Every day Madi and I like to go on a adventure. I usually post our nature walk pics on Instagram. Here are pictures from today’s adventure:

Blue skies, sunshine, 42°

#Madi

#UpstateNewYork

#Naturewalk

#CavalierKingCharlesSpaniel

In 2014, I was in PA helping my son settle into a new apartment. I drove to the local Wal-Mart and bought a whole bunch of cleaning essentials including a mop. I returned to the apartment and eagerly started with my cleaning. Upon unwrapping the packaging; I set out to use the mop. It seemed simple enough; but, I desperately wrangled with the mop. I couldn’t for the life of me get it hooked together. After about an hour struggle, I grabbed my phone and punched in “O-Cedar Fast ‘N Easy Mop Disassembled and Reassembled”. I was positive that I was not alone in this battle. My hope was that some wonderful genius might have posted a How to because I was truly stumped. And behold this video appeared.

https://youtu.be/08bl2x-fIHY Watch “O-Cedar Fast ‘N Easy Mop Disassembled and Reassembled” on YouTube Honestly, I had to watch it several times to actually get it; but, in the end it worked. I truly was thrilled that this young man, Alexander Wolfe posted a solution to my problem. This was my first introduction to YouTube. My daughter had spent countless hours each week watching hair and makeup videos on YouTube through her preteen and teenage years. She actually learned so much from them. Her makeup application is awe-inspiring. It further inspired her to attend cosmetology school. She is now a successful hair stylist.

Since then, I have discovered another wonderful soul that has also come to my rescue. My son told me to check out Yoga by Adriene.

https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene I had never done Yoga before, so I was willing to try it at home to avoid public humiliation. I have to say it truly has changed my life. For years, I had been suffering with a constant struggle of back pain. My doctor’s mantra was ‘build your core it will strengthen your back’. So, I was walking, swimming, and doing weight training. I was building my core; but, I was still having the discomfort in my lower back. So, I tried a few of Adriene’s videos, she has gobs of them and I like her quirky sense of humor and ease. At the start of 2017 she posted REVOLUTION 31-days of Yoga. I did it and continued all through 2017. It not only helps make me free of back pain, it builds my strength, keeps me fit and flexible. More importantly, it has provided me with a tool that has improved not only my posture, breathing, concentration and the ability to relax my mind and expand my thoughts. If you have any desire to give Yoga a try, I recommend her newest 30 day TRUE series.

I have a 7 yr-old great nephew, Ethan who wants to become a You Tube star. We videotaped him installing a light. It is adorable. Here is a small bit.

Have you made some joyful discoveries on You Tube? I hope so.

Via Daily Prompt: Agile

I walk outside to greet this Winter’s Day. I close my eyes and breath in the crisp, cold, fresh air. It awakens my nostrils; sending the cleansing chill down to my lungs. I open my eyes to find a gray sky that blends into the snow-covered ground creating a dome-like roof surrounding me. For a minute, I am in a snow-globe.

I strap Madi into the car restraints and drive over to the park. She patiently waits for me to park and strap on my snowshoes. After fumbling for a minute, I open her car door. She looks at me with wide-eye anticipation, her tail wagging.
Madi pulls excitedly on her leash. She is exuberant. She is ready to go.

I look at her to say this is all for you girl. I woke this morning feeling tired. My head was heavy. There was a pressure squeezing my temples; making my eyes ache. A nauseous wave surrounded me. Madi laid patiently waiting for the feeling to pass. Through morning coffee, reading, and yoga she waited.

Now, we are here. The stillness of the snow-laden field is before me. I start to crunch across. The snowshoes help to make my movement agile; keeping me upright. As I cross, my steps become a rhythmic chorus. I continue to breath in deeply sending the cooling air throughout my body. Forging ahead, I see tips of the field grass shooting up through the snow. There are tracks from animals and people that came before me. Discarded acorns left from a squirrel. The bare tree stands tall exposed bark bending in the breeze.

