Resolutions

Here it is already the 3rd of January and I haven't posted my New Year's Resolutions yet, but it's just as well as I've already been tacking them for weeks now.



Here they go in no particular order:



1. CONTINUE TO LOSE WEIGHT: I've been on this since last Spring and as I've noted in earlier posts I've done pretty well...at last count I was at a total loss of 33 pounds. I gained a couple back over the Christmas holiday but I've been working that off ever since I got back on the 27th. My goal is to lose at least 10 more pounds, hopefully 12, by the end of May (swimsuit season). I think I can do it. Besides regular exercise I think the key will be proportion control in my eating which I'm working on. As I told my friend Dean, I'm gonna look good in a Speedo when I go to his pool. Stay tuned for that!

2. READ MORE CLASSIC LITERATURE: I've gotten a head start on this one too. Back in November I read "Jane Eyre' and now I'm reading "Moby Dick". It's slow going, very dense. But not as hard as I feared. I'm going to alternate my reading pattern with one classic, then something for fun, and repeat that throughout the year. I've got a list of the 100 great books of which I've only read 28, so a long way to go...

3. ONLY SPEND MONEY WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY: Again, this is a continuation of last year but I'm going to try to be even more stringent about it. I want to keep expenses down to just food, utilities, and taxes. No clothes. Zero restaurants unless it's someplace cheap-o. No vacations. And try to keep plays, books, and music to a low roar.

4. START UP THE JOB SEARCH AGAIN: This one is tough as I really, REALLY love not working. But I would love some extra spending money. So my goal here is to apply for at least one or two jobs a day, put it out there and see if anything sticks. You don't catch a fish unless there's a hook in the water, right?



I know I can do all this, I've been successful at it already, it's just a matter of perseverance.

Christmas decor

I got all the Christmas decorations up just a few days after Thanksgiving so that I can enjoy them while I'm here at the house before I leave for the city and Texas.
The tree with my handmade Christmas card ornaments...



The new wooden angel star tree topper I made this year from a weathered piece of plywood I found in the basement...



My wooden handmade nativity...




The 'trinket tree' in the dining room...





The mantel with my Santa stocking and leftover tree boughs...



My 'still raccoon' ornament...



The wreath on the front door...



Jingle bells on the French doors...



A mini wreath in the living room...



And a bowl of glass ornaments on the dining room table...





MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SAG HARBOR!

The seashell lamp

Years ago someone gave me a small lamp shaped like a seashell. It's a little "twee" for my taste but it does fit the beachy theme of the house. For a time, I kept it in the bathroom. but the cord on it was incredibly long. One day I decided to cut the cord and re-wire the thing. Bad idea. I screwed up something and it no longer worked. Into the basement it went to collect dust for years.
The other day I thought I'd take another crack at wiring it. I bought a new six dollar electrical cord and plug at the hardware store and attached it to the socket. It worked! New lamp!
I thought it would look cute on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom to add a little more light to that corner of the room, especially at night when I would be on my computer lounging in bed.
I love re-purposing old things and getting new life out of them.

Changing it up

I'd grown bored with the furniture layout of the living room, or "the fireplace room" as I sometimes call it. Literally years have gone by since I last moved things around. I was ready for a change. So I decided on a facing the couch in front of the fireplace instead of catty-corner to it. I put the Windsor chair by the diamond partial wall divider off the kitchen, and I put the Ethan Allen "Martha Washington" chair by the bay window. Somehow it all made the room look a lot bigger. Funny how objects can trick the eye that way. I always thought the former placement of the couch allowed me to look at the fire in the winter and also out the window to see the snow at the same time, but this new arrangement does pretty much the same thing.





UPDATE: I added one more piece of furniture to this arrangement. I had a little side table just taking up space in the home office upstairs. I decided to put it next to the Windsor chair underneath the standing light because I like sitting in that chair when I read. I needed a place to put a drink. It tucked in nicely underneath the lamp's arm.

Tea Tray

I had a brainstorm yesterday.
I wanted a little tray big enough to hold a mug of tea and a few cookies, also with room to lay down my spoon and the used tea bag after it was wrung out.
I got the idea to make a little wooden one in the shape of a teapot, thinking the oval(ish) shape would be perfect.
I Googled "teapot cutting board" and, voila!, i turned up a couple of cute pictures I could copy.
In no time at all I found a piece of scrap wood, fired up the jigsaw, and had my little tray, and I love it. Corny? Yes. Useful? U betcha!





UPDATE: I found it hard picking up the tray when I had it loaded up with my teatime accoutrement. I had to slide it to the edge of the counter to pick it up which was awkward. So I decided to add a couple of knobs to each side in order to facilitate handling it. They are some old ceramic knobs I had in my jars of odd and ends in the basement. They sort of look like eyeballs, LOL.

Current obsession: Jane Eyre

I was in Barnes & Noble the other day and saw a display of classic books with traditional hardback covers...at great prices.
I've been wanting to read more of the classic books so I decided that now would be a good time to start. "Jane Eyre" was sitting on top and that looked like a good place to start.



What a great book. I've only got a few chapters left but it was a delight to read--and I was fearful that it would be a slog. It's basically a Gothic romance with a strong-willed heroine. The writing is lovely, flowing and flowery without being cumbersome. I can't wait to rent the old Hollywood movie with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles.