Hawaii In The House!

I was in Hawaii a few years ago for work, and as I was leaving I stumbled upon a shop in the airport that sold plant cuttings. You could purchase them, take them home and possibly grow a bit of Hawaii in your den. I am certainly not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but I bought some of the cuttings anyway.

I don't know what I was thinking. I knew I would never plant them. Maybe I thought I would give them as gifts to those with a more "green-thumb" inclination than I. Enter The Hubby...he can grow anything! I am convinced that you could provide him with a slab of concrete, some seeds and in a few weeks there would be a budding, glorious garden blooming.

Now, keep in mind...these cuttings sat in a drawer for a few years until the time that I met The Hubby. He took them, threw them in pots, cared for them more than I care for my own teeth, and they began to bloom. What is even more funny is that he set them outside all summer long in the heat and humidity that is a Maryland summer and nothing happened. They grew and gained more leaves, but they didn't bloom.

Cut to two weeks ago. He finally brought them inside because the weather has been getting cooler and placed them in the bedroom. What happened then? BLOOM!!!

Hawaii at home!

I wake up to these every day now. In addition to the 5 blooms you see, there are 14 just waiting to show up. The blooms last a few days and then are replaced with another. This has been going on for a week now. Thank you Hubby for bringing Hawaii to the bedroom.

Blast From The Past: The First Apartment, Part 1

Many years ago...in a town far away, my partner Ian and I moved into a delightfully dilapidated 3 story "apartment". Actually it was a 3 story building with a tattoo parlor on the first floor and 4 individual apartments above and behind. After we chased all of the current tenants out (thank you police department) we took over the entire building and went to work turning it into a pretty amazing living and party space. I apologize upfront for the quality of these photos...it's 1994 and megapixels weren't invented yet.

The 2nd Floor Landing. Ian had a window fetish.

The Greek Room. Exposed plaster and sepia. Also my office.

Master Bedroom. Yes, a puzzle bed that came apart in 9 pieces for party seating!

Let me tell you what a pain those poke dots were! Not painted, wood circles nailed to the wall!!!

The Garden Room. He did the painting. I cut the hole in the wall to the Kitchen!

That's it for now. I'll post more later. I can't take credit for any of the design choices here, it was all Ian. At the ripe old age of 25, I couldn't have visualized any of this. I was just the muscle...lifting and cutting and wielding a sledge hammer.

I have to say tho, when it came time to renovate my church, a lot of what he taught me played a very major role in it's design and construction. 

Ian, I miss you and I will always be grateful for you teaching me that, "No matter what happens, you can always paint over it!" Rest in peace.

Dust Bitten

A tragic accident occurred at Sanctuary over the weekend!  This gorgeous lantern, my baby, was the major casualty. You might remember my original post about the dearly departed, alas poor Lantern...I knew ye well.

Here is the last "living" photo I have of the deceased,

"You light up my life..."

I can only blame myself for this senseless tragedy. If it were not for my large, clumsy, oafish hands Lantern would still be alive today. I was reaching inside to turn off it's LED illumination, the globe slipped and Lantern plummeted to it's death on the floor below. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't scream. I couldn't react. I watched, frozen, the fall as if in slow motion ending in a brutal crash of glass on the wooden floor below.  I did my best to attempt to save him, but it was too late. What was once a statuesque, bright beacon was now a crumble of lifeless shards on the floor.

I'm sure it's morbid to post a photo from the morgue. I warn you...the grisly image that follows is not for the faint of heart.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The sense of loss I feel right now is immeasurable. The other lanterns and I have agreed that tonight we will hold a memorial service. Everyone will be lit to they're brightest, carrying on the torch for those who were lost...extinguished in their prime.

Amarylli

More time lapse Spring!

The Hubby provided the blooms...well, he nurtured the plant that did and I produced the video. iMovie is a really easy app to use, I have since found out.

You can see a better quality version here

And for those who care here is the entire full-length video from beginning to end. Great finale!

