Summer

My annual 'feeling sorry for myself 'cause I'm working today' post.

Images: Elle Decor, Living, Etc., Canadian House and Home

Weekend

Locust Valley, New York

Fall in Ohio

Upstate in autumn

We got out of the city for a few days with Tom's parents to enjoy the rain upstate. But even on dreary days, October is eye popping.

All of the sunny warm weather came after we were back in the city. Tuesday, Chinatown was like a homely girl captured in flattering light. The air was clear, the sun was bright, the vendors were giddy. Even the traffic cop was smiling.

Helloooo there

Cute, right?

Here she is one minute before staring into my bedroom window. Thank goodness we were decent.


Adorable little pest.

How to make a modern fountain

So sorry, folks. I was supposed to resolve the mystery of the origin of our outdoor fountain on Thursday but the annoying real world kept intruding.

So, here it is, two days late. Drum roll please.




Here is the fountain before. In its former life, it was a big fat country armoire.

Tom built me a larger version of this armoire for our first anniversary. We cut it down in size and stripped the green stain for our 10th anniversary. Around our 13th anniversary, Tom got a flat screen television of enormous proportions. Out of that transaction, I got a new media center, which he built for me.

As for the big fat country armoire, we could not sell it or even give it away since everybody else was buying flat-panel televisions of enormous size as well. So Tom used the wood and the basic structure to build a fountain.



Here's the backside of the fountain. It has a door on the bottom half.

Inside is the piping for the pump, which sits in the bottom tier of the fountain.

Tom coated the inside of each tier with roofing sealant and painted the outside with outdoor latex paint.

Neighborhood squirrels and birds treat it as their personal drinking fountain. It's really refreshing to sit by it (as I am now) and listen to the water flow.

The deck gets green

Last weekend we got two new pots for the deck, bringing us to saturation point for a balcony that is 16 feet long and 4 feet wide. The pots, a good deal from Home Depot, look like stone but are pure plastic and incredibly light.

Dabbling in some succulent rescue, I picked up an overgrown jade plant and cut off a bunch of its arms, which then languished in a tray for three weeks but did not die (this is called 'callusing'), which in my opinion makes succulents kind of creepy. That and the name. Succulent.

I stuck all of the bits and parts into one of the new pots. The mommy jade plant is already sprouting new arms. This may be my perfect plant - happiest when chopped up and denied water.

The white pot on the end is sown with arugula and micro greens. I don't know which are which and I don't have the heart to harvest the micros.

And here is our fountain, built by Tom. You'll never guess what it was in its former life.

In the mood for a hunting cabin

Like this one.

(The New York Times)

Before and After: From foam packing to outdoor ottoman

When it comes to DIYs, there's a fine line between hipster upcycler and trailer trash. I'm not sure where I fall with this one.

As you may have read earlier, Tom broke his foot, and I have been on the hunt for a soft outdoor ottoman that costs almost nothing that he could prop his cast on. Also, I'd prefer something I don't have to store all winter.

This week I came across a tailored skirted ottoman slipcover someone was tossing. I had no use whatsoever for a custom skirted ottoman slipcover, but I picked it up anyway. Later, I got the idea to somehow stuff it.

I found a big chunk of packing foam at work, which I cut down to size, squeezed the slipcover over it and pinned the traditional skirt up underneath. Voila! A light and disposable soft outdoor ottoman that cost me nothing but my pride.

When I brought it home, Tom laughed until he was wet around the eyes.

Soft spot for indoor/outdoor beanbags

Living Etc.

At first I thought the whole outdoor beanbag/ottoman thing was the dumbest idea ever - taking something shapeless and weird from indoors to outdoors where it will be shapeless and weird and dirty to boot. But now I wish I had such a soft squishy thing to lounge on out on our balcony. This could be because Tom broke his foot and keeps propping his chunk of a cast on our teetery teak table.


Here are a few outdoor ottomans I've been eyeing.




This is West Elm's, which runs about $140 online. At the local store, they are selling the covers for only $50. I've stopped by three times to look at the gray ikat cover. Unfortunately, this ottoman is about as wide as our balcony. If I brought it home, something would have to go in our outdoor space - like me.
Then there's the Alseda stool for only $30. It's for "sheltered" patio use, which translates that it will survive one summer in your living room. If, like me, you can't remember Swedish product names, just type 'banana' in the search bar. (The ottoman is made from banana leaves.)

Tom's squirrelfriend

She stops by twice a day now and has expanded her menu to pepitas.

Such a lady-like pose.

Bench gets a shrub hug

Soft on lettuce

I bought three mini-packs of lettuce and mustard at the farmer's market and after only two weeks, everything got huge. Now I can't bring myself to cut it because it's so pretty.

I grew up where people shoot their ailing animals, and now I'm so urbanized I can't snip veggies.

Had no problem putting down the dill, though.

Brooklyn outdoor space inspiration

After days of chilly weather and rain, it's finally warming up again. I may be prejudice, but I think I live in an unusually pretty neighborhood. The windowboxes alone are worth stopping and staring at. The courtyard garden photos are via Cynthia Gillis Landscapes & Gardens.

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