Windows

We switched rooms a couple of months ago, which is still one of the best decisions we've made. 

Since then, we've been adjusting to things in this smaller room.

My closet is still upstairs, which I don't love, but it's fine. We have a bookshelf full of movies and random books, which also serves as storage for things like the iron. It's not perfect, but it works and there's not a good space for it by the washing machine anyway. 

I'm brainstorming ideas to go over our bed, since it's currently just a blank white wall, but what really bothered me was the lack of curtains. Lack of window coverings hasn't been an issue in any of the places we've lived before, which is probably why we didn't have any. In this house though, it's bugged me to have those bare windows. 

I saw an idea on a blog once about using burlap as a window covering, and I must say, I kind of loved it. Burlap isn't the most luxurious fabric, but it is neutral, has a great texture, and is CHEAP. A new WalMart opened up right down the road (seriously like five blocks away) and we went to visit it and they had burlap for a little over $2/yard. I decided right there to go for it. I hadn't measured the windows but I knew that I wanted curtains that touched the ground. To be safe, we got six yards of burlap. That was, of course, way too much but I can use it for other projects so I'm perfectly fine. Then all it took was a night of measuring (I didn't truly measure, just held it up to the window and cut where it looked good), hemming (I did hems on the tops and bottoms, but just did a zig-zag stitch down the sides - I don't mind the rough ends sticking out and I think the stitching will help with future fraying. I would guess that it took me two hours from start (getting my machine) to finish (hanging the curtains). 

Right now, I don't LOVE the bows tying the curtains to either side, but the fabric is stiff, so this is helping to bend it so the curtains will eventually stay there on their own. The truth is that I will probably end up leaving as-is until we move, but that's okay too. 

This was a simple project, under $20, and makes the room look much more put together. It doesn't darken the room too much, since it's see-through, but our neighbor has a motion-sensing light that shines right through the window with the birds on the wall, and I noticed that it's not quite as bright as usual with these curtains on there. 

Still thinking of inexpensive art to go on the blank wall above our bed... I've heard good things about engineer prints and might go for it!

First Snow

On October 24, it snowed. I woke up sometime early in the morning and noticed that it seemed much lighter outside than it should (the sun doesn't rise until after 7:30). "Could it be snow?" I wondered. 

And it was. 

First snows are usually more like false alarms. It will snow heavily all day but will have melted by nighttime. Not this snow. This snow was all business. Six inches when we woke up, melted a little bit from some rain, and then continued to snow. 

Being October, I was not overjoyed with the fact that the world was blanketed in white. Yes of course it was lovely, seeing the world covered with snow, but two days earlier I'd gone somewhere with no jacket. There wasn't time to get used to the fact that it would soon be snowy. 

Cleveland in general wasn't ready for the snow. Schools were closed because the plows weren't ready. The strange thing about this snow was that it was both a blizzard and a thunderstorm. I'd never heard thunder while it was snowing, but it was a very exciting combination. 

I took these pictures that morning, before it got darker and began to be stormy.

Perfect Fall Day

After church one Sunday, I really wanted to go somewhere and walk around. We settled on going to Patterson's Fruit Farm to choose a pumpkin and it turned into a little adventure.

There was a farm on the way and we stopped by, since we knew Patterson's would be crazy. They didn't have a real pumpkin patch, and Carson was set on a REAL one.

I took this picture because... well, look at the name of this company. Ha.

They had an orchard, which we walked through. We regretted not actually bringing things to pick apples; it hadn't crossed our minds.

In full disclosure - he picked these off the ground to juggle.

I didn't know until this day that you can eat clover. Carson made me try it and it did NOT taste like honey after all - it tasted like I was eating a weed.

Then we DID go to Patterson's, but we didn't choose a pumpkin there either. Not only did they not have a patch, but the line was super long. The people on the right there are in line. They have fantastic apple fritters and we wanted to get one, but again, long lines. We tasted them last year after Halloween when there were basically no people and would go back for them again, just not on a weekend.

We parked next to this baby Christmas tree. Isn't it cute?

After that adventure, we did get a pumpkin after all - we stopped by the grocery store. I put our pumpkins by the door, where they can scream fall to everyone!

The end.

The Browns Game

I forgot to post about this, but when I went through Carson's pictures from Yale and Princeton, I found his pictures from the game he attended. 

Back in August, a coworker of mine had free tickets to a Browns pre-season game. He gave me two, but the game started at 8pm, and I had to work really early, so Carson went alone. I felt bad about it, but he assured me that he would have a great time by himself. He took the little camera along to document. 

The Browns WON this game against St. Louis, but Carson didn't stay for the end.