a year in a brooklyn apartment

i see red white and blue things. and a cat.

2010-07-04T11:58:00.000-04:00

she's baaaaccckkkkk....

sorry for the crazy long absence...but I was busy MOVING AGAIN!!! not so easy to get it Just Right. This is better than before and I can stay here longer. Not forever, but longer.

Anyway...in honor of the 4th of July I looked around for some images with red white and blue. and the cat was too puffy and cute to ignore.

a little libation

2010-05-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

after my day of traffic sitting, plant shopping, Kentucky Derby crying (it's always very emotional for me), and container planting, I deserved a nice cool beverage out on the veranda (well, the concrete slab)...

sunday shadows....

2010-04-12T21:10:00.000-04:00

i know, i know, it's Monday. i'm a little behind.

with the trees newly leafed out, now I get a lovely view of leafy shadows against the house at the back of my yard...

happy pansy faces

2010-04-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

i couldn't stand it anymore...seeing sunny daffodils and happy pansy faces all over the place...I had to have some of my own. so finally broke down and bought just enough plants to fill two containers. my normal tendency is to buy WAY more plants than I EVER get around to planting, and I'm trying VERY hard in this smaller space to control that. the little yard is way too small to allow to get messy and cluttered.

anyway. here is before and after of this morning... (click on images for more detail)

kitty in the window

2010-04-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

it was a lovely evening...Caleb and I sat out back for a bit...I finally got some of my outdoor chairs from my ex-husband's house this weekend. janey sat in the window and watched us.

miss jane

2010-04-03T12:01:00.000-04:00

life feels a little surreal right now. my commute has gotten CRAZY long...it seriously cuts into my "life" time....so things I love doing have been pushed off the burner for awhile. wish I could do something fun while sitting in traffic. something better than listening to the radio or audio cd's or talking on the phone. at least now that it's staying light later, I have a little time after I get home where I can get OUT and see the world.

a funny time.

here is miss jane from this morning. a lovely portrait of her...it's killing me that it's not more sharp. but it just so captures HER.

the view from where i sit

2010-02-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

sorry this so resembles the last post, but i looked over and saw caleb and jayne on the sofa...and it was just too sweet to pass up.

people always ask if my dog and cats get along. these pictures would probably answer their question.

click on image for more detail.

home sweet home

2010-02-13T19:09:00.000-05:00

was out most of the day...here and there...was a good day...but it's always nice to come home to my little family...

click on image for more detail

it's officially A Theme

2010-02-11T12:27:00.000-05:00

ha, the past two posts have been snow related. what can i say? it's beautiful and it keeps happening :-)

here are some shots in my backyard yesterday afternoon....

sort of...winter white shabby chic

snow!

2010-02-06T11:09:00.001-05:00

while I think here in brooklyn we're on the very fringes of the big snowstorm hitting much of the rest of the east coast this weekend, we are getting SOMETHING. i had plans to go into the city to the manhattan vintage clothing and antique textiles show, but I think I feel more like staying indoors today....

here are some scenes from earlier this morning....

gone by...

2010-01-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

here's looking at you...

2010-01-26T21:01:00.000-05:00

I've had a headache all day...but still tried to be productive when I got home from work. Caleb and I went for a short walk - Dog Park is way too muddy after the crazy rain we had yesterday. I washed *most* (let's not get crazy now) of the dishes. I straightened up the ebay accessory area. I saw an idea on a decorating blog today - a wall was covered with lattice...they just used it as a decorative wall treatment, but I thought I could hang stuff on/through the little lattice "x-es," like hats and stuff...and I could do the hallway wall like that. It's a thought. Hats are hard to store cuz they smoosh easily and it's a pain in the butt to get them re-shaped.

