Is it true?

Is there a new set of Tampopo (or whatever it's really called) teaware for me to covet?

Almost there...

Hey! It's nowhere near 2am and I'm almost done packing. I think this might be a first. Secret - iron the night before. It's the only way.

Finishing now. Off to the woods in the morning...

End-of-Summer Reading List...

Last week, in some all-important before-camp preparation, I went the library, and not just any branch, but the Central branch. And while I was looking for specific things, I also love to browse the recent arrivals for something new. Much to my surprise, I picked up two books outside of my norm of mysteries. The first is even non-fiction!

I love and have read all of L. M. Montgomery's books for kiddos, most notably the Anne of Green Gables series, and what I have just learned is supposed to be semi-autobiographical, the Emily of New Moon series. But I don't really know much about the author. I think it was the Gibson Girl on the cover that made me take it from the shelf, but I was excited to find Irene Gammel's Looking for Anne of Green Gables, just published this July. It focuses on the particular period when Montgomery was writing the Anne series and what went into the formation of the most famous of her heroines. When I'm done with this one, I want to seek out Gammel's other writings on Montgomery. Go figure, Gammel is a professor of English at the University of PEI. I think I will need to go there to seek out those writings...

The second book I found is Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. This one is a novel which fictionalizes the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney. I'm interested in Frank and in his architecture, but I don't know much about his life outside of his buildings and his personality. I can't wait to get to this one.

Who am I kidding. I never read at camp...

I can't tell you how thrilled these make me...

The first of four glass shelves to go in my dining room closet. They will eventually hold glassware.



Not glamourous, but oh so useful - a shelf to hold laundry supplies.



Pot lids! Awkward in the cabinets, now they have a place to live (not that this is by any means all of my pot lids - just all that will stay on the hooks.).



And finally, Joanna starts to decorate. There are magnets on the fridge and my first wall hanging.

In memoriam...

Marianne Taylor lost her battle with cancer today.

There are so many fine things to remember about Marianne - her spirit, cheerful disposition, gift for teaching and utter devotion to the dance community, but on a more personal level, there was no one I would rather dance next to.

When I was on crew at Pinewoods, I would go the the evening dances during FAC Week and stumble through the patterns of the International Folk Dances, or at least the ones that were slow enough so that I could understand what was happening. But if I was lucky enough to be standing next to Marianne, who would sometimes make that happen on purpose, she would not only whisper the steps to me, she would say them in a dance language I knew so that I could keep up and if briefly, become a part of that community.

Thank you for that Marianne, and for so much more. It was a privilege to know you.

For more information:

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewMyStory.do?method=executeInit

The next kitchen project...

I think these would be so useful - for utensils and potholders. That's up next after the glass shelves are up in the dining room closet...

The next kitchen project.

One week to go...

My summer officially ends in a week. Yes, I have one more week to finish my camp planning, pack for camp, finish planning my cocktail party, make a quilt square, and on and on. Oh, and also go to work and go to the dentist, and maybe go to the movies. I suppose I should think about teaching my first Swarthmore class on 9/2, but that can wait, right?

The rough sketch of my upcoming evenings:

Monday - camp planning
Tuesday - party planning; see the Pirate at Seaport Museum
Wednesay - quilt square?
Thursday - laundry and ironing
Friday - packing

I can do it, right? Must make packing lists...

Oh and for those of you wondering, the burgundy stretchy slipcovers won. I returned the red ones and removed the labels. The slipcover oddysey is over. Now on to the pillow/windowseat cushion fabric oddysey followed by the rug oddysey. Stay tuned...

George Washington slept here...

The GCD Country Demo team performs at Moland House, Warminster, PA

One final option...

Somewhat on a whim yesterday, I got one last set of slipcovers for the sofas. I like the red ones, and they go with the existing cushion fabrics, but they're too big. And I figured, before I alter them, and am therefore stuck with them, lets try one last option. The picture belows shows the first set of covers I picked up and liked, but rejected in favor of the failed brown. Burgundy, pseudo-velvet textured stuff. Go figure.



