Big Snow! Birthday Ikea Trip/ Holiday Decor Downsizing, Preparedness & RX Shortages

 

Big Snow!

Our first big winter storm is arriving! Woke up to about 1/2" of snow and 21 degrees this morning. We're talking lots of feet of snow in the mountains in the next week. This is our first really big snow storm to hit. I've seen there's more weather problems up in Canada and Washington, sad. We usually get snow November/December, but it varies every year. So far nothing big down here in the valley, but look at the forecast! 

Birthday Ikea Trip/ Holiday Decor Downsizing-

It's that time of year! I started putting up our winter decor about a week ago since I like to take a break after Thanksgiving. I also had my birthday! I won't say which one, but a BIG one. I like doing something fun since I never had a birthday parties as a kid. I always got combination birthday and Christmas gifts, what a bummer. Dave and I did a one-day birthday drive to Salt Lake City Ikea so I could buy some holiday goodies for my birthday present. I did about 95% of the driving, perfect weather. I know it may seem crazy but I've wanted to buy some of their winter decor, and you can't buy it online. We never go to the Portland Ikea for family visits in winter. So we went! We never got a vacation this year or last year, so we didn't feel guilty. Just gas, a couple meals, and shopping. They were out of a few things but I got most of the fun holiday items-

Finally a Dala horse! And a Tomten with deer (ceramic)

Fox and tree candle holder, ceramic too 

I really wanted their 3-piece glass mushroom set, but were out. I found one on eBay for a bit more, I was thrilled! Three sizes, heavy glass with heavy clips-

 Red and white mushrooms were said to be the basis for Santa's hat! 

I added to my display, I love the nature look with the greenery-

Bigger shot here-

Also from eBay, an Ikea LED mini candelabra, battery operated, $10.00-

I stocked up on their amazing whole grain/Rye crackers, cookies and a little Swedish cheese. Got a mistletoe table runner, some mini star lights and some stocking stuffers. I really love Scandinavian folk art and natural types of holiday decorations. So there's a sneak peek of what we have out. Our Christmas decor will be coming out this weekend! 

Dining room farm window

Kitchen window, thrifted new prim snowman

Dining room

Living room

Entryway Gingerbread theme

Living room window

I moved my Jul decor to the living room this year! 

Holiday Decor Downsizing: 

Phase two was letting go of some winter  decor. I decided I wanted to get rid of at least one or two chunks. I always start off with putting winter decor out first. Then I add Christmas things a week or two later. First thing I did with the winter stuff was spread it out and open the totes which created quite the mess! Then I started going through things that I really love versus things that I was ready to let go of. Since a lot of my holiday decor was thrifted there wasn't a huge amount of financial investment. I looked at what do I really love, how much storage do we have, etc. I wound up emptying out one complete tote and donating all of it. Next phase will be going through all the Christmas stuff. The biggest part of that is our artificial tree, wrapping paper, ditto. The rest is tree decorations and tabletop things. Over time I'm liking something less cluttered looking, although my style might be more cluttered than other people's. That's okay. I think decorating for winter is my favorite thing because I've always loved snow! Probably from growing up in Southern California where I didn't really see any except way up in the Sierra mountains.

Preparedness & RX Shortages-

What's new here for preparedness. I have noticed some distinct shortages in the grocery stores and escalating prices. I saw some bell peppers for a $1.75 each, instant noodles ramen type of foods completely off of all the shelves. This was in a Walmart Market. I see our gas prices here are going down a bit which is good. I was happy to see the Walmart Market did have some canned Keystone meat on hand. I picked up a couple cans of chicken. Keystone meat comes really really highly recommended, it's affordable only meet in a lightly salted Brian no other flavors and big chunks. Still getting a few eggs here and they're usually about one a day, glad I had some frozen! When we were getting four per day in the summer I decided to start freezing them. I did also buy some sprouting seeds in case the quality and price of greens gets really exorbitant. I have noticed some quality issues with some things like romaine and spinach . Not sure if it's from the trucking shortage? I also found a nice deal on a bread proofing basket (Ikea) with a cloth cover-

I also bought an Ikea knife sharpener, has a well for water to wet the sharpening stones-

As for RX shortages- I'm hearing this from some of my medical employers insurance  members, more RX's are getting more backordered. This is a sobering list from Drugs.com Drug Shortages, what's scary is it's so long, and growing. Wondering how are you doing in your neck of the woods as far as availability of foods and products, prices? 

