What Could Be Better....

Than a dog in a dress? Gladys is all dressed up for Fleet Week! (yes, I know it's not until the end of July, but I couldn't wait that long)

Some Random Things I like

Martha Stewart isn't the only person who can have "good things", you know. Us middle-aged, borderline-portly homemakers also have things that make us smile: Mannequins, dogs in dresses, shrubs that are pruned like poodles - you get the idea. But here's two things that I am particularly smitten by right now.

Number one is this table: I got this table shortly before we moved into the current Chez Vel-DuRay, and it had been pining away in The Lodge for a long time. Too long of a time, if you ask me. It was originally supposed to go in a corner between two sofa pieces, but those are long gone, so now it is going to just be in a corner next to that fabulous sofa.



If it just sat there, that would be good enough. But like every self-respecting piece of mid-century furniture, it has a second use. That surface slides away to reveal a hidden storage space!!! (I use it for my comfy pink blanky, for when I'm feeling cozy. Yes, I do sometimes feel cozy. About twice a year.)



Then there's Dansk Kobenstyle, which is a line of cookware that Dansk put out about a million years ago. It's not the best cookware, and you always have to have potholders because it's so poorly designed, but it's just so neat looking on the cooktop.



Other than that, I really have nothing to say to you. We bought a kegerator with our tax money, but we need to find a place that fills CO2 tanks before we can use it. Where does one go to get a CO2 tank filled? I shall ask around at The Major Concern - they know about things like that there.

Memorial Day was uneventful: I had been somewhat under the weather earlier in the week. Delicacy forbids my divulging the symptoms, but just as I was feeling better, The Colonel came down with a much worse version of it. (I maintain that it was because he ate something that had been left in the refrigerator for two weeks, but you can't tell some people anything) So, what will all the purging, it was not a very pleasant Memorial Day Weekend. Certainly nothing one would want to inflict on visitors. But I did put a new cover on a lampshade, and I did some decorating in The Land Yacht, so all was not lost.

Interestingly enough, The Professor is suffering from a similar malady. Perhaps it's something that's going around Lysteria Lane this month.

So anyway, welcome to Summer, Darlings.

Voila!

And here is our finished project. Mrs. Langdon couldn't be more pleased - even changing into a new outfit for the occasion. I still need to do something about the wiring, but overall I think it came out well.



Here's a closer shot of a rather pleasing vignette: Including a lamp that I just adore, and that has been languishing for way too long in The Guest Suite. I once rented a car to drive to Tacoma to buy that lamp. I was much younger then.



I had been thinking for quite some time that the Tretchikoff was badly place in the foyer, so I moved it downstairs. I think she compliments Mrs. Langdon quite well, don't you think?



And here's a shot from the top of the stairs. The only thing I'm not in love with is the visible light bulb in the Tacoma lamp. I'm sure that I'll be at sixes and sevens about that all night. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Home Improvement(?) project!

The Colonel is in Chicago, attending to vital railroad business, so I am left to my own devices here at Chez Vel-DuRay. So I've decided to embark on a Home Improvement Project!!

It all started with Mrs. Dan Langdon. She thought the basement steps (gateway to The Lodge, The Game Room, The Laundry, AND The Guest Suite!) was dreary - and I think she has a point, even if she does have something of a stick up her butt. (The poor thing was having a bad hair day - she really is prettier with black hair)



So I sprung into action! As usual, the demo was the best part: Out went that horrid wall, out went that dreary carpet. Then it was time for painting, which I really and truly hate, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. After several hours of back-breaking labor, and literally dozens of beers, It has gone from looking like this:



To this:



Or, if you prefer, this:



It's not done, of course. I'm looking for some sort of fun translucent panel to cover that area under the stairs, and I have a really interesting color (courtesy of The Professor and Midge) for the post in the center, and the wall to the left. I have to do SOMETHING about those wires, and I'm also going to have to do some sort of runner down the stairs, because I'm not naive enough to think that a white staircase will stay white.

More pics will come, darlings. Abide your soul with Christian patience.

Oh poo......

Not to take away from fabulous BBQ's at all, but THIS is what I meant to post on Mother's day, and I of course forgot (you know how it is with old people)

I don't watch much TV, but I do love me my Desperate Housewives and I really love my my Brothers and Sisters (and I liked it from the beginning - I'm not one of these people who jumped on the bandwagon after Kevin married Scotty) so naturally that means that I love, love, LOVE Nora Walker - portrayed by the lovely and effervescent Sally Fields. And this was Sally's speech at the Emmy's last year - without all that pesky censoring, warts and all.

Happy Mother's Day, Darlings....

The most fabulous BBQ ever!

Darlings, there I was, desultorily perusing the Craigslist, when I saw yet another thing that I don't at all need, but was determined to have!

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the BBQ for The New Frontier!!!



When it gets acclimated to its new environment, and mounted in a tasteful place, I will post more pictures. But I knew that you'd want to know about this.

Cocktails and Fish?

There are a number of 60's era apartment buildings on the south end of Seattle (I don't think they are up north) that have the most interesting logo. It's a shield, with a martini glass and a fish on it.

Why? What? How? Are the questions that come to mind when I see one of these peculiar logos. What do you think?

Mother's Day at Chez Vel-DuRay

Every year, we let the girls up from the basement to have A Special Day on Mother's day. This year, we thought we'd get all artsy with the candids...

I know I owe you-all a post....

but it's NATIONAL TRAIN DAY, and The Colonel and I have been caught up in the festivities all day, and I'm tired. Besides, I found this excellent Scopitone that I need to share with you. More late Fosse-era choreography, like we saw in the Debbie Reynolds number. Enjoy!

The coolest street in Seattle

As you might well imagine, being a traveling electrical hostess for Our Municipal Electricity takes me to some of Our Better Homes. But it's seldom - if ever - that you see an entire street of gracious, tasteful homes.

Just take a look at these beauties. All on a cul-de-sac, and all with marvelous views of Lake Washington. When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy all of these houses - keeping the best one for me, of course - and putting my BFF's in the rest of them (until they cross me, of course) so you'd all better start jockeying for my favor.

These are not all of the homes, of course - but I didn't want to seem to creepy about it. And I suppose there is such a thing as privacy, so I'm not telling you where these are.