A New Couch - First World Problem

We got a new couch!

Bill has been complaining for years that our house didn't have a proper couch for him to lay on and read. He's over 6 feet tall and the loveseats we had in the living room and family room just weren't cutting it. We had gotten the family room set many years ago for our old house. The set was just a little too big for this house but it worked so I didn't worry about it much. Then when the room was painted white, the cream color just grated on me. For about a year I have periodically looked for a new couch. I was looking for leather because we have cats and cats have fur and leather is the best solution for that. But then ...one day....I was looking at the IKEA website and I saw...... 

*swoon*

I looked at the photo several times and sighed longingly. 

It was PINK. They call it 'light red' but it looks pink. What would Bill say....

Then one day when Bill got home from work I told him

"I think I found a couch I like."

He said "I've been wanting a couch. I hate those love seats- let's go look at it."

Whoa. 

And here I thought I would have to warm him up to

the idea over several weeks!

So off we went.

And came home with it. Squeeeeeee!!!!!

It's velvety and the entire cover is removable and machine washable. It has a 10 year warranty. And as always with IKEA, we have 3 months to try it out. It's a dreamy light red/hot pink/bright!orburnt orange/salmon color. Haha! Actually, it's just my camera. It doesn't capture the color accurately. Ever. The IKEA photo above is closest to reality.

Now I have wall to wall to wall furniture. Yes that makes me TWITCHY and CLAUSTROPHOBIC but that's not the REAL problem because a couple of people are interested in buying the old set. 

My first world problem is, I have a NEW! couch and I don't know where to put it....

This room is small and doesn't have a lot of floor space.

I have to keep the computer desk (for now) and I absolutely love that red cabinet. And we will be shopping for two new side chairs. Ideally, the couch should go where the red cabinet is. I wanted to try moving the red cabinet to the left of fireplace.....but it is 1/4 INCH TOO WIDE. Argh. I could move it to where blue floor lamp is but.....

...with the desk, window, red cabinet all lined up in a row, plus two (future) chairs.....not going to work for me.

I could put the red cabinet where the desk is but then I don't know where to put the desk! Everywhere I envision it in the room it's a no go. 

If I put the couch in front of the window.... I think the cats will be camped out on the back of it all day long so they can watch birds outside. Constant cat hair/ squished cushions....Plus....long line with desk again.

If I leave it where it is, it COULD work but....

It would be pretty crowded on this side.
And that paper shredder and printer.....
I don't want to talk about it. Ugh.

Plus I really want to be able to see the sides- it's one of the things I fell in love with....

And the front just looks so scrumptious and inviting.....

I don't want to hide it's BEST side from view.....

And FURTHERMORE, Bill doesn't like how I've always had the loveseat in the MIDDLE OF THE ROOM. But that was the only place I could put it to make things work. And why we HAD short loveseats. Somehow or other I will MAKE this work. I absolutely love this couch.

I see some standing and staring and some deep thinking and LOTS of furniture arranging in my near future...

This Week

It has been so beautiful this spring. It will warm up for a couple of days and then get cool again. I have been wanting to get some yard work done and I figured I better finish up this week because this cool weather won't last.

But, FIRST, I needed to go to the grocery store......

On Sunday my husband said,

"Well, if your goal is to empty the fridge, you're almost there....."

I had some meat in the freezer but in the fridge I only had eggs, feta cheese, parsley, carrots, lemons and limes, 2 more kinds of cheese and 2 packages of bacon. Could have been an interesting casserole..... ;))))

And on to the chores....
I worked on the front yard first.

The center of our new circle driveway was looking pretty sorry so I cleaned that up.

Now you can actually see all of the new plants that Bill dug all those holes for!

Next I worked on what will be the steps area up to the porch.

I cleaned it out and then hauled up some wheel barrow loads of river rock and gravel. Looks a bit more welcoming even without the steps. I hope to start working on those next week!

Next project.

I have had a snake plant in this pot for at least 5 years.

