Dear Craigslist: We Need A Coffee Table. Now.

Dear North Jersey Craigslist,
We need a coffee table in our Study.  Now.

Our study is our reading room, computer room, television room,
and often it's where we catch a light supper together.
It's full of stuff.  Good stuff, but stuff.  And it needs a sturdy coffee table!

Our last coffee table was a big big architect's chest,
early 20th century, that belongs to our daughter Anne.

The chest, at an estate sale in Philadelphia, a couple of years ago.
No one wanted it so Anne, who had helped out at the sale, got it. Free.

 It now lives happily in her apartment in Washington DC.

The coffee table before that was a Hooker.

(Yes, I know.  I laugh every time.)

Anyway, it was a large, square chow table, made by Hooker Furniture,

and it cost me 99-cents on eBay.
It served us well, and just about the time we donated it to
Goodwill, it came roaring back into the pages of home dec magazines,
Who knew?

Before the Hooker, there was the Bootlegger.
A Craigslist find, this Art Deco table was sleek and held a really neat secret.


If you pushed in those end panels, they rotated, and
presto-chango!  You had a hidden bar, revealed.

How cool is that?
A bootlegger's dream coffee table.
Sleek and good looking, it was too small for the room.
I think this is at my sister's now.

However - to haul us back to the problem at hand - since the end of August, 
we have not had a coffee table in the Study.  We need one.
My feet are just hanging off the sofa, dangling.

O Great Craigslist Gods ... do your thang!

(A quick look at the North Jersey CL listings yielded these tables,
all cheap enough to make me happy.  Although nothing beats 99 cents. Except free.)

Slate tile top, metal frame.  Dated, but practical.  Good colors for our room.

The new table must be big.  No dainty tea tables need apply.
Big enough to accommodate all the glasses and plates of
the young'uns at parties and holidays, and our feet the rest of the time.

Glass or stone tops work nicely.  No coasters.

I don't mind painting to get the right color.
(The one, above, is crying out for paint to cover its
not-vintage-in-a-good-way 80s Miami Vice frosted color.
I can see it brick red.  Or black. Or almost anything!)

Some really nice burled wood in this table.
Very much like the old credenza our TV lives on, including the fluting.

Below, a glass and steel example from Pottery Barn.
I like the minimalist look; we've got so much stuff in the Study,
this could be a welcome break in all the pattern and color.
(And it's a great price, too!)

Hmm ... Not sure about wanting that lower level.  Dust.  Dog hair.  Dang!

So many tables!  And loads more,
especially when I expand my search to the rest of New Jersey,
or nearby Pennsylvania, or Westchester, or New York City . . . .

Whatcha think?
What would you choose? Any ideas?

What do you look for in a casual, family room coffee table?
Happy Friday, my dears -- Cass

Friday Link Parties!

It's Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage.  Click here!

Miss Mustard Seed is gathering Furniture Friday posts.  Click here!

My Romantic Home is home to Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

At The Charm of Home, it's Home Sweet Home Friday.  Click here!

And at Ivy and Elephants, I'm joining What's It Wednesday.  Click here!

Thank you, ladies, for hosting the blog parties.
I know it's time consuming, but ... thanks!

Goodbye, Chlorophyll, It's Been Good To Know Ya

Autumn has its charms:  apples, pumpkins, brilliant color, 
cool clear days, stupid-easy seasonal decorating
(just plop a pumpkin or a mum anywhere) . . . .

But I am not a total fan of watching Summer shrivel up.

Perhaps it makes me think of the skin on my neck, now that I'm past 60.

Oops.  Sorry about the trash can full of weeds.  Not a staged picture!

 Leaves are frisbee-ing themselves off the trees,
most flowering plants have retired for the year,

but our tomatoes are still grunting out babies, trying to outrun Jack Frost.

These guys are doing their best to beat the coming frost.

Yes, we added a mum and a pumpkin to the sunroom doorway.

The Rieger Begonia that was blooming so beautifully there

totally gave up the ghost -- folded like a cheap suit, the coward.

An occasional Knockout is still outing itself.

The Russian Sage is soldiering on.

The bees are all over it, bless their little pollen-spreading hearts.

But Fall is winning.

In the sunroom border, the portulaca is kaput.

Thank you, wax begonias, for hanging on.

I've never much liked you, but you are tough buggers.  Respect.

Hmmm... okay.  A fresh mum does bring new color to the fading garden, doesn't it?

Although a glance down, and the very dead cosmos stalks

make an interesting, Addams Family display.  :-P 
Yes, weeds everywhere.

(Bad back the past few weeks. No weeding.)

But Autumn brings many blessings, as I try and remind myself.

It is pretty.

It brings families together for Thanksgiving ....

And ... then ... there's Christmas.  :-)

Thanksgiving.

Don't panic, my friends,

but it's fewer than 50 days to Turkey Day!

And I am still working on making my TBDBT List.

(To Be Done By Thanksgiving List.  Always made.  Never finished.)

I wish you a happy Thursday.

-- Cass

Country Cupboards To City Slickers

It is handy to have spares.
In our cellar, just sitting around and doing nothing,
we had two base kitchen cabinets, pulled out when
we re-jiggered our kitchen in 2010.

