Some of My Favorites!

These are some rooms that I absolutely love! If you see the previous posts, you can see where I am going with my own bedroom. And you will certainly notice the prevalence of peach and pink - colours that are beautiful in interiors (um, also in exteriors, especially in the tropics). I love the oval gold mirror over the bed.

The curtains here are especially nice, I think, with the wide banding in another fabric. I think it was Sister Parish who said that curtains should always have some sort of edging. Again, note the colours.
A favorite peachy colour here.

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This bedroom's layout is very much like mine with the windows on either side of the bed. I also have large double windows to the right so my bedroom has tons of light. I already have the curtain rods to put up (like these) and I am getting cream silk curtains with edging trim.  I really like the two little tables here although we will not be replicating those since we have more tables than we know what to do with at our house in Arkansas.  I also have a chair where you see one in the picture; mine is a cream-coloured slipper chair with a bottom fringe about 4" long. My bed is bigger (a queen) and my chandelier is smaller.
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, the picture dilemma: I brought down one of the paintings and added another Val Blackwell watercolour that I had to the right of the large center watercolour.  I think that I need to lower the center picture, too. As you can see, there is an awkward access to the attic below the bottom picture (there is another one on the other side of the room). Someday we may open this and make a rooftop patio. If you recall, this space is awkward because above the blue is a 3 foot slant before the wall actually reaches the ceiling. The second picture really shows the slanted ceiling. I also have this interesting bit of space behind the railing - this is the top of the stairs.

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The exterior of our townhouse. What is amazing is that I took this picture today.  I don't have any Christmas decorations up yet, but the geraniums are real - they are blooming like crazy even on the fourth of December.  I can hardly believe it!  They have been beautiful, and I am definitely NOT known for having a green thumb.

Decor and a Happy Thanksgiving

Hurrah! As always, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year.  Usually I like to cook a big dinner and have relatives over to eat, eat, eat, and drink wine.  Since I have not lived in my hometown for about 40 years, those who come usually stay with me making my house full and happy.  This year, however, we will be going to a restaurant instead of staying at home to cook.  And for once, I am glad this is so, since I have been extremely busy lately and finally I do have family living in the same area I'm in.
 Because I'm not cooking this year, I have more time to ponder the problems of decorating the townhouse. Above is our small entryway.  Two problems here:  do I change the little lantern-like light fixture and put a small chandelier there - or a different kind of lantern?
The other problem is with the sidelights - the little windows on either side of the doors. In his book, 101 Things I Hate About Your House,  decorator James Swan criticizes those who leave these windows uncovered.  However, with the different floors we have, it's not likely we will be running around the living room without clothes so that someone could see in .  I like the light they allow in during the day, and since the living room sits above street level, I think we're safe from passers-by staring in.
 Below is another problem: the square bay window.  The bay's ceiling drops down from the tall living room ceiling.  I'm not sure what to do about curtains. And once again, should I curtain the sides of the bay or leave them open.  I have some luscious coral silk I bought in Brazil that will make wonderful curtains - I'm just not sure how to style them.

Finally, above, should I put a different mirror or keep the round gold one.  I do have a French mirrour that is longer and a creme lacquer like the bed. I'm going to have to try it. I do love having the gold pick up the gold in the little chandelier though.
  Happy Thanksgiving!

I was out and about today in the November drizzle, going to the post office, dropping by Filene's to see if anything I couldn't resist had suddenly appeared on the racks.  Despite its being November and the rainy day, the temperature is in the 60's, so it's actually quite pleasant.  It's a good day to work!
     I've been trying to make up my mind on curtains - for every room!  Thank goodness the bedrooms and bathrooms have shades or we'd be living our life on a stage (that's what it looked like from outside the breakfast room before I put the simple curtains up there).  I happened to look up one night when walking back from a restaurant after leaving the light on and was shocked - it was just like a stage!  Inexpensive linen-weave curtains went up that week, and I didn't make anymore midnight forays into the kitchen dressed only in my gown or pajamas! Below you can see the trees turning through the breakfast room doors, and the great chandelier that I had rewired ( a better picture is coming).  It was in my husband's grandfather's farmhouse dining room many, many years ago. 

I finally got our electrician over to install the little chandelier in the guest room and the front exterior light. In the guest room, a little Maria Theresa chandelier works well with the French beds and the flower prints I bought in Paris.  I am thinking about using checked blue and yellow silk curtains at the double windows.

Above, Cluny is talking to me. He doesn't really like it when I am up and down around the house. He prefers that I stay in the living room where he can curl up in a chair in the bay window, or on the fourth floor where my studio is and I spend hours on the computer. I have a cat tree for him there and he's very fond of it.

Finally, another decorating problem involves the fourth floor.  To the right is a wall of bookcase and the large flat-screen tv.  At the opposite end of the couch is my studio.  I put some of my favorite paintings here (2 by Val Blackwell, including the large center picture) so that I could look at them often.  The problem here is that the ceiling is slanted.  The wall goes up as far as the blue, then for 3 feet it slants before it hits the ceiling.  I wanted the painter to take the paint all the way up 3 more feet, but he said that the edge would not be straight since there was a slant, but no molding.  Hmmm, maybe I just should have painted the ceiling blue, too?  But the large room is wonderful, full of light with large sets of windows facing both south and east. When I sit on the sofa in the summer evenings working on the computer, I can look to the east and see the full moon rising. Beautiful!