What does all this have to do with today's picture?? Abolsutely nothing :-)

a little progress

2010-01-25T22:08:00.000-05:00

well, i did get the vanity cleared off and prettified...and then i watched a movie. really a documentary. about the Pugaches? The guy who threw lye in the woman's face and blinded her back in the late 50s, and like 20 years later when he got out of prison, they got married. crazy story. but i look at them - psycho lye thrower ex-con and blind desperate woman...and I think...THEY each found someone?? SIGH.

the messy bits

2010-01-24T13:32:00.002-05:00

okay. phew. today i bare myself to you. usually i just show the pretty parts, but today i will share the messy bits.

this is supposed to be my "dining area." i envision a narrow farm-type table, with a shallow credenza against the wall w open shelving on top for my transferware collection. in reality, this has become my ebay packing/photo shoot accessory storage area. sigh.

the desk has never totally been organized since I got it. i need to get through the piles (see shelves and next picture) and really file things properly. plus I wish I'd had it made 6' wide instead of 5', AND the desktop is like an electromagnet for dust and animal hair.

the bedroom vanity is *really* not the place for piles of papers and magazines. this is supposed to be the one area that's always neat and pretty and girly for when i have just a moment to sit by the window...

this poor chair is always piled with STUFF. this is the start of me prematurely pulling stuff out for an in-apartment CraigsList vintage clothing sale. this is the "as is" section. nice things that need a little tlc. the cat can stay where he likes.

I get that by REALLY MESSY standards this is all probably not too bad. But it's such a small space that Everything Is In View All the Time and I get claustrophobic feeling and a little depressed when I always have mess and disorganization around me.

Today's project is The Desk (which includes the pile on the vanity). Wish me luck!

a promise

2010-01-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

i promised myself when I get back on track financially and moved, that I could get myself flowers every week for the apartment. it's just been so...crowded in here, that I've never done it...but today at Fairway (Red Hook) I couldn't resist - they had such a great selection!

guess it's time....

2010-01-18T18:18:00.000-05:00

to take down the very last vestige of Christmas...sigh

this is the book i never read....

2010-01-13T20:07:00.000-05:00

I always have stacks of books and magazines around my bed. I start one...see a new one around, start that one...before too long I have a dozen half-read books piled up...I envy people who can read a book start to finish before moving onto the next one. I used to be able to do that. Can you?

a boy has to dream...

2010-01-11T16:18:00.001-05:00

we all have goals. caleb's is to be a kitty when he grows up.

a boy has to dream...

2010-01-01T16:45:00.002-05:00

one of my new years resolutions is to drink more. seriously.

2009-12-31T11:25:00.002-05:00

While we didn't make it as far as dog park, with the snow coming down pretty hard, we did go for a long walk early this morning, and with the poor visibility I managed to sneak him into a school playground for a quick gallop off-leash. I guess the outing did the trick as Caleb is down for the count.

2009-12-30T20:18:00.004-05:00

when my daughter was little she collected marbles. i was heavy into tag sales and auctions then and we'd always find a couple here and there....

she didn't take them with her when she went off to college. I like having the reminder of her, of something she and I used to do together, on my shelf.

click on image for more detail

12.29.09

2009-12-29T21:15:00.002-05:00

the stockings were hung by the bookcase with care...

I didn't get my Christmas decorations found and unpacked in time, so Christmas morning found me cutting stocking shapes out of magazines to make a little garland to hang across the bookcase...so at least it looked a LITTLE holidayish when my daughter got here...

12.28.09

2009-12-28T21:05:00.004-05:00

the kitties have settled in nicely to the new apartment. Madison, the puffy cat in the window, likes it because I am never out of his sight. Jane has developed an interest in bathtubs and flushing toilets, and after being a boney skinny minny all her life, has become plump and sleek!

12.27.09

2009-12-27T11:54:00.003-05:00

after a long hiatus, during which I sold my home of 14 years on Long Island and moved to the faraway land of Brooklyn and a small apartment, I am finally returning to my photography. Finally getting the new place to feel a little like home and I'd love to share some images with you...

didn't get a tree up this year, so it wasn't very christmasy here...but I did get a few touches put around...

(click on image for more detail)

7.27.09

2009-07-27T19:26:00.001-04:00

janey gets to stay in bed all day

7.26.09

2009-07-26T19:46:00.002-04:00

"these are the times of dreamy quietude..." ~ herman melville

7.25.09

2009-07-25T19:00:00.001-04:00

sometimes i wish i could just stay in bed all day.

7.23.09

2009-07-23T19:01:00.002-04:00

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese Proverb

7.20.09

2009-07-20T21:15:00.006-04:00

ack. been a looong time. and not that I haven't been taking pictures, I've just been so busy! but let's see if I can't get back in the swing of this, cuz I enjoy doing it and miss it when I stop...

