Urban chicken time!

We had a wooden child's playhouse thingie and I knew it would be a PERFECT chicken coop. So, over came Penelope and together (mostly him) we built a coop! See the before and after below.




Allow the illegal chicken raising begin! Mmmmmm, organic, fresh eggs and more furry/feathery family! We are picking up our new baby chicks next Saturday!!!!

Our home...some befores, durings, and now. Specifically the kitchen and bedroom.

Bedroom peeks:
So, when we first moved in, the bedroom floor had carpet. Ech. Used carpet makes me want to vomit. Strong reaction. I know. But, the idea that other people's skin cells are all up in there grosses me out. And I am not easily grossed out. Believe it.
So, we had Penelope (more about Penelope in a bit) pull up the carpet within hours of closing on the house. He then patched the wood, sub-floor and then painted it white. Ahhhhhh. Blissful white bedroom floor. How dreamy. No. It turned into a mess of a disaster. Within a few days, and our five dogs going in and out of the back yard, through our bedroom, the floor was FILTHY! Having the housekeeper come every week as opposed to every other was not in our budget and niether S nor I are big into mopping. So....we had the floor re-done. Viola.
See? White floor.

Bye white floor.

Some little pics of our bedroom:



And a peek into our closet. We came out long ago-so funny, I kill me! We recently had some shelving put in. Again, the amazing Penelope's handy work!



The kitchen:
Before:
These pics are mostly from the walk-through, the day of closing. I have a few more pics from when I first saw the house and holy, freakin' whoa! It was baddddddd (imagine the first picture and times it by 1 million)! Too many wolves howling at the moon on too many blankets, shower curtains and rugs! (I cannot even tell you how difficult it was to take down those dusty as all get out fake ivy from above the window. They were SCREWED in!!! I had to get the drill out!




During:
Ok, so Penelope is the BEST carpenter around. He is amazing and talented and a major perfectionist! He has done every single project that we have hired out for in this house. He made the pantry, did all of the counter-tops, the wainscoting, installed our outdoor shower (shhhh, don't tell code enforcement), did all of the crown molding, built one of our decks, and will be assisting (actually, I will be the assistant) in the making of our chicken coop!
Here is Penel in all of his glory!

After:
After many trips to Goodwill over the years, I have finally collected my dream kitchen decor. All vintage-y and sweet!





Any new re-dos in your homes? Share! This means you, KMH (since I believe that you are the only one who reads this)!

Yard. A lesson in patience and weeding.

Kitchen pictures...

At home, watching a webinar, drinking coffee, trying not to scream at my computer over absurdities...being narcissistic. Can you pick out which picture I have my Oh-no!-I-just-stepped-on-my-cat's-tail face?
p.s. also loving my new favorite sweater. $14.99???!!!! What!?

Thinking about the backyard...some inspiring pictures

I am in the midst of planning the design for the backyard. For the town that I live in, this house has a big backyard and it is basically a blank canvas which is both exciting and terrifying. Here are some pictures that I find inspiring. I am thinking: overgrown English cottage garden mixed with veggie garden, mixed with Bohemian modern.








What do you think?

(I just realized that I don't know where I collected these photos from over the years. If you ever see a photo on here that is yours, please let me know and I will give you photo credit for it, or I will remove it if you request for me to do so. Thanks!)

To do: drink coffee and write

Good morning!
Working from home today, and then writing (revision of a short story due this weekend), and setting up for a conference that I am presenting at tomorrow. Oh, joy! So much to do. And then, this weekend is STREET PAINTING FESTIVAL!
I have gone to the festival every year for the past 15? years. I have pictures on my computer from last year's fest and I will try to post some later today. The handy man is on his way over to give me an estimate for installing the outdoor shower. Shaun thinks I am nuts to want to shower outdoors. Ha! It is bliss I tell you, pureeee bliss!!!!
Any one else like to shower outdoors?

Here is a picture of Zenny in the guest room. The canopy is vintage and I bought it at Goodwill a few years ago, knowing that it would be lovely hung above the bed! Bed spread at foot of bed from Anthropolgie. Book case: Goodwill


Last night we had dinner at my mom's house. She made an incredible salad with kale (who knew?!) and mac and cheese from scratch with Coastal Cheddar cheese...omg, yum! I had cold Stella with a slice of honey-bell orange. Amazing! Thanks, mom!

It was only a few months ago...

that I bought this cottage, my first home, the home I plan to own forever, adding to it's original charm and creating my dream home!
A picture from the day I closed on my own-SOLD! An amazing, yet surreal day!

Years ago I bought this chair for myself as a graduation present when I graduated from under grad. I wanted the "perfect reading chair" and searched for MONTHS for a chair. I finally found this gem at Goodwill and was so amazed that someone would have given this baby up! I love the way it looks in this corner....mushhhhhhy!

I am heading out to yoga class in a little bit, but much of me would rather snuggle up in this chair with a glass of wine and the book that I am currently reading, "How the Light Gets In" by M.J. Hyland. Ahhhhhhhhhh

Where in your home is your favorite place to read a book?

Welcome to my new blog!

Welcome to my new blog! This will be a place for me to link you to some of my favorite blogs that I read, posting pictures from decorating and renovating my 1925 house, writing about foods, thrifted finds and other things about my life. My goal is to post daily, some days more than once, but, we shall see!

Here is a few pictures from re-doing my library. Being a rather big book lover, I always knew that once I bought a home, I would have a library! The chairs, rug, pillow, table and throw blanket are from Ikea. The black, chipped paint desk is a vintage find from Goodwill, the knobs are from Anthropologie, the green vase on the floor is from Marshalls, the chandelier is from Lowes (I HATE wires! I made a wire cover for the wires coming down from the ceiling and ceiling medallion from thick black fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics), the cabinetry was built by my handy-person, the paint is all Valspar in eggshell (I will write the color name next time) for the walls, and semi-gloss in Beluga for the inside of the shelving, the white is called Muslin white and it is used on all trim, including the wainscoting and the crown moulding.
A large round mirror will be hung later this week, as well as two amazzzzzing thrifted pieces of art.