Barely a driveby

Hi, folks,

This is barely a post. I'm being honest here. Do you ever get the urge to do something with your hands while you're watching tv, but you aren't a knitter? A perfect solution is, as so many other bloggers have noted, washi tape. I had one of those large metal spheres in a bronze color. There was nothing wrong with it, except for being a little dull. Not anymore! It's hard to think of a simpler way to change something up quickly. 

That's all for now. I'm going out of town for three days on Thursday and am trying to get some stuff done before then.

Have a good one!

Michele

Hello! How's the last Monday in April gone so far for you? It's looked cloudy and threatening all day here, but so far no bad weather has actually materialized. This gave me a chance to putter around out front a bit. During the weekend Mr. B went in search of a table for a new printer (don't ask). He found one at the MAM store, originally intended to be a picnic table for small children. The unexpected benefit to me is that he only wants the table, so the two benches that came with it are mine, all mine. One is newly located by the front door outside:

Not only is it a good place to set plants, the shelf on the bottom is

ideal for extra pots waiting to be filled. 

The shrimp plant is finally starting to do something.

Here's the adjacent wall with its most recent tweaking. This time of year it's mostly all outdoors, all the time. How are you celebrating spring in the natural world?

Later, Michele

 

Best of 2014

Hello, friends,

I hope your weeks are going well so far. My Thursday has contained no bad news or unexpected messes so I can't complain.  To continue my monthly roundup of best finds last year, for April there is this:

a never used, new popcorn maker in the original box for $5.00. It's the kind you use unpackaged popcorn in and the gadget goes in the microwave. This was on my list to find after reading that individual packets pre-made for the microwave are super bad for your health, so it seemed like a good idea to make a switch. This was $5.00 and works perfectly. 

What were some of your fave finds in 2014?

Take it easy!

Michele

Still in the dining room

Hello, all, 

Are you glad the week is on the downward swing? I had a good time at GW today, buying a batch of books and new scratch mat for the cats and a couple other odds and ends. No more decor, though. I'm trying to quit. To that end, to springify the buffet shopping the house was the key to changing the terrarium. 

A bright tin pitcher with white flowers, an egg cup with a succulent and a small white pail with violets fill up the space. They are set on a layer of broken tiles that literally fell off a truck, on the corner by our house. Next to it is a green plant in a mercury glass container atop a couple of boxes, one wooden and one paper. The polka-dotted one was inside a more vibrant many colored print one both by Emma Bridgewater, but neither having a lid, so not ideal for traditional purposes but just fine as a stand. The wooden box was a recent purchase, but I haven't decided what to do with it yet. 

Our weather continues to be unsettled. Every time the least thought of doing something outside floats through my brain it starts thundering and rain soon arrives so a lot of those projects are on temporary hold. 

Have a good evening.

Michele

 

A little bit

of decor effort in the midst of a whole lot of much less pleasant c-c-c-cleaning.

It's hard to beat green as a color for spring, so a little beach umbrella and succulent in a silver cup are doing their bit to cheer up the dining room on a corner shelf. Tomorrow perhaps it will be onto the terrarium. 

Have a good rest of your day.

 

Michele

 

Hello again as we wind down another week. Time really is flying in 2015, at least for me. This week my efforts have been concentrated at the front of our house. The outside still needs a few new plants before it's ready for a photo shoot, but the peg rack by the door is available to show off. I set up a little vignette of summery things now the coats and warm scarves have been put up for the next six+months. Here's how it turned out:

A sun hat, a lightweight jacket, parasol, scarf, dark glasses and tote bag, ready to grab and go.

 The fake fern is in a lime colored pot for the hot months.

Of course, the picnic basket is right there too, ready to fill with a feast to  take somewhere fun to eat outdoors. That's my bow to the new season for guests so far.  Maybe we'll get to a nursery this weekend and outside will get its turn soon. 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Michele

Hair today . . .

Hi, folks,

Today after Bible study I got a haircut. No big deal, you're probably thinking, but you'd be wrong. You don't know about Venus Hair. It is a small shop in a quirky building where the owner, Susan Venus shares space with an old friend from high school, another Susan, Romeo this time. They usually go by their last names. Susan was a star last weekend in the Art Car Parade in this:

 She also is a cat person. 

A life-sized Elvis is usually by the door to greet you.

There's an art bike, too.

But here, why don't you see what it's like for yourself? http://www.venushairhouston.com/shop.html

I had a great time getting my hair cut, as always. If you're in Houston, you should go to 19th Street and check it out yourself.

Later, 
Michele

 

April 15, 2015

Nightmare on Tax Street

starring

the IRS

Mr. B and his harried mate, Michele

WARNING: 

This is a horror movie. Viewer discretion advised. Watch at your own risk!

On second thought, come back tomorrow when the trauma is less fresh and my heart rate back to normal. See you Thursday!

Michele

 

A Temporary Solution

Hey, Friends,

How's Tuesday treating you? We have more blessed rain again today. This is what spring is supposed to be like, yay! 

A while back I scored a vintage card table at the MAM store. It had a damaged top. 

 Then on a Manna Monday, I found this for a dollar:

It's a red vinyl, flannel-backed tablecloth. So . . .