Madi leaps through the drifts, hopping ahead. Her 16 pounds weighed down by huge snowballs that have attached to her fur. It doesn’t seem to faze her in the least. We come to a bench and I sit. I gaze around the field. The woods stand tall surrounding the open space. The tree branches and evergreens stretch up to the sky. I realize, I no longer feel that wave of nausea or pressure to my head. Instead, I feel strong and alive.

I get up and continue on our way, trudging through the snow. I am thankful that I have a dog who relies on me to get up and get outside. The sun has popped through the clouds. A blueness has returned to the sky. The snow glistens like diamonds. What a wonderful way to greet the day.

Imagine my surprise when the post, A Clean Slate appeared on my blog on New Year’s Day. You see, back in the Fall I had gone for a walk with my son, Austin. He was encouraging me to go back to posting on my blog. I had started blogging in 2016 after we purchased our big project, the foreclosure at 609. In the beginning, I enjoyed posting our journey and about artists, designers and things that inspired me.

I wasn’t inspired to post in 2017 much at all. I was all-consumed with taking care of my old girl, Maxi trying to make her comfortable in her final days and training my new puppy Madi, both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Michael and I were still renovating 609; in our spare time; but, it took a back seat to 1817. We were refurbishing, 1817 (aka Austin’s house) to be sold; unless, he could make it a successful rental on Airbnb. (Thankfully, he did.) I had taken a leave of absence from my part-time job and pretty much my life. Somehow, during that time, I loss interest in all the things that had once felt so important and dear to me: Art, Interior Design, Gardening, and Socializing.

So, when I wrote that New Year’s Day post on that day in August, I was thinking that I would make Austin proud and muster the strength and courage to be a blogger once again in 2018. At that time in the Fall, I thought I would gather gobs of ideas and have a plan for a year’s worth of postings all ready to go by the start of the New Year. I set that draft to post on Jan 1. After that, I completely dropped the ball and never even touched the site nor did I make “a Plan”. I basically forgot about it until it appeared on New Year’s Day on my phone. I was mortified. I thought, “Oh no, what do I do now?” I know that nobody cares if I write a blog. But, how do I disappoint my son? Crap!

So here I am, feeling completely exposed. I am giving it as much strength, as I can muster inorder to give 2018 a go. If anyone is out there, please have patience with me. I am doing the best that I can. I’m not sure what 2018 will bring for my little unknown blog 609design; but, here goes nothing. I’ll do my best to speak from the heart, update you on projects and hopefully inspire you along the way.

inJOY-Trisha

2018 WEEK 1-DAY#1-1/1/2018-

A NEW YEA

R|

A Clean Slate

•New beginning

s

•New goals

•New habits

I have always felt that each new year brings us a clean slate. It’s a great time to kick those bad habits and to start anew. An opportune time to set new goals for yourself or to begin healthy habits.

I always thought the rule of thumb was: 30 days=A healthy habit

So, I looked on the web for confirmation and sought out the article

How Long It Really Takes To Form a New Habit (and how to get started) written by Jason Gutierrez

[link(1.) found in the sources details below]

The article states:

“The average time it took for a behavior to become a habit was 66 days!”

Each individual differs. It can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days.

That’s a great deal longer than I thought. I was vying for Jan 30 using the 31st as a cushion. March 7th is the 66th day of 2018. [link(2.)found in the sources details below] So, I guess I might want to mark my calendar with March 7th as my goal date.

If I can keep up the behavior until then IT will definately become a HEALTHY HABIT. (Fingers Crossed)

Jan 1-March 7 is the period of change.

I hope to implement some change into my life this new year. I guess you could call them New Year’s Resolutions. I prefer just dubbing them my goals for embodying a better me in the New Year.

