Modern Gingerbread House

I swear if it didn't cost $78 I would so get one of these.
A modern. gingerbread. house. Who'd a thunk it?

Don't forget your breakfast

Happy Dag van de Sint!
Tonight in the Netherlands and tomorrow in Belgium is the time when all good children get their presents fron St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and bad children get a whip from Black Pete's (Zwarte Piets) switch.
I usually don't start any Xmas shopping, baking (except for Xmas pudding) or decorating (except for the wreath) until we've done Sinterklaas, but as there are no children in the house this year I began early. To celebrate I made some speculaas. You would not believe how good the kitchen smells with the butter, molasses and spices.



I also collected holly, spruce, fir and pinecones and made some decorations for the light posts on the drive.



And finally, a reminder that a hearty breakfast sets you up for the whole day, here for your audio/visual pleasure is DJ Nicky & Ontbijt Piet with a special Sinterklaas version of "Jump de Hele Dag": "Vergeet je Ontbijt Niet" (Don't forget your breakfast) courtesy of Verity in Brussels. You have been warned!

I love duck tape

One of the spotlights over the bar burned out several weeks ago and I've been attempting to get it out ever since. The problem was it was wedged in so tightly there was nowhere to put your my fat fingers and get a grip on it to turn it. Steven tried and pronounced it "impossible".
Last night I was sitting in the den with a glass of Cabernet when I had an "aha" moment. What if I stuck something to the bulb and used that to turn it? What better than duck tape?


The lightbulb was no match for my ingenuity and the tape. Of course I didn't have a new lightbulb of the correct size, but I did have this eco-bulb.


It may not be a look that'll catch on but the long thin shape made it much easier to screw into the socket.


And it will be using a lot less power.

Wowser wallpaper

What do you think of this Fracto wallpaper from Umbra? I love it in rust and want to put it in the foyer.


It's only $39 a roll and we wouldn't need many for this space, it's also super easy to hang, even for the novice. It says so right on the website.


My only concerns are that it might be a little dark and it has to co-ordinate with the rooms that are open to the foyer: the den, dining room and great room, and they all have a lot of crimson accents. And there's the kitchen too, because even though there's a door there, we never close it.

Much happier now

clean desk
Originally uploaded by modernemama

See that desk? See how free of clutter it is? That's because I have now imported all my cds into my iMusic library and filed them away in the media cabinet in the den. Yes. I love a mess-free environment.
I've also mastered how to upload photos from the new iMac to Flickr! (There's a specific designation for media on this OS).
So I can stop complaining about the Leopard Operating System and just enjoy the iMac.
One of the best features is the sound quality of the speakers. Oh, and the volume. These dudes rock. Now I can choose whether to blast music through the speakers in the den, great room and kitchen from the amplifier in the den or to blast it through the house just from the iMac. It really is that powerful.

Détente

It may be my imagination but I've always thought snow makes people nicer - everyone just seems happier when the ground is white. And now some empirical evidence, of the feline variety at least.
Poor Hermes, the colourpoint, has been trying to get Cassis to love him since he arrived. But Cassis is top cat and won't let the other kitties come within a whisker's breadth. Until now.
Maybe it's just protection against the winter chill, but I like to think it's the "snow effect" that's got them to cease hostilities and cuddle up close.

Snow

The first snow of winter. Good thing I spent a few moments yesterday putting out the snow poles. It's too light to plow but the ground is getting pretty frozen now and those things will be difficult to "plant" in a few days. We also put up the exterior tree lights so it looks pretty at night time.

Compromise

In the interests of marital harmony I compromised and allowed Steven to bring the reclining chair and footstool from the den into my office. Now we can both be comfortable while watching Project Runway Canada*. (Un)fortunately there are no cupholders, or a popcorn machine for that matter, so I don't think it qualifies as a true media room.


As moving the recliner left a big dead space in the den I decided to swap the sofas around. It thoroughly confused the dogs.


And now I need to clean the carpets again.


