The Office, Continued

 

I've been continuing to clean in the office. I ordered one of those metal shelving racks to fit inside the right side of the closet. This way I can store all the stuff that needs to go in there. Like all the stuff that's currently in the bins and on the kitty condo.

This picture taking during the day shows you how nice the room looks.

I found a printer table that gets the big printer OFF the desk! What a find! It's easily accessible from my chair, and doesn't block the view outside.

Since I moved the electric fireplace I had empty space between the end of the desk and the window, so I got this bookshelf. I'm sure I'll fill it up with stuff, but mostly I can use it for a plant and a place to display some of the bowls that I have.

I decided to get rid of the kitty condo, and find a chair to put there. This way a visitor can have a place to sit, and I can have a nice quiet place to read or whatever.

TA-DA! Getting the chair here was rather an adventure. I'll put a floor lamp back there so I'll have light to read, and I'm going to need a decorative pillow, but that's an easy fix.

So the big stuff in the office is done. I'm elated about the way it looks, and works. I never spent any time in here because it was always so messy and clunky. So how does it look from where I sit now?

Yeah!

In The Box

' ' '

THIS!!!  THIS IS THE PICTURE I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!! 

You can see why!

'

These were three of the boxes that were on the top shelf of my closet and hadn’t been touched in years. (The fourth was taxes from 2001-2014. I shredded them all.) I took them down to go through them and found the picture I had been looking for.

Over 34 years ago I worked at an art supply store. My dad brought me balloons for my birthday, and you can see my reaction. I kept the photo for years on my refrigerator and then things happened and I lost track of it.

I am SO HAPPY that I found it. It’s on my refrigerator again, so I can see it every day and smile!

I Rearranged the Office

 When I moved into this house eight years ago, I had made a detailed plan about where every single piece of furniture would go. I had measured the distances between walls and windows, and I even noted all the electrical outlets. But I made one big mistake in the office.

The tall bookcase on the left, partly covered up one of the vents. The office is already the coldest room in the house, and reducing the heating input by half wasn't a good thing. I've always wanted to rearrange the room so uncover the heating vent, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.
 

The room is ten feet square, and one wall is dominated by windows, 

 

and another is dominated by sliding doors of the closet. When your desk is 78" long by 30" wide, there aren't a lot of options.

Unless you think out of the box. I don't know why I thought to put the desk in the middle of the room, pulling it away from the wall, but this allowed me to move the tall bookcase away from the vent.

At first I was going to set up the desk as in the layout on the bottom. I was worried I wouldn't have enough room to maneuver around the desk to get to the closet.  I actually went into the office and tried to figure out how I would move the desk. The desk is actually a solid door, so it's really heavy. It sits on two standard sized two drawer file cabinets. The file cabinets would have to be empty to move them, and I'd still have to figure out how to move the desktop itself. Fortunately I've done it in the past.

But something jiggled in my brain and I thought, well, heck, all I have to do is pull the desk away from the wall and rotate the orientation and I would get the same effect. So I redrew the arrangement with that idea (top drawing.)

Since I had made a scale drawing of the new layout, I was able to place a piece of blue painter's tape on the rug to tell me where to move the first file cabinet. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see I got another table that was slightly taller than the file cabinet. I lifted one end of the tabletop and set it on that. Then (once the file cabinet was empty) I was able to slide it out, and then swing it around into it's final position.

The next day I removed everything from the desk, slid the second file cabinet over, and then swung the table top over, resting it on the brown table.

I had already removed the contents of the bookcase, and with the help of a friend, moved it into position. 

Then I replaced the shelves, and the books. How did I know where the books went? I took pictures before I started!

Once the bookcase was all set up, I started to turn my attention to the desk itself, but then I realized that the small electric fireplace would fit perfectly on the wall alongside the bookcase. Plus it would be able to keep me warmer in the new location if I ever had to use it. (Remember I said it was the coldest room in the house?)

I added the artwork, and placed my calendar nearby and made some other small changes.

I left the painted bureau exactly where it was, and filled in the empty wall space where the bookcase had been with artwork, some of which has been in storage for years.

Istill have stuff to sort and move and maybe get rid of, but at least now I can walk into that room and not feel like an albatross is hanging from my neck.

Now the room is "my home office," no longer is it the "pit of despair."

"Breathing room" Julie called it. 

Indeed.

Oh Say Can You See?

 

I can't imagine this round fixture was ever popular or stylish, but it must have been cheap, because my house had four of them!! No longer.

The new fixture is a low profile LED bright white.

I got the same one for the front hallway.

When I bought the house eight years ago there were two round fluorescent light fixtures in the kitchen, and the one in the middle of the room didn't even work.

 This "shabby chic" fixture hung in the dining room which barely put out any light.

Less than a month after moving in I replaced both fixtures.

