...then it comes to me...

Some days, it seems as though everything is falling apart.  Other times, it all comes together.  

For the past five years I have wanted a leather jacket.  I had one when I was in my early teens, and I loved how warm and weather proof it was.  I wore it all the time, until I out grew it.  Then, it was passed along to my sisters, until they too outgrew it... With any luck, it is still being passed along.

So, the other day, when I was in Jackson, I stopped by the Boot Barn to pick up a new pair of jeans.  And there I found my leather jacket.  No fringe and a subtle zipper.  Corset lacing.  I tried it on, and it fit perfectly!

Cripple Creek leather Jacket

I was ready to buy it, when Mr.Muscles said, "I like the cross on the back!"

There's a cross on the back?  I took it off and turned it around.  Yep.  There is a big ol' cross on the back.  I wondered how I had managed to miss it when looking in the three-way mirror, so I put it back on and looked again.  Ha!  My hair had covered it up.

But now I had a decision to make.  I try to avoid clothing with obvious emblems on them... Horse shoes, yin-yangs, skulls, crosses, etc... I tend to find things like that tacky.  But I liked everything else about it so much.  Then I realized that with the lacing, the cross could go goth as easily as it could be a religious symbol.  And besides, I usually wear my hair down!  So now it is mine. 

From the Boot Barn, we walked over to the ReStore.  I wanted to see if they had any black tile I could use in remodeling the main bathroom.  They didn't, but they did have a boy-proof couch (with matching chair and ottoman!), like I had been praying to find:

It was clean, smelled good, and all the cushions are removable so it would be easy to recover.  I knew my husband wouldn't be thrilled with the fabric, but I figured it would go with my house just fine.  I felt so lucky!  I had planned to go to a furniture store next (sorry Ken), but for a fraction of the cost, found a new living-room set. 

The old couch, I wanted to get rid of, but it now setting on the back porch:

We've got the real red-neck look going on!  Oh well, the doggy is happy.  Manny says he might bar-be-que all winter, if he can figure out a way to close the porch in.  I have a feeling it will be plastic wrapped before the snow begins to fly.

And finally, there is the pantry I built on Saturday:

Floor to ceiling kitchen pantry, built of pine.

It still needs a face frame and doors, but I won't be adding those until the new floor is in.  I built it in the same manner as my mom's pantry was built, more than 100 years ago:

Construction details of my pantry cupboard, October 1, 2011.

Construction details of the built-in pantry cupboard in a 1910 homestead (farm) house.

I have always loved antique furnishings, and am glad to duplicate this in my house.  Move over Norm.  'This Old House' ain't got nothing on me!

Progress...

My kitchen counter is finally getting done!  Seeing as I have been without a kitchen sink for two weeks, this is very exciting.

Why two weeks?  Because I am slow.  I do something, step back, look at it, and decide if it what I want before moving on.  Then, there was one error in my planning.  An error of 3/4", that put my sink off center... until I changed the plans, which meant redesigning one cupboard. 

My friend Heather says I think too much.  She comes up with an idea and does it.  One morning she decided to pain her laundry room.  She pulled out her swatches, found a color she likes and 15 minutes later was on her way to the store.  An hour later she was home and painting.  That afternoon, while the paint dried, she made a stencil of a picket fence and that evening stenciled it.  When she moved out two years later, behind the door still was not painted and the edges still where not trimmed, but she had picket fence with flowers.

Yeah.  The perfectionist in me would have screamed bloody murder over that, had it been my house.  I would have chose my color, bought a sample and lived with it for at least two weeks, to make sure it was what I wanted.  That's why her house was prettier--just don't look behind the door!

So, my sink will be perfectly centered under the window and every inch of my cupboards tailor made for my home, even if it did take me ten days longer than it should have!  In fact, if I go now, I should be able to have Hubby help me set in the sink tonight and hook up all the plumbing... if it doesn't happen tonight, it will be Saturday before he has time.