Lets go shopping

We're back in business!  Locals, come see Connie and Linda and I, as well as tons of other great dealers at first weekend in the Bottoms.  Friday and Saturday, August 3rd and 4th.  We're in the new part of the second floor.

Bed head

When Brett and I met nearly 15 years ago he had an antique bed.  It must have been queen size, but looking back it seems smaller.  The only thing I remember for sure through the haze of our new love was that it was a bitch to change sheets (maybe the bed was full and the mattress was queen) and that while I loved shacking at his house, that mattress killed my back.

I spent 800 bucks (a fortune in 1991) on a mattress when I moved to Lawrence for school, so when Brett and I decided to live together my mattress became ours and his was relegated to the guest room. When we moved to the condo it was either sold or donated, I don't remember which.

Which brings us to the present.  There is something to be said for not skimping on a mattress because we are STILL using the same one.  Its not a bit saggy and is still very comfortable, but with the schnauzers (who expand to doberman size when they sleep) its just too small and frankly has been for years.

We've talked and even occasionally looked at new ones, but the array of styles, materials and prices are insane.  And we're lazy, so we've stuck with what we have and wake up clinging to the edges while the boys stretch out between us. Until now.

My friend Dan has been moving into a new house and through a series of events ended up with an extra headboard, which you can see here.  (our master has not been touched, please ignore the pink damask wallpaper and unfinished floor)  He needed it gone and nobody would buy it at his yard sale, so he gave it to me for free!

It's 62 inches high which is a little taller than I had in mind, but other than that its exactly what Brett and I planned on getting when it was time for a new bed.   Sears (yes, really) was having their Mattress Spectacular! for Independence Day, so we went to look.  We came home with a new grill, but found a mattress we really liked as well. Saturday was the last day of the sale so we went and bought it.  KING SIZE!


Today I stopped at Kansas City Upholstery to see about having the headboard recovered, which turned out to be totally reasonable, so when I got home I ordered four yards of this:

Its Double Feature by Holly Hunt in the "Silver Screen" colorway, from my favorite online fabric discounter, Modern Fabrics.  Kind of a thick, oversized ribbed texture.  I had a swatch and loved it, I just wasn't sure where I could use it.  And then the headboard appeared.


The new mattress comes Thursday, and once the fabric arrives it and the headboard are off to the shop.  And I'm looking forward to a handsome, and bigger bed.

Things I am good at: porch pots

After having the porch and sidewalk re-poured last fall and having the beds built and doing lots of planting this spring, the porch was looking a bit bare.  We needed some pots, and as big as our porch is they needed to be a decent size.

Ace Hardware in Westport turned out to be the spot.  I'd looked at planters everywhere and had money been no object Resto would have won.  That's rarely the case here of course, and we got these (about 2.5 feet tall) on sale for 45 bucks.

The plant selections at the Westlake were dry and sad however, so we were off to our go-to spot for plants, Soil Service nursery.


For some reason I've always had a way with mixed pots, and as usual I went with a lot of my favorite workhorses:  Sun coleus, varigated ivy, dracena, sweet potato vine.  I also decided to try some new things like ornamental pepper, persian shield, and in there somewhere is some plain old rosemary.  The giant firework-like things are papyrus, which I've never used before but like a lot.

They find themselves in both sun and shade depending on the hour, so there's a mix of sun and shade plants.  I don't usually do that but not knowing exactly what to expect in this location I just went for it.  The persian shield (those dark purple things) like mostly shade, and the coleus seem to be big enough to protect them.  One great surprise has been that potato vine.  I've always used it but its never grown like I thought it would.  These seem to like their spots (and the plant food they've received) because they started out with maybe one or two leaves over the edge of the pot, and now they're down to the porch floor.


Another smart thing we did was to buy a couple trollies to put under the pots so we can move them back and forth to even out the sun exposure.  They come in all sorts of overly-ornate designs at prices that seem silly.  These were the cheapest they had at Lowe's and they disappear nicely.


I used styrofoam peanuts to take up some room and provide some drainage at the bottom, and a potting soil that is supposed to hold moisture.  We're in the middle of a long stretch of 100+ degree days however, so I'm watering most every day as things are usually wilted by the time we're home from work.  Hopefully I can keep them alive through the rest of this hellish spell.