photo gallery wall

My house is always a work-in-progress. I sometimes think we're the slowest people in the world for getting anything done. We've had some of Tim's black and white photography prints that we wanted to get matted and framed for years. I thought his room/the guest room would be the perfect place for them.

Since custom matting and framing is so expensive, I was looking for a cheaper alternative. I wasn't crazy about the frames at the typical places, plus they were more than I wanted to pay - about $25 each. Enter IKEA and their Ribba frames - $6.99 each. Now that was doable! (Later edit to add since I was asked: these IKEA Ribba frames also include the matting! The frame size is 12x16. Click HERE for the link.)

I hung the photos on the expanse of wall beside the bed. Fills up the empty space perfectly. Still don't have a headboard for this bed. (Nor do we have one for the master bedroom yet.) I know what I'm looking for, but haven't found just the "right" pieces. Or else, I've seen something I liked but wasn't willing to pay the asking price. Anyhoo, the photo on the lower right ~ the one with the birds flying over the trees ~ is actually my photo. Though Tim Photoshopped it for me.

I think this room is starting to look pretty good...

Just in time for Tim to move back in come August!

Linking up with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.

spring has sprung so yard work has begun

Check it out - short sleeves at the beginning of March! Yes, it's a Midwestern Miracle. Temps have finally warmed up into the 50's and 60's and the sun was even shining for a bit yesterday. What this essentially means is that it's time for spring yard clean-up. After a long winter, all the perennial beds are filled with dead leaves and other decay. Lawns are littered with dead leaves, twigs, rocks from the snow plow, and wood chips from surrounding beds. 

Just look at all of this yucky stuff from this area along the fence! Though I suppose it serves a good purpose during the winter; that being as a ground cover for the perennials. Those dried stalks you see sticking out of the ground are hostas.

After clearing out that area, we were then rewarded by the beautiful sight of lilies starting to  poke out of the ground.

Brian also started to rake all the dried pine needles and leaves out from under the arborvitaes in the back yard.

Today, I went around the entire yard and cut back all the perennial stalks...hostas, purple coneflower, sedum, phlox.

I marveled at all that was blooming already. The lilac bush...

Chives in the herb garden....

The tiny beginnings of hydrangea. I didn't cut this bush back. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to. I'll do a Google search.

After cutting back the sedum and digging out dead, wet leaves with my hands, I was thrilled to find that the cabbage-like sprouts were under all that decomposition.

Do you think I should uncover the patio furniture and get it set up? :-)

 Because we would never get a snowstorm in March or even April, right? ;-)

chatty saturday

 Welcome to March in my part of the world...gray and gloomy, and still obviously cold. I see people posting on social media and blogs about how they're already gardening and planting flowers. Trees are bushes are budding and daffodils are pushing out of the soil. I'm so jealous! Next week will be in the 50's and one day even in the 60's but rain is forecasted every single day. Blergh.

It has definitely been a stay-at-home day today. I'm reading these two books: It Was Me All Along is a memoir about an overweight woman's long journey to self-acceptance. It's another book from Blogging for Books that I will review when I'm done reading it. I'm sure you're all familiar with Simple Abundance. I've had this book for many years and even though I've read it numerous times over, I still pick it up from time to time and glean new wisdom.

 It's also been a good day for puttering. I'm always playing with this bookshelf. A few days ago, I picked up those creamy Shawnee pottery pieces that you see flanking the books in the middle shelf. I had just visited my lymphedema therapist (for those of you who don't know, I have late-onset primary lymphedema in my left arm, which is a rare disease) and got fantastic news from her. My arm swelling has gone down to where I don't have to wear a compression sleeve during the day - I only have to wear my nighttime garment, which I lovingly call my "oven mitt". I also did not need any manual lymph drainage therapy and bandaging, which I was dreading (the bandaging, not the therapy - the therapy is  painless) AND she said she didn't need to see me again unless my arm is noticeably more swollen. They don't treat lymphedema unless the swelling is over 2 cm. All the points along my arm that they measure were under 2 cm. If you're interested in learning more about primary lymphedema and/or want to see photos of my arm when it's bandaged after manual drainage therapy, and also pictures of the "oven mitt", click HERE to read my old blog post. Coincidentally enough, tomorrow is Lymphedema Awareness Day.

So, anyhoo...I was so elated after that appointment that on the way home, I treated myself to a bouquet of flowers, an iced coffee, and a stop at a little vintage shop. These pottery pieces were one of my finds. They're not marked on the bottom, so I put them on Instagram to see if anyone would know who they're made by. It was Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage that suggested either Shawnee or Haeger. I figured Claudia would come to my rescue, as she's a big collector of vintage pottery. (Check out her blog to see her beautiful collections of McCoy and Roseville!) 

