Sunday, January 19, 2014

House Project: Illuminated

We've been living in the dark.  Now, alas, let there be light.

Want to see what you're cooking?


Simple solution:  put bulbs in the hood dumbie (that's me).  What did you think those gaping black holes were for, anyway?!

Want to see while you read or knit or stare into the fireplace with vacant early morning eyes (again, me) and drink coffee?


Simple solution:  floor lamp

Want to see while you eat?  Especially when it involves meat that requires a close examination and dissection of every bite (you guessed it, me)?


Simple solution:  white metal pendant light over the table, hastily placed, centered on nothing, and mostly in the wrong spot (I'll share responsibility for this one with Drew) but lovely and cradling an Edison bulb to make up for its shortcomings in placement.  Watch out meat.

Want to see while you are doing paperwork at the desk?



Simple solution:  desk lamp.  This isn't new, but proudly playing second fiddle instead of (poorly) providing all of the light on one side of our main living space solo.

Want some ambiance?

Simple solution:  four wall sconces.  With schoolhouse shades because, well, we live in a restored schoolhouse so these are mandatory.



Saturday, January 18, 2014

Winter Living

I logged a few hours of work in the garden this week.  Revisiting the sleeping beauty after ignoring her since September. 

The Pacific Northwest, evergreen, no dead of winter here.

Bleeding Heart

Hellebore Buds

Hollywood Plum

I Forget the Name Shrub

Euonymus

Climbing Hydrangea

Rosehips

Evergreen Magnolia

Chicks and Hens

Rosemary

Winter Cyclamen

Primrose
Sedum

Crocus and Slug

Peony

House Project: Shut the Front Door!

A Brief History of the Front Door:
For the nine years we've been here, our door has been a rickety old number.  The door knob was just for decoration - not at all functional.  The only thing holding it closed was a swift kick or hard pull into a crooked jamb.  It swung out instead of in, to answer a knock involved hip checking it open and crossing my fingers that I wouldn't knock someone backwards off the porch with the welcoming swing.  It was grungy white primer until a couple of years ago when we painted it black in an attempt to spiff up our first impression.

Today:
Brand spankin' new fir door!  With a doorknob that works!  A house key!  It swings in!  It's air tight!  It's cheery and bright!  Welcome!  Come in!  Nothing to fear, no shacky shack here!



Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Quote of the Day

Genevieve:  Mom, when you are grumpy you look like you have a diaper between your eyebrows.
Me:  Excuse me?
Genevieve:  Really.  Go look in the mirror.  The lines between your eyebrows turn into two lines and two semi-circles when you are grumpy.  When I put all those lines together, all I see is a tiny cloth diaper. 
Me:  Oh, yeah, I'm seeing what you're seeing.
Genevieve:  Yeah, so that's a really good reason to not be grumpy.


Monday, January 13, 2014

Fashion

There's a new game they play called "Fashion."

The rules:  Genevieve dresses Marguerite however she wants.



The winner:  Marguerite gets to saunter around and pose like a Janis Joplin imposter.


Winter Carrot

Look at these sweet beasts still being pulled from the garden!



Genevieve, too, a sweet beast.

Timeless

There's this thing I do, when I have a chunk of time approaching that's all mine.  I plan.  I visualize.  I anticipate.  I line up and prioritize tasks with military like precision with a dash of procrastination.  Three free hours are coming, I kept reminding myself last night.  Sleep easy.  You've got this time coming to tackle it all. 

Then G woke up sick.  Drew came home temporarily hurt from work.  The kitchen faucet that has been leaking for nine years reached its pinnacle of watery destruction.  My three hours were no longer mine.  I couldn't tackle it all.  Not anything.

This thing, that I do every time, strangled by expectation. 

Sleep easy, I'll tell myself tonight.   Someday, there will be time.  


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

I'm In

We rang in the new year with a bang.  Fireworks at 2:30 a.m. directly outside the girls' bedroom window that sent me into a demonic rage.  After much freaking out and general drama, we were all back to sleep by 3:30.  In our temporarily caffeinated state at 7 a.m. Drew and I laid out what we hoped to get out of the day. 

Me:  Fresh air.  The woods.  The beach.  Getting out of the house.  Maybe some gardening - I noticed the crocus bulbs have all popped spring green through the gray and dark.

Drew:  Chill.  Play with the girls.  Cook a big hunk of meat.

Somehow we wove our needs together and made a day of it.

First a walk in the foggy/spooky/beautiful northwest canopy:


Photo Credit: G

Photo Credit: G selfie




On to Fairhaven for lunch to meet Genevieve's need for all things urban:


Glass Beach in Bellingham to throw rocks and beachcomb:



By evening there was a big hunk of meat on the table:


2014.  Fresh.  Drama.  Meaty.  Fog.  Beach.  Woods.  Family time.  I'm in.