Been a While

Yes, it's been a while.  I won't try to summarize anything & everything that's happened since those distant days when I posted with semi-regularity.  Let's just jump right back in and see how it goes.  Maybe my days of frequent blogging (at this spot, at least) are over.  No way to tell, really. . .

- - - - - -

A few weeks ago, a bunch of us (Granny L., Mom, Aunt Cathy, Aunt Debbie, Kimberly and I) went "yard saling" together.  I hadn't been to a real yard sale in years, but it was successful (and fun) enough to convince me that I need to go more often.  There's a lot to be said for the thrill of the (bargain) hunt!  

My biggest (both size- and price-wise) purchase that day was a little table for $5.  It looks like it was originally meant for a bedside table, but as we don't need any more of those, I'm planning to use it as an end table on my side of the couch.  (Yes, we each have our own side, where we sit 99.9% of the time.  Doesn't everyone?) While we have two perfectly good end tables already, the way the furniture is arranged (and the way it'll probably stay for some time), I don't have one on my side.  I've been using a folding tray, but this little table should be a strong improvement over that. 

Because the furniture in the main room is all dark-- either stained wood or painted black-- I thought the table, which is white, would look better with a coat of black paint.  Today I lightly sanded it, TSP'd it, then primed it. (The old finish was pretty slick in spots, so I thought I ought to do as much preparation as possible.) It felt a little silly putting white primer on an already white finish.  (Yes, yes.  I probably shouldn't use white primer under black paint, but it was what we had, and I'm sure it'll work just fine.  This thing was going to need at least two coats of black paint, anyway.)

So, we'll see how that goes.  I'd (kind of) forgotten how long it takes me to paint things-- or at least how long it feels.  I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end.  I did remember to take a couple of "before" photos, so I'll be able to have the fun of a big "before & after" reveal.  (Isn't it exciting?)

- - - - - -

I don't remember exactly when I last blogged about non-political, newsy things. . . It was after my parents settled on building the new house, wasn't it?  In any case, that house is a reality now-- is visible from where I sit (or would be if the curtains weren't currently drawn close)-- and is very nearly finished.  It's turned out to be one of those things that simultaneously feel as though they've taken a long time and no time at all.  (So many things feel that way!)

We'll soon have three new neighbors and two new neighbor dogs (not to mention a car or two).  I expect I'll see my parents and youngest sister more often once we're living a short walk from one another, and it should certainly be convenient for carpooling on some of our shopping trips and the like.  Also, there will probably almost always be someone nearby to help in a pinch (especially with my grandparents just another short walk away). 

. . . It just struck me that we'll be living two extremes, soon, with Donald's parents so very far away and mine almost next door.  People talk a lot these days about how small the world has gotten-- and it's true, in a way-- but it still feels plenty big when you have friends and family on another continent.  I wish it were easier (cheaper, safer, faster) for us all to pay casual visits. 

- - - - - -

Well, I consider the waters thoroughly well tested, now.  Pretty much exactly as I remembered it.  It's only a matter of taking the time to write every so often.  (Even if blogs are apparently no longer cool.  Where did everyone go, by the way?  Twitter and Facebook?  Both those places just feel insufficient, compared to blogging.  Oh well, things will always come and go, I guess.)

New bookcases!

For a while, I've been wanting to get rid of a very flimsy, unattractive, and outdated shelf-thing-a-ma-bob that we've had in the main room (living room? family room? whatever you want to call it) of the house. It served its purpose as a "thing holder" (everything from a stereo and CDs to framed photos and other curios), but it was from the 70's and had definitely seen better days. The surfaces of some shelves had suffered water damaged at some point, which made the ugly dark imitation woodgrain look even worse. Just take my word for it-- it probably wouldn't have won any beauty contests even when it was new. ;o)

This weekend, we dismantled it and put in its place some much-needed book storage. (With doors! Where I can hide things! And not have to dust them! Yay!) We still have to fiddle with one of the doors to get it to close properly-- and I'll probably rearrange some things and put a few odds and ends on top-- (It looks too empty right now, I think.)-- but for the most part, it's all set up and oh, so much nicer-looking than what was there before!

Here are a few photos from different angles:

From the middle of the room, looking over a couch:

From the foyer:

From the door in the main room:

If you're wondering, these aren't all our books-- not by a long shot! We still have the bookcase Donald built us in the guest room. All those shelves are still full. . . Then there are a couple of full shelves in our bedroom. . . Oh, and some arts and crafts books in another room, as well as who knows how many other books scattered here and there-- cook books in the pantry, computer books in the office, current reading on nightstands, etc. There's certainly no shortage of books around here!

Of course, some of these books are more for show/admiring than for reading. Let me count how many copies of Anne of Green Gables we have, just for the fun of it. . . Fourteen, I think. (g) Many of them in Swedish. Don't ask me why we "need" that many. I suppose if we ever have a whole bunch of kids (or grandkids), they'll each have their own copy to read. ;o) Seriously, I think Donald bought many of these cheaply-- some because they're older editions. I think one of them is a first edition of the Swedish translation. Obviously, this is an exceptional case; we have just one copy of most of our books, which is plenty (and sometimes is more than enough, depending on the book). . . . Though it'd be kind of funny to have a whole bookcase filled with different editions of a single novel, wouldn't it? (g) It'd definitely be a conversation piece.

On a tangent-- Isn't is funny how manufacturers'/distributors' photos of bookshelves rarely have all that many books in them? For example, here's our bookshelf, as the manufacturer wants you to see it:


There are exactly eighteen books stretched out over all six (exposed) shelves. I suspect they do this for the same reason that home decor magazines usually show sparsely populated bookshelves: They must think it looks better this way. Maybe it does. Less cluttered-- less chaotic. Plenty of room to display a tasteful arrangement of candles and blown glass vases. But you'd think that most people in the market for a bookcase probably have, I don't know, books they need to store, so why not show us what it'll look like when it's crammed full with a motley crew of tattered paperbacks, with the occasional leather-bound extravagancy propped up between broken-spined hardcovers? I think people'd appreciate the honesty. ;o)

Yeah, and the photos of bedroom suites could forego the luxuriant bedclothes in favor of an unmade bed with assorted garments strewn here and there. . . (g) Ok, it'd never work. So many people are buying the illusion of what they'd like their lives to be, as much as the furniture that's to be the set. Drat those marketing experts! They think they're so smart! ;o)