Yep! I Live in the Country

I've talked a lot about my house, but I haven't discussed a lot about the area I live in. It's a pretty small town in Western Maryland. I can traverse the 2 main streets of the town in about 10 minutes, if that gives you any idea of the size. The town is surrounded by a variety of agriculture. There are 6 orchards within a 3 minute drive of my house and an excellent butcher who's offerings come from a 30 mile circumference of the town. So...you can't get fresher than that for produce and meats. More importantly there are 2 liquor stores within a 3 minute drive. You can't get anymore drunk than that!!!

I've always live rurally. I grew up in a slightly larger Small Town than I live in now. There is something truly priceless about small town living. Sure, I could have moved to somewhere a bit more cosmopolitain, but why? I have everything I need right here.

My town even has parades...3 of them a year, and my house is directly on the parade route. We have the Carnival Parade every summer, the Homecoming Parade in the fall and every year...the parade that accompanies the annual Steam & Craft Festival. Steam? What??? Well yes, every year they haul out the ancient steam powered farm machinery that powered our early nation and show it off. In addition they have great food and well...crafts. I'm not so much into the crafts, but the food...I enjoy that very much.

During the parade you see sights such as this...

Yep, powered entirely by steam.

And this...

It's like a train and tractor combined!

Aside from some of the cool steam powered engines that I'm hoping are around when the Zombie Apocalypse hits, it also is a very family centered affair.

Like father, like son..oh wait, like daughter? Good for her!

The scary part of the parade is at the end. Everyone in town who owns a riding lawn mower saddles up and rides through town behind the steam engines.

 I'm so glad I don't own a riding mower.

Only slightly more shocking are some of the social idioms the parade seemed to enforce. Photographical evidence follows...

Wife in the wagon.

Grandma in the wagon.

And yep...grandma is clutching a flag in that picture. So yes, I do live in the country. A town where the women-folk aren't allowed to drive mowers, but are resigned to riding in the wagon. If I had a riding lawnmower and a wagon you had better believe The Hubby would be driving it while I sat in the wagon with Molly, sipping on a martini and throwing candy and condoms out to those observing!

Bulbs...And I Don't Mean Flowers

Well, here it is getting chilly here in Maryland. Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Just so you know we are going to be doing some time traveling. I'm starting out with some current posts and then will go back in time to cover some things I was too lazy to post while they were happening.

Back to bulbs...light bulbs, that is. I am trying something new and not for the reasons you might think. I have 2 light bulbs, one outside and one inside that require a 17 ft ladder to change. They both recently went out at the same time which is sort of a saving grace. It means only having lug the ladder around one day.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to change that either!

I headed off to Lowe's  yesterday to check out my lighting options. I usually buy "Rough Usage" bulbs (Sounds a little kinky, doesn't it?) for these fixtures because the front of my house gets so much vibration from the road. Normal bulbs last about 3 days in these fixtures and that's just a huge pain. Once I got to the store, I was confronted by way more lighting choices than I felt like making that day.

There are the normal incandescent bulbs, well I knew I wasn't messing with those. There are the CFS bulbs. I am not a fan...not only are they rather delicate, but I don't enjoy the quality of light they give off at all. I feel like the light they give off is the same quality of that in a morgue. 

What surprised me was the huge selection of LED light bulbs they had now. I have a lot of accent lighting that is powered by LED's, but I never really considered it's other lighting possibilities. LED's are great, they are bright and they last forever! The LED lighting I have as been going strong for 8 years now. I opted for a couple of bulbs that were equal to 75 watts, a little less than I have used in these location in the past. LED bulbs are fairly expensive at the moment compared to their incandescent brothers. I paid $40 each for the 2 bulbs I bought. There were even more expensive options...but I'm on a budget, no time for lighting frivolity. 

I pulled out the incredibly long ladder and installed the bulbs today. Now I can't wait for it to get dark to see how well they perform. I think over time the LED bulbs will come down in price and I could see myself converting the entire home over to LED. Mind you, I'm not so concerned about the economy of it...I just love the idea of hardly ever having to change a lightbulb!