I've been enjoying the front porch this summer as the weather has been so pleasant...very few really hot and humid days....and it's nice to just sit in the rocking chair for a few minutes and either watch the world go by...or close my eyes and rock. these little white flowers are from the very overgrown privet hedge along the front. most people don't think of it as a flowering shrub, but it is...and the blooms emit a lovely soft perfume for several weeks in the early summer...and the bees just adore it. they're so busy! i like to cut little bunches and bring them inside to perfume the house a bit.

i promise to not be such a stranger!

6.6.09

2009-06-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

"Summer makes a silence after spring." ~ Vita Sackville-West

6.3.09

2009-06-03T23:35:00.002-04:00

in my own little corner, in my own little chair...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPZd-0HFrj8

6.1.09

2009-06-01T22:08:00.003-04:00

Sun. Light.

i love my kitchen. even though it's unfinished space (the ex and I started renovating...oh, 10 years ago, and then got divorced, and that was the end of the reno), I love the big window...and the light. meaning, it's like a little cave surrounded by light...so it stays dark and secret and cool, even when outside is bright and hot.

5.20.09

2009-05-20T23:32:00.001-04:00

the wisteria is blooming on the pergola...

happy. mother's. day.

2009-05-10T09:55:00.002-04:00

The Child brought me flowers...now we're off to breakfast...and then out to take pictures. yay.

5.9.09

2009-05-09T22:46:00.002-04:00

But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else. In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit. Weeds are people's idea, not nature's. ~ Anonymous

I love when the dandelions turn into puffballs...I think they're whimsical and dreamlike....

5.3.09

2009-05-03T21:13:00.001-04:00

here comes peter cottontail...

4.30.09

2009-04-30T21:43:00.002-04:00

the dogwoods are starting to bloom...

4.16.09

2009-04-16T21:23:00.002-04:00

I love the little blue grape hyacinths colonizing out in the backyard, they look like little garden elves to me (somehow magical).....

4.6.09

2009-04-06T20:17:00.002-04:00

favorite chair....

4.5.09

2009-04-05T21:23:00.002-04:00

I don't cook much these days. The child doesn't like what I like, and it's too much bother to me to cook for just one person - and WAY too much bother to cook two different things for TWO people. So mostly we eat fast food or junk.

But I cooked tonight. I made hash browns. Hash browns? I mean hash BLACKS. They were well past "lightly golden" and more to the "blackened mahogany" side. But it was food, I ate it.

However, the quiche I made for lunch this week, turned out beautifully. So beautiful I had to take a picture.

Tomorrow night is taco meat. Probably not so photogenic.

3.15.09

2009-03-15T17:51:00.001-04:00

the animals live peacably together in my house....even the bears and kitties...

3.8.09

2009-03-08T18:10:00.001-04:00

signs of spring...

3.4.09

2009-03-04T22:01:00.005-05:00

I'm ready for my pick-up.

This is what was left for pick-up by the donation center, AFTER throwing out junk, AFTER the tag sale, AFTER the $5 Box Sale, and AFTER posting a "lotsa stuff cheap" ad on CraigsList. 18 boxes of stuff, and 6 garbage bags (can't see them in pic) of clothes.

I'm not done yet.

(ps - I've repainted the front door)

3.3.09

2009-03-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Best Icicles Ever!

3.2.09 I'm b-a-a-a-ck

2009-03-02T12:49:00.004-05:00

phew. it was a hella month for me, what with this and that. I've been doing crazy work around the house, cleaning and clearing out...selling stuff off...it now echoes in here when we talk and walk! a little freaky after being surrounded by clutter for so many years. it was so hectic I didn't even really take pictures...much...and you KNOWS I's busy when I's Not Taking Pictures!

but I've left a few little personal details around so I don't feel too bereft and alone....

I'll share some of the before-and-afters with you this week...

