Sunday, May 15, 2022

New Antique Chair in My Living Room

This Gothic Revival chair between my TV and a sofa (not shown) to the right has a mate that lives in my entrance vestibule. It's perfect there when I need to sit and put on my boots or put down a parcel. I bought the pair several weeks ago at a local garage sale. This morning I put a blooming geranium on this one for a Sunday morning photo shoot. It's a dreary day having rained all night and that's fine with me. 

I have had a young handyman working off and on for weeks doing odd jobs I cannot do myself (like sheetrock removal and replacement for a soffit in a bathroom). Water damage is the worst and I had two episodes over the years in my cottage. One was when the pan under attic central air conditioning unit overflowed and found a path all the way to my mother's quarters in my walk-out lower level, too nice to be called a basement. The other time I had water was due to a roof leak. The ceiling in the hallway near my first floor bedroom needed scraping, spackling, and painting. I found other places in both bedrooms that had peeling plaster that needed repair too. So there was sanding in those rooms too before painting. The first floor repairs were finished a week or two ago and everything's back in order after two deep vacuuming sessions.

The soffit had to be totally replaced in a full bath downstairs and some other ceiling repairs down there too requiring spackling, sanding, and painting. He did a great job and I am very pleased. The paint matches perfectly too. I got everything back in order in the kitchen and hallway down there and today I will do the bedroom and sitting room. I just need to put all the drop cloths back where they belong and do a deep vacuum cleaning and I will be all set. My laundry list is getting shorter but there are still things to do. There is an old saying, "Life is 90% maintenance" and that sounds about right, doesn't it? Those who aren't homeowners spend it on self care. DIY homeowners ask themselves whether they should get a manicure or weed the garden? I have never had a manicure and have no plans to get one😂

Enjoy your Sunday. xo

Here is a closeup of the back of the chair. A small piece of moulding is missing from the center column. The companion chair in my vestibule is missing all three little pieces at the columns' bases. I might try carving the replacement one of these days. xo

Friday, May 13, 2022

Great Kitchen in Edinburgh Scotland






I found more photos and an article about a kitchen I blogged about recently and loved here. I thought it might be in France but turns out it's in Edinburgh in a Georgian Apartment. Now I love it even more. Read the article and see more photos here. Enjoy. xo
 

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Two Easy Chairs Beside Fireplace

I like this chair arrangement a lot. You will enjoy seeing the rest of this Washington townhouse decorated for Christmas here. Sorry it's out of season but I couldn't wait.🎄

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Tiny Hand-Written Book by 13 Year Old Charlotte Brontë 1829

Think tinier than a playing card. 
April 26, 2022: A tiny manuscript by then-teenage author Charlotte Brontë will be returned to the parsonage where she lived her entire life. Friends of the National Libraries (FNL), a British nonprofit, purchased the book, which contains Brontë’s only remaining unpublished poetry, for $1.25 million, and will donate it to the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, England, per a museum release. The article says you need a magnifying glass in order to read her poems. Read the Smithsonian Magazine article here
Sold by James Cummins Bookseller, New York City at the Park Avenue Armory's 62nd Annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF). I know him personally and have sold a few rare books to him and bought many from him in his NJ Shop. This is such an exciting find, isn't it?

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Screen Door Season is Upon Us

This screen door is perfectly designed for this Dutch door. When the bottom door is closed and the glazed Dutch door is open you see nothing but the plain screen. Love it! via
This is a delightful entrance foyer, isn't it?

Monday, May 9, 2022

Sheep Portrait

At first I thought this was a 6-legged sheep and then I saw the outline of an extra ear. It's a lovely portrait, isn't it? via

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Wonderful Setting

I trued to find out more about this photo to no avail. I want to see more! Hope you all had a nice Mother's Day. xo