G. and M. Have Been Hanging Pictures!

Whenever I visit  G and M's "new" house I am invited [exhorted] to see the

latest decorating efforts.

When I stopped to collect G. this morning, a picture hanging frenzy was in full swing.

[M. is extremely meticulous about such things, armed with ruler as well as with hammer.]

This is a corner of the dining room.

I'm losing track of which bits and pieces G. has owned for years and which have been cannily acquired

in the past two months of haunting auctions and yard sales.

[This is very fertile country for collectors.]

A clock and a framed piece of crewel-work hang over a vintage cake carrier.

The scruffy blue chair was in this house when we bought it; I relegated it to the basement--where G. discovered it and pounced.

G. wants to remove the door that you see--it leads into the kitchen and is rather in the way of that nice corner nook.

This stunning bird print is one of several very handsome numbered prints which M. spotted at a big yard sale.

The fruit plaques have been around a while longer.

G. was given these vintage lady prints, unframed, years ago by a wealthy woman for

whom she did private care.

Yardsale frames were emptied of some worthless prints and used to finally display the ladies.

The curtains are ones I made for my sitting/sewing room in the last of our Wyoming houses--sadly they don't fit in my present house--so they have moved to G.'s house.

{Can you tell that we really enjoy repurposing things?]

The photo doesn't do this piece of cross-stitch full justice.

Another auction find.

G. created a display of vintage aprons and potholders to hang over the door that leads from the

kitchen to the basement laundry/storage area.

I should have turned on a light for this photo.

The blue-green shelf is one that J. made years ago.

The lamp and its fringe-y shade are a vintage find.

There is a story behind this elephant.

I have a smaller elephant doorstop which came from the home that belonged to my grandparents and g-grandparents.  My elephant has a crack down the center [apparently cast in two pieces.]  From my earliest childhood memory the elephant wore a red cloth bandage.

Although G's creature is unscathed, he wears a bandage in the family tradition.

We can't decide if T-baby is pleased with all this house decorating or if he is miffed by the uproar.

Here he is plopped on a vintage trunk, surrounded by pictures and books,

supervising the arrangement of his domain.

Settling In

Two weeks ago today our daughter and her family began the process of moving their worldly goods from our garage to their newly purchased home a mere country mile along the road.

Matt and Devin have ferried furniture and boxes [oh, the boxes and bins!] carefully by the pickup load.

The house was not left as clean as it should have been, so Gina has spent exhausting hours scrubbing every cupboard and surface, scouring the bathtub/shower/sinks and the fridge  before unpacking.

M. gives up at a sensible hour and finds a place to sleep, while G. and D.--the confirmed night owls--shove furniture, paw through boxes, and contemplate alternate arrangements into the wee hours.

G. has a great flair for decorating.  Each time we stop by I am called to witness a cunning nook of furnishings and accessories--only to find by the next visit that it has been changed!

The cottage sits well back from the road in the deep shade of maples.  Walnut and chestnut trees rim the back yard.  The former owner did some rather formal landscaping around the house: hollies; knock-out roses, juniper, ornamental grasses and daylilies. G. is torn between the neccesity of settling the house and spending time weeding in the plantings and considering where she will set out her hoarded perennials.

The lilies in the landscaped areas include the common orange daylily which the former owner transplanted from a huge spread of them just along the road; I recognize Stella d'Oro and a lovely citron-shaded one which I beleive is Hyperion.

This charmer opened this week--the double trinity of petals is distinctive

and the "monkey face" makes us smile.

The south-facing covered porch is perhaps G.'s favorite spot--a real selling point when they viewed the home.

She has arranged "the wicker" so happily acquired at a yard sale; potted plants are placed to advantage.

The lineup of perennials at the edge of the porch are awaiting the planned garden spot. Preparing that is on Matt's list!

Viewing the porch from the side toward the back yard.

You can see the Hyperion lilies at the left edge of the photo.

Jinka, the idiosyncratic white cat, peers over her shoulder, ever alert to the possibility of T-Baby charging from the shrubbery.

G. didn't feel quite ready for a full house tour, but the kitchen is cleaned, sorted, and in working order.

As you can see, it is a galley arrangement.  The oak cabinetry was made by a local craftsman and is well done. G. prefers white painted cabinets and woodwork so the predominance of dark-stained oak in this house is taking some mental adjustment.  When feeling stressed and cross through-out the moving process she threatens to buy gallons of white gloss paint and slather it over the oak.

None of us are taking the threat seriously!

The little window tucked at the end of the counter looks out to the north.  Eventually the proposed flower garden will be situated in a splash of sunlight and will be visible through this window.

Tarbaby the Cat has decided that he likes to parade the length of the countertop and station himself at the window to watch "birdies."

[G. declares that he NEVER walked on counters until he peeked in the windows during his two month stay with us and saw our resident felines making free with counters and table-tops. A likely tale!]

It was overcast yesterday when I took these hasty photos of the dining room so this corner doesn't show to good advantage. G. collects vintage trunks, two of which are stacked in front of the window. Her 'Wardian case' holds potted gerbera daisies.

A close up of the window arrangement with a bamboo stand to the right.

M. purchased this sturdy oak hutch several years ago at an auction in Lander, WY. G. wasn't sure she liked it then, but is pleased to find that it matches the oak cabinetry of this house and is a fine gathering spot for

some of her cherished vintage pantryware and linens.

I think she has a flair for eye-catching arrangements--surely worthy of any glossy decorating magazine!

The Arrival of Winter [continued]

Yesterday's post generated comments re our wood-burning heat and I thought I would elaborate with more detailed photos.

We have been interested in the weather reports and the inconveniences caused by cold and snow in the UK.

J. is hoping someone will respond to a question he has, that being whether there are restrictions in UK as to what timber can be harvested for firewood,  locations of trees felled, species or amounts.

The above photo shows the living room fireplace with one of the doors opened.  Both doors fold back to add wood or to clean out the ashes.

This fireplace was installed by the previous owners, probably when the house was built in 1980 or shortly after. It has a "heat-a-lator" unit. The gridded openings on the bottom serve as a cold air intake, the upper ones blow warm air when the fan is switched on.  The blower is not on a thermostat which means if we let the fire die out during the night, we get up to find the blower still whirring away.

J. obliged me by opening the firebox door on the basement stove for this photo.  I am pleased with the heavy spring-loaded closure on the door. There are grates in the firebox and the handle below pulls out the ash drawer.

You can see the electrical cord for the blower.

We've had experience, as have family members, with some of the more "decorative" wood stoves.

The nicer models have a current price upwards from about $1800.00 for a very basic model to several thousand for the nicer [heavier] ones.

Most of them don't have the ash pan and on many the blower is an add-on.

As well, the fireboxes are small in relation to the overall size of the stoves and take wood cut to fiddly lengths.

The shop where we purchased our stove had a larger model [new] for about $1200.00 as I recall correctly and we have seen the biggest size for around $1800.00

This one seemed the perfect size for our application.  It was priced [used] at under $500.00 though J. returned to the shop and bought a new blower for $169.00.  The old blower was extremely noisy.

We can buy bundles of hardwood slabs at either of two Amish sawmills a few miles away. The bundles are priced $10.00-$15.00--not sure why the price variation.  J. can haul them in on the small trailer behind old Snort'n Nort'n the 1992 Dodge diesel.  Truth to tell, he enjoys cutting and stacking the wood.

The house also has a heating and cooling "pump" [a concept new to us] the unit sits outside and is electrically powered.  We used the A/C feature this summer.  In the interest of economy we don't intend to use it often for heat, but if we were away or ill, the thermostat could be set for automatic heat.

We have always enjoyed "country breakfasts" when there is time to cook and eat such.

Often we do morning chores, putter at things, have our morning coffee, and then later fix a large breakfast which will tide us over until mid or late afternoon.

This morning I made buttermilk biscuits and served them with dried beef gravy

and some of the "bottled" pears for fruit.

I realize that "biscuit" in the British sense means what we in the US call a "cookie" but don't know what the equivalent term would be for our "baking powder biscuit."  They are lighter than a scone and are good with   gravy, or buttered while hot and jam or honey added.

They also serve as "shortcake" with fresh or frozen fruit.

Dried beef gravy was a common item in our New England childhoods.

The dried beef of those days was  salt-cured paper thin slices packed in a glass jar.  Today the beef has been chopped, pressed and cut into perfect circles before being packed in glass.

It needs to be "freshened" in water for a few minutes, then butter is melted in a skillet, the shredded beef added and sizzled a bit, then about 1/4 cup of flour stirred in and gently browned.  Two cups of milk are added gradually while stirring the gravy smooth.  I flavor mine with onion salt or dehydrated onion bits as well as freshly ground pepper and sometimes a crumble of dried parsley.  Scrambled eggs go well with this meal.  The gravy can also be served over mashed potatoes.

Biscuit and gravy.

The same cold blustery weather has continued today, although the sun did struggle out between scowling clouds for almost an hour before it slid over the hill behind the woods.

There have been flurries of snow driven almost horizontal by the gusty wind, but none of the snow stays on the ground.

J. is constructing a giant closet just outside the nearly finished family room in the basement.

I dug out a miscellaney of books and dumped them on the walnut table which is soon to become my sewing desk.

The table has become a magnet for cats as it is currently sitting near the woodstove.

I've come to no mental arrangement of our oddments of furniture destined for the space.

I can imagine that when J. declares the room finished he will simply begin hauling items into place.

The entire house still feels like a work in progress.

Our neighbors Dan and Gracie retired to this rural neighborhood several years before we arrived.

They took on a more challenging remodel than we have, a tiny Amish house which had no electricty.

Staying here during vacations for a number of years they had the wiring and plumbing done, a modern kitchen installed and built a large garage workshop for Dan and a tidy guest cottage to house visiting family.

Gracie saved this quilt rack which had been used in their former home and decided that it needed to live with me.  [I have been wheedling J. for several years to make me at least one of these!]

Today he announced it needed to go up----somewhere---so I had him hang it at my side of the bed.

The quilt is one that I undertook during the winter of 2008, from a Kim Diehl design.

The pattern suggested a type of machine applique which I felt I couldn't do to a standard of excellence.

Pat W. one of the "girls" at the quilt shop gave me a tutorial in hand applique and I spent many evening hours that winter in finishing the work.

J. was impressed that I was spending time in the living room with him instead of shut in my "lair" of books and sewing.  The cats felt certain that I was snipping  lengths of thread and holding a wad of fabric simply to encourage their presence on my lap.

Having the quilt now on display warms my heart. These small touches, slowly accomplished, are making the little house a more personal home.

The fat tea mug was a gift from a dear friend in Wyoming several years ago.

The plump green teapot is from my "collection."

I can't think why I don't make tea in a pot more often.

There is something pleasant and soothing about doing so, as if one deserved a special "break" rather than standing at the counter merely slurping.

And finally on a cold day, what is more encouraging than choclate?

J. dropped off a power tool which Marla Shelley needed to borrow, and her kitchen was fragrant with brownies just taken from the oven.

I was inspired to come home and make some, dotted with  pecans gifted us by Mr. Rogers.

Today the first of the seed and plant catalogs arrived in the mailbox.

They are wonderful aides for constructing dream gardens that I could never possibly maintain.

We are settling in for the dark chilly days and long evenings of this first retirement winter.

Warm house, cats, hot food and drink, projects and books a-plenty.