#690 Top reads in 2015

Retirement is good for reading!

Here are my 2015 favorites.  And now that you know what I like, what shall I read in 2016?




Yours in reading,
Mary

#689 Where does light come from?

Light comes from family and friends.

And that includes the lamps in our bungalow.

In August, we wrote about our two gently used chandeliers found by our friend Matthew at the Charlottesville Habitat Store.  We love them to pieces and they hang in our two front rooms.

And now we have received three more antique lamps for our bungalow.  These come from our Uncle Bob in Texas who has a bursting-at-the-seams shop where he stores his flea market finds. 

The first gift from Uncle Bob is a lamp much like Matthew's chandeliers.  It has the same geometric form with four square horizontal arms each supporting a glass shade.  But the shades on Uncle Bob's lamp are hand-painted.  You can see two of the shades in the photo below.  We have the third shade and are looking for a fourth.  Once we find a 3-1/4" fitter with a similar shade, we will ask a local artist to paint a matching scene.  

The second gift of light from Uncle Bob is in the style of a medieval gothic chandelier of hammered and riveted metal that appears more handmade and less industrial.  We love it and it hangs in our library.  

And last but not least, or maybe it is the least, the lamp below is installed in an upstairs bedroom that is still awaiting renovation. Our plans are to remove that ceiling and improve the background for that beautiful lamp.    

Yours bathed in light,
Mary

#688 Wood Splitting for Relaxation

When Kelly wants to take a day off from home renovation projects, he likes to relax.

A couple of decades ago, Kelly and I were relaxing at the Peterson Lake Cabin in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the country's largest national forest.

And before our relaxing was over, Kelly had filled the wood bin.

Again about a decade ago, Kelly and I were relaxing with friends in a much more comfy cabin at Minnesota's beautiful Ten Mile Lake.

Before our departure, the wood pile was high.   

 Again this weekend, Kelly relaxed with some good wood splitting.  Ahh. 

Yours in watching Kelly relax,
Mary

#687 Tractor Pride

You already know that Kelly is proud of his new (1987) Wheel Horse tractor.

Tractor pride must run in the family, because 3-year-old Sam also loves his tractor.

Yesterday, yet another picture-perfect fall day, Kelly sent Sam running for his tractor when he drove the Wheel Horse out of the garage.

And that's when the tractor competitions begin.

Some of the competitions are head-to-head.

Some are transitory.

 

Some are conversational.

 

It is always important to keep an eye on the other tractor at all times.

As with all happy endings, a compromise is eventually found.

Yours in loving these red tractors and their drivers, big and small,
Mary

#686 Ozarks Bungalow Floor Refinished

We've put a lot of work into our floors. 

And now it's time to hand it off to our friends at Terry Wilson and Sons Flooring for the sanding and refinishing.

Library during: sanded on right.

Library during: sanded on right.

Library after

Parlor during: Kelly enjoys not doing the labor.

Parlor after: Living room is in background.

Parlor after: Bedroom is in background to right of fireplace.

Living room after: Dining room is in foreground.

Even the youngest member of the family approves.

Yours in sliding around in my socks,
Mary

#685 Ozarks Bungalow Flooring

Our floors need a lot of work.

We got to work on it immediately after moving in last year by ripping up the carpets and discovering just how much work there was to be done.  Then in July, Kelly started patching the floors in the parlor, living room, library, and dining room.

BEFORE: A previous patch using pine boards in the dining room corner (then covered with ceramic tile-hence the white mastic) need to be replaced with 1.5"-wide oak boards to match the original flooring.

AFTER: New oak boards are in place in dining room.

BEFORE: The parlor floor (at one time underneath the stairway) needs re-patching to remove those straight joint lines.

AFTER: Kelly re-used old oak flooring to stitch in the parlor patch.

BEFORE:  The living room patch was a long one - about 19 feet. 

AFTER: Living room patched with new oak flooring.  Using boards that are 1.5 inch in width, it takes a while to weave in 19 feet.

BEFORE:  Random damage to be patched. 

AFTER: Random damage patched.

Yours in getting ready for the big finish,
Mary

#684 The Wheel Horse Gets a New Stable

I admit it.  We haven't been mowing our own lawn.

We got out of the habit back in 1999 when we moved into Indy's Lockerbie Square neighborhood.  And since we moved back to Missouri last year, our attentions have been focused on the inside of the house.

That's all about to change because today, we bought a 1987 Wheel Horse 312-8 lawn tractor.  The Horse had one proud owner for its 28-year life and was sold at an estate auction this morning.  (Some proud owners have even been known to join the Wheel Horse Collectors Club and meet in Pennsylvania each June for some Horse trading!)

To break in the Horse, Kelly saddled him up and rode him home through the streets of Aurora. 

Past the Pate Early Childhood Center

Past the beautiful Aurora countryside still proudly wearing his bidder number

Waiting for the traffic to clear on Carnation Drive

Past downtown and our favorite store. (Kelly must have run inside Modern Variety to pick up something.)

And finally arriving at home.

I'd love to get a copy of Straight from the Horse's Mouth: The Wheel Horse Story at a fair price for the new Horse owner in the family.  Please let me know if you find one.

Yours in Horsing around town,
Mary