It was looking pretty pathetic.

Not sure if I killed it or not but I dumped the whole thing out and selected a few of the best looking ones and put them in a new pot.

Sure hope it lives! These are one of my very favorite plants.

Also this week, my daughter sent me a text wondering....

....how she has EVER got by in life without one of these?????

Nope. I didn't offer to make her one. 

Instead I did another yard project.

Because I wasn't feeling well this spring, I decided I would not plant a garden this year. Bill went and put in a few seeds but the garden was a mess.  

 I don't know what all he has planted, but for sure green beans and carrots.

There. Now his plants don't look so woebegone. :)

And the best part???? In AZ you usually only have to weed ONCE and you are done til next spring! :)))))

And as a reward for myself...

I planted some of my favorite flower seeds. Zinnia's and giant marigolds.

 I also had some sweet potatoes that were a bit past their prime. My daughter says they grow like weeds here. So I followed her advice. I broke off the sprouts and plunked them straight in the ground with just a bit of the top leaves exposed. We shall see if they grow.

Also this week, I have been working on making tassels out of felt and yarn.

I want to make a garland. I am following this tutorial:  http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2014/11/make-tassel-garland-felt-yarn/

And now it's Memorial Day weekend. 

I hope you have a fun weekend planned with your loved ones and on Monday, whatever you may be doing, revel in the freedom and lifestyle that our countrymen died to preserve. 

source

source

Remembering those who gave their all.

Landscaping......

I have had this post sitting in draft for weeks. Like, four weeks....Since then I have added a lot of other posts in draft. Time to finish editing all of them and hit PUBLISH. :)

When I had my appendectomy, my surgeon told me after two weeks, I could pretty much do what ever I felt up to. I was feeling stupendous after being sickly and tired for two months- getting rid of that appendix made me feel like a million bucks! So I decided to I would landscape the back yard. I went to a local desert nursery and picked up a bunch of 1 and 5 gallon plants and spent the next day arranging and rearranging them in the backyard.

The next day, I had them all set and I was planning on starting to dig and then I thought- why not do the front yard too!!!! So back to the nursery I went. After I got home and unloaded the truck, my stomach, which had been getting progressively more sore, started hurting too much to ignore. I figured I would take it easy over the weekend and then start planting Monday. It was still hurting pretty bad the next Wednesday so I made an appt with my GP. He laughed and laughed. You did WHAT? And now I suppose those pots are staring at you out in the yard?  Well it's going to be a LONG time before you can do anything now..... Thankfully, I hadn't torn any stitches.... I just had a lot of bruising and swelling. (Bill told me one of the 5 gallon buckets I had bought probably weighed almost 60 lbs. I had NO idea they were that heavy. But I think that one had a lot of rocks or something in it.....)

My ever patient and loving husband dug TWENTY SEVEN holes and planted them for me!!!! (No, I did not buy 27 plants- I had been saving up some plants and cuttings waiting for the yards to get ready.) I was so embarrassed because this was MY project! And now he had to do it for me.....Poor guy. As if he had nothing else to do on a Saturday but dig 27 holes. :(

So for 6 weeks after that I laid around. In between resting with ice packs I worked on projects and stuff. I was so glad I had forced myself to do that big January purge because then I could relax enough to do that!

I accomplished a lot!

I made a garland of little yarn pom poms!

And another one of big pom poms!

I read the Anne of Green Gables series. (For the first time ever!)

I ate dessert!

I made all of these puzzles!

I almost finished my crewel kit!
Thankfully I started on the right hand side because by the time I got to that big flower on the left I had learned progressively harder stitches.

This last stitch was so hard to learn. And hard to do. Lots of hand cramping....

These directions were so confusing so I did a computer search on how to do it. NOTHING. I was on my own. I guess this truly is a dying art. But I persevered and DID IT. At least, I think I learned it....

I was sure that since my appendix hadn't killed me, this flower surely would. 

I told my family to just write on my tombstone....

It Was That Flower.