Preparations

We've been busy digging up plants from our yard before the destruction begins (the day after tomorrow!). Some plants have been given to a friend, and the rest have been potted to be replanted elsewhere once the madness is over. We moved 4 roses from the front yard to the backyard, and 3 from the side yard into pots. Not sure if any of them will survive, but figured it was worth the try. Meanwhile, celebrating the beauty of the ones that are staying in place. Fingers crossed the others will survive the transplant and I'll (unsurprisingly) post pics of those when and if it happens. These roses preceded the second owner so were planted sometime between 1936 and 1990. Love the history of this place!

New kitchen treasure

Trying not to get addicted to Le Creuset but the colors are gorgeous and they are so awesome to cook with! The cast skillet came first, then the giant pot for making jam, and just added the blue croquet... and a syrup jar... and a pie bird. =)   I am sure more will be added but have to take my time and figure out what cuisine is in the cards for the future. 

Getting organized

Have been pretty comfortable with chaos, but lately flirting with organization and I kind of like it.

Beer

We have home brew on tap at the new (old) house for the first time! Vanilla porter being shown off in last year's glass from the breast cancer fundraiser put on by Greenflash brewery. We attended again this year - always a good time.

Design time

Re-purchased quilt design software today (apparently 15 year old software doesn't run on windows 8), and started playing around. The last one was a total accident (struggling with the block rotating and flipping tools) but I kind of love it. The third and fourth are inspired by this block and will pop more than it seems in these mock ups. The first and second are more traditional so might match the retro house better, but very undecided at the moment. And the heavy lifter hasn't had a chance to weigh in. And I've never tried the kaliedescope block (1st image) so if it's annoying it will have to be excluded.

Postal service

When we moved in we found a note on the mailbox saying with change of ownership the USPS would stop delivering to the original mail slot and we had to get something else... Which was perplexing as there isn't much info on their website about restrictions and what is allowed, but I imagined a custom mailbox that would hint at the era of the house. After 4 months the furniture maker did his magic with the hardware I provided (a new slot and a vintage eagle PO box door) and some marine grade plywood. I primed, painted and voila! Also pictured is the cat who seems to be inhabiting our front yard. Cute but needy and meows a lot so in ignore mode right now so as to (hopefully) minimize future meowing.

Blueprints ready, blue fabric undecided

So blessed to have the original house blueprints from 1935. They'll go on the wall first thing tomorrow.

Contemplating blue fabric next... I guess the middle one is most pleasing, although it will be dots next to dots... but if the pieces are small enough the pattern will be less noticeable.

Kitchen island

Had been pondering how to handle the pink/peach and blue tile counter tops in the kitchen ever since moving into this house was just a twinkle in our eye. The kitchen also needed an island or some sort of table/bar/extra counter space to fill up an empty wall. So we asked the good folks at Vintage Revivals in OB to build us this, and gosh it came out great! Still on my to do list is to sew something with that floral fabric folded over the oven handle... it's meant to be a wall hanging/ table runner with colors that tie in the pink/peach and blue but also open the palette up to more greens and reds that match pre-existing kitchen items. It's got the makings of a great project... now I just have to start cutting and sewing!

Thanks to my sis for staging and the heavy lifter aka photog.

Plunger DIY

The new house was built in 1936 and has most of the original features, which is awesome, but also means there is no cabinet in the bathroom (only a pedestal sink). So when it came to figuring out where to put essentials like the plunger, I had to get creative. I made this up and scooted it in the corner next to the commode and we're all set for emergencies. (I didn't color correct the photos and think it's kind of awesome what the camera did to the vintage tiles in the close ups.)