Travel: Silverball Museum Arcade
I’ve lost count of the number of museums we have visited as a family. We aren’t gluttons for punishment. If these had been terrible, torturous experiences we wouldn’t keep going back for more. So that’s why it continually confounds me that our museum experiences starts like this every single time. My Kids: What are we doing today? Me: (in my best Oprah voice) YOU get to go to a MUSEUM! And YOU get to go to a MUSEUM! My Kids: But why? Do we have to? I want to stay home. *Insert other unintelligible whining here.* Only one time have I short-circuited that whining by saying… “We are going to a…
Happy List: #138
Hello! Tonight we are going on a full moon hike with a bunch of strangers. Here’s hoping this isn’t creepy it isn’t cloudy! Monday on the blog was a fun one. I shared before and after photos of our music room. I think I’m done talking about that room for awhile! I’m not sure which room I will yak your ear off about next though. Although, if you’ve been following on my Instagram stories you’ll know I am painting a new room. And I’m not painting it white! On Wednesday, I shared a story about how and why we removed the garden bed in our backyard. Don’t we have the…
The Great Garden Misunderstanding
Our Colonial Farmhouse has a small patch of dirt that was used as an oddly placed garden for many years. The year before we bought the house a new septic system was installed and the garden area was damaged in the process. Add a little neglect to the situation and by the time we moved in the garden bed had become a riot of weeds with a few bits of fencing straining to stay upright. And that’s the nicest thing I can say about that eyesore. We’ve been meaning to remove or clean up the garden area for months, but it just hasn’t been a priority. A few weekends ago, Handy Husband…
Music Room Before and After
I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a proper ‘before and after’ room post because that’s just not how I roll, but there’s a first time for everything! Today I’m going to show you pictures of our music room before and after because I’m at a stopping point in this space. Basically, I’ve called it ‘good enough’ for now. Or maybe ‘much better than before’ and I’ve moved on to other projects. Yes, there are still things to do in the music room. Will they get done? Definitely. Probably. Let’s not hold our breath. Last week I showed you my piano harp art. The piano harp art may be the…
Happy List: #137
Well, how is October treating you so far? Are you over pumpkin spice everything yet? The feeling of fall has been elusive on the East Coast. On Wednesday the temperature was 85°F. It dropped to a high of 55°F yesterday. That was not cool. Actually, it was cool, literally speaking. Too cool. It’s back to 70-ish now, so don’t worry about me too much. This week I shared the piano harp art we created for our music room. Next week I’ll show you the before and after photos of that entire space. All I can say is, it has come a long way since June! After that, I promise I’ll…
Metal and Leather Rooster
Handy Husband and I were married for eight years before we had children. In those years, we worked hard. We played hard. Our lifestyle was not conducive to having a conventional, living, breathing pet. We did have a metal rooster though. We even named him and I’m not embarrassed to admit that. I should be, but I’m not. Meet Roddy. He’s from a little farm I like to call Pier 1. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I like Roddy. He’s a keeper. However, sometimes when I walk by Roddy his metal tail feathers rattle and then I don’t like him very much. No girl needs to be reminded that they…
Piano Harp Art
Every once in awhile an idea in my head, a wild hair, really, turns out even better than I hoped it would. And I’m SO EXCITED ABOUT IT going to play it cool and tell you how my idea to make piano harp art came to fruition. When we took apart the upright piano that had been left in our house when we moved in, I knew I could use the parts of the piano to make unique, statement-making art for our home. Of course, the pièce de résistance of piano parts is the harp and that was the hardest part to extract. Murphy’s Law. The piano harp is the part of…
Happy List: #136
Hello, hello! This week I’d like to give a shout out to kind neighbors. One of my neighbors, who recently brought me muffins and a mum, stopped by to check on me. She noticed that our American flag was flying upside down and, apparently, that is a sign of distress. She left her car running in her driveway and her door open to make sure I was okay. In our case, it was just a sign of a flag that was long, long overdue to be replaced and had ripped out of the grommets. We violated so many rules of flag etiquette, but rest assured, we will dispose of the…
Travel: Opus 40
Do you still experience wonderment as an adult? I wouldn’t say it is routine for me, but every once in awhile that feeling of wonderment, awe and admiration all bundled together, hits me and it is like all my senses light up! That’s what I experienced when I visited Opus 40 near Saugerties, New York. What is Opus 40? Opus 40 is an 6.5-acre earthwork sculpture park. Visitors can walk up, down, and all over this man-made sculpture. Its highest point is a monolith that rises 16-feet above ground and its lowest point is 3-stories below ground. Opus 40 was created by ONE PERSON, actor and sculptor, Harvey Fite, who…
Taking Apart a Piano is Hard
Taking apart a piano is hard. Really hard. Can you believe that me, of all people, even uttered those words “taking apart a piano”? It sounds blasphemous. I assure you I have not abandoned my decades-long love of the piano. Nor did I take apart my baby piano. Heaven forbid! I took apart a piano to which I have no emotional attachment. Because that makes it better? Here’s what happened… Please note this is not a tutorial. There are plenty of those on the internet. This is more of a cautionary tale should you decide to embark on this journey. A piano was left in our house when we moved…
