One thing leads to another...

 It all began last winter when an advertisement for wallpaper popped up on my Facebook feed. I am not a wallpaper kind of person. Rather, I am a white-paint-on-everything-that-doesn't-sit-still kind of person. But this wallpaper, with a smoky blue background and huge, fat roses, well... I found it wildly appealing. It occurred to me that it might look quite pretty in our teeny downstairs bathroom. Weeks passed, and I kept seeing that ad pop up, and every time I saw it, I got a happy feeling. I liked it so much, I asked Chris to buy some for me for Valentine's Day. And he did.    

Once it arrived, I held it up in the bathroom and liked it even more. Except it sort of clashed with the blue vanity top, which was here when we bought the house 21 years ago and was showing signs of wear. I looked at replacements and found they were quite reasonably priced. I asked the terrific guys who did our recent carpentry work if they would install a new vanity top, and they put me on their "rainy day" list.  While I waited for them to come, it occurred to me that I'd really like to replace the huge mirror that was firmly affixed to the wall. This was a concern because our house is very old, and much of it has ancient horsehair plaster walls. I imagined that taking that mirror down would leave some big holes in the plaster. 

My friend Angel was here visiting when the guys came to install the vanity top. She and I had discussed the hanging wallpaper project. I was having cold feet and questioning my ability to do the job well. Angel sneakily arranged to have the contractor do it for me and left him a hidden fat envelope of cash to pay for his work. Whatta friend! (I'll have to plan for a new project when she visits next year!) 

Here is the bathroom before. I had a funky little wooden thing with hooks to hang towels on, but it was impossible to properly affix to the old plaster and was constantly falling off. Maddening. In this picture, it had recently resisted my hanging efforts yet again. 

Here is the potty shot. 

The contractors removed the mirror, and I was right. HUGE damage to the walls. There was a lamp over the mirror that only worked when it wanted to, and it rarely wanted to, so I decided it needed to go as well. Another hole in the plaster. Fortunately, the contractors were adept at fixing such damage and did so beautifully.  Here is the new vanity top, new faucet, and the repaired wall. 

We got some paint to go with the background of the paper, and once the walls were repaired, the paint went up. The trim got a fresh coat of white. Then, today, Bill came and began working on the wallpaper project. My excitement knew no bounds! 

 

 The finished project was well worth the wait. 

I found this mirror while antique shopping with sister Deb in Massachusetts. I love the way it looks, and treasure the memory of the day we spent together. 

          

Rachel and Evans picked out this marvelous wreath for me at the Common Ground Fair. Made locally and both fragrant and beautiful. What started with a glimpse of pretty wallpaper turned into a rather extensive project, but I am delighted with the results! 

Our tiny bathroom got a glow up, Facebook roped me in with an advertisement, then one thing led to another. Beautifully. 

Change of season...

 Today is the official first day of fall, though the season has made its coming felt in the past weeks. The foliage is beginning to change. Not the in-your-face bright oranges and yellows yet, but some russet tones here and there if you take time to look. The days have been sunny and warm, but the air blowing in the still-open window at night is downright crisp. 

We've had lots of company staying with us on and off since June. Our dear friend Angel left today after a lovely visit. We first met her and her family when they moved in across the street from us in Memphis many years ago. Their oldest daughter was four at the time. This year, two of her all-grown-up daughters were here for a day or so while their mom was visiting, adding to the fun. We had some good times cooking meals together, catching up, and chatting endlessly. 

We cooked lobster at least twice, enjoyed fires outside, and the Maine vibe was strong. I hardly took any pictures, shame on me. 

I did manage to capture Field's carrying last night's lobster in for the feast. It was too chilly to enjoy our traditional picnic table perch for this messy meal, as you can see by the steam coming up off the crustaceans. They may be the last ones we cook until next spring. 

Last spring, as she often does, our kind neighbor Penny gifted me three dahlia tubers. Because we had construction going on for much of the early summer, with workers tromping around in the flower beds, I never put the poor things in the ground until early July. Then we had a very dry summer, and I barely watered my gardens because I worried about our well. Still, they grew beautifully, and now, when we are all holding our collective breaths waiting for the first frost, I am rewarded by some lovely blooms. 