My #1 Goal- Start blogging again:

Honestly, I failed as a blogger in 2017. With the illness of my cherished Cavalier, Maxi becoming all so consuming from Dec 2016 until her death on June 1, 2017. I basically stop everything and focused all my energy on her and on our puppy Madi. I stopped blogging, I stopped my daily exercise routine and I focused on all things canine.

Once Maxi passed, I thought I might get back on course. I just didn’t have it in me. I was in mourning. Then, on June 19th Madi, the 35 week-old Cavalier pup got attacked by a Golden Retriever as we walked home from the park. Another setback. It seemed to leave more scars on me than it did her. For once her wounds healed she was as good as new. Trusting, friendly and willing to give all canines and humans a chance. I, on the other hand was left scared. I was completely untrusting, scared of other dogs, irritated by carefree owners who let their dogs unleashed. I was consumed with fear and worried that it could happen again.

After that setback, I was rebounding. Then. she had her surgery. It drained her energy and inadvertently it drained mine too. So, I spent my time in the comfort and security of my home reading, writing, puttering about in the house. Instagram became my venue for expression and Madi became my constant companion. We would make sure we left the house daily to submerge ourselves in nature by walking in the woods, the big field or the park by the lake. That was our therapy.

My #2 Goal-Continue our daily nature walks:

Nature has healing qualities. If you don’t believe me read this wonderful article [link(3.)found in the sources details below]:

Why Nature Is Therapeutic | CRC Health Group

My #3 Goal-Read (even more):

I want to explore the work of author, Henry David Thoreau starting with Walden. I also want to study the historical figures sited in the article, by immersing into the work of: Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir and Charles Darwin. The architecture and interior design enthusiast in me will once again enjoy exploring the work of architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

My #4 Goal-Continue the practice of Yoga daily:

In 2016, my daily routine included a walk around the block; then, I would drive to the gym. I did a 20 minute weight routine (switching from upper body to lower body focus every other day) and then, I swam for 40 minutes. I did slim off 20 pounds and my abs looked great. (My hair, not so much from all the chlorine.) But, I had a constant pain across the middle of my back.

In 2017, being unable to access the gym, I incorporated Yoga to my daily routine and increased my walking. My back pain disappeared. I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene on You Tube. [link(4.)found in the sources details below]: She has gobs of videos. I think you might like to start with her REVOLUTION 31 Days of Yoga to bring you through January.

I can go crazy and make a massive list.

But, my hope is to actually achieve these goals. Anything else is just icing on the cake.

ICING:

(1)Be an Explorer-Travel More

(2)Be a Positive Thinker-Spread Joy

(3)Be a Better Cook-Eat out less

(4)Be Kinder-To Yourself

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

inJOY-Trisha

[LIST OF SOURCES]:

Link(1.) How Long It Really Takes To Form a New Habit (and how to get started) written by Jason Gutierrez https:/.pickthebrain.con

Link(2.) Day Numbers for 2018 https://http://www.epochconverter.com

Link(3.) Why Nature Is Therapeutic CRC Health Group http://www.crchealth.com

Link(4.) Yoga with Adriene https://www.youtube.com/yogawithadrienne

It might seem a little untraditional to upsize when you have one adult child out the door and the second one looking to move out. However, we were firm believers that inorder to move, the new house had to have all (or most) of the items on our Want List. We found the smaller patio homes targeted for Empty Nesters just lacked all the many wants that we had.

We always seem to think differently from the norm. We guess it’s our Think Outside the Box attitude that brought us to the house that we selected. We think our decision to take on a forclosure was a great idea. Sometimes you have to take a gamble.

When we decided to move we were thrilled to find a house with more storage. Let me introduce you to the TOP 10 Storage Solutions that I have no idea how I ever lived without.

#1: The Dual Master Closets Trust me after our first house that was built in 1900; our second house built in 1980’s seemed to have ideal closets. However, after some time the double slider-door closet lacked in many ways. I found myself needing to utilize space in the Guest Bedroom for ‘off season’ clothing. It was a pain when packing for trips. I often forgot about items because they were out of sight, out of mind. So, for me when we moved to 609 it was sheer heaven to have a walk-in closet of my very own. It might be considered small as walk-in’s closets go and it doesn’t have any award winning drawers, racks or fancy bits; but, to me it is heavenly.

