January 4, 2021 … Monday (before noon/still in pjs/raining)
Bea and I just finished brunch. Her dog bowl is full but she won’t touch it until she’s finished off whatever I’ve been eating. Today was pork sausages and oatmeal. As it is a pork sausage and oatmeal kind of day.
I awoke to the sounds of rain … which in the NW, one would think that is every day in the winter. Not so. While we usually have complete air saturation (everything is drippy/wet/mossy/slippery) … we rarely get a good, solid, nice sounding rain. Today the pitter patter of raindrops coming in from my open window was music to my ears. A light breeze wafted in and I could have sworn it was April.
But, we are not in the midst of spring! It’s early January (happy New Year!) … and 45 degrees. Gray, mizzly, solid rain and twilight days … all before noon are the norm. Hello winter!
Because of covid, it being winter, my general sloth-like quasi-hibernation mood/energy level, and that my schedule has been tremendously freed up due to not working/fewer dogs … on days that I can sleep in, I let myself do just that. I could be Rip Van Winkle’s rival, if allowed.
I am also a dreamer which makes getting up/wanting to wake up more than difficult. I want to see where this is going. I want to finish off this dream/movie I’m in. It’s hard to let a good thing go. I am also one of those that can remember every detail after I wake up and who can rewrite dreams while they are happening. If I don’t like the way it’s going – I just rewind and go another path. It’s great … like a choose your own adventure storybook.
Sometime this morning, after the alarm was silenced and before I dragged myself out (I never pop out! I am NOT a morning person.), I was helping an older woman redecorate her living and dining rooms. I have to say the dining room is as far as I got in this dream – but it was stunning!
I put my xmas decs away over the weekend … leaving a light adornment of pine/cones hanging/draped in my chandelier and small (faux) green-leaved wreaths hanging by black and white checked ribbons in the windows in my dining room. Two of these wreaths are also hanging in the windows of my den. They add a little something.
I’ve gone a bit more black and white this past year getting a buffalo checked rug in my living room and tying the rooms together with my accent colors of mustard (honey dijon not yellow), olive and aqua. All woodwork and fireplace surround are white. My hard furniture is mahogany or painted black. My soft furnishings are olive, burgundy, taupe or tapestry. I have a lot of brass in my home as well (I like the sparkle) and greenery … it’s very comforting and cozy. The check adds a bit of country flair but grounds the spaces together with the black and brings brightness at the same time, with the white. I have a lot of lamps/and some plants have white lights. In this part of the country, extra light is a good and needed thing.
So, in my dream – I just expanded on that theme but this room turned out so beautifully, I think I’ll draw it up later and save it before I forget. Side note … when I was in 4th grade I had a dream about my science teacher’s home … her furniture was all made out of pale blue ostrich feathers! That was the first time I realized I dreamt in color.
Back to the dream … the dining room was a rectangular, dirty white berber (horrid option!) carpeted room with ecru walls … one long wall had a fireplace, the other would (later) have an antique sideboard. One of the two shorter walls had two windows with blinds/sheers (with a small wall space between them) and the other short wall had a swinging door leading to the kitchen (off to the side). The rectangular dining table ran parallel to the long walls in the middle of the room. Pretty normal/typical/boring dining room – except for maybe the fireplace.
Anyway, I must have had my new black and white palette on the brain as I redid this “dream” dining room. The long wall without the fireplace was painted a deep charcoal. If I wanted a statement wall – I succeeded because it made quite the statement! Mushroom taupe was the rest of the room with all white trim and brass fixtures. The chandelier over the table was a long waterfall piece of brass and crystal … classic but with a touch of whimsy. The carpets were pulled up and (of course, only in dreams) the underlying wood flooring was in perfect condition. Nothing that a little buffing wouldn’t enhance it to extraordinary in all its walnut glory (no yellow here!). The windows were stripped of their blinds and sheers and replaced with brass rods and swags of black fabric with rolled edges of black and white plaid. The table was antique white, with two of the upholstered chairs in the matching black and white plaid from the draperies and the other four side chairs being all black. They had round backs and graceful lines. The carpet under the table was a beautiful Aubusson black and taupe with a hint of pink in the roses. It was lovely – trust me!
Just before I woke up we were marveling over the carved fireplace surround I acquired … one of light rose-pink alabaster. It was exquisite. I have actually seen one like this (funny where things come from in your dreams) while on a trip to Wisconsin, years ago. I was searching for a small town until I remembered I hated winter and WI would then NOT do … but ended up in some 800 year old woman’s home looking at her rose alabaster fireplace. It was carved with angels and roses and was the most gorgeous thing I think I’ve ever seen. The stone was smooth as silk and gleamed like some Italian sculpted masterpiece. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And I would have stayed and admired it longer if the place hadn’t stunk so badly of decay and urine. (That story is for another time – but a good one.)
Anyway – I woke up laughing at the name of my company: Les Izmor Design (get it? … Les IS MORE?). It was not any better though than another design company name I came up with eons ago … “Ruby Slippers Design (Redo/Reuse/Repurpose) … Because There’s No Place Like Home”. So kitschy!
But, now I have the itch to redo something! The design desire runs deep in me … maybe someday. That’s a gray area in my life … to go down that path or not. Think I’ll wait ’til it’s more black and white.