Kitchen Cabinets - Do Over!

Another friend of mine was moving to a new home and wanted to update her new digs with some color… She picked a great Alegro Blue for the kitchen.  The color was hip and modern but her cabinets were anything but!  So, she decided to buy all new cabinet doors and paint the cabinets white.  Well, to me this was throwing good money away.  Especially since the cabinet doors there were solid wood!  So, I suggested that I take on the refinishing project and sand, prime and paint the doors that she already had.  Just look at the difference!

       

Tools needed:  Small cutting in brush, Small paint roller w/ foam roller, Palm Sander, 150 grit sand paper, tack cloth, bent nose pliers, wood chisel, putty spatula, primer/ sealer and semi-gloss finishing paint in the color of your choice.

First, I took the oh-so-70’s center panel off using the chisel and bent nose pliers to remove the staples.  Then I used the palm sander and 150 grit paper to give a good sanding to all sides of the doors.  This removed the smooth sheen so the primer would stick.  Then, I used wood putty to fill in the nicks, dings and holes with the putty spatula.  It is very important to sand again to make the putty nice and smooth and ready for paint. 

For painting I wanted to use a small brush to get into the small crevices and the small smooth foam roller to keep the finish smooth (no brush strokes).  Armed with these tools I applied 2 coats of primer/ sealer which blocked any of the stain from seeping through.  Plus, going from dark to light is harder and therefore 2 coats was a must.  Then 2 coats of a semi-gloss finishing paint. 

I am happy with the results and I hope she will be!                   

It’s Tea Time!

Now this is one of my favorite things… high tea in Boston!  I wanted to make a friend of mine feel as special as I once did when an Aunt took me to high tea.  Of course I was a little girl and it was my first time in the big city… back then it was the Ritz Carlton.  My friend and I are a bit older and the bright lights of the city may not be so magical but the new Park Plaza just finished a huge multi-million dollar renovation. 

Appropriately named the Swan Room as the hotel is adjacent to the Public Gardens and only a short walk from the Swan Boats it still holds the magic of a bygone era.  

Well, we both got dressed up and donned our best hats and off to tea we went… as you can tell, she was very happy with the event.  This is a great way to let friends know just how special they are to you! 

For more information, check out their website:

http://www.bostonparkplaza.com/swanscafe.shtml

Decorating Dilemma

My Mom made curtains for my bedroom.  I had picked the material because of the great color combination and she worked her magic.  Well, what happened next was a decorating dilemma.  I could not find a duvet cover that would match.  What I was missing was a fresh perspective! 

A friend recommended I take a color that would match an existing color in the room… well, the furniture is brown… and viola!  I now have a great duvet that even has an accent color that is in the curtains.  Paired with a new pillow with my favorite puppy picture on it and it is an set - Perfect! 

Spring Has Sprung!

About this time every year, I get spring fever.  Can you blame me… rain, snow - it is supposed to be spring!  To remind me that spring showers bring spring flowers… I just have to have some sort of bright color in the house.  In keeping with my usual protocol, I bought some tulips to bring a little bit of spring into the house.

This lasted for about a day and finally I had to give in and start scratching around in my gardens.  There is nothing like a bit of earth on your hands to make you thankful that there is a spring… and look what I found under some leaves - Hyacinth! 

Many of my other perennials are also peeking through including my day lilies and columbine.  I sure I can find a crocus or two in the front lawn… but I am still waiting for the spring cleanup crew to come on by the house… Happy Spring!

The Freedom Trail Part 7 - The Old Corner Bookstore

This little brick building sits at the Corner of School and Washington Streets, Old Corner Bookstore was a flourishing literary center in the mid-1800s. The original building was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1711, and was replaced by the current gambrel-roofed structure built in 1718 by Dr. Thomas Crease.The original building on this site was owned by Anne Hutchinson.  Feisty and outspoken, Anne Hutchinson expressed her views openly about religion and about women’s rights.  She was banished from Massachusetts in 1638 for her audacious views. 

