Tears on My Pillow

But not really. Latest addition to Buhaki Bungalow is this nifty John Travolta pillow, perfect on the porch swing! "Signed" and dated 1978, the year GREASE came out, which will forever kick the ass of stupid High School Musical. You kids these days WISH you were as cool as we were back in the late 70s when we wished it was the 50s but didn't quite get 50s fashion and thought it was perfectly reasonable to use actors in their late 20s to early 30s as high school students! Grease. Is. The. Word. But nice try.

Silver coverealls are genius. And this video is way more suggestive than I remember. PS, Kinnicke was really hotter than Danny. Gotta love a bad boy who doesn't wish he was anything but.

Some blooms at the Bungalow...iris, peonies, potted plants on the fence (pots painted by the kid) and on the bench by the garage. Just ordered a slew of irises since these bloomed, my first ever (lets hope I have the right touch with them!)....

Meet mini-monorail-squirrel...there is a Mommy & 2 babies that run the fence daily.

~Ang

Weekly Accomplishments

Some updates on the yard, very little done on the house (too nice out!). Finally found something to cover the hideous blue and white country checked love seat the former owner left on the screened in porch. I considered selling it (ok, failed at selling it on Craigslist, apparently only prostitution sells there) and then thought about taking it to the basement for when that space gets finished. Almost got crazy and spent too much money on 2 striped tablecloths at Target but realized there was no pink and I like the pink in the barkcloth on the door panel (which still needs finished and placed in the other corner). So started rooting through some boxes of fabric I've ammassed and found a ginormous 40s tropical print barkcloth drape panel and it was actually big enough and then some to cover the country. The country has been ELIMINATED!

Pillow cover needing pillow to cover....

Arch filling in, looking heavy, hope its got a few years left before collapsing....

Variegata Iris leaves bring some bright to a semi-shady spot in front of blooing Foxgloves....

Passion Flower vining up an old surveyors stand next to blooming flowers in a pot on the deck....

Plans to paint the patio table and some pots this week and finish cleaning the garage so we can get my/Dad's '52 Henry J into it soon!

Home.

Driving to the big box store today with the little one along (she's sick, well was, but better and I had errands to run so what the heck), and a song comes on the radio about home. And it got me thinking.....this house is her first "home", as in a roof and basement and yard and garage. Blue skies, 70 degrees and sunny, on the way to buy plants for our yard at our first home. This song made me cry a little for how utterly happy I am, and how wonderful this home and life is for my daughter. Enjoy.

~Ang

Garden Updates

Since I can't stop working in the yard!!! OK, I did paint the porch swing today after deciding to go with a green/pink 40s tropical motif out there. The fabric is a 40s barkcloth drape I'm going to staple to an old screen door (I think the original to the house) to create a panel and hang out there to be the inspiration for te whole decor....

Moved this weird wooden stand w/ a wire top (weather vane?) from a side bed to the deck, to pot some Passion Flowers to vine onto...added some plants (still in pots, need to get planted) around the pond....

This section I had buried under a massive pile of wet leaves after the snow melted, took my time getting back to it and unearthed some sad, white blanched peonies and it quickly filled in with lily-of-the-valley....

The anal/type A in me could NOT stand the fact that there was no edging to that bed, so today I made one from the wood pile for the fireplace!...

Lots more done today, and the yellow lilac came!

~Ang

Gardening

Pretty keen stuff, watching and waiting to see what comes up in the new yard. I'm giddy over having a huge, well established deep purple lilac bush just outside the dining room and kitchen windows (now if it will stay warm and not rain I could have the windows open to let the fragrance in....). There are some peonies just setting buds, something had I planted this year would take a few years to fill in that well. LOTS and lots and lots of daylilies, some irises, hostas, ferns, daffs & tulips. One lone heuchera in the back corner where Ava & I added a bleeding heart bush (her selection, she adores it)....

Ava's Dad helped me get the pond cleaned up and we got a new pump to get it back in order, I plan to plant a bit more around it to conceal the tube and soften all that rock. There is a red bud in bloom behind it and I moved a stand of rhubarb from the flower bed (hello, invasive plant) back by the daylilies. There will be more potted plants like the one on the deck for some color soon....

Fountain....

Dug out all along the house out the back door from the kitchen/basement landing to create a "kitchen garden" of herbs, some tomatoes and beans.

Unidentified woodland flower under tree by the hostas in back....

Did more in back this week than the front, it will need a lot more digging.....the bed literally is a mess of random bulbs, daylilies, a few columbine, hostas and ivy. No shrubs, no height. I'm wanting to go sort of tropical-Victorian with hot colors and bold leaves. Needs a lot of love! The clematis on the arch is filling in nicely and I believe the shrubs around the front yard are privet hedges, wonderful lime green. Had someone come put new screen doors on the porch, the old ones were L-bracketed and rigged up to where there were nearly falling off everytime we opened them. These will need painted still but are a million times better....

More updates soon!

~Ang

Wall of Horror Etc.

Been unpacking/decorating amidst an early Spring snowstorm....shot of the back yard all freshly coated....

Bar shot, on the collonade (sp?) with vintage nudie cocktail napkins....

Added an early 60s screen from an old office building (aquired at www.foundthings.com)....needs some softening and a little color/detail on the dresser holding the TV....

Bar shot, I loooove my bar....

Hallway w/ pics in original frames of my Grandpa as a baby (lower), his Mom & sister....

Hall shot w/ bedroom & bath, bedroom now with some wallhanging detail...

Kitchen....

Grandma's cermamic "bug" (which used to reside on the wooden planter of plastic flowers on the railing to the basement in her house), now under some tulips on the island in the kitchen.....

The wall of horror. Was covered with burlap strips and striped with wide bands of mustardy yellow and pumpkin-spice-orange (effective for sophisticated country meets Arts & Crafts but not with my stuff!). Pulled the burlap and got 40s wallpaper coated with orange adhesive and parts of the exposed and damaged plaster. NO idea what I'm going to do....will require extensive TLC/restoration. Grrrr.

What a mess.

~Ang

the Bar

Finally have a great place for my bar that has space enough to go behind for serving and space around sans kid-toy-land to sit at it, and a place for my barware! Its my favorite score from an estate sale ever!!!

~Ang