Where in the World is Sigrun?

I can't believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. Would it surprise you if I said that I had been really busy? And I forgot to take pictures of what kept me the most busy--will do that asap. But in the meantime, so my blogging friends won't think I forgot them, I will post other "food for thought".

These are our "All Red" potatoes. Since the blue ones lost much of their lovely purple color when I boiled them, I made oven fries with the pink ones, and they kept their pink color. Then I baked some in the microwave and made potato salad. That was an interesting combination. These strangely-colored potatoes taste like regular ones.
One thing keeping me busy. This is our old kitchen/dining room/laundry room floor. If you glance just below the cupboard at the kickboard you can still glimpse the nice ivory color that it used to be. But there was a reaction between the glue and the linoleum, in combination with light and over the 23 years it has yellowed badly. It has stood up well otherwise.
Preparation for the new vinyl. (Not me--hired help, but I had to supervise, and make lunch and coffee.)
Please don't call the "Messy House" ladies. We have had to"rearrange" a lot of our stuff, including the closets that will have the new floor, by moving it into other rooms. First: the spare bedroom...
And the Living Room. . .
And the front entrance hall...
Knittergran, you were right about renovations. Always surprises. We had no structural surprises, but since I have the house in a mess, and I wanted to paint this winter anyways (did you get the idea that I sometimes do things back-asswards--new floor first, paint next?) It's just that I've entertained the thought of some interesting sage or olive greens for the paint color, but I couldn't tell with just the floor sample piece how the colors will look. I can't make up my mind about the shade either, so here's the plan: Since I haven't painted for at least 15 years, I want to prime everything rather than just the patches. So I'm having several quarts of primer tinted the different shades. Then I'll try them all on different walls, then choose the color from that. It will cost me just 1 quart more than buying a gallon of primer, but there's no time wasted. Because they're all greens or green-grays they will all cover anyways.
But I still have about 1 week's outdoor work to do--so we will live with the mess a bit longer. Tomorrow's trip to the city will see us come home with primer, new baseboards, and crown mouldings, and all the hardware for the suspended ceiling for the new downstairs kitchen . . . (another story for another day).

Now for some other, more pleasant images (by the way, I have some lovely flowers posted on my garden blog). I have never still been watering flower pots so near the end of September. So here are a few juicy tidbits: That spiny green ball is the seed pod of my white "Datura" or "Angel's Trumpet".
These are my 4 whiskey barrels at the front of the deck. I love the silver plants: Licorice vine and Lotus vine. I will not be cleaning these barrels up in the fall, because if I do, the dogs will sleep in them, packing down and scattering the dirt. I leave them be until spring, the spikes will catch snow like tall hats, then the flocks of birds that we feed will sit on these for our enjoyment.
Salmon Martha Washington Geraniums with a blue/silver grass.
Celebrity Red Morn Petunias. My dear, late FIL always planted these, so I do too. They are sooo cheerful and perky.The Purple Ballerina Datura. It just keeps going and going and going.
Castor Bean (Ricinus) Plant. It doesn't get as big as it could when I plant it in a pot, particularly when I neglect to water regularly during a drought.
The seed pods of the Castor Bean Plant.
Till next time: It's my mom's 84th Birthday this weekend. She has Alzheimer's. This quote is from Chicken Soup for The Soul: Like Mother, Like Daughter.
My mom is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being, I may sometimes forget the words, but I always remember the tune. (Graycie Harmon)