A different kind of project for me

Esme got to watch her mom use power tools today. She drug her chair into the garage and watched from a safe distance, kept asking me 'Are you done yet?' I felt like we were on a family trip in the car, she asked so often.


Extremely rustic vanity cabinet, made by Mom
I've been in the mood to fix up things in general, and this room needed all the help it could get with the concrete floor and corner

I've had this in mind for a while, and decided to try hard at it today. Mark said he would be available if needed, but let me try on my own, which was good. I feel 'left-handed' when I am using tools, like everything is on the wrong side of where I need it to be and that often keeps me from attempting. I've been known to hammer a screw into a board, but that is a rare occasion. If I work at it hard enough I get what I planned sometimes, and I learn more about my own process to get something done.

This little cabinet was made out of some scrap materials we had in the garage. It does its job, and I think I can make something even better further down the road. Mark said we could have bought a little vanity - that most people would have found that easier. Well, I am not the average bear when it comes to that. Removing the perfectly good sink would have meant replumbing. And yes, I'm in the plumbing department, but that does not sound 'easier' to me than hashing and seeing what I can do with materials on hand. The curtain is on a wire between eye hooks and has a lanyard hook so the wire can be easily detached, curtain removed and washed. The whole cabinet fits snug under the sink but also pulls out for cleaning. I might paint it with the blue mistint paint or leave it in the oak plywood it is now.

So, not square, not excellent 'woodworking', but I'm still proud of it. And since all of the materials were already in the garage, it just cost me about three hours of on-and-off construction time.

bits of a Monday off

We had a good night's sleep last night - Esme was in her room with the lamp on, and she stayed there (as far as we know) all night and was still asleep in her bed at 7:30 am. We went to the store this morning to get Grandma milk and bread and a few other things. Esme had talked to me last night about wanting a DreamLites unicorn she saw on TV - but I told her I couldn't find that at the store, but we would look. They didn't have it but we found a bear in the toy section that has a light-up belly - and she said that would work.

I have worked on the winter quilt a bit more, and cleaned up the linen shelves in the bathroom and our bedroom area. With Esme's linens in the black rolly cart in her room now, there is more room in ours - and a LOT to sort through in general. Because of all the moves and changes my sewing area is a wreck, but that happens on a regular basis, so it will be something to sort out later.

I am about to go see if I can coax her down for fish sticks. She is watching cartoons with Grandma after delivering the milk and bread. I am hoping for a better mood for the rest of today, but we will see. I work at ten tomorrow.

//Alarm clock// I bought Esme an Elgin analog alarm clock as part of the order with the chair and bookcase. I put it in her room last night and she saw it immediately, and took it to her bedside table. I told her how it worked and that I would set it for 8 am and it would beep. If you push the button on top the nightlight comes on so you can read the time. She had a grand time with that, but I think she altered the time as well playing with it. She was already up and in the bathtub when it finally went off this morning at 8:30 bathroom-clock time. She pushed the snooze button and turned it off for four minutes. Then it came back on and out she comes from the bath again. I reminded her to turn the alarm 'off' on the back of it - and she did. But, she came and told me that specifically that she pushed the button and it went off, but the 'brown bears and zombies' made it beep again, and by turning it 'off' they couldn't make that happen again. *roll eyes*

Stage 3 of Esme's room.. big changes

We still need some hooks on the walls, her dry erase board, maybe another lamp, to decide if we will bring in another desk and also to hang her decorations from the ceiling. Her bed, dressers, a nightstand table and her nightlights went in today. She will sleep there tonight - and I have tomorrow off in case it is a sleepless night. She has been in a very bad mood all day today, ever since she spilled her cereal early in the morning (upstairs, not in the room) and she has had a few accidents today, as well. I've been 'getting on her case' about the latter and she is not happy at all that 'Mama is mean.' etc.. Grandma and Daddy have both had talks with her, which helps because usually I am the 'bad guy' or it feels like it, and lately she has been playing that one up big saying she doesn't like me, and wants to live elsewhere. That is one of the reasons I'm working to get her own space - she spends a lot of time lately 'being mad at you', and I wanted to be able to say 'go to your room and do that.' haha.. well, you might know what I mean. She needs her own space, to be hers - and to go close her door and do her own thing. But, also, that is new for her in a way - she isn't sure what to think about it herself.



She took a nap in here earlier after being mad at ME because Grandma was busy at her house.


Grandma did come to see her new room, as she had promised.


'Now all the kids can find me', she said.
Mama made this.

I also started making her big winter quilt today. I am down to making the bound edges and then do the inner quilting and wash it. I know part of her upset today was the anxiety of the big changes, and also some days it's that I do projects while still playing with her - and it splits my attention... but it is better than not giving her my attention at all - or being gone. And it gets things done.

Stage 2 of Esme's room is looking good

Hung several of the shelves we had painted the other day. Today, Mark and I closed up some unused closet space in this room with a sheet of panelling. We can't finish it out to be a closet at this time. I plan to get a sheet of dry-erase board and edge it in wooden trim. It will look like it was meant to be this way (and cover up a small hole in the wall) I am filtering her items from her current space down here, trying to get some sort of organization idea going on.. yes that may be a lost cause! Grandma also gave us a blue trunk today, which I cleaned up and put most of Esme's loose toys into, except the 'special' ones, which are in the cardboard bookcase I made by her table. She also said we could have a small metal desk in the office which we are thinking to put in the back corner (shown later) to put Esme's laptop on and serve her for years to come as a place to do schoolwork and other things.


Mark says: It will never be this organized again, ever...
I don't expect it to, but we can start out with things 'fitting' somewhere...



