My Handyman

This week without Miss Molly has thrown our rhythm into an upheaval (not that we'd nailed a solid autumn rhythm yet).  The boy and I have enjoyed our time together, he has been such a help around the house.  tidying up, walking dogs and well...fixing the washing machine!

Yup!  Sorry the photos aren't better but I was quite busy passing this sweet guy tools and holding the flashlight.  We've had a few home owner struggles lately;  Our oil tank has sprung a leak, and while it is temporarily patched it needs to be replaced pronto.  When you live in a house built on a ledge in the late 1800s with a dirt floor crawl space this is no easy task.  So as you can imagine we were feeling a bit discouraged when our washing machine appeared to die over the weekend.  As much as I'd love to replace this old machine with a fancy new front loader, it's just not in the cards right now.
I was doing a bit of Internet research to see what the problem could be and took a huge guess (gotta love google).
We went down to our little local appliance shop and purchased a motor coupling for $20, took the machine apart, crazy I know!  turns out your can take the whole outside "jacket" right off the thing with a screwdriver and a bit of muscle.  Talk about homeschooling at it's finest.  We found a how-to on YouTube and with a bit of team work, laughter and a lot of "ewwwww" I've got laundry running right now.  How fun to see the innards of this thing and to see that we could ourselves fix the problem.  My boy was amazing, He watched the tutorial and got quickly to work, I'm not kidding when I say I was the tool passer-flashlight holder in the team, he was so proud of himself, and his mama is proud of him too!

My New Chair

So I mentioned that I had done a bit of thrifting over the weekend.  Well, I scored this sturdy chair frame from the restore for $5.00!  Can you believe that?  I'm not sure what the wood is to be honest we will have to find someone who knows.

Needless to say I was thrilled, we have these two chairs that are in terrible shape, I keep thinking about re-upholstering them, but it seems like such a daunting project.  However, when I saw this beauty I knew that making cushions would be a snap.  I went to our local quilting store and got some of last years fabric on sale it's the summer house collection and I must admit I'd never seen it, but boy is it perfect!
voila:

A couple of cushions from Joannes, and some simple sewing and I had a new chair in an afternoon!  Did I mention I did this all for under $50!  I've made the cushion covers so that they are removable for easy washing (a must in this house) and who knows maybe I'll make a few more covers to change with the seasons...
This has been a busy week of projects around here, Molly and I have been busy with a lot of painting furniture and a bit of embroidery for her new room.
Here is just a little sneak peak into what is quickly becoming her "Pink Phase"...

More on these to come, but I figured we'd get everything finished first. 
What have you been working on?

Things to do

We've got a a busy week ahead so I don't know how much I'll be around this space.  In typical Maine winter fashion we had some pipes burst and freeze a few weeks ago.  Everything is fine all is OK, but we need the living room and front entry floors replaced.  Today things are pretty much chaos as we try to continue with normal.

 Here's a perfect example, Normal morning, bread dough rising in front of the fire (along w/ Molly eating her breakfast).  But turn to your left and there is a huge pile of wood flooring acclimating to the environment before it starts to go down later this week.

I'm not complaining mind you, New floors will be great, home owners is helping us out and we have a contractor/builder that we know and trust!  Just means chaos for our week.
To add to this said chaos, Molly is bugging me to finish her room (she's supposed to be moving to the third floor) and last night Corey's bed frame broke!  So this morning while I am supposed to be cleaning and getting ready to empty out this room I've been looking on the Internet for a while trying to find some good ideas for a loft bed. 
I've started a board on pintrest with ideas so if you have any please let me know:)  We already knew a loft was the way to go for him.  His room is small and while he's been offered Molly's room when she moves upstairs he doesn't want a different room (doesn't like change), he wants to find a way to fit a record listening station into his room.  A loft is a perfect answer!  He can hang underneath and listen to all the records he wants!  Oh and did I mention I could then claim Molly's room as my own???  Then I could have a closet/dressing/craft/office... instead of a craffice would I have a claffice?  or a cloffice?  or perhaps cloaftice? 
I'll do my best to update this week, but things may get a little hectic.
Hope your weekend and the following week were/are filled with fun.

Heading off to the gorgeous Georgia coast last year...wouldn't mind being there now:)