I Love Lamp

My eBay score, the mustard yellow ginger jar lamp arrived yesterday, so I took it straight over to the shade shop and tried this one on for size.  I think it needs a slightly shorter harp and then we'll be in business! The Mountain Man's desk is doing be look downright stylish with this sitting on the corner. Incentive to keep it tidy, my love?

Look What Richmond Grew!

In the ten years I've been away from my hometown, Richmond, VA, its music scene has blossomed, even by the standards of the musically-rich Southeast.  My college friend Chris has jumped into that scene and now plays mandolin and does backup vocals for Jonathan Vassar and the Speckled Bird, so naturally I'm a bit partial to this local talent.  Check them out on local Channel 6 this morning! (I'm pretty sure that female newscaster has been on since I was about 10)

 

Their new album, "The Fire Next Time,"  should be up for sale on iTunes...soon.

Re-Upholstery Inspiration

One of my favorite ways to spend (fritter away?) my time is scoping out new design blogs via other bloggers' currently following lists.  Today I came across interior divine and photos she posted from an European shelter mag called Hachette Home that I can't seem to find for sale anywhere online....but anyway, there was this image from a restored farmhouse in Brussels and the two almost luminescent indigo blue chairs just spoke to me as the perfect color in which to reupholster the little slipper rocking chair I inherited from my great grandmother via my aunt. 

Perfect for this little piece, don't you think? Now I just need more space so I can properly tuck it beside a bed in a guest room. (Quite a throwback to the little cottage at Locust Grove  Farm there!)

Start Acting Crazy

Al Gore has had quite the week of good, green fun. 

Boeuf Bourguignon

Didn't everyone who saw "Julie and Julia" want to rush home and make the famous beef stew with red wine, Boeuf Bourguignon? In theory, I did too, but since I saw the film in August and it was hot as blazes, I was more in the mood for fish tacos than beef stew.  Once November rolled around and local Montana grass finished beef went on sale at the Good Food Store for $2/lb, I knew it was time to give it a go.

I think as Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes go, this one was actually pretty simple, but it still had plenty of steps and it's almost not worth making if you can't give it a day to sit and let the flavors meld.  This I did only after catching the Mountain Man trying to sneak a bite or two while it cooled on the stove, ha!

('scuse some of these blurry photos)

 The goods

Dredged stew beef

Le bouquet garni

Stew beef all nicely browned

Mirepoix with bacon

 All set to simmer

Bon Appetit!

If You Get to Canada, You've Gone Too Far...

So ended the directions to a Forest Service cabin waaay up the North Fork of the Flathead River near Polebridge, MT where we spent the weekend.

 

 The landscape is beautiful in a really raw sort of way--the remains of massive forest fires, an actively meandering river, rocky peaks covered in snow.  A soft, Eastern hardwood forest it was not:

Yet for being about 35 miles from the nearest power line, cell tower or running water, there were all kinds of vacation and permanent homes up there.  The feeling of being remote but not isolated was weird, honestly, but we were also there during the peak of deer and elk season, so every hunter in Flathead County was up there too.  We were told when we pulled up NOT to go outside without wearing blaze orange.  I got to borrow a damn sexy hat for our little excusion:

Then there were some games:

And some turkey:

And that's when a tryptophan and wine-induced stupor put an end to snapping photos. 

You Belong to Me

Bought it on eBay last night! Were my palms sweating and my heart thudding as I placed the winning bid 2 minutes before the auction closed? Yeppers. Did I feel a sense of glee and triumph when I won it? Yah.

With a black lampshade, I think it'll look smashing on the MM's black desk and will be a little more masculine than the white porcelain with blue and while toile shade that he's been making do with for awhile now! I'll have that little lady for my "letter writing desk," which is more like a clutter magnet these days.  Maybe cause there's no lamp and it's too dark to do much else! Inspiration for organization.