A Weekend of Planting, Cottage Cheese Ceilings, Paint Chips and Cleaning

What a whirlwind of a weekend. We never made it to (nor did we do the usual planning for) our church's Trunk or Treat. Well, we figured, someone else needs to bask in the glory of being the best trunk. We're givers, we Gahan Girls.

Hastings delivered an obscene amount of shrubs and plants that my dad, Fred, and I took most of Saturday planting (and we just made a small dent). I pruned trees as well. And made a trip to Pike Nursery, coming home with 10 bags of mulch, 5 of soil amendment, and lots of 2 for 1 perennials. And I did get a beautiful Bowl of Cream peony; have been wanting a peony plant for a long time. This particular one was not the pink I've always dreamed of, but it was half price, and so I figured it was worth a shot to see if I can grow one with success. As it was such a beautiful day, cool and breezy, the chore of planting was hardly work.

I made a trip to Benjamin Moore to look at paint colors for the exterior of my house. I know what I think I want — gray with white trim and black shutters, but as I looked at all the different shades of gray and white, I became a bit overwhelmed. The paint store has a color specialist who popped over to chat. She is coming to my house on Thursday morning to consult on color choices.

On Sunday I stripped my bathroom ceiling of all the cottage cheese and painted it white. Looks so much better. But what a huge mess. It took me 2 hours of cleaning after the cheese removal before I could paint. Getting the stuff down is a piece of cake, but the mess it makes when it falls. Oy vey.

And, of course, I listened to Christmas music all weekend. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.