 

The one over the sink was so bright, I never bothered replacing the one in the middle of the room, but after replacing the range hood this year, I noticed it did not illuminate the room as well as the old one did,

So I replaced it (same electrician, btw), and now the room is nice and bright.

This is the light fixture that now hangs in my main bathroom shower room and big closet. Both rooms had that icky round fixture I showed at the beginning of this post.
 

 Yup, a BIG improvement, and I can see just fine, and the fixtures are easy on the eyes too.

Breathing Room!

 About a month ago I wrote about how nothing is as "...fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." I have had quite a few of those.

Redoing the guest bathroom and the kitchen have made me bring in some new stuff and get rid of old stuff. In the meantime other things got neglected. One of the things we all know is that a stack of stuff that has to be dealt with or an area that needs cleaning or something is emotionally draining every time you look at it. That's been me and several areas of my house for the last few months. A weekend was never enough time to devote to any particular issue.

When my boss and I were discussing the vacation time we'd like to take before the end of the year, I realized I had over 96 hours of unused vacation time. I can only carry 40 hours over to next year, and it was pretty clear I wasn't going to be able to take a solid week off between now and then, so I got creative. I took a look at the company's fiscal calendar and identified three weekends where I could take Friday and Monday off. Those are now on the calendar and I've just completed the first four day weekend.

I decided to get going and clear out some of the stuff that has been weighing me down.

There are three bookcases in my bedroom and these are two of them. All kinds of stuff was stacked willy-nilly on both bookcases, making things hard to find and looking messy. What got me working on these was something that happened in the kitchen.

I had had a big folder of all kinds of recipes I had clipped over the years and it was messy going through them to find what I wanted. Julie suggested I put them in clear plastic sleeves and store them in a three ring binder. Easy for her to say. I had the folder, but I also had a box in the closet. Might as well go through that too. It took me the better part of a week, sorting through them, organizing them and then categorizing and storing them. I ended up needing SEVEN three ring binders. (There is one binder called "Thanksgiving.") Well that was nice, but they didn't fit in my kitchen, so I'd have to put them someplace else.

I had to rearrange the bookcase at the left to get them in there. Then I did the bookcase on the right, because there were some books I wanted to get rid of and some I wanted to group together.

See the comfy green chair at the right? It's where I dump my purse and sweater when I get home from work. It has also been the dumping ground for receipts from when I go shopping and anything else in my pockets. That chair is usually full of stuff so you can't sit on it. But now I can.

Before you tell me that a bedroom is a funny place to store cookbooks, let me show you this. This ENTIRE bookcase is filled with cookbooks. I kid you not. Every single book on this is a cookbook. And before you go all "Home Edit" on me, I've been sorting books and DVD's by color for years. 

My two favorite things are sewing and cooking.  You should not be surprised.

You probably noticed the coffee table I use as a bench at the end of my bed. It has a quilt pattern painted on it. Yes, that was me. Before I cleaned it off there was a big stack of four quilts resting on it. No longer.

In for a penny, in for a pound, right? So I also went through the big closet. It is where I store my quilts, as you can see. I still have a lot of stuff in there to sort through, but as I was going through my clothes closet I decided to take any clothes that were in the quilt closet and put them with the rest of my clothers. Makes much more sense, right? I wonder how many of us have stuff that is split into several locations.

Now I am going to jump ahead a bit, but check out the light fixture in that closet. Earlier this year I replaced the light fixtures in my "spa" bathroom and installed a small chandelier in the small toilet/shower room. It was so pretty, I decided to replace the boring round fixture in the quilt closet with the same small, fun chandelier.

So, BOTH bathrooms, CHECK!

Bookcases in the bedroom, CHECK!

I can't tell me how happy this makes me feel!

What's funny is that I hadn't planned to tackle these projects, but since I was able to get rid of the junk in the home office so easily, I had time to work in the bedroom.

I also purchased replacement light fixtures for the front hallway, the kitchen, and the side hallway. The existing fixtures were all old and fuddy-duddy. Then I scheduled an electrician to come in and install them. That happened on Monday, but I'll tell you about it later.

Gone!

 

OK, so this doesn't look like much to you, but to ME it's awesome. All the Fiestaware is gone, along with all the canisters, and some other stuff destined to be donated. I also donated all my old oil paints and watercolor paints. They filled two huge bins that had been sitting in the middle of the room. The room was full of stuff, the floor was covered with stuff and I hated looking at it. I’ve also got the shredding done. 

I’ve started sewing the blocks for the yellow and blue rail fence quilt. I have an idea of a different way to arrange these blocks, so I’m not sewing them together just yet. 

More on That

 It is always nice to know how my readers think of me. Several offered their opinions, which are always good to consider. 

However, I already have an iPhone, and do not want an Android anything. Moreover, I do not want a 15" anything. If I want to watch a movie, I'll do it on my TV using a streaming service. I'm spoiled like that.

What I want is everything on one platform, that's interchangeable, and all draws from my data which is in ONE place.