Our house

Coop's ready too! 

Dynamic Decorating & Beachy/ Camping Themes, First Tomatoes!

Dynamic Decorating & Beachy/ Camping Themes-

Years ago I read about the concept" dynamic decorating". The short versions is- move things around once in a while. Sometimes things can get stale around the house. I've always loved bringing nature inside- pumpkins and corn in Autumn, cozy winter decor with snowmen, green things or flowers for Spring, then Summer decor. Since a lot of my decorating goodies were thrifted I don't spend a lot of money. If I get tired of things after a few years I can also donate them. I've seen too many people who buy more and more stuff and it gets to be on the edge of hoarding. When I worked with high poverty families in my school there was a pattern of just buying stuff- the latest technology, more stuff on the walls, floors, ceiling and it all gathered dust. And bills went unpaid. Generational patterns can be hard to break. I tried to teach my kids that. Not too much stuff! 

Negative space, in art, is having something blank for you eyes to rest on. Great idea, and I try and not overdo it. One of the great things about having storage is being to take things down and put other things up for a while. There are things I don't take down, like my favorite antique print my Aunt gifted me with long ago, The Angelus by Millet, hangs over our couch in the living room- 

 

and a photo of my Grandfather Alva on top of Mt. Hood in Oregon doing military training for WW1. He was the one positive male relationship in my life growing up so he's honored there. It hangs in our main hallway. I re-used the frame from another family member, Dave got the print enlarged and curved with the curved glass frame to fit- 

I've blogged about my general decorating style here My French Scandinavian Country Decor for more photos. Today I got out my beachy themed decor and camping shelf items. I blogged about this idea before, link here DIY Upcycled Thrifted Camping Summer Decor- on my dining room shelves- 

Living room entertainment center- 

Beachy theme starting on kitchen windowsill- 

Love my thrifted seashell frame, glass on both sides, and you can rotate

Beach table in the living room-

I brought out this older print I hadn't used in years. We won in a raffle 20+ years ago, Dave made the frame for me-

 Beach table-

Added my new thrifted lobster! 

Also added two big seashells I got at Goodwill months ago- 

On our living room window I added our memory jar I made last fall from our family vacation to the Oregon coast. I made one for each of my girls as well. Everything was collected from the beach except the beach glass, I added for color- 

First Tomatoes!

I made a simple salad with our two first tomatoes! I added sliced cukes, red onion, our fresh organic Basil and creamy Trader Joe's Feta cheese. Yummy topped with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh ground pepper.  Goes great with anything! We had it with spicy chicken and watermelon. Lots more on the vine and TONS of Lemon Cucumbers, my favorite!!!

Early Winter, Oregon Coast Trip, Ikea Trip/Bathroom Re-Do, Stuffed Italian Peppers

Story here September Blizzard Montana/Northern Rockies

Early Winter-

Well break out the snow gear, at least in our surrounding areas! Yes, SNOW! An early front is moving in and I'm ready, almost. We woke up to 44 degrees, and it's starting to rain. At 11:00 am it's 48, brrr. We're picking the rest of the veggies today, since the local temps in the 30's will pretty well be the end of the summer garden. We were lucky to have a fairly mild summer, so maybe this won't be a horrible winter? Time will tell.... Will be putting up Autumn decor this weekend, perfect timing! Winterizing the house is on. Here's a peak of Autumn fun to come-

Hoot and Lil Hoot, prim fun from eBay

Thrifted, great colors!

Sunset

Oregon Coast Trip-

We were really excited to go to the Oregon coast on the 15th! Last year Dave and I looked at renting a house and including our three adult children, spouses and two grandchildren for a real family vacation. We have never done that before. We found a really good vacation rental by owner house in Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast. It had a bedroom downstairs, 2 bedrooms upstairs and a hide-a-bed in the living room. Sleeps 11. Nice sized kitchen and I loved their woodstove! We decided not to use it since there were two young children in the house, also 60 to 65 degrees during the day, too warm. I looked up the model, it was from Denmark and probably extremely expensive, lovely soapstone as well-

Dinner out first night-

Fun wall decor on the upper wall-

The weather was pretty mild, but pretty wet. The second full day there were sunny skies and dry! Gorgeous!!! We went to a sweet, little maritime museum in Garibaldi, 10 minutes south-

My fave display, love the Coasties!!! They have a gorgeous historic station house in Garibaldi-

From Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay

Crab anyone?

