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All Things EARTH... part 2


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Margaret-I really enjoyed your trip report. I shared your link for the walking tours with DS who travels a lot for work and likes to sightsee as much as possible. So nice that you could spend time with your DB. BTW-nice ride!

 

Sally, I’m with you re: the sneakiness! Only way to accomplish anything at my house.

 

Anita, you have the best ideas and info to share. I like the suggestion to write the story that goes with family treasures, add a picture and let go.

BTW, how is your son doing? Is he settled in his flat or still quarantining?
Sharon

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Margaret, sweet ride!  So glad you got to spend quality time with your brother. Thank you for the trip report, really enjoyed it. 
 

Hope all in the path of Hurricane Laura remain safe & well...she looks to be nasty. Melody

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Margaret...it was so much fun to read a trip report! OMG I miss that. I think your trip really has driven home how attitude and mindset make such a difference. We don't have to go to exotic places to have a wonderful break from the norm...a holiday...if not a traveling adventure along the lines that we have come to associate with vacation. I mean, I get it...who would have thought Pittsburgh would be a tourist destination right? But the fact is that most places have things of interest and you can turn any time in an unfamiliar place into a holiday...with a proper attitude and mindset.

 

You have me thinking about being a local tourist again. We still have not explored Florida so much.

 

We did a new thing yesterday. I was obsessing on the idea of swimming. And I was reminded of the causeways and bridges that access the barrier islands. People park along those all the time. They go into the Indian River...or whatever other body of water. There are so many names...Banana River...Seykes River...or something like that. Anyway...there are often calmer waters in these intercostal waterways...not a beach but access. People fish a lot.

 

Anyway...I knew the water might not be the most lovely but didn't care. We drove down to the nearest one...and sure enough...just a bit of beachy waterfront area...we parked the 4Runner RIGHT THERE. Parked our lawn chairs at the waters edge...dangled our feet in. Watched people fishing...and very fun...watched a kite surfer who absolutely knew what he was doing. And another one that was having a lesson further down. Along comes a golden retriever on her walk and omg she LOVES the water.

 

Did some floating in the super shallow water. It was a lovely way to spend the evening...and something we had been hoping to do more of with the move closer to the coast.

 

Sharon...DS is more than halfway through quarantine. He checks out of the hotel on Monday. One night at the home of his future flatmate and then they get to move into their flat on Sept 1! He's had a second batch of groceries delivered. He's been doing great. Sending me pics of the food he's making...getting creative with what he has...making new combos and just overall making me proud.

 

I think that anyone can become a good cook if you like food. If you go out and eat a variety of food and get exposed to different food. Then your imagination is fueled and you think to yourself all the different things you could do with what you have. The first batch of groceries had enough variety that he could mix and match his food...if that makes sense...so weird to think about...but there it is. And so he was coming up with a variety of things to do.

 

He's having the hardest time with getting his sleep pattern normalized. He can't go anywhere or do anything, obvi...but the lack of activity and the lack of daylight actually...being out in the sunshine...it's making it hard for him to get his biorhythms adjusted.

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Anita, did you think about getting him a crockpot/slow cooker?  We gave our college kids a crockpot & crockpot cookbook. Our oldest & middle (both boys) have become fabulous cooks. Our oldest said, girls really like guys that know how to cook (& dance) 

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One of the things I learned in Pittsburgh is that (hard to believe) I need a new purse. I have some lovely leather bags that I don't want to clean with wipes, and two very small crossbody bags for running local errands in the car that don't hold a whole lot. A backpack might have more space but is unwieldy for grabbing items quickly. Yesterday I took a quick pass through TJMaxx and came out with this for $25:

https://www.baggallini.com/horizon-crossbody/HRZ649-BGR-B0018-NS.html

 

The thing is, in the age of covid, we need pockets. This has tons of pockets for masks, wipes, credit card, keys, glasses, pen... all the things we need at hand without rummaging. I truthfully have never felt the need for a Baggallini when traveling, though I know they are popular, but I have to say its trial run yesterday when I was running errands was a huge success.

