Much Needed Vacation

We here in the Armstrong household have been working veeeery hard lately and need a little vacation! We're unplugging and hitting the back roads of Kentucky and we're taking Papa with us (he'll be 90 next week)!! An 800-mile, 4-day, 4-generation roadtrip around his home state to see some of its most beautiful natural wonders-- Mammoth Cave, Cumberland Falls, Land Between the Lakes, and (if we're lucky) this place... where Papa and Granny honeymooned in 1946. Nothing says "romance" like a wigwam. : )

Arian : )

Papa's House

We spent the weekend at Papa's house. He'll be 90 on July 4th. He's awesome--so bright, so funny, hard-working, a good listener, a good story-teller....a loving husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa... what a stud.

The pace of life always slows down significantly when we're there. Not much to do besides garden, ...

dig out old toys from the basement...
watch birds from the front porch...
climb trees...
fly paper airplanes...
sit in the grass...
watch the sunset...

pick wild flowers...

wade in the creek...
and eat... plenty of time to eat.

Back to city life today, though. Lots of projects piling up, just like the laundry : )

Arian

Free Weekly Planner : )

Here's a little somethin' somethin' I've been working on this week to help get more organized. I'm using it to keep track of work and housekeeping goals each week. Somehow having goals written down on a cute little chart makes them seem more attainable. It helps me just take one little corner of the house, (one...ahem.. still not unpacked moving box), one art project at a time.

I thought I'd share it with you guys to help you in your organizational ventures as well. Use it for for to-do lists, meal planning, keeping track of your social obligations. Pass it on to friends (but please link back here). Just don't try to sell it : ) Click on the image above for the larger version then drag or right click to save to your computer. And don't forget these free charts as well!


Like my first attempt at a little terrarium!? Our brave winter hikers brought back a big bag of moss while out at Papa's house. I gasped, ran down to Papa's basement to snatch an old canning jar, rummaged around til I found a suitable little inhabitant and TADA! One step closer to creating a cozy indoor terrarium garden--a little eye candy to satiate my sudden hunger for spring weather. The challenge is finding terrarium-appropriate miniatures around the our house. Somehow matchbox cars and Spiderman figures just don't cut it.



Cold temperatures have us spending a lot of time indoors these days. This weekend will be warmer, though, and I'm pumped to finally get outside for a walk downtown or perhaps a mini photo shoot.

Have a good one!
Arian : )

Snippets of Normal

It's been SUCH a transitional month that I'm starting to forget what "normal" looks like. But I have seen comforting hints of familiar over the last couple days.

Like the familiar faces of family and their smiles (after a week of lots of tears).

And treasures from Granny and Papa's house that have found their way into our new living space (aren't Papa's old shoes sweet!). The rug was made by my great-grandma.
This vintage sheet found deep in their closet. I plan on making a simple quilt with it once I find time for crafting again.
And art supplies that are finally getting a little organized.
We're slooowly starting to find our rhythm again...one that will hopefully include lots of art, long walks, cozy fires in our fireplace, dates with my husband, gardening, picnics, and family...LOTS of family.

Treasure Hunting

The owners of our borrowed home will be coming back at the end of this month which means we'll be moving into the now unfinished (hopefully soon finished) basement. I'm excited about it, actually. I love the design challenges that small living spaces present. I've always wanted to live in a tree house or a converted train car or something like that. And our years in Japan taught us that small, if done right, can be so much cooler than big.

We gave away pretty much all of our furniture when we moved here from Boston two and a half months ago so we're kinda starting from scratch. But I'm determined to be a beggar AND a chooser when it comes to furnishing our space. I want cheap/free AND cool. So I've been scouring craigslist, thriftstores, and my grandparents' house (thanks for never throwing anything away Granny!)

This old pie safe from circa a long time ago that now sits in my grandparents' garage will soon be our new dresser or pantry, not sure yet. But I love it!

I've got my eye on that old refrigerator drawer. Papa, you might have to find a new container for your rolling office chair parts.

He probably still uses this old fan when he works in his shop in the summer. So I won't steal it. But it IS pretty sweet.
Same with these old tools--I don't want them, just thought they made a cool picture.
Several of our furniture-building plans call for some re-claimed lumber. Thankfully Papa has been reclaiming lumber since the 40's.
Granny keeps EVERYTHING--she's got shelves and shelves of little glass jars just waiting to be re-purposed...hmmmm...
And I think this braided rug my great-grandmother made will also find its way into our new living space. Nothing says vintage chic like 75-year-old dust.

So HOPEFULLY over the next several weeks I'll have fun remodeling/refinishing/repurposing photos to show you. But who knows, life seems to be anything but predictable these days : )

Granny and Papa's: Prints and Patterns

We just got back from our trip home--great time with family, a beautiful wedding, reconnecting with friends---all very very good. Part of the time was spent at my grandparents' house. They're in their upper 80's and have lived in the same house for almost 40 years. They built it themselves using a lot of materials (rocks, wood) they gathered from the area around them.

It seems like it's hardly changed during my lifetime--same wallpaper, same carpet, same pictures on the wall, books on the shelves, magnets on the fridge, etc, etc. So this time there I tried to capture some of the prints and patterns in their house that are sooo familiar to me. Here are a few....


Tools in Papa's shop. He remembers where he got each one and many are older than me.


a button from the old, broken organ in their guest room


The living room carpet. My guess is that it was made with threads left over from every carpet ever made.


The wall and door of the basement bathroom.


A collection of tins and jars that have lined the top of the bathroom cabinets as long as I can remember.

There are more photos here if you'd like to see!

Granny Bird

These discontinued wallpaper samples are some of my finds while rummaging through my grandparents' garage and basement. They are compliments of my Papa who used to own a hardware store and never throws things away.
Here he is hard at work (and he's 87!)



Here's a print I just added to the shop-- a homage to granny and papa's house : )

Great, Great, Great.

Over the weekend we took a trip to visit what's left of the house my great, great, great grandfather built some time in the mid 1800's. Pretty amazing.

Happy adventurers.

My mom, grandpa, sis, bro-in-law, my boys, and my man : )

Here's a picture of what the house looked like back in the day.

 The house is full of amazing textures that tell stories of generations of inhabitants.

Papa--age 91. He's pretty much the man.

Jude holding a picture of George Henry and his wife who built the house-- his great, great, great, great grandparents. Wow.

George Henry's signature is still scribbled on the wall!

My sis and our matching baby bumps....30 and 32 weeks along : )

Jude the turtle whisperer.

It was quite a day. There was just something so cool about being pregnant and watching the boys hear stories from their great-grandpa while exploring the home their great (x4) grandparents built.  Generations past, generations to come!

Arian