*Project Runway Canada, if you love the US version, you'll adore this. The same but nicer.

The last of the fall color?

It may be the last day of November but we still have a lot of fall color left. Normally the backyard is pretty bare by Thanksgiving but a lot of the big maples still have their yellow leaves. The weather is scheduled to get really cold over the weekend so I'm guessing this is the end of the prettiness for this year.

iMac, so bad it's evil

By far the worst thing that happened last week was the loss of my iBook. The guys at the apple store attempted to revive it but it was a hopeless cause. I did have one night's elation when it looked as though they would be able to get the remaining data off the hard drive but it was not to be. I had managed to rescue all my photos but the documents they retrieved weren't the ones I needed and the hard drive eventually died while transferring the contents of my iTunes library.
This is where it all got interesting. Steven bought me* a new iMac for my birthday and it is a thing of beauty. Huge screen, super fast and gorgeous. But the Leopard OS is driving me nuts.
For a start there is no AppleWorks any longer, you have to purchase iWorks separately. A fact I was not aware of until I tried to write a document and the iMac requested $80 before I put virtual pen to virtual paper. Nice.
Then I wanted to automatically upload the photos I'd taken of the kitchen to Flickr. Flickr and Leopard aren't yet compatible. I'd put that down to teething troubles except that I can't upload photos to Blogger either. Apple would prefer I used .Mac to publish on the web and thats an add-on too. $70 a year for web-hosting. At the moment I have to select the photos I want to use and drop them on the desktop where blogger can see them. Another step I don't need to be doing.
But the most irritating thing is the sync with my iPod. I used to be able to transfer the contents of my iPod to my iTunes Library. Not anymore. The only things I can transfer now are those purchased at the iTunes store. And I do have one song I purchased and one I got for free, neither of which it would kill me to live without. I do, however, have another 1000+ songs that were downloaded elsewhere or imported from cds I no longer have, and those tend to be the ones that get played most frequently. So I won't be "erasing the contents of my iPod and syncing the new iTunes library. I will, however, be waiting for a hack to solve the issue. Or for Santa to buy me a new teeny, tiny iPod nano, in red, so I can play the new cds I got for my birthday at the gym. Which is probably what Mr Jobs wants me to do.
Right now I'm transferring all the songs that didn't make it off the iBook, and that I still have, from cd to computer. So far it's taken all week and I'm about half-way through. Anything to do with decorating the house for the holidays or maintenance on said house will just have to wait.
*Steven has suggested turning my office into a media room so we he can watch movies on the flat screen.

Anyone know where I can bag an Impala?

Yesterday I wrote that this had been a frustrating week. Here's the second thing I could have done without. The table and chairs above came from our previous kitchen, a tiny space but very efficient. We chose the table because it was small - we could sit four at a pinch but it's better when there are just two people eating there. The Impala chairs we fell in love with at the Modernica store in Soho, NY. We each chose our favorite colour (mine's red - that's a surprise, no?) and custom ordered them. The intention was that if we moved to a bigger space we'd buy a larger table and two extra chairs. Well that's not to be. Modernica has closed it's Soho store and are no longer producing the Impala chairs. This is a classic design but I have no idea who has the license to produce them and although I've spent two days looking on the internets there don't seem to be any floating about out there. And I'm not having much luck yet finding a buffet/sideboard/credenza either.

Beaten by the celery soup

It's been a trying week chez modernemama. Granted we got the kitchen painted and it looks awesome and I, inspired by the paint colors, made celery soup. The problem came when I pureed the soup in the KitchenAid Blender.



I switched the thing on, pressed puree, there was a horrible grinding noise and the little plastic teeth that hold the jar on the motor shirred off. I was pretty pissed as I was pureeing already cooked vegetables. I mean I could have passed those through a sieve, it's not as though I was blending ice to make Margueritas. I expected more from that machine. Although I have had it six years past the guarantee so I guess it didn't owe me anything. I did save the jug in case we get a new one, as their accessories aren't cheap, but I'm not sure I'd buy another KitchenAid as I can get a handheld Braun and a Cuisinart jug model for less than the price of my old one. Until then, no breadcrumbs, no garlic and ginger paste for the Rogan Josh, and chunky soup only.

