Ideas... always looking for Ideas !

Bookcases ! For the dining room.
I love having a library / dining room. My husband says, "Dining Rooms are a waste," and I agree.

I have a dining room. It is beautiful. . with a nice black and gold Italian chandelier ( antique from San Telmo)

and a round table and chairs from Thonet. The legs remind me of spider legs. They look good but no one uses them. We eat in the kitchen. So there is a wall waiting to become a library wall in the dining room.

I keep trying to think of how to convince my husband that a Toile covered chair would be a Good Thing.

I don't know about you but having a map as wall paper would eventually make me go insane.

Why is it that other peoples water stained/damaged walls look good?

Just when I thought an all White bathroom would work ...

Does this wallpaper make you twitch or is it just me?

I would spend 50% of my day ... in the bathtub.

photos House Beautiful / mine 

Shady lady

The bathroom window needs a shade. It is a French window and the glass is frosted but I want to "dress" it as well as covering the glass will make me feel like it is more private, even though only a pigeon stopping by once in a while would be able to try to look in. I am torn. I love Toile and have blue and white toile roman shades in my kitchen. And I think in the white bathroom, black and white would look great, especially with the dark wood vanity. But then I wonder, would the wood look good? or too masculine. I think Toile is better. Good... glad we got that settled.

Blue and White Toile in Kitchen

We have probably, as of today, decided that we will have a larger more  ornate frame made for the mirror and while the wider/larger frame will cover some of the water marks.. it will also make it look like a great huge old mirror just hanging on the wall. We will pick out molding and have it painted white, I am playing with the idea of antiquing it .. distressing it maybe .. 

It has been a dreadful rainy day, this is all I have to do is plan renovations and dry off the dog when The Husband comes in from walking him. 

I did make a nice Pasta with Creamy Tomato , Smoked Salmon Sauce.

Mirror Mirror On the (Bathroom) Wall

Yes, that bathroom wall. I saw those dark spots on the glass and realized that was why old mirrors all have that color on them, that tarnish.. it is rust, they have been hanging on a wet wall. So my new mirror on the wall of my bathroom, is antiquing at an alarming rate. When the painter finishes, the room will look new again, but that mirror. My husband said, we should get a new one, I am horrified at the thought of the broken glass mess and having a new one put in for some reason. But then, when I gave it some thought, I started imagining, what if I framed the mirror with dark wood or an ornate gold frame that would give it some character to go with the mottled spots that are developing. Now that the wall is dry and repaired, will the spots continue? 

Now I am contemplating, what sort of mirror would I replace it with ? I like the entire wall being mirrored.. it is a small-ish bathroom. I like mirrors. Big mirrors are fine with me.

So these are some that I thought might be a style that would work in some way... what do you think?

Venetian glass would be nice.

I could just paint or change the color of wood that frames it now and make it dark to match the sink base.

Would that shape work when the sink is a rectangle?

What if I go with the antique building theme and use antique /beaten up wood for the frame?

This is so beautiful !

What if I did the entire wall, all the way up to the ceiling ?

This sort of mirror I would like in my bedroom .. why not the bathroom ?

bathroom photos/HouseBeautiful


So, tell me what you think ? Next will be the idea of what sort of  shades in the window ... yes, the fun just doesn't stop.

The Saga of the Leaky Bathroom

A plumber is called to the house of a cute little old lady. He spies a doberman sitting in the kitchen drooling and growling under his breath, and a parrot whistling contentedly next to him on his perch.

Half-way through the job, the little old lady tells him she’s going to the grocery store. His back to the doberman, he begins to sweat. Then he asks the little old lady if he’ll be safe while she’s away.

The old lady smiles sweetly and says: “Oh yes! Poopsie is so sweet. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s a good doggie.”

Then the old lady adds: “Oh. but whatever you do, don’t say anything to the parrot!”

Relieved, the plumber resumes his work. After the little old lady leaves, the parrot starts making a horrible racket. He makes insults, and calls the plumber names.

The plumber cannot even concentrate on his work. Losing his temper completely, the plumber glares at the bird and screams: “Shut up, you feathered fruitcake!”, and goes back to the sink. The bird is stunned silent.

A few seconds later, the parrot squawks: “Sick him, Poopsie!”

.........................................................................................

The plumbers came today.. They could not find the source of the water..they think it was a seal between the sink and wall. Everything is fixed, sealed, put back, floor and wall tiles replaced. I will do anything not to see another plumber again. Hopefully there is nothing left to fix, so we can call the painter now. I have no worries about his doing the job well, he has worked here before. 

I only have to choose a color. This has all the possibilities of being another traumatic event for me. 

I want cream white in the bathroom. Nothing grey or dreary, just a soft warm white. I am probably asking for the moon so will settle on just plain white.

