It’s been a REALLY long time since I’ve posted a recipe up here. Today I was so proud of my lunch concoction that I thought I would share. You’ll have to excuse the photo. I was 1/3 of the way through my lunch, really patting myself on the back, when I decided it was blog-worthy and so then snapped the pic.
This recipe started with me eyeing a bag of Uncle Ben’s 90 Second Wild Rice in the pantry. I’ve got to say, the stuff is pretty darn decent, especially if you are going to dress it up with some other goodies like I have. I was tempted to eat just the rice for lunch (it’s me in the home office, what can I say, sometimes I eat wierd stuff) but then I remembered that Will had put some left over grilled chicken in the fridge. This prompted me to do a little fridge search where I found …
- aforementioned grilled chicken left-overs, generously seasoned with Italian seasoning
- portobell0 mushroom halves
- flat-leaf parsley
- uncorked bottle of white wine; probably open too long to enjoy drinking
- parmesan cheese
The recipe goes like this:
1.) Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a saute pan; drop in mushrooms.
2.) Chop up left-over chicken into small cubes, add to saute pan.
3.) Pour in just a titch of white wine, enough to flavor and re-hydrate the chicken.
4.) Tear the top of your Uncle Ben’s bag, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds.
5.) Pour cooked rice onto a plate. About now, your chicken and mushroom concoction will be warmed through so pour that over top the rice.
6.) Sprinkle parmesan cheese and roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley over top.
7.) Remember to chew each bite 30 times. Otherwise you’ll be like me and gobble the whole thing in about as long as it took to make it … 4-5 minutes?
Sometimes, an experience makes a better gift than a material item. My Mom’s birthday was last week and she hinted to Dad, who told me, that she wanted to try growing an orchid. Mom’s a green thumb but she had always been intimidated by orchids in the past. Now’s she’s ready. Mom and I, we’re thick as thieves.
So I visited my trusty friend Google to see what was available in the world of Nashville orchids, hoping I might happen upon something special. And something special is exactly what I found … Merkle’s Orchids. Ed and Lydia Merkle run a little backyard orchid business from their home in the Inglewood area. The greenhouse isn’t open all the time. As a matter of fact, it’s really just a hobby for the two of them and they show their orchids at events across the region. But if you use the contact information on the website, Ed will meet you and give you a tour of his greenhouse.
Mom and I spent over an hour touring with Ed. We sniffed orchids that smelled like peonies, coconut creme pie, root beer, nutmeg, and believe it or not, exactly like Fruit Loops. We learned about orchid reproduction, what makes an orchid and orchid, how best to care for them, and how the various species of orchids have adapted to ensure pollination. Some become fragrant only at night to attract the moths that pollinate them. Others smell rancid like a carcass or dog poo to entice the flies that pollinate that species. Still others (and Ed didn’t have one of these to share but we loved hearing the story) use sex to lure in a pollinator … here’s an article about the wasp orchid that looks and smells like a female wasp. The male comes by looking for action and pollinates the flower in the process. How in the HECK did evolution cause that to occur?? Mother Nature is a fancy lady, indeed.
Here’s my favorite orchid from the Merkle’s collection. Never seen anything like it:
Isn’t it STUNNING? And here’s Mom with Ed and her new purchase (plus a little baby orchid that is a hybrid that Ed himself created – couldn’t resist).
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Steal this idea … think outside the box to make a gift a little more special. Mom’s orchid was only $25 but the time spent together and the things we learned were priceless.
Be Green: reduce, REUSE, and recycle
Save Green: like, free
Get Green: no more pesky bald patches in your landscape
Intrigued? Read on.
The first time we saw our little abode, we loved her straight away, even if her paint colors were looking a little dated.
My hubby was chomping at the bit to get started on that landscape tout suite but we were practically broke. The previous owner had been an avid gardener before she just got too old to take care of the yard anymore. So there was some beauty lurking around but it needed some serious TLC. Case in point: shrubbery abounds on the right side of the front porch, nada on the left. Weird, right?
We really wanted some boxwoods to match what was on the right so we put up a wanted ad on CraigsList. We knew this was a bit of a long-shot. Boxwoods are coveted in Southern gardens and we’d heard many a tale of vacations and cars being financed by selling big, old boxwoods right out of the yard to newer homes seeking that “always been there” look. But we tried anyway and would you believe that on the very first day our post was live we got a bite!? The voice on the other side of the phone said:
“We just pulled 6 boxwoods out of a yard up here today. I was just about to haul them to the dump in the morning. If you want them, come on out and pick them up.”
