Spooky

Welcome to my Halloween-ey home.

Don't mind those blackbirds. They're just keeping an eye on the place.

I've been planning my Halloween decorating since August. My favourite find is the green glitter skull. I have been collecting clear glass candlesticks for a while and I spray painted some  urns black.

On the table we have jars of eyeballs & skulls. We've got quite the collection.

We also seem to be infested with spiders. Don't owls eat spiders?

Another glittery skull, a tombstone, & my zombie jar from Sweet Sassy.

And another crow to watch over me as I do the dishes.

I'm having so much fun and it's been difficult to exercise restraint. Javier reminds me that we are still trying to sell our house and we don't want to SCARE potential buyers.

Speaking of appliances

Instead of trying to sell the house, maybe we should 

just deed it over to Starbucks in exchange for lattes.

I'm already spending enough money there!

Or maybe, I NEED one of these.

Rancilio Silvia

For my current house, new house, whatever. 

New home dreams

Some of the time I'm feeling pretty relaxed about whether or not this house sells. But most of the time, I'm lost in dreams of what I would do with a new house. I should have been sleeping this afternoon after a long night shift, but instead I lay awake in bed thinking about...

Pretty new kitchens (Image source: www.thisoldhouse.com)

Kitchenaid drawer dishwashers (Image source: www.appliancist.com)
The Elmira Northstar Retro fridges (image source: www.barsandbooths.com)

36" Bertazzoni dual fuel ranges (Image source: http://www.bertazzoni-italia.com)

If you think my tastes are rather diverse, I most definitely agree. I almost hope we don't move so I don't have to go through the angst of picking out everything!

Lovely little ladybugs

When Lizzie was very little she LOVED ladybugs. She collected them in a little jar and named them all, quite originally, "Lady".

Oh, she loved those ladybugs. We poked holes in the lids and fed them bits of leaves.

Somehow the bug-catching kit we bought her never had quite the same magical effect.

We always let the ladybugs go. As far as I know, we never lost one.

When I saw these ladybugs today, I thought, "wow, I have to show Lizzie", but they don't hold the same thrall for her as they used to.

My baby is growing up.

Condo Living

The latest innovation in cat storage.

Heat Wave

We are experiencing a heat wave in our part of the world. The weather we usually have in July and August surprised us the first week of September. But we're not complaining. I'll take the heat for a while longer.

My front porch is experiencing dual personalities these days.

My blue Muskoka chair is outside. Oh how I love to sit there with a book and a coffee. 

My other chairs remain as well, but their pillows are wearing their autumn covers. See those orange flowers to the right? They are still blooming and I potted them way back in June!

I set out a fall berry wreath, yet...

...the flowers from July also continue to thrive, even as the sun warms the porch floor so much in burns my bare feet!

I love fall decorating, but I'd like this weather to continue for a little while yet.

The suitcase

Sometimes I worry that this poor little neglected blog is dying a slow painful death. I've thought about giving up several times, but I'd miss it. I look back at my earlier posts and smile (or sometimes cringe) in remembrance at what has happened over the past year and a half since I joined the blogging community. So, I'll keep going. Perhaps a little more regularly from now on. It's been busy around here. We are still trying to sell the house, which I'm surprisingly calm about. I've realized that housekeeping could definitely be a fulltime occupation. My days off are filled with dusting and laundry. But what a pleasure to wake up to a clean house every morning and come home from work to a tidy home.  Maybe this habit will stick.

Check out this suitcase that followed me home from the thrift store last month. I was immediately drawn to it when I saw it on the shelf.

I carried it around the store as I checked out the other departments, trying to decide if I should buy it. It was a bargain at $6.00, but I didn't have any cash on hand.

I put it on hold to go to the bank machine and on the way there, I talked myself out of it. I didn't need this suitcase. I'm trying to streamline my life, not add more stuff. And it's a slightly odd shape, one side is slanted so it won't even fit nicely on top of my new wardrobe. And what would I use it for anyway, a place to store more junk?

I went back to the store, money in hand. I had to at least buy the cute little Japanese vase I had also put on hold. But then I saw it again, and it came home with me.

So now it sits.

Waiting patiently to fulfill its purpose.