Another Redo



One of my barn paintings, framed in old barn wood...

     Okay.  I like change.  (NOT the Obama kind!!!)  I have always, as long as I can remember, changed the decor in my house.  When I had my big old historic home, I changed the displays in the butler's pantry, all the curio cabinets, and china cabinets - every MONTH!   I was physically stronger then, and saw nothing wrong with moving the furniture almost as often.  My daughter could wake up at noon on a Saturday  and find the entire house redone.  Sometimes I switched entire rooms with each other.  It is always stimulating for me to get my artistic juices flowing and to see what odd items can go together in an eye-pleasing way.  I might take a very valuable antique item and put it in a basket with a dimestore item, then add a scrap of fabric or paper... who knows?
     So, after redoing my blog yesterday, I decided it was high time to redo the living room for winter.  Now that I've lost alot of physical strength,  I mostly change the art and other decorative items.  It doesn't hurt that I do watercolors, and have almost limitless paintings to choose from... I feel energized when it's new and different.

part of the curio cabinet

      The poor living room had recently been neglected.  It still had Autumn colors, paintings of  colorful trees and shadowy scenes,  coiled clay pots filled with wheat and other grains, and my collection of turkey figurines!  It was time for snowflakes, deer, silvery branches, and snow scenes.  Moshe helped me by bringing  in some actual pine branches which I attached to the walls with picture hangers.  The curio cabinet is filled with my Grama's old celluloid reindeer, various snowflakes, crystal bowls, touches of blue glass.
     Moshe is such a dear;  he always appreciates the "new look".
Even when he is outside cutting wood for the fire, if he runs across an interesting branch or stump, he sets it aside, knowing that I might like to create something out of it.  Just yesterday, he saved me a couple of very unique branches... who knows what they will become?  Or, where they will be incorporated into our decor?  He also scavenged a couple of the all-time most-wonderful items recently, and gave them to me for Hanukkah... They both were pieces from a small old barn; one a wonderful door with its hinges still intact; the other the gable end of the barn.  These pieces are solid red oak, and so heavy that they will have to be remade into something for the yard... WAY too heavy to hang on a wall. (Sigh.)
         

my joke deer, sitting on the sled

      The living room has a little alcove where the piano sits. I hung one painting there and a pine bough over it.  On the wall jutting out from the alcove, I propped my old sled, with a stuffed animal deer that I made about twenty-five years ago.  That deer is one of my little jokes with myself... He's a deer, wearing  camouflage and a hunting jacket.  (SICK!  Yes, I am sick!!!)    Wow... Does that bring back memories... Twenty-five years ago, I was a single Mom, raising a young daughter.  I worked more than fulltime, but it was still hard to make ends meet.  I started making floppy-eared bunnies, which was all the rage at the time.  I never made any two exactly alike.  They had precious little embroidered expressions on their faces, frilly dresses, fancy hats, you-name-it.  I got so many orders for them that I paid my little daughter to cut out the pattern pieces for me.  I got special orders for bride bunnies, Atlanta Braves bunnies, nurse, doctor, lawyer, biker, even a nudist bunny!!! One well-loved local dentist was buried holding his dentist bunny that I had made for him - toothbrush and all...  But, I digress. After the bunnies came deer, pigs, cows, dolls.  That little cottage industry helped us make the mortgage payment and knit together our tiny family unit.  One time we received an order from a business - I can't remember exactly, but it was for twenty-some rabbits, maybe even thirty... it was a lot.  After the person left from bringing us the list of orders,  my daughter, Melody,  and I literally jumped up and down for joy.
     And, so... decorating, for me, is more than just putting away some stuff and getting out some other stuff.  It's always a trip down memory lane.  Hope you've enjoyed the stroll with me this morning.

...two of my Winter watercolors, above the sofa...