Native American wing-

Scrimsaw

Went went to the Blue Heron French Dairy. We'd been there years ago. I was really disappointed, as it went from charming French-decor to a touristy kind if place. French decor gone, more pushing cheese and wine tastings. I guess you have to survive in the business world. We did score 2 jars of amazing Huckleberry jam though! We went to the beach, ate lots of fresh seafood, got to know all the fun little areas. We saved a lot of money by eating breakfast at the house and some dinners. With a house rental you have to bring everything food-wise including specific utensils. We did miss a chance to ride on the local steam engine, since their website listed that they only ran on Saturdays and Sundays. A fun time was had be all!

Storm blowing in

Drive back, lush, green and super saturated by the rain. We both came down with a sore throat the morning we drove back. Pretty sick for a week, cold and hacky cough. Did lots of Homeopathy, essential oils and rested when we could. Here's the drive back-

Misty Oregon morning, driving east

Eastern Oregon, hitting the Blues

Our wonderful neighbor babysat our kitty Anya, collected the eggs, and the mail. I knew that she liked beachy things, so I bought her a nice little wind chime, and 2 of wooden beachy ornaments. She loved them! While we were at the farm style warehouse store in Garibaldi I also bought these two items for us-

A nice little wooden fish that may go into our new bathroom remodel and a fun little entryway wooden item. I did collect some sand, seaweed and miscellaneous sea shells and Driftwood free fun crafts project later more to come on that.

Ikea Trip/Bathroom Re-Do-
We decided recently to remodel our small master bathroom. After crunching numbers and deciding which projects to move forward with we decided to do it. We did a lot of research and I finally found an Ikea bathroom cabinet that would fit the space, since it's an odd size. We had looked for years and couldn't find anything, but at some point Ikea came up with one that was perfect. It's free standing and basically the same make and model as the one in our other bathroom that is held up really really well. They're painted finishes are super tough. I wanted the rectangular basin above, but they were out, so I bought the one above that's oval. I can live with it. I did buy a new faucet at the IKEA store, but then we realized it would be a little bit too tall. IKEA cabinets are European measurements which basically mean they are taller substantially. I was able to do a return through the mail, and they are now shipping small items for $10.00 . I was able to buy a really nice faucet for the same price. Their faucets are really high quality based on our experience, reviews, they have lots of great selections and are so much cheaper. Here's the one I got in the mail a few days ago-

Nice curves! Lillsvan

We visited with our small locally-owned flooring store and couldn't find a white with blue/ gray floral. I did find some other vinyl that I really like-

Mannington Filigree Pewter

We had already added a new Ikea medicine cabinet last year since the old one was falling apart and we will get a new toilet. Luckily the sub flooring is intact unlike the other bathroom that had a rotted section. I'll do a fresh coat of paint, still choosing that. Think coastal, sea foam? We'll have new flooring, a new cabinet and toilet and then we'll be done! Will start the project to the few weeks after we have a chance to put the garden to bed and do some of the projects.

At Ikea (fast trip on way home) I got a few specific things... 2 Fladis baskets, can fold down or have open, $9.99 each-

They had a new set of vases based on old tradition Swedish forms, each looks handmade. Blue pitcher/vase with stripes, $5.99-

Photos from IKEA Godtagbar Vase

Large 7" high vase, gorgeous! $7.99-

Love the tree idea!

We had lunch there, then grabbed some dry foods, and Lingonberries/ juice to bring home. Glad we stopped! We picked up the cabinet and sink as well, the important part! Grabbed a few hand towels, shower mat, toilet scrubbers, and a new ergo pillow for me, only $14.99! Love that place...

Stuffed Italian Peppers-
I finally got a great crop of Giant Marconi Italian peppers! I always wanted to cook some in a traditional fashion. Since my peppers were large and very curved I made this recipe by splitting the peppers, frying, adding the stuffing on top and put in the oven at 400 degrees. I also used our own home grown organic tomatoes instead of sauce. Just chopped and squashed, juicy! Less stove top time and came out great! Stuffed Italian Frying Peppers   I made a 2nd batch, just baked everything for 40 minutes and used tomato sauce, also delish!

First fry

Put in baking dish

Make stuffing