New Look, or Showing off My Fiestware

Back in May I crowed on and on about my wonderful friend at Sungazing Photography taking tea party pictures of my beloved wife and I in the briar's of Eureka.  The sweetheart gave me a disk of digital images of the tea party so I could spruce up my blog.  As you can see I am like a proud parent showing off new born pics.  Just look at my lovely pieces of fiestaware pottery.  I can't get over how cool the colors contrasted and I especially love how everything is set up on the funky little table.  And can I just say those orange daisies are the bomb! 

Sungazing took so many wonderful photos, it was so hard to chose which ones we just had to have.  In fact it took us almost six weeks to decide, but we decided on an official photo of the two of us, with three individual ones to go underneath.

Sungazing gets many thanks from me.  She brought out our personalities in a way which makes me not care that I am the size of a barn and no longer the spring chicken running around the a fore mentioned barn.  We look good, flaws and all and still in love with one another. 

If you scroll down to the bottom of the blog you can see even more of my adorable dishes. As and added bonus you can see my wife and I acting like buffoons, but you know what can I say who cares as long are entertaining somebody.

Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair

Last weekend I went with my mom to a fiber event in North Chicago.  My mom came to me with this event and asked if we could go together.  Mom is one of those people with the itch to always be on the move.  The last two years she has spent a significant time at home taking care of my dad and their life.  Now she wants to go...just go about anywhere.  At first I said no because I had scheduling difficulties, but with a thoughtful co-worker I was able to say yes. My wife, my mom, and I took off Friday to experience fiber together.

The fair was fun with lots of fiber, accessories, and all things yarny.  I especially liked that the fair was in a very large air conditioned building.  It was a little overwhelming at first, but with a game plan we attacked the fair like seasoned fair goers. We looked first and then went back to buy, at least that was what we tried to do.  I saw so many cool things.  Spinning wheels with cool space age knobs, handmade soap in wool sleeping bags, triangular knitting needles made from old broom handles, pottery bells, buttons, public knitting projects and yarn.  Lots of yarn.

Needless to say I bought yarn, I bought buttons, I bought needles, I bought earrings, I bought.  My mom, who is not a knitter, enjoyed herself, but was ready to go after half a day.  I would have liked to stay and done some of the lectures, but mom was ready to find some quilt shops.  So off we went.  We had a really nice time together.

The trip home included a side excursion to my favorite place on the planet, IKEA.  We wandered through the beautifully arranged rooms.   I long to be the kind of person who could have all those clean clear surfaces uncluttered by a lifetime of junk.  So of course I felt the need to buy stuff to further clutter up my life, but you know that new green rug in my bathroom is beautiful!

I wish I could spend more time like this with my mom and my wife.  They truly are my favorite traveling companions.

Ikea done. Want a million $ & an ikea less than 10 miles from me. On way home now, bye chitown.

And Yet More Furniture Comes to Live With Me

Before I could even read, I loved books.  The colorful pictures, text crawling so orderly across the bottom of the page, and the way my golden books looked lined up neatly on my little house bookcase.   Every time I got a new book I would take it to the shelf and judge the size finding the perfect position on my shelf.  My brother would come in and knock the books off the shelves destroying my system.  As soon as he was gone I would start all over again putting everything back in order.

I learned to read, I got bigger books, and outgrew my little house bookcase and it disappeared.  As my mother releases furniture old friends keep showing up.  My little house bookcase is back and I am once again lining up my knitting books by size to live on its shelves. Of course my cat, Seven, is disagreeing with me on what should be placed on the those shelves.  His vote is fluffy blankets or a stash of catnip, not boring old books.

Puzzle Furniture

My mom has started to think about downsizing and has been letting go of some of her favorite pieces of furniture.  When she asked if I wanted her antique oak knockdown wardrobe, I said let me make room.

I was excited, I have loved this wardrobe since we brought it home in pieces when I was ten.  It went to live in our garage for many years to be a home for motorcycle helmets and several generation of spiders.  In the late eighties my mom evicted the spiders and  had it refinished (I know that ruins the value, but it looks so much better and it got to move into the house). 

A few weeks ago all twenty-seven pieces came to live with me.  Of course it came knocked down in all of its separate pieces.  My wife, bless her occasionally cranky heart, with some effort put all the pieces together into one whole wardrobe.  I am fascinated how all the pieces slide together and like magic make an impressive piece of furniture.

I have all this potential storage space.  I imagine putting all my yarn in it, books, quilts, or even, heaven forbid, clothes.  I am giddy with all the things I just might store in the wardrobe.  My cat, Seven, has ideas of his own.  He thinks with a few rugs, he just might get his own room.  I think he is wrong.