furniture dreaming

As we're currently scraping every penny to finish our never-ending basement remodel, I find two lovely pieces I would kill to have. If only I had some extra cash right about now. This is the exact smallish credenza I have been dreaming about. It hurts to see it and not be able to have it!! And then this beauty popped up in my google reader this afternoon. Wow! That is some nice Brasilia!

magnolia

One of the first things I saw this morning was a cardinal sitting in the sun. I keep a camera in the kitchen just in case I get these moments. This year's cold Spring has our magnolia blooming a couple of weeks later than last year. If we have too many more cold nights, some of the buds won't even open.

On April 8, 2010, our magnolia looked like this...


By April 15, 2010 - all the magnolia flower petals had already fallen. I think 2011 is going to be a bunk year for our lilacs too. Last year they were amazing!

Kark Park

We spent the day at Kark Park (a.k.a. KRK PRK) which is the backyard of our childhood friend and the home where his mother still lives with his dog, Otto. We brought Lottie with us like we have so many times in the past. She and Otto ran around all day while we grilled out and sat around in old fashioned nylon strappy lawn chairs. John's mom is around 90 years old, I think, and still swears like a sailor and is one of my favorite people to visit. It was a freaky 85 degrees today and we all agreed that it felt great to finally be in some warm sunshine. It's been one year since John left this earth. We miss him so much.

pollo

The Tapio Wirkkala Pollo vase for Rosenthal has been on my Things I Hope To Have Someday list for many years. Last week I saw one at Modern Relics, a fine Etsy shop. The timing was perfect. The price was right too. I can finally cross something off my list!



Last year I also purchsed a lovely wire bowl from Modern Relics. I think you should go check out this shop right now!

basement: we have light and sound

And the Mark and Beth Contruction Company is still working at a snail's pace! It's been a little over a month since my last basement remodel post and I can proudly say the electrical wiring is complete. With a lot of help from a friend, a licensed electrician, we now have 35 new lights and so many electrical outlets and light switches. The old basement used to have one option for light in the main space - one switch for all on or all off. Oh how I hated those flourecent lights in that drop ceiling!! Now we have 6 switches just in the main space and they are all on dimmers and there are so many lighting options. The sound system is also installed and connected to the upstairs for whole-house rocking out. Mark even added a ceiling speaker to the kitchen while he was at it. We spent the weekend carrying sheets of drywall from the garage into the basement and that sucked. At least for me and my bunk left arm. The sub-pump and furnace are now walled off (and insulated for some soundproofing) and 3 walls of the laundry room are hung. Yes, we are the slowest drywall hangers in the universe. And Lottie, a dog that used to hate being around power tools, is now hanging out right next to all the construction action. She's come a long way this year.

welcome to my new home!

See, I told you it looks almost exactly the same!
Sorry for the inconvenience...nobody likes change, especially me. I was really amazed at how easy it was to transfer all my posts to this new home. Thank you smart computer person for making it possible for someone like me to figure out! And I waited until today to do this as I did not want anyone to think it was some sort of April Fools joke. It's for real. Welcome!

five for friday

1. one of my many yard monsters
2. I could live here
3. I could live here too
4. snagged from emmas designblogg
5. chickadee at my feeder