Nicole, I am so glad you are with us! I love you dearly too.
I think it has reached the point of Winter where I am done. I want more light, I want warm, I want to change my entire house around and have it in ORDER from bottom to top. I cleaned out the basement this morning. (no small feat, kind of proud of that one) I am going thru cupboards and getting ride of, well, CRAP is the word I am looking for.
I want to be in my Spooky House and see new things. I want to move all my art around, something you should always do once or twice a year, you learn so much seeing it in new places. I was space, and change.
To that end, I decided to switch my Romance Room and Dinning Room. The Romance Room is lovely, but it just sort of SITS there, I am not IN it much, or enjoying all of its lovely Romantic Things. I want to look up from my Sunroom, where I work mostly, and see my new Kelli Bickman Art, I want to come in every evening, or down in the morning and be a little surprised that it is all different.
I want to mess with my little Leopards brains. They need shaking up too. I watch them, and listen to them, and they are also tired of IN and dark.
I have decided that the Piano and the Organ are in the exactly perfect place, and there is no need to move them. (wise move on my part, if I am going to talk anyone into HELPING me make this switch.) The bathtub may have to move. (Who HAS this problem in a dinning room???) The Coffee Table Fish Tank will move and be newly re-stocked with BIG fish. Magic will get a Scream Door on his room, so he can look out and see things, in hopes that eventually, he will be able to come out and be with us.
These are all Before Pictures. The Big Move will not happen for another couple of weeks. These things need to be Planned for. The couches in the Sunroom are going, I will have a new Couch that turns easily into a bed, so I can sleep downstairs when I like. And I'd like a proper desk in there too, so I can sit up straight when I type, as opposed to a computer on a coffee table, sitting on a couch.
I want my corners cleaned out, I want things to shine, I want to sweep away all the spiderwebs (ok, maybe not those, kind of like those) but I want NEW, light, and perfection.
I want to open Windows, both in me, and in my Spooky House.
I want Spring to be here.
Love and Change,
Lorraine
That's great for Paul and Nicole. Yes, I suppose spring must be coming - Boss and AFP, Paul and Nicole ...
ReplyDeleteYes, thoughts of eventual spring leading to the urge to rearrange and organize and move.
ReplyDeleteI'm suffering the same malady, complicated by living with a disorganized slob. There's too much stuff in the house, and none of it is put away. It stresses me out, but so does fighting about it.
Oh yes. I got bored and rearranged my bedroom a few weeks ago - and have put up / moved a few pictures and you are right, you do see new things.
ReplyDeleteNext on my list is to go through the big heaps of books and see whether there are any I can bear to re-home, to make space.
(And so happy to hear about Paul & Nicole, too!)
Can't wait to see the finished rooms! And yeah, it should be spring by now, need more light!!
ReplyDeleteGreat about Paul and Nicole. The whole sequence must have been something to behold!
ReplyDeleteSpring cleaning already or cabin fever? How nice to move things around. I am delighted to hear about the scream door for Magic. He's very curious so will be lighted to see things on the other side.
For those not on Twitter here is the sweet moment for all to see!
ReplyDeleteAs part of the "hopy changy" crowd I am all in favor of these changes and plan to make some soon in my home as well. Nothing like the hope of spring to make those of us in the frozen lands want to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again!"
OPPS! I have to actually put in the link, not just think about it!
ReplyDeletePaul on one knee for all the world to see!
It is my birthday on the 15th as well!!
ReplyDeleteI too have been yearning for spring and doing a bit of cleaning. Great minds and all that.
Huggers, Marty
My mum is going through the same thing. At her direction, my dad and I have rearranged the secrets trunks at least three times today. Cabin fever in a secrets-closet is not a pretty thing.
ReplyDeleteAleta, I thought maybe you were pioneering the psychic link, there, and that we all had to focus very hard & read your mind...
ReplyDeleteThe rearrange and refurbish bug is strong here too. After rearranging my cubicle at work, I feel the urge to do the same at home.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, much of what I want to do involves buying stuff. Which I can't do right now. I need *at least* two more bookcases, for example. That would still leave a lot of books in boxes. I feel as if I have yet to have a grown-up living space. It all looks so temporary and incoherent.