Visualize Will and Julia doing a happy dance.
Except that when my husband drove out to timbuktoo, TN, they weren’t boxwoods at all. They were hemlocks. So our original boxwoods to the right of the porch got moved elsewhere and we become the proud parents of 6 new hemlocks.
Now just about the only thing I can think of that hemlock has made a bigger impression on is Socrates. But while hemlock killed Socrates dead, it totally brought our yard to life:
(Please ignore the petrified ornamental cabbage in the windowboxes. Yes, those are the same cabbages that I planted in December in my very first post and there’s a windowbox post coming soon, I promise.)
Now here’s the real kicker about these hemlocks. My hubbs went down to the garden center to find out what fertilizers and such would make these puppies thrive. And would you believe that the nursery told him that he would sell hemlocks that large for $400 apiece!!! We have 6! That’s $2400 in landscaping for nuthin’ except the cost of gas to get to timbuktoo and pick them up. Not to shabby.
So …
Be Green: reduce, REUSE, and recycle
Save Green: like, free
Get Green: no more pesky bald patches in your landscape
And although I am sure I’m not the first to come up with the idea to source landscaping on Craig’s List, I devised this plan sans rip off or inspiration file. So let’s call this one a Julia Original. Why not give it a whirl! What do you have to lose?
This Saturday is one of Nashville’s most time-honored traditions. It’s the 69th running of the Iroquois Steeplechase to benefit the Monroe Carrell Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. And although the event raises tons of money for the Children’s Hospital (over $8M over the 26-year relationship), I was still feeling a little funny about putting on a sundress and hat and sipping cocktails while my fellow Nashvillians are cleaning up the wreckage in their homes this weekend.
So my hubby and I decided to take one small step to funnel some good to our flood victims from Steeplechase day. We’ve asked our guests to pack a little extra folding money when they meet us for this weekend’s festivities. As we always do, our little tailgating crew will draw horses out of a hat and place small bets. But this time, Will and I will match the winning purse up to $100 and donate the proceeds to the winner’s flood-related charity of choice. We’re encouraging our guests to donate their winnings as well. We figure maybe it will make the betting a little more exciting if dollar amounts are increased and do a little good to boot. You know how it is, a little booze and a bit of excitement and all of a sudden the charitable donations start to flow. Just ask anyone who has ever chaired a live auction for charity!
I thought I would share this idea via my blog in case others want to jump on the bandwagon. If you are thinking of supporting flood victims through your Steeplechase festivities this weekend in other ways, please let me know and we’ll post those ideas here. I’d love to hear from you!
Here’s my final post in the houseplant series and it also is a Julia Original. I call it Houseplant Insurance. Others call it the self-watering pot. I suppose this is less of an idea and more of a purchase suggestion. But I like to think of it as a credo. If you are known to let your houseplants die, you need to invest in some self-watering pots. Those combined with hearty houseplant varieties are virtually indestructible.
So what is a self-watering pot? Here’s what it looks like to the unsuspecting guest:
And here’s what it looks like when you take it apart to add water (once in a blue moon):
That little guy on my living room coffee table is also in a self-watering pot:
When you purchase a self-watering pot, you should realize that the larger the base the less often you have to water it. That one up top requires a refill once every month to 6 weeks while the smaller one is more like every 2-3 weeks. Either way, it’s a lot less to keep up with in the plants department. I found the large one at Urban Gardener in Atlanta. The smaller one I found at Lowe’s. Because of it’s size, it was marketed as being perfect for violets. But obviously it works for a lot more than just violets!
These pots aren’t dainty or formal. They are typically heavy pottery which works for most rooms in my house (the plastic ones are more plentiful but I’m not a fan). They aren’t always easy to come by so keep an eye out for them and snap ‘em up when you see them. A few extra dollars spent on a self-watering container is well worth it since your plants will last much, much longer. Believe me, I know! ;)
Who’dve thunk I could stretch out a topic like houseplants to 3 posts? But that’s exactly what I’m planning to do! Today’s topic represents a collaboration between Martha Stewart and I. It’s one part Martha Rip Off and one part Julia Original. Let’s begin with the Rip Off.
