~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
A very happy Feast Day to you all!
Yesterday here's what I did:
Since dear Annie (Rosie's sister-in-law, the girls' friend from high school, and our good friends' daughter) is really, really pregnant right now, she understandably has a little trouble doing her children's Music Together class with them, as it involves a lot of sitting on the floor, jumping, rolling around, and running!
She asked, oh so sweetly ("Only if you'd think it was fun!") if I would like to do the class with Ann and Jack. Why, yes! I would!
I would be {happy} to!
{funny and pretty}
Little Ann very seldom, in my experience, vouchsafes more than this wide-eyed look. She did smile twice during the class! But mostly, this is what you get:
She's seriously absorbed in whatever she is doing. She's a serious little girl, mostly on a mission.
{pretty}
In other news, I've been brainstorming about what to do about the curtains in the kitchen. It's been a problem, because the sliding door, which is oh so wonderful in the summer, can be a problem in the winter. It's just a big, black window into the dark coldness, you know?
And then there's the window next to it, that looks over the deck, but is recessed. That makes it cool in summer, and that is the picture I can find right now for a "before":
But see that radiator? In the winter, you want the storms in place and that window covered up, or the heat is just going to go right out!
I had gone the conventional route and put up a pinch-pleat drapery there -- a kind (not cheap) that was lined and was supposed to offer some insulation. The negatives were that a) I really hate them, not being a pinch-pleat, polyester kind of gal, and b) the one for the slider didn't actually completely satisfyingly reach to the edge of the door!
Which was a bummer, considering how very hard it is for me to commit to draperies of any kind, let alone ones that require two rods, pull cords, and those annoying pins that hold the pleats onto the little thingies that pull them across, almost all the way.
Well, last year, during the very severe snow/ice/ice dam/winter of freezingness, water poured through the top and bottom of the slider! It was a disaster! There is still damage on the molding that I have to repair. And the drapes were destroyed. Domage. Can't say I was too sad.
 |
| What you don't see: Water pouring in from the top of the door. This year I am going to personally shovel the deck with my two bare hands if necessary! |
In the summer we didn't need them, and this fall I had to think hard about what to do.
I hunted on the internets for a good solution to the rod issue. I tried copper pipe, as in I went a couple of places to find the right length, but in the end the guy in the plumbing section convinced me that copper pipe wouldn't be strong enough to hold up a quilt -- that it would bend.
So, electrical conduit pipe is cheaper! Way! And I don't mind how it looks at all. Some folks spray paint it, but I don't actually think that would work, since we slide the rings (they are those metal rings with the clips -- nice and strong!) a lot. I think the paint would just wear off.
Now I have to figure out what to do with the ends -- I need some funky finials! You know, this make-do look suits me better. You probably think I'm nuts, especially when I tell you that the curtain over the radiator is the old poly curtain (washed), repurposed as an insulating liner, with an old Irish linen tablecloth sewn onto it!
My curtain is an old tablecloth!
{real}
I'm not happy about the brackets, actually. They are too utilitarian, without having any real industrial-chic vibe to them. Don't tell the poor overworked Chief, who had to hold a firm line about putting them that close to the window frame (width-wise), due to stud issues/heaviness of the load, but if I think of something better, they're gone.
And, since this curtain is real linen, it's wrinkly! It was ironed, and starched! -- and then of course I wrestled with it to get it onto the other curtain, and now... it's wrinkled! And when do you suppose I'll get to ironing it? Hmmm???
*By the way, it's my friend Nancy Bell who teaches the Music Together class, and I honestly can't imagine a more enthusiastic, cheerful, and all-round kid-oriented musical person to do the job. If you are in the Leominster, Massachusetts, area and are interested in doing this fun activity (and I say that as a very un-activity-oriented kind of person), you should sign up now for the course that starts in January.
