Bits and Bobs

Wow, I lost three days in there somehow.  Can't believe I haven't blogged since Wednesday..!!  We started "fine tuning" the last stuff from the move--hanging pictures--and the time just...went.  

It took us two days to drag everything out, assess what we could hang (too many windows, not enough wall space), then do all the measuring, leveling, arguing and figuring out where things looked the best.  Just kidding on the arguing bit.  We did pretty good, all things considered.  I'm an "eyeball it" picture hanger, Alan's more Stephen Hawking on crack: measure from the ceiling, the sides and the floor, then take 45 minutes to align the frigging nail.  Hence, why it took us two days.  Still, today was the final push, and we hung all the pictures we've got at the moment.  We also spent the better part of yesterday getting some other pictures professionally matted and framed.  I'm going to do a wall that's just Scotland stuff.  In two weeks, when all the pictures are done, it will look really cool--and will no doubt kill me every time I walk down the hall.

Here are some photos of our handiwork...

This is one of my absolute favs.  It's an oil painting I bought at the Cramond Kirk jumble sale in Edinburgh, a few years ago for L2.00.  It changes with the light and is just mesmerizing.  You really feel like you're standing across from the loch in the Highlands.  It's now hanging in the living room, under one of the skylights, which adds to the hourly changes.

I couldn't take a photo of this one straight on because my shadow kept showing up in the glass.  Alan's cousin John is a brilliant watercolor artist and we have two of his pictures.  He is now ill with Parkinson's and can no longer paint, so these have even more meaning to us.  It's a beautiful piece.

This is a huge painting of a promenade in Italy.  It now hangs at the top of the staircase going down into the lower part of the house.  It was very, very hard to hang.  I was teetering at the top of the ladder, trying to balance the heavy weight, while Alan was struggling below (far, far below) to keep the ladder steady.  It's a miracle we managed it.  Too bad there's light reflecting back from the windows in this photo, but what can you do with windows everywhere..??

I forgot that we also hung some drapes in the bedroom.  Course, after that four hours with Stephen Hawking, I was ready to rip them from their moorings and stick with the Venetian blinds.  It didn't help that after all our work, the bastard things only partially close.  There's something wrong with the pull cords, or something.  We decided to deal with it another day.  The two pictures over the bed were another find at the jumble sale.  Two original pieces from the 40s.  One is Loch Lomond, the other Hielan' Coos (Highland Cows).  I love these.  Too much light to get close-ups.

Over the bureau we hung another oil painting (and yes, again from the jumble sale...and damn am I going to miss that spring sale in the future.  I got so many bargains and cool things.)  This is an original, and looks just like a place Alan and I went to in the far north of Scotland some years back.  I love the stormy seas and the decrepit castle on the cliff.  Unfortunately, the painting took a hit during the ocean voyage when our stuff was shipped from the UK--the canvas is a bit warped--but once it was on the wall, it looked okay.

In the study, we hung the Chinese silk thread picture, and two cubby boxes filled with my treasures, over the futon couch.  I am so pleased with the boxes as I've never had all my favorite little pieces in one place before.  Being a hunter/gatherer, I've always collected things from all over.  It's a joy to have them on view.

I had to take the photo below while I leaned sideways--reflections again--but you can see into the little cubby holes.  Left to right, top to bottom:

A piece of coral from the Red Sea, bought from a street vendor down a little cobbled alleyway in London; a stone, about the size of a walnut, that is magnetic.  You roll it between your palms to realign your balance; a rock from Stonehenge; a netsuke from the British Museum; Rabbit Staring at the Moon figurine from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; a raven from the Tower of London; Pyrite from the Highlands; shells from the beach by our house in Edinburgh; blue crystal shard from the Cairngorm Mountains in the Highlands; a handmade ceramic bell from Capri; a holy stone from the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne; hand-blown glass globe from Caithness, north Scotland.

And, trust me...there's a story for each and every piece.  Did I mention that I have three of these cubby boxes..??  I have two in the study and one in the bedroom.  I won't go into detail about the other treasures, though I have to say, I really love these boxes...

This is another cool painting, though technically it's not a painting as it's made from silk thread.  An amazing piece of work, too bad the minute detail doesn't show in the photo.

So, there's a brief glimpse into our three days of "fine tuning."  Doesn't seem like it should have actually taken three days, does it..??  There are other pictures we hung that I didn't take photos of, plus factor in Ozzy walks and half the day at the framers and...Oh never mind.  It took us ages, I'll admit it.

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On a different topic...here's a strange thing.  There's a cricket in the bathroom.  For the past two nights, I've been maniacally serenaded for hours.  I'm suffering major sleep deprivation.  And I can't find the damn thing because the minute I get close and/or turn on the light, it stops cricketing.  I feel bad for him/her, and wish I could find it to set it free, but after two nights of relentless chirping, I'm ready to flush it down the toilet.  Assuming I can ever figure out where it's hiding.  I don't mind wildlife outdoors, but I just have to draw the line at my bathroom.

Last, but not least.  Just before we left this evening to take Ozzy on his walkies, I took this photo.  This is also my view from the study.  Think I'll ever be able to concentrate on NaNo or writing the second book with this going on outside the window..??