The street level of this house was used as a pharmacy, the upper stories as a residence. The transition from medicine shop to marketplace for ideas began in 1829 when the house was leased to Timothy Harrington Carter, a bookseller. The first bookseller’s business, Carter & Hendlee, was followed by nine similar companies over a 75-year period, the most famous being Ticknor & Fields. The windows of this lovely old building once gave natural light to editors who pored over the galleys of Walden, The Scarlet Letter, Hiawatha and the Atlantic Monthly.  Ticknor & Fields, the nation’s leading publisher from 1833-1864 made its home here, publishing the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott.

The Freedom Trail Part 6 - Benjamin Franklin Statue/ Boston Latin School

America’s first public school offered instruction to boys, rich or poor free of charge here while girls attended private schools in peoples’ homes. The boys-only tradition finally ended in 1972 when girls were permitted to attend Boston Latin. It is fabled that on April 19, 1775 word of shots fired in Lexington circulated rapidly throughout Boston Town.  Boston Latin’s instructor John Lovel was inspired to rise and rhyme “Close your books.  Schools done, and war’s begun!”A striking mosaic marks the spot where the school once stood, and where one if its most famous students Benjamin Franklin attended classes not long before he dropped out of school forever.  Boston Latin School is still in operation in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston.

“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” The-mostly-self-educated statesman and Latin School dropout,  Benjamin Franklin.

The Freedom Trail Part 5 - King’s Chapel Burying Ground

Located next to King’s Chapel on Tremont Street, King’s Chapel Burying Ground was Boston Proper’s only burying place for nearly 30 years. Older than the Granary Burying Ground, in fact, as old as Boston itself, King’s Chapel Burying Ground boasts such illustrious residents as John Winthrop, Massachusetts’ first Governor and Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off the Mayflower.   

Most notable is Joseph Tapping’ s stone in the front of the burying ground where a skeleton and Father Time battle over the eventuality of death.  It is Boston’s most beautiful headstone!

According to custom, the first interment in King’s Chapel burying ground was that of the land’s original owner, Isaac Johnson.  William Dawes, the “other” rider who dispatched to Lexington and Concord with Paul Revere is also buried here although that fact has been disputed.

Adopt a What?!?

Now, this is a great gift idea!  My mom didn’t want to get me the same old candy for Easter… so she adopted a moose for me!  This is complete with a certificate of symbolic adoption and a small plush animal.  There are several endangered species to choose from… but I think she made the perfect choice for me. 

My certificate is hanging on my desk wall in a place of honor. 

In 1985, as many as 4,000 moose roamed the woods and grasslands of northwestern Minnesota.  By 2003, the number had plunged to just 237.  What caused this alarming nosedive? Scientists believe that higher temperatures sparked by global warming have pushed these moose beyond the tipping point.

If you are interested in learning more, visit the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Adoption Center: 

https://online.nwf.org/site/Ecommerce/?store_id=1641&s_src=shoppage&s_subsrc=

Belle’s Balcony

To take a bit of a break from the history lesson here… I found a picture of my little girl, Belle, on her favorite perch!  I bought this but actually, they are quite easy to make yourself!  Sisle rope can be purchased at any hardware store and simply wrap it around a 2 x 4 or what ever you have as a base and you have an instant scratching post.  Of course, don’t throw away those extra bits of carpeting if you recently had some installed in your home or apartment… with a little glue and a staple gun you can cover the base and any shelves you add to your post.

 I cheated and covered this tall perch with catnip and she was instantly in love… can’ t you tell?  She will sit here for hours and watch me work on the computer… often making silent demands for attention!

The Freedom Trail Part 4 - King’s Chapel

In 1688, the Royal Governor built King’s Chapel on the town burying ground when no one in the city would sell him land to build a non-Puritan church. The first King’s Chapel was a tiny church used by the King’s men who occupied Boston to enforce British law. By 1749, the building was too small for the congregation, which had grown to include a number of prominent merchants and their families. The congregation hired America’s first architect, Peter Harrison, to design a church “that would be the equal of any in England.” The new church was completed in 1754. Harrison’s plans included a steeple, which has never been built, and a colonnade, which was not completed until after the Revolution. The magnificent interior is considered the finest example of Georgian church architecture in North America.   The church’s exterior columns appear to be stone, but in fact are painted wood, a cost-saving tromp l’oeil.  Paul Revere crafted King Chapel’s 2, 347 pound bells in 1816, and he proclaimed them the “sweetest sounding” he had ever created.