Travel: Opus 40
Do you still experience wonderment as an adult? I wouldn’t say it is routine for me, but every once in awhile that feeling of wonderment, awe and admiration all bundled together, hits me and it is like all my senses light up! That’s what I experienced when I visited Opus 40 near Saugerties, New York. What is Opus 40? Opus 40 is an 6.5-acre earthwork sculpture park. Visitors can walk up, down, and all over this man-made sculpture. Its highest point is a monolith that rises 16-feet above ground and its lowest point is 3-stories below ground. Opus 40 was created by ONE PERSON, actor and sculptor, Harvey Fite, who…
Taking Apart a Piano is Hard
Taking apart a piano is hard. Really hard. Can you believe that me, of all people, even uttered those words “taking apart a piano”? It sounds blasphemous. I assure you I have not abandoned my decades-long love of the piano. Nor did I take apart my baby piano. Heaven forbid! I took apart a piano to which I have no emotional attachment. Because that makes it better? Here’s what happened… Please note this is not a tutorial. There are plenty of those on the internet. This is more of a cautionary tale should you decide to embark on this journey. A piano was left in our house when we moved…
Happy List: #135
Hello! We all made it to Friday! I think that deserves a pat on the back. This week on the blog I shared a mushy story. Scratch that. I shared TWO mushy stories. This one about DIY and love and this one about flea market finds and love. The two most important men in my life each had a starring role in these stories. As it should be. Here’s the Happy List! PIONEERTOWN MOTEL I’m dead from the cuteness. (image: Pioneertown Motel) This is the registration office for Pioneertown Motel in California. Back in the day Pioneertown Motel housed movie stars like Gene Autry while they were filming. If you love…
The Best Flea Market Score
Not only did I recently find the best flea market score EVER, it happened twice at the same flea market. I know, I know. I don’t think you can technically have two “best ever” declarations in the same sentence. Alas, it won’t be the first or last grammar violation on this blog. Now, while I’m still riding the high of the moment, I am well aware that the best flea market score to me is not the best flea market score to someone else. And thank goodness, right? Otherwise, they’d be walking home with my finds and I’d be walking home sad and empty-handed. Actually, I’d be driving. New Jersey…
When DIY Equals True Love
A friend messaged me last weekend and asked if I was doing anything fun. Well… I guess that depends on your definition of fun. If fun means taking down the ugliest fluorescent lights in your kitchen before they actually fall out of the ceiling, then it’s practically been a party at our house. And I’m not joking about the part where one of them was falling out of the ceiling. Taking down the lights meant that we had to deal with the world’s worst drywall job and, honestly, that hasn’t been so fun. Of all the home improvement jobs, drywall sanding is the thing I enjoy the least. “No, kids.…
Happy List: #134
Hey, hey! It’s Friday! The 13th! This week on the blog it was all about the exterior of our house. I shared the surprising way we had a whole bunch of brush removed from our property. That alone probably raised our property value. I also shared my newly painted front gate and how long it took me to paint it. It definitely wasn’t an hour. In other news, I’ve been trying to do more stories on Instagram. I even showed my face this week. Twice. Crazy stuff. If you’re on Instagram, I’d love to connect with you there too. Here’s the Happy List! SWEET POTATO SAUSAGE BREAD KNOTS It is…
I Painted Our Front Gate
Try not to be jealous, but we have a gate to nowhere. Well, not nowhere. If I walk from my front porch straight down the uneven sidewalk (thanks a lot, tree roots!) to the gate it leads to my mailbox. Two steps past the mailbox is certain death. People drive way too fast on country roads! I could also walk around the driveway to the mailbox and never have to use that gate or trip on the uneven sidewalk, but where’s the fun in that? I suppose if you want to get technical about things (apparently, I do today,) it really isn’t a gate to nowhere. It’s just a plain…
The Surprising Way We Cleared 75 Feet of Bushes
When we bought the Colonial Farmhouse it wasn’t visible from the road. This is saying a lot about the amount of overgrowth happening on the front of our property because the Colonial Farmhouse sits only 20-feet from the road. It should be visible to the naked eye. To further illustrate how overgrown the bushes had become, we didn’t need window treatments. No one driving by at night could peer in the front windows – at least not on the main level. I don’t even have a good picture of the overgrowth because there was nothing photogenic about the situation. Here’s this one though… Can you see the road? Or the…
Happy List: #133
Hello, everyone! I hope September is treating you well! We’ve survived school thus far. There’s only been one forgotten snack, one forgotten Chromebook, one forgotten Chromebook charger, and one lost form, so I think we’ve really got this school thing nailed. Ha! This week on the blog I shared my trip to Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut. I also shared the 1971 MLS Listing for our Colonial Farmhouse. Here’s the Happy List! UNDERWATER DANCING I was mesmerized by this synchronized swimmer’s underwater dance to Chopin. She can hold her breath for 4 minutes! https://www.instagram.com/p/B1tjrjwHAhE/ LEATHER WREATH You know I love a good leather project! Go check out this neat…
The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse
I rarely answer my phone for numbers I don’t recognize. Half the time I don’t answer my phone for numbers I DO recognize. Therefore, it must have been fate calling one sweltering summer night when my phone rang and I decided to answer. After all, every once in awhile I do need to make sure I remember how. The person who sold us our home was on the other end of the line. He had found the 1971 MLS Listing for our Colonial Farmhouse in some papers he was sorting through and called to see if I wanted it. Do I need air to breathe? Do I need shoes that are…
