Home

Gosh. I am home. Not from a trip or a journey. Just home. What makes a place home? It can be a person, no doubt. It can be a place. It can be a collection or association of objects. Not just any old objects. Objects collected from vacations or journeys. Even journeys to thrift stores or yard sales. Those objects say something about you. This is what interests me or what I find interesting or comforting or comfortable. It can be an object that has a story. It can be a very personal story or a story about your family. Or, it can be something that makes you smile when you look at it.

I recently bought a print at the thrift store. It was not signed or numbered and had a plastic cover so I knew it wasn't valuable. I sort of agonized about buying it. Not because it cost a whopping $5 but was it "me"?  I awkwardly carried it around the store for awhile (too large for the shopping cart) as I was browsing for other stuff. I really did like it and it was in a nice custom frame and garden themed, my favorite stuff, so it came home. It is titled, Still Life on the Veranda by John Powell.

A couple of caveats. It can be easy to get carried away buying stuff at a thrift store. Even there, don't just buy stuff because it is cheap or a bargain. I have re-donated stuff to the very thrift store where I bought it after I looked at the stuff at home. In fact, I bought a table and chairs and the guy loading it cautioned me he didn't want to see it back for at least 6 months. And, don't end up a hoarder with your house bursting at the seams with stuff that was too good to pass up. Sometimes when I see stuff and I know it is nice and a bargain but it is not something that is me, I just say, I'll let if be someone else's treasure. And, lastly, if you do love it, buy it because you may not find it when you return. Now, I just have to decide where to hang it.

A little better

Here is the finished bookcase.  Hmm, I may be a little obsessed given the titles of the books on the shelves.

My favorite is the book on epigraphy. It is fascinating.

The room looks way more inviting in this direction. Sorry for the uneven lighting from the skylight in the room. Whenever I watch a show on the TV where the people in the show are considering moving into or buying a house or apartment with a slanted ceiling, all I can think of is No!No! Noooo.... don't do it! This is the only room in the house with a slanted ceiling except for the living room which is only a single story (so the ceiling is high, but I don't like that either). Every time I walk toward the low end, I end up hitting my head.  It is quite annoying. And, I am not that tall. Just in case you ever think about moving into or buying something with a slanted ceiling, you have been warned. 

A few campy stuffed animals here and there.

A favorite metal bar table even though I don't like or drink beer (except I do like beer batter for deep frying food).

An old Mexican chair.

The other chair. They are not really for sitting anymore. Some old woolen ponchos from Mexico. Once we wore them to the San Francisco Opera. It was cold and we didn't have any jackets. I can't remember exactly, but I think we had been to the football game to see the 49'ers play earlier in the day and were not "dressed for the opera" but we went anyway. (Oops, another little stuffed animal, all of which my Dad bought at yard sales but that is another story). I bought the zebra skin rug at a yard sale, too, for $20.  You never know what you will find at one, it is real but not in good condition because of its age.

Summer Projects

I am in desperate need of bookcases.  I have bought a few that sit atop a table or desk.  Then I bought this at a yard sale.  I sanded most of the stain off.  Then, I painted it white.  Then, I painted it orange. Then I sanded it again on the edges for a shabby chic effect.  Here is a detail of the top.

Here's what it looks like in my "library". I'm letting it dry a bit longer as the paint still seems a bit sticky.  I thought it was all solid wood but it wasn't.  The sides are veneer.  Just the top and the facias are solid wood.  Note to self: quit buying veneered furniture. I had to glue the bottom facia board back in place, too.  I wish I had some large furniture clamps. I wish I had a nail gun and compressor, too. Maybe Santa will bring me one if I am a good girl.

See desperate need.

Here is my other project from earlier this summer.  My tall friend painted the back of my kitchen cabinets with metallicized paint and then black chalk paint.  The reason is that "stainless steel" refrigerator in the background.  How can it be stainless steel when not one of my cherished refrigerator magnets will stick to it? The metal paint is a bit dodgy.  It has 2 coats.  I should have sanded it down. I should have used a smoother paint roller tube, too. I couldn't imagine the dust I would have had to clean up, though, if I had sanded it down. So I am just living with it.

