slow spring, books, and framed art

Spring is behind here in Illinois. Most of the month of April was unusually cold and rainy. It felt like an extended March. No drinking our tea on the porch in the mornings, no yard clean up yet, nothing planted except some pansies. This was my view across the street yesterday. Overcast (as usual) and the maple tree just starting to bud. Today is cold with wind-driven rain. One of those days where you just want to stay in bed and read or watch movies all day. I've actually never done that unless I was sick or recovering from surgery.

 Have you?

Taking a walk around my yard yesterday, I did find some beautiful things to photograph. Isn't this blooming leaf exquisite? This is my next door neighbor's maple tree, which borders our property. The leaves are a dark red, almost maroon when they're in full bloom. 

My peony bush coming to life.

Bleeding Heart finally in bloom.

Hostas growing more by the day.

Cheerful daffodils in my butterfly garden. They're late bloomers as they don't get much sun.

Does anyone know what these flowers are ~ are they a variety of tulips? I saw them by a library a couple of weeks ago and was smitten.

Libraries and books

We don't need anymore books, but there are a couple of Chicago suburb libraries that have fantastic sales and sometimes we can't resist. This was the stack I came home with a couple of weekends ago. I recently finished Anne Tyler's, "French Braid" and was disappointed. I'm hoping "Redhead by the Side of the Road" will be better.

Brian's picks.

Framed art

Our hallway bathroom is small and the main wall by the sink holds the towel bar. Otherwise, this wall is blank and boring. I'd been thinking about getting some kind of art work for this area for a long time, but never came across anything that I felt was just right. I bought this double matted frame at Michaels, hung it up and liked it. Funny thing is, the prints in the frame are the ones that came with the frame. I went through my stash of paper art I keep for art journaling plus some photos and nothing worked. So the store prints are staying for now.

I've had these white framed mats for six years. They used to hold Tim's college graduation photos. He's been replaced by cats. 😉

Zippo (who passed away in Nov 2018) and Monkey (who passed almost three months ago) now have a place of honor on the wall of my office/guest room. Photos taken by Tim.

Here's to warmer weather, morning porch sitting, and working in the yard. Have a beautiful week!

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May."
~ Edwin Way Teale

not one but both bathrooms

In my last post, I left you with the "what to hang on my bathroom wall" dilemma.  A couple of people commented that the shelf needed some faux greenery or faux flowers. To be honest, I'm not into either. When I picture faux plants, I see an old lady's home, complete with floral pink couches and heavy drapes. On the other hand, I have seen faux flowers that bloggers have used in their homes that look really nice. So off I went to Michaels and Hobby Lobby in search of something that didn't look too plastic-y.

All I found that I liked was faux ivy. I got home and stuck it in a variety of bottles and vases, and all possibilities looked terrible. I think it was the mass of green in this room that doesn't have any green at all. My eyes were immediately drawn to the clump of faux ivy when I looked in the bathroom. Not something you want anyone's eyes drawn to.

Then I remembered I had a small faux plant in my decor stash in the basement. I found it and put it in the eyelash cup you see on the left and...voila! Not so much green that it's overwhelming. I also found a tall vase in my decor stash that has green stems, so I think the colors on this shelf now all blend nicely.

Oh ~ a couple of you mentioned that you or your hubby would knock the necklaces into the toilet! It's hard to tell in the photo, but there's no way that could happen. And I am a clumsy person. The necklaces are all the way back against the wall, not hanging towards the front of the toilet.

Another store I ran into was Home Goods, where I found this towel on the clearance rack. I think this new towel brightens up the bathroom, as well.

Other side of the sink...

 Now that one bathroom decorating dilemma was done, I moved onto the next bathroom ~ the main hallway bath. We had the bathroom painted (pretty much same color, just a little darker) back in the spring. At the time, I had three white floating shelves on the wall above the toilet. While I liked that look, I was tired of it and wanted something different.

This time, I went on a hunt at a couple of antique stores in a small town out in the country.

 So much cool stuff to look through...

This vintage plant stand (not the cage) almost came home with me. It was only $20. But I couldn't think where in my house I could put it.

After browsing around for a little bit, I finally found this shelf hanging on a wall. I hemmed and hawed and thought about it for the bathroom wall. Walked away and came back to it. Twice. Finally bit the bullet and bought it.