Remember how in my very first post I told you I was reading Martha Stewart in my early 20’s? We’ll here’s proof. I’ve been toting this idea around with me since 2001. Behold Martha Stewart Living’s March of 2001 Find of the Month. Silver Pot Saucers!
You can click on these images and get more of a close-up if you want to read about this straight from the Martha’s mouth. But the concept is pretty easy to grasp and pretty elegant once executed. Use flea market silver plate platters with pretty edging as your plant saucers instead of those ugly, flimsy, plastic plates. You’ve got to have something to protect your furniture. Silver plate is cheap and if it’s flawed it either won’t show or won’t matter. It’s available in abundance at flea markets and yard sales and with a little polish and some stick-on felt surface protectors to keep the silver from scratching your furniture you are good to go. Here’s what it looks like in my house and I’m not even using old clay pots (which for the record look fantastic in the top picture above, IMHO):
You might have noticed the silver plate under the tulips from my roman shade post:
And also under this very same orchid on my mantle in my last post. I keep several of these little gems on hand to embellish any house plant that needs extra sparkle. In the case of my orchid, you get all of the texture of something organic like cork dressed up with the jewelry of a little silver pedestal. Beautiful and simple. Thank you Martha, for the fantastic idea. Consider it stolen.
But that’s not where the Houseplant Bling extravaganza ends. I’ve got a few tricks of my own to share. The first is … drumroll please … moss! I firmly believe that adding a little moss to cover the dirt of your houseplants makes them look infinitely more finished. And it’s totally easy. I get my moss at Michael’s. It’s $4.99 per bag. This is what it looks like:
And this is what it looks like when it’s tucked around your houseplants ….
Valentine’s tulips with ugly foil wrapper (and gift of diamonds lotto ticket from hubby attached) BEFORE:
Valentine’s tulips with red foil removed, plopped into a silver cachepot that’s not even the right size, and moss gaps filled in looking VERY fancy AFTER:
Take note! I did not plant that tulip in this pot. I just dropped it down in there and covered up all of the terra cotta colored plastic and the gap between the ovular cachepot and the round plastic pot with moss. Easy.
And here’s a close-up of another of our plants. Just a plain old plant, looking WAY more finished and thoughtful with a little moss tucked in there:
And this little guy on my living room coffee table. I had received a basket of mixed houseplants and over time several of them just got gangly and crazy looking. This little one stayed small and pretty so I repotted it and tossed the rest. I originally planted it to the side thinking that I would put another type of houseplant in with it. But now with the little carpet of moss, I’m looking for a little embellishment of another sort. Maybe some little mushrooms made of organic material or a few robin’s eggs or a couple of sticks of driftwood. Too much? Maybe. But I’ve got an eye out for something that would look interesting right there and at the end of the day, it might just be another plant. Check it out that fabulous, organic, mossy texture:
But forest floor moss doesn’t fit every plant. I have this awesome little aloe plant that my friend Brandy gave me for Christmas. The little lady was calling out for a bit of jewelry of her own but my usual moss selection just wasn’t cutting it. Well luckily on the same aisle at Michael’s is Spanish Moss. Spanish Moss is a great choice for cactuses, succulents, and anything that has more of a desert feel (ironic since Spanish Moss is a mainstay on the Georgia Coast). Check out my little lady aloe:
Pretty, right? Looks like it was purchased at a nursery, already all dressed up for a night out. Not so! Totally DIY dressed up. (For the record, she was dressed for the holidays when Brandy gave her to me … adorable but looking a little neglected now that March is upon us … wardrobe change!)
Bling out your houseplants! It’s cheap, easy, and makes things look so finished and fancy.
Am I turning into an old woman? I think I might try to cultivate orchids. At the first of November, my colleagues sent me this beautiful orchid:
Would you believe that this beauty only stopped blooming at the first of February? 3 solid months of BEAUTIFUL purple blooms. I, for one, was totally shocked. Of course, I’ve never been known as a green thumb so my shock might have come purely from inexperience. Regardless, I think I might have found a new favorite website and maybe even a new hobby. The American Orchid Society offers lots of great advice on how to successfully grow orchids at home and to be honest, it doesn’t seem like it’s that hard to do.