The Place To Stay

I've talked about Cabana Gardens Guest House in previous posts. I can't extol it's virtues enough as THE place to stay when in Rehoboth Beach. It's clean, has a great selection of rooms, and is smack dab in the middle of everything you'd want to do in Rehoboth. Not to mention the fact that the owner, Gary lets us decorate our space. We always stay in the rooms that border the pool on the upper deck and we always bring our own accouterments.

Those lanterns and drapes...they're ours.

Inez, who is a member of the cleaning staff came by the pool the first day we were there to say, "When I saw the decorations, I knew you were back!" 

Our vacation space

I provide the lanterns. This year I decided to go with slightly more expensive nylon lanterns that would survive any weather we might get without running and fading of the color. I also figured that we could use them from year to year. We did lose one in a storm that hit our second day there. A small price to pay to have such a colorful and inviting space. Tod fashions the drapes. In the late afternoon the sun just burns into the second story deck. Having the curtains to close during that time is a welcome relief. No burned feet or sweaty bodies that way.

The late afternoon view.

What a marvelous spot to sit and read a book, or in my case, sip a cocktail. Next year, with the addition of one more set of curtains it will be complete. It's nice while on vacation to be given the latitude to make a space which isn't your own, your own. Maybe Gary let's us do it because we have been staying there for so long, but for whatever reason...I'm really happy that he allows us to customize our vacation experience.

A Summer Without Candles

I've always felt that burning candles in the summertime was counter productive to keeping the house cool. I know, how much heat could a candle put off? But how much heat could a bunch of candles put off? Enough, I think!

I have been looking for a candleless alternative and finally found it at Pier 1. These are cute little paper lantern lights that are LED and remote controlled. They take 3 AAA batteries each and the batteries last a good long time. I've gotten about a week out of a set.

Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE a remote!

Now, not only does the remote let you turn the lights on and off, it also lets you set their on time for 2 or 4 hours. Pretty cool, something I didn't know and the documentation doesn't even mention is that it also remembers what time you turned the light on and turns it back on at that time each day. Totally cool feature that they should say something about somewhere. I thought I was going crazy with the lights coming on without me turning them on.

Here are some photos of the gorgeous result.

The Drag Queen Lamp

I love how they light up the wall

And light up the table

And light up the bar

The lantern that started my lantern fetish

So there you have it, a great way to light up a lantern without creating a lot of heat. I also picked up an assortment of small round mirrors which I placed in the bottom of the lanterns to help reflect the light. They really made a difference it how bright the light is. Head on over to Pier 1 if you have any lanterns to light.

Nirvana

On Saturday Tod and I went here...

Heaven on earth!

We don't have one in the area yet so we had to trek to Chamberburg. But it was well worth the trip. The Hobby Lobby is better than any craft store I have ever been to. Not only do they have the supplies for any craft project you might enjoy, but they also have a huge amount of home decor and accents, as well as, a bunch of furniture.

It's like Michael's and Pier 1 got married and had a beautiful child.

I'm Seeing Spots

I love Pier 1. I remember when it was a great, cheap place to buy home accessories. Of course, now it isn't cheap anymore...they've gone up-scale. But you can still find some great stuff there. I usually shop the clearance sections. But these were not on clearance and I hope you can see why I had to have them.

I know! Right???

My dear mother made that runner years ago with fabric that I picked out. Now 4 years later, to find this glassware that works so well with it...providence! See why I had to buy them at full price. I just knew they would never make it to the clearance shelf. I think they will also make great tea light candle holders. I am all about things that can have a dual purpose. Sort of makes me feel like I got a 50% off coupon for them.

I know, I know...whatever I have to tell myself. I can rationalize just about anything!

Posies

The Hubby headed off the other day to State College to see his family and to interview for a job up there. Before he left tho, he brought me in some Convalescent Flowers.

