girl at large

I like to write about life when you have a job, some kids, a fixer upper and a fatal disease.

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  • Hooked

    When I was pregnant, a friend sent me back a few of the crocheted things I had made for her baby. At the time, I was puzzled. I had intended for her to keep them for keepsakes. Now, nearly three years, 2 houses and zero sleep later, I understand. Thank you. Thank you for knowing I would never have the time or energy to make things for my own baby once she arrived.

    This sweater has been in my stash for years. I made it in Portland, in my tiny brothel apartment with yarn from my Grandma Eileen's stash and buttons from the best Goodwill in the west. At the height of my crocheting habit, I made lots of baby and toddler things with no specific recipient in mind. I simply waited til another friend had another baby, which was happening with greater frequency. This hoodie sweater lingered.

    This morning, Viv looks pretty darn cute in it. Who knew?

     

     

     

     

  • Via Table for Two

    There is nothing like an impending party for motivation! More work on the house kept us up late all week, mostly outside. The beautiful spring weather and long nights have me in the mood to plant flower pot after flower pot. It's a good thing I enjoy planting them, as usually I've killed them by mid-season and have to do them all over again!

    The Via Downer table in the sunroom is a spectacular match to the newly-restored tile floor. Paul says he isn't surprised, that I have a way of unconsciously color coordinating everything in our life. I am not as confident at my ability to pull this whole house together in time for the big family party, but right now it feels so good to have my little family around this special table.

     

     

     

     

     

  • We Have How Many Windows?!?!

    BEFORE:

    AFTER:

    The shades came! It took some doing to get them ordered after a computer glitch, but they finally arrived. They are perfect. We started with the six in the sunroom, my favorite room in the house. Only 14 more to install!

  • The Light at the Back of the Garage

    I've never been so thrilled to see a garage wall! The two crumbling broken windows in the back of the garage were replaced with gleaming bright glass block today.
    It's a small thing, but a huge improvement. The garage wall is my last view when I leave for work each day, and my first impression when I come back home after a long day. I couldn't take looking at the oozing "Great Stuff" around the frames of broken glass panes any longer. Dave the Glass Block Guy to the rescue.
    Paul's Fathers Day gift may have to be painting the garage. Because, of course, now the rest of the garage looks worse by comparison. But that means we need next to pour a new floor….and add a work bench…and a while you're at it add a lift…

     

  • Finally Committed

    For more than fifteen years I have searched for the perfect dinnerware. The set I coveted, Rosenthal porcelain, was always out of budget. But I refused to get cheap stuff I didn’t love. There’s a story about an argument with Mom in a Walmart over a toaster in this history of waiting for what I really want. In the meantime, a hodgepodge of three or four basic diner plates have gotten me through the years.

    Just yesterday I was talking about how I’m down to just two plates. It had become a thing—the search, the rejection, the hope, the disappointment—truth be told, I enjoyed the hunt.

    Today, there on the shelf at Legacies, was a gleaming white set of perfect vintage Japanese porcelain (Fukagawa). I finally committed!

     

  • Kicking Around

    Papa quote of the week: “I’m tired of not having any balls in this house”

     

     

  • Play Time Out

    The play area yesterday was crawling….with parents. The kids hardly had room to move, much less swing and jump. I remember French playgrounds where parents sat on the sidelines and had coffee and adult conversation while the kids sorted it out. I love you Vivi, but I find the playground incredibly boring, and I won’t hide it. I brought a book to the park when I was a kid, I’ll do it again now. You’ll deal.

     

  • Favorite Strangers

    Spring came early this year, or so it felt as we were on the road heading south. The trees along the side of the road were nearly green when we made it to Berea, KY. Asheville, NC was our trip destination, but Berea became our favorite stop that we had made along the way.

    The Boone Tavern Hotel (http://www.boonetavernhotel.com/) was perfect…historic, warm, comfortable. Though our room faced a rooftop, we didn’t notice because we were outside in the cobblestone courtyard among the daffodils or on the front porch rockers watching Berea college students go by. The people of the hotel and the town were friendly.

    At breakfast in the restored and sunny dining room, another traveling family stopped to chat at our table with my charming toddler. When they asked “his name”, I had to do the apologetic

    “Her name is Vivienne”.

    Strangers immediate response: “That’s ok, it will grow out!”

    My startled reply: “It’s on purpose, I prefer her hair short”

    She carries on: “…It could be worse, when my youngest got ahold of the scissors…”

    Me again, literally head in hands: “No, I PAID to have it done”

    Have a good day!

     

  • Oops

    Viv: “I saw your trunk today Papa”
    Papa: “You saw my what?”
    Viv: “You have a trunk like an elephant!”
    Exit bathrobe, enter pants.
     

     

     

  • Pick Your Projects

    Don’t Discount Your House’s Exterior Statement… — Arts & Crafts Homes and the Revival

    Spring weather turns my attention to the outside of the house….which is a disaster. I want to paint it, remove the horrible aluminum trim and restore the old storms and screens. I’m itching to scrape the peeling doors, yank out the nasty chain link fence and plant a blossoming tree.

    Spring may be here, but the budget isn’t. I’ll have to be satisfied with mud jacking the driveway and poop-scooping the yard.