Antique Chairs

I have these gorgeous antique chairs that came from my Great-Aunt Bea.  There are 3 of them.  One is a regular chair with 4 legs, one is a not so regular chair with a base and a spring on it that makes it a rocker, and the third one is a large chair-and-a-half.  Then there is a foot stool.

Way back in the 70s or the 80s judging by the fabric, my Aunt Bea refinished and recovered 2 of the chairs and for some reason left the chair-and-a-half alone.  Let me show you photos.

I just adore the old original fabric on the larger chair but that avocado green stuff where they were updated is not so good.  Sadly I checked and the original fabric is not underneath.

So I have been searching high and low for years to find something gorgeous to put on these chairs and bring them back together.  And I do mean years.  The upholstery needs to coordinate with the antique sofa and the rug.  You can see a bit of the rug in the photos.

And one night I was in bed dozing off and what popped in to my head?!!

I have some old needlepoint canvases that my Nana gave me years and years ago and I stuffed them into my hope chest and forgot about them.  I suddenly thought "what if there are enough of the needlepoints to fit the backs of the chairs?"

The very next morning I got up and got out those needlepoints and there are four of them.  2 that match that fit the chairs, one large one that will fit on the back of the larger chair and a smallish one that is perfect for that foot stool.

You can not believe how serendipitous this is!!!  Now all I need to do is find a neutral fabric for the seats and the back sides of the backs that will bring this all together.  So I trotted myself on down to Calico Corners and picked up some gorgeous velvet.  And I am taking these all over to the refinisher/reupholsterers to have them brought to their former glory.  Nay, even better than their former glory!

These chairs are going to be so beautiful that my kids will fight over who gets to inherit them.  I can't wait to get them finished and show you the after photos.

It's a photo version of how things go in my head

Believe it or don't there are photos today!!!  There will be cute pics and there will be admissions of guilt and stupidity.  There will be trips down Memory Lane. And!  If that weren't worth the price of admission, you will get to be the first people to see the new table.  Yay!!!

So, let's get started, shall we?

Look at my new friend, Scruffy!  Isn't he the cutest?  Scruffy was on Death Row until my brother-in-law saved his life.  Scruffy had just had a bath and I was trying to photograph how his hair just naturally wants to be spikey and mohawk-y.

Next we come to some pictures of the very first house Mr. Big Ed and I bought.  Way back in 1983 we bought this little garden home and signed our lives away.  I remember clearly hearing the title guy say "Now, you are agreeing to make payments till 2013" and we looked at each other and thought "Whoa!  2013!  Damn, that sounds all Space Odyssey in the future!"  And all these years later we have moved more times than I care to think about and guess what?

It STILL ISN'T 2013!!!  That damn house STILL  wouldn't be all ours yet.  Good Lord.

But what I want you to notice is the 2 Wild Olive Trees in the front yard.  We planted them way back in the day and they were tiny little trees then.  They are big, gnarled and gorgeous now.  I just adore those olive trees and I would like to have some again.  Maybe we should find a place to put them in this yard?

While we were driving around looking at my old house we went by our old church and school.  This is where we chose to worship after we were married.  This is where my babies were baptized.  And also where we chose to start the kids in school.  It has also grown and changed over the years.

The first view is from the parking lot looking at the front of the school.  It didn't used to be green.  To the left of where I was standing is the Parish Hall.  And in front and to the right a bit is the actual church.

This one is the church.

And what do we have here?  This is the view from my front door waaaaaaay up at the top of the hill looking waaaaaay back down to the street at the delivery truck that brought my new coffee table for the living room.

And here it is!!!  Gasp!  It took me six years of searching and searching to find this table.  Notice anything?

Like maybe it is too f*cking TALL?  Like maybe this really isn't a COFFEE TABLE at all????


Like maybe I might have bought the wrong flipping thing?  I swear I read that this was a coffee table that the legs could be twisted up to be like a game table and then it opens up to be a spare dining table.

Let me back up to say that I bought this sight unseen.  Sort of.  I bought it on OneKingsLane where there were pictures and a description page.  And that is what I recall about it.  That and the fact that I saved $700 for buying it.  Whatever.

So I am going to have to go turn this thing over and find out if the legs actually do get shorter and longer or if I am going to have to chalk this up to experience and put it in another place.

I really, really, really don't want to have to tell Mr. Big Ed I could have screwed this up.  Cross your fingers for me.

I don't even know what to say about this table business.  I mean look at those legs do you see any possible way those things can telescope in on themselves?  It's too heavy for me to flip it over all by myself so it will have to wait till Sparky gets home this afternoon before we can start investigating.

You may want to cross more than your fingers on this deal.

Way to make me feel really OLD!

