I know, I know.... LATE LATE LATE!

 

I know, I know - I did not update the blog theme for April until April was/is almost over... I have, of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth...

I have been busy collecting typewriters.  And so, as it turns out, has my husband!  I bought a glass case to display/access my collection of SIX typewriters, a few months ago.  No, I have not yet cut the shelves and installed said case, but I digress.  A lot.

We now have in the area of EIGHTEEN typewriters.  Let that sink in a moment.

 

Egads.

In any case (surely a typewriter case) I have a lot on my mind.

Ruby, the beautiful red Royal P you see in the photo above has the coveted "Vogue" typeface.  Like so:

Since I now have as many "pretty" typewriters with normal typeface as I can hope to have, I have turned to typewriters with rare typefaces, regardless of what they look like on the outside.

I don't have time now to catalog them all, but once I get them all together and have time to take some really artsy photos of them, I am going to create an account on the much-vaunted Typewriter Database, where anyone interested can go and peruse our entire collection, see all the pretty photos, find out the names and what make/model they are, and see what kind of smoke show they lay down on paper.

This is yet another of the projects that I am currently looking forward to (but not doing yet).  

For some unknown reason, the new toilet seat I installed in the bathroom is sidling its way east, and not staying centered.  I have to figure out what the hell is going on there, before we fall on the floor while trying to - yeah.

I have six flame-leafed heather plants on the patio, in pots, awaiting their planting.  Awaiting, because in order to plant them, I have to UN-plant six "Drift Roses" that are performing exceedingly poorly in the ground.  Before I remove said roses, I need to buy six attractive planter pots to put them in, so I can see if they do better on the patio than in the ground.  THEN I can plant the heathers.

See how this goes?  I have stacks and ladders of projects, all which require several layers of commitment.  What I usually end up doing is draping myself over furniture, or typing letters and journal entries on my typewriters.  I have another novel I'm thinking about writing on the typewriter, so that is also taking up a lot of my mental space.  Apparently, I have a lot less mental space than I used to have, because things keep shouldering each other out my ears and I have to go looking for them to stuff them back in.

Hope you are enjoying Spring (and pollen season) as much as I am.  More.  More!

Celebrating love on Valentine's Day

Today my heart is filled with so many memories.  35 years ago yesterday, Bear and I met.  I was 21, he was 27...

Sixteen years ago today, my dad died.  

I think you know when you pass the mid-life mark - it's when you look back more than you look forward.

Such an odd day for me, this day of love.  There are so many kinds of love to celebrate.

The love of my life - my husband.

The love of my family, and friends.

The love of animals - pets and wild ones.

The love of gardening and growing things.

The love of music, movies, and art.

The love of vintage things.

The love of good food and cooking.

The love of those who have gone, which continues to keep their memories alive.

Happy Valentine's Day, blogfriends!

 

Marcheline Remembers: C. J. Edwards

 

For more years than I can remember, I've been "pen friends" with C. J. Edwards.  I met him through his blog, and we began a long and wonderful friendship.  A few days ago, I found out through his brother, my dear friend G. B. Edwards, of the Eagleton Notes blog, that C.J. had passed away.

I will always be grateful that back in 2016, I was fortunate enough to travel with my husband and my mom to Scotland, and C.J. and his wife, Jo, drove up to meet us for a couple of days in Dunblane.

"Lord John" (my nickname for him in all our letters) was a kind and funny man.  He loved photography, and books, and nature, and so many things.  He collected rocks and minerals, he loved participating in PostCrossing (a club in which members write and receive postcards from all around the world).  He was a master of puns, and had a wicked sense of humor.

I am so fortunate to have been his friend, and my heart goes out to his family.  He leaves this world bettered by his existence, and diminished by his departure.

To add a bit of levity, as I'm sure he'd prefer, I will tell you one of the stories of our friendship.

I'm a great lover of Photoshop, and have used that medium to help friends and family far and wide with their resizing, and "fixing" of photos.  John would often send me photographs that he took, and ask me to do things like "remove the telephone pole" or "get rid of the cars in the background".

One day he sent me this photo, asking if I could get rid of the cars:

In reply, I sent him this:

Of course I sent him a copy of the photo fixed as he really intended, but that's the kind of slapsticky humor we shared.  He loved a good pun (as do I), and I loved photographic humor, and "took the Mickey" whenever I got the chance, photographically.