He has such a knack for combining colors

It was wonderful while trapped here at my desk with my leg up to be able to look over and see such a pretty arrangement. It's a skill I've never possessed...being able to grow flowers. I can buy them, I can arrange them, I just can't grow them.

So, once he was gone I grabbed the shears and decided to create another couple of presentations. I'm probably going to get in trouble for this, but oh well!

Wine glasses, not just for wine...who knew???

I love displaying just a single bloom, especially when it's lilly of some sort or another. I feel like it really shows off the flower in a way it doesn't when it's paired with other flowers in an arrangement.

It's like it's bathing in purple!

I also enjoy combining a large bloom with an assortment of another smaller bloom in a contrasting color. Not your typical arrangements, but then I've never really been called "typical". Not to mention that these are soooo much easier than putting together a full arrangement. I'll leave that to The Hubby.

Not the Sistine Chapel, But...

Ceilings, most rooms have them. Most of the time they're painted white so they "disappear". Only they tend not to. Many years ago I had one floor of an apartment that had lower ceilings than the first floor. I went against convention and painted everyone of those low ceilings black. No one but me ever noticed the ceiling height difference until I pointed it out.

I am not advocating that everyone run out and to Lowe's and buy them out of black paint. I'm just saying, it works. Ever notice how a lot of public spaces (restaurants, galleries, etc) paint their open ceilings black. Black makes stuff disappear, white...not so much.

All that being said, I would never paint my ceilings today. Out in the sanctuary there are the most gorgeous wood ceilings.

The view Molly sees while lying on her back on her bed

I love the slight color variations in the wood. You really see them on a bright sunny day. I had to brighten this photo up a but cause it was cloudy today.

In the back room (bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, closet) there were not gorgeous wood ceilings. There was gross drop ceiling installed which I promptly ripped out. Once renovations were almost complete, it was time to decide what sort of ceiling to put back in. A friend of mine suggested ripping out the rafters and doing a cathedral ceiling. I didn't like that idea. With the ceilings so high (17ft) in the sanctuary, I wanted this room to be much more cozy. Not to mention that I then would have had 2 rooms that are a bitch to heat!

So, I put a drop ceiling back in. Before you cringe, and everyone I suggested it to did, I had a plan. My plan was to install the metal grid and buy copper fabric that would drape across the frame. I'd seen it down in a restaurant in Chicago, and I loved the effect. It is also prohibitively EXPENSIVE! Enough fabric to do the room was going to cost me $6000 YIKES!

I still went ahead and hung the grid. I also learned a very thrifty fact about drop ceiling grid. The white grid is very inexpensive because that is what everyone uses. I wanted black grid, which costs triple what the white does. Then I found out from my trusty Lowe's salesperson, that they make little plastic covers that you can snap onto the grid to make it black. Much less expensive.

So, the grid is hung, now what to put in it? Paper! I found a huge roll of copper paper online at a gift wrap website. $70 bucks! That is my kind of bargain. Not to mention the fact that it was exactly 2ft wide, and how wide is a drop ceiling grid? 2ft x 4ft! PERFECT! The paper wasn't going to do the draping I was expecting the fabric to do. I bought the least expensive drop ceiling tiles I could find and wrapped the paper end to end on those. Then Tod had the amazing idea not just to wrap the flat paper around the tile, but to crinkle it all up first, then spread it back out over the tile. Sheer genius!

What I see when I open my eyes every morning.

The crinkling of the paper created all of those wonderful facets. I could stare at it for hours. The crinkling also creates an upholstered effect since the center of the paper doesn't hug the tile underneath it. That, and I also had enough paper leftover to wrap presents with for 5 years! I still have a good portion of it left. In a few more years, when this paper eventually fades...I'll just spend another  70 bucks and get a brand new ceiling out of it.

Another idea for drop ceilings I used years ago in that apartment with the black ceilings. The bathrooms and kitchen there had horribly ugly drop ceilings. We trashed the panels and bought a carton of the panels that are used to cover lights in a drop ceiling. We put those in every slot of the drop ceiling. What an amazing effect. Turning on the lights in those smaller spaces was suddenly like turning on the sun. It really brightened up the space.