I have pulled the trigger and decided to move all my devices to Apple. They can share the same data and talk between each other nicely.

Today Dot told me : "Later this month, Apple will release a new model of the iPad Pro, so you might want to wait a bit to see what it’s like. The other iPads will likely be reduced in price at that time."

Oops. too late. However, shortly afterward I received an email from Apple:

 

So I will be getting a newer version of the one I ordered. Lucky me.

Well.

The other day when I was working on the hanging sleeve for the pink barn quilt, I decided to cut the binding for it at the same time. So I did that. And then I put it next to the quilt and OOPS! I goofed.

Fortunately I found the correct fabric, waiting somewhere safe. I'll be working on that this weekend. 

And now, a Public Service Announcement:

Two weekends ago a colleague of mine celebrated the wedding of one of his daughters. Relatives and friends traveled from near and far for the event. It went off without a hitch. But four days later one of the guests called him. He and his wife tested positive for Covid. My colleague reached out to all in attendance, as well as the vendors.

Fully one third of the folks who attended tested positive. My friend has spent the last two weeks self isolating and checking in on his friends and relatives far and wide.

Just today I heard from another friend who was exposed recently. She's angry and I don't blame her.

This thing isn't going away, folks. Please get the newest vaccine, which is available to everyone older than 5. Your drugstore should have it. (I got mine that same weekend. No, I did not attend the wedding.) Protect yourself and those around you.

Sewing on Sunday

 

This is the hanging sleeve for the pink barn quilt. Or rather, it is in the  process of becoming the hanging sleeve.

Here I have pinned it to the back of the quilt.

Here is the front of the pink barn quilt, Larkspur, in case you forgot.

I think I can hear you all saying, BUT LYNNE.... WHERE IS THE BLUE AND YELLOW???"

Well, see, I was cleaning the house. Specifically I was tidying up in the living room. I have been rather lax lately and there was stuff all over hell.

These are the two chairs at the other end of my living room. You don't often see them because I tend to have them covered with stuff. The plum wing chair is usually where I stack the fabric I have washed, but not ironed. Over the last couple of months it's been the repository of kitchen organizing stuff that hasn't worked, and the pink barn quilt, which is quilted so beautifully I don't want to fold it.

I was cleaning up everything else in the living room and saw the stuff on the wing chair and basically lost it. 

And I am much happier because of it.

This and That and That and That

 I confess I have been spending a lot of my time lately lying on the couch, reading. But I haven't been a total sloth.

The last of my blue and yellow fabric arrived, and it has been washed, ironed and cut into the strips I need for my next project. I hope to be sewing later today.

I'm going to make a wonky rail fence quilt, from Sujata Shah's book Cultural Fusion Quilts.

Earlier this year I was walking through the house in the middle of the night and I tripped on something and fell. I knew where I was and what was where, but that could have been bad. In my trips to the hardware store I discovered small motion sensitive lights, and have since installed them in strategic places around the house. Now no midnight trips to the bathroom or anywhere else in the house will be made in total darkness. I've also installed a couple in some of my kitchen cabinets so their contents are no longer in the dark. These also mean I no longer have to leave a light on all day so I won't walk into a darkened room.

Flowers are nice, but watching them wither and die isn't much fun. Since the guest bathroom is filled with light (but not direct sunlight) I decided to buy these small succulents. They satisfy my desire for plants in that room and fill the corner in an interesting way.

I have tried to bring stuff to Goodwill twice in the last four weeks and been stymied each time. The fist time the place was roped off and there were no less than SEVEN police cars with their lights flashing nearby. Turns out there was a bomb threat. I'm just speechless. Who would do that? The world has become a very scary place. I went by again yesterday and the drop off was closed. I'm hoping to make a return trip later today. I still have lots more stuff to donate.

I went clothes shopping. The last time I bought clothes in a store was in 2019. Since then I've bought a couple of pairs of jeans and some nightgowns, but I really needed things, so I made a list. I bought turtleneck shirts, pull over and cardigan sweaters, and some tops. Everything was on sale so I was a very happy camper.

After days of phone tag, I finally have an appointment for a colonoscopy. It's in February. (sigh)

Lastly, I went to the Apple Store. My iPad is over six years old and is showing signs of age. I wanted to update it. While there I talked about possibly getting a slightly more robust one than the one I have now, but using it to replace my Windows laptop. I'm paying for backup software, antivirus software, security software as well as other applications. All those costs go away if I make the switch to Apple. So I am considering it.

And I'm trying to get rid of Comcast.

 

Retail Therapy

 

I measured my table and realized I needed four more blocks, so I didn't have enough fabric, even after I ordered some. So I went to Quilted Threads and bought some more blues and yellows.

And I also bought four yards of this. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with it, but it was too good to pass up.

It's leaf peeping season here in New England, and it was a lovely drive looking at the fall foliage.