hark!

Rose Windows

♪adorn by miles and years

like paths carved in faces by tears

the sun in rear windows

and 60 while the wind blows♪

I was listening to one of my favorite local independent radio station programs, The Space Parlour, and heard this band doing a live in studio set.  Heavenly Days was the first song, instant love. Folk, indie, psychedelic. Eclectic ensemble of musicians and influence.

The Space Parlour presents an eccentric combination of art rock, psychedelia, folk, new wave and other inventive alternative sounds, with an additional focus on B-sides, rarities and live recordings. It's parlour music, space music and everything in between.

This perfectness, Rabia, has that low haunted voice. 

♪he sang this song to young olive eyes
and took her hand across the burning sands
from desert plains they moved, so young so wild and alive
they were raised to believe the sea would dry before they died♪

a stunning Botticelli angel.

I had a creepy movie fest for Friday the 13th, and today Picnic at Hanging Rock needs to be watched. It always makes me feel funny.

It's in the 60's and sunny, time for the hammock and that Jane Austen book I've been meaning to read. Last night it was actually cold sleeping with the windows open and I snuggled up in a blankie burrito. Hooray for fall!

all the pretty flowers..

“We are like roses that have never bothered to bloom when we should have bloomed and it is as if the sun has become disgusted with waiting”

    ―  Bukowski

August already?

This spring and summer has seriously flown by, and produced some of the prettiest flowers I've seen in a long time! I'm thinking it's the milder heat, last summer was such a scorcher they even canceled fireworks because all of the grass was so dry.
 Here is a collection of some favorites this season, most are from my yard!

Luke's grandfather recently left him this old butcher block table that he made himself, along with some pretty gnarly antique butcher knives. The cleaver is horror movie material.

 Ferdinand, my vintage bull cookie jar, made his home amongst the flowers for a while.

We have rows of red orange tulips(pecan/maple syrup scented) in the front of our house, one of my favorite flowers. They always remind me of my grandpa O'Malley's old stone farm cottage. The smell is the most memorable part. I love things that can take me back to a moment in time. I think photographs and sensory memory are the closest to time travel I can get.

I can't believe how old Z's getting, we think she's around 10!

Another favorite, peonies!
The first time I saw a real life peony was in Portland, Oregon a few years ago. We visited the Chinese gardens at the very best time, peony fest! I was surrounded by so many different varieties and perfect specimens, heavenly. I took a million photos to remember but I knew I had to grow some for myself.
 (I'll never forget the pale purple roses at the international rose test garden either)
After being re rooted for a move and spending a few years reestablishing itself this is the very first year my plant's had more than one bloom.
 They were amazing!

Lumen is the most curious cat! 

Pretty purslane, it's edible too!

The multiple never ending blooms of irises and gladiolus amaze me.

I've been concentrating on the kitchen reno mostly, doing the things I've been putting off. There were a few days that I stayed up all night knocking four inches of unsalvageable masonry off one of the walls, exposing some pretty perfect old brick! These walls are triple brick, it's pretty interesting to see the inner workings..how does all of this stay together?!
It's a collection over 10 years in the making, finally getting a proper display! These are progress photos, I'm working out what I want where. I still need to finish and seal the exposed brick. And a million other little things, but it's coming together!

  I always slow down a bit when it gets really hot and it puts me a little behind in general. I can't complain though because my favorite season is just around the corner. I love when the weather cools down. We live in a 150+ yr old historic home with no central heat or air! In the Midwest. Only a few window units to get us through while we're renovating. It actually hasn't been unbearably hot this year, no 100 degree days lasting all week this time around! Yet. I'm working in the studio now trying to fix my broken fan..this old house.

Happy Wednesday!

hark!

♪Fit it all, fit it in the doldrums

Or so the story goes

Color the era

Film it as historical♪
lump sum

It's a Bon Iver, earl grey tea kind of weekend.

My couch/cuddling areas have been looking particularly cozy.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

pattern play

Fave floral ever- this perfect vintage fabric caught my eye a few years ago "unusual daphne" Nothing could go more perfect with the couch's unique shade of green.

chartreuse crushed velvet

I can't resist that tail and those little mitts.

