decorating — Page 21

Some Pretty Pictures, But This is Really About My Dad

October 27, 2015 at 9:07 am by Claudia

10-27 monty

I felt it was time for Monty to be center-stage once again.

I mean, look at that face. How could anyone resist?

The painted rock was a gift from the little girl who played Don’s daughter in Our Town. The framed Japanese print was an antiquing find a few years back – we found it in a little shop. The industrial stool was discovered in a local shop not long after we moved in here.

Monty was discovered in a little town on the Hudson way back when we were still renting.

10-27 portulaca

I brought the portulaca in from the funky patio. I’m overwintering it and so far, so good. It just bloomed.

10-27 portulaca 2

And it has pretty new growth. Fingers crossed.

I had to share some photos with you, because I usually do.

However, this is what’s really on my mind today. My dad was taken by ambulance to the hospital last night. Meredith called me around 10:30 after the rehab facility called her to tell her the news. He has been on Coumadin, a blood thinner, for a few years now and for some reason, we don’t know the whole story yet, his blood is so thin that horrible bruising has appeared all over his right arm. A cat scan eased one of the doctor’s worries – that there was bleeding on the brain. There isn’t. But there may be bleeding happening elsewhere. When Mer texted me in the middle of the night with an update, the doctor was calling in a hematologist. He’s been admitted to ICU because any sort of accident or fall would be fatal at this point. So they want to keep a close watch on him.

Mer is going to try to get to the bottom of what might be the cause. Did Westchester Gardens (the rehab facility) have the wrong information on dosage? Were they giving too much? We know from our mother’s time there that sometimes the hospital doesn’t send all of the medication information or the information they send is not accurate.

Anyway. I’m very worried. Suddenly, this rehab stay for Dad’s back has turned into something much more and to say we are alarmed is an understatement.

The latest: The coumadin level is much lower this morning, which is good. He might be transferred out of ICU to another room later in the day, but we don’t know for sure.

Happy Tuesday.

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Random on Monday

July 27, 2015 at 8:18 am by Claudia

• We finally got around to celebrating Don’s birthday – a month after the fact. To be fair, I kept asking him when he wanted to celebrate and finally took matters into my own hands.

Where did we go?

Cracker Barrel. We rarely go there and we both love eating breakfast out and, let’s face it, Cracker Barrel has those darned delicious biscuits and grits and eggs and cheesy hash browns. Oh, lordy, we ate too much, but boy, was it good! Don opened his presents and a good time was had by all.

Scout had better things to do. She was home sleeping.

7-27 liatris and moth

• We’re headed into a 10 day stretch in which 7 of those days will have temperatures above 90 degrees. Ask me how excited about that I am. Go ahead. Ask me.

Aw, don’t bother. You already know the answer.

7-27 tiny zinnia

• The zinnias are blooming, but I clearly didn’t plant the large ones of summers past. I don’t know why that happened. It’s disappointing for Don, who loves the big zinnias. A fail on my part. They’re very pretty. Just petite.

• This morning I started to scan the news sites and I simply had to stop. Too depressing. Some days, like this one, become No News days in order to preserve my mental health.

• I never order from Decor Steals, though I love many of the great deals they offer. We’re on a budget and this house is full up, thank you. But I saw a daily deal while I was in Chautauqua that made me think twice. And three times. So I ordered it. The item was very inexpensive and would, I thought, add a little practical fun to our cottage.

7-27 clock2

It’s this two sided clock. First of all, the color is perfect for our home. I love the graphics, with London/1984/The New Era printed on the clock face. Did I ever tell you I was in a production of 1984 (in 1986) that was a big hit in Philadelphia and went on to a run at the Kennedy Center?

I digress.

Isn’t this cool? Don loves it. So do I.

I spent some time on Saturday drilling holes, cursing, drilling some more holes, and finally getting it in place.

7-27 clock1

One side.

7-27 clock3

The other side.

Don was recording an album all day Saturday. He and his pal, Dan, recorded 11 songs for a live album – more details will be forthcoming – and then he had a gig after that, so I didn’t see him all day. I also didn’t tell him I’d hung the clock, so he was surprised and a wee bit delighted when he saw it.

