In a new light

Filigreed amber lace illuminates our front hall tonight for the first time -- our new Moroccan lantern hung today by Doug is making me fall in love with this house all over again. The smallest details can sometimes make the biggest impact. The vision of the house as a wanderer's retreat - a collection of our travels and tales - a place to plan new adventures - it seems attainable, in existence even, when you see the delicate shadows play over the stairwell.

Upstairs

We bought this house knowing the upstairs would be kid-land - we knew the living space up there would be perfect for our brood to play and romp and enjoy - little did we know that we would spend all of our time up there too...

It is fabulous to be surrounded by toys and cushions and SPACE to play and relax with the babes and Olv. There isn't too much up there yet except in the "kids' living room" as Oliver calls it. There are 4 bedrooms, two other "bonus" rooms, and the strange outdoor/indoor atrium up there and only a couple of spaces have any furniture in them - but we still roam about up there and really live in the whole kid floor most of the day.

Spring

It is lovely to see the yard coming into itself this spring. The babies are really enjoying being outside in the park-like front yard. I need to get some photos of the trees all leafed out but I am always sequestered in the patch of grass that we have semi-fenced in the very front. The tiny slide and old brownie trays filled with water have been our daily entertainment. Roses are such an unexpected bonus - they were never in flower all the months we looked at the house prior to buying. They embody this neighborhood to me - every time I see the big. pink showy blooms I just smile. There are also four giant red bushes on the other side of the guest house - but these pink ones are right by the front entry - the personal, house roses to me!

Little things

Boxes are still stacked in the garage, furniture pretty much missing from the entire upstairs, closets completely useless still - yet I find incredible solace in arranging tiny groupings of my favorite things - this is living to me - being surrounded by your inner self as reflected in the world you've collected.

Stair risers

Stair Risers - what to do with them... (eventually of course!) Classic neutral risers with darker treads? Or the subtly colored ones with deep treads? Both images from the gorgeous Dos Gallos site which is so incredible - I covet their sources for all that incredible wood. I will save the fun tile patterns for the back staircase - but the front should have these Spanish/Californian undertones.

Oliver at Osman's Istanbul

Oliver at Osman's Istanbul, a photo by bubblebubbletootootchickenandacowboy on Flickr.

Wistful for Turkey...

It's killing me to think that I am giving my kids a great house, yes... - but that the expense of it is robbing them of the travel that Ollie got to enjoy in his youngest years. Am I doing the right thing? Ugh - it plagues me.
Somehow I have to figure out how to afford both. The twins have already set us back more than a year with no trips. I hardly feel like myself.

Yusuf's - Beysahir outside Konya, Turkey

Yusuf's - Beysahir outside Konya, Turkey, a photo by bubblebubbletootootchickenandacowboy on Flickr.

Thinking about how chaotic moving has been - trying to find the beauty in the still jumbled mess....
This is a shot inside a fabulous warehouse outside of Konya. We buy old crusty pots, wheat threshers, mortars, hammam basins, and all sorts of treasures here. As you walk in this crazed collection greets you under the stairs - I love it...

Book nook

Just found this incredibly cute book nook tucked into a stair landing. What a great idea - I am now rethinking my front staircase... Although in reality this is too cutesy for us - but perhaps there is some way to make it exotic and a little mysterious...

Wall planning

We have some new pets at the house - a pair of ducks that have been coming to visit the pool the last few days. Oliver has been very generous with the ends of our bread, crusts, and I am sure part of his own toast each morning. Now that Luna and Bean, and even Subtle are back with us from Linda's we have quite the menagerie...

Today we are starting to get quotes for the extensive block walls we need around the entire property. Behind the pool in the duck photo you can see the most glaringly obvious spot where we need a wall asap. Doug and Jesse tore out a tangle of old, dead oleanders and now the lovely chainlink fence is all that stands between the pool (which has blued up considerably - yea!) and the abandoned alley behind it.

In the next photo with the twins you can see wall area #2 in priority. There is a stand of dead, low bushes that used to semi-enclose the front mini-lawn area in front of the house. Here we want to build a three foot wall with some cool gates to keep the kids from traipsing out into the big yard.

The #3 wall area will be the front of the whole property along 7th St - see the previous post about solid teak doors from India - and compare the old rusty iron one I found yesterday in the next pic. This open option is still big enough to drive through but is half the price of the wood option. What do you think? I am torn...

The #4, 5 and 6 area for walls --- lordy - what a long haul this is going to be!

Finally the last images are of gates I am thinking of using in the front, low wall. The simple piece of iron jali could be a wall inset while the gates would be the main access point to the front mini-lawn and actual front door. Which ones are cooler? I am drawn to both - the light pair for the curve and the lower pair for the more exotic wood jali work.