And for reference, here's the red again:



Opinions, please...

In other house news, many improvements have occurred in the last week with the addition of some shelves, towel bars, a rod for hanging pot lids, etc. I'm so excited about all of these. They will help make the house a lot neater. Pictures to come.

It feels really good to get these few bigger springboard projects done before the semester kicks in so I can then do the residual smaller tasks as I have time through the fall.

Not that I'm any closer to choosing paint colors though...

For lounging in her boudoir, this simple, plain pajama...

Today, for no apparent reason, I responded to a Freecycle email offering a standing mirror/cheval glass. It's now in my living room. It looks something like this, though dustier, and of a lighter wood:

So, between this and the sudden fascination for fainting couches, I beleive the small room on my second floor really is crying out to be my boudoir/dressing room, whether or not the clothes end up in there or not.

When and if this ever happens, I'll move the vanity and stool in there. This will be a better solution than to keep them under the window in my bedroom, subject to being rained upon in open-window weather, and fits in well with the eventual plans of bumping out those bedroom closets to make them deep enough for hangers and putting a cushioned window seat between them.

Oh houses are all about fantasy, aren't they. Better start playing the lottery...

The latest Craigslist treasure...

If only I had $200 and a way to transport this...

Waterfalls!

One of our jaunts this past weekend was a Circle Line tour of Olafur Eliasson's New York City Waterfalls Exhibit. I'm a big fan of boat trips, ocean views, swimming and seafood, so this activity was right up my alley. And while these constructed waterfalls don't have the sound and the power of, say, Niagra, it was fun to see them, great to see New York from the unusual vantage point of the river, and even good to get a brief taste of tourist New York down by the Seaport.











And of course, because this is New York, there is a water taxi to take you directly from Manhattan to the new Ikea in Brooklyn...

What stamp is this?

In my continuing search for rubber stamping blogs that are a good fit for me (more on that later this week), I came across this card on Lani Kent's blog Healing Expressions via Deb Neerman's Blog, Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps. I love the central stamped image. Any clue as to where I can find this stamp?

Getting something accomplished...

Tonight I resisted the siren song of dinner with George and Paul, reading books at Borders, etc. Instead:

-I constructed two shelving units for the kitchen (they now haveto be attatched to the wall and they are good to go)
-I put the second slipcover on the sofa (both are too big and will need some slight altering)
-I went the grocery store
-I moved a bookcase upstairs and began unpacking craft books onto it
-I assembled a set of alphabet stamp
-I stamped stuff! Really, I did!!! Not a lot, nothing final or complete. But just a few small bits to help get me back in the habit.

Drink your words...

Teacups from Felicitea...

Better because it's Swedish...

Tonight I took Laurie to Ikea. We spent about 2.5 hours there and she got tons of stuff, and I think not even everything that she wanted. And while it was a ton of stuff, who am I to say or think a word about it. The only difference between what she bought tonight and what I've accumulated over time is that my Ikea purchases come in dribs and drabs with a buying pattern made possible by my car and the frequent trips I can take on a whim. This is why and how I have so many candles in my house...

This week's Ikea purchases:



Two of these Benno shelves for the kitchen. They are shallow enough to fit next to the radiator, yet not impede the passage to the laundry room. Who wants to help me put them together on Friday night??



This was tonight's impulse buy. It's meant to be an add-on to your kitchen cabinets - a narrow piece that fills a gap and provides practical storage for wine bottles and whatever else. Retail - about $75; floor model in the As-Is section, $19. I couldn't leave it there. I just couldn't. Added bonus: it was already assembled.

The new Ikea catalogue will be in stores on 8/16. I can't wait! Pleasure reading for a whole year!

Do we have a winner?

Looking for a good blog...

