while the cold weather insists on continuing, i’ve been desperately planning a new and improved garden for as soon as the ground thaws. raised beds, more space, new varieties of plants…yeah, i have big plans. but nothing in my wildest dreams could even begin to be as cool as this garden that was created by flora grubb gardens:

a vertical garden panel filled with succulents. that equals awesome brilliance, in my book…i just wish i had the space (and money) to have one at my house.

with the most wonderful light fixture in the world!

you were probably expecting something a little more personal after that subject heading, but i can’t help it-i’m a fickle girl when it comes to light fixtures, and when i find one that really suits my fancy i want everyone to know about it!

let me back up.

the chandelier that we had in our dining room was nice.

it was fine.

it was…blah.

yes, it provided enough light to eat by and was a lovely little lamp, but, having bought it almost 8 years ago, we and our dining room had both sort of outgrown it. but, honestly, i’m not one to shop around for new chandeliers just because, but, but…but i sort of found one.

and i sort of fell in love.

and then i sort of imagined that i could build it myself using copper pipe, part of an old piano leg, binder clips, and barrel hoops.

and then i came to my senses, realized that the stupid lamp was on clearance, and i should just buy it already.

so last week, my dad (after being bribed with cranberry white chocolate scones) came over and helped me install it.

and i love it.

the actual structure of the light is very simple (and ugly), as i discovered when i was trying to convince myself that i could be macgyver.

obviously, it has to be dressed to be attractive/interesting/worthy of my dining room, so i took some old pages from some encyclopedias and random other books that were falling apart and went to work.

not willing to just stick normal book pages up there (because how horribly ordinary and everyday would that be? i shudder to think), i dipped them in melted wax to make them translucent and give them a pretty sheen, even when the light is not on.

it also helps the pages have a little bit more weight and substance, so they won’t curl and go crazy when they’re clipped to the light.

see the difference? the top has been dipped, the bottom has not. and they are from the same book, just to give you a fair comparison.

anyway, after i had all the pages i wanted dipped, i went ahead and started to dress the chandelier, and i have to admit i had a lot of fun doing it.

this little area amuses me-i had found an old newspaper fragment that looks like the headline reads “boston”, where my darling husband often runs off to to see basketball games. under that i put “a mother’s schedule” that i took from a 1940’s “mothering encyclopedia”, where, among other things, it reminds mothers to take their children out from 10 a.m. to 1145 a.m. to enjoy “lots of fresh air and as much sunshine as possible”. and under that i hung an encyclopedia page about liquor.

my humor is subtle, but it’s there.

in fact, i had so much fun making these little layers that i’m sure it’s something that i’ll mess around with pretty much constantly, so i guess you’ve been forewarned-if you’re one of the lucky few who come over for dinner from time to time, you may never sit beneath the same lighting fixture twice.

but even though this may feed into my obsessive need to never leave good enough alone, and it may in fact encourage the rest of my family to 1.buy more books and 2. rip them apart (i’m looking at you, bug),  i love the fact that it’s truly one of a kind and reflects our personalities so perfectly.

sure, it  may not be right for everybody, but it sure is right for us.

once again, we have been beset by colds. it’s a nasty cold, once again hitting bug the hardest. we’re on day 11 of it now and, while we have ups and downs, it really hasn’t changed too much since day one. runny noses, stuffy heads, coughs-all still present. unfortunately.

scout has of course ended up with her fair share, as well, although thankfully nobody has had to miss school.

so the prescription from dr. mama includes lots of water, lots of rest, and lots of snuggling until everybody gets better.

that much, at least, we can do.

so much can change in a few years. behold-this date in 2008:

and yet, so many things can stay the same:

exactly, exactly the same.

i love a bright moon.