He was one of the good ones.  

Fair winds and following seas, Lord John.

"One woe doth tread upon another's heel, 

So fast they follow..."

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Act IV, Scene VII 

2024: THE THEME

 

I have never been much of a fan of "New Year's Resolutions", being that the running joke about them is how people make them and immediately break them.  I don't like failure, much less planned failure, so two years ago I came up with the idea of creating a theme around which I would focus my thoughts and activities.  In 2022 the theme was "The Year of Less".  Less spending, less credit card debt, less buying crap I don't need...

The happy result was that we managed to reach several big goals, paying off debts, and taking a lot of unnecessary pressure off of our household (Bear was side by side with me on the theme and goal, too).  

Being that the idea was such a success, I have been pondering what this year's theme should be, and I've landed on this:

This is not just a random idea.  It actually sprang from the recent completion of the DIY bathroom renovation.  I got sick of our crappy bathroom, and finally decided to stop moaning about it and Get On With It.  Since it's been done, we have really enjoyed the room, and kept it nice, and the renovations have made us very happy about having done it.  So I thought - why not continue the trend?

As I look around our cluttered cottage, my eyes fall not on things that I dislike, or things that have no purpose, but rather things that were started and not finished.  Projects that got half attempted and then life got in the way (lame excuse, eh).

So this year, I am going to dial in my focus on finishing those things I've started, so that I can clear away the detritus and get the cottage back to a living space, rather than a maze of clutter.

In my experience, one project completion inspires the next one.  Getting up and doing the dishes makes me more likely to dust and vacuum.  Getting one project finished gives me energy to attack the next one.  Impetus.

I am going to retain the lessons I learned from "The Year of Less" and keep leaning into that way of life - I'm not just ditching all the good it did, in other words... I'm including this new theme as an overlying focus.  It's like trying to build a strong house, one brick at a time.

WELCOME TO 2024:

THE YEAR OF

GETTING ON WITH IT

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!

 

Happy New Year, blogpeeps!  It's said that you should treat others as you wish to be treated.... so I will wish for you what I wish for myself:

Peace, quiet, comfort, contentment, good books, great movies, delicious food, your favorite person, cozy robes, tasty cocktails, cuddly pets, and good health.

Not in that order, of course.  (It would seem rude to put the cocktails at the beginning....) 

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

It's Jasper's first Yule tree... and he is being SO good!  He patty-pawed a few ornaments, but all in all he is respecting the rather amazing addition to our small living room...

... this year's tree is named Ronan (after one of the centaurs in Harry Potter)...

Here he is, fully decked out.

And...

LIT!

Normally, our Yule tree gets strung with white lights, blue lights, and multicolored lights, which we plug in separately so that we can choose to use one, two, or a combination of all three.  This year, we discovered that our old multicolored light strings had gone wonky and most of them weren't working, so we chucked them and only used the white and the blue.  It's very wintry looking and beautiful, and we don't mind it at all!  Once the holidays are over, we can get a good deal on some LED multicolored lights for next year.

Hope all of you are having a good holiday season, that you are warm and well fed, that you are listening to your favorite music, and have good books to read, and have peace and whatever makes your heart smile!

Bear took me out to a local favorite restaurant the other night... as it turns out, it was "Meet Santa Night".  I told them I had thought it was "Bring Your Own Santa Night"...

I got a kick out of these two complimenting each others' beards!

Everybody has enjoyed playing with the tree skirt...

... which is good, because now it's inaccessible!

Have a very merry!

 

 

Happy Birthday to Beethoven... and Me!

 

Well, I've made it another trip around the sun.  I am grateful for this life, for the love that I was given as a child, and which I continue to encounter as I mature.  I'm grateful for the wonderful surprises that come at odd moments, be it a beautiful bird or a jewel-toned spider in the garden.  I'm grateful that I've been strong enough to weather the storms that come to us all.  

I'm grateful to have the best husband in the world, and the home we've built together, the animals who share our lives, and the friends and family far and near that make my life more rich and touch my heart.

I continue to be puzzled and stressed by the way the world is now, it is such an unfamiliar place - so different from the way things used to be when I felt that I knew was going on, but I try to keep hope alive that the greedy and heartless will not vanquish those who value love and art and history and kindness.  Sometimes it looks pretty bleak, but I continue to find pockets of hope, small corners where people are still real.

