A Snow In Smallville

We’d been told to expect snow last Sunday and all we got was rain and a bit of an ice storm, so when they once again predicted snow for yesterday, I was skeptical. Especially since the entire day was cold but dry.

But then, around 8PM, the snow started, and we ended up with just a couple of inches but it was enough to make for a pleasant change and some purty pictures.

That top photo is one of Carlos’ Camelia's he planted along the back fence; the bush had seven or eight blooms on it today and its sister plant had about three, though they were a much darker pink.

That there is Casa Bob y Carlos in the snow, with a few large branches that came down from the combination of snow and ice and wind.

And this is the backside of the house; the sunroom, even with skylights covered in snow, was one of the warmest rooms in the house today.

Ozzo followed me around outside, but then even he had enough of cold paws and started the trek back to the house.

Here’s another angle on the camellias, with more blooms.

Lastly, the holly tree at the end of the driveway. I like it pruned like this and now I know why … it’s so pretty with the leaves dabbled with snow.

And there you have a wee snow day in Camden. The sun is out, the roads are clearing of snow and ice, and it’s gorgeous out here today.

Around The House

A little art around the house ... the three smaller prints on the side are woodblock prints we bought in Bellingham of an ancient fish, an ancient tree and an ancient moth; I'll take closeups later.

The Native American watercolor was done by a friend of mine and I have had it for decades, taking it with me on every move. My friend Roz painted two Native American Chiefs for me, and I have both in our living room; I'll also take a picture of that one later. On the far right are two watercolors painted by a woman named Verna Gannon in Sacramento that hung in a restaurant some friend's owned. Each time I would go to that restaurant I would look at them and then I bought them. One is an eerie scene of trees in fog, and the other is a brilliantly colored vision of people that seem to be rising.

We bought this African jug on a trip to Aiken; it's not terribly old, but I loved the color and the roughhewn shape of it. Plus, it was sitting in this wooden base, which we found out was sold separately, but we bought that, too. Looking closely, you see it was once one piece of wood, carved into a stand that also has faces on the tops that hold the jug. It isn't African, but again, it looked so good together we bought both.

Lastly, there is a Mexican art form where people paint brilliantly colored impressionistic paintings on tree bark that has been flattened into a canvas. We have several around the house, but these were gifts from Tia Gloria and are my favorites.

So, there you have it, a little more Things I Like Around the House.

Things I Like #6

Once again, in a post inspired by, or stolen from, Mistress Maddie, here are some things I like that are around the house.

One of the things I like best about the house is how it’s changed from when we bought it, to how it looks today. When we bought the house, the crown molding, chair rails,  window trim, French doors, and baseboards were wood, but stained a hideous brown, and the living room walls were light blue above the chair rail, and a whisk broom painted effect in a darker blue below.

I hated it.

I painted three walls a gray, and one longer wall a darker gray; I removed the chair rail, and then painted the crown molding  and baseboards an ivory. I had a friend whose home had no such moldings and she painted “moldings” on the walls. I thought for a moment, and thought how to make our crown and base look a bit more dramatic, and the solution was to paint a stripe, in the same ivory, below the crown molding and just above the baseboards all around the room.

I like it.

I also—after much debate with Carlos, painted the mantel in white, and once that was done, we opted to switch out our Old—emphasis on old—west ceiling fans for something cooler … like a wooden airplane propeller. There are two in the living room and they look great and circulate the air better than those four-paddled monstrosities of yore.

More to come …

Things I Like #5

Once again, in a post inspired by, or stolen from, Mistress Maddie, here are some things i like that are around the house.

When we moved into Casa Bob y Carlos, the foyer was red. I didn’t like it at all. Doesn’t mean I don’t like read because I had the outside of house, well, parts of it, painted red. But I didn’t like red inside …

So I chose a blue so dark it almost looks black, and in a semi-gloss so we’d get some sheen, and I think it looks amazing.

The art on the walls were gifts from a friend … here’s a close-up:

The hutch was originally an orange-y looking wood, but I painted it an olive green, and then spray-painted the inside in gold to highlights Carlos’ collection—or some of it—of teapots. The inset panels in the drawers were also painted gold.

I think it looks much better dark dark blue … sets the mood for the rest of the house.

More to come …

Things I Like #4

Once again, in a post inspired by, or stolen from, Mistress Maddie, here are some things i like that are around the house.

In the kitchen…the bottom piece is was painted by my mother on a cabinet door. My mother  was a Tole painter—the folk art of decorative painting on tin and wooden utensils, objects and furniture—for many years and this is one of my favorite things she ever did, so it’s in the kitchen and I get to see it every day.

Side story: Carlos and I moved to Camden shortly before my mother passed away and the house we ended up buying wasn’t at all, really, what we wanted, but when looking at it with the realtor, a few weeks after my mom passed, when we opened the front door, I could see across the living room, into the kitchen, and I saw my mother sitting at a table, smoking a cigarette, drinking coffee and looking at the backyard. That’s when I knew it was the house for us, because my mother saw it, and felt at home there.

Now, that piece above my mom’s work we bought at a Christmas art show in town; it was the only thing that wasn’t Christmas in the whole building and, yeah, it fits our house; I get to look at it every day, too.

Carlos loves blue glass, so these pieces that he’s had for years and years, along with a one more, sit in the corner hutch in the kitchen. The glass egg was a gift from a friend, and the wee coffee cup, which stands on three legs on it saucer, was a gift from Carlos to me. I’d seen my fave TV character-slash-altar ego, Karen Walker drinking out of a three-legged coffee cup and Carlos scoured the internet until he found one, and then ordered it for me. Trouble was, it’s about an inch-and-a-half tall, more for an espresso shot than anything else, but it makes me smile.