Tonight, I learned a couple of key things:
1.) Looks like I have a Phalaenopsis (fail-eh-NOP-sis) or Moth Orchid. They are pretty dang common at grocery stores and such and apparently are treated a bit differently from other orchids. The upside? It’s super easy to keep them thriving. If you are wondering what kind of orchid you picked up on impulse, check here.
2.) They like bright, indirect light. I had my orchid on the dining room table where indirect light was aplenty until I decided that it was too gorgeous not to put on my mantle. It thrived there for about 6 weeks so it must have been pretty content, right? Well it turns out that this rich, dark green color on the leaves is actually a sign that it’s not getting enough light. Orchids leaves should be a lighter shade of green. Interesting given that the last time I saw a yellow-green on the leaf of one of my houseplants, I was putting that sucker out to pasture in no time. Not so with orchids!
3.) They really do need a good soaking, as long as they are ready for water and allowed to drain well. This depends a lot on the pot you use and the humidity in your house. But really all you have to do is stick your finger down in the soil. If it’s damp, you are ok. If it’s dry, it needs water. If you can’t decide, wait another day and then water.
4.) Fertilize weakly weekly. The AOS recommends diluting any orchid fertilizer that you get from your local Home Depot down to 1/4 and using that weekly on your orchid plants. Even I can handle that!
Even if you do all of that, your orchid is probably only going to bloom for 6 – 10 weeks a couple of times per year. That is just not often enough for me. So I decided to institute the Official Perry Orchid Rotation. Here’s my plan … I want tall, graceful, blooming color on my mantle at all times. So, when my orchid fades, like this one eventually did ….
I will prune and place in a sunny location and continue to water and fertilize as above. Then I run out and get a blooming one for the mantle. Nashvillians, Creekside Nursery on Harding Place near Harding Road was running an awesome special on orchids – just $14.99 for BEAUTIFUL ones earlier this week. Run over there and see if there are any left!
How to prune:
Off-season orchids are going on my filing cabinet in my office. This way they’ll get plenty of morning light (according to the AOS, this is perfect). And I actually think a grouping of non-blooming orchids will look fabulous here the more I collect. Those dense beautiful leaves are just spectacular, and see how I pruned it down just like the video taught me?
Stay tuned to see if these puppies actually bloom again! Ever tried to cultivate orchids? Have any tips for me?
Move over, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurmon. I shan’t be jealous of your european love affairs. I’ve got a Roman in my life. A shady Roman … a Roman Shade!
And move over Martha Stewart! ’Cause I didn’t buy these shades at Pottery Barn nor from Etsy seamstress nor from Nashville curtain maker. Sure didn’t. I MADE THEM. You read that right, folks, I made 2 roman shades totally from scratch for my very favorite little breakfast nook. And I think they look quite lovely, if I do say so myself.
I don’t know what it is that makes me want to pull out the sewing machine every so often. Sometimes I imagine there is this huge wad of creativity inside of me but there’s some part of my occasionally overly practical brain that keeps it from flowing free. Sewing is the right balance of creation and structure to keep my twisted self smiling. Or maybe it’s just because I’m Southern. Whatever the reason, I find it super gratifying to sew something up every now and then. And this time I might have just made myself a new full-time hobby since my hubby Will LOVES how this turned out and now wants Roman shades for practically every room in our house. He even took all of the measurements this morning! We’ll see how far I make it with this sewing thing.
But first, dear readers, lest you be thinking that it’s time to abandon this blog because “Julia has just gotten WAY too complicated for me”, I’d like to enlighten you on how totally easy this is. If you have a clue about how to use a sewing machine, you could do this project. There is no pesky welting to cover (that is a pain in the a$$), no perfect corner to achieve, no curved line, no complex measuring. Below I’m going to hit the highlights of just to show you that this isn’t that big of a deal. If you decide to take this on for yourself, I recommend buying Sewing for the Home which runs you through all of the detail on this project and many others.
Step 1: Measure, Plan and Gather
As recommended by Sewing for the Home, I measured the inside of my window and sketched out the finished product, calculating both the finish size and the cut size of my fabric. I wrote down all of the notions I would need and the amounts and took this list with me to the fabric store. My first tip to project success? Let the store associates calculate the fabric repeat and resulting total yardage. They will do a much better job of this than you could and you’ll be sure you have everything you need before you start sewing. Then, start gathering up your supplies.