Here it is hung on the bathroom wall. I have been playing with the decor on it for a couple of days; I keep changing it up because nothing feels right. I like the shelf itself, but I'm wondering if a round or oval mirror might be better instead of this rectangular one. I'm also thinking of a new shower curtain. Sorry for the bad photos of this room but there's no window, so I have to turn the light on. This bathroom is obviously very small too, so it's hard to photograph.

A few hours after I wrote this post, but before I published it, I played around with the decor again. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this. I think the space between the shelf and the top of the toilet needed something. At first, I had that picture you see on the shelf hanging where the heart wreath was. But it didn't look good there.

Will it stay this way? Probably not. 🤣

Thanks for hanging in there with all my bathroom re-decorating photos. I bought an architectural piece, too when I was at the antique shops. Now where to put that...

hello september ~ and what's on your bathroom wall?

Even though Labor Day has come and gone, there's fallen leaves on my porch, kids are back to school (they went back two weeks ago here!), and even some trees are already changing colors, I'm still clinging to every last bit of summer. I always feel sad at the first signs of fall ~ these fallen leaves, my perennials starting to fade, the lack of birdsong. 

But moving on to other things that have absolutely nothing to do with fall...how about a decorating dilemma? Is it just me or is it hard to figure out what to put on the wall above the toilet? We have two small bathrooms. This one is the master bathroom. Previously, I had two floral prints (one on top of the other) on this wall. I got tired of the prints, plus I wanted hooks for some of my necklaces. At first, I was going to hang a variety of hooks on the wall to the left. But I didn't want to deal with holes all over the wall. Then I started looking online for shelving displays. I found this one on Wayfair (not a sponsored post). I liked that it had a bar on the bottom where I could hang necklaces from hooks.

I wasn't sure about this shelving unit once it was hung on the wall. It was a lot bigger than I envisioned. It feels cheaply made. And I had no idea how to decorate it (besides the necklaces).

This is what I ended up with. The shelf is deep, so it requires decor with height. I used simple S-hooks to hang my necklaces from the bar.

Do I love it? No. Am I tolerating it? I guess so.

Here's what the bathroom looks like from the doorway. 

Funny thing is, I'm having the same decorating dilemma in the hallway bath. We had the bathroom repainted a few months ago and the wall above the toilet is still bare! We used to have three floating shelves on that wall and I want something different this time. I've looked on blogs, Pinterest, Houzz, stores online and in person. Nothing has jumped out at me but yet I'm frustrated with staring at a blank wall.

So, tell me ~ what's on your bathroom wall?

getting closer

Hello friends, and happy Friday. We've had a couple of beautiful "teaser" days here in northern Illinois where the sun is shining and it's warm enough to open the windows. It actually got up to 63 degrees yesterday. I had every window open in the house and the cats went crazy, not knowing what to do. They didn't nap the entire morning - they were too busy running from window to window, sniffing the fresh air and lunging at the birds and squirrels. Good thing we have new, strong screens! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to not only feel the fresh air in the house again, but to hear birdsong all day long. The extended forecast shows much cooler weather and lots of rain, maybe even a little s*** mixed in, so I'm enjoying every moment of this beautiful weather while I can.

And my lilac bush is starting to bloom! Another sure sign of good things to come.

Back at the Big Box Store again - this time looking for a large houseplant to go in a corner (I didn't find what I was looking for). I was so excited to see the pansies are here! Granted, they're inside for now because our weather is still too iffy, but next time I'm in that area, I think I'll get a pot of flowers for my porch and then put them in the garage at night.

The painting of Tim's room and the hall bath is done. You can see what a small bedroom this is. We're making this room into an office (for Brian)/guest bedroom/lounging spot. I wanted a day bed for this room but discovered they are bigger than I thought. So now I'm looking for either a love seat that pulls out into a bed or more of a twin platform bed: Something that doesn't have a headboard. It will go on that wall to the left, towards the window. Which also needs curtains.

This is the only spot that worked for this big desk. I wanted the desk in front of the window, but it blocked the vent. And if I moved the desk over to the right where the vent would be under the opening in the desk, it was too close to the closet door. Why do builders put vents right underneath windows?! I could never figure that one out. We also need to find a desk chair that "goes" with this desk. I've been looking on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp almost every day. I know eventually it will come to us!

Here's the other side of the room between the closet and the door.

The bathroom color isn't much different than the previous color, though this gray is pretty much a true gray and a little darker. The previous color had slight blue undertones. We also had the painter paint the wood trim at the ceiling white. All I need to do in this room now is decide on shelving for above the toilet and then on the wall to the left, decide whether we want to re-hang the towel bar or find a decorative board with two hooks. I might even look for a new shower curtain.

Bathroom After:

Bathroom Before:

Speaking of painting, I'm working on chalk painting the old window that I've had on my buffet for years. It was getting way too worn and chippy.

See the worn part? That's how it was all over. I didn't sand the window - I was kind of afraid to since it's most likely lead paint. The chalk paint has worked just fine going over all the chipped parts anyway.

An update on my back issues: the x-ray showed I had height loss in L4-5 which basically means disc degenerative disease and then arthritis in L5-S1 (lumbo sacral area). Like I said in my last post, one really needs a MRI to see what's truly going on. When I questioned the nurse who called with the results, she said insurance dictates that you do x-rays first, then physical therapy, then have a MRI if needed. Ah yes, the good old health insurance protocols in the US. In the meantime, a friend of mine gave me a recommendation for a good physical therapist. I called to set up the appointments but can't get in with her until April 23rd. In the meantime, it's all about self-care and doing what I have to do to keep the pain at bay. I can't sit too long and I've also discovered that our living room couch is mostly off-limits for me. It's too soft and doesn't give any support. If I sit on it for longer than just a few minutes or dare to lie down on it to read, my back yells at me when I get up. So I'm staying active, taking walks either around the neighborhood or walking on the treadmill, doing yoga stretches twice a day, using a heating pad first thing in the morning when my back is especially stiff, spraying Bio-Freeze on my back several times a day, and taking CBD oil to take the edge off the pain.

Hope you have a great weekend with some fun plans!

a sort of discombobulated month

March is a fickle month in northern Illinois. We could have temperatures in the 30's or 70's, rain or snow, endless cloudy days or plenty of sunshine (more unlikely). Signs of spring have finally started here. Daffodils and lilies are poking out of the ground and red-wing blackbirds and Big Fat Juicy Robins have returned. When Zippo was alive, he loved watching the robins out the window. I always told him they were "Big Fat Juicy Robins" when he was staring out the window at them and swishing his tail. I miss him so much. Chipmunks have come out of hibernation too, and are once again running around under the bird feeder, hoping to find fallen seeds.

 Every March, as I scan the ground for signs of green and the flash of the orange breast of robins hopping around, I feel as excited as a little kid seeing the ice cream truck coming down the road. 

Another sign of spring in this area: fruit trees appearing at the big box stores. The outdoor garden center was being set up with the metal display stands and piles of top soil and mulch. That means the pansies will be coming soon. I can't wait to have a pot of their cheery yellow and purple goodness on my front porch again.

Spring projects have started around the house, as well. We hired a neighborhood painter to paint what was Tim's bedroom and the hallway bathroom. We chose the same pale cream color for Tim's bedroom as our kitchen. We really liked the current color of our bathroom, but we couldn't find the old paint can with the name of the color on it. I was ready for a slight change in that room anyway, so after looking at a lot of gray paint swatches, we chose Flannel Gray by Behr. It was a little too dark, so we had the shade reduced by 25%.

Here's the hallway bathroom "before". It's a small room, so not easy to photograph. The brown trim near the ceiling will be painted white. The only reason we're having this room painted in the first place is because the paint was bubbling and peeling. The previous painter used an eggshell finish, which obviously did not stand up to all the moisture in the bathroom. This new painter is using a semi-gloss finish.

I hate having my house in disarray ~ everything from the bathroom and Tim's room is now in My Space (what was Phil's bedroom) and the basement. It didn't seem like there was much in either room, but when you start dismantling a room down to nothing, there's always more stuff than you think. Even the toilet tank is in My Space. It's also very unnerving to me to have a stranger in my house. With having a small house, there's really nowhere for me to "hide" except the kitchen. I guess I could hide out in the basement family room, but I don't like hanging out down there. It's rather dungeon-like. At least in the kitchen, I can be busy making food or using the kitchen table as my office space. Today I made a french potato salad (the recipe can be found here, though I also add a little fresh lemon juice and capers) and Energy Balls.