I look forward to the coming year.  New projects.  New discoveries.  New adventures.  And I'm glad you're coming with me!

Jasper's first Christmas!

 

Started out here...

,,, ended up here!

Of course we let him play in the tree while it was new and as yet undecorated.  We wanted him to enjoy it and have fun with it and explore. The other cats ignored the tree as if it wasn't there, which he will do once he's had his fill of "this is new!"

Because of work schedules, we won't be decorating for a few days yet, so hopefully by the time we do everything will be normalized.  That is a word almost never said around here - HA!

This is Ronan - our 2023 Yule tree!

He has yet to "relax" (just like the rest of us)

and when he does, I think we may not be able 

to get into the kitchen any more!

Better Late Than Never... Our carved pumpkins!

 

Bear went for a "Jack Skellington" ("Nightmare Before Christmas") themed pumkin this year...

Given the oblong shape of my pumpkin, I decided to go with a scene rather than a head... this is the Lady in Black wandering the halls of a haunted castle.

I created her silhouette by carving one of the bits of rind from the windows, and attaching it to the inside of the gourd with a small wooden toothpick.

BREAKING NEWS: Marcheline Scores the Last Two Pumpkins on Long Island

 

Yes, folks, once again I managed to arrive at Samhain (Hallowe'en to you non-pagans) completely unprepared.  

In years gone by, I would have cleaned the house and decked it out in all kinds of autumnal decorations.  Lately, I'm lucky if I can get both socks to match.  Seriously, late onset Hallowe'en prep fail is REAL.  How did I get here?

I jumped in Squat Betty and went roaring around to all the grocery stores (no pumpkins) and all the farm stands (closed) that I could find... and finally, in a last desperate attempt, I went to our local flower nursery - (open, and pumpkins) SUCCESS!!!!  Granted, they are not the bright orange, upright pumpkins we are used to from years gone by:

And yet I still feel these pumpkins have the kind of spirit we needed for the day.  Yeah, they're squat and flattish, and pale, but I'm hoping that once we delve into their depths, we will find a plethora of juicy pumpkin seeds to be toasted, salted, and eaten while watching our Hallowe'en movies tonight!

In other news, when I'd returned home with my treasures, I parked Squat Betty in the driveway and shortly thereafter, this happened:

Meet Buster (L) and Gracie (R), two of our outdoor brood that we feed and care for.  They are brother and sister, and they know not to waste some good still-warm engine vibes on a chilly autumn day!

Marcheline Renovates: Part Quatre

 

Since this is a renovation post, I know you were expecting photos of crumbled plaster, holes in walls, and other such shenanigans.

If you insist:

Yikes!

Well, you asked for it, Dear Readers.  As of yesterday, this is what the only bathroom in our house looks like.  Things are starting to get real up in here, yo.

Even though this looks like a disaster, it is.  I mean, it is actually progress.  When I called the plumbers in to move the water pipes (seen in the upper right corner of the floor in the above pic) I kind of assumed they would put the sideways part UNDER the floor, and just have the pipes sticking up.  Nope.  This means I will probably have to either still cut a huge, elongated hole out of the bottom of the new vanity, which was the whole point of having the pipes moved (to NOT have to do that), or I will have to put down a "pedestal" of some sort underneath the new vanity so that it lifts it up high enough to clear the new pipes.

I have to make this decision before I can start cutting any holes in the new vanity.  If I cut a hole in the drain pipe based on the vanity sitting on the floor, and then decide to put a riser underneath the vanity, then the hole I cut is in the wrong place.  When doing a project like this, timing is just as important as making the right decisions.  Both must be carefully interwoven.  It's like trying to figure out the perfect way to make Beef Wellington, without a cook book.  You have to spend a lot of time visualizing before you touch anything and screw it up.

I suspect I may have to remove those in-wall soap dish and tooth brush holders... something I will not be sorry to get rid of, since they're both too close to the bottom of the medicine cabinet to be of any use.  I think I can use my new oscillating tool to get them out, and then just spackle the hole over, and at the finish put up a nice backsplash on top of the new vanity that reaches all the way up to the bottom of the medicine cabinet.

