At long last...

I have my home and life under control!  Well, my home at least.  Tax season was rather eventful this year - both in a good way and a not so good way, but I survived.  I discovered that happiness is indeed a choice and that prayer works wonders in the face of adversity.  God helps us help ourselves and that is a lesson that I am very grateful to have learned earlier this year.

Peter has been assisting Aggie in supervising the spring cleaning and the little home projects that have been completed over the past couple of weeks.

I've been wanting to do something with the foyer wall that is part of my client area since just after the first tax season I worked at home.  The wall has a serious fingerprint problem - cheap, flat paint being the culprit.  I bartered with one of my clients this year and he installed this beautiful beadboard paneling for me and a chair rail.  When I have the paneling painted, I am also going to repaint the walls with washable, semi-gloss latex to make maintenance a little easier.  Isn't it cute?

The green table was an L.L. Bean bargain.

Unfortunately, this photo shows the dirty carpet - another client area problem - but that will soon be solved when my bartering client enlarges the laminate floor from the door up to my desk.  No more mess!

The paneling also surrounds the outside of the kitchen bar area.

That's the spot where Aggie likes to rub her face for some unknown reason.

Another mess taken care of!

My "dining room" is actually part of the living room, but it's not like I ever use the space.  I just love my oak table and oddball red chairs.  The paneling really brightened up that corner.  I am contemplating painting the narrow wall closest to the kitchen with the same green paint as the living room wall.

I just haven't decided yet...

I know that I suffer from too much stuff in a small space, but it feels homey to me and that's all that really matters, isn't it?

A few weeks ago, Richard put up my wall words for me - I love it!

That Jane Austen was one smart cookie.

Spring cleaning was long overdue this year - I tidied up my craft area and tried to get my stash of books to read under control.  The antique desk chair was a craigslist find; Tom & Al graciously picked it up for me on one of their forays into the wilds of Sarasota.  As you can see, I haven't quite decided what to do with it yet.  I counted the other day; I have eleven chairs in the house.

This is why my dining room is a corner of the living room - my home office takes up the space intended for dining.  It's just the right size and a convenient spot to see clients and block off access to the rest of the place with Aggie's doggie gate.

My craft area is also part of my home office, and I am always looking for ways to consolidate stuff and minimize the amount of desk space it occupies.  I found this great stamp pad storage system on eBay and finished that project up the other day.  See - more space for vintage McCoy flower pots!

They are pretty and functional.  Who could ask for anything more?

Long post, I know, but I love the feeling of having accomplished something that I wanted to share.  More regular updates this summer!

Small changes...

are just the things we need sometimes - don't you agree?  I had recently moved the red wooden welcome sign I had affixed to the door with sticky tape and the door was looking bare.  Now I've added this cute little hello.  Getting ready for tax season - and sprucing up a bit around the home office - in between catching up on paperwork and answering the telephone.  I love the way my new greeting looks - it's easy-to-apply vinyl and I found it on Etsy for eight bucks.

I think that's a lot of happiness for a little bit of money.

I found an ME print to replace one that was ruined in a moving mishap so I changed it out for the Count Your Blessings print I had previously hung over the client chair.  The other print is moving to the bedroom where it will hang on the same wall as the floating shelves I hope to finally hang up one day soon.  I always have some sort of decorating plan cooking...

My lovely friend, Erin, sent me an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas.  But what to order?  I needed another book like I need a hole in the head - Erin and I are equally bad about ordering (and reading) murder mysteries!  I'd been looking for some sort of wall rack to hang behind the door and when I saw this one and knew I just had to have it.  Another friend had sent me this adorable burlap bag a while back - that awful acid green color that I love with a bee embroidered on it.  It is definitely me!

The rack and the bag are a perfect combination.

I am thrilled with the overall effect.  Of course, I didn't hang it myself.  I leave such technical pursuits to the experts: my friends, Tom and Al graciously installed it for me on Monday.  Aggie supervised and Bee now seems to be quite fond of Unka Al.  If only Peter would come out and visit when they are here...

Just hanging around...

the house on Saturday - me and my furry associates.  Aggie has been sacked out on the floor while I am working my way through this pile of client paperwork; Peter and Bee have checked in with me periodically throughout the day.

Looking for treats, probably.

I finished up some correspondence, paid some bills for one of my clients and packed up two belated Christmas goodie boxes for two of my patient friends.

Managed to get a few thank-you notes written -

and a sentence in my Jane-a-Day journal.

My mail lady brought me a package from my friend, Kathy, in Utah.  She is a candy-maker extraordinare, let me tell you.  She found time to make several different kinds of goodies during the holiday season, after volunteering with the Red Cross in NYC for two weeks after Hurricane Sandy.  She was away from home from November 29 until December 15 - and still managed to work her magic in the kitchen.

She makes divine homemade truffles, excellent fudge and this year there is something labeled chocolate log wrapped in parchment paper.

I can't wait to investigate that!

I collected up some books for my weekly Sunday afternoon on the sofa tomorrow.  I think I'll start with A Deal to Die For - second in the Good Buy Girls series.

Review to follow one day soon...

But first I think I'll sample a truffle!

Out with the therapy chair...

thanks to my dear friend, Ariela, and her husband, Marco.  A lady where Marco works is redecorating her condo and gave them several lovely pieces of like new furniture.  Ariela thought one of the accent chairs was perfect for the spot in front of my desk.  I love the beautiful bargain chair I bought last year just before tax season, but it really was too big for the space available.  And some of my clients got a little too comfortable in it - hence the therapy chair designation.

Aggie watched them take away the old chair - and Bee's favorite sleeping spot.  She was understandably curious as to what was coming in - and she was probably hoping it wasn't another cat.

And here's Marco with our beautiful new client chair.  Isn't it pretty?  And the upholstery color even goes well with the color scheme.  Serendipity!