Life in the Townhouse

I am blissful this Fall season as I enjoy the crisp Fall weather and rainy days here in the Washington, D.C. area in my own townhouse.  We can see lovely trees outside almost every window of the townhouse; the leaves have turned yellow, gold, red, and a pretty chestnut colour.  I can hear cars go by constantly, a sound I love, since we live on a major thoroughfare. I never feel alone because of the city sounds and the many buildings surrounding me.
   My two cats are jubilant.  Because the townhouse has four floors, they have stairs galore!  And each flight of stairs twists and turns so that Cluny and Cuervo have a ball chasing each other up and down.  And sometimes, the exuberant Cuervo just runs up and down for fun. 

 You can barely see Cuervo on the landing.  We are having difficulty finding window coverings for the large stair windows since we want to preserve light, yet also have privacy at night; the situation is more complicated because of the position of the stairs.

 No curtains in the bedroom yet, but we do have accordian shades for total privacy.

 I love the mirroured wall, but am having problems with the placing paintings on the left wall.

     Cuervo peeks through the third floor railings watching for people to come up the stairs.   
The townhouse is coming together and I'll be posting pictures.  Trying to get all of our furniture in the smaller space is challenging, and, of course, we'll never get all of it in here; we won't even try.  I still want to keep the grand piano though, and when we finally move it up here, it's going to be an ordeal!

I Knew It!

What Alice in Wonderland Character Are You?

You are The Cheshire Cat

A huge grin constantly plastered upon your face, you never cease to amuse. You are completely confusing and contradictory to most everyone.
Take this quiz!








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Tarot Card?

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Eventually the Truth Always Comes

I love this story, even though it is sad because it reminds us that Truth comes in different forms and sometimes when we least expect it.
Thanks to Buddhism Kalachakranet Organization
THE LOST SON
"A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. The took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organised a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.
Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and continued to cry. After some time, the child left.
Father and son never saw each other again."
After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it."

If you think you have nothing to learn from this story because it has a Buddhist context, read this:
"Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist;
use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are."
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Okay, here I go again!

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

What's Goin On?

I'm with Cluny Camillo; what's going on around here? Okay, family, send me an e-mail!

I'm from South Philadelphia

Okay, this one is really funny! You've got to take this test!
P.S. I'm from Arkansas.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Cluny Camillo & Cuervo Sebastian: Deux Chats Extraordinaire!

I know you've all been waiting for these. I believe that they are in chronological order. Just look at how these cats have grown!
The big news: Cluny Camille is Cluny Camillo!
Cluny is a boy!!! The vet happened to notice (happily) when we took him/her in to be spayed and he ended up neutered!
The pictures are over the last 3 months or so.


Cluny loves to stretch out! This is the way that he sleeps! Only he usually has his front legs over his head so that he's stretched out end to end!They do love each other most of the time!
They look so little here!Cluny has discovered how to go under the bed, then climb up the back of the headboard to get to where he sleeps - stretched out across the middle of the bed horizontally.


The bathroom belongs to the cats now. A favorite activity is throwing anything into the sink, and everything onto the floor - especially my hairbrush.


Look at those blue eyes! And at Cuervo's little pointed chin!

Cuervo is fascinated by water. A nice little steady stream can delight him for hours. (Of course, he drinks from the sink also.Of course, he'd prefer to drink straight from the faucet, and he often wistfully paws the knobs trying to turn the water on. If he ever learns how, we'll have a water bill from hell.


This is still Cuervo's favorite place to sleep - all night.
This morning, they were waiting for me. Cluny wanted me to SEE the hairbrush going on the floor, and Cuervo wanted the water turned on.
Doesn't this give you a new visual for "couch potato"?
Why Cluny is licking his lips, I've no idea unless he's doing it for the camera.
He does tend to pose, and he's very accustomed to getting his picture taken. Look at that lovely tiger-striped tail - he's so proud of it!
These cats are so clever, so beautiful, and so loving!
My life is now punctuated by the sound of purring; I measure time by the sound of kitty mews.

Why I've Been Busy!

Okay, all my friends and family. Here is why I haven't been writing the way that I should. I've fallen in love! Here you find the objects of my affection:

Cuervo Sebastion was given his first (and used) name when the few first times he meowed, he sounded like a crow cawing. If we had to rename him today though, we'd probably have to call him "squeaky." Cluny is Cluny Camille, named after, well, that's obvious, and the Camille is from my niece. I do use both names for her. She seems to be a bit older than Cuervo; she is a bit bigger, but still a kitten.
The two cats are unrelated, but get along very well together. They love to play although at first I was afraid that they were fighting since Cluny likes to make a lot of noise. However, I soo n learned that she was the aggressor most of the time. She sneaks up on Cuervo, then does a backflip and lies there as though she is helpless (ha!) while Cuervo unwittingly attacks.
Both cats are in love with my laptop; they want to chase the cursor. They know they aren't supposed to walk on the laptop, so they will lie on my lap with their heads where the mousepad is (I use a real cordless mouse though, but sometimes they do give me a bit of inteference.DH was extremely happy because they both took to Darwin's old spot immediately; they also both regard his sink as their own private drinking fountain and get a bit perturbed when there isn't water in it. Darwin must have left a sign around somewhere that said,"Fresh drinking water this way" because they both slurped up the water without any prompting and have been going `there ever since. Oh, the little backwards apostrophe that you see in front of the word "there" in the sentence before is Cluny's contribution. She's just joined me, and had to step on one key at least to see what would happen. (The first day they both stepped on so many that my laptop shut down and when I turned it on again, all, ALL, my bookmarks were erased!

Well, Dakota, Darwin, we miss you, and thought you'd like to know what was going on here. I hope you both are having fun in the big city while these country cats stay close to home!
By the way, they have found "mousie", you know, that yellow furry mouse with the long tail that got lost a long time ago. Mousie suddenly reappeared and we still don't know where he's been. But he must have been to a spa because he's very active now!

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