Thursday, February 15, 2018

Morning Commute


Sometimes it's really hard to make it all the way to work. I'm prone to wander. The light was so beautiful this morning that I took a detour. This view is from a side road in Fincastle, looking north up the valley toward home. I still made it to work on time. : )

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Valentine- A Little Cupboard Door Project

Oh, my lovely Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. How I love thee.

This project started out with an extra cupboard door we had from a bathroom vanity. I thought it would be the perfect frame for rug. I hooked my rug to the dimensions of the inner panel which measured 7 inches x 18 inches. When it was completed, I chose two colors of chalk paint that I thought would nicely frame the rug. I applied two coats of brown as a base color and then topped it with two coats of off-white.




 The beauty of chalk paint is that there is no need for priming. (as long as the finish on the wood is post 1940's) After all four coats and two colors have been applied and completely dried, I distressed the paint to my liking with fine sandpaper. I then finished it with two coats of Polyvine flat polyurethene. Flat Polyvine seals the painted finish without taking away from the look of the chalk paint. It makes it much nicer to touch and prevents leaving fingerprints and smudges that seem to so easily stick to unfinished chalk paint. I prefer it over waxing.
Voila! It makes a great beginner rug hooking project.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Balmy, Birds, and a Chick

   
     Using the word, "balmy" to describe the weather in the month of February is not something I take for granted. It began raining on Saturday and continued into Sunday, but it turned so warm that the rain was no bother at all. To step outside on Sunday morning was to step into spring. Low-lying fog had settled in all the hollows, which always looks beautiful in these mountains. The ground squished like a sponge when I walked in the field. By afternoon it had reached sixty-one degrees so I cracked open the kitchen window to let in some of that balmy air.
     The birds must love this mild, saturated weather because they were all over the yard. We've been seeing flocks of robins for a couple of weeks now. (To my northern family and friends, I'm sure they are headed your way!) Yesterday they were joined by bluebirds, cardinals, and blue jays. Steve and I really enjoyed watching them out the window, The cardinals are here year round, but I'm not sure about the others. I thought they were all migratory birds but, I learned all of that during my childhood in New York, so maybe Virginia is where they migrated to. I don't know about any of this from the Virginia perspective. Anyway, it was fun watching the birds in the crab apple tree, especially the bluebirds, which are my favorite.
     During the ice storm last Sunday I started the small, tabletop rug with a spring theme, pictured above. I'm also finishing up a small, cupboard door rug with a heart on it. Just in time to hang for Valentine's Day. I didn't intend it for such, it just happened that way : ) I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the cupboard door and I'll post photos of that project tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful song by Robin Trower called, "Bluebird".