Thank you so much, Ariela!

A much better fit - and comfortable, but not too comfortable...

And apparently, it even meets the Bee's approval!

I know it's been awhile...

since I've actually blogged about anything of consequence.  My friend, Tom, asked me why and I replied, "The mully grubs."  Isn't that a great expression?  I mean, I thought it was some kind of big-assed Texas bug when my friend, Linda, wrote about cleaning until the mully grubs were gone, but it really just means being down in the dumps - a blue funk as it were.  Sometimes I'm like Mr. Monk, bogged down in the OCD details of obsessing over perfection, or the lack thereof.  For the past couple of months, my whole house looks like each room has had some sort of minor explosion; I start a project, get distracted and move on to something else.  Well, I am happy to report that today something finally got done!

Tom and Al came by to do their monthly sales tax report, drop off their bookkeeping paperwork for October and put up the living room curtain rod.  You know - the one Richard and I puzzled over, cursing the engineer who designed it, until I realized after he left that the decorative ends of the rod unscrewed...  Duh!  They also brought me a case of Greek yogurt and a can of pumpkin from their morning trip to Costco, but I digress...

It didn't take long - since they know what they are doing.  You can see Al supervising the finishing touches once the rod was up and the valance was in place.  There was great gnashing of teeth and more than a few expletives deleted in the sewing room last night as I sewed the wrong edges together and had to rip it apart and start over.  I've been dithering over this thing for a month, worrying about ruining the cheap daybed quilt I bought to turn into this fabulous window treatment!

Of course, there's always too much light when you don't need it - 

but you get the picture. 

You can see that the valance matches the quilted throw and pillow on the chair - and it doesn't clash too badly with the lamp.  Thank you, guys - thank you so much!

I love it when a plan comes together.

I am really happy with the fabric and the wall color coordination - and it was really a happy accident.  Like most of the really good things in life.

I haven't fallen...

off the face of the earth - yet.  It's just summer.  And it's hot.  Really hot and humid - and who feels like doing anything much in that sort of weather?  I've been working, reading, clearing out closets, reading a little more, getting rid of stuff I haven't used in forever, reading - and well, you get the picture.  Since I finished up reading M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series, I started in on Hamish MacBeth.  I've read the first eight - but I'm waiting on the ninth book, which is on its way from a used bookstore somewhere in the UK.  Any day now, I keep telling Aggie and Pete.  In the meantime, I've been tidying and rearranging stuff.  I used to be a mad furniture mover in my previous life (and home).  It was much easier with wood and tile floors - not so much with carpet.  And I somehow seem to have lost my former ability to move heavy objects single handedly.  I am not sure when that happened.  At any rate, I now content myself with rearranging stuff: the shelves, the kitchen counter, my desk.  Incentive to dust the place every now and then.  I was also hoping that messing around with my stuff would be good therapy for writer's block.

Not yet - but I am hoping for a breakthrough soon.

It was like deja vu...

all over again.  My mail lady stopped by today and handed me the notice that was stuck in my door.  My condo complex was announcing their annual unit inspections!  I felt like I was back in college and faced with the dreaded dorm inspection - hadn't I gotten past that stage?  Panic set in immediately and I made a frantic call to my carpet cleaners: "Can you all come on Monday?"  Fortunately, the answer was yes.  Now I all have to do is get ready to have the carpet cleaned by Monday, swelter at the tortilleria on Tuesday and get the rest of this place spotless by Wednesday afternoon.  I can do this.  I can do this.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I need help!

A restful place...

I don't know where I found this photograph - probably Etsy - but this is just the most restful looking chair I've seen in a long time.  I think the color combination is soothing - and I can imagine it in the corner of my bedroom.  With Peter curled up in it, having a afternoon nap.  I'm not normally a fan of yellow, but the combination of the gingham and the quilt just makes me happy.  I already have several restful spots in my little home, but there's always room for one more.  Don't you think?

Checking items off the list...

really makes me happy!  Aggie wasn't sure what was going on this past Saturday, but after her morning crunch, she stayed out of the way while my friend, Richard, helped me with some long-awaited home improvement projects.

Our walls are a boring, lifeless taupe - painted with not-so-great flat paint.  I can live with it since I've added color to the place with all of my stuff, but the living room wall was calling out for something more.

So now we have a lovely green accent wall.  Richard is taking a phone break between coats, talking with his Army son, Todd, who has just returned safely from Afghanistan - a real answer to many prayers.

While the first coat dried thoroughly, Richard took on another project of adding a second shelf to my laundry closet.  This is the before photo - the shelf I ordered was too long and he took it to Home Depot to be cut to size while he was out to run a couple of personal errands.

Richard mounted the second shelf underneath the existing shelf - it was so snug we ended up not needing the center bracket.  I have been so looking forward to corralling the laundry area mess!

As soon as the second coat of paint was dry, I helped Richard rehang my artwork and I vacuumed behind the furniture - it's only been nearly two years!  Then he moved the furniture right back where it was - doesn't the new color look great?

I spent some time yesterday tidying up the laundry closet and filling the baskets on my new shelf.  What's in them?  Clothes!  When I got rid of the bedroom nightstands with drawers, I lost my everyday, around-the-house clothes drawers - so this was the perfect solution.  Wash, dry, fold, store - and wear!  I'm happy to say the laundry is completely caught up - for once - and I even washed my tennis shoes.  Now all I need to do is rummage around the house for an empty basket for my socks...

Of course, Aggie is completely exhausted from all of the commotion and has been lazing about on the sofa all day yesterday and today.  We should all be so lucky.

Peter still doesn't know what all the fuss is about, having slept through all the excitement under the bed.  All he needs to know is that when Mom is happy, everybody is happy!