As I've mentioned, I follow a bunch of blogs these days - household ones mostly: design blogs, entertaining blogs, stationary blogs. I'm on the lookout for a rubber stamping blog or two to add to the list.

I want something visual to help keep me inspired in the craft room. I want a blog whose writer is a stamper, not a scrapbooker, not a mixed media artist into art dolls and ephemera, and not someone who only uses collage and paper punches to create cards.

I want card ideas and reviews of new stamp lines and stamp companies. I want to hear about conventions and new techniqes that don't stray too far from ink and rubber.

Not that I've looked at much, but the right blog hasn't made itself known.

Any ideas from out there in the ether?

Alas poor Saturn...

This evening I lament, just a little, my Saturn, which has gone on to its next home.



It was a good car and served me well. I wish it another 100,000 miles of life and a new engine with its new owner.

Images from chldhood...

I was bowled over when I saw this image on Apartment Therapy today, and more so when I saw that these are from High Street Market, an Etsy shop based in Philadelphia (though I think they must have sold). The caption called them "Vintage barware from the mid-1950's." I have all that remain of grandma's set of these, some faded from the dishwasher, some in great shape. And now they live where they always did at grandma's house: in the breakfront, bottom shelf, right-hand side.

The weekend in pictures...

I love my new camera! And I'm learning how to use it a bit. I get to take pictures of inconsequential things and share them with you all!!! The shots below show bits of my weekend...

Here's the milkshake slipcover on my loveseat. Wrinkles aside, an improvement over the brown, but...

Notice how the pattern of the sofa shows through:

I returned them, and had a frustrating round of department stores which all sell slipcovers, but almost all online. I refuse to spend bunces of money on something if I can't actually see and touch the fabric. So it was back to Bed, Bath & Beyond for a second shot there. I've about given up on preconceived (by others) decorating schemes; I just bought a color I liked. Burgundy. Surprise, surprise. I haven't tried them yet, but you know you'll see the results.

Today's big project was the taming the backyard jungle. I didn't get a "before" shot, but it would be too embarassing to post. The weeds were up to 4' in places with some stems quite thick around. But with the help of George and Paul, their garden tools, and six strong trash bags, we achieved:

It's fairly barren at the moment, but some green will bounce back. I have enough at-home time to keep up with the mowing now, so that by party time, I should be all set.

One casualty from the front yard mowing and weed pulling. Unfortunate, though there are other blooms on the plant, but I was able to achieve the desired flowers in the house.

Hurrah for weekends at home!!!

Out with the old, in with the new...

The Saturn



The Toyota

Two empty boxes on the calendar...

So rare, the completely free weekend... And I can't wait.

Tonight starts with some First Friday revelry at Elfreth's Alley, then off to the Lambertville dance in Trenton.

For the rest of the weekend, as usual, I have lists of things to do:

-Mow the front lawn (such as it is)
-Regain control of the backyard (thanks to Paul, in advance, for his help)
-Show the old car to Ronnie's Craig who may buy it from me
-Try on the milkshake slipcovers, and then maybe exchange them for others (for the last time?? what color will she choose??)
-Clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, vacuum the carpets (pick one?)
-De-clutter the livingroom window seat and the kitchen
-Ponder additional kitchen storage options at Ikea (I know, how I suffer...)
-Catch up on magazine reading at Borders
-Make a quilt square
-Grocery shopping
-Hang up some stuff in the house. I have nothing on the walls. That's not right.
-Crafts! I have to make at least one thing this weekend. The rubber stamps are calling me...

New project idea!

This past year, the fitted sheet from my first set of queen-size sheets ripped. This past month, the duvet cover from the coordinating comforter cover ripped on one side. Concept: replace the ripped side of the comforter with the remaining flat sheet. Sometimes I am so smart! We'll see if this is a Joanna project, or a project I pay someone to tackle. Either way, I am delighted to think of a way to use the remaining pieces of my beloved green flannel.

Anyone want to come over and play designer on Saturday or Sunday evening? I'll feed you...