Michaelangelo's David, Queen Nefertiti, King Tut, Marie Antoinette, Piero della Francesca, Pompei, Bernini's David (I have seen Donatello's David in Florence, too, but, they didn't have any refrigerator magnets of him) are some of the trophies I have collected among others. A few homemade magnets, too, including one I made from my own photo of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

I bought a refrigerator magnet of San Francisco because it needed representation! Then, I wanted to write something on the chalkboard. The first part says, It's your story. Make if beautiful. Fill it up with what you love.  Remember what matters. Forget what doesn't. Have a happy life. Yes, it's from a greeting card but, really, it is  a nice philosophy.

Feathering my Nest

I meant to post photos of some of the things I made last year but I didn't get around to it.  So here is a queen sized duvet cover I made for my down comforter.  I bought the fabric online so I didn't realize the it was gold.  But, it was beautiful and I loved it.  I made a couple of pillow cases to match.

Here it is laid out in the spare bedroom looking like a bohemian squat amidst some of my other ongoing projects.

I liked the pillow cases so much I made some green ones.  Then, I made some blue ones, too.  They are very cheery and make me feel like a princess!  Since they are 100% cotton, I usually don't throw them in the dryer after washing but air dry them and iron them to a crisp finish.  People (wives/women and servants, I suppose) used to iron all of their linens along with their clothes!  Hard to believe in this day and age.  Sometimes, I think I could be a hermit and never leave the house except to go on vacation!

Merry Christmas!

I don't know where the time has gone this holiday season.  It seems that I am behind schedule on getting all of the things I want done around the house so I didn't decorate as much as usual.

This little miniature tree is my favorite Christmas decoration this year.  And, little birds seem to be making their way into the decorations.  I really love the little handmade felted birds I bought from  CraftCaptive  on ebay .  

Maybe next year I will get my cleaning/decorating/superwoman act together.  I've decided that I really would like a new house or at least a different one.  But, I doubt that I will do anything about it for awhile so I will have to make do.  In the meantime, I have a few sewing projects that I am obsessing about which is why I have not been able to focus on the tasks at hand.  Fabric is everywhere.  Books are scattered here and there.  Little scratchy drawings torture me.  My trainer wants me to exercise five days a week.  The weeds in the garden are out of control and my strawberry plants will be here soon so I will have to abandon my sewing projects until I get them squared away.  Plus, I need to clean my house before New Year's Eve.  I need more time, more daylight and more energy. 

So, here is wishing you and yours, wherever you are, a Merry Christmas and hoping for so much more(whatever more of you need in your life) in the New Year!

National Heirloom Exposition

They didn't just have lots of veggies at the National Heirloom Exposition, they had some handmade items for sale.  Here, a lovely pillow in stamped floursack or muslin fabric.  Quite adorable!  I should have easily been persuaded to buy some, but alas, the booth was un-manned or un-womanned.



Handmade quilts

The most lovely, lovely handpainted garden-themed dishes.

These are kind of Frieda Kahlo-ish, or someone.

I love this green plate!



Fortunately, none of these dishes were for sale at the show, or, I should be quite impoverished!  But, I am on the mailing list and only time will tell.

My Obsession

Okay, I tried to take a better photo of my adorable little zinnias.  They are the "Cut and Come Again" variety.  I love them for their beautiful shades of color.  I like to cut them when they haven't fully opened.  So you can still see the little, petals still partially formed.

I have a favorite style of vase that I try to find at thrift stores and yard sales because they are perfect for these small flowers.  But, sometimes when I am stripping the leaves, I yank the heads off or there isn't enough stem for this vase.  So, I found some smaller "vases".  I have a pressed glass toothpick holder for these really short zinnias.  It would make me sad to throw a flower away because it is length disadvantaged.

 

Then, I found some old, cut crystal glasses at the thrift store for 29 cents.  I paid a dollar for the cut, champagne glasses.  Yes, all these glasses are all different.  I am sure 60 years ago or so, they were part of a set now reduced to a single.  But, alone they make the most beautiful, mini vases for these mini flowers.  Wouldn't these be the most adorable individual arrangements at a dinner party?  You don't need many flowers to make the arrangement and it just takes a few small fronds of fern to back it.

 

This is a shot glass from San Diego with wild animals on it and the word Africa.  So, I put these hot orange and yellow zinnias in it.

 

I don't really like orange flowers.  But, I think I can live with these.

I like big zinnias, too!