Azalea Blossom

This solitary blossom emerged on the purple azalea on the southern border. An azalea blossom in November is a real bonus, look at the autumn colour on the leaves surrounding it. Pretty.

The kitchen is painted but the tacky carpet remains

This is where we started in June 2004, flowery wallpaper and vinyl blinds, dingy ceiling and brown indoor/outdoor carpet. Practical, but not our style. Our Impala aluminum chairs and cafe table look really odd amongst all the abstract florals. The two Marcel Breuer chairs got repositioned to the basement where they remain.


I couldn't live with the flowers so within a week or so we had white walls, and the dresser and table from an upstairs bedroom took a pause on their way out of the house and stayed in the kitchen for the next 40 months.


Earlier this year we hung the plans of the house above two Andrew Geller sketches and that just seemed to emphasize the grotty ceiling. So we decided that rather than wait until the kitchen is updated, we'd just give it a coat or two of paint and clean it up a bit.


We chose eventually to go with Benjamin Moore Cloud White on the ceiling and Titanium on the walls. Half way through painting I skimmed the Pottery Barn catalogue, (I usually throw it straight in the recycle bin) and discovered Titanium was a Pottery Barn colour.



I feel the same way about PB as Phoebe in Friends so I tried to persuade Steven we needed to pick a different colour but he wasn't having it, and as he was wielding the paintbrush, he won. Just as well, I'm really pleased with the colour in here now.


We had to move the dresser and table to paint and we couldn't bring ourselves to put them back so it's looking a bit empty right now. I'm searching for a walnut credenza that will fit along the wall, something similar to the ones I cannibalized for the dining room and the great room. I'd also like to replace the cafe-style table with a larger oval Saarinen table, or this round Rondo Lapalma table but I'm not sure that would ever be in the budget. Still, we are making progress. Now if I could only get rid of that looovely brown carpet......................

Outdoor decoration

I gave my neighbor a huge bag of pine cones from that giant fir tree in the photo, and we clipped some Hinoki (False Cypress) and Holly (in foreground of photo) from the front of the yard. She provided the bows, wrapping and expertise and made this beautiful mail box cover. Isn't that awesome?

We raised the ceiling

Well not really, we just painted it. But it sure feels higher, and cleaner than before too.



This is Steven doing all the work. So far it's been a day to prep, a day to put one coat on the ceiling and all this morning to touch up. He's hoping to put at least one coat on the wall before this evening. We'll see how that pans out.



The animals are all seriously freaked out, including Jefke the cat who is watching from the safety of his perch on the microwave.

Thanksgiving Paint Colors

It seems a shame to paint over these swatches, doesn't it? The first square on its own didn't look right, the next couple were better, but adding the last two colors makes the original one really pop.
Top row from left to right: Sweet Pear; Titanium; Crystalline; Iced Cube Silver. Bottom row: Wind Chime; Titanium. All by Benjamin Moore USA.
We decided that the sagey-grey will work best (although I'm still hankering after the Sweet Pear, especially with the Titanium next to it) and the lighter tone is the one we chose. Which just happens to be? Titanium. Yes, that's right, the color we painted the dining room walls and the powder room, too. The strange thing is that in the dining room it is more grey with an undertone of green and in the powder room, which has no natural light, it's definitely grey. I put two coats on the swatches on all the walls in the kitchen and it registers from sage green to silvery green. Certainly not grey. I really resisted this color because I didn't want the whole house painted the same but it just looks right. I hope we are still happy once the whole room has been painted.
But first we will be tackling that beige ceiling.

What did we do before blogging?

