books — Page 203

Reading, Cleaning, Obsessing, er…Dreaming

December 29, 2009 at 2:27 pm by Claudia

Hello, my friends! Yes, I am cleaning today and fighting the urge to take every Christmas decoration down. Does anyone else struggle with that sneaky urge? We keep our decorations up through January 1st; that’s the rule here at MHC. The only thing I have permitted myself to put away are Christmas cards. Some of the greens scattered around the house would be gone today if it wasn’t so darn windy. I’m staying inside – the wind is fierce and the wind chill is in the single digits!

Don gave me the new Dan Brown book for Christmas – I gave him the new George Carlin autobiography. I wanted to read something that is fast paced and engrossing – and it is. The other book, The Paris Apartment, was sent to me by the author, Claudia Strasser, who has a blog with the same name. She generously sent copies to some of her readers. I was lucky enough to be one of the recipients and I am enjoying it a great deal. Thank you, Claudia!

Okay, that takes care of reading and cleaning…the obsessing, ahem, dreaming is about the dollhouse. I am, fortunately or unfortunately, one of those people who, once a project is begun, obsess about it. And often, even before it is started! That has led me to think about the dollhouse all the time, read the blogs of all the incredibly talented miniaturists out there, think and think about what I need to finish, start, research, make….you name it. Goodness, that will take me through the dull days of Winter, won’t it? And beyond, of course. As you can see, the dollhouse has taken over the kitchen table. Luckily, I have a husband who likes seeing a project in progress – he thinks it looks exciting. Thank goodness, because space is at a premium here and I don’t know where else I could put it. Oh, it could go upstairs in the guest bedroom/office/studio, but then I would be in Don’s private lair. Besides, there is better light in the kitchen.

Excuse me while I dream a bit more, will you?

Vintage Finds

September 15, 2009 at 9:23 am by Claudia

I was shopping the other day, looking for a smallish vintage bookcase for the hallway upstairs. We need to build bookcases in the den – have needed to build them since we moved in – and still haven’t. We have boxes of books out in the shed, books in the bedroom, books everywhere. This doesn’t include the boxes of books I sent home from San Diego, many of which are work-related. The point is: I have too many books and no place to put them! I wanted a cute little narrow bookshelf that would hold a huge volume of Shakespeare’s plays, all sorts of textbooks, etc.

I found a lot of bookshelves, but none of them were the right size. I know this happens to you, dear readers; you go in the shop for one thing but come out with 3 things that have nothing to do with your original intention. That happened to me the other day. Here is what I bought:

This is a vintage laundry bag. Hand embroidered on gorgeous, soft linen. I fell in love with it. Look at that fringe! I had no idea at the time where I was going to put it, I just knew I had to have it.

I also fell in love with this chippy bench.

I originally thought I would put it in the upstairs hallway and stack some books on the lower shelf. As often happens in this house, my husband had another idea and it was a better one. We placed it in front of the always-closed-french-door-on-the-left leading into the den. I had already decided that the laundry bag would look wonderful hanging from that same french door. The light filters through the linen beautifully.

I bought the large frog in San Diego. The bricks have their own story – they are from the theater-in-the-round in San Diego where both my husband and I worked. It is our favorite of the 3 theaters in the complex and last year it was razed in order to build a bigger theater. That made us sad. A friend of mine passed along the bricks so that we might have a little piece of this much-loved place.

Still need a bookcase. And bookshelves in the den. But we love these new additions to our home, found by chance while looking for something else.

Gifts from the Sea

May 28, 2009 at 2:41 pm by Claudia

You know all those photos of the beach I’ve been posting throughout my stay here? When I’m not taking pictures, this is what I’m gathering ~

I keep them in this lovely old glass sugar bowl~

and this (formerly the home of keys and sunglasses)~

The shells around here are of the petite variety. I never tire of looking at the subtle color variations and markings. They are going home with me to join the shells I gathered last year.

I urge you to read this wonderful novel – first recommended to me by Mrs. Staggs. I finally bought it last week and am entranced. It is all about the isle of Guernsey during and after the Second World War and the story is told via letters. It is charming, moving, sad, happy and really, really wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Staggs!

I just added Google Translate to my blog. Just for kicks, I translated it into French -I wonder why it looks so much better that way? Have a great day!

Reading, Cleaning, Obsessing, er…Dreaming

Vintage Finds

Gifts from the Sea

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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