Saturday, November 22, 2014

Bargain Lamps!

I must say, I have never been a big fan of lamps. They always seem to be on a table in front of a window, and I never understood why you would want to block the view.  Moving into an old home, there were no overhead lights or recessed lighting, which I love. We plan to have spotlights put up in the living room vaulted ceiling, but we needed to see in the dark until we get that done, so the big lamp hunt began! 

When in PA visiting family, I went to my mother's local equivalent of the Goodwill, and I must say it has some quality buys.  There are lamps galore at great prices, and not the ginger jar lamps you find at most thrift stores. A lot of them are antiques.  This ceramic/brass beauty was only $12.  I found the silk shade that fit it perfectly at my local Habitat for Humanity store for $10.  Total of $22 for such a beautiful lamp.  Can't beat that!


This smaller brass lamp was given to me by my aunt.

Another thrift shop find, etched glass with silver plated base, which I have on my nightstand and will match nicely with my mercury glass collection once I get my shelf up to place them on.  A T-Day project for Bob!

This one was a little more than I like to spend, a whopping $25, but I had in the back of my mind that if it didn't look right, I could sell it on Ebay.  Well, I can't part with it right now, just too pretty.


Not a fan of lamps, and never have been a fan of brass or gold tones, but this room screamed brass when I brought in some brass candlesticks that looked so good with the wallpaper.  This is a tall reading lamp for what will become Bob's library/reading room.  This was another find at my mom's local thrift store for $10. It is big and heavy and will look great once I find another bargain shade.

This is the antique wallpaper in the reading room.  It has a metallic background and the deep gold ferns are velvet.  It's a keeper!  I was looking for a place to get some candlesticks out of the way as you can see on top of the cupboard, and the brass just struck a chord.  Funny how things happen like that.  


One of my own lamps I got for a Christmas present a decade ago from Ethan Allen.  Looks antique, though.

This marble barley twist lamp was made by an artist in Virginia.  It was a pair, and a friend and I split the cost and each got a lamp.  The shade came from a favorite shop of handcrafted items in Atlanta. It's beeswax and wire. The lamp is being rewired.  Another T-Day project for Bob.  I think we're good with lamps for right now, but I will be looking for a few for My Tiny Farmhouse in the future.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Bob's 58th

A low-key birthday in Asheville


Crepes, French onion soup and Crepe  Suzette for lunch.  Bouchon reminded us of the French Quarter in New Orleans

For such a gloomy, cold day, street musicians were everywhere.  This violinist in particular was too good to be playing on the street for free



Never too cold for a Malamute



Friday, November 7, 2014

Winter Comes While I'm Gone





While away, Asheville got six inches of snow and the hills around the house were white.  The winds were ferocious, limbs everywhere, some fencing down.  Well, that happened again last night making it hard to sleep, even for the dogs.  My neighbor said this is the norm here, being in this valley with the winds coming down the mountains.  Not looking forward to winter is all I can say.  That's one question you don't ask your realtor, how are the winds? If it weren't for all the huge trees surrounding the house, it wouldn't bother me as much, but having had a tree come through a skylight into my kitchen in Georgia, I get nervous. I would have thought the opposite being in a valley, the mountains should shelter us from the winds.  We are in what's called a "thermal belt" and it's warmer down in the valley, so I guess I need to read up on why we get these winds.  Always something! 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Halloween in PA




Headed out last Wednesday to PA with a beautiful sunrise.

Leaves were the best I had ever seen, but trying to take photos while driving doesn't do it justice.




Picked up Phoebe and her pups and headed to Carlisle to meet the next transporter taking them to Newfoundland, PA. 


Caroline was an elephant.  There were 103 trick-or-treaters when the candy ran out.

My mom was a "nice" witch this year, I was a crow.

An older trick-or-treater.

Silhouettes in the neighbor's windows.

They do Halloween right in PA!  Everyone decorates.


My brother George and one of his creepy friends.



The grand finale!  I thought I was doing a video of the whole scary tour, but it didn't come out.  I think this was the best laugh I've had in a long time.  I hid behind my brother the whole way, especially when all the midget clowns came running at us.  Wish I had gotten that on film!  This was around the corner from my parent's house.  My brother has taken his kids here for 20 years and it gets more elaborate every year, they even had the streets blocked off.