#2: The Butler’s Pantry I do get a kick out of saying that. After 30 years of marriage it is so very sweet to finally have a spot for all the dishes we received from Michael’s Mom and Grandmothers. So many were stored in boxes and never used because we just didn’t have anywhere to put them. We even devised an area in our last house in the basement and garage to help accomodate the overflow. But, as you know, sometimes even the best of intentions just don’t work because they are too taxing or time consuming to care to search for this or that. Now, I open the doors to the pantry and I can see all the plates, chargers, servers, etc. It’s so much more fun. And, to make things even better is the Bar Counter opposite that houses all the glassware.

#3: The Mudroom In our last house we walked straight from the garage into the diningroom. A bar counter sat on the opposite side of the door and if someone was sitting there the door would crash into the barstool. We knew to tread carefully if company was in the house. Ever creative we built a “mudroom” area in the garage. It provided a space to put the bulk of shoes. However, in the cold months noone wanted to leave their coat and shoes in the cold garage. So we were forever dragging them in to place in the front closet. Now, we have a large coat closet and a large cubby closet. Some people might prefer a bench, hooks and cubbies; but, I like having the doors to hide all the mess. We have a bench in the garage and one in the butler’s pantry if one needs to sit to take their shoes on or off. We also have a huge closet in the front entry that can more than accomodate dress coats and guest coats.

#4: The First Floor Laundry I had a laundry in the basement and for the last 22 years I ran up and down the stairs to do my laundry. Over the years having babies, toddlers, kids, teenagers it was a troublesome task. I delight doing laundry now. I have a beautiful window overlooking the garden, plenty of storage, counterspace, a broom closet and a cedar closet that stores all the ski gear and is ideal for all my air dry and delicates. I often find the dogs in the laundry room napping. With plenty of cupboard space I have room for cleaning supplies, dog items, craft items, and even a spot for all my vases.

#5: The Garage as in our last house we find the garage is useful as a mudroom. We have a storage bench that comes in handy to put on/off shoes, an armore that provides ample storage for: smaller garden tools, workgloves, picnic items, coolers and such, a bench that helps access shovels, rakes, and such. We also have ample storage to accommodate a worktable and tools, bicycles, golf clubs and others gear. Not to mention trash, recycling and two cars.

#6: The Sunroom or 3 Season Room More times than not, you will find me in the sunroom. Right off the kitchen facing Southwest it is my little paradise. Other than winter, when it doubles as a refrigerator for excess storage of beer, soda, and such. We dressed it up with a comfy sofa, rattan chairs, bookcases with momentos and garden books. It’s a great place to nap, read, write or just daydream.

#7: Michael’s Office is an ideal spot for all the kids momentos, the desktop computer, printer, monthly bills, and all the things that he has collected over the years. There is no argument he always has a spot now for his Greatful Dead Collectible items, Racecar pictures and Keepsakes from his career.

#8: The Kitchen Desk is my office. There is a file drawer and gobs of storage for keepsakes, recipes, cookbooks and such. I even have little cubbies to display items that are near an dear to my heart.

#9: The Livingroom Bookshelf was originally on the list to be removed. Michael encouraged me to consider keeping it. Once I put all my favorite books and items upon the shelves and housed my dvd and vhs within its closed storage and dressed up a dogbed in the opening I was sold. Now, I can’t imagine why I didn’t see the potential from the start.

#10: Bonus Room I was going to give this slot to the amazing bowling alley basement that houses all kinds of unwanted goodies; but, thought it better fitting to praise the Bonus Room that has been such a wonderful Suite for Amanda. On the opposite side of the house from the Master it provides both of us with privacy. It’s like having her own apartment as she has her bedroom, a sitting area, a fabulous walk-in closet and bathroom. The convenient access to the garage, laundryroom and kitchen makes the location ideal.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have a great day!

