My Newest DIY Project!

I am super excited about my new DIY project and I'll tell you why! Firstly, because I've never really done one, secondly, because it's going to turn out wonderfully and lastly, because I'm enjoying doing it and I'm feeling that sense of accomplishment because I'm doing it myself :)

NOW, let me tell you what it is I'm doing! I was talking with my parents the other night about borrowing a chair for my desk. I've just moved out and furniture is a bit sparse at the moment. Well..furniture I own anyways (thank god for roommates!) and my mom mentioned that she saw some cute free chairs out on someones lawn. So my sister and I hopped in the car to go and take a peek! Thankfully they were still there! The chairs themselves are really cute, kind of country looking and still fairly sturdy. So into the car they went! Upon looking at them a little more I realised that I really couldn't bear to see them so beat up, there was scuff marks, and a bad paint job and a bit of normal wear for a chair. I decided that I would sand them down and repaint them before I put them into my house and BAM! New project!! Luckily for me, my dad has a garage full of useful things for me to use to get everything going and he's letting me store my chairs there while I work on them since I have no room at my place.

 


The first picture is just an idea of what the chairs look like (they were both in one piece when i picked them up, but my dad took apart one to get started on!) the second picture is simply proof that I'm ACTUALLY doing it myself haha, I may be a girly girl but it doesn't mean I won't get dirty and dusty!! And the last picture is just a close up of the chairs. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea but I like them and since I'm the one who has to live with them in my house, that's really all that matters. Though hopefully my roommate likes them too...she has yet to see them. So far, I've sanded the center bit of the back of the chair and one seat. Right now I'm working on stripping the paint off of the legs and all the round bits that are too hard to sand. And let me just say that stripping paint has to be one of the most irritating processes ever. I was using a scraper to get it off but I think I may try steel wool the next time around.

UPDATE! When I started writing this entry, I accidentally closed the browser and thought that it was lost and gone forever. But thanks to the wonders of blogspot, it saved itself as a draft! What a crafty system! So here's a bit of an update about my chairs. I have gotten all the paint off of one chair, however I still have a bit of sanding to do on two pieces because I just couldn't get into the grooves very well. Also, steel wool is absolutely the way to go if you're stripping paint!! It made my life infinitely easier! SO, I am almost ready to glue the chair back together and then I'm going to paint it an obnoxious shade of yellow, which I'm really looking forward to haha! Alrighty, that's all the news I have about the chairs for now, but stay tuned as I'll be continually adding pictures and letting you know about my progress. I can't wait to see them finished! : )
 

Oystercatchers

Judging by the title of this post you probably think that I decided to go out and try my hand at catching oysters. This however is not the case. Oysetercatchers is actually a book that I'm reading by Susan Fletcher. It's a sad book overall, but so well written and relateable that it's really quite hard to put down. Anyways, I bring it up because I came across a passage in the book that I just HAD to share. When I read it, my first thought was "that is so true" and so here it is....

"I learnt a lesson, and it's one I don't think you've learnt yourself yet, or will live to, but it's this: we carry on. We have ourselves, and we carry on - in spite of our losses, and mistakes, and women, I think, have more than most. We are good secret-keepers. We can tie weights to our guilt and passions, and hatred, and deceitfulness, and let them sink down, so that you'd never know they existed at all. But we know. I can count all mine...I suppose that all women - even you, aged sixteen; even the happy, married mothering women who think that their choices were easy, and wise - must have their dark places. Lies. They must all look out of a window, once in a while, and imagine them, their other lives."

Just to give you an idea of the context, the main character is talking to her teenage sister who has been in a coma for the past 4 years. As I said, it's not the happiest book. Either way, it's a pageturner (at least for me) and well worth perusing if ever you're in search of a book to read. I've been trying to get as much reading done as possible this summer since I go back to school soon. So far I've managed to read a few vampire novels, one or two romances, a classic and as soon as I finish oystercatchers (for the second time) I think I'm going to try some Charles Dickens! So we'll see how that goes. I've heard it's a tough read, but if I managed to get through Tess of the D'Urbervilles I'm sure I can make it through anything!

**On an unrelated note, be sure to keep checking up on my blog, I've got a pretty excellent kitchen adventure comming soon, as well as a new DIY project (maybe two?), so stay tuned!!**

Holly's Kitchen Adventures: The Perfect Pancakes!!

Have you ever tried to make pancakes and failed miserably? Probably not, because only I could ruin pancakes to the point where they are completely inedible. However, I have now become the master of pancakes and today I'm going to share my delicious recipe with you!! Both my roommate and I could live off of these pancakes, and I make them as often as I can, with tons of different fillings!

This recipe was actually found on the website http://www.allrecipes.com/ and the original recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pancakes-i/detail.aspx and it's creator deserves all the credit for my success as a pancake master! I used the original recipe and added to it a little bit using comments from other people who have tried it and tweaked it a little to suit their tastes and now I have the most amazing pancake recipe. So here is my(slightly) adapted version of the original recipe:

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 10 min
Ready in: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1/2 teaspoon if you don't like too much cinnamon)
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat griddle over medium high heat. (I find that between 4 and 5 works the best)
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl beat together egg, milk, oil and vanilla and pour into the dry mixture. Beat until smooth.
3. Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot!

Filling Ideas:
Grated apple
Banana and chocolate chips
Blueberries
Walnuts
Lemon zest and juice

So there you have it! The most amazing pancakes you will ever eat. And believe me if I can cook it, you can too because I am the most inept person in the kitchen. Hence the title "Kitchen Adventures" haha! So, these pancakes have been one of my greatest successes in the kitchen and I hope that you enjoy the recipe (for those of you who try it). I hope the filling ideas give you some inspiration to try your own and if you find something that is absolutely delicious PLEASE come back and share it with everyone!

Happy Breakfasting!

-Holly

This is long overdue!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! I am by far the worst blogger ever, but life just gets completely in the way! I don't remember where I last left off exactly, so let's just start with last summer? I broke up with the BF and have been single ever since, and while it was ridiculously rough at first I am now 100% back to myself and I'm so happy about that! I'm still studying to become a teacher and have done my first practicum (in April) which lasted three weeks. Three glorious, ridiculously busy, crazy weeks! But it was absolutely amazing and I finally feel like I'm doing the right thing with my life. It was a little bit touch and go for a while there. I was never quite sure if I really wanted to be a teacher, if I had done it for the right reasons, but now I know I have.


So I've been thinking about this whole blogging thing and realized that only talking about random things in my life doesn't make for very interesting reading so I think I'm going to alter my style of blogging a little bit and talk about some other stuff too. Things like poetry, yoga, my disaterous experiments in the kitchen and other things of that ilk. So hopefully someone can find some use out of this silly little blog of mine. SO to start things off, here is my current favourite poem:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest sea

Yet, never, in extremity

It asked a crumb of me.



                                                     -Emily Dickinson

I've thought quite seriously about having the first stanza of this poem as a tattoo. I think it is such a joyful poem. And I feel like it applies directly to my life. I still haven't decided yet but when I do I'll be sure to mention it. I came across this poem in a book that was given to me by a good friend of mine called The Pocket Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. It is by far one of the most amazing books I have come across in my life! Where was this when I was 15 and needed some guidance and inspiration! It really is a wonderful book however so if you ever come across it, read it! It's a super quick read and it'll make you smile, definitely more than once!

Cheers!!
Holly