Loose bits and a 'ticket box' Esme and I made. It has a window cut out on the other side and she was pretending to sell tickets to movies inside it. She helped me paint it with the same paint for the shelves and another little bottle of bluegreen. The pink vinyl rocker chair is new, and this was the box ;) Esme has asked for me to make her a big blanket to have on the chair as well... we'll see about that later. Her bed and dresser and some peg hooks are planned to go in the other back corner... I have another poster ordered for her wall and thoughts of things we could paint as well.



My garden was waiting for me... yellow tomatoes, eggplant, lima beans, peppers and I brought in the brown sorghum to hang in the storage room.

Stage two involves watermelon pink....

Esme helping me paint shelves


'I am a boy doing hard work.', she said.
She stated this after I put the hat on her to keep the paint out of her hair.

Well I said it was red - but it is more like a watermelon pink. And, by some odd circumstance, so is the chair that Esme picked out to be her reading chair online. It as if she planned that.. Mark said. We gave her the chair early anyway - as the room is coming together so nicely. She put her disco ball light down there today, too - she can make the whole room dark just by turning off the light, and it does look really cool.

She has also asked if we can build a pirate ship next. That would be good. I told her I would take it under consideration but that the room is going to take a long time! Ha.

Esme's room - stage one

Plan 2 - updated

We are thinking about an old office desk for on the left, and she can do her computer 'work' there. That is what she calls it... her video games, Garry's Mod and Minecraft and kids learning games. We are also planning a 4 x 8 sheet of dry erase board on the right side wall and a bulletin board to hang up her drawings on. The right side of the drawing nearest the front will be a 'library' area with a rocker chair, a bookcase and buckets to throw her loose toys into. I have already displaced the rack and shelves on the left wall with a to-stud shelf system and will probably push the purple table back under there and some other small container shelving to put her art supplies in.


The room is clean and ready to lay some furniture out - then work on making it 'homey'. I don't plan to move her bed and dresser down here for at least another week or so... and some of the new furniture we will keep as surprises for her birthday in a few months.


I am already moving her toys down here. The changing table is being repurposed as a place to hold games and blocks and other 'larger' toys. She has not asked for TV once tonight - she has read books and is being 'busy' with all of her things.


Find the giraffe... at least that is what she said!
On another warm 'off' day I will paint the shelving a 'country red' good grade paint I have found on the mistints and then we can load her books onto them. There is a country red theme bird on a branch drawing I made years ago that I have hung up on her 'library wall' side (not pictured). I will be on the lookout for an area rug for here or to make something for in front of her bed and in the reading area. We have opted to not do a full carpet because of our many dogs and the fact it would probably lead to an expensive disaster sooner than we would like...

Green harvest and Esme room diagram

Small harvest
okra, pimento peppers, banana peppers, yellow tomatoes, basil, black eyed peas, lima beans

This drought has been so hard on everything - some of my new seedlings are still burning up with morning and night waterings... I am still getting some harvest but once in a while it feels like it will all just dry up and the garden will be done.. and then I tell myself that no - there are a lot of things still doing little bits, and to be happy with the little bits. Also, something is eating my corn. Something with tiny teeth. *Sigh* well I was taking a chance planting a second round... oh well.


A little burr grass that was in the garden

I am laying out the design for Esme's room - taking it a bit seriously Mark thinks ;) He joked asking if he needed to get out of the way before I ran him over with the construction equipment *ha*. I took measurements and the 'new' room is actually about 11x14 - much larger than I had originally thought. And the measurements of her main items bed, dresser, shelving unit, table will take up much smaller of the floor space. But - that will add more space to spread out toys and add a few more shelving units and a larger chair for her to sit in. I'm looking at a 'video rocker' style because she has liked these at the local library.


diagram before I knew the room was bigger


Esme had Grandma call Daddy today after she took some jar lids up and tell him that she 'forgot to go to work today' and he needed to know that. We still don't know what that was about...it might have to do with the time - as she usually calls Grandma to go visit at about the same time she asked to call Daddy instead to tell him that she was already there?

Esme's larger room plan

I talked with Mark last night about the new larger room we would like to move Esme into. I gave her an idea about what was happening, too - and she liked the idea a lot. It still needs a lot of work, that is why she is not in there now, plus - I didn't want her that far away before - downstairs and close to the kitchen and bathroom by herself all night. Now that she can communicate a little better - and seems to NEED more space and a place to 'get away from it all' this is something we will work for.

The new room is about twice as big - but not three steps away from Mom and Dad. Both are good for her. It has no windows, but that might help her sleep ;) without the tent. And she can use her flashlights and some of her toys to greater effect.

We talked about hanging things from the ceilings - hearts of all colors etc. I also told her there would be a shelf for her books - and she said she would 'read and read and read'. I made a note to myself not to forget some sort of soft chair or beanbag for her to do all that reading in.

For furniture she has her bed and plastic dresser - and we will have to give her some new shelving units as the ones upstairs are built onto the wall. Her changing table could probably go down there as some extra shelving as well.

For renovations we just have to insulate the floor a little better, plug up a few problem areas on the walls (an unfinished electrical box and a doorway that leads to a closet that has electrical panel access in it. Mark and I talked about making a removeable chalk or corkboard panel there for her drawings and then we could still take it down and get into that panel if we needed to.

At one point last night I had been 'done' in the room for a little while and came down and the light was on under the door. Esme was in there - leaning against the ladder with a paintbrush in hand. I asked her what she was up to - and she said she was not Esme, the Esme girl had gone to school. She was a man here to fix the walls and she was mad at me for interrupting her. Now we should get to work - both of us! *ha*