And of course, there's the free time factor. I should be writing minutes right now, not mentally rearranging and redecorating.
Blech, blah, and bbppppt.
I've been on the re-organizing thing, too. Had new shelves put in the plain vanilla closet in my sewing room and now have what looks to be about two weeks worth of re-folding fabric to fit.
ReplyDeleteI have to keep something heavy in front of the non-closing closet door so the kitties don't do any more climbing on the shelves. I went in yesterday and found half the first batch of fabric on the floor along with some boxes from the existing top shelves. Peaches! I would have liked to see her trying to get a grip on those wire shelves, though. Judging from the mess, she had quite a time of it.
Get the table thru the door with the piano and organ there?????
ReplyDeleteWay to harsh on my beautiful plan, Jess.
I thought the idea was to move the furniture in the dining room into the romance room and the other way around (except for the music making thingies)?
ReplyDeleteI'm responding more to the themes going on in twitter today, but wanted to keep this in our space. (Yes, I know it's still the open web, but it is mostly fiends that see anything here.)
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, today is a craptacular day for many of us. And the old 70s "You are loved" buttons don't always make much difference in our moods.
But it's also getting to be close to a year ago that I discovered this place. So it's a good day to say, you have all made a huge difference in my life this past year. So thank you, Lorraine and all the Fiends. I love you.
No no. The small bathroom cabinet is in the dining room. Magic's room leads to the romance room. and on to the scream porch that is on the left side of the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteWell said, OSS!
ReplyDeleteI cane here, and found my tribe, and I think that that is at least as important (and maybe more lasting) than romance.
Re: furniture - if you turn the table on it's side it'll make it easier to go round corners/into the roance room, won't it?
Nathilie is right, small bathroom off the dinning room, Magics room off the Romance Room. Magic has a window to his Scream Porch, but I want a Scream Door on his room, to the Romance Room, so he has another room to look into...I take OFF the old wooden door...
ReplyDeleteTable will fucking fit thru. I will not be thwarted!
And here's me, sitting watching the wind blow the yet another 3 - 4" of snow around (in the sunshine, at least) and not planning on moving or cleaning anything.
ReplyDeleteBah, I say to your spring/cabin fever. It will never be spring. We will all die in our homes under mountains of snow. Bwahahahaha.
The aforementioned thoughts will be banished after I finish the double chocolate torte I brought home from lunch. Tra La on Valentine's Day.
Ya'll can hate me if you like but I not only took the cake Judy baked for me over to Mads and Holly and told them to eat it for me, but I shopped and filled the house with healthy food.
ReplyDeleteAND cleaned the basement this morning. AND cleaned out the butlers pantry cupboards, while my healthy meal was cooking.
Now I am going riding. Pics of Dim in his new Blankie tonight. If it FITS.
Wow. That is impressive, Lorraine (especially the bit about cleaning the basement).
ReplyDeleteWhy would we hate you? We're cheering you on!
ReplyDeleteI can't keep up without a detailed floor plan, methinks. Me also thinks it's not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteI lurve you guys, too. Best group ever.
(Don't tell my Pratchett friends, pls)
That rearranging desire must be in the air somehow. I took down the Christmas tree last week and completely rearranged that room, to the extent of moving furniture to/from other rooms. REALLY wanted a change in the house.
ReplyDeleteToday I started on the pottery. I have a big collection and it's all over the place. Nicely arranged? Some yes and some no. And I get tired of seeing it all in the same place. So it's all going on the floor in one spot so I can see what should go, what I should pack away and what can stay.
And then I realized I need to do something with all the framed photos, so they're going in a pile together. So I got a good start, felt overwhelmed and had to show up here. We'll see if I can get through it all.
OSS, you found this place very soon after I found it. I remember when you showed up here and you asked some of the questions I had (but was afraid to ask). And here we both are, still.
Well..One walks in thru the front door, into the dinning room. To the left, is the Romance room, which has a bedroom off it for Magic.
