little messes

our work on our house started within the hour that the sale was final. we found out quite quickly that though deconstruction goes fast and is wicked super fun, putting things back the way you want them takes what some would consider a lifetime. so when it came to the dining room that we began working on, hmm, was it really this long ago, yipes, well, we just finished. and by finished i mean i’m too tired to reconsider the wall paint one more time at the moment.

we actually went from this:

to this! and i can’t tell you how much lighter my step is when i come into this space now

and from this:

to this! ahhhh.

and just to pause for a second to again tell you how much i love the auction, the newest additions to the room were scores we made over the last few weeks. first off there’s this great pinball art from the back of an old broken machine:

and last but not least, new companions for our new dining room table:

the table was not an auction find but is also a new addition, this lovely teak vintage table with two hidden leaves came from my favorite mid-century store in town, home anthology. just try walking in there and coming home empty-handed. i double dog dare you. torture this place.

now we only have one room left on the main floor of the house. and it’s a small one, but perhaps replacing the roof on a small room isn’t necessarily a small job. but i’m going to pretend that it’s going to be really fun and fascinating… oh and it helps that we get to tear stuff apart first! let’s just hope it doesn’t take us 2 years to actually finish the job. i’ll keep my fingers crossed if you don’t mind.

oh the darkness. it’s so funny how much light has to do with our moods. when my train pulled out of the station yesterday evening it was pitch black outside. makes for a really long ride home. but when i really looked there was a bit of reddish purple sunset beyond the trees that made me smile and take a deep breath in at all the beauty out there if you stop for just a moment.

and even though the early loss of light can sometimes make me a touch blue, fall remains my very favorite season. growing up in new hampshire, there was just something about the fall that set it apart. it had it’s own smell, it’s own pace. i used to love taking in a super deep breath through my nose as soon as i would leave the house in the morning. the cold clean fall air would fill my lungs and would feel so restorative. and there’s nothing better then pulling on a warm sweater and walking through the crackling leaves in the woods. listening intently to all of the sounds of fall. and not to out do the ol’ sense of sight, there are the brightest colors of leaves everywhere you look.

i remember searching for the brightest, loveliest leaves as they fell to the ground and bringing them home to iron between wax paper to hang in the windows. my sister knows how much i still love that. a few years ago she made me some for my birthday and sent them to me. almost makes me want to hit the streets now and dress up the bedroom windows for the next few weeks.

and then there was the tastes of fall. we lived just down the road from an apple orchard, which i still visit today when i’m up in nh, fill my suitcases with local honey. but we would go to the orchard and pick apples and get our cider fix and come home and make apple crisp.

ok. so there you have it, the fall is a sensory overload. and it makes me appreciate each day… even if it the darkness comes early.

henry has been sleeping away his roadtrip. i keep telling him to look at all the lovely trees out the window, but he just sighs and rolls over.

tomorrow we make our way to vermont for some much needed lazy family time by maidstone lake. i can’t wait to break out my yahtzee-ish thrifted dice game, “bowling time”! i’m also hoping to finish some sleeves for the sweater i’ve been knitting. yeah, that’s right, i said sweater. i’m thinking ahead folks and besides it’s been a spell chilly here in new england. and sleeveless sweaters, although quite stylish, don’t help keep you warm round the campfire.

losing myself in the woods. so nice.

on vacation in my home state of new hampshire, admiring the white birch our state tree: