Monday, September 25, 2017

Decorating the living room

Many family photos, both on a wall and a table
Photo corner
This year we've been repainting and reorganizing some of the rooms in our house.  We have a small semi-detached house (which means we share a wall with the house next door).  There is a living room and kitchen/dining room downstairs, with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.  That's it--unless you count the very small entryway and understairs cupboard. 

In January, Partner installed new laminate floorboards over the old exposed wooden floor in the living room, making it both warmer and brighter in there.  We repainted later in the spring, covering up Franklin's old crayon marks;  it's now a pretty powder blue (a few shades lighter than the previous sky blue walls).

We also repositioned the pictures on the walls, and got some more of our photos out of the albums to display;  I've been searching the charity shops for new photo frames and have found some good deals!  As a result, we've got a lovely corner with many photos of our family.  I actually have more photos to frame and hang--the corner's not finished yet. 

I'm on the lookout for a nice wooden dresser or sideboard to replace the rickety old bookshelf and tv cabinet which share another alcove--a secondhand (i.e. cheap) one from a charity shop would be perfect.  And maybe another rug for under the piano, complementing the seagrass one under the sofa.

I'm not really good at decorating, or house stuff in general--I'm more interested in gardening!  But I know what I like and that's good enough.

Monday, September 04, 2017

Enjoying the last of summer

Close up of a daylily and multiple nicotiana flowers in the sunlight
Daylily and nicotiana, next to the pond
Well, it's back to school this week.  Franklin drew a smiley face on the calendar (he crossed out the smiley face I put on the Last Day, too).  He's excited about starting Year Three, and for me it's a little bittersweet.  He's really growing up fast.

My parents have been and gone;  we ended up not really going anywhere with them, as our car is just too small for five people, especially when four are adults.  On the few journeys we took I was claustrophobic in the back seat, but had the dubious honor of being the second smallest adult, at 5'8".  In Partner's family, I'm the second tallest adult--the only one taller is Partner himself.

It was a nice visit however, and they helped us do some jobs, namely installing a new fence in the front garden (facing the street), and stripping the wallpaper off the master bedroom.  We've now repainted:  a light blue-gray with white trim, and have installed new wardrobes.  Just need curtains to complete the new look.  The old color was "magnolia", which is apparently the most popular color of paint in Britain;  it's a kind of pale peach, or pinky-yellow.  Every room in this house has been decorated at least once (some more) since I've lived here, except this bedroom.  Well, we're finally doing it.

My garden is growing really well this year, and at this point we're eating lots of vegetables from it.  Luckily there's been minimal slug damage this year, probably because it's been so dry and warm.  It feels like there's a touch of autumn in the air, though, so I'm getting outside as much as possible before it gets cold again.  Mainly I like to sit and watch the fish in the pond or the chickens.  Or sit on my gardening cushion pretending to weed (but actually just hanging out with the vegetables, you know).