Carpe Autumn

The turn of summer to fall was a welcome change in KC this year. August was unusually dry and hot. September 1st seemed to reboot the weather, however, and now we are getting spoiled on quintessential Kansas City fall weather.

I've lived here long enough to know that winter can come at a moment's notice. Once it's cold and snowy, all my exterior jobs pretty much go on hold until next spring, so you can imagine that I am trying to make sure I finish my to-do wish list before its too late.

Last weekend, we serviced our burnt and bumpy clay dirt lawn. The ground is really hard, we figured aerating would be a good start. The machine was a beast. It didn't take long to gouge up the turf. Becca fertilized and mowed after that. I raked out old stuff in the ground, and then threw lots of fescue seed everywhere. We are watering compulsively. Cross your fingers this works.

Whats left to accomplish:

Touch-up Paint on house

Landscaping

Treed in

When Chris and I laid our patio and garden beds, we left a four foot border on the east and south ends to make a hedge row. Over labor day we picked up 18 Taylor Juniper trees from Sooner Plant Farm in Park Hill, Oklahoma. We got home Monday afternoon and began planting.


The backyard without trees. And with a Wrigley.


The digging crew. Thanks to Uncle Tim for helping out!


One down, 17 to go!


The first row finished.


Back row finished.


We love the soft, feathery leaves.

When we began measuring out our 18 trees, we quickly realized that we had underestimated. We were two trees short. On the one hand, I think Chris was pretty happy not to have to try to dig through this rock quite yet:



We just ordered our last two trees, so we'll get those in the ground, add some rocks and mulch and our little junipers will all be ready to root deep and grow. In the meantime, we very much enjoy looking out back and seeing our little starter trees. Although, it's worth noting that if you're planting starter trees, maybe don't put them next to mammoth sunflowers. Can't be good for their egos!


The trees are back there, I promise!

And here's this, just because it's so cute!

Dining Pretty

When Chris and I moved in, our dining room chandelier looked like a horrible leftover from the seventies. It was fake woodgrain, with 5 arms that each ended in a fake candle-looking light. Only two of the five "candles" worked. (Also, the walls were painted fluorescent peach - if there is such a color).

So, we were always looking around for a lighting upgrade, and then one day while wandering around the River Market antique mall we came across this.


After a simple rewiring of the light and a plaster collar on the ceiling, it looked like it had always been there.

As I'm sure you can tell it's already hanging in our dining room, so obviously we fell in love with it. We loved the intricate metal parts, with all the little crystals that throw dramatic light around the ceiling and walls. The thing was, it's gold which isn't exactly the "in" metal. We played with the idea of painting it for about 2 seconds, but truth be told we LOVED the gold on this light. So, we made a few key design decisions. First, since we have an old house we have the right to eclecticism, and second, the dining room will have gold accents (along with some silver and antique brass as well).

When we returned home we realized how perfect this was - the room was already filling with gold. The crystal knob from the dining room to the office is gold, as are my china and crystal patterns.





A few months later Chris and I were in Boulder, Colorado on vacation, and ran across these:



Once again, since they're in the room it's safe to assume we decided we couldn't live without them. I've always loved botanical prints, and these were just perfect. So we brought them home and loved how they looked above our little buffet in the dining room. Naturally they would require gold frames . . .

But we got busy and the prints got put into our hall closet and nearly forgotten about, until I experienced a cleaning frenzy last week and pulled them back out. In the meantime our buffet had become cluttered with decor that didn't really fit, so I cleared it off and set the prints back out. The wall above the buffet, framed by curtains and window, just begged for an accent. So, I found some gold frames and finally hung our prints, almost exactly a year from when we purchased them (last Labor Day).


We ordered gold-painted wood frames online, and had mats made at Hobby Lobby.


I cut off the faux mat on the print to fit the print to the 8x10 frames and matting.


Checking for level.


One of the few downsides of plaster and lath walls - it's never just a matter of hammering a nail. Everything needs to be hung on a screw and we have learned from experience that drilling pilot holes is always a must.


Almost level . . . .



And they're up! Next steps - I'd like to find a low accent to set on top of the buffet - probably some sort of rectangular candle tray. Then, I need to order blinds for the rectangular window above the buffet, and hem the curtains (ugh). Once those tasks are completed, dining room done!