Okay, I was reading the news online as I tend to do.  And there was an article about Sinead O'Connor.  Remember her?  Irish chick famous for shaving her head and having a really haunting voice.

Also, for tearing up a picture of the Pope on SNL.  But for me it was always about her look and her voice.  I mean, who has EYES like her?  They are so deep and always seem so full of pain.

For reals.  Look at those eyes.  She was something else, wasn't she?


Seems that she has become a nutbar.  A nutbar that loves to tweet.  What is it with twitter?  I have tried and tried to get the hang of it, and it just doesn't come naturally or easily to me.

Unlike to Sinead.  She just tweets and tweets about things I would never expect to find on twitter.  Like "Oh, I am miserable and can't wait to die and go to heaven.  Someone please send me some info on how to suicide without it being obvious to my kids that is what I did".

Like her kids will never be shown this stuff that she put out in the world?  And it got scary enough that people were calling the cops and stuff to go check on her.

Now I know it was years and years ago that the above pictures were taken but I still always picture her like that.  So when I was reading the article and there was a picture of some older, fat lady with a Patsy Cline hairdo, it took me a couple of minutes to make the connection.

SINEAD O'CONNOR IS OLD, LIKE ME!

SHE IS OVERWEIGHT, LIKE ME!

Holy shitballs!  I am old and overweight, too.  o.m.g.

Why does it take seeing someone else and making the connection back to yourself instead of figuring it out when you look in the mirror daily?

You want to see the Sinead picture?  You know you do.

Are you as shocked as I was?  It's hard to reconcile today's Sinead with the one from 20 years ago.

And that's not fair, is it?  Why on earth would I hold her to a higher standard of upkeep than I did my own self?  If it's hard on me to maintain the look, the figure, etc. of 20 years ago, imagine how much harder it must be with the pressures of being in the public eye.

So, today I am saying a little prayer that Sinead finds some peace and serenity and quits tweeting bullshit.

AMC has done it again

AMC which I believe stands for American Movie Classics or some such thing, has gone and done it again! Not only do they have the award-winning fabulous not-to-miss Breaking Bad, and Mad Men, but now they have a brand new series that kicked off last night.

The Killing is what they call must-see t.v.  I had read a little about it and thought hmmm, maybe. But I set the dvr to record it and watched it last night.  I should have paid attention to the fact that the pilot was TWO HOURS LONG!  I swear I was up all damn night after watching Showtime's new The Borgias most excellent pilot and then The Killing.

Who remembers back in the '80s there was a series about the killing of a young girl and it kept focusing in on her eyeball?  Do any of you remember what I am talking about?  I was concerned that this new show The Killing might be similar to that one due to the fact that it is about a young girl who gets killed in the opening and apparently that is what the series is about, the solving of this murder.

Well, let me tell you there is nothing similar to that boring, cheesy '80s series.  This was riveting, on the edge of your seat stuff.  I promise you, you won't want to miss this show.

Here is what AMC has to say about this series:

AMC has begun production on the network's next original series, The Killing. From writer, executive producer and series showrunner Veena Sud (Cold Case), The Killing is based on the wildly successful Danish television series Forbrydelsen and tells the story of the murder of a young girl in Seattle and the subsequent police investigation. Season one will consist of thirteen one-hour episodes and will debut with a 2 hour premiere on Sun., Apr. 3 at 9PM | 8C.

The Killing ties together three distinct stories around a single murder including the detectives assigned to the case, the victim's grieving family, and the suspects. Set in Seattle, the story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. As the series unfolds, it becomes clear that there are no accidents; everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they've moved on, their past isn't done with them.

Now the show centers around this detective who looked slightly familiar to me.  At first glance I thought she was Ron Howard's daughter Bryce Dallas Howard

But no, not her.

It turns out her name is Mireille Enos.  And she used to be in Big Love.  She played Kathy, who was the sweet girl married to Joe, Bill's brother, when Joe's first wife went off the deep end and was poisoning people. Here's a picture of her as Kathy, then as herself, and then as the detective in The Killing.

 And

See why I thought she was Li'l Opie Cunningham's daughter?  Isn't she pretty?

Now, on the Showtime The Killing website, they have clues you can peruse, like Rosie's (the victim) room.  There is a suspect tracker where people go on and vote on who they think did it and keep watching all the twists and turns.  It's almost like an audience participation show.

It just dawned on me what show this reminded me of.  Prime Suspect.  Did any of you watch those awesome shows with the incomparable Helen Mirren?  Kind of dark, edgy, real-life stuff.  That's exactly what this show reminded me of.

Watch it, you won't be disappointed.  And if any of you can remember the name of the cheesy '80s show I keep trying to remember the name of, please let me know!

Returning to Dallas!