Where to find a solid backsplash?  Custom order?  Or buy a piece of wood at the DIY store and finish it myself?  Or something I haven't even thought of yet?

I think I need to stop decorating in my head (that's always the fun bit) and focus on getting a working sink going in the bathroom.  That vanity needs cutting and installing, and then there's the sink drain to pipe connecting, and water lines.  That has to be first, before we get into backsplashes.  

Things like pretty decorating touches are what calms me down after overloading my brain with technical difficulties.  Those glass bubble door knobs are just absolute therapy to me when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the project.  I just look at them and I feel better.

In other news, I just took our new baby to the vet and dropped him off for Operation NutSnip.  He will be back home with us this afternoon, and hopefully after he has recovered, he will calm down a bit.  He has been rambunctiously tackling and play-fighting with his brother and sisters, and they're getting a bit tired of it, even though the interactions are mostly good-natured.

There's just a lot going on at this house, and at the end of this month Bear and I will celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary!  I just can't believe it... where has the time gone?

Marcheline Visits The Twilight Zone...

 

Taking a short break from posting about The Bathroom Renovation (not, however, taking any breaks from actually working on the renovation... every spare minute for the last month!), although that saga will resume very soon, as I have much to say on that score.

Anyway.

Bear and I have a semi-regular ritual during which, if we are lucky enough to both have time off on a Sunday morning, we listen to "Sunday Baroque" on NPR.  It's three hours of solid baroque music, which both of us particularly enjoy.

If we're lucky enough to have mild weather, we will take the pretty little turquoise portable radio out on the patio and listen to the program al fresco, while drinking coffee and discussing life.

A few weeks back, we were doing just that.  At some point, we decided to go inside for a while.  We grabbed our coffee and breakfast dishes and headed in, but we left the little portable radio tweeting away on the patio table.

Once inside, we found other things to do, and since the baroque program was still on, we turned on the inside radio to listen to the rest of it.

At one o'clock, the baroque music program ends, and a horrifically awful radio game show comes on.  The very moment that we hear the theme music start for the game show, whoever is closest to the radio dives for the "off button" and punches it, thus delivering us from having to hear any of the smug and smarmy commentary and boring attempts at humor that always abound on that particular show.  

One o'clock had come and gone, the radio was turned off, and I settled on the couch to read.  Bear said he would go outside and grab the little radio off the patio table so we wouldn't forget it and let it get rained on or ruined.  Out he went.

A few minutes later, I heard the door open, and Bear walked in with a bemused look on his face.  I looked up from my book and asked what was up, and he said nothing - just held up the little turquoise radio.  

Baroque music was tinkling from the tiny speakers.

It was at least fifteen minutes after one, and we had turned off the indoor radio the moment the game show came on.  The NPR station by us is way up on the very tail end of the right side of the dial.  There are no other classical radio stations anywhere near NPR.  The little turquoise radio had been tuned to NPR when we left it on the patio, and all Bear did was pick it up by the handle and bring it indoors.

We looked at each other, listening to the baroque music play for maybe thirty seconds, and then suddenly the station cut off completely.  No sounds whatsoever.  Bear twiddled the dial, trying to find it again, and almost immediately found NPR and the stupid game show.

Where had that baroque music come from?

I think I know.

Marcheline Renovates: Part Trois

 

I fully admit to stealing (okay, borrowing) this tee shirt from my husband, but I felt that considering the amount of work I am doing on the bathroom renovation lately, it pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.

Today I finished the ceiling!

And installed the gorgeous new vent cover!  Note: The phone was being held at an odd angle when taking this photo, the vent cover is not crooked.  It's the phone/camera.  Really.

Anyway, the vent cover is not covering an actual vent, but I had to make it look as if it was.  Why did I have to do this?  Because there were two smaller vent holes in the ceiling previously, and because of the way the joists above the holes were placed, I could not patch the holes conventionally with drywall and etc.

Because the peel-and-stick boards can't stick to empty space, I found a beautiful vent cover which covered both the areas where the holes in the ceiling are.  I put the peel-and-stick boards over the holes, and then painted the area under the vent cover dark bronze, and then installed the vent cover over the dark painted area, screwing it into the ceiling with wall anchors so that it (and the vinyl boards) will not tumble to the floor at 2AM and make us think we're being burgled or attacked by attic monsters.

In case all that isn't as interesting to you as it is to me, all you really need to know is that it's done, and it looks fabulous.  Right?  Right.

I got about halfway done with caulking the edges and seams of the ceiling and walls, and my gumption gave out.  And by "gumption" I mean my back, neck, and knees.  They said, "We are done."  And when they're done, I'm done.  For the day.

Tomorrow I plan to finish caulking the seams, and start assembling the vanity.

Here there be dragons.

Wish me luck!

Marcheline Renovates: Part Deux

 Just so we understand each other, this bathroom renovation thing has exactly nothing to do with the size of the bathroom (in that case, it would have been done in five minutes).  It has everything to do with how much time and energy I have to spend on each layer of the onion skin...

I do have some celebrating to do, however - I discovered a wonderful wall covering that actually STAYS ON THE WALL.  And it looks like wood planks!  But is washable and will not attract termites nor swell up and warp!

This is vinyl peel-and-stick planking... but let me tell you, the "stick" in this peel-and-stick is serious stuff.  I found that out when I applied the first one and then thought I really needed to move it a few centimeters to the left.  When I pulled on it, it literally took out chunks of wall - yikes!  

Methought I should immediately figure out a way of putting up those planks so that I would not have to move them at all once the sticky stuff was stuck.  Turns out the trick was to take the very edges of the strips you pull off, and make them stick out the sides of the plank.  Then put the plank exactly where you want it, and hold it down with one arm while with your other hand you pull the strips.  Yeah, a bit fiddly, especially with the ones way up near the ceiling, which had to be done while balancing on a step ladder...but the effect is SO pretty!

See for yourself:

The ceiling bit still needs doing, but I ran out of planks and had to order more.  I have them now, and will be doing the ceiling this weekend, good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise...

Also on the "hooray" list are the light fixture and the medicine cabinet revamping!

Here's the light fixture (looks like a lighthouse lamp to me):

And here's the old medicine cabinet with a new coastal-framed mirror glued on the front with about two pounds of contractor's epoxy:

We've got in bits and bobs, like outlet and light switch covers, all in the bronze finish that will match the new faucet fixture, and the next big part of the project will involve assembly of the cabinet I chose to make a vanity out of.  Then I'll cut holes in the top of same to put the sink and the faucet, and connect the faucet to the hot and cold water, etc.

Sounds simple, eh?  Stay tuned... and wish me luck!

Hi. My name is Marcheline (only not really). I am a DIY bathroom renovator.

 All together now: "Hi, Marcheline....".

Yeah.  So.

Aeons ago, had our teensy, tiny, weenie little horror show of a bathroom estimated by professionals for a makeover.

Ten thousand bucks.  Which, in my vocabulary, equals "Ah, HELL NO."

So, years went by, and the bathroom got uglier, and smaller (or I got bigger, but let's not go there, shall we?).

Now I've reached the point where I have just had it up to here.  I decided I no longer want to live with a craptastic, ugly bathroom.

The beginning of these decisions is always the fun part.  Shopping, deciding, making fashion choices, planning out the look... then comes the running and screaming.

For example, I decided that since our bedroom makeover went so well, with our seaside coastal theme that I think we really pulled off well, it would be cool to have the bathroom also be coastal-ish.  More industrial/coastal, with oil-rubbed bronze metal bits.

I found this really great-looking peel-and-stick wallpaper in a whitewashed wooden board pattern.  I was inclined not to get peel-and-stick for a bathroom, because of shower steam and etc., but the Tempaper website assured me that this wallpaper was specifically designed to be used in bathrooms, and would withstand shower steam with no problem.  Consumer reviews abounded which sang the praises of this wallpaper.

Cue my days off:  I got up, put on my work clothes, and spent NINE HOURS installing this wallpaper.

This is a photo taken in the middle of the day, just so you can see the look I was going for.  I was so happy with the board-look!

Bear came home from work and helped me install the hardest parts, up near the ceiling, and then we went downstairs to have dinner.  That was at 7PM.

Just about an hour later, Bear went upstairs.  I heard his voice saying "Oh, you're not going to be happy about this."

I ran upstairs, and there, in the bathroom, was ALL of the wallpaper, hanging down in streamers, peeled off the ceiling and walls, balled up and stuck to itself in the middle of the bathroom.  

