A first!

The end of this summer marked the very first time that I have ever put up canned preserves by myself.

Tomato juice was the start!

My first batch! Food mill, jar lifter & other tools on the left.

Simply take your tomatoes & boil them so that they are thoroughly cooked through. You want them soft.
Then, throw them in the food mill, a few at a time, and crank the handle over a large bowl.
Ta-da! Juice.
If you're not interested in seeds or pulp, find yourself a strainer. I didn't have a decent strainer or the time for this, so mine is seedy & pulpy, but deeeee-lish!

Then, use a funnel to pour the juice into the pre-warmed & sterilized jars. Leave a 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of the jars. Top with a new tin top that has been heated in hot water for approx. 5 minutes.

Finally, boil in a water bath for 25-30 minutes.

Take out using a jar lifter, and set on a towel on the counter. As they cool, you'll hear the lid "snap" shut as it seals.

For the next batch of juice, I added one hot banana pepper, 1/2 onion, and some garlic. It was spicy! (Means I got a good hot banana pepper!)

Enjoy!

It's one way to get panelling home...

Last Tuesday's adventure...

The Move, so far...

Thanks to my brothers (Albert and Kevin) and Ed, of course, Saturday was moving day. Everything still in my Guelph apartment is now in the Ricebox.

The panelling was sold out at Home Depot last week when Jeff came to help us get that. So everything is done except the floor where the wardrobe was sitting and the path to the laundry room, one coat of trim paint yet, and those pieces of panelling, along with the baseboard & trim to go with it. And a few electrical bits & bobs.

I'll contrast the "what is now" with "what it was" photos.
This is the official "so far" look. It's a MESS!

Remember this? It's my Guelph apartment's kitchen.

See this? This is the contents of those kitchen cupboards.... (ah, & the hole yet in the panelling...)

Remember this?

This is that corner with the wall paint...

And this is that corner nearly done with renos, and almost set up as my bed'room'

This was the last renter's bedroom area. You can see the patch on the wall that was covering a hole which prompted us to remove the panelling....

That panelling has yet to be replaced...but this will eventually be a sitting area....(my painting is in progress...and upside down...)

I'm moving! A Basement Renovation Story.

I am in the process of moving. That process is nearly complete. I even got my driver's license address changed. It should be coming in the mail soon.

Today, as you read this, I will be packing up the remainder of my first-ever apartment, and leaving it forever.

In this process, I discovered Salvation Army too.

But, more importantly, I am moving from this:

Old photos of my apartment. It seems less crowded and wall hangings have changed...

to this:

Furniture is now out. But note the lovely dragonfly patterned wallpaper!

There's my mattress! Surrounded by 1970's panelling. Avant garde by now, I'm sure. (I'd already started stripping the early 90's wallpaper!)

Stairwell

Almost my favourite part of the entire basement....

Granted, my furniture is not yet moved in (everything in those photos is the last renter's - except for the mattress on the floor) but look at the difference in eras. In light and dark. In live-ability. 

And. Stay tuned for what I did, with a lot of help from Ed, and some help from a few others, to make it into a more liveable space.

DIY: Pin-Board Frames!

So today, I finished at school.

By 2 pm I was in paint clothes, and inspired.

• Out came multiple cans of spray paint, as well as some tubes of acrylic and a paint brush out of my art supplies.
• Spray paint, dry, spray paint, dry.
• Paint the nightstand (you'll see it when it's all done.)
• Spray paint, dry, spray paint, dry.
• Paint the bookshelf. One coat to go!
• Pull out the box of fabric scraps.
• Raid the ribbon drawer.
• Grab some foam sheets out of my arts & crafts bucket.
• Scissors & fabric glue out of my sewing kit.
• Scotch tape out of the gift wrap container.

And this is the result: Mini Framed Pinboards!!

These are gonna hang on the wall in my new place. Just like this.

# 1

# 2 - third fave

#3 - second fave

#4

#5 - FAVE!

#6

#7

Summer!

So. Today as of 1pm or so, I was out of school. Out for the summer!

I went home. And painted. Images to come.

I also packed. More images to come.


Is it crazy that in 2-ish weeks I will be living elsewhere???? I've been here for three years. I'll miss this place, but OH MAN am I excited to move into the Ricebox with the other girls. Oh, and conveniently live 5 minutes' walk from Ed. That`s pretty good too.

Now, please excuse me, I`m gonna go see if I can do another coat yet. And then I`m going to pack more boxes. Ok? Ok.

DIY #1

There have been a few makeovers going on in this house lately, and many more to come...

I've discovered the paint & paint supply aisles at Canadian Tire. And I own a wealth of furniture, as well as 'bits & bobs', that could do with afresh coat of paint, or at least some updating!

Here's one: a chalkboard I got for free while I was in my teen years...

I'm not so into the hunter green/farmhouse thing. I don't think I've ever been into it! Especially now that I have this:

Pretty happy to see this go!

But not so happy to see this go :(

But this, this is gorgeous! And, it has room for more hugs :)

I painted a bookshelf too, which is holding my unintentionally matching tissue box!

Not so bad for a first attempt, eh?

DIY Green Monster

No, I'm not saying I made a green monster all by myself.

I'm saying this DIY project has the green-eyed monster jumping up & down inside of me, grinding his teeth in frustration because I'm too polite to let him out for exercise.

I've needed good closet/storage solutions for over a year now.

Why can't I have time/money/genius to achieve this?