Back to the painter and it being unnerving having him in the house....he plays sports radio loudly the entire time, which tends to drive me up the wall. I know it could be a lot worse. It could be music I can't stand. I also know that this soon shall pass. And then I get to decide on the fun decorating stuff. Do I want the same sort of shelves going back on the bathroom wall, or something a little different? Perhaps I'll choose hooks for towels on the opposite wall (not shown) instead of a towel bar. As for Tim's room, we still need to decide on a twin or daybed, a rug, curtains and wall art. The room will be a combination guest/nap/TV room and Brian's office space.

Meanwhile, I've done little things to lighten up the house for spring. I've changed out the heavy throws for lighter ones and added pops of yellow for spring delight. All Clementine approved.

I just got a new piece of artwork. Isn't this a beautiful print? I love owls. I never knew this acquaintance of mine was artistic until she started posting photos of her work on Facebook. I was blown away. Lydia sells her work on Society6, if you're interested. Besides owls, she paints moose, flamingos, otters, elephants, ducks, pigs, etc. You can order the prints as wall art, note cards, cushions, bags, apparel, clocks...Society6 will print on basically anything.

I hung the print in my living room entryway for now. Who knows, I might put it somewhere else later. I'm known for changing things around. I also moved a white lamp to the corner to lighten it up for spring. Previously I had a tall silver metallic vase with willow springs and light stalks in it. It was great for winter, but I was in the mood for something lighter.

In other news ~ in my last post, I mentioned my battle with back, hip and buttock pain. It's been on and off since then...but a few days ago, sciatica really set in and I was in so much pain Tuesday night, that I was crying out in pain with every step I took. I could barely walk. I was holding onto furniture and the walls. I didn't sleep most of the night because the pain was keeping me awake. I went to my Primary Care Physician yesterday, even though I knew there wasn't much she could do except prescribe drugs and physical therapy and/or send me for x-rays or a MRI. I was feeling a little better thanks to ibuprofen, but I don't want to rely on that either. She wanted me to go on a Medrol pack (steroids), but I told her I wasn't willing to do that unless it was a last resort. Steroids won't cure sciatica. They simply "put a Band-aid on the problem". Steroids have way too many horrible side effects, including insomnia. I'm not willing to go there right now, trading one problem for another. And then the pain comes back as soon as the steroids wear off, so why bother?

She did send me for a lumbar spine x-ray, which again, I feel is basically useless because all it's going to show is arthritis. It won't show herniated discs or spinal stenosis like a MRI would. I had a MRI on my back about 10 years ago and at the time, that showed three herniated disks. So I don't know if one of them is now worse or if I have a new one...or maybe I do have arthritis or spinal stenosis or God-only-knows what else. 

The doctor did write a three week prescription for physical therapy, which I'm going to consider. I'm also looking into acupuncture. Our insurance doesn't cover it and it's a little pricey, but perhaps a few sessions would help relieve the pain. Oh - and I also want to mention that I'm regularly taking CBD oil except that I upped my normal dosage and that is helping relieve the pain and inflammation, too. All-natural and no side effects like NSAIDs.

How is the month of March going for you?

adding excitement to the hallway bath

 My main bath is done in neutrals ~ gray, white, and black.

While those colors can look striking on their own, I need color.

 I played up the floating shelves with blue and yellow mini picture frames, a colorful

bird, a bright green candle, and what was originally a (bright blue) cupcake

 stand, now used to hold Dixie cups.

I think these pops of color fit in well with the vivid colors in the towel

and pictures on the wall beside the sink.

 

See the basket beside the toilet? I was looking for a tall, narrow basket

to fit in this space and found this at HomeGoods. It's great for not only holding

extra rolls of toilet paper, but for hiding the ugly piping that comes off the back of

the toilet and goes into the wall. The basket has a little chalkboard label, so I

suppose I could find a piece of chalk and mark the label, "TP". Naah, that's

too boring and obvious. I think I'll write, "wipe". :-)

 Linking up to Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday