Saturday, February 1, 2020

Keeping The Black Dog At Bay



It's been another chilly dreary day. Everything's gloomy including me.
I didn't even leave my house until about an hour ago when I went to check eggs and pick salad greens.
I did do some sewing today, finishing up the curtains I wanted to make for the bathroom. First I did the blue middle panel and of course this was the easiest sewing that can be done. Iron and turn in a hem, iron that, sew. The yellow panels in the side windows I made from pieces of cloth that have been hanging there for years. I simply gave the sides a tiny hem and both ends a deeper one and then hung the hemmed sections over the rods. I've had this yellow fabric forever and ever. I think (and I'm pretty sure about this) I got it from a sale bin outside a Woolworth's in St. Pete, Florida approximately five thousand years ago. I don't even know what its fiber content is.


Whatever it is, it's held up nicely through the years and is such a lovely yard-egg-yolk yellow. Almost a saffron. That picture doesn't do it justice. But it was very enjoyable, I have to say, stitching it up finally and at last. I have to tell you though that when I first got everything hung it looked and felt so boring. Like a flag for a country which wasn't afraid of color but wasn't searching for interesting symbols, either. It also looked so tidy. I was used to the Kantha throw I'd had hanging in the middle for a few years, the un-hemmed yellow panels. And now it looked too straight, too boring. so I threw a lacy thing over the middle panel and a scarf I've had forever over one of the panels and a piece of silk I have over the other. It's a little better. 
I have an abhorrence for the sort of decorating that involves matchy-matchy stuff and wallpaper borders and walls and counter tops with nothing of interest on them. I like things that make me remember, that are pretty and sometimes even beautiful to me. As to what anyone else thinks- who cares?


I remember the family home I lived in from the age of twelve to eighteen and how it was decorated in the oh! so stylish! burnt oranges and avocado greens, the Objets d'art displayed properly, the wall-to-wall carpet, the one built-in bookshelf of books, everything in its place, the shining sterility of the bathrooms, clean enough to perform surgery in. And I think of the chaos and sadness and fear living right within all of that perfect order and sterility and it's no wonder that I embraced for my own living spaces a hippie mindset of surrounding myself with things I love and that bring with them their own memories and which clang and whisper together to make an environmental music of their own which calms me and pleases me. 
Mostly. 
Sometimes I want to tear everything down and throw everything away to have a more Zen-space but I know me. Before too long this and that would start to show up and I would feel more comfortable and at home. 
I suppose that when doing the Marie Kondo test of holding each object and asking oneself if it sparks joy, we must remember that for some of us, a whole lot of things spark joy. 
Or perhaps our definitions of joy differ. 
Who knows? Not me. 

So. Saturday night and I already feel as if it's Sunday although look at these pictures I got today.


Magnolia's new expression which she wears with glee.


And August, who got to meet Daniel Tiger today. Jessie said that he was so shy and so happy. I think you can see that in his face. 

I'm going to go put together an eggplant parmesan made with the leftover spaghetti sauce from a few nights ago and slices of eggplant that I dipped in egg and milk and then flour and panko and baked in the oven. I have bread rising. I have greens from the garden, as I said. 

And I have a bathroom which lets in more light and has more color and that's good. Light and color are always good. 

I don't know a lot, but of that fact I feel fairly certain. As I always say, life is too damn short for beige. And burnt orange and avocado as well. Unless it's an actual burnt orange or avocado. In which case, that's cool. 

See you tomorrow. 

Love...Ms. Moon



32 comments:

  1. Your bathroom makes me smile like Miss Maggie. A couple more poured glass objects d'art to hang from the high. high window. I hope you send Mr. Moon to climb on the rim of the bathtub to hang them.

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    1. Trust me- if I find something I love, I'll buy it to hang from that window. And honestly, if I just put the stepladder in the tub, I can manage it!

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  2. I love the egg-yolk yellow fabric and that photo of your Maggie. Her expression melts my heart. Have a wonderful night.

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    1. Maggie's a true charmer, isn't she?
      I can see monks wearing that fabric as robes. It is a very rich color.