 

When fall comes, we will have to spend some time in the city. We are both way behind on personal care, medical care, and other things that are in Manhattan. My plan is to bike down to the bridge, hop on the subway for 10 minutes to cross under the river, and then walk or bike to my destination. I'll be wearing my black sneakers and carrying this bag! So happy to have a plan. Now I just have to prepare for getting yelled at by my dermatologist for having a light tan. 😜

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Melody...we haven't purchased anything for the kitchen yet. DS' flatmate and his mom are going shopping to IKEA today for "crockery". LOL There are challenges with DS studying overseas...anything electricity dependent needs to be purchased over there to have the proper plugs...and with him being in quarantine still...there hasn't been any opportunity. It'll all unfold rapidly beginning next week though...

 

Margaret...you know I love pockets!! LOL Nice bag. 

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Sally, thanks for the name, I blanked on Travelon & just said locking. Hope your new faucet works well. Our daughter & SIL installed one in our kitchen when we were cruising in March (seems like years ago!!!) & it’s my favorite thing in the house!  Melody

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Anita, seeing those different shades from your old house was very informative for me.  I love the drama of a darker gray in the bathroom, I was just concerned it would feel dark to me when the only light is from the three bulb fixture.  I think that color would be fabulous.

 

I am not really a light color person when it comes to paint.  The only room that is close is the spare room,  so the chances are, I will go with a mid tone color.  

 

I am feeling very much organized today.  Well, sort of.  I'm on my way.  The laundry is going, and my husband is working some overtime, something we didn't think would happen this semester.  It's just a short thing, but it is a step towards normal.

 

My daughter is out and about doing whatever.  We took the car in on Wednesday, to see what they would purchase it for.  It wasn't as bad as I planned for, which is great.  I cam home, sat down with all of my preplanning info in front of me, and move the money to one account, and got the bank check Friday.  We drop it off Monday, and it is over with and behind us.  Yay!!!

 

As we planned on, we moved our cruise.  We just didn't see the ability to cruise at the end of November.  It may happen, but we both work in places where traveling may be subject to some scrutiny, even by then.  The final payment was going to be Tuesday, so we looked at the list and picked.

 

We are sailing the Saturday after Thanksgiving on Brilliance out of Tampa.  The radiance class is really a sea lover's dream, and we have been on Brilliance twice before.  The reason for choosing this particular cruise wasn't the ship, but rather the itinerary.  Being only a five day cruise, we didn't relish the idea that we may not like one of two stops.  Everything seemed to have pros and cons.

 

This particular cruise goes to both Cococay and Key West.  We have wanted to go back to Key West for the longest time, so that was a very exciting option.  We haven't been to Cococay since they made all the changes, but I understand that there are still plenty of chairs in the shade to lounge on, and just read a good book with Cocoloco in hand.   

 

So life is good.

 

We decided that since we have another full year plus before we cruise, we could take some of the excess funds we need from the vacation account, and leave our special account for the house intact. We still have money in the vacation account, so we are now hoping for a two day getaway in October!  

 

and I can work on some house things.  That table of my mom's that I mentioned - I cleaned it up better, and fixed the base so that it is good and sturdy again.  I am ready to sand the top.  There is a store very close by that has a metallic mineral paint that I am going to use.  

 

I am going to focus on some of the odds and ends, I think.  I am going to see how my husband feels.  Since I have discovered places like Rummage Heaven, I have broadened my thought process a little bit.  So that description...harmony and elegance....I realize that it is very accurate still, but I'm still learning how to apply that.  I like things that repurposed, but I get jittery when they look beat up.  so I have to know where the line is.  And I have also learned too that just because I like elegant things doesn't mean I am going to have an issue with a casual family room, for example.  

 

I'm going to post some pictures here of my family room, which you have seen before.  What I love about it: curtains, sectional, built ins, eclectic mix of decor.  What I don't like and need to replace: end tables and ottoman/coffee table.    I apologize in advance, I didn't clean up and I am posting a bunch of different things.  The reason for this is to give you the true feel of the room.  These are things that make me happy.  I have no idea how we ended up with a collection of beer trays, but it just happened.  I think it was curiosity, since I never heard of Congress Ale and the company was located right here in Syracuse.    But anyway, I have always tried to keep the room feeling fun with things I like, without it looking a man cave, lol.  That is why getting the right things for the ottoman/coffee table and end tables matters.  I want them to look like they belong, but to bring a sense of smartness like the curtains, sectional and built ins.

 

Also, we have discussed getting a leather chair in the corner where you see the trunk.  We plan to keep the crate in the room though.

