Ikea city tour #3

Prompted by a phone call last week and the impending laying kitchen floor tile, we took an impromtu road trip to Philadelphia Ikea to get the kitchen sink and cabinets. Once the contractor is able to get to my home, I decided I wanted to have enough stuff to keep him busy, keep him here and get this kitchen almost completed.

A friend happily agreed to come on the road trip, excited to tour an Ikea. The sink stuff fit in the car much better then the oven stuff/Boston Ikea tour, but we still had excess luggage and boxes which went on the roof ... thanks to the help of my road trip mate and her height making that an easy task.

Were you around in the 70's when driving in the back was ok and even encouraged (well, at least in my family)!? Lu helped me stack the boxes in the back, ate some ice cream and then took a nap. (It takes a long time to organize and load the boxes and kids and dog)
 

Still need to unload the car.  Build the cabinets. Pick a counter**.  And then one more road trip to IKEA, perhaps the one in Pittsburgh for the dishwasher, end cabinet piece and oven fan. So far we have been able to visit Boston Ikea, Philly Ikea, and Ottawa, Ontario Ikea. The Ottawa Ikea was recently revamped, actually, it was an entire rebuild.  Soon Ill be able to browse it and pick up some cool accessories.


**While in Philly, we ate at BBQ on South & 9th. Awesome concrete bar counter. First live one I have seen and it was a beauty. AM now considering.

Green and lush: Puerto Rico

Our early morning view from the villa. Each morning I looked at this while sipping coffee.

Flora around the villa.

 Some crazy ass radio telescope.  Yep, here in Puerto Rico. Often used in movies (Contact) due to its attention grabbing size. The drive through the mountains and up to the top was worth it. There is a short movie (18mins) and discussion and a small interactive museum. See that bridge, scientists walking to work! A trolley runs along one of the cable lines to return employees to the ground.

 Raining in the rainforest.

Thank goodness I packed bandanas - a proud mommy moment (because I didn't have rainjackets, sweaters or umbrella on me.)

 An afternoon at the beach, after hiking in the rainforest.

 A day of sailing and snorkeling.

 Picnic on the boat.

 Whoooopeeeee

 Another hike in the rainforest. My son was disappointed there were no monkeys but he found this and really wanted me to post it.

Views from the top of Britton Peak (in the El Yunque forest). We did carry on and made it to the top of El Yunque.

I didn't lug my big camera up the mountain. To heavy and awkward to carry it and baby toddler Lu on my back. The colours may have been captured better, but my back would have broke.

 Another afternoon at the beach.

 Dinner, petite size.  (Luquillo Beach Kiosks)

Puerto Rico police force (the horse). Hey, did you know Bacardi Rum factory is here ... in P.R. that is, not this actual building in the picture. Ill have to return with an older crowd and go on that tour.

The short vacation was action packed and stress free and after this month long dry spell we really appreciated the daily isolated rain showers; looking up to the clouds and catching the raindrops with our faces.

Sunlight and shadows

Love my "Parisian balcony" and the light that flows in.

In the clouds

Just returned from here. More later.

Poppy pods

A story of actualizing ideas: Wire basket

A long time ago I stumbled across this wire basket and fell in love. The most I could afford to do with it was post up a idea board & share it.

And then, one day many moons later, mid-pinterest hype, a store pinned their wares and there, across my screen, was a very good looking wire basket shelf.  Images of my half-bath mood board flashed through my head and faster then superman on laundry day I hit the purchase button and, not a week later, home came my wire basket shelf and visions came true.

I have had it for several months now and LOVE it!

(Its real over here, I could have styled it but you know, its in the bathroom and this is not only a beautiful wire basket shelf, it is functional too! My tissue and toilet paper need to be stored somewhere!)

Both wire baskets are long ago sold out now (antiquefarmhouse & sundance), but the moral of the story is, EYES WIDE OPEN, you never know when you may stumble across something and bring your idea to life.

In and around the Sumac tree

Walking around and photographing the Sumac tree brought back summertime childhood memories, recalling fondly the sumac tea our adored and knowledgeable camp counselors whipped up.

My son recalls tasting the leaves last year at his summer camp. He trepidly tried it ...

... not sweet enough.

I pushed aside the long grass,  peered into the interior and discovered a roomy & shaded opening, full canopy and lots of possibilities.

It wasn't until the drive home, kids nodding off and momma's brain wandering and ideas merging. The colourful tapestry that I wanted to tie on the fence to create a lean-to and provide a sheltered area in our back yard; a cool place to rest outside on hot summer days  (as seen in the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and if you haven't seen the movie, GO. NOW.) and the empty space Under the Sumac Tree. I thought next time we return I will bring the tapestries and flatten the grass and make a fort Under the Sumac Tree. We will picnic and invite our friends, so long as they know the password. Under the Sumac Tree
 

Before those merging ideas, back at the farm, I was brainstorming other ideas; Sumac and clover, Clover and sumac. I had tired of the name of my blog (Another 100 year old house renovation) for a long, long time. I had started it on a whim while I was in the middle of a long bathroom renovation. But renovations take a long time and my blog had quickly changed directions, renos becoming a small portion. I thought of making a new blog and managing two, but once I started categorizing posts, saving some, moving some over, deleting others, things didn't seem right.  So for now, a simple title change.

Sumac & Clover

Sweetness, under the Sumac Tree

I'll still post about the kitchen renovation and other upgrades, but wont feel the need to keep on track with a renovation blog. Instead, the photos and ideas will be all inspiring, a little kid stuff, a little nature and little travel, lifestyle kinda stuff. And the next time we return to the farm, we will create our fort and see where our imagination takes us.

Farming, back at home

This old farm is from 2003, my son's old farm.  It came with the fence, barns, green pasture and some plastic animals. There are many options out there, easy to find.  Other items here are: 1) a green rug sample from FLOR.com, 2) the wooden grandma doll from PlanToys, 3) the straw hat from Micheal's Art & Craft store and 4) noise making ox, from a loot bag - tube of farm animals

Discarded & decrepit

...well, this tree is not discarded, but it is old, the ole linden tree. my mom hates it. I love it.

around the farm series