After doing some searching online, I found they are Shawnee. I was also relieved to find I paid a lot less for them than the asking prices I found on eBay and etsy. ;-)

 It was also a good day to dig out my spring bunny collection. This is only part of them. I'm still playing with where to display the others.

 I don't recall a winter where I've made so much soup. Which is fine...it's something I enjoy making because it's easy to throw together and I can be creative. I usually don't follow any soup recipes - I make up my own. Yesterday, I had roasted of pan of various veggies...broccoli, cauliflower, parsnip, and white carrot. (Trader Joes sells packages of organic tri-colored carrots...orange, purple and white.) We never ate the roasted veggies and today I was wondering what I could do with them. Eating them as is wasn't doing it for me. Looking around in the fridge, I also found a container of my homemade stock. So, I simply simmered the veggies in the stock and to give it some flavor, I added curry powder, turmeric, garam masala, and a little cinnamon. I tasted the soup and to me, it still didn't have enough flavor! I obviously didn't go heavy-handed on those Indian spices. So I then added just a little bit of Thai green curry paste. Tasted again - perfect. I then got out my immersion blender and went to town and pureed the concoction. 

I then added half a can of coconut milk, topped with some croutons, and...

Nom nom.

Lest you think my day has been all fun and games with vignette arranging and playing in the kitchen, you'd be wrong. I also did a 45-minute yoga practice (though admittedly, that was fun, too), washed all our bedding including the pillows, and started working on cleaning off shelves full of tchotchkes in the dungeon basement. Hope your day has held some simple pleasures for you, too.

snippets of the weekend

I'm a little late...it's Monday night, but if the days rush as quickly for you as they do for me, I can hardly believe the weekend is over.

We had some mild, sunny weather again - hooray! Too nice to stay inside.

 We headed to a small, neighboring town for an art crawl and to walk around in the lovely spring-like weather. Best of all, I got to meet Ginene of Fox and Finch Antiques! She is even more lovely and sweet in person, if that's possible. She gave me a big, warm hug and expressed how nice it was to meet me. The three of us had a wonderful conversation. Her store is in an old bank building with a beautiful assortment of antique and vintage items. Silly me didn't think to have Brian take a picture of me and Ginene until we were in the car on the way home. So instead, you get a picture of Brian. ;-)

Brian found this in a vintage shop ~ read the bottom of the package. If you're missing a heart...

On Sunday, our travels brought us to Tim's place to visit with him...we all love his roommate's dog, Stanley. He's so sweet, obedient, friendly and full of personality. He's totally posing and smiling for the camera.

Sunday night, I met up with some friends at Chili's for drinks and appetizers. The young lady on the left, in the middle (aqua hoodie) was one of Phil's coworker-friends. I love that we still keep in touch. I never knew her mom (sitting behind me, with the long brown hair and glasses) until after Phil passed away. We've since become good friends.

A little something I picked up at Target...

First signs of spring in these parts! These are chives in my herb garden.

Mother Nature is such a tease. It's now snowing and sleeting. We're under another winter weather advisory and are supposed to get 4-7" of wet, heavy snow into tomorrow. March is coming in like a lion, for sure.

light, colorful, cheerful

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions for the couch pillows in my last post. I have decided to keep them like this. A few of you also suggested tying in some blue or yellow from the couch onto the coffee table. Yes - perfect! The blue glass jar isn't the same shade of blue as the afghan or the blue in the pillows, but that's OK. I have different hues of aqua and turquoise going on in other areas of the living room.

A couple of people also suggested putting one of the pillows on top of the blue afghan. But, I can't do that.

It's Zippo's favorite napping spot. A pillow would interfere with that spot and as any of you other fur-baby people know, you don't mess with a cat or dog's sleeping spot. ;-) Especially when said fur baby is almost 17-years old. I make life as pleasant as I can for him.

The ladder bookshelf got a spring update with different shades of blue, too ~ along with keeping some milk glass pieces.

More blue and milk glass on top of the secretary desk when you walk in the front door.

Speaking of blue, here's what the sky looked like today on my afternoon walk. No edit on this photo at all. Isn't that color glorious? I passed a house down the street where I said hello to an older gentleman out in his yard. We agreed that we could smell spring in the air.

Back to the living room, I would show you the buffet, but Monkey obviously thinks he's the star of the show. Ah well, I think pets add that certain je ne sais quoi to vignettes, don't you agree?

 I moved a small, unpainted (but half-primed - I need to paint it) drop leaf table from the basement in front of the window. Previously, I had a little, dark-brown vertical table there. Too much brown going on. And this table gives the kitties the perfect place to perch to watch the birds and squirrels out the window. Clementine turned around to give me her prim and proper girl kitty pose for this photo, lest you see her backside while she's looking out the window. I'm going to paint this table outside when the weather warms up.

