and I smell lemony fresh!
Lemon Balm on my deck
A colleague at work regularly shares her amazing plants each spring with the office. This year my favorite acquisition is the Lemon Balm. Not only can you cook with it, it also keeps the mosquitoes at bay, as do most lemon scented plants.
To ward off the summer ‘skeeters, you rub the leaves of the Lemon Balm plant on your arms and legs. Its nature’s own repellent and perfume!
The living room - before, starring Lexi Bobbles as Vanna White
Our living room has long vexed me on the proper layout, (its 12′ wide by 19.5′ long) and I’ll admit while snowed in this past February I got pretty caught up in the whole white slipcover, sea grass rugs, and Belgian décor scene. Joni from Cote de Texas has long been one of my favorite blogs, so it seemed only natural I lean in that direction with redecorating our living room. I really do love all those neutrals, but honestly, I’m a color-aholic at heart. Looking back at this picture, it seems I was already toying with neutrals – the walls, the loveseat and even the slipper chairs were neutral and yeah, blah.
Benjamin Moore's Golden Delicious (390) paint strip
I could not possibly imagine where I ended up color wise or even design wise. To find the perfect color for the living rooms walls, I began a multi-trip adventure to Home Depot, Lowes, Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore dealers. I purchased no less than 10 – 15 sample paint cans and proceeded to paint wide swaths of various shades of greenish and gold cubes around the room. This occurred over the course of several weeks and it was not a pretty sight. I also did not invite any friends or family over during this time, because frankly, it seemed as if a cubist graffiti artist had taken up residence. This cubism did enable me to finally find the right color for the living room by viewing all the colors on the walls at different times of day, and in varying lighting. I am pleased to report my final selection was: Benjamin Moore’s Golden Delicious (390). Its a VERY bright yellow green, almost an acid green. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But it is. The ceiling was painted at 50% strength of the walls, which is Cypress Grove (388).
Tim & I had this yummy drink when we were in New Orleans for Halloween this year. The name sounds disgusting, but oh boy was it amazing! This is the Bourbon House restaurant’s signature drink.
Enjoy!
4C Milk
1C Bourbon
¼C Vanilla Extract
¼C Simple Syrup
1pt Vanilla Ice Cream
Dash ea Nutmeg
Combine all ingredients & blend for 8 seconds.
Garnish with nutmeg.
Yield: 1.5 Quarts
Sunday, I took Lexi and Leeloo for a walk through the neighborhood, and usually they meet up with all sorts of dogs. One in particular, a Shiba Inu, is always behind a wrought iron fence. Normally she and Lexi sniff each other’s face, Lexi whimpers her sadness at not being able to play with the other dog and we move on. This time Shiba Inu sticks her face through the fence, and time bites Lexi on the nose. There was much growling by the Shiba Inu, and then yelping and crying by Lexi. Thankfully, I was able to pull Lexi away from the dog, but she sustained bite damage that bled a little, but quit about a block later. Turns out Lexi’s a pretty stoic little pup.
I’m happy to report that Lexi’s fine, the vet gave her antibiotics and pain killers, I was very lucky to find a vet near me. So what’s so schadenfreude here? Not the whole biting incident, rather the text messages TF sent me on the way back from the vet, while I was in a meeting at Commerce. They are as follows:
TF: Went to the vet. On my way home with pups. Not happy outcome for Lexi. Lots of meds and $240 vet bill.
Me: Aww, poor puppy, is she going to be ok?
Schadenfreude #1
TF: Yes, she’ll be fine…. OMFG! Bobbles* puked in the front seat…and of course up came a giant gushy turd all in the upholstery and the carpet. =[
Ok, so I’m in this meeting, and its all I can do to contain myself. I have to put a hand over my mouth not to laugh out loud. * Bobbles is one of our nicknames for Lexi.
Then, a little while later: Schadenfreude #2
TF: I’ve been cleaning the truck for the last half hour and almost puked from the revolting stench! Bobbles is fine, quietly resting in her crate.
Me: OMG! I am so sorry
Restraining myself was not easy and then along comes Schadenfreude #3
TF: Cha, me, too. I’ve been waiting here at home for the truck to air out. Its too disgusting to sit in, even after I cleaned it all up. Gotta get some food now, even though my stomach is still a bit queasy…
He still wants to eat? Oy!
This year we’ve done a few things to the house – most notably the downstairs bathroom floor was tiled after the puppies so graciously ripped up the linoleum floor. Can you believe this was done in about 5 minutes?
Tim did an uber fast and most excellent job replacing the ugly floor with lovely new black and white ceramic mini-tiles. We were expecting company for Inauguration weekend, so the heat was on to get this floor completed, and he did, with like a day to spare before our company arrived. The joke was on us, as our guests ended up in a swanky hotel downtown, instead of in our den. We decided that maybe a den is not that inviting so we made another huge renovation decision as we waved goodbye to our guests after they got their directtv installation in fresno.
The much longed for, dreamed of and prayed for driveway was poured in January. Almost a perfect situation, except a neighbor walked on the concrete before it was fully set and left us with some foot indents. The paving crew filled the foot prints in with mortar, but its not quite right. It is still better than parking on the street, or worse the clay mudpit. Don’t even get me started on the caked on clay I used to have all over my shoes.
Next up? I’m hoping for a 2-in-1 project:
How does this work out to a 2-in-1 project? Well, the stairwell is part of the refrigerator cubby that needs to be enlarged and redrywalled and finished. So we might as well do it all at once. This time, however, we are actually thinking of hiring someone to do all or part of the work.
TF and I have been sleep deprived these last few weeks because the puppies have taken to sleeping with us. Besides the whole problem with dominance this brings up, the girls have developed some mighty bad habits for ones so young.
First of all, they’re bed hogs. We have a king sized bed; together, they don’t weight more than your average five year old. And yet, TF and I seem to be pushed to share what amounts to less than the space of a twin bed.
One of my favorites is the “There’s someone out there, lurking” wake up call that occurs between 1:30 and 5:00 am. The girls begin barking and making a general ruckus until the entire household is wide awake. According to Leeloo and Lexi, we had a lurker four times last week.
Shortly after I’ve fallen asleep, Lexi moves to her favorite position: on top of my legs. Ever had a 30 lb. dog lay on your legs? Heavy, can’t move? Uh huh. Then, at first light, Lexi migrates to sit on TF’s pillow, alternately starring out the window, and pawing him. Leeloo on the other hand is a burrower/snuggler/snorer, which comes with its own set of complications.
We’ve begun kicking them out of our bed and making them sleep in their own beds, on the floor next to us. Stay tuned for the trials I’m sure we’ll experience in getting them out of our beds and attemptng to get a full night’s sleep.
Hey Y'all, I'm Carollynn and this blog is about creating my personal design gumbo.
You'll find a little bit of this, and a little bit of that as I make my way through interior design ideas, yummy recipes, stories about my two Grrr Girls and the flotsam and jetsam stuff that makes up a life.
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