Progressive Decorating!

   Back in September, I decorated an odd, little niche in our bathroom.  Since it was fall, the theme had to fit.  So...a split gourd, some dried flowers (plus a couple of silk ones) and a lantern filled the space perfectly.  Then came along October with Halloween and November with Thanksgiving.  Everything stayed the same except I added a couple of tiny pumpkins.  I was beginning to like this idea of progressive decorating!  Now, Christmas has sneaked in and caught my pumpkins by surprise!  It was time to change.

  It took a grand total of about two minutes to transition into a different holiday!  Out came the fall leaves and orange flowers.  Away went the pumpkins!  Those would never do for Christmas!  A nice bow in red and black plaid topped the lantern, pinecones replaced the pumpkins and a wooden cardinal came to visit.  Greenery was poked into the gourd and a crocheted doily made by my grandmother provided the perfect base.  It is nothing fancy but neither am I nor is the Little Bayou House. I am sure others would have much better ideas of how to deal with this weird spot but this suits me fine.  Progressive home decorating is the way to go!  

It is Autumn Enough!

   It seems that autumn can never come soon enough for my taste.  Let the calendar roll around to May and I am wanting to decorate for fall and Halloween.  Most of those decorations can easily spill over to Thanksgiving so why not get an early start?  If it would not be for Son reminding me that we have spring and summer, I would just as soon jump right into fall after winter.  Who needs the other seasons?  Well, I guess we all do but still....

  Not feeling the best today, I decided that a bit of orange would be the perfect remedy and I knew the ideal place to start sneaking  decorations into place!  There is this funny little wall niche in the bathroom.  It is actually a place where a tiny window was removed years ago.  Instead of trying to "cover over" the void, I decided to put it to good use.  It is pointless to view it as an eyesore.  It is better to simply draw attention to the spot!  I usually hang a wreath in the niche year round but change up during the holidays.  I had a "vision" for the niche for autumn.  

  A wall sconce vase was created from a split gourd.  To this a few dried and artificial leaves were added and a bit of Spanish moss was tucked beneath.  An old lantern was the finishing touch.  Voila!  My first autumn decorations were in place.  Since the bathroom has black trim, orange and black towels, pumpkin and black cat soap dispensers were an easy choice to round out the decorations.  One room down and the rest of the house to go...but I am inspired!  Let Autumn begin!  I feel better already.

Its Rough Without A Bathroom!!

  At about 7am, Mark and I were discussing the plans for the day while we leisurely sipped a cup of coffee.  "Well, we really need to check that toilet. It is starting to have a tilt." I mentioned.  Mark agreed and said he would run to the nearby home store to get parts.  He and Son started in on the project within the hour.  Thinking it was just the wax ring that seals the toilet, they carefully removed the thing.  Well, that was the beginning.  Here it is 9pm and I still do not have a bathroom.  There is a huge gaping hole where it once was.  One thing led to another and the small task turned into a major ordeal.  This would not be so bad except...we only have the ONE bathroom!

  Once the toilet was removed, the menfolk noticed that the floor boards were a rotten.  "Lets pull it up and fix it right." Mark said as he started out the door to the store.  Son started removing boards.   I made the comment that "It could be worse!  We could find termites!"....Yep.  Big mistake.  While we did not find any active termites, the damage had already been done.  Son kept pulling boards.  I kept hauling boards out the back door.  That led to us pulling out the vanity.  Uh, oh!  The pipes had corroded and were crumbling!  So, now I had no commode nor lavatory.  I did however have an "open air" look to the bathroom.  Without the floor boards, the ground was now clearly visible. Mark ripped out the pipes and headed BACK to the store for lavatory parts. He came back with a new vanity and toilet!

  So...one thing led to another and the bathroom is now receiving an entire makeover..not that I wanted one.  We are all exhausted.  The menfolk are working diligently to get the room at least critter-proofed for the night and to get us a working toilet.  The rest can be done tomorrow.