 

 

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I am thinking I should find a rectangular leather ottoman, with a wood frame.  We could still put our feet up, but it can be used as a coffee table too.  Pottery Barn has some beautiful options, but at $1000.00 and up, they are not in my price range so I need to look around.  Plus, if we get a leather chair for the corner, we are carrying over the leather...harmony.  🙂

 

End tables are perplexing for me.  The ones in the room we bought from The Christmas Tree Shop and you just screw them together.  

 

The trunk, by the way, was my mom's.  I love that thing.  I'm not getting rid of it, but I will be moving it.  I have a feeling that it will be in the den, but I'm not sure.  That is where the Singer table will be also.

 

So the end tables...ideas?  The room is partially open to the kitchen, which is mission.  My husband wants us to have an oak overlay on the built in to match the bench in the mudroom and also the kitchen cabinets.  That would create more harmony...

 

 

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Laurie, I think your family room is fine just the way it is . I like the ottoman's . I would add a leather chair but that is it . Why not just keep the money in the account and put it towards something else or even transfer it into your retirement account ? 

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Sally, here is the deal with the ottomans.  They were part of a set we purchased a while back from Ashley Furniture.  There was a couch, loveseat and the two ottomans.  This is a leather look fabric, and it immediately started to peel.  We tried to no avail to get Ashley Furniture to honor the extended warranty, and they claimed the damage was  was from our dog.  We only had one dog at the time.  It was just peeling right off.

 

Anyway, we replaced the couch and loveseat with this sectional.  We kept the ottomans, that were being used at a coffee table, because they really weren't touched at all so they looked decent.  You can't see it from the picture, but the fabric is peeling in a bunch of spots. it leaves little pieces of fabric on the rug and so forth.  

 

We had set aside some money for a new coffee table in here, and then the deal came up with my daughter's car.  Since we didn't have to use this money, we are looking again to replace these.

 

I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money, even though we had close to what was needed.  This morning we were looking online at a store that we have near us that we have gotten much of our furniture from.  It looks like we can get what the ottoman/coffee table we want for the family room AND the living room for less than what we have put aside, so that is a very big deal to us.  We have noted the brands that have held up well for us, and both items fall into that category.   One of the items is on sale, so it may be a good time for us to buy.  

 

I was making quite the list yesterday of different things in different rooms.  For example, our kitchen and dining room chairs could use the seat cushions recovered.  In the kitchen, the fabric and cushion are both worn out.  I checked with a local place that wants $100.00 per chair.  Well, that is $800.00, and I did this once before.  I can do this for way, way less.  We have an upholstery fabric store that we have gone to before, and I can go go there and get the fabric and cushions and do it myself for likely less than $200.00 for 8 chairs total.  My husband and I chatted about that, and we will wait a few weeks until we have the money set aside and do that.  

 

If I can save money and repurpose or spruce something up myself, I will do it.  I am looking forward to doing things like this.  It is going to be fun for me.  Those ottomans though, probably should have been gone two years ago.

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Laurie. If they are peeling it is time to get rid of them . I had my dining room chairs (8) recovered and the woman charged me $300 . What a deal ! My daughter did hers and I know it is easy but this was too good to pass up. I have been spending money on new art . Plus the deck redo is a major expense .

The funny thing we were also looking at that cruise on the brilliance .So maybe we will see you onboard .

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We bought a fabric storage bench for our bedroom. Only problem was we had to order the item in the color we ordered, sight unseen...I’m not thrilled about that!  They just called & irs in, my next post will either me ranting about an awful color or a picture cause I like it!  Melody

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Laurie, love seeing how your rooms have come together. I agree with your DH about a matching top for your built in.

 

What is it about the mission style end tables that bother you? What if you didn't use them for storage and just let the style of them show more? Is it a wear problem? Just want something different? I think they fit the room nicely. 

 

Twice I have purchased bolts of fabric on ebay to recover chairs myself. I got a very high end Mid-century modern brand at an absolute steal. I have enough of the one to recover my kitchen chairs again because of wear (so far I've had to redo two). The other bolt is for our dining room chairs, and now that our friends' kids are grown and not so messy I plan to finally do those too.

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Melody, that is a great bench.  I love the warm chocolate brown color.  It seems like the perfect item for your room.  I think that is why my husband really wanted a bench in he mudroom - the first thing we do is put shoes on or take them off, depending on if we are coming in or going out.  I love having a bench.  You really did well considering you couldn't see it in person when ordering.

