Organizing

I've been on an organizing kick this last week. First I did the kitchen and laundry room cabinets, then I roped Melissa into helping me with the craft and sewing stuff, then that led to the knitting paraphernalia, (good grief, who knew there was so much of that!), and now I'm wrapping it up with the resorting of the yarn. I'm quite pleased with the results and hope to start sewing any minute now. Here's how I decided to manage the thrifted sheets/fabric stash:

The wooden hangers can manage the weight, and when the fabric is gone, they can be used for clothing.

 

I also cut a hole in the back of the cabinet we bought for the television and DVD player. And when I say cut, understand that it looks like a large rodent gnawed a hole through the pressed board. But it's in the back, so who cares? At least the DVD player is now inside the cabinet instead of on the top of it. This is the latest configuration of the sunroom. I rather like it.

 

We had some weird weather Friday night. If you looked east, you saw ominous thunderclouds, but this is what the west view looked like. Gorgeous, isn't it?

 

 

Happy Monday!

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Odds and Ends

I forgot to show the book haul I brought home on Saturday. Lift was a sweet ode to motherhood, by the author of In the Middle. Kelly Corrigan's style of writing made me feel as if we were just hanging out and chatting about life. I've just started The Sweet In-Between, which was written by an author who teaches at my alma mater, ODU.

 

 

 

Speaking of hanging out and chatting, I met up with a friend/former co-worker and her son this morning at a coffee shop near ODU.

 

Here, he has a toy cat climbing up and down my leg. Such a sweet and very, very busy boy he is, which is just how it should be. His mom is energetic and great too, such a good mom.

They've gone home for the morning nap time, while I'm hanging out alone a bit before I head off to run some errands. In an air conditioned car, thank goodness. Apparently it was a wiring issue, easily corrected and free of charge. Oh, and dinner last night was falafel pitas with a cold wheat berry salad. I may be getting the hang of this dinner thing again.

 

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Intentions

So after buying Dinner: A Love Story, I went away for a week, but I took the book with me to finish reading it. I've never taken a cookbook on a trip before, but I'm so glad I did. It's not only filled with wonderful recipes, it's an enjoyable read. Now I feel it's time to make it happen. I started last night by making some very close to fresh lemon pepper linguine, using some homemade tomato sauce that Steve had made while I was gone. Saturday night, when Steve and the girls were starving and Steve wanted to order a pizza, I told them to give me fifteen minutes and I'd have dinner on the table. I dumped some chopped onions in a pan with some olive oil, sauted them and set them aside, then pan fried slices of polenta, topped them with shredded gruyere and Swiss cheese and set them aside, then chopped a pint of mixed heirloom tomatoes, threw the onions back in, and lastly, wilted a batch of arugula. I served it all up and it was delicious!

Yesterday, I decided to make egg salad and tuna salad to add a little protein to the repertoire of tomato sandwiches we've been eating.

 

Melissa, Stephanie, and I went to a craft swap yesterday at Kitsch, a cool store in Ghent that specializes in handmade items from local crafters. This is the store that I applied to sell some hand knits to, but fortunately, they turned me down. I say fortunately, because I would have violated some copyright rules if they had accepted and I had gone through with it, as I've only knitted stuff using patterns.

This is the front of their store; isn't it cute? They are doing lots of cool things, like offering classes, and a place to create, and this is the first time they did a craft supply swap. We took a bag of stuff, and came home with a bag of "new" stuff. Hopefully, we will get motivated to do a little craft-a-long together soon.




As usual, I am in love with another PurlBee project. This one is a simple tank shell, that could be made in many different fibers for completely different looks.

Here is an Instamatic photo of my Saroyan progress. The color doesn't show well here, but I'm at the midway point and wanted to show a photo, so here you go.

Now I'm off to the auto repair shop, because that $1500 AC repair? Only lasted eleven days. Time to go kick some butt, if need be.

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Home, Sweet Home, or The End of the Travelogue

My committee work finished early, so I decided to go to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. This building is actually a former Confederate War Chapel, that is on the grounds of the museum.

 

A third floor view of it from inside the museum. It looks so pastoral, doesn't it?

Water lilies in a reflecting pool at the museum cafe entrance.

 

I can't remember who the sculpture artist of this piece is, but I really like it.

They have a pretty good collection of Tiffany lamps.

I didn't realize that one of Degas' dancers was here; the only other one of his I have seen is located in New York's Metropolitan.

I love the detail of her skirt and hair ribbon.

A Picasso.

Renoir.

Another Renoir.

One of Tiffany's windows.

Two pieces of yarn art! This was a surprise. The artist's name is Lucas Samaras, and these two are part of a series he did using everyday materials.

 

This is a whimsical piece I adore, by the artist Barry Flanagan, titled Large Leaping Hare.

This is the other end of the reflecting pool, outside of the museum. This would be a pretty place to hang out with some knitting, unless it's 100 degrees F with 90% humidity, which is what it was today, so I headed home.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my work vacation. Back to yard work, house work, and my summer projects. It was nice while it lasted.

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More of the Same

I hope you all aren't tired of my pictures of food and old houses, cause that's all I've got.

I forgot to show this photo of some other people's dinner orders the other night at Kuba, Kuba; one of the benefits of sitting at the counter.

 

I've been eating so much lately, I decided to eat light last night, so I went back to Urban Farmhouse,

and had a BLT with heirloom tomatoes and lemon mayonnaise in a relaxed atmosphere. Before that, I had spent an enjoyable hour knitting at The Yarn Lounge in Carytown. Seriously, one of the most welcoming knitting stores I've ever visited.

After dinner, I walked around another great neighborhood taking photos.

This planter reminded me of Rudee's porch statue, Stoney.

And of course, I love these color schemes!

 

A porch ceiling painted blue is just beautiful; if I ever have a porch with a ceiling, this is the treatment I am going to give it.

Tonight was my last dinner out, and a group of us went to this great soul food restaurant called The Croaker Spot, and it was crazy good. This is the fish and shrimp combo, which came with cabbage, cheese grits, grilled onions, and a block of cornbread that was sweet enough to be dessert.

 

 

Going home tomorrow may be kind if tough.

 

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More of the Same

I hope you all aren't tired of my pictures of food and old houses, cause that's all I've got.

I forgot to show this photo of some other people's dinner orders the other night at Kuba, Kuba; one of the benefits of sitting at the counter.

 

I've been eating so much lately, I decided to eat light last night, so I went back to Urban Farmhouse,

and had a BLT with heirloom tomatoes and lemon mayonnaise in a relaxed place. Before that, I had spent a relaxing hour knitting at The Yarn Lounge in Carytown. Seriously, one of the most welcoming knitting stores I've ever visited.

After dinner, I walked around another great neighborhood taking photos.

This planter reminded me of Rudee's porch statue, Stoney.

And of course, I love these color schemes!

 

A porch ceiling painted blue is just beautiful; if I ever have a porch with a ceiling, this is the treatment I am going to give it.

Tonight was my last dinner out, and a group of us went to this great soul food restaurant called The Croaker Spot, and it was crazy good. This is the fish and shrimp combo, which came with cabbage, cheese grits, grilled onions, and a block of cornbread that was sweet enough to be dessert.

 

 

Going home tomorrow may be kind if tough.

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