recently, my baby sister met some one. THE one. The one she has been waiting for and has been praying for her whole life...And they are getting married... TODAY.
She is marrying an awesome guy, Mr. Adam Jones in Kentucky. I'm so happy that my baby Deeto has found love. *Sigh*

(First "official" date)

Best wishes to my beautiful baby Deeto and her Soon-to-be (at 6:00 P.M.) husband Adam Jones! Welcome to the family, Adam! I Love you both!!! Have a wonderful day!!

(They will have a big Sheldon-style wedding later this year in Wisconsin, which I am very much looking forward to!)

New Cookbook Shelf

My kitchen has very little storage. It's the original 1920's kitchen...2 little upper cabinets, and a 10 foot bank of lowers. When I moved back in 5 years ago, I added shelves on the wall by the range. They have been great for mason jars full of rice, beans and noodles and other sundries.  An antique dresser has been handy storage for my baking sheets and pans, but my cookbooks have never really had a good home in my kitchen. I finally figured something out this morning.

I have a small cabinet that wasn't being used very well. It held a large slow-cooker and a waffle iron, but not much else fit. I thought it might make a good cookbook shelf, so I took the door off the hinges.

As it turns out, my cookbooks fit perfectly. I even had room to store some bowls that have been taking up my precious counter space. I put my rarely used books on the bottom shelf, and the ones I use most often on the top.

Of course, no cookbook shelf is complete without a cute little mouse!

Stripping the floors

Getting my new range was such a dream. I know I'm goofy, but here it goes...It was a dream come true. Since I was in my early 20's I wanted a Viking or a Wolf range. *Sigh*
But putting it on vinyl floors...not a dream. So I told Jody  that I would like to rip out the floors myself. (He had no problem with that.)

So, started removing the old 3 layers of flooring.

I found a LOT of old glue on the maple.

If you want to strip your floors yourself. Some advice: Give yourself a few days, and make an appointment in advance with a massage therapist. You're gonna need it.

I figured with such a small kitchen, this would be a piece of cake. Nope. Old glue on an old floor = Lots of work and chemicals. I used good, old fashioned Zip Strip and a putty knife. Open some windows and wear a mask and gloves made specifically for chemicals.

The floors took me about 3 days to rip apart and strip. They are still not sanded or refinished, but someday, when we remodel the kitchen we will sand, stain and polyurethane. For now, I am more than satisfied. 

My husband really likes our range. :)

Viking Range

For the past several years our kitchen floors were a tan, tile-look vinyl. It was a huge upgrade from what they used to be.
When I grew up in our little square farmhouse our kitchen floors were a not-so lovely linoleum. The color, well...is best described as vomit. I know. Yum. Under that layer of vom... linoleum was another layer of linoleum. That layer was similar in color...just more green swirls instead of brown swirls. Under the second layer was maple flooring original to our house. I always wanted to unbury the maple and refinish it, but knew we could encounter a surprise such as an old patch, burn marks or something like that.
Usually when we tackle a big project around here, it because of a "one thing led to another" scenario. That's what happened with my kitchen floor.

I have been using my mamas old gas range. It's a late 80's early 90's Whirlpool LP range. My mom got it used, and it served her well. Really, it served us all well. Many, many people were fed fabulous meals on my Mama's gas range, but it has seen it's day.
We have been saving and looking for a new/used range for quite some time. I knew I wanted a pro-style range, and I wanted (and have been dreaming about) something 36" wide or wider with convection bake and a grill or griddle... Well, several weeks ago we found one on Craigslist...with the matching hood! The price was nothing short of a miracle. It was very well cared for, and it amazing shape especially since it was built in 1997!

To make a long story short, we moved the range into the house. (All 450 lbs of it) I didn't want to move it to the kitchen until I took out the old flooring. So, as I mentioned, "One thing led to another." and I started ripping out the old flooring.

Sprained Ankle

Don't you just hate it when an injury or sickness keeps you from doing what you need to do? I HATE that!

My husband and I have been working hard to finish up a kitchen reno we've been working on for 3 months now. This is our last week there, so all those little details need to be finished. Last week I took a couple of days off, because I hurt my back.  I sat at home unable to work on the Reno and  unable to get things done in my own home. Grrr!  Same type of thing happened on Monday.

 I worked on the reno, got groceries, drove home so happy. The sun was shining, little glimpses of green popping out of the brown snow. (Isn't it so ugly this time of year?)
I arrived home, and made one trip in the house with an armful of groceries. I stepped out our back door to go back for more. As I sprung out the door, I stepped down and rolled my ankle on our welcome mat!  Hold on....That's not it...there's more. I rolled my ankle, insert loud cracking noise here, fell off the step and landed directly in the muddy flower bed below. (This was the second time this EXACT thing happened since October...Don't laugh). It knocked the wind out of me. I could barely breathe, and I couldn't move. I was SO angry. It was the same icky "Oh my gosh, I cannot believe that just happened, I have WAY too much to do in my life" feeling...You know, that one?

I finally threw out the doormat

I let our homeowner know what happened. She was great, and directed me to a physical therapist who also specializes in pain management.
Indeed, I have a bad sprain. While assessing my damage, I mentioned that I have dislocated my shoulder 9 times in 23 years, and have lost mobility for the last 15. Through breathing techniques and light pressure, he helped me get more mobility in my shoulder than I have ever had. It was amazing. We talked about foods and the benefit of cutting certain things out. Why gluten intolerance has become more prevalent in recent years and how antibiotics in meat is basically killing people. It was an amazing experience, unlike any "healthcare" experience I have ever had. I will be going back.

Do  you have an amazing alternative healthcare provider that you trust?

A Busy Week...

Okay, so it's been almost two weeks since my last post. Don't judge...I've been busy.

I keep putting off posts for better photos, but then I forget to take better photos...So.... I'm just outing random ones up so you can see at least some progress!

Last week, we made new cabinet doors for the island, and finished painting and glazing the old cabinet doors for the "new" look. This week the back splash was installed along with lots of little things I'm sure you don't care to hear about.

After our loooong cold winter, (which isn't over yet) I had a chance to get out to my studio and throw a few bowls. Even though we had a heater out there all winter, my clay still froze. All is good now. Yay!!

Then, last Sunday my baby Hannah (she's 18) and I went to an awesome concert in Chippewa Falls. When Jody and I got married I went online searching for music...I found a video of Anna Johnson and her sister Julia singing at a coffee shop. I was blown away by their perfect, clear voices and beautiful harmony. Without gushing, I am a HUGE fan.

Anyway, I hope you have a great week!