Rain! and a thrifty makeover of sorts

I call this God chipping in on the water bill...

I was quite happy for the rain today. All my new seeds can use a good, long drink. And, when that drink doesn’t add to the water bill, it’s always a good thing. I just wish we had our rain barrels, but, it’s one of those capital expenses that’s in the future budget. We just haven’t gotten there yet. Being green and saving money takes a bit of an upfront investment at times!

Some curtains from my younger days

My other project was a repurposing of some old curtains. When my parents came to my wedding in June they packed up their camper with lots of my old stuff. So, I have been going through it slowly, getting rid of what I no longer needed, enjoying finding things I hadn’t seen in awhile and all that. One thing that arrived was some curtains I had made for my bedroom back home sometime in late high school or early college, I think.

There are currently blinds on all the windows in our house and no curtains anywhere. I hated to throw away such large pieces of fabric but I couldn’t think of any fabulous uses of them if I cut them up either. And, the hems and whatnot for curtains were already sewn. I asked my husband what he thought of the curtains for the guest bedroom, which is painted light blue and being slowly decorated in a Texas/Americana theme. We both thought they seemed a little too light colored . And, that room gets first morning sun so it needs something a bit more light blocking.

The perfect solution for curtains that aren't the color you want!

So, while I was at Michael’s today doing something for a Christmas present in the works, I picked up some Navy Blue Rit Dye.

Mmm... dye soup!

The curtains dyed very well and stayed a dark navy, which surprised me. I was expecting them to wash out a bit but, I guess things actually work when you follow the directions! I hung the curtains up with clothespins in the guest room to see how they looked.

Trying out the new look

I think I will leave them up for a few days to see how it feels in the room, see it in different lights, etc. I also think the two curtains are large enough that I can cut each in half and have a set of curtains on each window (instead of just one per window). The window area at my parents house was three large windows across I think. So, that will be another thing to consider.

A close up of the curtain details

The curtains are a little bit darker than this picture shows but I was happy with the way the design came out. It is printed on the curtains in a sort of rubbery raised up design so I thought it would come through the dyeing process ok.

I discovered this morning if I split one of my homemade muffins in half, it fits into the toaster. Or rather Robert did and made sure to tell me about it before he left for work. Blackberry muffins. Yum! I used the Joy of Cooking basic muffin recipe and added some frozen blackberries. I have found the Joy of Cooking to be a great reference for basic recipes or ideas on how long to cook something and all of that. It’s really good for basics.

I finished my first dish cloth last night!

So, my dish cloth came out kind of rectangular instead of square but since it’s the first one, I’m not too worried. I need to learn to make my stitches more even and find a pattern that I like. I got some more cotton yarn today so I can get right to work on another one. I also got some tabs to work on making a homemade planner. And since my husband is at the fire station tonight for meeting until who knows when, I might actually have time to get a good portion of it done.

I always try to spend time with him when he is home since there are  several nights a week when he is not. I’m sure he would let me work on whatever I wanted any night of the week. But, it’s important to both of us to spend quality time together. I at least attempt to get most of my work and play done before he comes home so the evening can be for us. It’s nice!