Things:

[thanate]

Good:

*crock pots! with dinner in!
*fake buttermilk bread (with yogurt & milk)
*fun quilt block swaps & things on craftster
*toothpick city! (remember the origami one from a while back? This is even crazier, and with better pictures...)
*Sherwood Smith is posting Journeymage Wren in chapter installments online. You should still read the first 3 books first, though.
*and a very interesting collection/essay on pretending things in real life. I don't know that I agree with his breakdown of games & pseudo-games, but it's fascinating to think about. Also some of the links & videos are pretty cool. (I want a garden railway now...) (and see also the upcoming 3D mailbox: zombie edition What?)
*I have rediscovered the joys of etudes, although I'm not yet up to tackling third position. Also, after a few days of being tuned, my violin is back to staying pretty close to in tune from day to day. Still need to replace some strings, and find somewhere to re-hair the bows, though.
*have replaced the toilet flap so it doesn't leak slowly (the old one was very dead) and done several other house-related tasks
*going to see The Grand Duke tonight, plus further exciting weekend plans.


Less good:

*the fact that I've been unable to find buttermilk at the grocery store (not sure if I'm looking in the wrong place, or it's not there)
*MUST SAND STAIR RISERS!!! (ugh. the sander screams at me.) I'm also seriously tempted to tape a line part-way up the wide trim on the sides of the stairs and just paint it bi-colored. This is probably a bad idea.
*must not craft or read books, etc, until stairs are sanded & probably painted.
*have long to-do list of house-related cleaning & stuff.

Comments

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

You could try stenciling the stairs:

http://maunaleamanor.blogspot.com/2009/06/golden-touch.html
http://designamour.com/2009/02/07/henna-party/
http://theorangebanana.blogspot.com/2008/09/paint-makeover.html
http://www.modellodesigns.com/ShowcaseDetails.asp?idno=30377

[thanate.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I am not to that point yet. My problem is still this:



I think that's got illustrations of most of the worst bits, anyway. The trim along the side is about 7" tall on the level (which of course the stair edge connects to on both sides) and that is what I'm considering only painting half of. Assuming, of course, that I can get it all sanded in the first place, since the sanding head on the multi-tool I borrowed from my father has just deglued itself and fallen apart.

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

I have a little mouse sander I used on my steps. Want to borrow it? You'd need to get more sandpaper (unless I have more somewhere), but it did the job.

[thanate.livejournal.com]

I might take you up on that-- if I let you know by tomorrow morning, would that be enough notice for you to bring it along on Sunday?

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

That would be fine. I'd be glad to have it going out and getting some more work done. It would feel like a little less frivolous of a purchase that way.