Everything Including Half Of The Kitchen Sink

August 5, 2013August 5, 2013 / Ally Bean / 15 Comments

• I was testing my camera to make sure that it was still working after it had gotten dropped and knocked about a few times. For no reason whatsoever I took a few photos of the kitchen sink. So here you go:

HALF OF OUR KITCHEN SINK.

• Now that it is August I’ve decided to shift my posting schedule to afternoons. And to do more of the dreaded bullet. point. posts. And to just babble a bit more than usual. In other words, I’m going to take it easy in my real life and think that I will do the same thing here. No stories, just stream-of-consciousness.

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

• It is gorgeous outside today. Blue skies, white clouds, low humidity, happy birds, pretty flowers. This is what summer should look and feel like. I see that rain is in our forecast again [still], but I’m grooving on this beauty today for as long as it lasts. Sounds like a philosophy of life, doesn’t it? Maybe I could make a bumper sticker:

GROOVE ON THE PRETTY WHILE IT IS HERE.

• And with that piece of pithiness I’m going outside to do what I consider to be play; that is, I’m going outside to weed the garden. Yes, I’m a middle-aged, middle class, midwestern woman.

WHY DO YOU ASK?

I’m Beginning To Think That I Like Pink

June 18, 2013February 3, 2015 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

If you were to ask me if I liked pink, I’d tell you that I did not.

However, the other day when Greg, the landscaper, was here chatting with me about our next big project, he started talking about color. He was taking notes about my vague ideas about what I wanted him to do next in the flower beds out front along the sidewalk leading up to the front door.

• • •

He asked me what colors I wanted to see along there. I told him no pink.

Being the polite sort of man that he is, he merely raised one eyebrow and tilted his head in about five different directions. My eyes followed where he was subtly pointing.

And what did I see? Oh pots & pots of pink flowers and many pink rose bushes. All over the property. Uh huh.

• • •

After I stopped laughing at myself, I looked over at him. He said nothing but held up his pad of paper on which he’d written one word. In very large letters. And the word was: PINK. The color that we’ll be seeing along the front sidewalk.

The color that, apparently, I like.

Rambling Thoughts On A Spring Morning

May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

Another wet morning here. This Spring has been unusually rainy and not as warm as I’d like it to be. In fact, I have yet to wear capris, let alone shorts. Sandals, however, I have worn. They look kind of snazzy with jeans, so there’s that.

• • •

As you can imagine the rainy days have led to green, lush grass. Our yard looks great. The neighbors’ yards look great. The grass-filled concrete divider islands in the grocery parking look great. The side of the interstate looks great.

The whole world looks great… as long as you like this particular shade of green. From my point of view this green is getting a little too close to Pantone’s 2013 Color of the Year, Emerald Green. I don’t like Emerald Green, so you can see how, for me, this Spring is getting a little cloying.

• • •

To set my heart right I’ve taken to checking our pots of pansies more often than need be. The leaves are green, of course– but overall the pansies are a hodgepodge of purple and maroon and orange and blue. These colors make me happier/mellower/calmer than all that in-your-face green. I always feel more comfortable with variety than with sameness; and I guess, now that I think about it, that principle holds true for me in nature– as well as in decorating and people.

• • •

Well, that’s all I’ve got from here. Waiting for the sun to shine so that I can get outside to work in the garden. Wondering about where I should go to buy some new shorts. Thinking that it’s a very good thing that today is Friday, because I. am. tired.

Have a groovy weekend everyone. See you next week on the flip side.

Odds & Ends

April 30, 2013April 30, 2013 / Ally Bean / 27 Comments

:: We started putting together pots of flowers and herbs and vegetables this past weekend. The project turned out to be more difficult than I thought that it’d be. With our revised backyard [2 summers ago we added a lower level terrace at the back of the yard], we have fewer trees near the deck and more deer in the backyard. So I’m looking for sun-loving flowers that deer won’t eat. Not so many of those around.

Hence, the pot project has been postponed until next weekend when I hope that I will be more clear about what plants I want to put where. Hello Google. Time to research.

:: We like coffee cake. Once upon a time there was a product for sale in our grocery store called Aunt Jemima Easy Mix Coffee Cake. In the box there was a small cardboard baking pan. The dry coffee cake mix came with a small plastic bag that you could use, instead of a bowl, to mix the batter with water and an egg. Then there was a small packet of streusel topping. We liked this small coffee cake, but it is no longer available.

So, I decided to try Martha White Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake Mix instead. It isn’t as small nor as fun to make as the Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake, but the results were good. We’ll use it again, but with much less streusel topping on it. Oy vey! It was way too sweet for us.

That being as it may, Martha White has gifted us with a new family saying: all streusel, no cake. [Think “all foam, no beer” OR “all hat, no cattle.” That kind of saying.] Clearly, we are a simple people who are easily amused– or maybe it was the sugar talking.

:: Over the weekend our new loveseat arrived. We ordered it a few weeks ago from Arhaus, but because it was a standard style + fabric there was hardly any wait time before it got here. It is gorgeous and looks perfect in the living room– very grown-up, but not at all stuffy. Plus it’s a mid-century modern frame which I find comfortable to sit on.

Now, I need to get going and find a rug to put under it. It’s been over 3 years since I started this living room make-over, but I promise when it is complete I’ll post some before & after photos. Well, definitely the after photos. I don’t know if I have any before photos to share. Huh. Bad planning, that.

[Hello FTC! Blah, blah, blah. Not getting any kind of compensation for my personal opinions here. Blah, blah, blah. Disclaimer written. Blah, blah, blah.]