Last night it got put together with some super fancy duct tape that resulted in this. Not a great or permanent solution, but good for now to work puzzles on till inspiration for a better fix comes along, and hey, the price was right. What kind of for the time being repairs or adjustments are utilized in your home right now?

 

Have a good one!

Michele

 

 

A Better Solution

Hello, Folks, 

Today was my half day to work at Manna, which doesn't leave me with an excess of energy once it's done and I'm finally home. Good think this idea came to me, then. You know how sometimes there are pesky details at home that bug you way out of proportion to how much it should matter? Here was one in this house:

It's a large panel for a security alarm system from the previous tenants that we don't subscribe to. Very intrusive, especially in a bedroom.

This has been covering it up, but it bothered me because it was so large it covers the corner of the light switch plate, as you can see in the picture. 

With the change in season and rapid arrival of summer, today it occurred to me, why not try a straw hat? As you can see, it works out perfectly and doesn't obtrude the way the metal wall piece did. Problem solved! 

 

Have a good evening, or rest of your day.

 

Michele

 

 

 

One small change

Hello, all,

Today was errands and meeting an old friend for lunch, so lots of fun, not so much time at home to be creative. So apology in advance, this is a tiny effort. Although the front door looked egg-cellent, with Easter past, it seemed like a fine idea to say:

"Hi, Hydrangea!". Note to self: either buy a new hanger or paint that one.

Have a wonderful weekend! Looks like ours is going to be soggy. 

Later, Michele

 

Still in the Library

Hello, friends,

I hope you're doing well this Thursday. Yesterday you saw the relocated cat shrine in our front room, the library. Usually there is some decor on the top of one bookcase, but honestly, the Easter effort was too lame to even take a picture of. Clearly, figuring out a new strategy for that space was overdue. On hand, there were books, of course, and a birdcage that no longer had a space on top of the china hutch in the dining room. So . . . 

if they're combined, this is the result. 

It was fun to do, and blessedly easy.

That's all she wrote today.

Have a good one!
Michele

 

 

Colonel Tiger, in the Library

Hello, all,

Since the great shelf debacle all the contents that weren't smashed in the crash were piled in a chair in the living room. It seemed high time to remedy that and set the cat shrine up elsewhere out of danger. Now it's in the library, the first room you enter if you come to visit. 

 Before, sob.

It's on some low book shelves made from wine crates. Mostly only the non-breakable items made it, although there are a couple saved with minor damage. 

The Meow frame lost one of its two panes of glass. 

New, just added recently is he little iron cat holding a magnifying glass, a sale item from Pier I. He was impossible to resist. Plus, at my age the magnifier gets used regularly. You can also see the tiny doll's cookie cutter that's a kitty that is adorable. 

 

That was my effort towards decorating for Wednesday. Sometimes just picking things up and making minor adjustments is all that happens. 

 

Take it easy!

Michele

 

 

Tiny Effort

Another very minor project to report today, but it fills a need. Since the shelf fell and was replaced very precariously by myself, anything that goes anywhere near it needs to be light and unbreakable. To that end, for the pegs I tried this:

a bouquet of paper parasols in a turquoise metal cone. 

They coordinate well with the picture underneath, too, and are cheery BoHo colors, too.

That's it for Tuesday. I have a cat-generated mess to deal with now, involving a 750-piece jigsaw puzzle that was about a third done. No more kitties in that room till it is finished is the new rule. 

 

Have a good one!

Michele

 

 

 

The Chair Affair

Hello, friends. 

I hope you all had a lovely Easter. Ours was nice, although could have been better with more cooperative weather. I didn't get a lot done over the weekend. Today is the one where I'm out till two o'clock after volunteering at Manna, so not a lot of time to start a big project. However, there was one small area that could use some attention and not take long.

I've had this Queen Anne style chair for years, but the seat was getting worn.

There was even a hole, from wear or a cat claw. Either is possible.

What better way to use bright, BoHo fabric from a remnant bought at Manna?

The material was cut with pinking shears and thumb tacked onto the seat. 

Here's a close up of the pattern. The green seems cheery and spring-like to me.
That's what I did today. How about you? 

Take it easy!
Michele



 

 

Plan B

Hey, Folks,

Happy Hump Day to everyone. Despite my negative experience last week, I went to Goodwill again today for the senior citizen discount, but this time to the one closest to our house. It was a fairly productive trip with one item to help with last week's major issue. You may recall:

what happened when a shelf fell off the wall in the living room. Ugh. Mr. B blamed the victim, saying it was overloaded and was deaf to my protest that it had the same items as were on it before we moved. There were ugly holes in the wall afterward, so I stuck it back up somehow, but with the realization that nothing breakable could go on it. Today at Goodwill I found another piece and switched things out, so now we have:

This is fabric stretched around a frame. It coordinates well with the BoHo display, don't you think? Meanwhile, around the corner on the wall with the washstand, you now see:

The metal piece over there now. If the shelf falls down again, and it easily could with my poor carpentry skills, the worst thing that can happen is a dent or two.

BoHo bookcase, post catastrophe.

Washstand wall ditto. What do you think? I like the tall skinny wild print. It fills up the space well. As for the other side, at least now the big gaping holes from the wall anchors that failed are hidden. 

Problems. Challenge. Whatever.

Have a good one,
Michele