Hello again!

 Hello again to everyone! It has been a very long time since I've posted anything; over a year, in fact, right after we lost our wonderful Mr. J. I thought I would check in and let you know that we are all doing fine here in New England.

I also thought I'd introduce you to the newest member of our family...

... this little Black Beauty (which also would have been a great name!). She's a little lady - always with her dainty front legs crossed!

We adopted Ms. B "Midgie" Cocoa Bean at the end of August from the Lowell Humane Society. She is a very affectionate kitty and loves to spend time in the studio office with me.

She's a 10-year old all black long-haired kitty and a complete purring machine.

I've always had a thing for black cats. There was Mrs. B in the mid-70's, then Mr. B in the mid-90's, and now Ms. B "Midgie" Cocoa Bean. I think it all started with My Nana & Gamp back in the mid-50's with their all black cat, Midgie. (It seems that every 20 years our family has a black cat!)

So that brings me to the reason for her l-o-n-g name. At the shelter she was Cocoa Bean. I don't know why, but so many of my animals have had "Mr./Mrs./Ms." before they names. It just fit them. Since I know she's a female but don't know her history, she is "Ms." I also wanted to pay homage to my Nana & Gamp who were huge animal lovers. My Nana named every cat she ever owned "Midgie," Hence Ms. B (for Blackie) "Midgie" Cocoa Bean, simply called Midgie.

As you can see, she has made herself right at home.

Isn't she beautiful?

She and Baby are getting to know each other. I will be honest, it was not love at first sight. I don't know that they'll ever be best friends or cuddle with each other, but they are content to sit or lay within feet of each other with only an occasional growl or swat. But there's no swatting or growling when they're in front of  the slider watching squirrels, chipmunks and birds.

I don't know this sweetie's history, but she is such a good girl.

If you're looking for your own furry friend, every single town or city has a pound or shelter where beautiful cats, dogs, and other types of animal are desperately in need of good homes. Please consider adopting rather than buying until our shelters and pounds are empty. If you're looking for a specific breed, do a search on Petfinder or Adopt-A-Pet (on my sidebar). The shelters are FILLED with cats and dogs of every breed! Just enter in your zip code, what you're looking for, and the mileage range you're willing to travel and you're on your way to owning a rescue! And believe me, they know they've been rescued and make the BEST pets!

That's my news for today. I may try to post a bit more often than once a year! I hope you've all been well!

All my best, Donna

Before and After... still a work in progress!

Well look who's trying to figure out why everything looks so different!

Things are still being changed around on a daily basis. In this AFTER photo, the hamper is over by the window.

In this AFTER photo the new headboard has been attached to the bed and the mannequin is temporarily taking the place of the hamper until my office gets organized!

I really like this headboard. It has an old fashioned feel to it, just what I was looking for.

This is where the mannequin was before being moved over by the window. Hopefully before week's end it will be back in my studio office.

The boudoir chair is a great place to read.

There's light from the window... 

... and from the floor lamp that I moved in from the living room.

The white kitty from the living room also found his way down to the bedroom. And the same day I found this $4.00 hamper at Savers...

... I found these lace curtain panels for $4.99. They have a rose pattern that's very similar to the pattern in the boudoir chair.

Speaking of the boudoir chair...

.... it's become a favorite place for Baby to hang out...

... and entertain us with her antics.

While doing this post, I came across a post from 2008 (my first year of blogging). In that post I talked about this very chair and how anxious I was to give the bedroom a makeover! Well, SEVEN years after writing that we have finally gotten around to it! Here's a link to the BOUDOIR CHAIR post if you want to travel back to 2008!

So that's what's been done so far. I still have to paint the two small tables that we use as end tables. I also want to put a couple of bookcases beside the headboard and maybe even one on each of the side walls up toward the head of the bed. Once I have all the furniture in it's "forever" place, then I'll decide what to hang and where to hang it! I have several favorite pieces in mind, but I don't want to start banging a bunch of holes in the wall until I know for sure where I want to place things.

Oh, and I also want to replace the curtain (sheet) on the closet with mirrored closet doors (this photo is from before the makeover - old wall-to-wall carpeting, wallpaper border, and pencil post bed). Our bedroom has only one window facing east and I'd love to reflect more light coming in from the window as the sun moves during the course of  the day. But all in good time!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Donna

The neutral rug won out....

