Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Under New Management



       Joe retired at the end of the year. We keep thinking it is Sunday and tomorrow he will have to go to work, or it is a holiday so he gets to stay home. The good thing is I have a fellow crafter who is now my companion, laboring all over the house.
    
      One day he built a shelf while I answered my e-mail (it is not easy to buy a shelf that will fit in the little real estate I have left him) . The next day he was stain-varnishing it. He went out to get another tall shelf and in no time was painting it. Then there was that bentwood chair he winced over when I retrieved it from the garbage. What to do? He found a can of brown spray paint, cut a circle of wood to fit the seat, cut dense foam to fit and covered it. I was excited to go to my stash to contribute the wild fabric I had found last year at Ben Franklin. I just LOVE that chair. He also painted my studio floor and stairs in the basement, put down a rug, gathered pop end tables from my earlier creations, and turned that area into a campy guest room for the grandchildren's parents when they visit this week. (There is a modern full bath down there.) We'll keep the grandchildren upstairs with us and the other studios :*).

      I never know what Joe will be up to next. I LOVE Joe's retirement. I do hope he will be a good influence on ME.

9 comments:

  1. Love the chair! Love the fabric! Wish Ben Franklin were some place nearby! Love all of the activity! Love the way you all are adjusting to Joe's retirement and his homebody presence each day! That downstairs makeover/guest room set up sounds wonderful! It's all fantastic! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How FABULOUS that Joe is having such a good & creative retirement...very exciting for you both! Love the bentwood chair treatment...I have 4 that need some TLC, hmmmmmm!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, Joe is amazing. Love that chair. It reminds me-- I took several old Van Gogh-like woven chairs (that my former tenants were giving away) and put them in the basement.
    KB-B

    ReplyDelete
  4. That chair is amazing! Glad it got rescued. I knew that Joe would put his handy-man skills to work as soon as he retired. So good that you are enjoying having him around every day and so good that he's finding plenty to do to keep busy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the chair! DJD

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your new chair, Linda - and also all Joe's enthusiastic and creative work in your house. The blog is superb. SS

    ReplyDelete
  7. Once upon a time I had this parrot print and loved it. Can't remember where or why, but I'm positive it hailed from Ben Franklin. Looks like you are enjoying your "want to not have to adventure." Keep it up. We've done it several years and it gets better. Basic rule--separate workrooms. Easy for us since I work in silence and Bob likes his music the louder the better. Result: rooms at opposite parts of the house; fortunately the refrigerator and coffee pot are in the middle. We e-mail frequently. Hey, I may need to blog about this. Once again, you are an inspiration. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Linda, your pictures are so clear and informative (worth a thousand words). Joe looks great. Text: succinct, sweet and informative. The chair fantastically wild. Great post. NM

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Linda, Love the photos of Joe and his projects. Jean

    ReplyDelete