I am also going to push my luck and ask for an estimate on the kitchen. The color I chose is not what I got. I lived with it but dislike it. I will also settle on white again. My standards for color  have lowered a lot .. 

I will continue to lose myself in the Design blogs and get ideas and white will work fine.. it always looks good in other homes, why not mine? 

So tonight I am going to loll around and relish the thought that there is no plumber coming tomorrow. 

I can also study the ideas that I have for the library wall I am planning for the dining room..

I also like the idea of making the kitchen a bit more rustic, I have a spot where an old beam would fit in nicely. 

So I have plenty to think about , now that the Saga of the Leaky Bathroom has come to an End.

Sunshine

OMIGOD the sun is out !!!
Bright, golden sunshine !!!
It is not freezing cold !!!




The plumber was supposed to be here 18 minutes ago.
I will not be out in the sunshine today, I think.


I will be
1- stuck in waiting
2- stuck in while he makes a big dirty noisy mess
3- stuck in cleaning


Why ? why ? why ? why ?????????

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Post Script
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3 hours after the plumber was supposed to arrive, his friend called to say he would be here tomorrow at 8 am. My answer was, he will be here tomorrow at 10 am or don't bother to come at all. . Ever... 
Then after taking a hot shower and throwing a huge hissy fit, we went for a long walk with the dog in the sunshine.
Lunch at a sidewalk cafe and more park walking and apartment looking and hot tea and a scone ... I am feeling fairly myself again.
But this is the End of El Plumber .. grrrrr.

What to do on a Cold Dreary Wet Sunday

Pup generally has the right answer to this. He is always ready to go for a walk.

Of course, today is not a great day for walking so it was a short  walk .. After which he likes to hang out with friends

Of course, sometime during the day, he has to make his Mama laugh .. which he does quite often

why does she do this to me ?

And then, as we all know, there is nothing better than spending part of a rainy Sunday, taking a nap.

I have to quit eating

It is the same no matter where you go .. Winter = Eating.
Warm weather means staying busy and on the go and grabbing a bite and nothing hot and not much cooking and then the cold comes along and what do you have ? 
Night time arrives at around 4 pm and hot soup sounds good and salad doesn't really sound that comforting on such a wet and cold night, how about pasta ? 

Want some croissants for breakfast ? Oh why not, it is cold out, I will have more coffee and a little breakfast and warm my tummy .. 

Walk the dog in the afternoon, Tea time ! stop and pick up some scones, or stop and pick up some chocolate brownies that make you think for just a minute of going on an all chocolate diet and then the little cheese tart changes your mind... then you have your gallon of tea and think , This is it, I can't eat anything else until tomorrow.

And about 2 hours later, everyone is in the kitchen, peering into the fridge, looking into the cupboards, What's for dinner?

The good part: We walk miles a day. Even though it seems we are eating every waking hour, our meals probably equal one large dinner for the average person ... 
The bad part : Eating is addictive. The more you do it, the more you want. This leads to needing a clothing size larger and I am not finished with my new wardrobe that is 3 sizes smaller.
So as of tonight, I have decided... no more eating.
I will just look at it, take a taste and make my husband eat it.
No more cooking. 
No more breakfast.


And just so you know I mean business .... I will not finish this cookie.

all art- all posters . com

No Photos, Please !

We have a large dog that is not found here in this city. He looks good even if he were in a room full of dogs just like him. So since the day we arrived here, we have gotten quite a bit of attention .. well, the dog has.
We just speak for him. He just smiles and accepts all the attention as his due.
People always ask if they can take a photo .. he loves people and babies so it is not surprising that people will let this unknown large animal snuggle up to their babies and smile for the camera. Yes, he smiles.
The babies almost always smile, although there have been one or two who climbed their mama's like a little monkey, getting away as fast as possible from that grinning hairy monster.
But mostly, they smile , coo, put their hands out, in his mouth, fingers in his eyes, that sort of thing .. and how does he like it ?
When he sees a baby, his tail starts wagging, he will lie flat on the ground, so he won't knock them over and he will let them maul him, all because he is a large hairy bundle of love.. and spreading love wherever he goes.


Now when I walk out the door of my home, I expect people on the street to smile and sometimes pet him.
What I do not expect nor do I appreciate... people standing with cameras and photographing US as we walk.
I mean really, being a tourist is about taking photos of the monuments, the parks, a Tango dancer .. not some woman walking down the street with her dog.


You have now entered the Realm of Invasion of Privacy and Getting in my Face.
This will not earn you smiles or a sweet dog who will let you pet him... more like me letting the dog think you are going to try to hurt me... see if you can get a non-blurry shot of him with all those big white teeth showing, right before they sink into your leg.


So take this as a warning, any would be visitors to my town.. I will let you pet him and touch him and take his photo ... but you have to ask and no, you may not take a photo of me.