This summer, they got their chance to get back to work and be useful.

In July, Howard and I went to Washington, D.C., to find an apartment for our daughter Anne.

Anne was working all summer in Maine, had accepted a job in DC that started

a week after she finished her Maine gig, and had no place to live, and no chance to apartment-hunt.

Yeah.  Eeeek.

Anne had to trust us to find an apartment, as she could not do it for herself.

This is more nerve-wracking than it sounds.  For all of us!  But ... we did it.  Whew.

Here's Howard on the apartment house's rooftop terrace:

The Washington National Cathedral is there, rearing up in the near distance.

That's where Anne walks, to her job.  Half a mile.  Brilliant.

The apartment is a one-bedroom, with a Pullman style kitchen.

As soon as I saw it, I thought, "Kitchen Island!"

The kitchen definitely needed definition, and more counter space and storage.

When we got home, we (if by "we," I mean "Howard") bumped

those two spare base cabinets up from the cellar into our kitchen,

and they were ready for their makeover, Mr. DeMille.

I treated myself to a new Purdy.

As for paint ... Ralph Lauren, Amalfi Navy.

A gorgeous color, chosen in consultation with Anne in Maine.

....... in progress ....... first coat of color .......

 And ... in the apartment!

(Sorry, phone picture!)

Two spare kitchen cabinets, and an inexpensive butcher block

countertop from IKEA, turned this:

into this:

This is move-in weekend.  Not fully unpacked or settled.

Anne also had the maintenance man take down the awful wood accordian door that could 

stretch over the kitchen, turning the apartment into a motel room.

Looks much better without it, and it's cleaner, too!

I am not a hoarder (shut up, Howard) but some things

are worth hanging on to, just in case.

Like those base cabinets, once part of what we called 

"The Isthmus" in our kitchen.  

Anne's happy in her new job, and happy in her apartment.

I'm happy to have helped out by making an island/peninsula

that is practical, and practically free.  -- Cass

Hooking up with some Blog Parties (aren't I naughty?):

Inspire Me Tuesday, at Marty's A Stroll Thru Life... click here.

At The Dedicated House, Make It Pretty Monday... click here.

Linda at Coastal Charm shares Show and Share Tuesdays ... click here.

And at Between Naps On The Porch, it's Susan's Metamorphosis Monday... click here.

Hey! Is That Skull A Pansy? When Pumpkins Go Bad ....

It was a gorgeous October Sunday, a perfect day
for going to a country auction.  But we did not.

Instead, we decided to be grownups, and stay home.

Yes, it hurt.

But we don't need anything, and we know that even with

the best of "we'll just look" intentions, we'd come home

with a minivan full of someone else's old stuff.

Like this,

 or this,

 or this,

 or, this.

Instead, we puttered around the house, and took our first-ever trip to
Whole Foods.
(No pictures.  Too many wild-eyed well-heeled suburbanites wielding run-a-muck shopping carts.
Too dangerous to stop and snap; I'd have been mowed down.)

Whole Foods was interesting.  We spent about $50 on ... cheese.
Oh, and some olives.  And 2 jars of Rao's Marinara sauce.
Which were an amazingly good buy!

Daughter Anne shops at the Whole Foods near her apartment in Washington,
and says that there are always good buys to be found.  Well, she's wrong about the
pumpkin (see below), but she seems to be right about Whole Foods.

************************************
Meanwhile, back at That Old House . . . 
a pumpkin that we brought home from the North Fork
of Long Island two weeks ago is looking a tad odd. 

It sits on the granite step outside the Sunroom doors, and as we were
leaving yesterday, I noticed that it had started to go bad.
Like ... really bad.

Like, Oh my gosh, is that the image of a skull? bad.

I sent a phone picture to my daughters; Anne thinks it looks like a
pansy blossom, but she went to a Renaissance Faire this weekend,
so that may explain the happy, la-la-la interpretation.

What do you think it looks like?
(If you answer "skull," you are right.  But you don't win anything.)

So, do you think I can sell this guy on eBay for a bajillion dollars
before he totally collapses in a pile of pumpkiny goo?

************************************
From 2010.


And from 2012.


And from 2009, inside the house.

A lovely, crisp Fall day to you all.
Even if it is just in pictures.

Boo!

Join Judith at Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday.  Click here!
In August, Judith accepted the mantle of Blog Party Goddess from Mary at Little Red House,
who hosted Mosaic Monday for years.  And years.  And years ....  :-)

-- Cass

Pancake Imposters And Other Changes. Plus, Maybe, An Auction!

Friday.
You got stuff going on this weekend?
We're hanging here; That Old House demands attention.

It's time for me (if by "me," we mean "Howard")

to bring the Fall stuff up from the dungeon cellar.

You are looking at your weekend, O Dear Husband of Mine.

I am embracing Autumn.

There are more than seasonal changes here.

For the past few months,
we've ditched grains and sugar here at That Old House.

It is a challenge, but there have been benefits.

I can make a fist with my right hand.

