Thursday, January 31, 2013

Puttering & Futzing

bedroom 2 years ago... this piece is now moved to the Dining Room



Our bedroom has been in need of a fluffing. Past due for a revamp. The tiny... {really, I mean very small} room that houses our bed has become a place to set down clothes wherever they might land. The minimal closet space that we have is stuffed to the brim. And because of those closets the work-out pants and tennies from the day get thrown in a bin that sits on the floor. UNAPPEALING at best!!


When last you read here about the projects going on and the silliness of it all since everybody with any brains was outdoor enjoying the sun... (whew, long-ass sentence).. well, I've been challenging my hoarding instincts (Hubby's too) and ridding our home of bags of un-needables. {probably not a word}. Progress has been made. The bedroom is a place I actually like sitting in now.














notice oil of ocean on top of black chest... comes into play next


Whether we've got the space, or not, {NOT !} somehow there has got to be a television in here. Masters & Johnson would have something to say about that! I have a distaste for looking at TV screens. In the living room our television is hidden, so I searched for a way to do the same in the bedroom...



Simple solution. Easy on & easy off... Hubby will be more likely not to scowl at this, since it is so simple.









Like pillows much?!! hhaaaa











Small details still to be solved. No end pieces on the curtain rods. Artwork above the bed to be changed.  And... on, and on, and on....  really never ends - does it? Such fun to shop my own home and change my surroundings, makes it all feel so lovely and new!


LOVE a gallery wall! Don't you?


Since the bedroom is all clean and decorated, I'm going to show her off at My Romantic Home.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A Wednesday Two Weeks Later...

Mid-week; chickens cackling in the backyard. The windows are open to the fresh air. I know why the caged bird sings...   {just using that quote that I do love} - Yet, I do know why they're singing...
IT IS GORGEOUSLY SUNNY!! Me, the chicks, my neighbors, every little creature - out and alive!


early morning shadows from my perch


Time spent ridding our home of excess isn't particularly the way I see myself whiling away the brief hours of sunshine. Yet, here I am. I've been enjoying this chore. Bags of clothing tossed aside for a trip to the resale. Furniture dusted and moved to new corners. Happy vignettes of never displayed goodies swapping spots with the old & tired. Rather pleasing. Surely have days and weeks more work to go. Maybe not during such lovely non-wintry daylight.

On a post-rainy day of recent, we did take a road trip through the redwoods, and out into the tiny town of Pescadero. A perfect afternoon with mustard fields, goats, cheese tasting and ocean.










































Harley Farms sits in a field with a barn over there, and a couple of out-buildings here, and the milking parlour near to the goat paddock. We tasted cheese, but also some warm and succulent butternut squash & jalapeno soup. At the tippy-top of the barn is this room shown above ^. Here, the farm hosts a once per month field-to-table dinner. Along with the charming goats, lovely scenery and smiling face of the shop tendress, there is also a furniture maker. Sad to report, we were unable to meet this chap. His nickname is Three Finger Bob. Sounds like there must be a story to be told... don't ya think?


Bring on the warm California sun!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

My History

As I was saying.....

I do realize that I mentioned something about posting again "tomorrow" and now it's been 4 days - give or take! I was taking a road trip along the coast and going back in time to the lumber industry of California {click on CA}.  A quick reference was made to my family lore in that same lumber history.







Two stories are rehashed over time and again. My family adores the silliness of one story, and it goes as thus... {pay no attention to the over dramatization}  :-)

Some fifty-odd years ago, there was a very young woman and her husband living in the dusty, perched-along-the-highway, valley town of Willows. Expectant of their very first child. Sweetly inexperienced in the way that a 1950's Doris Day film portrays the era.  Life was simple.  Money from lumber jacking just enough.

In the early spring they welcomed a daughter... arriving, yes in a hospital, possibly though a facility whose office staff had just the basics of a K-8 education. Or, might it be the schooling of the young parents that comes into question?  You see, when time came to complete the newborns birth certificate, someone somewhere - in either the registry or labor & delivery - made a grievously hilarious mistake.

On the birth certificate of baby girl, Shari, it is forever noted that her Father's occupation is, as shown below....

OCCUPATION:  HOOKER !!





Oh yeah! Forever typed onto an important U.S. citizen document... a part of my history!
And, here again....




My father is quick to point out that a "hooker" was just one title for a specific job when he was a lumberjack.


Blurring the full image I mistakenly deleted another fun fact. The personnel in question also noted that my father was : Mexic-ian.

