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It’s December and I am on a mission! There is a bunch of stuff I need to get done to wrap up the year. I have added new goals and resolutions to this month’s spreadsheet.
Today I decided to tackle the toy collection that is taking over my office.
With the closet and cabinets crammed with tests and materials, the bathtub has become a make-shift toy box.
Before
I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond hoping to find inspiration to organize this mess. For under $50, I came up with this solution:
After
I’m not done yet! I need a couple more hanging organizers, but already that feels sooooo much better!
Ever wondered what do with an unsightly tree stump?
I had a tree stump in my front yard and I thought I was being creative by hollowing it out and planting a flower in it.
But then my sister took tree stump creativity to a whole new level. Skattur of SoKaN and Recycled by Skattur fame, transformed her ugly stump into a fabulous little gnome house.
You can check out all the adorable details in the pictures on her blog: Skatturcast’s Blog
SoKaN’s El-D (yes, we’ve claimed him) has been building a coffee table out of pallet wood. He’s getting close to the end of his project. Check out his tutorial on the project:
If you like shopping at flea markets and you like gardening then you will love the Flea Market Gardening website, where the two become joined in art. Sue Langley, the woman behind the website features “Real people. Real gardens. Real projects. ” She posts fabulous pictures of gardeners’ second hand hauls and their DIY creations. The website is a treasure trove of cute gardening ideas.
AND!!
I’m soooo excited that SoKaN’s very own Skattur is featured today on the website! The article is a how-to guide on how she and her husband made these wooden pallet chairs.
Skattur will be at The Cooper-Young Community’s Farmers Market this Sunday, May 11 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. She’ll be pedaling her garden totems and bird feeders, which of course would make a great Mother’s Day gift. Just sayin’…
Skattur’s garden art from her Etsy shop
in bloom
I started a garden journal this week to help me learn the names of everything blooming in the yard so I can get a sense of when, where, and what action is happening.
tulip, daffodils, & weeping forsythia
I don’t know what the thing with the pink blooms is yet. Help please?
violets
crab apple blossoms
I had no idea the crab apple trees offered a double feature — white flowers in April, little red apples in August.
Wild Life
I have finally managed to capture photo evidence of my “pterodactyl.” Granted, the heron is not particularly lizard-like, but he’s huge and prehistoric-looking, which has earned him the name “Pterry.” Pterry often visits the yard outside my office window in the morning. The feathered fiend tends to emerge in slow motion into my peripheral vision while I am busily typing at something. As soon as I make a move for the camera he stretches his gigantic wings and flaps about 10 times before managing to lift his forever long legs off the ground. The sight is so mesmerizing I usually forget I’m holding a camera as I watch him. When I finally remember to snap pictures, they turn out about as fuzzy as a dream in fading memory.
The other day I spotted Pterry wandering near the koi pond. Nickel and I both went stalking after him. I’m not sure what Nickel was thinking – the bird is nearly as tall as I am. So far this is the best picture I’ve snapped of Pterry. I am hoping he stays away from the koi.
Pterry the Pterodactyl
A couple days ago I also captured a picture of my first noncaptive raccoon. He was wandering around the neighbor’s front yard. In this picture he was looking for the source of the all the kissing and whistling sounds.
Projects
We have a new fence! The Angry Russian made it curvy and El-D hand-cut every one of the 134 pickets.
To celebrate its completion, Lady Bug (Nilla Bean’s sister) came over last week for a play date with Moon Pie. They romped around all day and wore each other out.
Lady Bug and Moon Pie
Last weekend we planted wave one of the seedlings – his and hers:
His Method: Dixie Cups on a Teacart
Why his and hers?
Because things must be done a certain way.
He prefers little cups he can write on with a sharpie.
She wanted to reuse the 2-liter bottles before sending them to be recycled.
He requires an intricate mix of dirt samples taken from various points in the yard.
She’s good with store bought potting soil mixed with a bit of compost.
He wanted squash, okra, and tomatos.
She is more interested in growing radishes, herbs, and flowers.
He likes to plant any old seed packet from years gone by.
She likes heirlooms and fancy things.
Only one week later, things are already sprouting: squash, marigolds, petunias, radishes, and beans.
Her Method: Cut 2-liter bottles with printed labels
xx
The Annual St. Jude Spring Fest and Gospel Extravaganza was this weekend in Millington.
Good times for a good cause.
Skattur’s display of garden art and accessories was the prettiest yet.
craft fair display
yard art in spring colors
Her little fairy habitats are utterly adorable.
terrariums
People toss out interesting things.
And I have acquired the quirky behavior of rummaging around in the things other people pitch out, then stacking one person’s tossed out treasure on top of another’s discarded thing-a-ma-bob. Fanciful sculptures emerge, which I then throw in the yard.
I blame Skattur.
On Break
This coming Saturday I will drag them to the St. Jude Craft fair under the pretense of wanting to sell them….