How excited am I?  Oh my sweet Lord!  Dallas is returning!  Dallas, you say?  You mean those stupid ass Cowboys owned by that stupid Jerry Jones?  Nope.

I mean Dallas.  The glitzy, glamourous, fabulous show from the 1980s.  Yes indeed!  It's back!  And guess who is coming back for it?

J.R.! (Do you remember who shot that sorry bastard that everyone loved to hate?)

Sue Ellen (who didn't seem to know any other facial expression than that one!)

and Bobby!

Here's the scoop:  The show is to center around J.R. and Sue Ellen's boy, John Ross and Bobby and Pam's son Christopher.  And of course a love triangle.  'Cause what would night time soap opera drama be without cousins fighting over a love interest!

I can NOT wait to see who gets cast for John Ross and Christopher.  (Can you tell how exciting this news is to me?)  Oh, and won't it be a hoot if all the women are STILL wearing 1980's hair and makeup?

For those of you who are not from Texas and from the Dallas area in particular; the house Southfork that they used in this show really exists.  It is in Plano.  And I went to high school with 2 of the boys of the family that live there.  I sure hope they are going to all still be living at Southfork on the new show!

All my kids lives I have told them that I wanted a house like the one on Dallas where it would be shaped in a square and Mr. Big Ed and I would have a wing, each of my kids get a wing and the fourth side would be the familial public areas.  We would all meet downstairs in the parlor for cocktails before dinner and have a huge family dinner together most evenings.  My kids' kids would grow up right there surrounded by their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.  In the bosom of the family, as it were!

Oh, I had such high hopes!  sigh.  They are not the least bit interested in this plan.  Ungrateful savages.

Here is what I am thinking, hopefully they will be using Southfork as the setting for the new show.  My kids will watch it and the subliminal message will sink in.  Heh, heh, my evil plan will work!  Yes!

More news as I hear about the show.  And as always, if you hear anything before me, please, please, do share!

Updated, necessary or not?

I saw these and thought to myself, "Self, these are genius!!"

Some were of course, better than others, but still very clever.  I am showing you the best ones.

Enjoy!

My Little Pony never looked like this much fun before.  What a hoot!

1980's called

Sorry for throwing 2 posts out in one day!  But I cracked myself up so bad last night that I knew if I didn't get it down here right away I would forget.  And then you wouldn't be in on the hilarity that was my phone call with the RachelPie.

RachelPie has been sick, under the weather, sporting a bad winter cold, all that.  So she decided to drive over to Blockbuster and rent herself a movie to watch while she is cooped up trying to feel better and stay warm.  And why wouldn't she want to call me and share this lovely experience with me via telephone?

Me:  "Mmmmm-yellow"  (This is the way I answer the phone when I know it is her or one of my sisters)
RP: "Mmmm-Mama!"  (This is the way she starts all conversations with me)
Me: "What's going on Rachel Pie?"
RP: "Not much, just driving over to Blockbuster to rent a movie"
Me: "Really?  Blockbuster?  Maybe you should get one of those really NEW movies like Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles?"
Me further:  "Yeah, I bet all the cool kids will be there with scrunchies in their hair and wearing leg/ankle warmers"
Me being even more hilarious:  "Don't forget about Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, it's like a classic now and he has such great hair"
RP: "That's not funny!  I never see anyone in Blockbuster wearing hair scrunchies!"
Me:  ROTFLMAO
RP: (Didn't like any. single. movie suggestion I made.  Not. One.  Can you believe that?)

Guess which movie she rented to take home?

DIRTY DANCING!!!

You know that girl was dancing around in her bedroom pretending she was Baby, don't you?  I bet she was wishing she had a scrunchie or at least one of those hair crimpers and some leg/ankle warmers. Ha!  I love it!

Deja Vu all over again

I can't believe I am being sucked back into the vortex of 1980. This was when I was first tricked into taking a small container of Amish Friendship Bread starter. You see where I am going with this? Yep, it's 1980 all over again and I have a new little starter sitting on my kitchen counter where I normally have a big glass canister of kombucha brewing. The kombucha is hibernating in the fridge for a while as I got bored with having to take care of it all the time. So now I am taking care of a bread starter instead.

How did I let myself get into this again? What was I thinking? Good Lord! What's next? Am I going to crimp my hair and put some ankle warmers on? Shall I find a sweater with big ole shoulder pads? Am I going to start listening to Wham? Madonna? Hall & Oates?

I just looked through some recipe files and got out the recipes I had from way back when for the Amish Friendship breads so I can vary them because I can see my kitchen being over-run with starters and breads and cakes and pancakes and anything else you can stick that starter in. If I come calling, don't hide and pretend you aren't home. I will find a way to get you sucked into the Land of Starter, too!

For some reason I am now in the mood to watch The Breakfast Club. With a scrunchy in my hair!