It makes us smile.

• I’m pleased that you liked the miniature source list I posted yesterday. I’ve already added more links, and will continue adding them as time goes on. I’ll also post a link to the original post that will live permanently under the Dollhouse tab in the navigation bar. That way, it will be easily accessible for all of you mini/dollhouse fans.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Monday.

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Dollhouse: Tweaks, Additions & A New Project

July 23, 2015 at 8:54 am by Claudia

Some weeding happened yesterday. Actually, a lot of weeding happened yesterday.

By the time mid-afternoon rolled around, my back was complaining loudly, so I headed back indoors with two packages that came in the mail. One was big (more on that later) and one was on the small side. Both had to do with miniatures.

Am I intriguing you?

7-23 outside macbook

Apparently, Caroline upgraded her laptop. This looks like a 15 inch MacBook Pro.

I have a 13 inch. Seems unfair.

Actually, if you remember, I made a laptop for the studio/office and it was okay for a while. But the scale was off and I knew it and I resolved to replace it eventually.

7-23 inside macbook

I need to fix that keyboard decal. It’s not quite flat. Later today.

Also, the white wrought iron fencing arrived.

7-23 dh with white fence

I carefully removed the black wrought iron and added the white. I like it. But then I sat here and looked at the edge on the right – next to the tower – and realized I was going to have to add another piece or it would drive me nuts.

7-23 addedpiece

That little piece closes the gap between the fence and the tower. Much better. Now I can relax.

Some more views:

7-23 fencecorner

7-23 andanotherview

7-23 fenceandhedge

7-23 ontheside

It looks crisp and clean. I loved the black wrought iron and miss it, but it clearly didn’t work once I added the hedges. (I saved it, in case I want to use it again.)

And some plants were hung. I ordered two brass plant hangers from miniatures.com (all of these new additions are from that site.)

7-23 theplantsarehung

A closer look at the plant hanger:

7-23 planthanger

You’re looking good, rooftop garden!

I wonder what the view is like from the neighbor’s roof?

7-23 whatifyoulivednextdoor

A tantalizing peek into Caroline’s rooftop life.

Just like in Rear Window, one of my favorite movies.

The other package was much bigger and heavier.

7-23 Denise's City Cottage box

This is the kit for the HBS (Hobby Builder’s Supply/Miniatures.com) Creatin’ Contest 2015. I’m not really interested in entering the contest, especially since I purchased this late in the game. But I was intrigued by the design and kept going back to the site to look at it.

92015_md

Source: Miniatures.com

Isn’t this cool? It reminds me of a Tiny House or a backyard studio. It’s relatively small, which means that this would be a good first build for me. Originally, I was contemplating making it a Tiny House, but then one day I remembered that Don has said, more than a few times, that he’d like his own little miniature house – from a guy’s point of view. Hmmm.

So, I’m going to build and design a space that we can’t afford to build in real life, but so wish we could. This will be Don’s retreat and it will include everything he’d like: a small recording studio, a place for all his guitars, a sofa and chair, music stands, records, turntable, posters on the wall. Maybe a mini refrigerator?

But it will be tasteful. Because I’m decorating it. It will also be fun.

I’m so excited! My goal is to finish it in time for Christmas.

He’s knows I have a top secret project, simply because I had to alert him. I’m going to have to cover it up when I’m not working and will be constantly saying things like “Don’t look!” if he walks by when I am working. There are very few places to hide away in Mockingbird Hill Cottage. I’m thinking I’m going to take the sewing machine out of the sewing table (in my crafty studio area) and use the table as my construction site. I haven’t sewn in quite a while, have no desire to do so, and I’m far more interested and passionate about miniatures/dollhouses right now.

First, I have to put it together. Then I have to figure out how I want to finish the outside. I have some ideas percolating.

I’m very excited about this new challenge!

Happy Thursday.

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Some Pretty Pictures, But This is Really About My Dad

Random on Monday

Dollhouse: Tweaks, Additions & A New Project

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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