This variety, according to Penny, is Fenna Baaijh. There are other buds ready to open, and I hope they make it. 

I bought a pumpkin so big I had to struggle to lift it, and getting it out of the tiny cart at the farmstand and into the back of my truck was a trick. A nice woman getting into her car next to me offered to help lift the smooth, heavy thing up and in. I noted her bumper sticker said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." She was living up to that slogan, and I was grateful for her kindness. 

Over the weekend, I tackled cleaning our pantry. I am so thankful for the small, yet functional, room we use for storage. Its narrow space is filled with a huge chest freezer, an extra refrigerator, and three metal shelves that hold bins of toys for grandchildren, beans, rice, canned food, and all the kitchen tools that I don't want taking up prime real estate on my countertops (the electric griddle, Instant pot, waffle iron and such) and all the glasses and dishes I use for entertaining. It tends to collect clutter, and this time of year, wandering mice like to check the place out to see if it might be good winter digs. I like to make it seem inhospitable to them, so I spent several hours emptying every shelf, wiping down every single item, and vacuuming, mopping, and waxing the floor. I filled a huge bin with items to donate and threw away outdated food, broken items, and random junk that had found its way in there. Angel helped me at the end when I was running out of steam, and having her energy and input made everything seem more fun. Then we went out to enjoy some time on her paddleboard and my kayak to celebrate a job well done. While I was on the water, a Bald Eagle circled overhead, then dove into the lake for a fish not far from me. What a treat to see! 

I started this morning by pulling every significant piece of furniture away from any windows and taking down all of our curtains. The window washers were on the calendar for their annual visit, a much-anticipated fall event. The curtains all went for a spin in the washing machine, and I watched in awe as the team wiped away a year of pollen, dust, dirt, grime, and spider webs (SO many spider webs!) from the many (40?) windows. The quality of light changed as they worked, and it made me happy to know that as the days get shorter, we will at least have every bit of available light shining unfettered through the glass. This afternoon, I'll have the chore of re-hanging all the curtains, but I know everything will look so fresh and bright when that chore is completed. 

I bid farewell to summer and its guests, and greet autumn by polishing the brass and copper, cleaning and organizing, and getting ready for the cool, then cold days to come. 

                

Important things...

 There are some important "new" things finding places to settle here at FairWinds. These things belonged to my sister Diane, who died over twenty years ago, far too young. "Dicy" was a character and dearly loved by many. She had quirky, eclectic taste, and wherever she lived, her home was filled with wondrous objects, delightful to see. Last week, her partner contacted me and asked if I wanted a few of those things. She is selling the home they shared and had a few items to gift. She kindly dropped them off with Chris at work, filling his car with memories. 

Dicy had this horse as long as I can remember, and it looks fine on top of a cabinet in our living room. 

I'm pretty sure these are the skis my parents used to put outside by the front door in the winter, with some festive greens. They are tall, the wood smooth as glass, and the metal tag on them says "Gregg Mfg." There are tattered leather "binders" and rusty metal bits remaining, fragile with age. I'm not sure what I will do with these, but I'll find a fun spot for them. 

Dicy loved images of cherubs, and this little container found a place on my bedroom vanity table in an instant. 

How sweet is this little thumb back chair? 

It has not found its perfect spot just yet, but it will. 

There was a slim blue folder that contained some newspaper articles, pictures of Dicy, my other siblings, and some cousins, all tucked neatly in its pockets. I looked through it while sitting at my kitchen table, and was transported back to the home we grew up in. I could feel the nubby, scratchy fabric of the living room chairs and smell the scent of home. The sound of our childish voices echoing through the walls my father built sounded faintly in some dim corner of my mind. I had a little cry with my breakfast, then moved through my day, checking off my long "to-do" list and feeling the lingering melancholy of time gone by as I worked. 

We had been gifted an entire bushel (54 pounds) of tomatoes, along with onions as big as a baby's head, and a pile of peppers. 