Shalom Y'all - Twyla

The Pot Belly Redo

the pot belly

  
      Day before yesterday Moshe finished installing the pot belly stove.  We've enjoyed the radiant heat in the evenings and mornings, despite it getting up to 75 degrees outside this afternoon.  Up here in these mountains, once the sun goes down it chills pretty quickly.  Imagine-  32 degrees this morning and 75 this afternoon!  We are staring to get in the habit of restocking the firewood every morning.  It makes a terrible mess of my kitchen floor...  But then, once it's brought in,  I can sweep and mop and get back to the "normal" routine. (IS there any such thing as normal?)
     Being an artist at heart and an interior decorator by some sort of gift since childhood, the new stove gave me another area to redecorate.   I am constantly redecorating.  Fortunately, Moshe doesn't seem to mind.  He always likes what I've done with the place.  He did comment, though, "It's a good thing you weren't Helen Keller's mother."

cozy radiant heat

  

      Well, you know how it goes.  First you buy the stove and the stovepipe and everything you need for the installation.  Then, you realize you'll need a bucket for ashes. (Sheesh!  Did you know that a metal pail with a lid costs 15 dollars???)  Of course, you'll need some sort of containers to hold firewood and kindling.  Oh, and some fire tools such as a stoker, a small shovel for ashes, etc.  Much like any household project,  it grew into a larger consumption of both time and money than we had planned... But, that's life.  And, I'm not complaining.  Take a look at some of the pictures after only one day of decorating.  All the paintings are my watercolor creations.

the backside of the stove, and the backside of Twyla (loading the dishwasher)

      This photo, taken by the resident photographer - Moshe -
is looking at the backside of the stove, on into the kitchen,  and then on into the dining room and the outdoors. Moxie is lying in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room, no doubt hoping to get some sort of treat from yours truly.
     I LOVE THIS ROOM!  I love the various plaids together.  And, I love the old chairs.  The old rocker
to the left was my Grandmother's.  I remember it being at her house when I was a little girl.  Beautiful.

the beginnings of redecorating around the pot belly...

  
      The next photo is the front of the stove, looking out the window.  So far, I've hung a couple cast iron items,  put a few metal and ceramic cats nearby, placed my antique tea kettle on the stove.  I'm sure the project will morph as I think of more items that are packed away here and there throughout the house. The old tea cart under the window belonged to my parents "forever".  With the drop-leafs up, it served as our breakfast room table until we started the  redo.  Now, we eat at one end of the big dining room table.  I made the chair cushions and window valance out of an old plaid blanket.  Cool, huh?

the view from the laundry room...

    Shalom Y'all - Twyla

  
       This last photo was taken from the laundry room, looking towards the art studio/workroom.  The crazy black curtain with all the strands of various fabrics, beads, etc.  hides the workroom chaos AND keeps the heat in the parts of the house where we want it .   Last night,  even though the temperature went down to 32, the central heat only came on for about four minutes!  I love it!
        So, now y'all have seen some of our home.
Hope you've enjoyed it.  Stay warm.

Fall is Approaching

My watercolor, entitled "Mountain View"

          Yes, we are still doing our Fall Cleaning.  Almost done.  It feels so good.  Everything looks so nice;  I always find changing the decor invigorating,  Moshe said, "It's as if we have a new house, without moving!"  It really IS, too;  because we have changed all the rooms except the bathrooms. (I'd change them, too, if I had the time!)  We plan to do the last little touches tomorrow...  looking forward to re-establishing a routine of some sort...
     This month has been exceptionally warm for this area.  A couple days ago I was talking with a lady who has lived here for many years. She said she can't remember a Summer this hot, and certainly not a September this warm.  But, Fall is approaching.  Every day we see a few more red, yellow, and  brown leaves among the green of the trees.  Quite a few leaves are falling in the roads, too.  I like all the seasons, but Autumn is my favorite.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's because of the beautiful colors of the trees.  Maybe it's memories of bonfires and hayrides and roasting marshmallows and picking apples off the trees. Maybe it's just time for a change in temperature and a change of pace.  Spring and Summer are hectic for the farmer;  Fall and Winter provide us with more time for reading, playing board games,  and hobbies.  I'm ready... How 'bout you?
                                                                 Shalom Y'all,     Twyla