 

That brings me to my day.  After some of the back and forth, I was scrolling through a furniture website this morning looking for other ideas for coffee tables - for both the living room and family room.

 

It turns out, my husband was doing the same, so we decided to go to our favorite store to see the items in person.  With the living room coffee table I had my mind on, they did not have it in the store.  They were able to bring it up on a huge screen TV for me so that I could see the details, and I realized I found what I wanted for a fraction of what I was going tospend.  My husband was game.  It is traditional, and fits in nicely to the room.  My only real concern is that I was originally looking for something a little bit smaller.  Comparing it to the ottoman we have now, I realized it is not much different in size so it will work out.

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The family room coffee table/ottoman was a different story.  They did not have what we were looking for in the store for us to see, and I wasn't keen on another fabric covered "box".   We had them bring up something else we were looking at and we were pretty sure we were going to order, but I kept hesitating.  My husband asked why, and I explained that since it was a leather look, I really wanted to see what it looked like, and I was worried about it peeling like the one we had.  I also felt like I wanted something just a little simpler.  This one had a tufted top and turned legs.  It was essentially a top with an open space under it.  I liked that, but would have preferred a shelf compared to the open space.

 

She pointed out something that fit the bill in the store that we could have customized.  We told her we saw it, and didn't like the price.  She understood, and we continued to look around.

 

So I circled back the one that could be customized, and started asking questions.  I told the salesperson that it wasn't available in leather, and if it was, it would surely be an arm and a leg.  Then she told me it was on sale.  So while we looked at fabric, she went and checked and leather was an option.  The price, due to the sale, wasn't as bad as I thought.  It was more than what we planned to spend, but the living room cocktail table was also on sale, in addition to being less than what we planned to spend.  So it offset!   Here is the style, but I can't bring up the leather online, so I decided to show it in red because...I like red.  I will look and find a sample of the leather for you.  The frame is a dark brown.  The leather is a warm brown, but not dark, so it adds a bit color wise.  While you really can't tell here, it is pretty big.  That works though, because the only thing I like about the ottomans we had were that we had them pushed together, and we could set up a whole food spread or play board games.  Now we can just grab a tray from below for the munchies during a movie or game.

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I realize those are two very different styles to have in the same house, but I do feel they work for their respective rooms.  I would have totally went for that earthy red if we were doing fabric too, lol.  

 

I forgot to mention my pedicure.  It is up for a redo but I love this color, so I use it a lot.

 

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I think I found a picture of the leather.  

 

Fabric Swatch

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Margaret, about the mission end tables...

 

One thing my husband and I discussed today were those.  We can live with them.  I think the thing that bothers me is that the cabinetry in the kitchen and the bench top are quartersawn oak.  These end tables are like a cherry finish on I'm not sure what kind of wood.   They don't really feel like mission, in a way.  But they serve their purpose, and with a new ottoman I don't think I'm going to be bothered by them at all.

 

I feel kind of bad, because when we were having the built ins added, my husband suggested an oak top and I waffled on it.  It would have created that harmony I look for.

 

The color and choice of leather for the new ottoman is going to look really good in this room.  I think the basic straightness of the frame gives it a little bit of a modern edge, so I was hesitant.  The leather seems to soften that a bit, I think.  Plus, it will probably have a beer tray on it, lol.  It's one of those things.  It feels right for the room.

 

I really enjoyed your trip report.  It sounds like you got a lot into a few days. Maybe it is just me, but I really enjoy planning for a trip, even if it is for just an overnight stay.  It's about making the best of your time.  What made your trip extra special was that you got to spend it with your brother.

 

I am definitely looking forward to doing those chairs.  It will be interesting to see how they come out, what fabric we choose, etc.  For the kitchen, microsuede is nice because it is so durable, but my husband hates it, lol.  The kitchen and dining room are adjacent, and I want the seats to coordinate.  They do not need to be the same though.   They are both mission style sets.

 

I guess I should choose something neutral.  

 

How about a red like I posted a picture of earlier?   No?  Well, it would match my kitchen!

 

Anita, the blue that was in your bathroom in Texas - the picture of the vanity - is very similar to the color of the spare bedroom.  I really like that color a lot.  Paint is a very fun thing to play with.

Edited by laurspag
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