InJOY-Trisha

My latest obsession is with the work of Principal Designer, Scot Meacham Wood SMW Design. The San Francisco Designer’s timeless interiors have been featured in House Beautiful and Traditional Home Magazines. I love his use of patterns, rich woods, bold colors and the depth of layers in his rooms. I just want to curl up and read a book in one of his amazing rooms. For more inspiration http://www.smwdesign.com

I hope his design style inspires you in your next project. 

InJOY-Trisha

 

If you remember, from the blog post from October 2016, PROJECT 1817 we had stopped working on our projects at 609 to help our son, Austin with his 1950’s ranch house remodel. I thought you might want to see the end results.

We are so pleased with how adorable it came out. After we were done, we thought it might be fun to list it on AIRBNB. Austin has a separate apartment which is accessed from the backside of the property. The Guest has complete and private use of all the rooms that you see pictured below.

The response on AIRBNB has been great.  He welcomed his first guests last week and has bookings thru the Summer.

We transformed the dated 1950’s ranch to a sweet little escape with just a little DIY:

• PAINT: We updated by painting with Behr grey, beige and greige wall colors and crisp white ceilings and trimpaint throughout.
• INSTALL HARDWOOD: By replacing the old wall-to-wall carpet with new dark engineered hardwood flooring in the Living and Dining Rooms we now have a more modern look.
• REFINISHING OLD FLOORS: Austin took the time to refinish the hardwood floors in the hallway and in the Master Bedroom which made them look fresh and clean.
• INSTALL TILE FLORING: By installing new tile flooring in the Entry and Master Bath it now has a more contempory look
• UPDATING: The cupboards in the Living Areas, Kitchen and Master Bathroom was easily freshened-up with white paint; it gave them a new clean crisp look.
• INSTALLING: A new countertop and subway tiles in the shower updated the Master Bathroom. In addition, installing new tile countertops was a cost-effective way to update the kitchen, adding a new sink, subway tile backsplash and new linoleum flooring really gave it an added punch.
• STAGING: By creatively utilizing items such as: pictures, baskets, trays and lamps from our basement stash at 609 we saved money.  We shopped wisely at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s and added some new essential items such as: a new comforter, high count sheets, plush towels, pretty dishes and kitchen items. For just a little amount of money we can spoil our AIRBNB Guests.

We hope you like the remodel and find some useful ideas for your home or rental. inJOY-Trisha

LIVINGROOM BEFORE:

LIVING ROOM AFTER:

DINING ROOM BEFORE:

DINING ROOM AFTER:

KITCHEN:

MASTER BEDROOM:

MASTER BATH:

 

Winter can be magical when the snow has newly fallen and the sky is blue.

Winter is a time of renewal. It provides the stillness that we need to ready ourselves for the busy seasons that lie ahead: Spring, Summer and Fall.

We can freely lounge under a blanket in our pj’s and watch Netflix.                 Or grab a good book and snuggle up by the fire.                                                       We might sit by a sunny window sipping a hot drink watching the birds.       Or grab the dogs and trudge through the snow.                                                       We might pour through a garden book and pick out our perennials.                     Or take up a new hobby like painting.                                                                         We might find inspiration to organize our closets.                                                   Or decide to write in our journals.                                                                                 We might call and old friend to catch-up.                                                                   Or pour over magazines for design inspiration.

I find inspiration as the snow covers the world in a blanket of beauty. It looks to me like little mink coats covering the bear branches of the trees. I love the sound of the snow crunching underneath my feet. I feel refreshed breathing in the cool air. 

I hope you are savoring this season and seeing it’s beauty. We have had many wonderful warm spring like days here in Upstate NY. I even got some cleanup yard work out of the way. As wonderful as that respite was; I am embracing the snowfall today. 

inJOY-Trisha