#524 Switching Art

When I reach for a kitchen switch, I see an Alaskan moose.

When I reach for a hallway switch, I see the Sunflower state.

When I think about the artist who created these wonders, I smile.

Thanks, Donna!

Yours in appreciating creative friends,
Kelly

#523 Including the kitchen sink

Our townhome builders are a thrifty bunch.

In our kitchen, Ryan Homes installed an aluminum sink, 5.5 inches in depth.    I think it was probably made for a motor home.  Lowe's doesn't carry any sinks that small.  

 

According to Lowe's prices, it looks like installing a sprayer would have cost our builder another dollar or two.

 

So, we bought our own sink.  It is black and made of composite granite.  And best of all, it is NINE inches deep with a fabulous sprayer.

..

Kelly took out the motor home sink...

And installed a sink for our grown-up house.

Now, doesn't that white wall need to be painted?

Yours in spraying and splashing,
Mary

#522 Christmas Dozen

I love a good Christmas movie! Aren't I lucky the list of Christmas films is so long?

I tried out a new holiday film already this year:  The Tsarina's Slippers, a Russian opera composed by Tchaikovsky and performed live at London's Royal Opera House.  I like the opera, especially the Cossack dancing scene in Act 3, but my top dozen Christmas films (including one from every decade since the 1940s) remains unchanged.

Be sure to let me know what's missing from my list of favorites.

12. Scrooge (1970)

11. A Christmas Story (1983)

10. The Holiday (2006)

9. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

8. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

6. Holiday Inn (1942)

5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

4. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

3. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

2. Love Actually (2003)

1. White Christmas (1954)

Yours in a fabulous cinematic Ho! Ho! Ho!

Mary

#521 Take One, Leave None

The take-one-leave-one fiction library on board the MV Explorer is one of my favorite spots.

Voyagers leave behind books they've finished and look for their next read.  Their goal is to find a break from their study, light reading that will require no struggle to understand.

And, of course, there are many other groups who like to take a book and leave a book.  You'll find plenty of recent news about the Little Free Libraries and the recently formed People's Library at Occupy Wall Street.

And now I, too, have jumped on the book-sharing bandwagon and installed my own Guest's Library at home.  Though quite a bit smaller than the People's Library or the MV Explorer take-one-leave-one library, one recent guest became the first to take home a book. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake now lives in Mukiteo, WA. 

So next time you're visiting, be sure to check out our Guest's Library.  Or if you see something you'd like on the shelf, I might even deliver!

Yours in sharing books,
Mary