ReplyDeleteIn the dinning room is a bathroom, small one, and if you go straight on, you get to the Butlers Pantry, which leads to the Kitchen, which has two doors to two different Scream Porches.
Magic has a window that goes to his Scream porch, he goes in and out thru that.
Everything in the Romance room is moving to the dinning room, and vis versa. This will certainly change the look of things.
I am off for a ride really truly NOW!
Jess, that's so frustrating... You have professional skills, and using them for this would take time away from paying projects (or really important things, like sleep). He needs to realize that.
ReplyDeleteA pox on this entire day.
I love the new bathroom! It is so much less :pink:. Great wainscoting, great tub. (Awesome tun & skellies in the DR too).
ReplyDeleteJess, sometimes you just have to let parents sulk. I had to hang up on my mom a -lot-, and not "BANG" in a rage before she started to listen a bit.
But ((hugs)) to all who need it.
I have started a bit of rearranging, have plans to paint and do some decorative tilework on the monstrous old built-in. It's either that or taking a sledge hammer to it. That could be fun too.
I, in my own mad way am PLANTING STUFF.
I have flats of perennials that I rescued from a little garden center in Nvember and have over-wintered and I built a cold/hot frame outside the house. I will be planting spinach and chard in it in the next week. The hay bales that make up the sides and the über-cheap dogfood under the soil produce heat as they decompose. I -will- have greens!
muahahahahaha [/mad scientist laugh]
Lovely *smooches* and awwwwws to Paul and Nicole.
And I want you to come to my house and do the same!
ReplyDeleteKitty has started to pee. :( I think it's because I accidentally shut her up in the closet for 9 hours. I'm at the local coffee shop burying my sorrows in raspberry iced tea and Bleeding Hearts Pie. Which is very, very good and involves strawberries, cherries, chocolate, and maybe rhubarb.
ReplyDeleteHello my tribe.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is a time of the year, rather than seasonal thing because my fingers have been itching for a total rearrange and throw out here too. Maybe its a well past festive season thing?
(((Jess)))) my parents regularly sulk. Can't always do what they think you should.
Looking forward to Dim in new blankie photos.
tickity
ReplyDeletei'm not re-arranging, but i am going to try and do laundry.
i think your plans sound like fun.
Sally you may be right about it being this time of year - I've been slowly but steadily chucking out the accumulated dreck of about 10 years. Which is no mean feat for a rampant hoarder! (Hmm...either my anxiety levels have dropped or I just go sick of living amidst all that crap.)
ReplyDeleteBeez mad gardener indeed!
ReplyDeleteNo pics of Dim in his new Blankie, snow came, and he had already worked so I froze putting it on him in his pasture. Tomorrow tho, I am working him, and will do pics then.
I am loving this Mogul Skiing bit , where they go over all the bumps, then FLIP then bump and flip some more. May have to try that next year...
Don't LET them Jess. I find that if you make them take you on your terms, they will.
ReplyDeleteIt's like Xmas and all that darn gift giving thing. You don't HAVE to just because it is expected.
I'm pretty extreeme about "family" tho. Don't feel like they get a say in things. About how I feel or live my life.
Aw big Congrats to Paul and Nicole!
ReplyDeleteHeh. I'd love to reorganize my apartment because it desperately needs it..still need to get rid of old computer and de-assemble the desk and put it downstairs in storage. However, school is wearing me out to the point that once I complete an assignment I tend to collapse in a heap...'s fun though! Definitely tired of the cold and the snow and the winter. Thinking about buying some seeds and trying to grow some stuff indoors. Are there cat-safe edible things I can grow indoors?
So sorry to hear about your great aunt Vampi. *hugs*
Fluffy, why is it that cats can NOT resist the lure of fabric? Even when it's just flat cotton they gotta lay on it. SO maddening.
And *hugs* for the poor stressed Jess too...Irish coffee is a wonderful thing innit?
So Q, Dim's new blankie is a "keep warm" blankie? I'm assuming you don't have him trimmed like some crazy people here do in the wintertime. It's COLD, they need that nice warm underlayer of fur.