NINE HOURS of work, y'all.

I tore the remaining few inches that were still stuck to the bottom of the walls, balled the whole thing up and put it in a garbage bag.

Then I cried.

So yeah, DIY home renovation.  It's going so well!

In other news, I just got the new wall covering (not wallpaper) and I'm going to be installing that on my next days off.

The bathroom vanity, the sink, the faucet, and all that other good stuff are currently cluttering up the rest of the house, waiting to be installed.

In the meantime, I am trying to get a refund for my wasted wallpaper from the Tempaper company.  They are much slower at refunding my money than their wallpaper was falling off my walls.

Stay tuned for more "Marcheline Renovates"!

GUESS WHAT'S ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES THIS COMING SATURDAY NIGHT?!?!?!?

 

I nearly yelled out loud when I saw this - in all my years of watching Turner Classic Movies (and in all my years of loving the film "Withnail & I") I have never, EVER seen them air it on this channel! (Except for the very first time I ever saw it.)

I wonder why they decided to do so, all of a sudden.  Was it because Anthony Bourdain listed it as his top favorite movie of all time (which is why I watched it the very first time)?  Was it because the great Robert Osborne (RIP) was hosting the show the day that Anthony Bourdain guested and mentioned the film?

Or was it because I sent in a video of me doing an intro for this film during a competition on TCM (that, sadly, I did not win)?

Other questions arise - I don't think I've ever seen a film on TCM that had "blue language"... but if they bleep out every swear word in this film, it will just be two hours of "bleep bleep bleep" - like having a conversation with R2D2!

In any case, I am thrilled - and of course I am going to DVR it on the channel, so I can see it whenever I am able, and can see what they've done to it, if anything.  They did put an "R" rating on the channel listing, so perhaps they're just going to let it fly.

So excited!!

Marcheline Presents: The Meditation Garden

 For about a year now, I have been scheming and planning and plotting and dreaming and thinking of a way to reclaim the back corner of the gardens (the one ruined by the crazy twatwaffle neighbor who kept taking down our fence).  

When we first moved here, that "room" in the garden was always called "the Chess Garden" because we had the idea we'd sit back there and play chess.  There was a round marble chess board in the center of the lawn, with the idea that we would sit on the ground with blankets, picnic-style, and play chess.  It was a good idea, but it just never happened.  

Then I got the idea to transform it into a Meditation Garden, with comfortable seating.  It took a while to obtain the necessary items, but finally it has all come together, and here it is!

Click on the photos to see a larger version on your computer...

Adirondack chairs made of polywood, for comfort and easy cleaning, in a neutral color that goes well with a garden...

Solar lanterns on the fence which get direct sun during the day even though the chairs stay mostly in dappled shade...

Resin stepping stones under the furniture so that I can run the lawn mower over the edges of the stones, and also keep the chairs (which are heavy) from sinking into the ground when it rains...

St. Francis - Patron saint of animals and nature...

Saint Benedict - Patron saint of students (Bear)

St. Fiacre - Patron saint of gardeners (me)

I sat out there yesterday morning, and it was amazing how enjoyable a completely different perspective on one's garden can be.  I saw so many things that are completely invisible from the patio or the air chair.

For example, many of our wild birds like to fly straight over the back fence, through the middle of the big kousa dogwood in the center of the gardens, directly to the bird feeder in the side garden.  Lots of them also sit up in the big pine tree and talk to each other.  From the Meditation Garden, I was privy to lots of feathered gossip!

The feral cats that live in our garden also use the walkway between the Meditation Garden and the other "rooms" quite regularly.  I saw them silently padding from place to place, throwing inquisitive looks at the new additions to their domain.  No doubt I will go out there one morning and find them sprawled out on the Adirondack chairs, and they are welcome!  Nobody meditates as deeply as a cat, when they take the notion.

Of course we snuck outside after the sun went down, to see how the solar lanterns looked when lit up - it was really pretty!  Since the summer means mosquitoes, I have also ordered some pretty tabletop torches which hold fuel made with cedar oil and citronella - they look like little potted cactus plants when the ceramic lids are on, and I thought they would be adorable on that little side table.

It feels really good to have finally reclaimed that space, and turned it into something calm and relaxing and enjoyable.