fiddi's Profile

Water pik and electric toothbrush are getting a new home. They were both on the counter. I just ordered a narrow chrome "laundry rolling organizer" with adjustable shelves. It will fit between the wall and our vanity with the electrical plug above that area. As there are adjustable shelves, I plan to put my bathroom trash can on the floor with the first adjustable shelf above with clearance. Then, I'll put the toothbrush and water pik on the top shelf.
This will move them off the counter, next to my vanity, and still accessible & visible .... but OFF THE COUNTER! yippee - hope it works. The little shelving unit is being shipped to me.

We have hosted large family sit-down dinners and usually hired a couple service people to assist. This year, with the economy and a couple family members looking for work, we decided to provide all the food, but not the service. My husband and I aren't extroverts, so we enlisted my extroverted brother to play our expediter (we're 50-60+). I would just say I need someone to put ice water in the glasses on the table, and two family members for a to plate a course. One person would build the shrimp salads and another the Caesar salad, and a third to take them around.

He loved pointing at a family member and saying "YOU!" ... report to your Aunt! Brother would assign tasks according to ability and age so that each person would be able to participate and help. It was fun and no one was asked to do anything out of their skill range or burdened with too many kitchen or serving chores. We had people set out courses, retrieve and clear dishes, take "orders" when we offered a selection of tamales (vegetarian, chicken, beef, pork). People filled water glasses, setup condiment bowls and chip bowls for the table, took orders, cleared plates and served courses, drinks, and dessert. Nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles rotated through the kitchen and dining room so we, as hosts, got to chat for a minute or two with each person while our hands were busy.

While we rotate hosting duties throughout the year at each others homes, and we often share out the dishes, this is one of the first times we've really had the "kids" help. I think it may become a tradition. For the past few years, my husband has also asked (a week or two ahead) one of the nieces or nephews to stand and share a welcome greeting. He's preparing them for the future of giving toasts and it's lovely to hear their thoughts and insights. Happy Holidays!

With a thin kitchen towel wrapped around it, I use a skewer to help dry out the inside of narrow necked bottles and wine decanters. For me, drying prevents water spots, so I don't just let my decanter air dry. Twisting a towel around doesn't reach all the inside surface, so using the skewer presses the towel into the damp areas.

In the first week video, Maxwell mentioned finding an inspirational piece that had been professionally designed, and use that as your inspiration. Our LR & DR rugs are Red Sarouk. Deep red with accents of yellow, green & blue. We have warm, yellower wood floor surrounding & yellowish almond on the walls, so I've been adding brighter spots of yellowish silk pillows. Now I'm thinking of adding some pops of cooler blue & green. The color wheel discussion is sending me to examine our rug accent colors and bring them out more around the room.

If you've been looking at a black box for the video, try changing your browser. Instead of firefox, open the link in IE.

I would be tempted to go medium silver-grey for the walls, and pickup some sparkle with silver accents or mirrored pieces.Keep the curtains and lose the rug. Go Hollywood glam. Get chandelier. Keep Klimt. But, then I like the cave. I think the turquoise bed would work with the hollywood silver-grey-crystal-mirror and glam look.

My husband has very sensitive skin (medicine side effect) so we invested in an Yves DeLorme duvet with shams and boudoir pillow. We use fitted bottom sheet along with duvet. French luxury duvets are several hundred dollars. However, we've had it for six or seven years, and it just gets softer with washings. It was their petunia design - creamy white background with bright crimson petunias and muted greenery. Very lovely. After tiring, though, and not wanting to spend hundreds just for a different look, we bought a matelesse king bed spread that goes to the floor. Takes me about 4 minutes to make bed. Simple and fast. Nice to have a change, but the softness of nice linens.

To see kitteh picture click on the link for Reader Dale Mackey in the first sentence above. Scroll down her page to her December 7th post and see the new kitteh stretchin' it out.

This is very similar to our house. Our house is a darker grey side with light grey roof. The trim is white, and the garage door is painted white. Red front door. We like it; it seems like a crisp business suit. The former owner put up a white picket fence and bay window with white window trim. Landscaping softens. We have single front stair and need to put up an awning or build on a front porch overhang to keep rain off guests.

The younger set at our family Christmas dinner, are served peppermint hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows.
I then send home the extra chocolate mix and some marshmallows in a dessert basket for each family. I usually bake a dozen types of biscotti, cookies, holiday mini-cakes and the family fudge. Keeping alive the family tradition of having homemade goodies at each house that remind us of our Mom's yearly open house parties and using her recipes.