Saturday, June 27, 2015

The To Do List for Inside

In April, my office looked like this:

My desk:
OK.  It was a mess, but i could run a small corporation without getting up except to file. 
Mitchell's desk:
There's nothing I can say.  Mitchell never met a horizontal surface that he didn't love.
As a double office it has served us well - first, just a place for each of us to settle to surf the Web, or pay bills, or write letters (ok, email).  You know, just stuff, 

Then my job changed and for the past 7 years, I have worked from home and it became the "corporate office" for my employer.  I added more filing cabinets and filled the closet and every other available space with office supplies and records. 

In May, it all changed.  My replacement at work took the furniture, and we started cleaning out Mitchell's desk and hutch in order to downsize. 
For a couple of months i used a folding table.
The carpeting was replaced with wood flooring to match the rest of the house, and i found a nice pale green paint for the walls (and the filing cabinet when now lives in the closet).

Early morning painting produced a great result.

Then new flooring.
Today, we have a music room with space for Mitchell's harp and keyboard, along with a smaller desk, a futon for extra company or just a place to relax and watch a different TV show.  Suddenly the house is so much bigger!
Where my desk used to be is now glass shelving and storage for supplies, plus room for the harp and the keyboard.

A futon instead of a big desk and hutch.  I need pictures!

And a new desk at the window.  I can see the cutting garden, too!

It's amazing what a bit of paint, new floor and new furniture will do for a girl.  Now, i just need to figure out what to put on the walls.



















Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Consider the Lilies ....

Sometimes I think that lilies are really my favorite flower... before tulips?  no.  not really.  But they probably are my favorite summer flower, especially with so many blooming right now. 

The most spectacular one, tho, is a "tree lily" that i planted five (or more) years ago.  It was a huge bulb - like 6-7 inches tall and 3-4 inches "wide".  Since i didn't want to have to dig a hole to China, i put it in the raised bed at the corner of the garden ... and promptly forgot it.  [The truth is that i thought it was a gimmick.]

For the first couple of years, it was nothing special - a pretty clear yellow, with a gorgeous fragrance, but there are several more in the garden that are similar.

But two years ago it took off and got taller and taller.  This year it is about 6 feet tall and had six separate stalks - each topped with 15 - 25 buds.   A heavy rain on Tuesday night knocked two stalks down, so i cut them and brought them into the house. 

This is 20 blooms and more than 40 more buds.  I know they won't all open, but perhaps half will.  The entire house smells wonderful!