My girl and I walked between buildings in our townhouse development and found a patch of fragrant honeysuckle at the edge of the woods. I washed the blossoms, then steeped them overnight in simple syrup. The syrup is lovely mixed with soda water, poured over ice with a squeeze of lemon or sprig of mint.
Not a fancy hack at all, just functional and needed. I love the look of IKEA’s faux sheepskin rug TEJN draped over my FRANKLIN stool, but it never wanted to stay in place. I had to reposition the thing fifteen zillion times a day. The fifteen zillion and oneth time I pulled the fake fur up and over the seat back, I noticed that the edges matched up pretty well on both sides of the pointy end. I threaded a large needle with thick polyester-covered cotton thread, sewed the edges together on both sides, and made a pocket out of the entire end of the skin. The rug still drapes well but no longer slides off of the back rest.
I bought a fluorescent light fixture with two full-spectrum grow bulbs and installed it in our basement pantry. I made pots out of newspaper and we planted seeds. I water them twice a day and imagine them tall and strong in the sunshine.
I adore the rain. Can’t help myself. Rain means Good Earth sweet and spicy roiboos tea. Claude Bolling and Jean-Pierre Rampal on vinyl. A thick blanket warm from the dryer. I’m folding down and[…]
Today is dark, cloudy and brooding. I’m listening to Pandora, making applesauce and enjoying the darkness.
Happy Friday. xxoo
More music on our front steps. The kids played hide and seek in the dark spaces between the buildings. One nearby door slowly opened a crack, an unseen man or woman probably peering out to pinpoint the source of the sound. I sat on my stool, listened, swatted away mosquitos. My neighbors’ television sets cast strobing stripes of light on their front lawns.
Our house is featured in the July 2013 online issue of Ikea Family Live Magazine, a digital publication of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. The mag’s editor Helen reached out to me via email and asked if we’d like to be featured. When I accepted, she sent me a digital package containing photo guidelines, interview questions and FTP instructions. I styled our place myself. I used my Canon Rebel XT and my 18-55mm kit lens to take the shots, used my free Gimp download to gently edit the shots, and used my brain and rusty writing voice to craft some explanation of the crazy that is our place. And our place is crazy, make no mistake. ...
I lit a candle in the dark morning hours and sat in silence with my nine year-old. We stayed in the quiet for only five minutes and then the day had to begin. My favorite part of the morning: the kids and I singing Looney Tunes words to the overture of Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Leftover drop biscuits held spoonfuls of homemade jam, or in some cases, small piles of Nutella.
After building up my courage with coffee and Ella, I spent the morning sewing a hefty curtain to replace the broken bi-fold door of our coat closet. I’d been waiting for five years to cut into this Ikea fabric, and couldn’t have used it for a better purpose, as the length of this curtain really shows off the pattern.