Nook Book

I got an early birthday present today...Joe and the kids got me a Nook! I've been thinking about getting a Nook or a Kindle, and finally decided on a Nook. I always find this kind of stuff confusing at first....well, who am I kidding, I still don't really have the whole ipod thing figured out. Anyway, so far I've managed to get this thing registered, charged up, bought a book, and started reading. It's very easy on the eyes, and you can change the font size from tiny to huge and anything inbetween. That could be very handy if I ever get caught without my reading glasses.

I do love real books...I like the pages, the smell of the ink, and this will not replace an art book or any actual book where the illustrations are important. I think it will be great on trips though...load up books and take off with them all in this one little pad. Should make my tote bag a lot lighter! And if I manage to get caught up and need to buy more, I can do it through wifi connection or 3G. I'll be sure to let you know what I think as I try it out further.

I feel a little like Tom Sawyer............

Yesterday I pressure washed and primed the swing, and today I have my new daughter-in-law painting it! I don't know why but I am usually a bit of a control freak...which is not good. Delegating is good! I see the light! I'm in here cooking supper, and the swing is getting painted. The color in the picture above is more like the true color. Bright!

One of my best friends, Peggy,  is trying to post to her blog every day for 30 days. I'm not sure I can think of something to post about every day, but I'm going to give it a try...

Stairway Progress

Here is the stairwell as it looks today. Joe was able to get to this point before the wedding weekend, so it looked pretty darn nice! This is standing in the family room/kitchen looking towards the stairs and dining room.

Here's the little corner block detail. This worked out so well to tie in where all these pieces of trim meet.

Now we are going up the stairs....quite an improvement over how it looked before! This is just the cottagey look I dreamed of for this house. Some of my son's friends keep saying that we have lights like at the bar...I guess I don't hang out at bars enough, because I just thought they were cute little stained glass lamps that didn't take up too much room!

Now were are at the top of the stairs looking at the window that goes into the guest room...Joe fixed it so it swings down, so we can get some ventilation and also clean it easily. You can see the other side here. We also put a little fan at the top of the stairwell because the heat tends to rise up the stairway in the winter...hopefully this will help with that.

Here is the next step...the old acoustical tile on the ceiling in the upstairs hall needs to come down so the beaded board can be contiued into this area. Also there needs to be a little trim along the corners going down the stairs where the beaded board meets the plaster. The whole ceiling thing sounds tricky to me, but Joe is a perfectionist, and I'm sure it will be beautiful when it's done.

The guest room is done...

and has passed muster with Jessie and Dan overnight, and again with Brenda, so I guess it's good to go!

I found the bedding at TJ Maxx...nice...simple and white. I don't have stock in TJ Maxx but I should. You can get such wonderful stuff there for a great price. The headboard is from a bed that belonged to my great grandmother. I have the rest of the bed, but the rails and footboard don't seem to want to stay in place. So, we attached the headboard to the wall and just used a metal bedframe to hold the mattress and springs.

The lamps and tables are vintage and came from that great Pontiac store, Old City Hall Shoppes. ;o) Stop by if you need similar items at your house...we'll be happy to help you out. The chair is from Pier One. The artwork is some that I bought at the farmer's market in Hilo, HI. 

 The colors in the room came from the art.

I really like how this window over the stairwell turned out. At night if you leave the stair light on, it's like having a little night light in this room. Very cozy. Our house has had quite a bit of remodeling done on it before we came, so I don't feel the need for true restoration (it's too far gone for that) and can just renovate...adding quirky things if we want, and staying within the spirit of a folk victorian.

Gardening...

I got a very late start this year, and still haven't caught up, but things are blooming! Luckily, perennials know when to bloom whether I'm late or not. And they come up on their own, right on schedule.

Many folks don't like the lowly day lily because they grow out of bounds. I love them...because they grow out of bounds. Ha! I'm better off with plants that don't need lots of attention, and that list includes most of the ones that you have to start ripping out when they get too carried away.

Mom checking out the hydrangea.

This year the Lace Cap Hydrangea finally bloomed. It's been there, growing and green, but apparently it has to get some size to it before it starts blooming. I think it was worth the wait!

 Here's another hydrangea on the side of the house. They come up every year, love the shade, and flower like crazy...what's not to love?!

This is Trumpet Vine and Silver Lace Vine all mixed up on the arbor. I'm not sure how it happened, because the Silver Lace Vine grew beautifully for years...on the other side of the arbor. Now for some reason it has died out on that side and is coming up with the Trumpet Vine. I've planted a Black Eyed Susan Vine on the other side now, but it's an annual and it takes it a while for it to get a decent size.

