House Tour: Living Room and Hallway

Today I am going to share a little bit more of our new home with you. I have been posting in increments as we finish an area...or at least get it to a presentable stage. If you've missed out on my previous posts you can see them here, here, here and here.

First off I will begin with the BEFORE shots of our living room. The wall color was a sort of pinky flesh tone with thick carpeting in an off white.









Now here are some of the AFTER shots. You will notice that we pulled up the carpet to expose the wood floors and we repainted the walls a light gray color. We obviously moved in our furniture and art to really make the space our own.













So there you have it, another piece of our new home! Hope you enjoyed the tour. More to come in the coming weeks (as we finishing painting trim and such).

Slide Guitar

Eric calls this a slide guitar...









For the record she really shredded (her diaper).

Primal Scream

I think every mother knows that, no matter how vigilant they are, there will come a day when their child will throw something in the toilet. I am Maria Rose and here is my story....

Yesterday morning started off a bit crazy. I had only gotten a few scant hours of interrupted sleep and I was tired. Cordelia was in a super-clingy mood and wanted to be attached to my person all morning.

I often puppy-sit for my parents during the day. Bode (Bodie) entered our house with a full throttle whirlwind of insanity. Bumblebee let out what can only be described as a dog scream. There was a lot of shuffling and jumping, squealing and whining, as we desperately tried to usher the dogs into the back yard. Meanwhile Cordelia narrated in one word descriptions: "Bode,"..."Bumblebee,"..."Grandma,"..."Hi,"...."Outside,"..."Grandpa,"...."Bye."

So finally the dogs were out back and I was able to chat with my mother for a moment before she headed out.

Then I was on my own and chaos reigned. I looked out back and Bode had gotten into something and it was strewn across the lawn. Bumblebee seemed to be egging him on. Cordelia wiped out, then she poured dog water all over the floor. There was breakfast and Bode kept trying to get up on the table (he is still learning his manners). The dogs raced through the house, chasing each other, knocking over everything in their path. Cordelia laughed...then cried...then whined.

Finally I went up to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I thought I would just clean up and I would be more able to face the day. Then Bode grabbed hold of the toilet paper and took off running down the hall, a train of paper flying behind him, all he needed was a "just married" sign. I turned to grab him, for one simple second and that is when it happened...

Behind me I heard Cordelia saying,"Hiiiii" as she gazed proudly into the toilet.

I paused, could it be...? Yes, that is a dog toy in the toilet. Ugh. Here is the moment I am not so very proud of. I didn't yell because I wasn't mad, but I was totally at the end of my rope and I let out what we will call a primal expression of that feeling. I went, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," Cordelia laughed. The dogs blinked up at me. I slumped my shoulders and went on with it.

My first inclination was to just try and flush it and be done with the whole thing entirely, but I could see that this little toy wouldn't simply flush. I would have to take action. I couldn't bring myself to reach in there (not that I haven't done that before, come on it happens), but not on that morning.

So I decided to use some barbecue skewers as chopsticks to fish it out.

Simple and effective. It worked like a charm. You'd think I had just won the Iron-man with the show of joy that I put on. I did a victory lap. I could hear the crowds cheering in my mind and I realized that I had to lasso that good feeling before anything else could happen. So, we all went out for a walk and when we returned the dogs passed out. Cordelia soon followed. I sat there on the couch feeling relieved and happy---not just about the toilet experience, but because of the sensation that I had able to change my mood from primal scream to simple contentment.

What about you? Toilet stories (keep it mostly clean)? Ways you change your mood?

***Yes, I did actually photograph the experience, because it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Dining Outdoors

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping (even the one that Eric calls the Nelson bird-sounds like this), there was a slight breeze. Nature was practically asking us on a dinner date. So we set up in the back yard.

The dining table

I made super simple vegan quesadillas (vegan cream cheese and Daiya in a folded tortilla and grilled until golden) and topped with chopped fresh tomatoes and lettuce---completed with a dallop of vegan sour cream. We also enjoyed some yellow rice with black beans and pickled red onion (recipe derived from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, but only loosely followed because that's how I roll). We've been using a bunch of the vegan cheeses and stuff as our small town just got a real health food store, wooo! We are indulging a bit in the "fakes."

When was the last time you dined outside?

Entertaining

Last night we had some friends over for a family dinner. Cordelia was happy to welcome Madeline, who is just a couple of years older than Cordelia. They have a blast together.


Cordelia


We ate some stromboli with a salad and fresh cherries. We drank cold bottles of cream soda.


For dessert we had baked peaches, stuffed with candied pecans.

We sat out back and talked as our children all played together in the dirt. It was wonderful!


Friends


Dirt


Play

We had a perfect evening. I think it goes without saying that our tub was dirty by the end of the night, signs of a day well spent.

What did you do?

House Tour: Around, but not in

Today, continuing on with the tour of our new place, I thought I'd give you a look at the outside of our house. We really have done very little beyond maintenance, so there isn't really a before/after shot.

Out front, this garden still needs a bit of work, but it is full of fresh flowers!


The backyard with the terrace covered in mountain ice which I am finding will take over everything if I don't watch it. Ya hear that mountain ice, I'm watching you!


Blossoms on our apple tree. Apple pie in the fall! Guess I'd better get over my paralyzing fear of pie making.


Yellow Flowers (yes, that is their Latin name)


Blossoming tree. Not sure if I really needed to label this one...


My first heirloom tomato is beginning to do stuff.


A box of veggies to be planted later today

The lilacs are just beginning to bloom

So there you have the exterior of our home. I will probably take a break from house tours for a few days, but will pick back up next week! Hope you are enjoying your tour of our place.

House Tour: Cordelia's Room

Well, I have been promising some photos of our new house and I thought I'd start things off today. I will give you a full tour in several posts over the coming weeks. I think doing it in bits and pieces will be the best way so I don't do a 300 image blog post.

I am starting with Cordelia's room first, primarily because it is the most complete room in the entire house, with the exception of a new light fixture which will come in time (we have a few dozen of those small finishing touches throughout the house).

Below are a couple of before photos. The room was carpeted with a white carpet and had lavender paint that had long since faded. You could see shadows from where photos had hung on the walls and the paint had not faded. Overall it was in great condition, just not to our taste.

We painted the walls a green color which turned out more brightly than anticipated. We ended up really loving the brighter shade of green. We also tore out the carpet and got new outlet and switch covers (the previous covers had a very catholic theme).

Here is a look in at her dresser and bed

Cordelia is hanging out on her bed after a good time playing dress up.


A corner of her room. Sunlight coming through the window and the closet with a pink flower garland that I made while I was pregnant with Cordelia.


Inside of Cordelia's closet. Clothes, storage and the special books (non-board books) that are read with supervision.


Rocking chair


Cordelia putting her room to good use. We are using her baby buggy as storage for her stuffed animals.


Original art by Michael Copeland


Rocking chair that I recovered and painted bookshelf. I also made curtains to match.


Dresser, Chinese umbrella and edge of bed.

So there is the first official look at our house. More to come in the following days and weeks. Hope you enjoyed it!

In-Laws

We spent our long weekend with the in-laws, or my in-laws, they are Eric's actual parents. They drove up from New Mexico, arriving on Thursday evening. We took it easy, showing them the sights and letting them get reacquainted with Miss Cordelia.

Here is a photographic taste of our weekend...

Tea Party at the Museum (awesome hairdo)


Blocks with Grandpa


Evening snuggle


On a hike with the gang


My handsome hubby


What can I say, we can't get enough of that beautiful waterfall!

They left early this morning, headed back to the land of enchantment and I should mention that today is their 42nd wedding anniversary!!!! Congratulations!

What did you do with your weekend?