In the end, with a little creativity, drop ceilings aren't so bad. I never thought I'd catch myself laying on my bed staring at one for a half hour and enjoying it.

Bloomage!

Thank you Tod for the title imspiration. Spring has sprung, well at least inside our house. Popping up from what The Hubby calls, "The Bulb Grave Yard" came these amazing blooms.

I have to give total credit to The Hubby for this. None of my thumbs are green by any stretch of the imagination. He told me this started with one bulb about 20 years ago. Amazing!

New Christmas Decor

Every year depending on how the After-Christmas sales work out, we wind up with new decor in the home. It's just in time for the "Come See The Tree Before It Dies" Party so it's perfect! This year I was able to find a few lovely additions to our home…and electric bill.

I found this snowman at a local garden/xmas shop that begins a progressive discounting policy the week prior to Xmas. He's so adorable. Here's a close up…

I love the "shatter-glass" effect of his torso and it also looks like he is licking that Xmas Tree like a lolipop. Awwwwww! At the same place, I also found this…

Lighted glitter tree!

Anyone who knows me knows that if it glitters or lights I am all about it. This does both. As it heats from the light in the bottom the glitter dances up the tree creating a soft warm glow.

Next, I was off to Pier 1 to see what their "50% Off Sale" had to offer. I finally found the placemats I had been looking for all season.

I wanted then in white, but red will do.

I'd been looking for a placemat that said "Winter" instead of "Christmas" and I think these jeweled snowflake mats do just the trick. Did I mention they were a dollar a piece? They were! What a baragin!!! Lastly, a Pier 1, I found this…

Who doesn't love a gaudy mirrored star?

I couldn't resist this bargain. My spacial acuity told me it would fit perfectly on the mirror by my desk, and it does! Bingo!!!

That's my new Christmas Decor for the year. Did you find any After-Christmas baragins? If so, please share in the comments.

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Well, New Year's Eve has come and gone with little or no damage to life, limb, or property. The "Come See The Tree Before It Dies" Party here at Sanctuary was a great success (except for those who missed it…you know who you are!). One might say that Tod and Scott had a little too much to drink once we got up to The Lodge, but it certainly wouldn't be me. Imagine that, I was the DD last night. That almost never happens!

Anyway, back to the party. This time I decided I wanted to make things that I had never made before. No Puke Dip or Fabulous Meatballs this time. I went with a "Create Your Own Canape" idea. I had seen a graphic in a New York Times article showing the many possibilities for Canape creation and it got me to thinking. Why not let my guests play with their food?

Signage! How cool is that?

That way I didn't have to do a lot of assembly. I could create pieces and then let the guests put it together in whatever fashion they chose.

For the bases, I purchased an assortment of crackers, mini-toasts, toasted french bread, and was given some hearty bread made by some Bosnian friends of my sister.

Those Wasa Crisps look like you could build a house with them. Sturdy!

The spreads are where I got to have my fun. I made a Chicken Liver Pate, a Salmon Mousse, and what I am calling, "Sort of Aunt Carol's Pimento Cheese Spread" (that will get a post all to itself at some point). I also had some Homemade Pesto in the freezer that I defrosted and a Roasted Veggie Bruschetta that my sister had given me for Christmas.

Mmmmmmm, goodness at the end of a knife.

Once a guest had chosen a spreadable (to my delight someone decided to mix the pate with the mousse and came up with a Surf & Turf canape!) they could either pop it in their mouth at that point, or move on to the toppings area. Here, I got to chop, grate and open lots of jars. Very little cooking involved.

Thyme, Dill, Capers & Spicy Pomegranate Sauce

Dry-Roasted Walnuts, Black Olives, Parmesan & Maple Roasted Apples

I didn't actually do the math, but given the number of ingredients, there were quite a few ways all of these various bases, spreads and toppings could have been combined. I enjoyed the Pate on mini-toasts with a caper or 2 on top. The Salmon Mousse was delicious with a black olive or 2 and some parmesan. The cheese spread went well with the Thyme (Who knew?) and dry-roasted walnuts gave the Pesto a nice little kick. I saw guests putting together all kinds of combinations. I wish at the end of the line I had made them all "Show & Tell" their creations with everyone.

