The thin end of the wedge.

Hello, all, my day has been busy, as most Thursdays are now that grocery shopping is tacked on after Bible study is over. Luckily there was time to take pictures yesterday for this post. My apologies for the lighting. It's been very overcast and raining for several days in a row.

In 2014 I resolved to not put out fall decorating early, after getting extremely tired of it by the time December arrived and it could be switched to holiday glitter and glitz. This was the plan until there was unplanned detourafter the tray experience earlier in the week, while working in the living room closet. It dawned on me that the dining room table looked dull in the extreme. I like to replicate shapes, therefore the round large glass cloche wasn't working for me. At the same time the long rectangular basket had been emptied and was available, so . .  maybe just a little fall stuff would be okay?

A plain white runner and some of my seed pod balls, real and artificial acorns, a pumpkin and the star of it all, the rustic wire squirrel. He looks as if he can't believe his luck with the giant acorn, doesn't he?

I like the long, narrow basket's contrast with the long white runner. 

Have you started fall decorating yet, or is that still a little in the future at your house?

And that's my effort towards charm for Thursday. 

Take it easy!

Michele

Call the news media!

Hello, everyone,

I hope your week is going well. Monday I thought about changing the locations of two items that were the same function but with a different design. Tuesday an idea came to me about how to better store trays used in decorating more efficiently. A couple of times I've forgotten where a particular one was because they were stashed in locations all over the house. Acting on directions in the Marie Kondo book about organizing, I got all the trays in the house not on permanent display or currently in use and took them in the living room. Under the coffee table was this:

This large basket is from Ikea and originally had a handle. It was removed a few years ago and casters put on the bottom so it can roll easily. Now there is:

After having second thoughts the final result was this:

Not only will this be handy for finding a particular style or color, it doesn't look messy on the rare occasions we have company sitting in the living room. There you have it, two inspirations in as many days. On a roll here! 

Have a good one!

Michele

An overdue switcheroo

Hi, everyone,

I hope you had a great long weekend. Ours was happily highlighted with rain.

Looking back in my blog list there isn't one post I expected to see, so I will give you the backstory. Mr. B's birthday is in July. Last year at the Sand Dollar a gift that was perfect for him turned up, new in an unopened package. It was this:

It is a towel warmer. About a month or so ago, another one turned up at Manna, so I snagged it for myself. It was used with a few dings and scuffs but works, so should be a great addition to the bathroom this winter. 

Except, that one is freestanding and takes up a lot of room. My bathroom is so tiny it was very difficult to even avail oneself of toilet facilities with it in there. While Mr. B was home for Labor Day I had a brainstorm. Why not trade with him? They both are made by the same company and seem equally efficient, but his is the larger bathroom by far. He leaped in with his screwdriver to take it down from the original location too fast for me to take a picture of it in the men's room. Now, I've got this one:

Hanging flat on the door that is permanently blocked off it works perfectly now.

Whereas, Mr. B's larger space:

has plenty of room for the floor version to sit without being in the way of any amenities. This was a difficult shot to take without revealing just how unhygienic it normally is. Call the HazMat team immediately! 

Isn't it a relief when a logical solution to some problem or issue, large or small, does eventually surface and the results make life easier?  Has that happened to you lately?

Take it easy!

Michele

In and Out

This has to be quick because the day has totally gotten away from me. Earlier in the week I found a domino buried in the dirt of the backyard, so washed it off and added it to the little box on the bookcase. Today it seemed like a good idea to put a name to the assemblage, using letter tiles. Here is the result:

Works for me. 

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Michele

Thursday's Tiny Thrift Score

Hello, all,

Today there was just a few minutes to dash into Sand Dollar before going to Bible study, because I was meeting a friend afterward for lunch. I just got a couple of small items. Here is one of those:

Isn't that cute? It's like a mini-greenhouse and was priced with the typical odd price of $5.10. From my craft closet I got this out:

It went onto a tray, and made this:

Here it is on the coffee table:

I am pleased with how this turned out. It has potential to be used for a variety of uses and especially for holidays. It's a fun find.

May your Thursday go well.

Michele

Mr. B's Latest

Hello, all,

We are temporarily enjoying cooler than seasonal weather and very grateful for it.

However, that doesn't mean we don't need artificial assistance in the house. This place has a new central air conditioning unit--new in June, 2014, that is--that works very well. Except in our bedroom. Mr. B has tried to look in the very limited attic space, but the duct work seems intact. Every room is comfortable besides the one we sleep in; very annoying. Even with a standing fan on it is dramatically warmer than the entire rest of the house. Mr. B came up with an invention to fix this situation. 

Because the light fixtures are those hideous rectangular boxes for fluorescent bulbs,it's impossible to install a ceiling fan.Unless you're the creative type, like him.

My friend Tricia asked why we made a special trip in search of bungee cords and zip ties one weekend: you see the reason. To get the supplies necessary to attach a Vornado to the ceiling, of course! 

We had to buy more extension cords, too. Frankly, it doesn't seem that wonderfully effective to me. So much for putting effort into decorating the room and making an effort to spiff it up. If you wonder why I'm on the crazed side sometimes, reread this post. If I vanish entirely someday, check at The Dull and the Dutiful with Tricia and see if the reason is a head injury death from a fan fall. 

Living with an artist definitely comes with disadvantages at times. Sigh.

Have a good one!

Michele

Michele

Unplanned

Hello, all,

Sunday evening I was mindlessly doing some small chore in the kitchen when from behind me came a truly bizarre noise. No, not a cat, nor any thing else I'd ever heard before. The culprit was revealed seconds later when the microwave quit working abruptly. This wasn't a total surprise, but definitely inconvenient. Mr. B. tasked me with getting a new one immediately when he left for work on Monday. Therefore, directly after finishing my shift at Manna yesterday I went straight to Target. Meanwhile, it felt as if trolls or gremlins had come in to trash the room while I was away from the house. This morning it was obvious cleaning it up had to move to top position on the to do list. 

Not good.

SOMEONE in our house is too lazy to walk the extra two steps to the recycle tub.

Hint: that person's initials are TB.

The king is dead; long live the king!

There's always massive amounts of packaging too.

Okay, we're moving now. The flimsy shelf installed after we moved barely held the old machine. It would never handle one bigger and heavier. 

It's a good thing we have the trusty cart found at Goodwill last year and extra lucky that the new appliance exactly fits on its top surface.

It's adjacent to the coffee pot, so the wicker tray of mugs is convenient set on top.

There are the coffee pot and toaster tucked in the corner.

And that completes our tour. The fridge is still in the same place and not remarkable in any way, so no reason to take a picture of it. The rest of the room has been decluttered, tidied up and sanitized with the dishwasher running now. I hope this new microwave is a better appliance than the last one and justifies all this unscheduled cleaning and rearranging. Getting it installed has seriously eroded anticipated sofa sitting time, so it had better perform!

Oh, and btw, happy September 1.

Michele