There are a lot of, how shall I put this, less than glamorous aspects of our current residence. Areas that I have been avoiding pointing my camera lens at for various reasons (as you will see). But the other day I realized that, when we move from this place we are renting, I would not want to forget these quirky things. Besides, there are other aspects of this house (townhouse actually) that are beautiful. So, I went around our house taking pictures of both the glamor and the quirks so I can preserve the memories of this place. Here is a tour of some of them. Here is the view from my bedroom window. This beautiful tree is growing next to our neighbor's house and is visible from both bedrooms and from the front deck. It must be more than four stories tall, and when the wind blows it sounds like a million sheets of paper fluttering in the breeze. Once Spring came, the birds started to land on the branches and whistle (or squawk) me awake in the morning. This chair is in our living room area. The fuzzy koala blanket (which my mom made for me years ago) is stuffed under the cushion to prevent head bumps. It doesn't exactly match the pillow or cushion cover (both of which I made), but it does the job. In the same room is a fireplace and hearth. We taped a piece of cardboard over the opening because Goen wanted to crawl inside. Unfortunately, he realized pretty quickly that duct tape is no match for his opposable thumbs. When we moved in, the hearth already had strips of safety foam around the edges and corners, but Goen decided they were perfect for chewing so we put a blanket over it. And then he discovered that he could pull the blanket off so we put pillows on top of the blanket. It's only a matter of time before he figures them out, too. The front deck outside our living room has views of trees and mountains. I try to focus on these rather than the buildings that surround us (which I cropped out). This plant was already here when we moved in and we decided to leave it. Goen likes to pull the leaves off, so it is a little worse for wear. Whoever built our place had an interesting sense of humor. Not only did they put a sliding door in the bathroom, but they made it the only way to get out onto the back deck. We had family visiting recently and almost burned a batch of chicken to a crisp because someone decided to use the bathroom in the middle of barbecuing. But I can't complain too much. Some of our neighbors in the same complex don't have any sort of backyard. Plus, it is a bit of a conversation piece and we show it to everybody that comes over to visit. Okay, so maybe we like it more than I let on. Here is part of "The Man's Kitchen." Okay, so it's just a couple of grills on the back deck, but my husband is usually the one to cook out there, hence the name. We got this infrared grill on closeout special for $88 and my husband had the brilliant idea to use terracotta planter pots as a stand. Unfortunately, now I can't use them for planting, but check out this post for what I did instead. This is the view walking up the stairs between the lower and upper levels. More beautiful greens and browns. The drapes are original 1970s, and there is a matching pendant lamp hanging just out of the shot. We almost never close the drapes so we can enjoy this wonderful view. Every time I walk up the stairs I pause a moment to admire the natural beauty and to check if there are any deer or birds outside. Oh, my! The kitchen. Although some things have been updated (such as the dishwasher we never use), most of the kitchen is vintage 1970s. The oven is a perfect example. We don't use it much since there is a newer oven and stovetop installed below it, but occasionally it comes in handy. In the meantime, we use it to store the pots and pans we don't want Goen to have access to. Over the sink is another perfectly placed window looking out onto the back deck. I can wash dishes and keep an eye on Goen playing outside and look at the plants on the hillside. Just ignore the pile of dishes (I know I do, but at least it is a pile of clean dishes). This picture was taken from our back deck. There is an ugly cinder block retaining wall, but above that is a hillside with lots of trees and bushes growing. Birds and squirrels call this scrap of nature home, so we get to enjoy watching them while sitting on our deck chairs. This is also a picture from our back deck. It's hard to tell, but those flattish areas that criss-cross the the picture are deer trails. When the weather is nice we often see does and fawns cruising through as they forage. I saw six up there a couple weeks ago and one of the fawns was running up and down the hill. It reminded me of my little runner. More recently I saw a couple stags hanging out together under a tree. Thanks for joining me on this little tour of our home. I feel so fortunate to be able to enjoy this space and the bits of nature around us. If you would like to share pictures of the cute and quirky spots in your home, feel free to link to them in your comments.
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Carley Biblin
Hi. My name is Carley. I love to sew, craft, and create. As a Jane-of all-crafts so to speak, I enjoy sewing, writing, cooking, drawing, photographing. But the constant thread (if you'll excuse the pun) throughout my weeks is needle arts. Archives
January 2017
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