The Assembly Line Party!

In addition to the "Create Your Own Canape" line I also provided some "more typical" party fare.

Tablescape!

On the dining table are Chips & Dips and Crudite with a delicious Lemon Dill Dip. My mother brought a couple plates of her Christmas Cookies and some of her Homemade Peanut Brittle.

Oh! I almost forgot. At the last moment I came up with a cocktail for the party. I was just going to retread The Poisoned Apple since very few people got to sample it at the Halloween Party (thanks snow!) But it really didn't fit the theme of the party. So with a little browsing around (thank you interwebs) I came up with this.

Crappy art, but I had time constraints!

My apologizes to Dick Clark. I did not ask his representation if I could use his name on the party cocktail. They can sue me later. Basically, it's a Cosmo constructed a little on the light side and then Prosecco Bubbly is added once all of the other ingredients are shaken and poured into the martini glass. I also can't take credit for the cocktail recipe. I found it over here and only modified it slightly. All I can take credit for is the combination of the two. Both if which will probably get me sued. Not to mention the art I stole to create the graphic to display on my bar. Ryan Seacrest will also probably not be happy with me for blocking out his name in the above art with the word "Cosmopolitan".

Apparently, my New Year's Resolution is to be sued by one or more parties for various incursions. What's your New Year's Resolution???

Christmas Eve

It's been a tradition for a few years now that Scott and Tod (my 2 BFF's) rotate hosting our Christmas Eve gathering at each of our houses. This year was my turn!

Just waiting for that tree to fall & crush the table

Here are a few shots from the evening. These are of the table-scape that I created for the evening. Nutcrackers, alcohol, and fire, what could possibly go wrong?

It really is all about the lighting. Never overpower the surroundings

Don't worry. I'll get to the food in a minute. I'm still looking at the table!

Bubbly glamour shot!

Ok, now food! After discussing it with Tod, I decided on Lasagna. Why? I've never made Lasagna in my entire life!!!!! I can't take credit for the recipe. I searched online for weeks till I finally decided on this one from one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Click over and check out her site once you are done here…it's amazing. My Lasagna may have been a half hour late, but it was really, really good! Look!

Bubbly, cheesy, meaty goodness!

Yum! Scott was in charge of providing the salad. Sorry Scotty, I didn't take any pictures of the salad. We were so ready to eat that it was gone before I thought to grab the camera. It was great tho, field greens, croutons, golden raisins, etc and 2 wonderful dressings to try. Tod was in charge of dessert. I asked him not to do anything too chocolatey cause I'm just not a fan of that. So instead…

Tart Heaven!

He found, or possibly made (I'll never tell which), these amazing fruit tarts. I would love to think he spent a day slicing fruit and assembling these. They were yummy and not too sweet or filling. He also brought some Baklava that was quite good, but I didn't sample that until the next day.

It was a lovely evening and such a delight to spend it with The Hubby and 2 such incredibly wonderful friends. It really is what the Holiday season is all about for me.

And It's Decorated

Three days after the "lighting" the tree is complete. The Hubby did a wonderful job and I helped by buying a lot more ornaments for him to hang. Ain't I a sweetie???

Yep, 15 feet of Christmas brick-a-brac

And here are some detail shots.

Ya gotta have heart!

Yes, there it is, "The Heart of the Tree". Call me sentimental, and not many people would, but I bought that ornament for The Hubby the first year we had Christmas together. I know, get out the hanky! <sniff sniff> If it ever were to break, I can't help but think that mine would too.

From below

It's a little daunting crawling under 15 feet of tree to get a shot like this. All I could imagine were the sheer number of glass shards I would be picking out of myself if something were to fall. 

Merry Christmas!