Halcyon
Halcyon, when used as an adjective, denotes a period of timeĀ in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful. Isn’t that lovely? The word is pronounced hal-sÄ-en (hal-see-en). I ran across the word halcyon in two different books last week and did not know what the word meant when used as an adjective. When it is used as a noun it refers to a bird. One of the books was a children’s book, so that prompted me to pause and question the depth of my vocabulary. How many words DO I use in a day? Also, this is the second time I’ve read this particular children’s book out loud to…
5 Practical Uses for Soda Crates
I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand to decorate and organize your home. I happen to own some vintage soda crates, so today I’m sharing 5 practical uses for soda crates. None of these practical uses involve soda. Or pop. Or soda pop. Or Coke. Or whatever that bubbly goodness is called where you live. Such a shame. Practical Uses for Soda Crates #1: Sunscreen CaddyĀ With a pool in our backyard, we need a sunscreen caddy to control the various bottles of sunscreen and bug spray that summer requires. I keep the sunscreen right by the pool towels, so everything we need for an afternoon…
Vacation Week
It’s vacation week for our family! Well, staycation week. We aren’t going anywhere. We were supposed to be on a plane to visit family, but all of our summer travel was cancelled. Quarantine travel rules between states make leaving New Jersey tricky. Plus, it didn’t seem like a good way to show our love by living in the state with the second highest number of Covid-19 cases and then traveling on a plane to visit people who are considered high risk. I’m showing my love by staying away and that feels strange. I’m holding onto hope that things will get better because I miss everyone! This week we are going…
Happy List: #171
Hello, folks! Welcome to another Happy List! In perhaps the most happiest news of all, I have a haircut scheduled for next week! I warned my stylist that I’ve been cutting my own hair, but I don’t think she fully understands that I ventured past the bangs this time. This week on the blog I shared the new way I’m storing books and progress on our front yard. Here’s the Happy List! AN ARGUMENT FOR USING THE GOOD PLATES Don’t save the fancy dishes for special occasions is the argument of antiques dealer Ajiri Aki. Basically, life is too short. Read all the reasoning in this Veranda article. (image: Ajiri…
Front Yard Landscaping Progress
Get ready to bust out your high fives because I have front yard landscaping progress to report. In fact, I’d say we are 80% done with the front yard landscaping. Give or take a few percentage points. In fact, let’s not get bogged down in numbers. Let’s celebrate the fact that front yard landscaping progress has been made. Hallelujah. (If you need a refresher on the landscaping plan, you can read about it here or I’ll just catch you up in this post.) I don’t have a true before picture, but here is more or less how our front yard started out: Now this same view looks like this: Much…
Well Bucket Book Holder
I never imagined I’d string these four words together: well bucket book holder. But that’s how my life works, so I just roll with it now. I pinkie swear I’m running out of “I found this left in my house/garage” stories, but that is where this well bucket book holder originated. I found a faux (and definitely not old) well bucket in our garage when we bought the Colonial Farmhouse. I actually liked it as is, but had no use for it at the time. Also, I couldn’t work that green paint into my decor scheme, so the well bucket sat in the garage for a year mocking me. A…
Happy List: #170
Happy early Father’s Day to all the dads and dads-to-be out there. My own dad is pretty fantastic! Definitely a keeper. You might even say I take after him in the fantastic category. š This week on the blog I shared our one year house-iversary and the microwave station I created in the hall off our kitchen. If you follow along on Facebook or InstagramĀ stories, you’ll know I also started work on our deck makeover. Just one time I’d like a project to hum along without any glitches. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, it is. Ha! Here’s the glitch-free Happy List. TENNIS RACKET ART This is CLEVER. Artist…
Microwave Station Adds Extra Kitchen Storage
The other side of that weird hallway off our kitchen has been absent from all mentions on this blog and social media because it is where I created a microwave station and microwaves aren’t that interesting to me. However, extra storage in a hallway IS interesting to me. Remember that hallway? The one where we added some built-in shelves? That weird hallway used to look like this when we bought the Colonial Farmhouse. Can you tell why I wanted to buy this place? Hahahahahaha! This hallway connects the kitchen to the main floor bathroom, which seems like a normal function for a hallway. In person, the whole space just feels…
Colonial Farmhouse One Year Anniversary
Today is a big day! We are celebrating our one year anniversary of living in the Colonial Farmhouse! WOOHOO! Can you believe it has been a year since we purchased thisĀ amazing, historic money pit home? I can’t! It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how quickly the year has gone. Apparently, time flies when you’re removing endless amounts of wallpaper living in a colonial era home that demands an inordinate amount of time and attention. I still think we were a wee bit crazy for purchasing this Colonial Farmhouse, but some of life’s most fulfilling endeavors are often a wee bit crazy. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The most…
Happy List: #169
Hey, hey! Welcome back to another edition of the Happy List! Our summer has officially begun now that the kids are out of school! Usually we have a plan for what we’ll be doing with our summer: play dates, BBQs, community events, travel, visitors coming to stay with us. This summer we have none of that planned and I’m thinking, “Now what?” Ha! Even venturing out of our state becomes tricky with the various quarantine rules for out-of-state travelers. No matter what we decide to do or not do, this will definitely be a summer we’ll remember! Speaking of memorable moments, on Monday I shared a long post about all…