Awww, Dad... what did they do to ya??  hhhaa  No matter what my legal documents say... you are perfectly fine just the way you are!




Friday, January 11, 2013

Road Trip

Oh, for the love of God... err..   Pete!!  No more banter, just get outside and DO IT!

Wanna walk with me??  The Shari bus is taking you to the coastal towns of Davenport, and on further north to Pescadero. This is Northern California at it's finest...  and there's much more to be seen hundreds of miles north and south of here too. What a great place to live...

Closer to God, we are!!  :-)





Davenport, CA








old lumber mill - vintage horse trailer used to contain sawdust




Davenport's history is tied to the lumber industry. The redwoods inland from here were a resource. Timber was shipped from a now defunct wharf via ships, all across the land.
** little side note: I have some lumber-lore in my history. I'll write a post about it tomorrow**















Down the road a piece and at the dynamic Pacific at a place called Cowell's beach...


Cowell creeks ~


 
 
 
 
 


cliffs ~




and cacophony... oh, dear the chatter of the gulls!!  swarms of them.. enjoying California sunshine ~




















What is there about a lighthouse? The splendor, the history & stories...






Hop back on my bus another time! This wander did not end at the lighthouse.... always so much more to see, no?!!  I'm off to do a walk in real time right now.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Stick-to-it-iveness ... Say WHAT??

No. The new year does not automatically call for resolutions. Sometimes I partake in the goal naming, sometimes not. This go-round all of it just slipped past me.Though I probably should have taken the Numero Uno resolution of dieting - 'cause, as you'll see below - the days before the ball dropped for 2013, I done had me a treasure trove of delicious EATS!!












Also, more than my fair share of fun and frolic - leaving much less time for goodly things like exercise and well-being! Additionally some trying events + sadness = {as mentioned here}highly unlikely to be kind to self!










This was a somewhat healthy meal ^.. still very indulgent!  Shall I be resolute about a goal - now - a week into the year? And if I do choose something will I stick with it?... that is the biggest goal of all : to have the stick-to-it-iveness in all facets of life.... dontcha think?











If I were one to follow trends... and in some things, I am... then the Blogland thing to do for the new year is to choose a word. Your chosen term for a goal you hope to hit in TWENTY THIRTEEN.
Maybe I'll be really bold ridiculous and say that my word is sticktoitiveness {albeit a made-up word}.


Haaaa - I know what my first stick-to-it will be :  STICKY BUNS!!  nah, not really...

Monday, January 7, 2013

Feeling Squirrely

Bushy-tailed hoarders scamper still. Our yard; their playground.

Here's what I watched out the window the other morning....






Squirrely was too efficient with the hiding of his pantry staples for the winter. Not a walnut in sight. He's choosing to forage for rose hips.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Today's the day for pruning the rose bushes. The start of pruning, anyway. We have countless thorny rosaceous climbers, trailers, bushes, etc., and it takes awhile to get them all under control.         
 
 
Winter is seen in countless ways around my garden. Our flying friends have left their home ...
 
 
     
 
 
 
Last post I eluded to the fact that I'm "Spring-dreamin".  'Tis true... I sat for hours and browsed a gorgeous seed website and ordered their catalog - solely to gander again at their imagery! What  
beauty there is to be found at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.... oh my!                    
 
 
Grey, cold and if I may say so- some gloom - are how the last few days have been. However, it's nothing that a handful of bright yellow tulips can't change!! They too are a harbinger of Spring!!
 
                       
 
 
 
 
 
** If you'd like to see some fresh, new blog posts that begin the new year in style... go see My Romantic Home. I've joined Cindy's Thursday group that highlights beauty in our homes.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Dreaming of Longer Days

Still much more of winter to go. The Christmas holiday season only barely over. I don't mean to search beyond the days that are here and now. As we're told - LIVE IN THE PRESENT... but, once the glitter is packed away to the garage rafters, my thoughts turn to spring and it's freshness.

Icy mornings and sunny cool days are still settled upon my garden for now. I shall bask in what is lovely about that. Make good with this present time.


It's taken at least a week to get back to the journaling of my life. Now it seems that I'll only be able to write and not attach photos. Blogger has some major new year revamping to do, it seems. The lovely photos that I would share can only sit on my computer and wait for another time... seems I cannot live in the present for this either. :-)


** found a way around the problem - solely for one pretty image! **



Lots of pretty to share from the last couple of holiday weeks... hoping to get to it soon! Fingers crossed that Blogger gets repaired!