Goodie

The check battery light came on on my car the other day so I had to have it looked at.  I was worried after already spending a bunch of money on tires, an oil change and to fix the alignment.  Everything's fine!  Here's a toast to having friends who are mechanics.

Does anyone know anything about dishwashers?  That is high on my wish list once I get a paycheque.  Our kitchen has an old set up with the stove on one side, the oven at eye level on another side and a sink squeezed into a corner.  The space in there might be an issue but I need a professional opinion.  I really want to make it work even if it's a tiny one.

You can get drawer dishwashers!  Who knew?

Next question: Some of my clothes are torn when I get them out of the dryer and I'm not sure if it's the dryer or the washing machine that's doing it.  Has this happened to you?   I've totally torn up one sweater and the other day I noticed my long summer skirt had holes near the bottom.  Maybe I should wear them together in a park and hold out a jar.

Third question: Does anyone wants to meet for happy hour tonight at Shady Lady before the The Mayer Hawthorne show at Ace of Spades tonight?  (If you want to go to the show it's $24 at the door.  It starts around 8.)

Listening to these tracks:

Grizzly Bear: Sleeping Ute

Ariel Pink: Baby

These albums:

Tomas Barfod: Salton Sea

Mayer Hawthorne: How Do You Do

Here We Go Magic: A Different Ship

Hot Chip: In Our Heads

Hot buns

This book has been out for a couple of months but I just reserved it from the library.  I'm excited to read some of Hockney's quotes on creativity and art from the series of interviews.  Some of  his quotes over the years are highlighted here. 

If you're anywhere near London, why not check out his current exhibition?  There's a short interview on the main page about the enormous size of his "pictures" and how they likely wouldn't have even been painted had he not been approached by the gallery for this (current) exhibit.  Interesting!

Today I'll be doing some more painting of my own, of the un-creative variety; I want to finish painting the doors in the kitchen and the laundry room and then start on the window frames.  

I've been making the job easier by listening to a handful of shows on BBC Radio 1, including my usual listens to the Essential Mix, and Annie Mac's dance radio show.  Until yesterday I didn't know they had a dancehall show but they do!  All good painting music.

This photo looks like it could be from an anthropologie catalog:  

One old door, with a patch of vintage green paint: $1099.

I unscrewed a weird sliding lock from the pantry type door in the photo above yesterday so I could sand and repaint the door.  I uncovered a small patch of minty green paint underneath which appears to match the kitchen tile exactly.  I am really curious about what the kitchen has looked like through the years.  I've always though it would be a nice idea to have some sort of log somewhere about the different transformations houses have been through, throughout the years.  Our house was built in 1948.  Almost 65 years old!  How many families with different tastes have lived here before us?

Sung to the tune of "Neverending story"

Never ending kitchen projeeeect, aaaaa, aaaaa, aaaaaaa!
It's true.  The never ending kitchen project is still in progress.

This weekend I cleaned the walls, removed the crummy plastic blinds, hammered off old hardware, filled the holes with putty, taped off edges, covered the kitchen with plastic (again) and started painting the walls and the ceilings in the laundry room and kitchen.

I'm going to sew some curtains for the two windows in the back room to replace the yellowed mini blinds that were there before.  The door is also going to be painted white.  Maybe at some point we will replace the plastic edging nearest to the floor and also the floor itself.  In the past these rooms have been painted yellow, pink, green, and off white.  Imagine those colours with faux wood laminate.  Gross.

I'm going to be looking for curtain fabric to coordinate with this red and mint green tile that's in the kitchen and laundry room.

A few that have caught my eye;

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Any favourites?  I like 1, 3, and 4 the best, today at least. (All fabric by Amy Butler)

The cabinets in the laundry room used to be the same colour as the drawers and cabinets in the bottom of the kitchen.  Those will be painted at some point too.

Weekend manicure