OH, and I'm new addict to (of?) Facebook, so if you want to Be Friends, you can find me here... Bettye L. Rainwater on Facebook

1.25.09

2009-01-25T09:06:00.002-05:00

I had a sale today, oh boy!

blatant self-promotion

2009-01-23T13:47:00.002-05:00

I'm having a big clothing sale at my house this weekend - got HUNDREDS of women's items, from the 50s to the present...dresses, skirts, blouses, sweaters, suits, coats, hats, belts, shoes...even some fabrics, craft supplies, books and magazines.

Sat/Sun Jan 24/25, 9-4. The ad and address are on Kijiji (Stinky CraigsList pulled my ad!) under Garage Sales...

New York City Classifieds

I sell clothing online, mostly vintage, some contemporary, and once a year I do a big liquidation as I start to get over-run with excess. Forgive my advertising here, I really didn't want this blog to be about this, but...That Stinky CraigsList! I've been trying to post a new ad, but I'm not even getting that up, so...desperate times call for desperate measures.

Stay tuned tomorrow for your regularly scheduled cute picture :-)

1.19.09

2009-01-19T16:13:00.002-05:00

we had snow again last night...and it was one of those wonderful light, damp snows that clings to everything, every surface, every twig...

1.11.09

2009-01-11T19:14:00.002-05:00

was icy and cold today, after yesterday's faux storm...

1.5.09

2009-01-05T22:03:00.002-05:00

in the kitchen...

1.2.09

2009-01-02T21:38:00.001-05:00

Miss Jane

12.29.08

2008-12-29T18:19:00.003-05:00

one of my favorite christmas ornaments. my sister gave it to me when I had my first house and my own christmas tree...

12.27.08

2008-12-27T17:24:00.002-05:00

the child's NOT going to beauty school! she's not! she's NOT!

12.26.08

2008-12-26T19:57:00.002-05:00

before i was born, and my father was still in the navy, my parents and sister all lived in japan for two years. my mother returned home with an obsession for tacky japanese reproduction items....

it's funny, when i still lived at home, I really disliked the "oriental" decor of our house...now as I'm older, I find myself strangely drawn to things with an asian feel.

these are some vintage christmas bulbs she had...they no longer work, but I think they're charming in a bowl on the shelf...

12.25.08

2008-12-25T18:23:00.003-05:00

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

12.19.08

2008-12-19T20:11:00.003-05:00

The first Christmas presents arrived...from my niece and nephew in California. As always, the packaging is lovely - she said he picked it out. They are so thoughtful to always think of Katie and I at the holidays...

11.26.08

2008-11-26T23:44:00.001-05:00

the bittersweet is bursting open on the back deck...

11.25.08

2008-11-25T22:03:00.003-05:00

One of those tacky planters made out of an old tire...I think they're sort of charming and Southern. I used to use mine to store the hose. It's sitting on top of the pet cemetery.

11.23.08

2008-11-23T17:17:00.003-05:00

Ooh, it's been awhile, huh?? Soon the Christmas decorations will come out...but for now I was looking at the few remaining leaves outside my back door....

10.28.08

2008-10-28T18:41:00.002-04:00

Today my daughter's great-grandfather was buried. He passed away this weekend after a long and full life. Bop was quite a character, always with a story about how things used to be only a nickel, or better made. He built his own house in the 1950s, and that's where he died. He was a plasterer at a time when fine craftsmanship was valued more than expediency. Just today I was looking around at the house where I spent so much time when I was married....beautiful carved moldings from plaster...intricate archways...all hand-done by him and his father.

When I was first married, I wanted to have a grouping of wedding pictures of all of both mine and my husband's side of the family. The first picture I hung was of Nana and Boppie. No other picture was ever added because somehow any other picture would have ruined the display. To this day, 10 years after my divorce from Bop's grandson, his wedding picture still hangs on my bedroom wall.

10.25.08

2008-10-25T12:54:00.005-04:00

Porch phone...

10.19.08 Shadow Shot Sunday

2008-10-19T21:35:00.004-04:00

on a sunny day around 2:00, in my office, i get this lovely shadow on the wall right beside the computer from the birch tree out front....soon the leaves will be gone, and the shadows will just be of twigs

for more shadow shots, visit Hey Harriet

10.16.08

2008-10-16T20:01:00.001-04:00

Caleb welcomes me home. He's *much* better than he was, but still...not the same as before.

