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4.12.12

This past Winter we were wondering where all our rain was. What a mild Winter we are having, we said. Well it turns out April was stockpiling all the rain.

It makes for a very gloomy indoors but outdoors everything is turning a lush, vibrant green.

We are lucky to have these huge picture windows in our living room that overlook a big lawn and the trees below. It does give the interior a bit of green glow. Maybe we shouldn't have picked green carpet and a green couch.

(I left the shoes in the shot because that is just how it is around here. I have shoes everywhere. As soon as I sit down I kick them off. Just keeping it real….)

This picture gives you a better idea of how green it is out there. After months of grey and brown the green is a welcome change. Not visible in any of these pictures are all the azaleas and camelias that are blooming. If it wasnt pouring rain I'd go out and take a picture for you. They add a lovely bright pink to the landscape.

I would also go out and take a look at the creek to make sure it isn't in danger of flooding.

I hope where ever you are you are enjoying a lovely Spring and that you are staying dry.

4.9.12

Every Easter I like to make treat bags for all the kids. Okay the kids are between the ages of 19-32 but who wouldn't like getting a treat bag?

The ones I made this year would work for any occasion, not just Easter. The blog post I found them on was dedicated to Valentine's Day. They would be cute for a tea party, a bridal shower, for Mother's Day, May Day, a birthday party; really – just about anything.

I found them on Oh Happy Day!

The were very simple to make and your only limitation is to what color crepe paper you can find. If I was going to do them for a bridal shower I might skip the yellow stamen and dip the end of the toothpick in glue and then glitter for a little sparkle.

Friday’s Favorites

Flickr Favorites (please click link to see the source of these beautiful images)

Absolutely the most gorgeous DIY Easter Eggs. I would do them in a soft turquoise too
Clever Easter cupcakes
Keeping with the Easter theme – I love this painting by Toshio Ebine
Some Etsy prettiness for your Friday: Vintage baby brush and comb * Boullion cups and saucers * Teapot
I'm having so much fun looking at all the entries for the Apartment Therapy Small Cool 2012 contest. Can you even imagine living in the teeny tiny category? Yet they make it look so doable

This week went by fast – I've been in class for the past two days which is a definite change of pace for me. I have to actually get dressed and look presentable to go into the office.

I hope you have a relaxing weekend and lovely Easter Festivities if you celebrate. We are doing our usual extravagant brunch. I have some treat bags again this year (here are last years) that I'll share on Monday.

4.4.12

Just a quick post on a quick project. I have had this hose-bib hose hanger** for years. Not sure where or when I got it but I've had it for about 10 years. It started out white but years of sprinklers and inclement weather have taken their toll.

It didn't matter that it was slowly rusting because it was hidden behind a rose bush.

When we did the landscaping work last Summer we removed all the plants along the front of the house (where the hose hanger lived). They have since been replaced with lower growing plants and the rusty old hose hanger stood out (and not in a good way).

We also did some work at the back of the house – replacing the decrepit walkway behind the garage.

I decided the hose hanger could live back there but would need a face lift since it would be very noticeable (no hiding behind a rosebush).

This was an easy fix. I just took a wire brush to it and scrubbed away at any loose paint and dirt. Then I painted it with a rust inhibiting spray paint in a dark grey/brown color.

I ended up putting three coats on the front and two on the back. My painting skills are really deficient but I am getting a little better with spray paint. The trick is multiple light coats. No rushing (as I am wont to do).

This isn't a very glamorous after shot, it is the backside of the garage after all, but I like how tidy it looks. The hose was just in a heap on the walkway prior to hanging it. We will fill the area with some stones to keep the dirt from splashing up on wall. We just planted some hydrangeas and rhododendrons in the planting bed. They are joining the azaleas that we transplanted from the front of the house last Summer. Hopefully they will fill in quickly and provide some color and interest along the backside of the garage.

**I've been calling it the wrong thing for years! It's not a hose-bib (which is the faucet) it is a hose hanger. Sheesh. Slinking off now….

4.2.12

My sister Kate and I hit up the Alameda Antique Faire on Sunday.

We met up around 9:30 (after a rather harrowing romp through a very shady part of Oakland thanks in part to a misguided GPS system and in part on my absolute lack of direction) and braved the biting winds. No rain but my goodness was the wind sharp and cold.

My plan (and $100 budget) was to buy vintage European linens but the two vendors that were there last Summer were nowhere to be found this time around.

Both of us were rather bewildered by the predominance of mundane items (say – a burlap pillow or a jelly jar) that bore the Chanel logo. It was weird. Does anyone think that the house of Chanel is really licensing their image to be slapped on a poorly constructed throw pillow made out of landscaping fabric from the Home Depot? I don't think so.

There was a great selection of chandeliers and dressers. And one perfectly formed skeleton that Kate was eyeing (it was a little bit out of her budget).

The one thing we did see that both of us loved was a birdhouse that wasn't for sale. It was being used to keep the vendor's tablecloth from flying away in the wind. I did take a picture of it. Kate and I are pretty sure we know a couple of guys that could build us one.

I ended up buying a small table that I thought had a pleasing shape and is perfectly sized for a bedside table. I have one of the those spindly decorator rounds covered with a tablecloth in the guest room that I've been wanting to replace for years. Not bad for $40.

(sorry for the next two pictures – my camera batteries died and these were taken with my cellphone)

If anyone has been to the Alameda Antique Faire you know it is acres and acres of vendors – and it never fails that I'll find some large, bulky thing at the farthest point from the front entrance so I (and anyone hapless enough to be with me) have to lug it about two miles back to my car.

I also bought a doorbell cover plate. I don't even know if I can retrofit it so it will work at our front door. Right now we have a plastic, rectangle affair. I'll need to see if I can find a round button type doorbell to fit.

So even though my linen vendors were missing it still was a pretty productive day.

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