Rachel brought the girls over, and they played underfoot while we worked quickly to core the fruit and toss in garlic, onion, sweet and hot peppers, and a few random zucchini that were lying around into our huge cooker. The house began to smell like a fine Italian restaurant as fragrant steam seeped from under the lid. It's a late-summer tradition, creating delicious sauce to store away and enjoy the taste of harvest season during the cold winter months. 

I puttered about, finding places for Dicy's treasures to roost, breathing in the delicious aromas. A wonderful cook in her own right, a creator of coziness and welcome, I believe she would have approved of my efforts. 

I know that the "things" that surround me in this place are dispensable in the end, but for today, they carry the weight of happy recollections and solace. They nurture my soul, similar to the way the simmering sauce will nurture my body when the cold winter winds blow.          

    

Autumn nesting...

 When you live in an old farmhouse in Maine, fall brings one certain thing. Mice. The wee rodents are no dummies. They know that frigid weather is approaching, and they seek a place to stay warm. I don't dislike mice in general, but I don't want them in my house. Still, I respect the fact that they want to have a cozy nest during the impending cold season. I do, too. 

Our firewood has been delivered and bales of hay are stacked up to see the goats through the winter. We are preparing for the change of seasons.

Although it is still technically summer, a noticeable change in the air is evident. This makes me switch from wanting to dig in the dirt and plant things to thinking about polishing copper and brass, setting out candles, and tossing warm lap blankets about.  It is not a conscious thing, because in reality, the weather is lovely and inviting, but some primal part of my brain wants to make my "nest" cozy. 

Earlier this summer I bought a vintage wooden table, cheap. I wanted a table in the corner of the kitchen, and I wanted it to be painted white. I looked for weeks and found several that had wood so pretty it would have been a crime to paint. Then I found this one... 

Painted black with stenciling around the edges. Those chairs were a kind gift from a friend who was moving. They are sturdy and comfortable, but the shiny cherry finish just didn't quite work in our house. I am a notoriously terrible painter, but I was determined to do a good job on the table. I asked for advice from people who knew better than me, and bought all the right products. I lightly sanded the table all over and used a primer to block out all that black paint. 

It was oppressively hot outside, so I put down a plastic cloth and worked inside with a fan blowing. I tried to do a nice, neat job. It isn't perfect, but I certainly made an effort. 

Those chairs, though. They looked challenging. I tried again to love them the way they were, but it wasn't working. I voiced my concern to my sweet niece, and she quipped, "I'll come paint them!" And she DID. She drove over two hours each way, and then sanded, primed, and oh so carefully painted them for me. What a GIFT! 

Since that niece likes steamed clams, we "paid" her for her epic efforts with a family supper that started out with a pile of "steamers." 

There was also lobster, hot rolls, fresh local corn on the cob, and other treats... but the clams elicited the biggest smile. I know I got the better end of the deal, but she did seem to enjoy our attempt at thanking her.

My sister is visiting this weekend and brought me a tablecloth she brought back from France, but never found a place for, and two matching pillows. They are perfect and really cozy the kitchen corner up. This project soothed a bit of my nesting urges.

Yesterday Deb and I checked out a few antique stores. In one, I was stopped still when I saw a lamp made from an old silver-plated teapot. It sported a pretty shade with some lacy trim. I've been wanting a small lamp to put on the kitchen counter, but needed something sturdy and just the right size. This one fit the bill, but the price tag was $70, which I deemed a bit steep. Still, I felt it belonged in our house. I tried to get Deb to dissuade me, but she was a bad influence, "You NEED that!" And I did. I plunked down the money, and I'm glad.

The transition from summer to fall coincides with fair season, and we visited the Windsor Fair with our daughter and her family. The littles liked seeing the cows, oxen, horses, and pigs. They also enjoyed being pushed around in their little wagon, eating fair food, and both experienced their first rides: a carousel and the spinning tea cups. The smallest one sobbed when she was hauled away from the carousel. I understand.  Change can be a challenge.

The days are a bit shorter, the air more crisp, and my soul knows the seasons are changing. It's the nesting time of year, for both me AND the mice.