And a little more hope

I got another major paint project completed this week, and it was a BIG one!  Remember the entryway in The House of Goodwill with all the dark molding?

In the middle of a sunny afternoon, this is what the entry looks like without any lights on.

I guess I'm a little solar powered, because I've always found dark rooms really depressing.

Here's where it's at right now with all the molding FINALLY painted!

It's already feeling lighter and brighter!

Next up?  My family is coming this weekend and I'll be teaching my son how to remove wallpaper.  I can hardly wait!  The same wallpaper is in the hall bathroom, the last door you see on the left in this pic.

We're getting very close to an obvious dramatic transformation in this room, and this is what I LOVE about painting projects.  I should be able to close out two at once, the entry and bathroom.  It's going to feel like a huge accomplishment.

But in the meantime, here is what I've been working on now:

I'm painting the hallway; going to roll the walls and get it done today!

In progress!  Hopefully my next post will be this hallway completed.

And in other random, hopeful news, I wanted to share something that has lifted my spirits this week.  You may remember, for Valentine's Day, my son gave me a dozen white roses.  That was February 13th.

I took this picture of the roses two days ago; they look exactly the same today:

The roses, 3 weeks and 2 days after I received them.  

While most of the leaves have fallen off, the roses STILL look beautiful!

Apparently I was given magic roses.

Never have I had roses last so long!  And when my son gave them to me he said, "I picked you out ones that weren't very open so they would last longer."

That was truly a Magical Mom Moment.  And it was a double MMM!  Not only did my kid give me flowers, he proved to me that he does (at least occasionally) absorb some of the things I'm constantly trying to teach him.

And one last little piece of hope, since this is a gardening blog after all...

I thought I had received all of the surprise flower discoveries at The House of Goodwill over the last year.  But there was one more - daffodils (LOTS of them!) in the backyard!

If spring flowers don't fill you with hope, I don't know what will.

The daffodils are all in an area that is hard to see from a window in the main living area.  Sometimes in the spring and fall it's a little too cold to be outside enjoying flowers that bloom in these seasons. 

So when I plant flowers that bloom in spring and fall, I try to put them in a location where I can see and enjoy them through a window.

Since daffodils multiply quickly, I'll divide some of these and plant them in more viewable areas, as well as in front of the house where they can be seen from the road.

And guess what else I discovered?  Huge patches of hyacinths that haven't yet bloomed!  I can't wait!