1. The dressers I dismantled and reassembled so that they were all the same height were moved into the master bedroom closet.
Now all my clothes are in one place, in a room where there is light and they can actually be seen. It is both wonderful and overwhelming. Even though my closet is by no means full, my first reaction on seeing everything together is "I have too many clothes". But I have already edited my closet down considerably, eliminating things that fit a previous life, that didn't fit, or were the wrong colors. The problem is that I have a wall of fabric I want to make into clothes while at the simultaneously feeling that there are things I need (there are indeed) and I have too much. The challenge is finding the perfect meeting of these all too human impulses, realizing as I do so that contradiction is an essential part of human nature. Our passage through life is a process of growth and also of editing or refinement. I think somewhere along the line my journey the balance between making and editing will take on a more curatorial process. Or I could just be saying that to make myself feel better.
2. Last November I brought a silver chest home from Texas. It was made by my grandfather and contained assorted sets and remnants of my grandmother's silver. The silver simply needed polishing, but the chest needed refinishing and relining with silver cloth. It went off to be refinished and restored, along with a small chest of drawers I had salvaged many years previously when someone left it out on one of the designated curbside pickup days. Both chests came back home in mid July.
My grandmother's silver has been returned to the upper chest, where it is used every day. The lower chest, which I suspect was originally meant to store papers, now holds placemats, napkins and assorted small pieces. The drawer bottoms are very thin, hand planed at about 1/8 or 3/16 inch thickness and were bowed and split to the point that I couldn't use most of the drawers. They have been flattened and restored and are now usable. This little chest is one of my most treasured objects, and using both of these pieces, my hands opening drawers made by previous hands, knowing that they were saved from the ignomy of a landfill somewhere to find new life and use, brings its own kind of joy.
3. A couple of times this summer, I've cracked an egg in the morning to find double yolks:
I always get a little thrill somehow, but it is a thrill tinged with sadness and knowledge of the fragility of life. You know of course that twin chicks do not survive. If embryos even develop, they rarely survive to hatching, and then cannot get themselves out of the shell, not having either enough room or enough strength to survive. A chick that cannot get itself out of its own shell does not have the strength to live, despite all the best, and most-well-intentioned efforts of kind-hearted humans. Food for thought.
4. A process that started with reassembling dressers (above) has taken on a life of its own and I find myself in the middle of an extended nesting phase. Even in terms of decorating or home improvement, it seems I am all in or all out. Wallpaper was put up in my office, turning it into a little jewel box that I hardly want to leave, which may be a good thing as I am involved in several outside projects as well, with a few more on the horizon.
There are two paint swatches on the gray wall in the hall. One is actually the same shade of gray that is currently on the wall, but it appears slightly darker. it could simply be the difference of using a higher quality paint and a different base than the one used by the builder, although the actual color formula is supposed to be the same. I am not knowledgeable enough about paint to say. The lower swatch is slightly lighter with a slightly more obvious lavender cast. A decision has not yet been made, but I have learned that I am very comfortable with gray.
5. It has been a long time since I've posted any kind of garden photos. Truthfully it was hot and dry in July and the unrelenting heat was not encouraging. But the small creeping sedum I planted in the bare area of the front bed, at the base of the magnolia has done very well, and is blooming. Sometimes great beauty comes in very small packages.
