Let There Be Light

I apologize in advance for this DIY post.  I think the first post I tried to write that was a DIY, I called
a D Y I.  This blog, as it says in the intro, is about remodeling our beach cottage and has, as of now, mainly turned into a blog chronicling the Shenanigans of a family who lives at the beach.  But today, I am once again going to try to give you a DIY post.  So here we go!

I'm going to start off with the finished product so I don't lose you before I even start.  

This is son #1's bedroom.  Not #1 because I love him the most, (just a disclaimer) but, because he was born in said chronological order.  We spent an exorbitant amount of money for him to go to University and now like most University grads, he is back in his old bedroom while he ardently looks for a career job, doing odd jobs in the meanwhile.  I absolutely LOVE having him home though, and I know he longs for a real job in his chosen field but, he's so much fun and brings so much light and joy to the house that when he leaves for good I'll probably go live in a hole and cry myself to death.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to...

We went shopping one day recently, and found these beautiful retro sconces at "West Elm".  They were on back-order so it took a lot of growling, gnashing of teeth and pacing patience for me to wait for the tracking order to show up in my in-box to tell me they were on their way.

This is what the previous lamp looked like.  Pretty nifty.  Did I just say, nifty?  Why, yes I did and I do believe that shows my age.  Do the youth of today even know what nifty means?  I know they don't know what thrifty means.  Oh well, nobody under 50 reads this blog anyway.  So, as nifty as this was when I changed out the end tables to a more retro look, I was ecstatic to find the new sconces to go with the new look.  

 Of course we needed help to install the sconces when they arrived so we enlisted hubby #1 (yes, I had another one once but in this case I am putting them in order of whom I like best.)  The little doggy on the bed there helped too.  Moral support is the most important part of any project.

 Hubby #1, I guess I don't need to keep calling him that since the other one hasn't counted for the past 34 years.  Don't worry, he doesn't read my blog either. Well, he decided to make this a teaching moment for his son, adding to his list of talents - sconce installation.  Do you hear that potential employers!

Look at him wield that electrical tool like a pro.  Just like, "Tim the tool man Taylor."  Aging myself again?  My son can design anything as simply as Steve Jobs; is a brilliant culinary artist (makes dinner for the fam on Tuesday nights); and surfs like Kelly Slater.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to exaggeration.  I am not prone to...

This job entailed nuts, bolts, a pencil, a flashlight, an electric screwdriver and a level.  And that's about as technical as this DIY project is gonna get.  So if you want to bail now, do what you must.  But, you will lose out on more photos of my #1 son if you do so, and I wouldn't do that if I were you.  Just sayin'.

In between photos, I laid on my back on the bed and shot photos of the ceiling fan.  These projects while wildly fascinating, get tedious for people with ADD  a lot of other things to do.

Apparently I'm not taking this seriously enough.  Obviously, I'm more tongue in cheek about this than realistic.  Look how staid he is.  Do you see him with his very serious face on?  Electrical installation is much more serious than you think.  I'd say from the look on his face you could compare it a little bit with spinal surgery.

 Intense man, very intense.

How cool is this vintage light bulb?  Just a heads up, we had to buy this on the sly.  The one it comes with is the warm white 2700K lumens curly cued snobby rimmed shorty fob.  In other words, UGLY.  And we don't do ugly even if the estimated cost to run it is only $1.57 per year.  We were trying to amend ugly,  so we retrofitted for vintage and as you can see, it worked!

He even made his bed for our um, photo shoot.  Of course he's just like that.  "Practically perfect in every way."  Three points if you know what movie that's from.

Wallah!  Two beautiful retro sconces,  DIY'd by my #1 husband and my #1 son, with a lesson in electrical installation to boot.  You're welcome.

Now turn off the lights and let there be a beautiful sunset at the beach.  Have a blessed week, pets.

Love you more than how lucky I am that I can see the handiwork of God every single day!

Tia

"Whole Lotta Hope Garden"

Here at the beach we don't get the heat that (they say) is required to grow a hearty garden.  Apparently, tomato's need days of intense heat.  But as I take my dogs on their daily walk about, I keep seeing little gardens on our precious plots of ground in the neighborhood.  I say precious because land is at a premium by the sea, and you usually get more house than yard.  Your yard is the beach and your pool is the ocean.  Not a bad trade off for sure and I'll take it!

 Matter of fact, it's so cool and damp that we even get a wee bit of moss on our cliff sides.

On a completely different note, just because from my 57,000 photos I found this one whilst perusing for blog fodder.  This is a sign that my sister gifted me with, which I put on my mantel for a fresh summer look.  Now, what are the chances there existed a chippy old sign that says the name of my little ol blog?  Thanks sissy.  I LOVE IT!

Meanwhile we have been gallantly throwing  our money into the money pit  remodeling, building, constructing and decorating our Cottage by the Sea for about four years now.  About the same time I started this blog.  Here's  a 'before' picture.

We pretty much gutted the old cottage and started over.

If you're interested in a reminder of the "Birth Of The Arch",  and other shenanigans we've been up to since 2009, head back over and have a look-see.  We've come a long way since then.

It's amazing how far a little lotta wood, cedar shakes and stone will go to invent the cottage of your dreams!

This pic was from last Autumn.  The courtyard was looking great with smiling pumpkins and all.  This is after we installed our Ipe (pronounced in the king's english as Epay).  Beautiful isn't it?

