Snowbound

The snows came at last and we are in the winter wonderland phase here. It was so warm on Tuesday we didn't need jackets, and today arctic gear is needed to get to the mail box--a typical Iowa winter. As I come to most things late in the game, I just discovered Modern Family and bought the entire dvd collection--we can't stop watching it, the girls and I got completely enamored first, James said he couldn't believe we were so glued to the tv, then he started watching and went far enough to say "I thought they didn't know how to make good television shows anymore, but this is really great." We also bought "The Artist", which I wish I had never heard of, because I probably would have liked it better if everyone hadn't said how marvelous it is--I give it an ok, not a best picture statue!

There is just enough sun to get a few photos done, I will be so glad when I can get back outside to the natural light. Here are 2 photos, taken a day apart, both at noon, this is how bad indoor photography is on a cloudy day, all the lights on in the house and the bucket doesn't even look like the same one...

Here are a few more springs on the way...

More Red White and Blue

It is sunny at last today, so my pictures are turning out better, plus it is a veritable heat wave here (all of 1 degree above freezing, I swear it feels downright balmy after the frigid air of the past week). I wasn't really planning it, but found I have done a whole bunch of reds and with a bit of the blue and white thrown in. I am also working on spring things with a passion, always more to list than I have time to!

Brrrrrrrr

Spoiled rotten with a mild winter, I am suffering now from the cold snap, oh it is cold here! We went to the Anamosa antique show on Sunday, which I remember driving through an ice storm last year, so this was an improvement. It was a great show, I found so many nice things that my checking account that was looking so plump is now quite depleted. Here are a few things on the way to the store....

Covered in Paint

I am on a painting roll, much to the delight of some, and the annoyance of others--everything is looking pretty, as far as I am concerned. Here are some cheery red white and blues....

My tiny kitchen has a breakfast bar that separates the kitchen from the open living/dining area--I always have it packed full of stuff, used to decorate it with shabby chicish flower pots and bunny things, but giving my primmy prims pride of place there right now though. Some girls might dream of a husband who showers them in diamonds, I prefer my husband who showers me in antiques--I got the early wood plate for Christmas, something I have wanted forever but could never justify the expense (for you diamond girls that might not know, those little suckers usually cost upward of $200 each). I've been saving that tiny shoofly and bread board, knew they just needed the right partner, and the plate is perfect!

Too Early to Head to the Garden?

Thinking spring already, must say, all this garden goodness is cheering me to no end!

House Hunting

I still need to sell the house I live in before even considering looking at something else, and I'm not close to being ready for that, but a house that I have driven by almost daily and always loved just came on the market and for an astounding low price for an 1870s brick home in Iowa City, where there are few of those left--most torn down to build apartments sadly. I had to go look. Well, first a view of the yard, my heart is beating fast, the house is so beautiful, they say it is 3400 square feet, the yard is big and old fashioned, the porch is wrap around, and it has a new foundation. Then, we go inside, and let me tell you, I have never had high hopes dashed so quickly in all my life. My husband and I have redone 3 Victorian homes all by ourselves, from top to bottom, not a contractor in sight, and I am very good at looking beyond things like the orange shag carpet that was in all 3 of the houses I did when we bought them, look beyond the crappy 1950s kitchens that needed complete tear outs--look beyond the salmon and olive bathroom fixtures in bathrooms that needed complete demolition. Keep this in mind when I tell you, this house I looked at is the money pit incarnate. The new foundation looked pretty iffy, lots of mortar goop showing on the foundation, large cracks in all the brick walls, a horrible crumbling addition on the back and the main house is HALF the size of my Clarinda house, all the square footage is in the basement, which is unfinished. The stair rails moved when you touched them and I about keeled over from vertigo at the top of the stairs when it was obvious that hand rail would fall over if you blew on it too hard. No nice woodwork, windows looked unworkable, plaster cracked and acoustic tile ceilings hiding lord knows what. Kitchen was about 4' x 8' with a really bad new plastic set of cupboards, oh, it was just all so depressing, I think half a million at least to repair it, and that is if we did the work ourselves. My little new ranch home was looking pretty good when I got back home! Here is the deceptive picture of what you would think could be the house of my dreams....

The Promise of a New Year

Always hoping for a fresh start at the new year, I think I'm off to a good start, look at everything I got done in the last 2 days, I surprised myself. First, I got my Gatherings fix this weekend and bought a gorgeous dough bowl and pantry box that were going to stay original finish, but I left them on the dining table and they kept whispering, "paint me, paint me" and 24 hours later here they are in indigo blue milk paint, and they are even more gorgeous than before, I must say. I was on a blue roll, so lots of worn and cabiney goodness to share!