You may recall that I’ve mentioned painting my breakfast nook a pale, spring green.  Once I got that completed, snafu and all, it promptly became too dark and gloomy to take any good photos of the results.  But now that spring has seemed to arrive, I can finally show you.  I really love the soft color and the nook has turned into my special little room where I can escape the computer and getting a little sewing done.

My friend Susan remembered that I had admired these spooky dead/dying flower prints at the art gallery in Disneyland and got them for me for my birthday.  I guess they are part of the Haunted Mansion decor although I have yet to locate them inside the ride on my visits there.  Anyway I’ve had them for ages and finally had them framed.

Here’s where my antique dress form lives.  The glass globe hanging from the hook was made by my friend Debbie, a super talented artist.

The built-in.  Don’t you just love it?  I get so excited when I see built-in cabinets in old homes like this.

I’ve cleared the counter top of the cookbooks and MS Living magazines and added some more interesting elements like creepy nature postcards in jars (which are, coincidentally, inspired by the magazines that are now tucked away in the kitchen).  In a month or so I’ll probably put African violets in these.

This is a peak inside the cupboard.  The succulents in brown Terra Cotta pots are new.  Perhaps it’s because I’ve lived in L.A. on and off for so long, I’ve come to appreciate desert-y landscaping that I see around the city - something I thought would never happen!  I used to consider myself strictly an English garden kind of girl - and succulents are so low maintenance.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing my freshened up little space.  It’s time for tea!

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/RxuN1eIkiGI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3YOjJFgl3WA/s1600-h/apple-crisp.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_M5dKBd5_Vfk/RxuN1eIkiGI/AAAAAAAAAEU/3YOjJFgl3WA/s400/apple-crisp.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123844950825666658″ border=”0″ //abr /It does not feel like fall in SoCal, but it smells like it. At least in my kitchen it does. Saturday evening was a blissful trip through domesticity. A few loads of laundry and some autumn-inspired cooking. I like to tell myself that apple crisp is a healthy dessert, as long as you include lots of yummy Granny Smith apples (I like my apple desserts tangy), rolled oats and easy on the dark brown sugar. Oh, and throw a few chopped walnuts on top while you’re at it. I also prepped my Lyonnaise egg salad last night: medium-boiled the eggs and fried up the span style=”font-style: italic;”lardons/span (in my case, thick cut bacon). Perhaps, I’ll even stop by the store again today, to pick up a few things to make some roast sweet potato and acorn squash soup.br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1675665682/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2144/1675665682_9dd6fdc3e1_o.jpg” alt=”Pumpkins 2007″ height=”533″ width=”400″ //abr /br /And we got our pumpkins! Green is my favorite. It’s so, I don’t know, ghoulish. Here’s the one from last year:br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/287969276/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/287969276_532ac6967d_o.jpg” alt=”pumpkin-legs” height=”332″ width=”400″ //abr /br /We also got an little white and orange-striped one and a tiny orange one. They’re up on the mantle now. Our lovely, oyster-colored sofa came this past week and the place is really starting to feel like home. Once we get the mirror up over the fireplace, I’ll have to show you some pics.br /br /Ok, I have some crafting to do. Looking at the calendar this morning, I realized I’m a little behind in my, err, time-sensitive craft-making so I’d better jump on that.br /br /Happy Sunday!

a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1392441503/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1109/1392441503_ffe0cd3ba8.jpg” alt=”Linen Drawer” height=”500″ width=”375″ //abr /br /I’ve finally got some pictures to show you! This whole move thing has been such a blur. I haven’t talked much about it until it was actually happening because it all happened so quickly. So, here’s a quick rundown:br /br /My BF and I adore San Francisco - the food (the FOOD!), the break-taking scenery, the fog (ok, sometimes we didn’t like that so much)…we were even considering buying a place in the city. But when it came to his work, it seemed like a move down to Southern California would be better. Oh yea, and the weather too. br /br /I grew up in the Bay Area and I, for a long time, thought I wanted to settle in the City. But the reality is, despite my love of gloomy, grey mornings and tailored wool coats with nipped in waists - I love to be warm. And summer clothes. I guess for some, weather plays such a huge part in their lifestyle and all round comfort and happiness. (So, that’s why I think I couldn’t handle living in NYC. I don’t know if I could handle the snow.)br /br /So here I am, warm again.br /br /I think I’m going to show you one or two rooms at a time, since we are still trying to get settled!br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1393263030/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1425/1393263030_0912b1dedc.jpg” alt=”Kitchen” height=”500″ width=”391″ //abr /br /The kitchen is white, yellow and green - my favorite kitchen colors. Check out the floor! But I’m no longer restricting myself to only those hues, so I have spots of cherry red and robin’s egg blue around too. Ugh, my Water Stop gloves (that I highly recommend) are looking kinda sad, almost time for a new pair.br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1393263210/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1434/1393263210_c16050a079_m.jpg” alt=”Salts amp; Herbs” height=”240″ width=”209″ //abr /br /I have a thing for salt. One Easter in college, my friend Judy bought me a salt lick tied up with a satin ribbon decorated with bunnies. Yes, I licked it a couple of times. Anyway, I’ve made some lavender salt, which is pretty in the jar, that I have yet to use. I hear it’s good on anything that goes well with Rosemary. br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1393263848/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1166/1393263848_685ea3c69b.jpg” alt=”Fridge” height=”500″ width=”362″ //abr /br /I need to have notes and lists all over the house. This cute dandelion notepad is from this Japanese dollar store called Daiso. I glued a flat magnetic to the back so I could put it on the fridge. And I don’t like the timer on the stove so I got this cute blue one instead. Much better!br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1392371747/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1291/1392371747_e20b5b311e.jpg” alt=”Kitchen - Stove” height=”500″ width=”379″ //abr /br /Err, the stove.br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1392371417/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1046/1392371417_d1ec0966bd_m.jpg” alt=”Dishes” height=”240″ width=”193″ //abr /br /White dishes. And some pale greens.br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1393263468/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/1393263468_e4efaf7493.jpg” alt=”Back Door” height=”500″ width=”375″ //abr /br /The back door. It’s actually in the laundry room. I mean, Spoo Kee’s room.br /br /And the full bath in the hall:br /br /a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeriefurballs/1392371029/” title=”Photo Sharing”img src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1032/1392371029_9a2effedc1.jpg” alt=”Full Bathroom” height=”500″ width=”364″ //abr /br /Another place where Spoo likes to park his butt. There’s a community of little birds that live in the roof where they like to cause a lot of commotion, much to Spoo Kee’s delight. That shade, that you can barely see, sorry, is from Ikea. Very cheap and handy. We bought some for other parts of the house too. that bluish-green tile in there is pretty wild but really pretty too. Sort of lagoon-ish. This bathroom is huge, at least twice the size of our old one.br /br /Ok, brunch time, I’m starving. Thanks for your well wishes! I know I’ll get settled in and feel more “normal” soon.