…but it feels a little like selling one’s children.
Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about letting go.
Star-Crossed Tree Huggers
Today SoKaN joined a gang of 80 knittas and hookers to carry out a bombing assignment for the mafia.
Ka-BOOM!
That’s yarn bombing, of course, otherwise known as knit graffiti, a form of community street art. And the mafia is the Memphis Knit Mafia.
the turquoise and red piece on the 2nd rail is my work
This means that as of today my work is officially on display at a museum. I’m pretty sure this makes me edgy and urban, yet sophisticated and classy, all at the same time (if only in my imagination).
I lead such an adventurous (fantasy) life, especially for someone who spends such a vast amount of leisure time reading, knitting, and putting on shadow puppet shows for her puppy.
People are so durn creative, so now I will present the work of the real artists…
Ladybugs and flowers and stripes and pink and pompoms! It’s so fluffy I could die.
Knitted hearts on a string! Be still my heart. I must learn to make these.
More hearts.
A super big THANK YOU to Christiana Leibovich for being the capo di tutti capi.
Hello! Welcome to part two of your virtual tour of the new office. We have finally completed rennovations to another room of the practice, which by the way is officially up and running!
It took six months of cleaning, painting, tiling, shopping, moving, arranging, rearranging, nitpicking, and tweaking to get it just right.
Groovy light fixtures
As I mentioned in my first post on the topic, Space to Work: Office Design, the “Man Cave” had a lot of potential, but it was a mess. The linoleum tiles in the ‘before’ picture were stuck directly to the concrete. There was a mysterious brown, sticky substance embedded in the spaces between them and they were stained, torn, and in some places missing. We pulled those grimey things up and the Angry Russian laid new porcelain tiles at a jaunty 45-degree angle. He chose Navajo White grout to make the tiles “pop.” He also hung a new smooth ceiling to get rid of the old one sporting nicotine-encrusted stalactites. We hung new fixtures for a finishing touch.
El Diablo painted the cabinets white and the hardware gold with an overcoat of clear gloss. The whole room was painted a softer, creamy shade of yellow. We added a couple of new light fixtures. And Voila! The Man Cave disappeared and the “Princess Playhouse” (as El Diablo refers to it) emerged.
Skattur provided the plate beneath the cabinet (a find she scored at the Goodwill) to dress up the wall. And see the little guy in the windowsill up there? Another of Skattur’s Goodwill finds. Here’s a close up:
owl with succulent ears
How ridiculously cute is he? His name is Owlfred E. Jennings.
I decided to go for a 1940’s vibe with the decor. Several years ago I inherited a massive stereo console from my grandparents.
the stereo console
It’s a beautiful piece of furniture and though I have never had the space for it, it’s a relic I had to keep. It gives me warm, fuzzy memories of a childhood spent sneaking into the forbidden living room to bother the big kids while they listened to records…
sitting area
There I would find them inclined on the orange corduroy speaker pillow (which I also still have) staring into the depths of an album cover as if it contained the answers to life’s mysteries. Around the holidays, Elvis crooned Christmas songs from the speakers accompanied by the snaps and crackles of needle to vinyl. In short, the console has good mojo. It served as the foundation piece for the room and inspired me to go retro with the furniture for the waiting area.
I got a great deal on two reupholstered vintage chairs from an antique mall. They are comfy and they have wheels! Then I paid too much (even with the 40% off coupon) for the table and lamp from Hobby Lobby. Nanook gave me the picture above the lamp. It belonged to my grandmother. The two sconces belonged to Skattur. She donated them to the cause because they were scrolly and yellow. And because she’s awesome. I picked up the rug from Target.
And finally, you might wonder what’s up with that little picture to the right that looks a bit out of place. It hangs right near the doorway to the therapy room and serves as a daily reminder to get my brain on straight before going to work:
note to self
I hope you enjoyed today’s virtual tour. There are two rooms left – the bathroom and the therapy room. I will get pictures of those posted eventually.
It has been an eventful week for SoKaN.
I invite you to visit our wonderful new website: isokan.com Skattur did an awesome job designing it and I am just ecstatic that there is now a picture me in my “boobhat” publically displayed on the Internet for all to see.
Last weekend’s Broad Avenue Art Walk and Art Bark was a blast. The weather was perfect, there was music in the air, “Pawcasso” pups running around in costume, and an abundance of interesting people doing interesting things.
This little Dali dog with his melting clock made my day…
An artist across the aisle captured a couple SoKaNers in his sketchbook.
Skattur added a little holiday flair to her display.
The KnitWits of the bunch are back in action for the season…
And here’s a random picture of a picture I took through the giant earhole of Jimmy “Tightpants,” who looked smashing in his polka dot dress.
Next week SoKaN will be at MEMFIX on Cleveland Street from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. We invite you to come come see us if you’re in the area!