That may not seem like much, but for the past year ... I could not.
My fingers could barely bend.  Now, they do.  Easily.

See?

Image from Karen, at The Graphics Fairy

That's one major change since Spring.

Another?

Howard and I are once again empty-nesters.

Our daughter Anne now lives in Washington, D.C.

She found a wonderful job as a costume designer,

a full-time position, and is loving the city,

her apartment, her job, her independence.

We are very proud.

(I miss her.  Especially when I have to weed the flower borders, or cook.  Don't tell.)

******************************

Since we are not cooking with any grains,

breakfasts can get pretty repetitive.  No more cereal.  No more bagels.

No more breakfast sandwiches.  No more toast or English muffins.

No more pancakes!

Every once in awhile, we have pancakes anyway.  Well... sort of.  

Here, for Foodie Friday, are Cream Cheese Pancakes.

Cream Cheese Pancake Recipe

2 oz. cream cheese (1/4 regular block)

2 eggs (whole)

(opt) a packet of sweetener of your choice

(opt) 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Put everything in your blender, and blend the heck out of it.

When it's all smooth, let it rest a few minutes till the bubbles settle down,

then pour 1/4 of the better into a hot pan, greased with butter or Pam.

Cook 2 minutes ... till brown ... then carefully flip it over.

(This is tricky sometimes ... slide your spatula under just a bit, and FLIP.)

Cook a good minute on that side, then serve.  Syrup, fruit, jam, butter, horseradish sauce,

whatever you like on your pancakes, you will like on these.

They are, as Anne would say, "tasty."

Update:  We made these for Saturday breakfast, and I realized that they would benefit
by the additon of a bit of salt to the batter.  Perhaps 1/4 teaspoon.  Sometime you just need that depth.

Will you ever mistake them for Aunt Jemima's?

Nope.

But if you, too, have sworn off wheat for whatever reason,

these are a nice change of pace.  I think I'll make them tomorrow....

I found this recipe on a wonderful blog, "i breathe... i'm hungry..." and you

can find the recipe, nutritional info, and much more, by clicking here.

***********************************

***********************************

Meanwhile, for the first time, I have rose hips on a bush.

Are they used for anything?  Or do they just look nice?

Speaking of looking nice, our front porch Boston ferns are still ferning along.

The one closest to the camera hosted a family of birds this summer.

Mom, Dad, and babies, nesting in the fern.

Perhaps not the brightest of our feathered friends;

we had to water really carefully so as not to wash them away,

and they plucked the sticks for their nest off the front door wreath,

while I watched.  Kinda cute.  Wreath looks a little shabby....

The nesting fern is showing a little more brown than its mates. 

It worked hard this summer!

Now ... go visit Michael Lee West at Rattlebridge Farm,

for her long-running blog party Foodie Friday.

Go on ... click here!

What will you be up to this weekend?

As I said, we'll stick close to the Mothership.

Unless . . . maybe . . . well, we got an invitation to 

a country auction in the mail, and it looks pretty sweet.

It's described as "two houses filled with antiques and collectibles."

I think maybe we just have to go, don't you?  I think I owe it to my blogging friends!

Have a beautiful Fall weekend, ladies and gents.  -- Cass

Dear Autumn, I Hate Your Guts, And It's My Blogiversary!

Wow.  
I almost can't remember how to write a blog post.  I began this blog on October 1, 2008, and 840+ posts later, I have sputtered to a very slow crawl.

For that very first little attempt at blogging, click here.

Me and That Old House took separate Summer vacations.  All I've written since June are some goofy Facebook posts, and most of those were written by my dog Dylan DiPoochy.

Yes, he is that talented.

While I was being a happy summertime layabout,

poor ol' Summer was KO'd by . . .

 

It sneaks up on me every year.

I never see it coming.

Even displays like this one fly right by me;

I don't even see them.

 What is this called, again?  Oh yeah.  
Denial.

It ain't just a river in Egypt, is it? 

A picture from October 2013, our side yard.  And its leaves.  Lots and lots of leaves, and more to fall.

I am very, very grateful that I do not have to rake all those leaves.  Bless the landscape guys.

I do hate to see Summer fold its tent and take a hike.
And leave all those leaves on the ground.
(Haha ... see what I did?)

Yes, there are compensations.

Fall's colors are crazy-pants -- wild and brilliant. 

Seasonal veggies look like aliens, wacky and warty.

Mother Nature's last crazy fling before winter.

And Fall decorating is stupid easy.  You can't go wrong.

Put a mum or a pumpkin pretty much anywhere,
and POOF! instant Autumn bling.

Fall is both an end -- of warm weather, bountiful crops

and flowers, a life outdoors -- and a beginning.

It's the start of the holiday season, with Hallowe'en kicking off

the parade that won't end until it is 2015.  Yikes.

It was a long and beautiful summer. 

Look . . . Can you spot our Dylan DiPoochy in this picture?  :-)

There have been a few changes here at That Old House.  

Those can wait for another post.

Meanwhile, I wish That Old House a Happy Blog Anniversary.

Six years.  That's a lot of chit-chat under the bridge, isn't it?

-- Cass