go with the grain

we bought the sideboard above from craigslist many moons ago.  as you can see in the picture above, it looks like someone had attempted to refinish both the top right and lower middle drawers.  instead, what they accomplished was oversanding straight through the veneer.

below is my attempt to rectify the situation using my wood sprucing skills.  as you can see, the drawers are still a little off, but in person, this is barely detectable.  in fact, it looks DAMN GOOD in real life.

my sister and brother-in-law recently proclaimed that they had babyproofed the house.

if that's what you want to call wrapping rubber around a baby's skull...

natalie portman is channeling me

the hat, the sunglasses, the wellies.  this is what i look like when i take friday on her morning walks.

my coat may be less frilly, and my dog much much larger, but i think natalie portman is channeling me.

put a bird on it

tiny fake heads

dabney picked up this little guy at an estate sale last summer.  i think it was in a box of random stuff that she purchased for $4.



over the weekend while shooting a house in highland illinois, we stopped at a thrift store and found this other little guy - same scale and everything.



now, they hang together over our woodstove to add that rustic touch (and because we wouldn't dare kill the real thing).



now, i realize how much of a hypocrite i am after making fun of my neighbors and they're fake flowers in yesterday's post.

everlasting flowers

there are a couple of households on the block that insist on planting plastic flowers in their yards.

the yard above is a block from our place. they're very diligent about their "plantings" and change them with the seasons. i just missed the fake poinsettias and instead found myself shooting their late winter fake dahlias.

soon, the fake tulips will be out.  i'll try to remember to get a shot of those once they've been in embedded.

another photography hero

i know i am falling right into their little trap. in fact, this is exactly what intel wants me to do; say this web short is cool and post it on this here blog.

bah. i've fallen for it, not because i love intel. i've followed the sartorialist off and on for years, and i think scott schuman has one of the coolest jobs around.

more dogsitting

quartet

new rug

we picked up a rug over the weekend. it is the thickest plushest rug this house has ever seen. i have it on my side of the bed, and it feels so good on my tootsies in the morning.

unfortunately, someone has adopted it, too.

AT house tour

though a little daunting to shoot, this place was AMAZING.  bits of st. louis architectural history were sprinkled everywhere.  click the image to check it out.

our construction crew fwends

since mid-october, we've had a crew of six guys camped out next to our house/store. they've been systematically replacing old gas lines up and down our entire street. the lines had dated back to the 1920's, so it was welcome work. gas lines that old can't be a good thing.

over the last 2+ months, they've been a constant presence right there outside our door. they wave hello every time we walk the dog, pull out of our garage, look out the window, etc. they've teased us about how big our dog is and the inordinate amount of beer bottles in our recycling. they've helped us move junk from the alley and offered to carry firewood for us.

imagine our surprise this morning when there was complete silence.



this was all that was left of the crew - just their potty.

lemon

"atlas"- fanfarlo

preview the king is dead - the decemberists

npr is featuring a full-length preview of the decemberists' new album, the king is dead. click here to listen.

the free beer express

i dont know what's gotten into me lately, but i didn't take one picture during friday night's festivities. there was a keg, karaoke, and eventually a dance party, but i didn't choose to take one photo as a souvenir. shame on me. the evening will forever be a blur.

after the keg failed to be kicked by the end of the night, we had a couple of people over the following evening to imbibe. and when that failed to do the trick...

...we had to create "the free beer express."



folks texted us their address and we'd show up and fill any available containers they happened to have lying around.  this endeavor ended being a lot of fun.  who doesn't love free beer?

two stops and the keg was depleted.