Snow shoveling is great fun. Puppy gets to bark and “dig” the snow from the shovel. 
All that hard work wears a doggie out. Poor guy can hardly keep his eyes open.
Many years ago I was crazy about this new craft I had discovered. Glass painting. I was obsessed with painted Christmas ornaments. It was a lot of fun, experimenting with different colors and textures. It must have been a hot new craft at the time because there aren’t as many kits to choose from now as back then. Fortunately, I had stocked up. Well, I guess really I bought more projects than I ended up completing. Ah, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I had two of these lovely glass panels, purchased from Ben Franklin Crafts, long before they closed. I still have one I need to paint, but I managed to finish this welcome sign with its art nouveau ladies before the glass painting phase wore off. Then it sat in a closet for a decade, just waiting for the perfect spot. Notice, too, that it is hung so as to not block Oliver’s view. That’s important, you know. And no, I did not buy this house because my welcome sign would look good next to the door, it just worked out that way!
It was difficult to photograph from outside and still catch the details, so here it is from the inside looking out. Just imagine the image flipped.
Here is the new tv stand in place.
I finally got brackets for the bookshelves, and moved the second one from the dining room to its permanent location, flanking the tv. Since we don’t have a fireplace in our humble bungalow, the tv goes in that spot. I’ve always felt it would be lovely to have built-ins along that wall, but I can’t afford them. So for now these three pieces will have to stand in.
I have further plans for this room. It involves moving lots of furniture around the house. Also, I’m beginning to dream of a sofa. And a new recliner for Lewis. But that is down the road quite a bit.
This his and hers set of pillowcases is a stamped set from Bucilla, called Bridal Bouquet. I’m not sure what is going on with their website, because the colors in the photograph are garish, but in real life it is quite soft and lovely. 
Unlike usual, I followed the recommended colors. Except for the words His and Hers. The pattern called for one of the greens, but I decided I wanted them in blue and pink, respectively.
While I really do like this pattern, I don’t think I will duplicate it. In fact, I think it will be a long time before I do another cross stitch. I’m too impatient and cross stitch take much longer than regular embroidery.
I do have this tip, though, should anyone out there decide to do this pattern. I worked one color at a time. I did the stems first. With the flowers, I worked from the inside outward. I bought a washable fabric pen ages ago. When I started each new color I marked the center of the stitch. Then I would work all the stitches in that color before moving on to the next color. I did each pillowcase this way, so I didn’t have to consult my chart every two seconds.
Our steam radiators keep us nice and toasty in the winter. Well, they could. If we turned the heat up. But we are being frugal. Two winters ago was really the first time we had the house back together. Before that, there was still construction happening on a minor scale, and the old boiler kept failing. I would often come home to a cold house, get the boiler up and running and it would have to bring the temperature up 15 to 20 degrees. It would bang, hiss, clang and knock. Then it wouldn’t come back on for hours. Very inefficient.
So winter 2006-2007 was the first year we could keep the house at a consistent temperature. We kept the thermostat around 65 because it would get too hot on the second floor if we went any higher than that. We fiddled with the radiators and the thermostat a lot that year, trying to figure out what was comfortable.
The next winter, 2007-2008, we bumped it back a wee bit more, keeping it around 64. Not so bad. Now it is like a challenge. How low can we go?
So last winter, 2008-2009, I put the thermostat down to 62. We managed. We had a fairly mild winter, I bumped it up if I was sick. I cannot stand to be cold and sick. But mostly we kept it at 62.
This year, I thought, okay 62 again. No biggie. Well. Think again. I’m so cold, I just can’t take it. We’ve put the thermostat back up to 64. I’m not sure why, but those two degrees make all the difference.
I ordered a tank of Fuel in mid-October, when I checked last week we had just above half a tank left. After the blustery weather we’ve had in the last couple of days (temps in the low 20s, wind gusts, wind chill in the single digits) I’m afraid to check the tank level again. I know it is going to be bad news.
The temperatures can be in the single digits and the house will remain warm (-ish). But if it is windy, forget it. The boiler will just run and run, trying to keep up. It was so drafty on the second floor last night, which is better insulated than the first floor, that I crawled up to the attic to make sure the windows hadn’t blown open. It has been known to happen when we have high winds. I was very surprised to find them still closed.
This whole house needs better insulation, I know. When we had walls torn open, insulation was replaced, but it is just here and there. We didn’t understand that the blown-in insulation wasn’t really doing anything at all. Now the long-term plan is to insulate from the outside in, when we re-do the siding. Which we don’t have money for. Because we can’t save any. Because we are paying twice as much as we should to heat and cool the house. What a vicious cycle.
Green Bungalow Craftworks 