ReplyDelete(Can you tell I'm having bad horse withdrawals;)
Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteDim isn't shaved, only indoor horses are. His Blankie is for keeping warm, and a very nice one it is!
ReplyDeleteGrow catnip indoors, hours of entertainment.
Killer Mens Mogul!!! Love this sport!!
(Am starting to slow down, just talked myself out of re-arrangeing the Forest Bedroom when I changed the sheets. One thing at a time.)
Fiends is teh best Valentines, every day of the year! I <3 you all...:)
ReplyDeleteBeez--you are an inspiration, for sure!!
Mum and I are also deep within the throes (?) of a spring cleaning attack. Even though there will surely be more winter before tis over, today the temps got up to seventy (in the sun and protected from wind.)
Plus I am road-tripping out to Cali over spring-break w/fellow students and one of the coolest canines ever....we are going to rescue my possessions left in Monterey from durance vile. So...spring cleaning, more unpacking and some rearranging of furniture is necessary before then to make room for the incoming stuff.
Dogfood. huh. Wait til I tell my mother that one. :)
You may be over rating my skills here, Jess. I am not sure I have that much talent.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Arrange, change, re-do" method. I am not sure my vision is solid on this yet. It may suck. It will be odd.
Perhaps all of your larger items might be put on little casters, Lorraine? (with brakes, of course, to hold them firm in place when not being moved.)
ReplyDeleteThat way you can switch them around as often as you like....guilt-free!
Are casters little wheels?
ReplyDeleteNot SURE a house with five Leopards needs furniture that moves. Brakes it would have to be..
Yes, casters are like ball bearings crossed with wheels. Brakes can be VERY important. :) My antique desk and my overstuffed easy chair have them, though, and they are a great help when rearranging.
ReplyDeletewood floors? i have these felt bottom plastic cup things that fit the posts on my furniture. the it's pretty easy to slide stuff with out screwing up the floor.
ReplyDeleteOh hey, since it's the 15th here and has been for some time given that it's after 5pm (and assuming I read your blog right)- Happy Birthday Lorraine!
ReplyDeleteRolling furniture, I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteIt IS my Birthday in much of the world, yes. I am having a very nice on, thank you.
Congrats to Paul and Nicole!!! Yay!
ReplyDeleteHappy slightly early birthday to our lovely Queen of Fabulousness.
I love the rearranging thing. It's very refreshing.
I'm still a bit disneylanded out.
I had a wedding today. Just bride, groom, me and hubby as the witness. Mellow and lovely. They gave me a bottle of wine as well as payment and it was quite tasty...had it with dinner :)
Now off to catch up on the 3 days of olympics tivo has saved for me!
OH, and ben had a blast at disneyland :)
A Very Happy Birthday to our fearless leader Quiche. :)
ReplyDeleteShaved? I never realized that horses were shaved! I just thought some were woolly and some others not.
ReplyDeleteNow I have the image of a horse shaving its legs before a date in my head...
And it is now the 15th on this side of the world so have a GREAT birthday!
Just saw a beautiful tattoo, so I thought I'd share the marvel
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Quiche! Have a lovely day. (your birthday is moving around the globe, although sadly here in theUK they haven't recognised the importance, so no bank holiday for us !
ReplyDeleteI want your redecorating energy!
ReplyDeleteRidiculously MASSIVE Ziggy and Zoraline post: http://community.livejournal.com/bengalcats/304334.html
It might kill you with cute. I'm warnin' ya! Complete with videos, commentary, and both the gorgeous mama Zoraline and itty bitty, but ever-growing Earl of Cute, Ziggy!
Happy Birthday Q!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the tat, Nat (hee, rhymes) which reminds me - what happened to the plans of Mistress Quiche getting inked?
Feeling well out of synch with what's been going on in Fabulousland, my last few weeks have been bedlam and the chaos aint over quite yet but I'll be back here soon as I can, miss you all.
Well, good morning and happy birthday. And you know me, I must say生日快乐！
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!
ReplyDeleteI had much help with yoga this morning. Why would I be sitting on the floor if I didn't want a hundred-pound dog in my lap? And why would I be lying on the floor if I didn't need my face vigorously washed????
Oddly, though, so far the cat hasn't offered to help me with breakfast. He's too sound asleep to even notice cereal and milk.
It must have been all that mental yoga of looking at you and the dog. Exhausting it was. Maybe if you should offer to spoon feed him said milk and cereal?
ReplyDeleteDrat, another reminder that I should and have not yet taken down my (small, table top, in a corner) Christmas tree. It's been up since November 2008 so maybe I should take it down, or dust it, or something.
ReplyDeleteZiggy warms the cockles of my heart. It is a very rough Monday here in AL land but Ziggy gives me hope for future snorgles.
Happy Birthday!!! Have a simply wonderful day :o)
ReplyDeleteTHUNK. That was me being bowled over by Ziggy & Zoraline cuteness!
That was REALLY cute, Kimberly! It makes me so happy she is safe now. Both are so beautiful, and I bet that let doesn't slow her down!
ReplyDeleteLove the tattoo too! I am getting mine still, but one doesn't HURRY these things. I want to finish this weight loss first, no point in getting it NOW, and it is expensive, will come in close to a grand. I am thinking fall, or next winter for it, you dont want to get them in the summer.
I love this new tea kettle. My life is now perfect.
Or would be if the "1-2" inches of snow didn't come in at EIGHT on my car...
ticky box(too much congestion to think of a legitimate comment)
ReplyDeleteHappy Firbday, Lorraine!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! Sounds like you have a good habit of celebrating not just your day, but your birthday week! A good habit to get into, IMO.
ReplyDeleteKimberly, never ending cute. Always a day brightener.
I use felt furniture foot pads for sliding. They work great on wood floors. Casters might be a little scary :-)
Calvin was always a big yoga helper. Especially when I was standing on my head, he'd get right into my face...miss him :-(
Have you checked out this?
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/02/15/how-to-groom-a-horse/
Judith Tarr give horsy advice and how to stuff for writers. Anyone can be entertained by her writing and asides.
Some of her dressage comments are really helpful.
Have you checked out this?
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/02/15/how-to-groom-a-horse/
Judith Tarr give horsy advice and how to stuff for writers. Anyone can be entertained by her writing and asides.
Some of her dressage comments are really helpful.
i've never had a tattoo, so i'm curious why one would not want to get it int he summer. i thought that would be ideal as you need to let ti breathe while it's healing, no?
ReplyDeletei hope your day is filled with wonder and joy. happy birthday:)
Happy Birthday!! XO
ReplyDeleteHappy Happy Firbay, Goddess-Woman!
ReplyDeleteAnd, vampi, it might be because you're not supposed to go to the beach with a new tattoo. (Not that it's ever stopped me. Don't try this at home, kids.) Oh, you're also not supposed to expose it to sun.
Working on Monster Tour, which grows. And grows.
ReplyDeleteCurrently looking like: LA, NZ, Philippines, Poland, Russia, UK and home. May be growing more...And three countries have crossover with AFP.
Kind of fun, actually. I love the logistics of things. Working in WAY too many time zones tho...
Wow that's quite an itinerary! Exciting to see the UK on the list...any more news about your trip to Ireland yet?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could set up a collection of cool clocks on one wall all showing a time of a different country as part of your redesign!!
Sadly, the UK trip is private, no events that I know of....
ReplyDeleteTrying now to send docs to Russia in a format they can open...Harder than one would think...
Happy Birthday!!! Can't wait to see your rearranging spree completed. I move heavy furniture on hardwood floors by flipping over a rug, scooting it under the furniture and draaagggggiiiinnngggg it thru the house. Works great! Not so much on stairs tho. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteOf course the tour will have private stops for all the fiends ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm buried in laundry. If you don't hear from me again for a while, send in the troops!
Trip is Boss, not you? Or did the thought of Ireland inspire you to travel the world?
ReplyDeleteHope your birthday is going well.
this seemed very fiendish and laugh making. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG Vampi - those cats are so gorgeous and calm!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday in your time zone oh our wonderful Leader.
