Keeping It in the Family

Look what I brought home yesterday.

 

 

My friend Robert gave this beautiful Victorian fainting couch to me ... it's a family piece that originally belonged to his great-grandmother.  He is selling his house, and is drastically down-sizing, and he couldn't bear to see it go to a stranger.  To be honest, I don't quite know what I'm going to do with it.  Its details are beautiful, and it still wears its original velvet upholstery ... I know there has to be a spot in this old house where it will fit and look good.

 

 

 

I just have to figure out where that spot is ... and vacuum it really well before I bring it into the house, because it's dusty as all get out.

 

This new chaise of mine reminds me of a photo that I use as the cover for one of my Pinterest boards. 

 

 

I can toss on a quilt, and add a couple of pillows ... yep, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do!

 

Feeling Crafty: Knitting Dishcloths

A couple of years ago, I was given a hand-knit dishcloth as a gift.  I had seen them before and wondered what all the fuss was about ... who would take the time to knit a dishcloth, for Pete's sake.  Turns out, that hand-knit dishcloth is softer, more absorbent, and cleans better than my store-bought ones.  Even though I really like using it, I never took the time to see what it would take to knit some more of them.

Earlier this week, I was working to sift through the mess in my sewing room earlier this week,  and I found some balls of cotton yarn in my yarn stash.  What the heck, I thought ... I might as well see how long it would take to knit a dishcloth or two ...

Or three (so far).

 

 

The pattern I'm using is called "Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth", and it is so simple to make.  Even if you can barely knit, this is absolutely a beginner type of project.  I love the detail of the eyelets at the edges!

 

 

 

The directions for this pattern are all over the Web ... but I will put them here, to make it easier so you don't have to go hunting.

 

 

"Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth"

 

Cotton yarn (like Sugar 'n Cream, available anywhere that sells yarn)

Knitting needles (I used size 7)

 

Instructions:

 

Cast on 4 stitches.

 

Row 1: knit 4.

 

Row 2: knit 2, yarn over (increases one stitch on the row and makes the eyelet), knit to the end of the row.

 

Repeat Row 2 until you have 45 stitches on the needle.

 

Row 3:  Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit to the end of the row.

 

Row 4: knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to the end of the row.

 

Repeat Row 4, which decreases one stitch from each row, until you have 5 stitches left on the needle.

 

Row 5: knit 2, knit 2 together, knit 1.

 

Bind off the 4 stitches.  Weave in the ends.

 

 

 

That's all there is to it!  I have cranked out one dishcloth per night for the last three nights, and I have a little bit of a fourth one already started.  It's a great mindless activity, to keep my hands busy while watching TV in the evening.  We'll see how long my fascination with this lasts.

 

 

 

Almost makes me WANT to do dishes, when I have something this pretty at the sink to use.

 

 

The Morning After

It snowed almost all day yesterday.  The temperature hovered just above freezing, and the snow melted and packed as it fell, lowering the accumulation total.  It's difficult to say exactly how much snow we got ... the wind was blowing a gale, and we have drifts in some places and little or nothing in others.  If I had to make a guess, I'd say that there's 6 to 8 inches out there. 
 
It sure is pretty, looking at the view from my spot here at the kitchen bar counter ... Ruby thinks so, too.

 

 

We lost power for about four hours during the worst of the storm.  There are folks west of here who are still without electricity ... my parents, first and foremost.  I will check in on them shortly to see if their power is back yet.  If it isn't, I will offer them our generator ... it's enough for them to run lights, refrigeration, and a heater.

 

I changed my mind yesterday, and I worked in the basement instead of in my sewing room.  I'll show you what I was working on when I finish it.

Snow Day

The calendar says that spring will be here in a couple of weeks, but Old Man Winter still has a trick or two up his sleeve.  Over the weekend, the weather guys started warning us about a potential major winter event.  It's not 'potential' anymore, folks ... it's here, and it sure is a pretty sight outside the dining room window.

 

 

It started to snow here in Hartwood at about 10pm. The worst of it is still to come, as the heart of the storm moves from west to east.  Thankfully, this storm isn't going to give us anything close to the snow totals that our New England friends experienced last month.

 

The red dot on the map is Hartwood, on the line between the 8-12" and 5-10".  Who knows how much snow we will eventually get.



 

Today is a good day to work upstairs in my sewing room, to try to reclaim it from the dumping place that it became during our master bedroom closet project at the first of the year.  Working on one of my favorite spaces, warm and dry, as the snow falls outside ... it should be a good day.