Hope you had a great weekend!



comfort

Lately..

making & eating yummy food(too much!)

french onion soup

lots of lattes

filled donut holes (nutella and rasberry jam!)

poached egg & potatoes/onions

Cinnamon sugar pull apart bread 

Aaand I need to get back into an exercise routine. I was doing really good walking but now that it's freezing out I'm thinking yoga, inside my bedroom..where it's warm. What do you guys do to stay fit in the dead of winter, besides the gym? I loathe it.

a little lazy..

winter warmth

cozy candles blazing

more snow today!

I've been taking tons of photos on my new phone and going instagram crazy..

Follow me! dearwinsome

Feeling a little lonely haha

Hope you're having a great week!

fresh

the world isn't in your books and maps...

it's out there

Luke and I had two glorious consecutive days off this week. We didn't make any plans, just adventured. Which meant walking to Main St. to explore our favorite dusty thrift shop and lugging a bunch of stuff back home. Should have thought about that part haha. The weather was incredible, sunny and 60! Love when that happens. Isn't it the worst when it rains on your day off, and all you want to do is go outside? The next day was gloomy and rainy so we had Mexican and margaritas and slipped into our historic 'Lincoln' theater for an early afternoon Hobbit fest. Popcorn with real butter, strawberry Twizzlers too! He's a Sno-Caps kinda guy. We read the entire book out loud before bed a few years ago(Luke's idea) so we were excited to see it. In line I realized we were surrounded by the white haired crew..and told him," This is it, we're officially old people" haha

fresh tech

We've been using Luke's Christmas present daily, this little Mr. Coffee espresso machine is just right..and a steal for under 40! mmm foam.

He surprised me after the holidays with a record player I've been mentioning for the longest..his dad's 1970's setup was always on the fritz, and never played my thrifted records. This one is the perfect teal, and converts my tunes to mp3's..love it so far! He's pretty great too, and lets me sleep in and wake up to the smell of lattes and cinnamon rolls.

 it folds up..fits right in with my vintage blue suitcase collection

bar cart 

Finally got a smartphone, I've been waiting forever! Fairly certain that I'm the last one on the planet to join the cool crowd. I don't know what to do with myself, new technology! haha I was really sad without an instagram, and a good cell camera. 

Caved and got hulu plus. We're totally caught up on Parks and Rec and I've already made my way through New Girl,Merlin,Portlandia,Once Upon a Time..working on Downton Abbey now. I 've been missing all of my favorites, I need my stories! We used to love watching masterpiece classics on PBS every Sunday. I'm horrible at watching shows in real time.They have a bunch of criterion classics too, and french new wave.

Let's just say I've been watching a lot..but I always have my hands busy working on a project. And I've got plenty.

I was pondering what my New Year's goals should be, I always set them too lofty. Thinking simple this year..

Peter LaFleur: I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed. And I got to tell you it feels phenomenal.

-dodgeball(haha)

Like keep plants alive.

This orchid is my pride and joy right now. Even my succulents and ivy have shriveled up into pitiful little things. Yes, succulents. The plants that can't be killed. haha

This beauty has been alive for a few months now, and has even bloomed more flowers. That never happens.
'Grow where you are planted'

My mantra right now.

We're learning how to crochet together, I need help. I always pick up hobbies and get frustrated and forget them. He's just better at stuff like this.

Someone was over recently and said "It's like going down the rabbit hole when I come to your house,  You're usually in some weird outfit,with the hair..you're sort of ordinary today" haha! That's about right.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

hark!

 ♪When we were young, Oh Oh we did enough

When it got cold Oo Oo we bundled up
I can't be told Ah Ah it can't be done♪

stubborn love

There's a certain kind of music I love this time of year..wintry?  Like what I would listen to if I was holed up in a rustic log cabin, bundled up in flannel and wool, fire blazing.
The Lumineers radio is doing it for me right now..Iron and Wine, Mumford and Sons, Death Cab.
Cozy music.