10.13.08

2008-10-13T17:25:00.003-04:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I've been remiss. I get it. Sometimes things overwhelm me and I hide. For better or worse, I think I've got a better handle on it, and I can come back out. A bit. I'm not gonna kill myself to post a picture a day here. There'll be one a couple times a week. Ish.

For today, you get the very front of my house...the changing and fallen leaves...the weeds...the potted plants the neighbor gave me that I never got planted...the mum-less planters on the side of the steps. The picture is a little sad to me, but it is what it is.

Day 20

2008-09-08T21:39:00.002-04:00

Part of my vintage watering can collection...

Day 19

2008-09-07T19:31:00.002-04:00

Typically, I love my birthday. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that my family always made a big deal out of birthdays. It's wonderful when people DO, but when they don't...it can be depressing. And I was a little down last week before my b-day...but some very good friends sent cards and little gifts and birthday wishes - and it was so great - they're really Good Friends. So, today's post is in honor of THEM - Thank You.

Day 18

2008-09-06T18:58:00.000-04:00

I'll not be sitting on the front porch today....

Day 17

2008-09-03T19:52:00.002-04:00

A peek into my overgrown pergola out back....

Day 16

2008-09-02T23:36:00.003-04:00

The doubluh-vay-say. Door.

Day 15

2008-09-01T19:26:00.002-04:00

Got all my packing done from weekend sales...this is where I spend most of my time - in "The Ebay Room"

Day 14

2008-08-31T13:28:00.003-04:00

Out of the bedroom, back to the kitchen....

the animals wait patiently while I snap snap snap - Caleb to go out, and Madison for breakfast

the pantry. i love having a pantry.

Day 13

2008-08-30T12:08:00.003-04:00

I had an unusual night...woke around 4 so hot and sweaty that I couldn't sleep. I came downstairs for a cool shower, then went back to bed, but still couldn't sleep...so lay in my bed and took pictures in the very earliest morning light....it was rainy and grey (my favorite weather!)...

still awake...

what's on your bedside table??

I did eventually fall asleep and slept til 9:30, so now my day is all off!

Day 12

2008-08-29T21:40:00.006-04:00

Some of you know that in addition to my day job at a school for children and adults with autism, I also sell vintage clothing. I turn my living room into a studio for photo shoots....so, this is my living room "before" ...

I push all the furniture into the dining room, pull down the paper background, add lights, and voila! A photo studio!

And here's the result. This was the model who was out yesterday, in The Pretty Woman dress.

Day 11

2008-08-26T22:01:00.005-04:00

Here's a little corner of my dining room, going from the living room to the kitchen. I think The Dining Room is my favorite room - and I think it's a shame that "open living" and "eat-in kitchens" sort of did-away with them. I love all the accoutrements of The Dining Room - dishes, and serving pieces, and china cabinets.

The Little White Table (yes, that is it's name - "Katie, where did you put the mail?" "On The Little White Table" "Do we have any batteries?" "Yes, look in The Little White Table") is inherited from my mother and her garage sale days. I never thought it was anything significant, besides a cute little simple table, but everytime I have an indoor tag sale, the furniture people all ask me what I want for it. I say it's not for sale, but their interest leads me to believe there must be something worthwhile about it, beyond its being Little and White.

That top picture, of the fruit, is needlepoint.

Another non-functioning lamp. I love the orange luster of this one, and the butterfly finial with dangly the blue-cabachon thing

I don't know what that item actually is, but it's been a great key and leash holder

I stick cards and interesting things that come in the mail, in that white planter - part of my matte-white pottery collection. I do have a nice collection of brown transferware - this is just part of it. I love transferware and collect brown, red, and black - though lost most of my black collection in The Great Black Transferware Crash of 200mumblemumblesomething. It's a sad sad story. I'm sure I have pictures somewhere. That's for another day.

I got this little bee skep charm/pendant in a box lot of jewelry at an auction. I set it on the picture just so it wouldn't get mixed in with stuff to sell, never dreaming it would stay there for like the next five years. Now the picture looks naked without it.