 

This is just me enjoying being out of high heels after the wedding. I got the cutest apron at TJMaxx and ended up wearing it all day. Yes, I wear aprons.....when I have my wits about me, anyway. It seems that anytime I mess with food, it's attracted to my clothes like a magnet, so I try to remember. I was checking out this book the other day, and all the wonderful vintage aprons. I almost bought it, thinking I'd make myself a few really cute ones, but then I realized...the last thing I need at this moment is another project!

The Wedding....

Mike and Jill are now married! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

Jill getting ready.

The bride's maids helping her with her gown.

Colleen and I before the ceremony.

Mike and Jill pouring sand during the ceremony.

Entering the reception hall.

Their first dance as a married couple.

I get to dance with Mike. The song is here...so touching!

Colleen caught the bouquet...yikes!

Congratulations Mike and Jill!

Trimming out the stairwell....

Joe is doing a great job on the stairway. It's turning out just as I always wanted. It's been primed and will get a coat of paint today.

I told you it's a very tall narrow stair...runs right up the center of the house. Ahhh...no studs showing! Heaven.

He designed some little corner blocks for the spot where the wall and ceiling meet at the bottom of the stairs.

Here's the bottom of the stairs...looking into the dining room.

And here is the view from standing in the dining room doorway. We are going to have the cabinet maker do a rail on that side of the stairway, and build in bookcases (bye, bye to the walmart ones stacked in the niche) around the corner and over the doorway to the bath.  This is open to the family room/ kitchen, so I want to kind of tie it all together.  If you click on the link you can see the kitchen. It looks a little different now, because we have all black appliances, but it's pretty much the same. It's tricky getting all the surfaces to work together in an old house, especially one that has been remodeled through the years...

I'm not a cat person.

Last night I took the scenic route home, through the countryside, and as I'm driving along I realize I'm hearing "meow" every so often. And had been for several miles. I know, I know, but cut me some slack, I have a lot on my mind these days, and well, it just didn't register right away. So I when I got home we found this under my car:

See the little kitty leg? It took us a while to coax him down, but he finally came out. I can't believe he rode up there for 12 miles!

He still won't come to us. But he comes near, and is very verbal...meowing all the time. We fed him and he was a hungry little dude.

I think I may have a cat.

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

I think I have my work cut out for me! I've been getting the weeds out of the beds, and now I need to get to planting! It's so late that I thought I'd have to spend a fortune on getting bigger plants, but Big R is having a sale...they have beautiful large baskets marked down to 4 and 5 dollars each. These just came in too...they are not wilted planters that you have to baby back to health. If you're local, you can pick up a bargain.

I also had good luck at "The Garden Path" in the country outside Cornell...she always has gorgeous stuff and she has sales going on too.

The Kelly House Project

Jayne is doing a wonderful job renovating her folk victorian home. She's uncovered a little gem. This is her video from youtube. If you'd like to visit her inspiring blog click here.

Beaded Board on the Stairs

Joe has been working on the stairway while we were gone. He installed drywall first for its fire retardant properties. We are putting beaded board over that to a) get that cottage feel, and b) avoid all the sanding it would take to finish off the drywall. The rest of the house is looking pretty good, and I know from past experience that, even if you hang plastic to try and control it, that fine dust goes everywhere. It's a little more expensive doing it this way, but I'm sure liking how it looks.

I've seen board like this in plenty of old cottages in Michigan...sometimes hung vertically and sometimes horizontally. We opted for horizontally because it is already a very tall narrow space and I'm hoping installing it this way will keep from making it seem even more narrow.

Road Trip to Daytona

My mom and I headed out of town to catch a little sun in Daytona Beach. One day we attended a fun party for the standard poodle group on Flickr. Hawkeye had a great time, and the pics from that will make a whole post on it's own....22 poodles running around!

Mom and I

Jenny rented us a room at her grandparent's place on the beach. Jenny and her husband are doing a wonderful renovation of their house and there are lots of pics on her blog if you're into home renovation.

This is the view out the window of our room. At Daytona Beach you can drive your car right down to the beach and park....unique! Handy too. We saw lots of families coming for the day with all their gear...you can tailgate right on the beach. The sand here is extreemly fine and packs down hard, so you see lots of people biking on the beach as well as driving.

While we were in the south we made sure to eat plenty of BBQ and key lime pie.

On the way home we stopped at St. Augustine. It's a beautiful city. Here is the lighthouse, peeking through the live oaks. Look at that moss...so pretty.

Yup, I climbed all the way up...
got very hot in the process....

and was rewarded with a beautiful view and a stiff breeze to help me cool down.

Daytona Beach on Dwellable