We stayed in a mountain top cabin in the deep Tennessee woods a few years ago with friends. Playing hide and seek(still love it!) visiting flea markets and diners. If you ever want to test your trust in a friend let them drive you down a narrow winding strip of a road in the mountains in winter. At night.

Yeah.

The huge deck overlooked the smokey mountains, breathtaking.
 One of my favorite memories is being out there with Luke, the snow and wind swirling around us. Trees for miles.

A great thing about living in a historic district are the massive old trees, snow covered boughs are one of my favorites.

It's turned into a winter wonderland around here.

red cedar

Tree of Life

I have a soft spot for pine trees, we had a giant one at my house growing up that I loved. The perfect kind of climbing tree, even spaced rungs that I could reach from the ground going all the way up to the sky.
I want to take a drive out there and see if the land looks anything like I remember. They tore down the old farmhouse but those big trees might still stand.
They're resilient.

( Fruit trees and wild mulberries grew on the forest floodplain and crawfish(crawdads) and cattail reeds in the marsh meadow )

Isn't it amazing how you can vividly remember details like sitting in the crook of a giant cigar tree(catalpa speciosa) and the smell of a baby bird..or the perfect blue of that first tiny fallen robin's egg you find. I love that. The human mind is a fascinating thing.

black walnut

There really is something about that fluffy falling snow..everything is illuminated.
The skyline looks like an old daguerreotype. Hazy and grey. It seems so eerie, all you can hear is the sound of the snow.
And Copper. haha

I'm trying to keep my mind off of the horrible cold/flu I've acquired.
The best laid plans..
I swear it never fails that I fall ill on some major holiday.
 Being sick is the worst.
I'll be here on the couch continuing The Twilight Zone marathon.


Happy New Year!

update:

The land where I grew up still looks the same, nature has reclaimed even more. Everyone had to move when the waters rose. I took a virtual tour (can't believe that's a thing.)

(I miss the elegant snowy egrets that would glide gracefully over the shallow waters)

still here

festive

♪It's that time of year

When the world falls in love

Every song you hear

Seems to say

Merry Christmas

May your New Year dreams come true♪

frosted windowpanes

My heart is stuffed with  marshmallows and tinsel..it's full haha

of cheer?

I said I was making up for the year without Christmas..

 Merrymaking mission accomplished.

 These little vintage Santa fellas have been part of Christmas my whole life..it was pretty horrifying to watch the same one burn/melt off in the tree scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation..no joke. I had to rewind to see it again! haha
It's tradition to watch it every year..
I'm into cheeky comedies.
Edward Scissorhands, muppets(family Christmas), and Elf make me happy too.

Traditional primary Christmas colors make me feel all nostalgic, grandma Betty used to stuff our presents in a cream burlap "santa sack" every year. She made it so much fun.

 

We had a pretty amazing Holiday!

and ate a lot..

Christmas Confections

iced wintermint cake

I spent the days leading up listening to my favorite classic songs and being

a mad scientist in the kitchen baking/making giftable treats.

I've been making these vanilla marshmallows for a few years now, I use a Martha/Ina method combo..they come out perfect every time. Even without the stand mixer I'm dying for..15 min by hand haha. My first time making a big batch!

So amazing melting in hot cocoa..

I always dab any leftover lid vanilla on my wrist per my baking days with Betty.. the house and I smelled amazing.

Apple Pie infused whiskey

Betty Jo's Fudge

 went ham on the cooking section at the store,

had to have silver sugar pearls!

scallops and snowflakes

Scored these perfect little boxes on sale! Last minute shopping is awesome sometimes. 

Packed full with:

caramel/nutella fudge

walnut-chocolate cookies

gingerbread

vanilla marshmallows

caramel apple cloud

breakfast/brunch

and last minute present wrapping

Went the classic wrapping route- plaid paper tied up with black string and simple white tags.

We're tuckered out. Luke thinks he pulled something wrapping presents..probably haha

We recovered with movies and Chinese food..don't all good Christmas stories end with laughter and Chinese food?

Hope you had a Happy Holiday!