These are the official design architect's plans for our back yard.  Well...  You know how I mentioned that pit we've been throwing money into?  We done run out of money for the pit way before we completed it.  I, for one always  never complain about this.

But I like to think that while we dream our dream, we've made the most of our little plot of backyard.

We decided, beach or no beach, to try growing a garden where the spa should be.  It's a sunny little space and you can see how we professionally outlined our new garden.

First, we headed on over to, The Home Depot and bought 12 bags of very heavy soil, and a little cedar garden kit, us being garden newbies and all.  I say, very heavy because we, and by we,  I mean the hubby part of we, lifted and carried each and every bag from it's perch at Home Depot to our gigantic industrial cart, to our vehicle lined with plastic.  After a leisurely drive home, HE lifted and carried the bags one by one, down the stairs and around the corner where they came to rest right here.  To me it seemed like a piece of cake, but HE said they were very heavy!  Our little garden begot its name when, the lady standing behind our huge overloaded cart of dirt organic soil, rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "you guys have got a whole lotta hope!"  Oh boy :)

All it took was a little wood, (the gardening kit made it easy, peasy), you should try one!  A power tool here and there and some tiny, ready made startings of our favorite plants.

First was a blueberry bush because every morning I start off my day with a bowl of Irish Oats slathered in blueberry's.

 Then we added tomato's, both Early Girl and Big Boy.  Very erotic exotic.

 And since then they grew, and they grew and they grew.  And now they look like...THIS!

I made markers from old wine corks and chopsticks.  This one now sits under our enormous Serano pepper plant.  My salsa has never tasted so hot!

I'm growing two kinds of mint because, I love them both and couldn't make up my mind.  Something which hardly ever always happens around here.  The one on the left is Peppermint, and the one in the foreground is Mojito.  I hear that's a cocktail which I've never tried, but it's also a mint which grows wild in France.  It's a shoe-in for my favorite cocktail, iced tea.

 This is a fabulous, gorgeous, happy yellow,  pumpkin flower.  And from it blooms:

 A pumpkin!  I'm told this pumpkin will thrive and grow into a big orange smiling Jack O Lantern.  This Autumn we will adorn our front porch with as many of these as our Whole Lotta Hope garden supplies.

 Our zucchini is enormous thank you.  How's yours doing?

 So now, only 6 weeks later, wallah!  Not only do I have a green thumb - I think it may be florescent!

Maybe it helps that we have Our Lady of Hope reposing beside our Whole Lotta Hope garden but, something's working over here at the beach.

Love you more than all the bounty in all our gardens,

Tia

Today, instead of the promised sunset, I give you the sunrise over our Whole Lotta Hope garden.  Who needs a spa anyway?

Blessings!

COCKAPOODLEDOODLE

 This is not a face only a mother could love.  EVERYBODY loves this face xoxo

 This is a face you can play with because she is pliable, fun, and has a good sense of humor
(for a dog).

Her favorite thing in the world is to go on a (walk) but, you have to whisper it if your intentions aren't immediate or she'll bark until you come through with your promise.

She and her big brother are inseparable, although he gets a bit testy with her playfulness.  He's 91 now and all her energy exhausts him.  She can be very immature.

 She pouts.

 She begs.

 She gets sleepy and believes in the healthy strategy of a long nap every day.  That's a good plan for life quality in a dog.

She tries to see eye to eye with everybody.  Especially Maggie, since Maggie's room is where she sleeps.

 Unless they don't see eye to eye, and she sleeps here.

 Halloween is her favorite holiday because she gets to wear her girly bow.

 Sometimes just being a puppy wears her out.

She LOVES her rawhide chewy's.  I can bribe her to do anything with the promise of one.  Just don't try to take it back once you have given.

 Have you ever seen such fluffy feet?  Hers, not mine.

 Sleepy yawn.

Funny, furry, face kisser, foot-chaser, paper tearer, tummy rub, tail-chasing, kitty stalking, soft, sweet, cuddly love.  Bailey - yes, named after Bailey's Irish Cream.  It's true, we name our dogs after booze. 

Cockapoodledoodles - hypo allergenic.  Love all wrapped up in a coat of hypo allergenic, non shedding fur.  This momma's best friend.

How about you?  Do you have a best friend you love?  A furry one?  LUCKY YOU!

Love you more than the God given, spectacular sunset we had tonight.

Summer Blessings,

Tia

And We Are Crying The Oceans In Our Tears

"Our life, it probably began inside of the ocean," Johnny said quietly.  "About four thousand million years before now.  Probably near hot places like volcanoes, under the sea."

"And for almost all of that long time, all the living things were water things, living inside the sea.  Then a few hundred million years ago, maybe a little more - just a little while, really, in the big history of the Earth- the living things began to be living on the land, as well."

"But in a way you can say that after leaving the sea, after all those millions of years of living inside of the sea, we took the ocean with us.  When a woman makes a baby, she gives it water, inside her body, to grow in.  That water inside her body is almost exactly the same as the water of the sea.  It is salty, by just the same amount.  she makes a little ocean, in her body.  And not only this.  Our blood and our sweating, they are both salty, almost exactly like the water from the sea is salty.  We carry oceans inside of us, in our blood and our sweat.  And we are crying the oceans, in our tears.

Quoted from one of my favorite books of all time, "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts.

Blessings from The Cottage,

Tia