Cherries and Checks

Now that our friend, Rob, has given my energy level the jump-start that I needed by finishing and painting the walls of the dining area and kitchen, I've been working on the finishing details.

I found this stencil on the Internet:



I liked it but I knew I wouldn't use the yellow flowers. To my pleasant surprise the stencil arrived in less than a week from when I ordered it.

This is what it looked like on the wall of the kitchen above the countertop and below the cabinets.

I was happy with the new cherries and checks. But the location on the wall made them appear as if they were floating in space.

As you can see here, the stencil sat directly on top of the backsplash.

I cut off 3/4 inch off of the bottom, the size of one square, in order for it to fit lower so I could paint another row of squares.


That looks better, doesn't it?
rita

In the Black

I fell in love with the color black.

I tried to fight it but as I wandered around garage sales and the Goodwill store this summer black items kept jumping out at me.

I began to collect and tuck them away not knowing what to do with them.

But now that the dining area has been freshly painted this collection has found their home.

This lovely vintage scraf isn't black but it seemed to fit here, too.

A napkin that I picked up at the Williamsburg, Virginia gift shop.

Two different garage sales -- four similar metal trays.

And then at the Goodwill these lovely plates were waiting for me.

And then I saw this piece of furniture on The Nester's blog and wondered if painting my piece black should be my next project.

What color are you in love with?

rita

Check out The Inspired Room for some holiday ideas!

Bigger is Better?

I needed a new switch plate and a couple of blank plates to cover the holes in the kitchen wall where the previous owners had telephone and television hookups.

At the local Home Depot I discovered that there is a wide range of prices for these items. I could pay $ .44 or $12.00 -- depending on how fancy I wanted them.

I only needed plain plates so I purchased the $ .44 ones. When I got home and put them up I discovered that they were 1/2 inch larger than the ones I am used to buying.

Why should this be? This is my explanation . . .


During the recent home building boom sheetrock installers were so sloppy cutting the holes in the sheetrock for electrical boxes that there is frequently a gap between the sheetrock and the cover plate.

It is easier to make the plates larger than it is to slow sheetrockers down enough to do a good job.





Do you think anyone will notice that some plates are larger than the others?
rita

Cookies and Brother

One great advatage of becoming an elder member of society is that the fear of failure fades. We have the courage (or stupidity) to try things that we wouldn't have attempted years ago.

Face it, we don't have all that much to lose any more.

Example #1

Encouraged by these wonderful examples spider web decorations and seeing how easily they are created by Martha Stewart-types I tried my hand at them this weekend.

This is a good start . . .

And a sad ending . . .

It looked so easy on TV. They did taste good and were happily received by my children and grandchildren.

Example #2

My brother is in the process of deciding what he wants to be when he grows up (retires).

After taking a few classes in "voice over" he is pursuing a career in radio.

While continuing with his day job he volunteers at a local radio station and has been a big hit with the listeners.

A Portland, Oregon newspaper reporter for The Oregonian wrote a nice piece about the radio station and its owner. She also mentioned my brother, not by name, but said he had a "voice as smooth as syrup".

Was that her back-handed way of saying his voice is sappy?

rita

Halloween Fun

The evening started out with our Wheaties Box Super Star -- Kyle

And every family needs a Super Hero . . .

In past years this homeowner enjoyed dressing like this and startling his visitors by moving. So we approached with caution. I was dared to touch him -- so I did . . .

He was only stuffed with newspapers this year and the homeowner enjoyed it just as much seeing people's relieved reaction.

This just demonstrates what heights some parents will go to in order to keep their kid safe on Halloween night.

This house looked innocent enough ---

Until the window opened and a scarey head popped out.

Now we come to the wonderfully decorated house that I featured last week. It was even more spooky at night. There was a constant line of Trick or Treaters wanting to approach this house and the one next door.

Brave Wheaties Box and Super Man went too . . .

The house next door was just as wonderful -- I mean terrifying with fog all around.

The side fence gate was open . . .

I don't know how they did this and my camera had a hard time capturing the effect but a black light effect came on and off and when on there was a face and hands suspended in space.

I'm sure this is where my memory bank is . . .

The little guy caught the hang of it -- you go up to the door and things get put into your bag. I got it, Dad, I can do this one myself.

rita

Repurposing Queen

I've linked to "A Beautiful Life Friday" because I think what my daughter did at her house this week is BEAUTIFUL. Check out Melissa's The Inspired Room for more . . .

We visited with our Darling Daughter earlier this week. She and hubs heat their home with wood and making the many trips to the woodshed as easy as possible was her latest project.

The first order of business was to clear the path of the grass and weeds that took over during the summer.

In the years past this pathway has been slippery on wet days -- so her next task was to find some way to make it safer.

She wandered down to the barn and spotted these unused stall mats. Her hubby cut them in half and turned them upside down so that the ridges would provide traction on wet days.

But, sometimes a trip to the woodshed needs to be made in the late afternoon, after the winter sun has gone down beyond the horizon and the sky is dark. So the next stage of the project was to install some lengths of wood and top with a rope light.

When she read the directions she discovered that the manufacturer warned that the connection should be kept dry at all times.

That presented a problem for her -- there wasn't a convenient location for the plug that would stay dry.

Again, she returned to the barn and spotted a metal box that was a perfect solution.

I didn't recognized what the box was -- do you?

She is the Queen of repurposing!!!!

rita

Boo

Here are two of our neighbors who have gotten into the spirit of the spooky season. This first decorator has done something that I've never seen before with black cloth used as window covering on the outside. The effect is really great.

I wonder what kind of treats they give out here. Maybe I'll accompany my grandson Saturday night just to find out.

Next door to them is the house that assembles this spooky picket fence every year just for the season.

rita