Day 10

2008-08-25T18:44:00.007-04:00

Here's more of the (unpainted, Lauren!) kitchen - the window wall, with some close-up details. Seriously, it needs major work. And it's the one place I would *really* put some money if I had it, cuz I know an outdated (read: gross) kitchen can really cost me final value dollars. That's the corner of the fridge, photo left...like the oven on the opposite wall, it blocks the base cabinet, and there's a big empty space photo left of the cabinets/counter (where u see the mop).

Those things hanging on the wall, are my color inspirations - they've been hanging there for at least ten years, ha, they don't call me Swifty for nothing!

Apple green walls, black and white toile window valances, white base cabinets with open shelving on the wall, black soapstone countertops and some red accessories. That was the vision. Ain't happening now.

This is my whopping huge straight-sided ironstone pitcher collection. I used to have more, but some were curvy pitchers and I decided to narrow the theme. Of course, these are harder to find.

My favorite kitchen accessory is my bunny butter dish. I got the original almost 20 years ago...about 10 years ago the bunny part fell on the floor and broke...I went through three other butter dishes over the next few years, never really happy with any of them, while I searched for my same bunny one - finally found one on ebay (yay), and have been butter-dish-happy ever since.

Day 9

2008-08-23T22:43:00.003-04:00

I guess I've been chicken - I've been showing you very selective areas of the house...the "good." I guess we need to get to the bad and the ugly.

Here's the kitchen wall that's on the back of the house. That's not op-art on the walls. Those are 12-year-old unpainted sheetrock walls...a project started with my husband, and never finished when we split. We moved a doorway, moved around the appliances, replaced a window. It's a very awkward arrangement. The base cabinets to the left (photo left) of the stove are barely usable as the doors won't open all the way, and you're like behind them as you open them. I do love my big glass door so I can see out. And the half door on the right is to the pantry.

I found that big orange painting in someone's trash. It has a little water damage on the bottom, but I love it!

The kitchen definitely needs some TLC before I list this house next year!

Day 8

2008-08-22T19:29:00.003-04:00

There are birds' nests at both ends of my front porch...and even one under some loose ceiling boards...I'm glad they're there, and the cats (indoor) like to watch them come and go from the window...

Day 7

2008-08-21T20:49:00.002-04:00

My sister gave me and my ex-husband this darling copper mailbox for our first wedding anniversary, back in 1990. I've moved it from house to house, and think it will probably be my only mailbox ever. The door fell off long ago. The post finial is off something in my last house, I just screwed it - well, my NEIGHBOR screwed it - into the top of the post, when he saw me struggling with the power screwdriver. The hedges could use some serious trimming.

Day 6

2008-08-20T23:07:00.004-04:00

The one wall in the living room has become my "gallery wall." I bought the old mantel shelf from an antique store before the days of ebay. The rose painting I was so excited to get at a live auction, I was expecting it to go high, as it was in the hey-day of shabby chic madness on ebay...the auctioneers went through everything in the house and finally said, 'well, that's all, folks," and I said, what about that painting?? A lot of people had left, or were already standing in line to cash out...so a painting I'd expected to pay $50 for, I got for $7! I was so excited! I bought the framed watercolor of Paris and the Eiffel Tower on ebay - I'm addicted to all things Eifell Tower! I bought the cute kitten-and-ball-of-yarn needlepoint (could it BE any cuter??) in the ornate gilt frame at an estate sale. The needlework cat has green sequin eyes and is signed by the artist, Mildred. The cat's name is Mildred. And the forest acrylic painting was done by my daughter, and is set inside a chippy frame that used to hold a mirror that broke.

Day 5

2008-08-19T20:16:00.003-04:00

This is the view of the back door from a little way out into the yard. Wow, the back has gotten really overgrown! The door needs repainting, and the volunteer maples need thinning, and the stair railings need tightening. The deck should probably be demolished altogether, quite honestly. I used to shoot up there against the back of the house, but models kept getting their heels stuck in rotted boards!

You're seeing part of my vintage watering can collection. I'm thinking I might part with that when I move...maybe keep the best 3-5, and let the rest of them go. Sigh.

Day 4

2008-08-18T19:37:00.003-04:00

I have a crushing weakness for built-ins. It's part of what keeps ending me up (grammar, much??) in old decrepit houses "with potential." I see a built-in, and I must live with it. This, obviously, is the kitchen. Sadly, my plates are just a skoonch too large, and the door won't actually close.