Moving into the kitchen, I added some color to the table. I like to keep the table in the kitchen simple, as this is where we not only eat, but do paperwork, play board games, sometimes read, work on our laptops, etc. I prefer a runner, but since this table is small, it's hard to find 60" runners. Most of them in the stores are 72" long. The blue and white checked piece of material is a cotton dishcloth. I got that idea from Linda at Itsy Bits and Pieces. Go take a look at Linda's February 22nd post and see what she did with her table. It's beautiful!

Keeping the china cabinet light and cheerful with red, yellow and aqua. See the white and red cake stand on the top shelf? I showed that on my blog in January ~ it's from Target and was only $5. For anyone who's interested, when I was at Target a few days ago, I saw they now have this cake stand in pastel colors (pink, mint, yellow) for spring.

Happy Tuesday, everyone ~ think spring!

Sharing with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.

poofing the pillows ~ and trying not to blow away

I was at Target yesterday looking for a replacement lampshade. Didn't find that, but I did find these two blue and yellow pillows (the ones flanking the yellow pillow) on clearance.

I love decorative pillows, but I'm a little unsure about exactly how to use them. I see all these photos on blogs and Pinterest and in magazines with couches and beds piled with pillows and they all look so effortlessly perfect. I'm amazed how some people can mix patterns too, and still make it look cohesive. Thus said, I'm not sure I'm liking my arrangement. Do I have too much going on here with pattern...the art prints, the pillows, the area rug? I wanted two of the pillows with the wavy lines, but there was only one, so I got the coordinated triangles-into-a-square one.

Speaking of pattern, there's also the curtains across the room from the couch. I was just trying to pick up the colors in the curtains and mirror.

Is this perhaps any better with just two pillows? Or, is more better when it comes to pillows? Zippo doesn't care, as long as he has his blanket.

Spring fever finally hit me yesterday, as it always does mid-late February. Where I'm longing for time outside, especially enjoying my patio and gardening. Thinking I can't stand winter one. more. day. This is a photo of my patio yesterday...with a layer of snow and covered patio furniture and grill. (Look at all the rabbit tracks! My backyard has little "pellets" all over. I think the bunnies are living under the pine trees in my back yard.)

And this is today. It was actually in the 50's, which is unheard of for this time of year. Problem is, we've had a high wind warning all day, with gusts up to 60 mph. That white plastic fencing around the air conditioner unit is now torn out of the ground. There are power outages all over (though we have been spared) and downed power lines. 

Looking forward to your opinions on the pillows ~ have a great weekend. :-)

Linking up with Thoughts of Home on Thursday (so I'm a day late and a dollar short!)

cookbook review ~ the longevity kitchen

It's no secret that I love to cook, am into healthy foods and nutrition, and have a slight cookbook obsession. I'm always whipping up something delicious in my kitchen and love trying new recipes. So when I came across an opportunity to review books in exchange for honest reviews ~ and my first book to review was a cookbook ~ I couldn't wait to look through it and try a few of the recipes.

The Longevity Kitchen starts out with three chapters full of vital, interesting information before it actually delves into recipes. The first chapter is on Food, Nutrition, and Your Body with short paragraphs broken down into subjects such as the gut, liver and kidneys, the brain, heart, bones and muscle, the immune system, the respiratory system, circulatory system, nervous system, and endocrine system. The second chapter deals with The Healing Power of Food and lists in alphabetical order, foods and spices with great health benefits. The author "especially focused on research into nutrients that fight inflammation, because chronic inflammation is now seen as being linked to impaired immune system function and increased risk of many chronic diseases." The third chapter informs the reader how to make the most out of this book.

The next eight chapters are chock-full of recipes and beautiful photos ~ soups and broths, vegetables, grains, protein, appetizers, desserts, and drinks. There's even a chapter called, "Dollops of Yum!" which feature recipes such as pesto, relish, vinaigrettes, salad dressings, marinade, glaze, and sauces. All the recipes are healthy and there's nothing with impossible-to-find ingredients. I've tried the Brown Rice Pilaf with Saffron and Ginger, the Lemony Balsamic Vinaigrette and the Insanely Good Chocolate Brownies ~ all easy to follow and make with delicious results.

 (Brown Rice Pilaf with Saffron & Ginger - photo taken from cookbook)

(Insanely Good Chocolate Brownies - photo taken from cookbook)

The primary author, Rebecca Katz , has a MS degree in Health and Nutrition Education and has also written three other cookbooks: The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, The Healthy Mind Cookbook, and One Bite at a Time. She has spent more than a decade motivating people to eat well, and showing how "great taste and great nutrition can joyfully coexist at the dinner table." If you look around on her website, you will find a host of recipes as well as her food blog. The co-author, Mat Edelson is an award-winning medical, science, and sports journalist.

As you can tell, I am truly enjoying this cookbook and highly recommend it if you are looking for healthy, delicious recipes. I can't wait to try more from this cookbook!

I received The Longevity Kitchen from Blogging for Books for my honest, personal opinion review.