Ramblings and webcomics from LeEMS
I was on an online used goods site looking for an unrelated thing when I found these two gorgeous things that I didn’t even know I needed. I am sad to say that I am not often struck by the beauty of new tools. Maybe its the plastic or the lack of cast iron. I am so happy with these and I can’t wait to use them!
A couple of years after we first bought the house, a mystery plant showed up in the back yard by the neighbor’s fence. It opened close to Easter weekend to reveal it was an amaryllis. Since then it has slowly grown in size and flower stalks. We have not lifted it to separate the offset bulbs and plant them separately. But I have gathered a seed pod and embarked on growing new plants from seed.
Amaryllis from seed will take a few years to become a mature plant and bloom, and they may not be the same as the mother plant at all. I’m no stranger to waiting for plants (hello pineapple), so I figured I’d give it a try.
After almost two years I got tired of tending the little grass shoots in their pots. They had really only gotten a bit fatter. We planted them out near where the original plant had self planted in the yard. And, they were immediately eaten down to the ground. Not surprising since the original plant looked like this by the end of the spring:
It has spread a bit since we first noticed it and has several whorls of leaves from which erupt flower stalks each spring. I am hoping that the babies I planted out will somehow fight their way through to flowering someday. Though, I’m not sure how far away that someday may be. Five years? Who knows. Eventually, we might get a mess of this:
Right after buying the house I decided we needed to eliminate all the grass in between the front sidewalk, that ran a kind of wonky-parallel to the house from the driveway to the door, and the house. It was not a quick process, but now I have, what I call, my long awaited mixed border. It’s looking impressive this year for the first time I think.
I think I need to return to my dictionary. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of or find a word that encapsulates “to make more appealing/desirable” other than witching. Witching works I think.
And this year we have taken some massive forward steps at witching our outdoor space behind the house. We started by enclosing it with roof and screen, so it is more of a transitional space than truly outdoors. Then there was converting one of the old original (completely un-level and un-plum) brick planters into a bench by decking over the top. I am quite proud of this. Cushions are coming.
Already, the extra shade, the promise of protection from mosquitoes, and the seating make the space so alluring. I am called to go outside even when the temperature INSIDE the patio is above 90F. Eventually we will have ceiling fans. This is the only thing our house was missing from our original wish-list: a Florida room.
*yes, the stairs go to no-where and will help to make up an L-shaped bench seating area.
We upgraded some lighting in our library/dining room/office, so I thought I’d share a collection of scenes including the new lights.
A few years ago I did a before and after post about the original pink bathroom in our house. Back then, maybe a year after we had been living in the house, I decided that the best way to update the dingy flat white walls was to aim for somewhere between the pink tile and the fading blue accent tile. We ended up painting it a sort of dusky violet, that, upon years of reflection, was the wrong choice. So we have embraced the pink and repainted! The new color does wonders at brightening a room that is lit only by the window and original medicine cabinet side fixtures.
What I failed to post about years ago is the mystery hole. In the half wall that separates the toilet from the sink is a built-in cavity. It is partially finished, that is, the tile wraps around the edge and is also at the back of the hole. The sides of the cavity are not tiled, nor is the bottom.
*that black strip you see in the photo is foam tape that helps hold the blue lidded plastic shoe box in place to keep the cats out of the hole.
I have scoured the internet and vintage magazines for a hint at its original purpose. Mid century bathrooms often had built in shelves for utility or display, but the bottom of this cavity is unfinished and just held a bunch of garbage. Also, it is right at toilet seat height, so it wouldn’t be useful for many things. I wondered if maybe it had an insert at one time that would turn it into a receptacle of some kind. I also ruled out toilet paper, since the tile toilet paper holder on the other side of the toilet (in the above pictures) is original to the bathroom. So, if you have an idea, let me know!
Just a few snapshots from fall. The sunflowers are long gone now. I was quite happy with them, though. They are the first non-herb annual I have ever tried. Definitely the first from seed. The blanket flower is still going strong and I never knew just how much I would like the architecture of the sea grape, until now.
I inherited a weird little curio from my Grandmother. I don’t remember ever seeing it in her house, though it could’ve been hidden amongst her enormous collection of salt and pepper shakers. Any time I look at it, even now that it has lived in my house for so long, I am overwhelmed with questions. My grandmother’s house had porcelain figures of children being held up by the giant hand of Jesus, it had kitchen prayers and little plaques with owls made from shells that said ‘world’s best grandmother.’ This figure of a small person with bee wings and a halo, playing flute seems weirdly incongruous. Is it meant to be an angel? And why does the cow have a halo too?
Perhaps, I thought, it was just a product of its time that made sense to whomever brought it to my grandmother’s house. But then, I wanted to find similarly odd figurines of the mid century. I often surf around eBay looking at anything tagged as ‘mid century,’ so this time, I dedicated my search to finding these figurines. Far from the popular brutalist style of the time and equally far from the ‘modern’ ideal that most comes to mind, these figures are weird, fantastical, and kitschy. This is what I found:
Continue reading Mid century odditiesThe interwebs makes it easy to believe that there is a general interconnectedness of all things. So, when I adopted the handy term NOS from RetroRenovation for some of my ebay searches, of course I thought it was a term that lots of people know. In case it is not, let me clarify. I am not searching for Nitrous Oxide Systems, National Occupational Standards, or promotional material from the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. I am looking for New Old Stock.
For a mid century house like mine, finding a seller with a stash of house accessories obtained by a closed down factory store is gold! NOS is the best way to obtain those temporary, delicate, things like plastic light switch covers, garishly patterned drawer liners, and plastic ruffled shelf tape. Oh, there are plenty of NOS listings for bathroom tile and drawer pulls – things that could survive being used and reused. But there is magic in those things meant to be used up and thrown away.
First off, even if hair tape is still a thing, it is a thing I never imagined existed. I love that it was produced by 3M. 3M is all over the place at my library.
Unused note cards might be the best thing ever!
And these would be the icing on a retro-styling tea party!