I got the...whateveryoucallthatpieceoffurniture (for some reason, I want to call it a "commode," just not like a toilet) underneath out of someone's trash many years ago. I've never had the heart to paint it, it's so nicely chippy, though it is starting to look a little beyond "shabby chic," and onto just "shabby." It doesn't hold much.

The walls are awful laminate sheeting - came with the house. That's the pantry to the right of the cabinet (photo left). You'll see more of that another day.

Day 3

2008-08-17T19:32:00.003-04:00

I figured you should get to see the big picture. This is the living room, what you see when you walk in the front door. I just pulled a chair back to sit in for the shot.

It's not a bad sized room, it's just difficult because there are so many doors and windows (behind me now, on either side of the front door) and no good walls. I sort of created a wall with the tv cabinet and bookcases - otherwise, that "wall" is the stairway railings going up to the second floor.

To the left is the dining room and through to the kitchen. To the immediate right is the "ebay room," and the two doors you see in the upper right corner are to my daughter's room and the bathroom...then the stairs go up.

The cabinet/bookcase things does take up a lot of visual space, but without it, there's nowhere to put STUFF. And while I'm planning on getting rid of most of my furniture before I move, I have mixed feelings about that very useful piece. My daughter says "let it go, it's out-dated." And true, I want my next space to be a little more modern and clean, but still...I've had that longer than I've had HER (and she's 17).

Anyway, that's the center of the house. The first time I walked in, with the realtor, the owners had already moved out, and had left just a few pieces of furniture. The only thing in the room was a round table centered under the ceiling fixture (it's...for another post). I said, "oh! what a nice large foyer!" The realtor looked at me like I had two heads, and was like, "uh, this is the living room." Didn't matter, I was already sold by the front porch and the diamond-paned windows.

Day 2

2008-08-16T19:56:00.004-04:00

This little vignette on top of a bookcase right inside the front door. I collect vintage aqua american pottery, so this lamp was a real find for me! I especially love the molded roses and leaves spilling down the front. Doesn't matter that I've never replaced the wiring, nor that I can't find a shade to suit the old harp. I don't need it to work. I just need it to look nice.

The painting of the woman in the grey dress, walking along some coastal hills...ahh, from the 1930s (so I'm told), and I think she just looks like she has so much joy. I want to be her some day. She reminds of a character from "Enchanted April" - a delightful, must-see movie.

The picture of the two sweet little bridesmaids in the gilt frame - my daughter and cousin (my cousin's grand-daughter, I never remember how cousins are "removed"). Baseball player Orel Hershiser took the picture at a family wedding (he's not family, but friends of).

The large floral - now that's a historic piece! I was newly separated in 1997, had never heard of ebay (sigh, can you imagine??), but a girlfriend was buying a lot of jewelry there, and it got me hooked. I started buying little things - a $2 vintage red glass heart brooch for my daughter for Valentine's Day...a brown transferware plate for my collection...small things. But I started spending a little more and a little more...on a meager salary, a now-single parent. The day that painting arrived in the mail - I'd paid $75 for it, and it's...average-ness...brought me back to reality, and I was like, whoa, what am I DOING?? I couldn't afford luxuries like that! But I realized I had stuff in my OWN basement that I could probably sell on ebay. My mother had been a real garage sale hound/hoarder, and I had saved so many of her things after she died in 1990. Anyway, I decided if I wanted to continue BUYING on ebay, that I'd need to SELL on ebay to subsidize the habit. And so I did. I became an ebay seller, and 10 years later, I'm still an ebay seller! All thanks to that painting!

Day 1

2008-08-15T19:01:00.004-04:00

So, the child is grown, and almost ready to leave the nest. August 2009 she's off to college in parts as-yet unknown. And *I* will be moving on, as well, to something more manageable for one person. I love my house - it's charming. Well...it has the POTENTIAL to be charming! What it really is, is messy and overgrown. It's gotten away from me the past few years.

So, I need to start getting things in order...and this photo blog will journal the transition from messy and overgrown to...well, hopefully, less messy and overgrown! First I'll introduce you to the house, but by bit, and eventually you'll start seeing some changes.....

And here, on Day 1, is My House...