Below you’ll see Sewing for the Home, my sketch and measurement paper which I referred to all the time, a cardboard cutting and measuring board (INDISPENSABLE!), decorator fabric and black-out lining. I chose black out lining because when my decorator fabric is held up to the light, you would most definitely see the ring tapes running up the center of it and I didn’t want that distraction. Smaller windows wouldn’t require ring tapes up the center so regular old lining would do.
You’ll also need (starting from the upper left) drapery cord, 5″ ring tape, and sharp scissors. I actually found my rolling cutter to be pretty worthless for this project so I didn’t even use it!
Next up, the hardware. You need as many eye hooks as you have rows of rings. For me, it was 4 per shade. Home Depot only sold small ones as hook and eye combos (think screen door latch) so I had to buy that. You’ll need awning cleats to fasten to your window frame to keep the shades in place when the are pulled up. And you’ll need corner brackets to hang the shades.
You’ll need a weight rod for each shade (the book spells out the diameter and your fabric store can probably custom cut them to the length you need – mine did!), and a mounting board for each shade (cut to length before I even left Home Depot). And for heaven’s sake, get yard stick. It makes life SO much easier.
Step 2: Cut
You’ll cut decorator fabric to match the inside dimension of your window + seam allowances (all spelled out in Sewing for the Home – no math required!) and you’ll cut lining to match the inside dimension of your windows with no seam allowances. Then you’ll cut a strip of fabric called a facing that’s 5 inches tall and 2 inches wider than your finished shade. That’s all the cutting you do!
Step 3: Pin Together & Sew Facing
Next you’ll pin your side seams in place and press them with an iron. Then you’ll take the lining and slip it under the side seams and repin. You can see a few little pin heads down the left and right sides of the picture below. You will sew on the facing strip, turn under a seam, then sew 2 straight lines to make the rod pocket. Your weight rod slips right in there.
Step 4: Pin and Sew Ring Tapes
Next you’ll measure the position of your ring tapes and use your yard stick to draw a line for where they go. You want to make sure the rings are perfectly in horizontal line. This is another spot where the cardboard measuring tool and yard stick are insanely helpful. You’ll want to pin the heck out of those suckers because they are squirrely little things and if you don’t they’ll move around all over the place under your sewing machine presser foot. But if you pin them at each ring and in between each ring, the sewing part is really easy work. Check out all those pins!
Step 5: Prep and attach the mounting board
Next you’ll mark an X above each row of ring tape and drill a little hole for your eye hook in your mounting board. Then, you attach the mounting board to the decorator fabric and lining with a staple gun. Now you are ready to screw in your eye hooks and get to threading!
Step 6: Thread your cords and hang!
Now all that is left is to thread the cords and hang your curtain. The threading part is very well explained in the book. But in a nutshell, you thread one column at a time, starting by tying off the cord at the ring closest to the weight bar at the bottom. You go all the way up the row, and then across each eye hook at the top. You’ll want to decide which side of the window will hold your awning cleat in advance and thread the cords to end in that direction. It’s so crystal clear in the book.
La voila! Let’s close this post with a few more beauty shots. Yay!
Will and I got engaged in November of 2007 on a magical European vacation with our families. The day of our engagement, we opened up a bottle of champagne in celebration and I’ve been saving our treasured cork ever since.
Er, um, ok so that’s not exactly how it went. We did get engaged on a wonderful Mediterranean cruise with our families. And we did open a bottle of champagne not long after Will popped the question. And I did save the cork. And then I lost it 36 hours later. But, in true glass-half-full style, we just used that as an excuse to order more champagne and do more celebrating. ;)
But what to do with them? I came up with an idea that I think is totally genius. Christmas ornaments! Don’t you love to go through the ritual of pulling out your Christmas ornaments each year and remembering who gave them to you or who made them for you or where you bought them? Well now you can remember those special occasions by immortalizing your champagne cork as a festive ornament for your tree. Here’s how:
Champagne Cork Ornament
1.) Start with a clean, dry cork with the muselet still attached.
The muselet is the wire cage that secures the cork to the bottle (I just learned that term tonight – fancy, eh?). If you want to work with a wine cork that naturally does not have a muselet, you might try threading some fishing line on a needle and pushing it through the cork. I haven’t tried this, but it seems like it would work.
