casapinka

Bath Pizza

Does Michelle Duggar make you feel like a little mole with no energy? Me too! Maybe if Husband's work hadn't gotten so busy I'd feel more Michelle-like. This blog is worthless if there isn't some disclosure or honesty, though.  So, you think you're bad? Ever feed the kids dinner in the bathtub, knowing full well there would be no dishes, all the crumbs and face sauce would wash right down the drain? Ever follow it by having them brush their teeth while still in the bath?

Well, me neither. Don't point and judge - it's not like I home school them in the tub.

Rainbow Towels

Between swimming and camp, our towels keep disappearing. I hope these new ones will stay around longer, or at least step in front of the kiddos and say, "HELLO, remember me?" 

Knitting Lunch

 

The knitting lunch was fun and full of wonderful company. I didn't photograph the food because I served shrimp curry and it's not the prettiest dish around. I covered one of our ugly brown couch cushions with this flowered fabric (see corner cushion) this weekend. One down. We don't have a coffee table yet so I rescued a table from the cellar and put the baby blanket I designed on top. The table needs little crocheted leg warmers, don't you think? And the light fixture will eventually be replaced.

We still don't have anything on the walls but slowly it's transformed into a nice common living space. The little box in the fireplace is the Virgin of Guadalupe made out of reclaimed barn wood from Mexico and fake flowers. We bought her at the Albuquerque flea market and she has a very sweet face. I'm glad to have a place of honor for her.

I made a salad in my favorite thrifted yellow bowl which never fails to cheer up a room. Our kitchen is pretty dark so anything like this does help. 

A single dahlia in tinfoil from a friend was much appreciated. Difficult to capture its color, though. I'm now off to do a ton of laundry (next goal - a washer and dryer!) and work on my fun project. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Aqua Yarn

This is the yarn I'm working with today as I chug along on my big project. It's Madelinetosh Vintage in Robins Egg Blue. And a bit of pink,  perhaps.

I was working on another part of the project but yesterday had to rip out an entire week of knitting. Pink, nobody has a 14 inch neckline - what were you thinking? About Pat Benatar, apparently. Pretty mindless for someone who is taking a weekly class in mindfulness, meditation and yoga. If you throw enough pies at a wall, some eventually stick, or so I keep hoping!

And somewhere in all of this - a medical crisis. Forget mindfulness - it's here that I excel. Poor Junior got heat exhaustion at camp and was actually sicker than he originally appeared. By the time I got him home and into bed, he had a 103F temp that lasted all night. Luckily, Doctor Mom mode always feels easy to me -I'm effective. Cold baths, rehydration and sponge baths with the fan on him. The next day spent watching Ninjago and snuggling with mommy and he was all better. Add a shattered lamp, Juniorette slamming the car door on my neck while I was buckling in Junior, and a large fallen tree branch from a thunderstorm and you have a pretty typical week at Casapinka. 

And finally, I just realized I'm having some knitting friends to lunch on Monday. I need to decide what to serve and maybe use this as an excuse to hang some pictures on the wall and get some cushion covers made. This tart is from Sweet Paul and although I have no clue what a tart dish is, I'm going to give it a try. I think I'll do the one with spring onions, honey and pecorino, minus the pecorino for those who don't like cheese.

Pink Yarn

This is a picture I snapped at one of my local yarn stores, Unwind. This is what I look at when other thoughts come into my mind, like: I let the pool turn green...then brown. Guilt. The cat brought a live mouse into the bedroom and I was responsible for its repatriation into the wild. Anxiety. Junior stuck a huge wad of chewing gum on the bottom of my flip flop. Aggro! Jun'ette made Kool-aid on the living room floor at 6am and I stepped in it. ARRRGH. Junior packed a sugar cone filled with pink cake sugar for his camp lunch. Resignation. Oh yes, they are in camp this week and next. Time to work on my aforementioned exciting project which includes this hot pink yarn, Manos Maxima in the aptly named "Shocking."

Pink Shoes

 

 

Inquired the Wife shoe of the Husband shoe: "Honey, does this make my butt look big?"

 

 

 

 

Even for shoes, I bet there's only one answer to that question that prevents the t.v. remote from being pulverized with a hammer. Ever wonder what is said behind your closet door?

Hostess Sno Ball Cake

 

Jun'ette just had a birthday. She wanted a pink Hawaiian Angry Birds cake with Sno Balls but lost interest in the Hawaiian Angry Birds angle. I baked the cake, The birthday girl iced it, and Junior got in and dumped half a bottle of pink sugar in the middle when we weren't looking. Yes, that is, indeed, a Hostess Sno Ball, looking rather like an umbilical hernia. Food with a forty year shelf life always freaks me out. God help me, I'm waiting for them to grow an extra appendage from it. 

Or, less worrisome, to cross dress while playing with fire.

Florimund Wallpaper

 

I'm leaning towards this Designer's Guild Florimund wallpaper for our dark foyer. It's a narrowish but long entry, with little room for  furniture although it does sport a gumball machine from last week's flea market and a fireplace. I love the Florimund for its dignified symmetry and scrollwork. It's pretty. If you recall, we had black and white wallpaper in our first Casapinka and although I didn't get to finish decorating the entry, we loved the wallpaper. It's the same paper that the Novogratz duo used recently and I haven't seen this Wallpaper from the Seventies used anywhere else. 

    

While I love the Florimund paper, I also am smitten with this Madame Butterfly wallpaper, also from Designer's Guild. Tomorrow, while the kiddos are safely ensconced with Husband and Grandpa at our favorite breakfast spot, I'm going to steal across the street to Adler's in Providence. There, I will place an order for one of these papers, only deciding at the last minute. Would you care to leave an opinion? We need a bright happy space for entry into Casapinka and I think either one would do. If we use the Florimund, however, that leaves room for some mighty fun lacquering of banister rails and fireplace surrounds, all of which are painted...wait for it....dark brown. as you can see. 

Casapinka's ugly, depressing foyer. An area to pass through as quickly as possible on the way to the pink crown molding.

Pink Fourth of July

Fourth of July. A day where there is a parade that happens outside our house. We make lots of punch and pink lemonade and hand it out to people sitting on our walls. A day where the kiddos get into the pool and overfill it with the hose. Jun'ette collapses the top to empty out gallons of water and who washes over the edge like a tugboat in a tsunami? Yes, Junior. He's okay, thank goodness (and he wonders why I won't buy him fireworks.) A day where neighbors stop by and ask us to a barbecue with a birds-eye view of nearby fireworks over the bay. A day where the kiddos form a Reading Club and laze in Japan in between swims. A day where I knit in Japan with a lovely breeze (i.e. electric fan) in my face. A day where we make coconut milk and strawberry smoothies with Greek yogurt for our afternoon snack. A pretty great Fourth of July, all told.