As the cold air settles in once again and icicles hang from our roofs, I’ve been checking in on the chickens at our farm and dreaming of spring. We have much to learn about tending to chickens, gardening, and farm life, but I am looking forward to the adventures ahead of us. If you need a little break from this bitter cold spell, check out my favorite procrastination links from around the web…
Read moreTackling a Gallery Wall
Today’s post features the home belonging to my friend Amy Afsari. Amy hired me to help her with art and accessories, including a gallery wall. Before we get to the nitty-gritty on that, let’s talk about Amy’s style, which is very different from mine. She embraces exuberant color and wildly fun patterns and then tames them with English-style tables and chinoiserie. It’s an irresistible juxtaposition, especially here in Wisconsin where the piles of snow at the airport don’t melt until July. I walk into Amy’s sunshiny family room and can practically smell freshly cut grass, that’s how verdant the room feels.
Read moreProcrastination Links 02.25.19
I have twice now written this weekly note to readers accompanied by a coyote howling outside. Or a fox. I’ve concluded that he wants to tell you something. I wonder what? If I hear him again this week, I am going outside to investigate. To see if it’s my brother, pranking me.
If you feel like howling at the moon, do it. If you prefer to stay inside, check out this week’s procrastination links:
Read moreProcrastination Links 02.18.19
We’ve gotten another wallop of snow in Wisconsin, and it’s a winter wonderland outside. So hard to believe spring is only a month away! If you need a little break from playing in the snow, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreThe Wet Engine: A Heartfelt Book Review
I finished the book and because I was sad that there were no pages, I read the acknowledgments. There, in the fourth paragraph, a name: the boy who broke my heart in my youth, who sent me crying to my pillow countless nights, whose love I couldn’t hold. This boy who made me realize that life before him was all Barbies on the floor, that love was real but not forever, and when it ended, it hurt. I could see him in a Powderhorn Mountaineering ski vest and painter’s pants. Broad-shouldered, golden-haired, laughing with crinkly eyes. That boy. He had grown up to become an anatomy professor in Eugene, Oregon, and there was his name, in the back of this heartbreaking book.
Read moreWhen young, we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall.
Procrastination Links 02.11.19
I am out of town this week, but I am looking forward to the next blog post on a book you’ll definitely want to read. Keep sharing those book and website recs with me! In the meantime, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreRiding Shotgun at an Estate Sale
Have you ever attended an estate sale? Recently, my assistant, Alicia, joined me for her first ever estate sale. Expect the unexpected is what I told her. And never let the outside of a house lead you to make presumptions about the inside of a house. You can’t judge a book by its cover.
Read moreProcrastination Links 02.04.19
How did you spend your days during our recent snowstorm and cold snap? The long days at home had me thinking about all of the ways we filled time when we were children just playing games, conducting experiments, and doing arts and crafts. Is this what kids still do on snow days? If you’re looking to fill a little time this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreA Bathroom for ManBearPigs Plus Jane
Technically, this post is about the rehab of our hall bathroom. In actuality, I’m excited to delve into some of the grittier aspects of bathrooms and boys. You have been warned.
For twenty years, our four sons, aka our ManBearPigs, shared a small bathroom that measured 8 x 8. Thinking back on those days, it was quite manageable. When they were little, they loved communal bath time so much that the promise of bubbles in the tub was strong incentive for good behavior. And while I was forever straining to clean that weird spot on the base of the toilet with my stubby T-Rex arms, I don’t recall things getting rough until the middle school years.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.28.19
I hope you are staying warm and safe if you are in the midst of our most recent Wisconsin snowstorm. If you need a way to pass the time while snowbound, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.21.19
Hope you are taking some time today to honor the incredible life of Martin Luther King Jr. If you are looking for a little break this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreThe State of the Blog: Year Five
Ah yes, here I am, staring into space, contemplating what comes next and how to like it. (One of the best books I read in 2018, by the way: “What Comes Next and How to Like It.”)
This week, The Bubble Joy is turning five. I’d rather not dwell on the bizarro fact that I’m entering my sixth year as a blogger because what is there to say? We all know that the subject of time flying is so dull.
You know what subject is not dull? Syphilis.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.14.19
I’ve so appreciated the outpouring of support and comments on my post on An Eternity of Dry Januarys and How to Cope. It is comforting to know that I am not alone on this journey, and I am so grateful for our community of online readers. If you need a little distraction this week, check out my favorite procrastination links from around the web…
Read moreThe Inspiring Mother and Daughter Story of Sister Golden
There is so much here in today’s post. I’m convinced that you will appreciate some aspect of this story. If you are a Wisconsinite, or if you enjoy Door County, if you believe in the power of Instagram, if you love art, if you run your own business, if you accept that millennials are very smart, if you are over fifty and your kankles get tired, then promise me you won’t simply look at the pretty photos. Swear to me you’ll read these paragraphs.
This is the story of Vicki Rawlins (left), a fifty-something woman who has been a practising artist her entire life. She has worked in clay, fabric, watercolor, metal, pastel, oil, acrylic, and lately, flower petals. Certainly, Vicki is open to experimentation, yet it is her business partner, her millennial daughter, Brooke (right), who sometimes pushes her to think differently and take risks.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.07.19
I hope your January is off to a good start. I had such a delightful holiday season with all of my kids home and everyone enjoying and savoring each other’s company. I’m looking forward to what 2019 has in store! If you need a little break from the start of the new year, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreAn Eternity of Dry Januarys and How to Cope
That’s me in the photo above, happily-not happily sipping my favorite non-alcoholic cocktail, the Moscow Maiden. Recipe will follow at the bottom of the page. But really, today’s post is about living without alcohol. It has been 19 months since I’ve felt tipsy.
Maybe you want to try “Dry January.” Maybe you and alcohol just don’t get along very well. Maybe my experience will be of interest to you.
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.31.18
Happy New Year! Wishing you and yours health and happiness in 2019. If you need a little break from the New Year’s festivities, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.24.18
I hope you are having a happy and relaxing holiday. If you need a little break from the entertaining, endless piles of dishes, and visiting relatives, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreTo Make Or Not to Make?
Happy is the hobbyist in December. When the weather drives you indoors to your workbench or your sewing room. When the holidays provide you the opportunity to share your craft with loved ones. This is the time of year when those who can, do. And those who can’t, say thank you to their industrious friends.
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.17.18
Some unexpected farm business kept me busy last week. My husband and I continue to be giddy with excitement thinking about next year when we’ll get to enjoy our first winter at the farm. In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming about the renovations and projects we’ll soon be embarking on. If you need a little break this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
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