2.) Shape a bow using some cute, festive ribbon.
I chose ribbon that’s Christmas-y but it would be just as cute to match the ribbon to the occasion. So if you opened a bottle of champagne on the day your baby girl was born, make it pink. It it was the day your hubby got into business school, find ribbons in colors that match the program.
3.) Shape a bow, don’t tie a bow.
I’m using grosgrain ribbon here and it doesn’t exactly make the most gorgeous bow because the ribbon has so much body. But it’s just too darn cute to pass up. So, I shaped the two “ears” and two “tails” of the bow and pinched it with my fingers.
Then I used a stretch of fishing line to tightly cinch the center of the bow. Next, I used a 1-inch long stretch of ribbon and a little crazy glue and covered up my fishing line. Grosgrain ribbon will fray so don’t forget to singe any loose ends with a lighter so that the fibers melt together just a bit.
4.) Attach the bow.
Bend the muselet back to make a little spot for the bow to rest. Give it just enough room so it’s snug. I added a little crazy glue to the cork right where the bow would fit to keep it extra snug.
5.) Make it hang-able.
I used some fishing line to make a loop through the ring of the muselet so it can be hung from the tree! Our tree is already down for the year so here it is, hanging from a nail in my office wall. Trust me, this will be WAY cuter once it has a Christmas tree limb to dangle from.
I’m going to try to remember to do this as a follow up from showers, weddings, engagement parties, New Year’s Eve parties, and the like. Wouldn’t it be such a fun idea to steal a cork from a party you attend and surprise the guest of honor with a little momento at Christmastime? I could kick myself for not nabbing a cork from an engagement party I went to this weekend.
One of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, does a similar application with the chop sticks from their ritual New Year’s Eve dinner. You can read about that here. They also mention framing their old house keys in that post but wouldn’t old house keys make great Christmas ornaments too? Maybe with a sweet little hand-written label that gives the address of a much-loved house and the years that you made memories there. Such a fun thing to pull out every holiday season.
So Corks for Christmas – totally a Julia Original! Enjoy!
I’ve always envisioned myself as a domestic goddess. In my early 20’s when my friends were reading Cosmo, I was reading Martha Stewart Living. When dinners at their house were pizza delivery, dinner at mine was Chicken Divan casserole with homemade fudge pie.
In those years, I learned that the creative and hospitable genius I envisioned myself as was rarely the reality. One particular project, an upholstered headboard, suffered dreadfully from an impulse fabric change from neutral and beautiful to bold and busy, not to mention my mediocre-at-best sewing skills. I can now admit that it was super ugly and a total failure. But I chose to live with that thing in my master bedroom for 4 years, rather than shatter my self-imposed identity as the next Martha.
Now that I’m married and living in my dream house, I still seek out opportunities for creativity at home. Decorating, entertaining, gardening, and an occasional craft project are my favorite ways to pass my free time. But since the mistakes of those early years I’ve become a copy cat. I won’t settle for that shitty headboard anymore, I want real beauty, durability, and creativity in my home life and I want the finished product to look like it was done by a professional.
So, I steal good ideas and take all the credit.
This blog is where I’ll out my secrets and share the tear-outs, links, pics of friends’ and stranger’s houses, etc that I rip off. You’ll see pics of the outcome when I attempt the project all by myself. And since my ultimate goal is to create my own ideas for beauty and functionality in my home, I’ll walk you through my journey from ideas ripped off, to ideas inspired by what I see, to ideas that are all my own. I’ll occasionally post tallies from the “Ripped Off”, “Inspired” and “Julia Originals” tags to track my progress.
They say imitation is the best form of flattery. I’ve flattered before and I’ll flatter again. But hopefully this blog will help direct my journey to originality. I look forward to your feedback!
I get compliments on my domestic creativity. But my big secret is that I’m a master copy cat. Give me a chance to decorate, entertain, give a gift, or do a little crafting and I’ll search for weeks for the right idea to rip off. Join me as I redeem my plagiarism with methodical blogging aimed at original ideas. I’m going to out my copy-cat secrets and share with you the results of my domestic schemes. I’ll tally my performances so you can follow along with my progress. The goal? A beautiful, original home.