The DC Big Flea

Yesterday, The Husband and I hit the road to go treasure hunting at the DC Big Flea ... billed as the East Coast's largest indoor antique market, with 400+ dealers.  This show draws huge crowds, and there is always a great variety of items to see and buy.  Here are some of the things that caught my eye:

This dealer always has a great mix of tempting things.

 

 

What a well thought out vignette, with the Deacon's Bench, Parchesi board, and primitive bench.

 

 

This is a lousy photo of a bed with great paint.

 

 

Real Post Office cubbies!

 

 

If I didn't already have too much stuff, I probably would have bought these drawers and found a use for them.

 

The paint on this Scandanavian trunk was beautiful!

 

I loved the colors and designs on these wool felt pillows.

 

The great graphics on the cheese sign caught my eye, then I noticed the zinc-topped cupboard below it.

 

 

I need some inspiration for a paint project that I have planned, and I found some antique thread cabinets that had really wonderful graphics.

 

 

 

 

I am always on the look out for interesting greyhound items. 

A 1925 print.

 

I see this bust from time to time in magazine ads.

 

This Royal Doulton figurine was a bit pricy.

 

 

 

What did I buy, you ask?

A vintage baby bottle (to use as a bud vase), a tiny greyhound figurine, a pair of vintage medical scissors, and a silver heart charm.

 

I have never seen a little greyhound like this ... it's only 2 inches tall.

 

The silver hearts will look great on a leather necklace.  They each say "Your heart is within my heart.

 

 

The final buy of the day was something that I have been hunting for for a couple months ... a handmade Persian rug to go underneath the antique oak chairs in our family room bay.  It's imperfect and I LOVE it!!

 

 

As I walked through the show yesterday, and sifted through the photos this morning, I saw a definite trend.  I find that I tend to be attracted to things that are what they are (if that makes sense).  Things that are restored or have a quick coat of paint slapped on them don't appeal to me at all.  Give me honest wear, and good design, and I'll be a happy girl!

 

 

There ... That's Much Better

Last week, Tara Dillard posted a photo and posed a question that struck a nerve with me.  She said, "You think we don't see the grill killing the views?"

photo:  Cote de Texas, via Tara Dillard.

 

 

I looked up, and from my perch on the barstool at the kitchen counter I saw this:

 

 

 

How could I have been ignoring this for the entire five-and-a-half years that we have lived here? 

 

It took less than a minute and a half to remedy the situation.

 

 

 

The grill is now to the left of the doorway ... still convenient to use, and out of my line of sight.

 

Tara calls this "The Vanishing Threshold" ... making the inside transition to outside as seamlessly and beautifully as possible ... and vice versa. 

 

Hey, Tara, thanks for the virtual kick in the pants! 

Early Spring Flowers at Hollywood Cemetery

Tuesday was a beautiful day ... perfect for spending the afternoon continuing to inventory and assess the roses at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.  I was working alone this time.  The solitude felt good.  With my map, notebook, and camera in hand, I was able to visit 25 more roses ... bringing the current total that I have examined to 89 ... with 39-or-so on the list left to go.

The cemetery, being 65 miles south of me and on a south-facing riverfront location, has a bloom schedule that is WEEKS ahead of my own garden.  Visiting there is boarding a science fiction time machine and going forward in time ... with plants far ahead of what I have here at home.

My daffodils are still short, with buds showing (but tightly closed)  The ones at the cemetery are blooming gloriously.

 

 

 

 

I had never seen this large patch of Snowbells before.  (I'm generally at the cemetery later in the year, when the roses are flowering.)

 

 

 

Speaking of roses, this grave had a beautiful Lenten Rose (aka, Hellebore).  I had to lay in the grass to get this photo, because the flowers nod toward the ground.

 

 

 

It will be two more months until the roses at the cemetery begin to bloom.  In the meantime, I love looking at the more permanent types of roses there ... the ones that are carved in stone.

 

 

 

It looks like I will only have to make one more trip to the cemetery to complete the inventory portion of my rose renovation and preservation plan.  Expect to find me there on the very next warm day, working furiously to finish the evaluation so I can put together the plan for our work day.

 

Speaking of the work day ... yesterday, I sent an email to everyone on my Hartwood Roses mailing list ... asking for volunteers for the Rose Work Day on March 23.  So far, 19 people have signed up!  I'm really excited to see this type of turn-out.  We can always use more, so speak up and sign up if you can.

 

Happy Friday!!