My beloved iBook went terminal on Friday and I am unable to do anything blog-oriented like post photos or type, or even read emails on a regular basis. If you're keeping track, that's three computers in one year that have bailed on me. Unfortunately the iBook pretty much contains, if not my life, then certainly my address book, my photos, my music and all resources for the house.
I was in the middle of transfering files to an external hard drive when it crashed so Friday and Saturday were given over to weeping and gnashing of teeth. On Sunday I decided I had to do something other than sit there and try to restart the iBook again and again, so I tried out a few more colour swatches on the kitchen walls. At this point there is very little wall left that doesn't have a trial colour on it, and I'm beginning to think different coloured rectangles on the wall is a look that might catch on!
I sent Steven to get the colours this time. It was getting too embarrassing for me to keep going back to Aboff's the paint store. He chose shades of green: Benjamin Moore Wind Chime and Crystalline in trial pots. Naturally he likes the darker more sagey one and I prefer the lighter greyish tone. We have until tomorrow afternoon to pick one if we want to paint on Thanksgiving Day. We've invited people to come over and way in on our choice (and paint too if they're so inclined) I'm making Rogan Josh and there will be "likker".
That's plenty to do and hopefully it will stop me from fretting about my mac for a while.

Admiring the colors

No, not in the kitchen. I'm having a respite from staring at the paint swatches on the walls and looking at nature instead.



Pretty spectacular, I think.

Choosing paint colors, driving myself nuts

I was at the paint store yesterday trying to pick out chips and this is what I heard "This is so difficult, I'm getting a headache". I went to the store again today and another customer was appealing for help "I can't find it, it was here a moment ago, where did that pot of color go?"
I'm glad I'm not the only one totally overwhelmed by the choice of paint colors out there. You'd think it would be easier now you can view colors online, but the color on your monitor and the color of the paint chip aren't always the same, sometimes they're not even similar. And those little trial pots of paint? It would be better if they had them stacked by number and not by shade because those rows of greys and off-whites start to merge into a giant blur before long, hence the woman having a melt down because she couldn't find the pot she wanted. She had the number but that wasn't helping her get in and out and back home to slap a 2' square of Benjamin Moore HC-36 on the wall. Then of course when you get the swatch home it may look totally different on your wall, with your light and furnishings. So why would I put myself through this process?
Because it will be at least another year before we get round to the kitchen reno and the unpainted wall behind the refrigerator and the water-stained and dingy ceiling are getting on my nerves. Of course the fact that the refrigerator is just sitting there attached to a random wall is also irritating but that's not something I can tackle alone.
I decided to paint the kitchen over Thanksgiving and I wanted to get some swatches on the wall this week. That way we can make sure the colours look good in all light. It should have been an easy task, the moldings and doors are all stained, the cabinets are burl wood laminate and the ceiling will get a coat of Benjamin Moore Cloud White because it's worked in other rooms.
A buttery cream we thought, so I went to get some. I came home with 10 of those paint chip cards, 4 paint chips from BM Aura line and a trial pot of Voice of Color Pineapple Delight. Two coats of that and I knew it was a mistake. Too light, too creamy for our architecture. We needed to go greener, perhaps.



Or greyer?



I was already starting to wilt. Luckily I had the paint chips to help me. I narrowed it down to Sesame and Anjou Pear, plus the Lemongrass color I found on the Benjamin Moore Canada site. Unfortunately even though I had the dedicated number for Lemongrass that didn't help me get a Canadian color out of an American paint mixer. Can't be done. They have their colors, we have ours. Tough. Move on. There was also no sample of Sesame but I was not leaving there empty handed so I chose two trial pots that looked (to me) quite similar. The Anjou Pear and Sweet Pear.

On the walls the difference was startling. Anjou Pearhas a muddy quality to it while Sweet Pear is luminescent. I'm a little disappointed with the Anjou, it's from the Aura by Benjamin Moore range so it's low VOC and only requires one coat. I'm trying to be environmentally friendly but the texture is thick and it goes on streaky. Like mud all ways round, really.



I think we may have a winner, although I'll need to leave it up a few days to make sure.



Why did I really chose this color? Perhaps it was subliminal.......