I don't see Oz in that tour *pouts*
Jess, that special snow melting tool? Its been invented already - da sun!
Because, you know, people aren't mostly water or anything...
ReplyDeleteGottcha, the setting would be to vaporise only the stuff that is below a certain temp. Could work.
ReplyDeleteSo long as we don't let it affect the glaciers and such.
ReplyDeleteCan I have a mini one to do the pavements around my apartment? Getting fed up of skating to work and I know our council would never invest in one (pouts).
ReplyDeleteWell if Boss happens to be passing Manchester, he's very welcome to pop in for tea & cake :o)
Hold on, don't we want our resident mad scientists to perfect their bi-location and translocation devices, before they get sidetracked into weather control?
ReplyDelete(actually, the translocator would work for that, wouldn't it - just send the snow to Sally, or othrs in need....)
Well yes, Dan and Dan haven't got to far with the transporter yet.
ReplyDeleteY'know, I'd rather transport to and from the weather instead of moving the weather.
:puts on thinking cap:
maybe what we need is a nice perfectly controlled weather dome for the Fiends. On the moon.
Happy BDay, Q. How nice of them to suspend mail on your birthday, so you can get other things done. Rock on.
ReplyDeleteHappy Firbday, Lorraine. I think I may speak for all fiends when I say, I'm glad you were born!
ReplyDeleteMore bits of snow here, as well. Philly has had 77 inches this year, not counting what we are getting today.
Hugs to Jess....your parents are going through a phase. Hopefully they will soon get over it.
My next patient will have to revive me... Ziggy and Zora have done me in again.
Hey! I was 100. Woot!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! I hope you get some sunshine and not snow tomorrow! And thanks for your blog and for all the people who write so beautifully on it. Good work with the basement and getting rid of so much stuff.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!! Lots of hugs!
ReplyDeleteLove that pic of you and Emma, at MNF in 93, that was just posted on FB. Such a beautiful green outfit, and that SCARF!!. (bought a smaller version when we flew through Shannon on the way overseas the first time...just because it had that same untamed range of green)
Lovely post, Q!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have had the happiest and most fabulous of birthdays, as well.
This week I really noticed the lengthening days, and I felt a fog clear from my mind. Spring here is realistically quite far off. But the light! I'll take it, gladly.
ha ha! Tribe of Fiend.
ReplyDeleteI, too, spent a chunk of time last week madly and intensely re-arranging and deep cleaning, making a pile o' stuff to take to a thrift store. Though I don't know if it was spring-mind-inspired - there was some work avoidance going on as well, I'm pretty sure.
Catching up on comments, I am.
Olympic Opening Ceremony thing was fantastic. And that mogul skiing thing is quite the big to-do in this country - the men's winner was Canada's first gold at Olympics held in the country, ever, so I understand. Dude's gonna end up on a stamp, I'm sure, or his birthday celebrated by a bank holiday or the like.
Love the piccy of you on Dim! He looks like he's gonna collect up SO pretty.
ReplyDeleteHappy to see Boss is coming here in April too.:)
What a fine day it has been. Rode Dim for the first time tonight. Amazing. He is so there and such a great horse. Loved every second of it.
ReplyDeleteVery nice Birthday.
I'll do a blog with more pics tomorrow, but there are a couple up on twitter for tonight....
Twitter does not work. :( I think the awesomeness of your pics broke it!
ReplyDeleteNow excuse me as I go cry. I'm watching Children of Earth for the first time.
Wendy, I watched enough of CoE to decide I couldn't bear any more and that I don't want it to be "canon" (I've got my fingers in my ears, I'm singing la la la la la...) and have not gone back to it yet.
ReplyDeleteNa: I just finished it. Now I'm traumatized.
ReplyDeleteWhat a love birthday gift, to get to ride Dim for the very first time! Loved the pictures of you both on Twitter, you looked so happy.
ReplyDeleteYay! Happy Horsey Birthday!
ReplyDeleteNew post up.
ReplyDeleteFurious.