I have a Pinterest board filled with colorful rugs in an assortment of beautiful designs. 

But in the end, this 6' x 6' neutral rug won out over all of them.

I plan to do a gallery wall above the bookcases with the theme being
vintage religious/Catholic decor.

Gallery walls can tend to be busy (and I have a lot to hang)...

... so I didn't want the rug to compete with the artwork on the wall.

It was a tough decision though. There are so many gorgeous rugs out there! To help me decide which rug would look best, I lined up a sampling of the art I'll be hanging in the office and then, one by one, I enlarged my favorite rugs on the computer screen. 

(rug color change due to photos taken at night)

I stood back and looked at both the artwork and the rugs at the same time, and that really helped me decide that a neutral rug would definitely work best for what I have in mind. I really liked the simplicity of this one so I ordered it online and had it in less than a week.

A lot of the vintage Catholic pieces I'll be hanging are Polish, like the one above and the two Communion pieces from the grouping of five pieces of art in one of the first photos. My dad was Polish and attended Mass every morning. They remind me so much of him.

And as you can see, Miss Baby immediately made herself right at home on the new rug. A little too much so, as you'll see in these short video clips!

Baby just had to "help us" with rolling out the rug!

I hope the novelty wears off very soon!

I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday ,

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

The studio window is a hit with the plants and kitties...

The large window in my new studio office is proving to be a hit 

with both the plants and the kitties!

(watercolor filter)

I picked up this cute "Blue Chalk Sticks" succulent the other day.
It was the perfect fit for this little blue green pot I've had for quite some time now.

The Infant of Prague might not stay here permanently as Baby tends to like this spot. And even though the statue is vintage and already quite chippy, I don't want Baby adding any more distressing to it!

This is a perfect window for Baby to sit in as she watches the buds burst forth as spring arrives! As you can see, I keep rearranging things in here to make sure
everything is Baby-proof!

I purchased this jade plant last fall when Amanda and I took a trip to Woodstock, New York. While there, we stopped at a yard sale and the woman was selling TONS of plants she'd started herself. She clearly had a green thumb as everything was gorgeous. I'm happy to report that I've not only not killed it, but it is thriving. I do need to find a nice pot for it, but it's an odd size so I haven't found one yet.

Until I do, it sits in the original black plastic pot in a tinfoil dish.

Tiger also enjoys looking out the window. On her trips back from the litter box 

(located on the floor in the corner of the room)...

...  she always pauses on the top step to survey the goings on outside of her little world.

If something of interest is occurring outside (dogs being walked or cars going by), her attention stays focused on that even when she has returned to her bed.

As Baby was looking out the window today, she got spooked. 

Baby does not like it when the UPS truck or the garbage truck...

....  or the street sweeper comes down 'her' street. Here in New England, after tons of sand has been dumped due to the many winter storms, the street sweeper is a sure sign that spring has arrived.

Of course as soon as the street sweeper was gone, she was back up on the desk checking out the smallest details of 'our' new studio office!

Click here to see previous posts about the progress of my new studio office.

I'm joining Debra at Common Ground for Be Inspired, and
Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday this week.

Donna

Studio Office Reveal. Part 3.

Another quick little update on the office.

Talk about an eclectic array of desks in my new studio/office! 

One of the latest additions is this new white IKEA ALEX desk, which will serve as my painting desk.

The other two desks are an antique writing desk and a mid-70's faux wood/file cabinet desk.

Three desks from three eras is all this tiny room can handle!

This is what the room looked like last week...

... before replacing the apothecary chest with bookcases. Much more functional!

They give me some much needed storage space and a place for my printer.

Of course Baby insisted on 'helping' while I was putting books in the bookcases.

She's been having a great time investigating all of the changes made over the weekend. 

I was able to use 2 floor lamps from other parts of the house, so between those and my OTT-Lite, hopefully the lighting situation will be good enough for painting.

The room still has a long way to go. It needs a rug, curtains, and all of the artwork hung.

But as I've said before, we move pretty s-l-o-w in this household, so all in good time.

I'll be joining Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House this week.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Donna