motivation and results

I ended up putting three or four coats of rejuvenating oil on the little dresser rescued from the Roost. The weather turned cold, so I couldn't continue to work on it outside on the porch. Here are the drawers right after the final coat.

And here's the little dresser in it's new home, in bedroom #2. The coats of oil make it appear a bit darker than it did before. The room has received a couple of new trial names --- -the green room, the beach room, the green beach room, and the Schwarzes' room. My pile of things that have not yet found homes is dwindling over there in the right hand corner. 

 Now you can begin to see how the word beach became associated with this room.

 I can just picture Nina feeding the baby on this sofa in the middle of the night, at some point next spring!

 And the 3rd bedroom may be renamed the Barth bedroom, or the blue Barth bedroom. All the photos are of Brad's family of origin.

 Billy Adams made the mirror and the little blanket chest in this room.

Friends of my parents have said to me frequently over the past few months that they would love to visit the new Hanshill and see what we have done. So we decided to grab the bull by the horns, and just tell people to come and see the place. We wanted to do it before all the leaves had fallen, and before the weather turned really cold. So yesterday afternoon was the day. We invited 39 people and 29 of them came for a tour. This was a great motivator for us. Thus we accomplished the hanging of wall art, a vacuuming frenzy, and more unpacking, as well as major leaf-blowing and two small projects to make the original doors a bit less drafty.

Last week I went to Roanoke to attend a talk on flower arranging by a renowned floral designer from San Francisco. In the course of a 90-minute talk, he executed 13 arrangements. At the end the arrangements were raffled off. I won an arrangement --- first time I've ever won something in a raffle. It was perfect for Hanshill. The container is a clear glass bowl, supported by a black wrought-iron stand. It featured 3 large succulent flowers, which Anne identified as a form of "hens and chicks."  It was nice to have it here when folks came to visit.

Billy and Pat Williams brought us a wonderful housewarming gift. Again, black wrought-iron. Billy said the hummingbirds were in deference to Mama who always kept several feeders around for them.  (We certainly plan to continue that tradition!) This piece is not painted ---- all the designs are cut out from the black piece. We will have to find a special place for it!

Finally, here is the mirror that we chose on Saturday for the master bathroom. I figured you did not need to see a reflection of me in my bathrobe, so I stood off to the side to feature the stone chimney wall appearing as the reflection. I'll have a few more photos later.