In the other hutch on the kitchen are three cannisters I bought at an antique store for use at Christmas, with candies and cookies inside for guests. But I liked them so much they’re on display year-round.

Lastly, we found those two little cat paintings at an antique store intown, and one was Tuxedo and one was Consuelo; I searched for a MaxGoldberg, but, alas, no luck, so we just bought the two home. Ssssh, because Max hasn’t noticed them and we don’t want to hurt his feelings.

The bottom piece is a chalkboard and magnetized calendar that works for every year and date; you simply move a magnetized strip under the month, day and year and you can use it forever. We got that on a trip to Greenville. It fits perfectly in our Bella Cucina!

More to come.

Things I Like #3

Once again, in a post inspired by, or stolen from, Mistress Maddie, here are some things i like that are around the house.

One day, while perusing the Cola City Farmers Market, we stumbled upon a local artist who attends USC and sells originals and prints of her watercolors. I instantly fell in love with the faces, and the vibrant colors of these three pieces and so I had to have them. Since she’s a fulltime student she only sells her work at the Farmers Markets on school breaks and summer, so, if this mess is done by mid-June, we’ll go back for more.

Now, y’all know I am not a follower of organized religion, but I do love a good church, and I love a good religious icon. Years back, a friend, who is Jewish, asked if I wanted this menorah that she didn’t want or need any longer. I took it, not for the religious-ness of it, but because it’s a cast metal sculpture, of a grape arbor and, well, I’ll give you a close-up because I cannot for the life of me, and forgot to ask its original owner, figure out what that mass in the middle is.

Still, it’s one of my favorite things.

More to come …

Things I Like #2

Once again, in a post inspired by, or stolen from, Mistress Maddie, here are some things i like that are around the house.

It's Cher, bitches.

A few years back, when Cher was on the cover of Vanity Fair, I naturally rushed out to buy the issue and read the article because, yeah, it's Cher.

But then Carlos surprised me that Christmas by having the cover framed for me. 

It was a kind of silly gift, but it meant a lot, means a lot, and makes me smile every time I see it.

PS She's right next to me as I type this.

And PeeWee Herman.

Who doesn't love a PeeWee Herman doll? Especially one that's roughly 30 years old and still talks!

And, like Cher, Peewee is watching me from atop the bookcase right now.

Lastly, men dancing the tango.  

A friend gave us this photo and I know nothing about it. Are they a couple? Are they simply teaching the tango? Either way it makes me smile, because you rarely get to see two men dancing in one another's arms.

More to come ...

A House.A Home.

This is the house the day we moved in; we told people coming to visit that it was the blue-gray house 

So, we had it painted. i envisioned this paint color the day I saw the house for the first time. I told our realtor, a little Southern Belle, and she said:

"You're going to paint just the porch red?"

And I said:

"And the sunroom, too!"

Then we became the house with the red porch for visitors.

And while we don't get snow often in Smallville, I love the way the house looks covered in it.

For Deedles ... Cuz She Asked For It!

Okay Deedles … the ‘Wee’ tour.

This is the powder room, remodeled by Carlos and myself, and painted and designed by me. I liked the idea of a man’s pin-striped suit, so I painted pinstripes on a black wall. Then with a new toilet and sink, mirror, light, and artwork—all photos taken by me, everywhere from Snoqualmie, Washington, to Brookgreen Gardens at Myrtle Beach—and we have a much nicer Rest Stop at Casa Bob y Carlos. The mirror is a horizontal mirror that I hung vertically after painting the old frame to match the frame on one of the photos.

PS This is the original powder room. I know!

A Wee Tour of Casa Bob y Carlos

I got nothing for today, so I figured we’d take a small tour of the house and some of my favorite things …

We bought these three prints from a USC art student at a Farmer’s Market in Columbia. I love any kind of ethnic art—because I am so white even milk calls me whitey—and I love the vibrant color. I hope to add more of her work because it’s really beautiful.

These are bark paintings done by Native People’s in Mexico—a gift from Tia Gloria. Again, the vibrant color and the organic technique make these some of my favorites.

This is the foyer; we found these three Asian prints, in gold bamboo frames, in an antique store here in town. They set the tone for the room, as I then painted an old hutch in greens and golds to showcase Carlos’ collection of teapots—the man adores a teapot. On the floor is a ceramic cat that Carlos brought from Mexico; he used to live in our garden in Miami, but now he’s an indoor cat.

This is a photo of the Japanese Maple at the Portland Japanese Gardens. On a trip out there a couple of years ago, we found an artic who had photographed the tree selling his work in Pioneer Square; we liked it, we ordered it, he framed it and shipped it and now we have it always.

The top two prints we found here in town and were surprised that they has a Consuelo and a Tuxedo … we looked and looked but there was no accompanying MaxGoldberg. Maybe one day we’ll find him The bottom piece is a calendar and kitchen blackboard; you set the date by moving the magnets to the correct day, date and month. Now, I never have to buy another kitchen calendar.

My father used to do stained glass, and this is a piece he made for me practically a lifetime ago; I have moved it everywhere I’ve moved, and now it’s got a good sunny spot in the sunroom.

Lastly, the Flying Cat from Pike Place Market in Seattle. It’s a cat and it flies …’nuff said.

And so there you have a quick tour of some of our favorite things at Casa Bob y Carlos.

Thanks for stopping by.