First, Thedra and I finally decided on colors to begin painting the house. We started with a spicy green in the family room.
The paint provoke another visit to Mr. Mohamet's where I found this early 1900s Chinese chest to replace the TV stand.
After three years of restraint, we were able to afford granite for the kitchen. While I'd seen this stone, called Bamboo, before, I'd not seen it with such varied patterns before. Anyway, we chose the red-orange cherry wood floor with this stone in mind.
With the granite and paint, the kitchen is a whole 'nother space to be in. I love it.
Thedra jumped up one morning and declared that the basement needed and would hence forth be finished. Later, we had our contractor friend, Doug, put in a bar. This is the "elbow of the larger of two sections in the the basement. The guys who did the granite work came up with the idea for a bar here, to punctuate the corner without closing off the flow of the space.
This is the "Blue Room." It is separted from the rest of the basement by french doors with transom, to keep the space open. It is my shelter in the time of Thedra's daily dose of, variously, "Law and Order," "Oprah" or the "The Amazing Race." The large painting on the left was done by my friend's, Saiyda's daughter, Alana'
The Garden is my other place of free breathing. The garden beds are maturing. I had to replace some azeleas and rhododendrons due to a fungi problem, but with thatt in control now, the beds seem to be stable.and established.
You can really appreciate how much we've done when you see the Spring garden, to the left, together with the Summer garden, there beyond the water pump..The Azaleas and Rhododendrons are wonderful in the Spring...,
There is not doubt in my mind that my father's joy in photography, and my mother's passion for gardening are alive in my spirit. I think about them still, as I go about these things..