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  3. Maggie!!! I snorted when I read decor. None of that here either.

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  4. Ok maybe I imagined decor but I imagined it right. Sheesh.

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    1. If you imagined it it's because I was thinking it.
      Maggie is a hoot. Or as August would say, a Quackie.

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    2. Wait! Cracky, not Quackie. I'm confusing my grandchild-languages.

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  5. your bathroom curtains are a delight! Colors abound........and the added touches are fit for a queen! Maggie.....what can I say. A gorgeous face and that hair slays me every time. Nice to hear someone else can go almost a full day without leaving the house. All I did today was water my flower beds outside (no rain past 3 weeks) tend to my one remaining hen.....otherwise was in and out hanging laundry, cooking and watering and feeding all my orchids. woohoo. Exciting, eh? Now am soaking beans to start chili for tomorrows dinner and I look forward to working on that much of the day. Small joys keep me grounded, know you relate to that too!
    Susan M

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    1. Oh god, yes, Susan. And in fact, your day sounds pretty perfect to me.

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  6. Light and color are always good, definitely true for me. I like your blue and your yellow curtains. Since my dear hubby died I am adding a lot of yellow in my house to lighten my mood. Three walls in three rooms painted yellow. What a smile Magnolia has.

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    1. Yellow is a beautifully cheering color, isn't it? Although there are shades of it that annoy me for some reason. But mostly, I love them.
      Doesn't that girl have a beautiful smile?

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  7. I love how you made the bathroom decor yours, it’s beautiful and unmatchy and inviting! Love the colors, the layering, all of it. Maggie’s curls!

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    1. Maggie's curls are the best of all and I didn't have a thing to do with them!

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  8. I love color too. I sent you an email of curtains I imagine for you:)

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  9. My upstairs bathroom suite is avocado. ;'(
    I'm making plans for it to go, but the expense and the process terrify me.

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    1. Oh, Jo. I understand far better than you can know.

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  10. I'm a great fan of lots of colour too. I don't know, it just brightens up my life somehow. The odd thing is you can always tell someone who feels the same - or at least I can - when I look at the projects they are choosing to sew at sewing club/patchwork club.

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    1. I bet! I love to have all of the colors! There are so many that are beautiful and warm and dramatic and calming and interesting that I will never understand using mostly shades of beige and brown. Even gray, to me, is a finer color.

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  11. Those curtains letting in some half light are lovely. Those pics of Maggie and August are sweet as can be.

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    1. It's so nice to be able to see the sky from those front windows. I'm really enjoying that.

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  12. Maggie's hair is astounding. Probably hard for her momma to take care of, but so beautiful for the world to look at.

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    1. Pretty sure that Maggie got that hair from her other Grandmother. Maggie won't let Lily do too much with her hair so it's not that much trouble, really.

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  13. I need a lot of light, too, and to see sky. I love your cheerful bathroom curtains with light shining through. Maybe I'll visit and hop in the tub.

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  14. It IS so often the little things that "spark joy." For me, a moose moving slowly, haltingly, through the trees in the back yard yesterday afternoon, stretching its neck up to nibble on bark. The fresh flowers my sweetie brought for my birthday last week, sitting pretty on the kitchen counter. A cup of coffee in the morning. The train going past at night. Books. So many little joys. -Kate

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    1. Yes. Those things are absolutely joy-bringers, Kate. I agree with you on all of them.

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  15. LOVE the new curtains! They look amazing! I think you have a terrific sense of decorating style, as eclectic as it is. A house should give some idea of the owners' lives and tastes, and not look like a hotel room or a project by some hired decorator.

    I do go through Marie Kondo phases where I get rid of stuff, and occasionally I regret it. So there's something to be said for just hanging on to it all!

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    1. Shall I come over to London and help you and Dave do a decorating re-do? Haha!
      Wouldn't you and I have fun thrifting and flea-marketing about, looking for decorating treasures?

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  16. you would love to just wander my sister's house.

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  17. Speaking of Marie Kondo, I see she has opened an online store to sell us things to fill up the places we emptied out. And I very much like your curtains. Jenny

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.