Christmas Tree

A couple of years ago, I had the guts to hang icicle lights from my gables, 20'+ from the ground. It looked so cool and I really wanted to do it again this year. Sort of. Mom hinted it wasn't such a great idea now that I'm "pushing 40". Moms are pretty smart. Not only that, it was a reasonable excuse NOT to go to all the trouble.

For this year, I headed out to the Mt Hood National Forest with a friend to cut down my own Christmas tree. At first it seemed so wrong, but upon learning the Forest Service provided permits for $5, I was on board with it.

So here it is....not sure why type. Maybe Hemlock? Spruce? Whatever it is, it smells great!

Pub, Skye

This picture was done by a friend of mine, a fellow fiddle player, upon her trip to Scotland. She was in a pub in Skye on a pretty dark dismal day, when suddenly the sun broke through the clouds. She immediately got her pastels and created this great picture. I am huge fan of the constrast from sunlight to dark clouds, and the colors work perfect for my den. I was stoked when I got this picture hung. Thanks Andrea!

Antique Clock

As I mentioned before in an earlier post, I travelled to St. Louis where my family is based. My mom had gotten this clock when I was just a little kid from an auction, and wanted to pass it along to me. She believes it's from 1843 and made of walnut. I think it looks great in the den. What's interesting is that I had been thinking about getting a clock for this room for some time, but never acted upon it. I even remember thinking as a little kid that this was a pretty cool looking clock. Now, I just need to get it to work.

It will go for about a minute or 2 then just loses it momentum. I'm sure I've winded up to it's max point too. Next stop...clock repair shop.

Imagined Forest

On Labor Day last year, I went down to Art in the Pearl in downtown Portland to support some fellow irish musicians performing there. While having a look at the art, I came across Jim Brown's spot and really liked what he had. The problem was, I didn't really have a place for it at the time. Well, I did but it wouldn't have really fit or looked very good against the beige walls. That is until I painted the den !

Den Revision

Lately, the focus of the blog has been on the dining room remodel. In fact, that's actually the reason for creating the blog - a means of relaying the remodel accomplishments to my ever so curious family in St. Louis. But since the dining room is just about done (chandelier arrives in a few weeks), and I want to keep this blog alive, here's some work that has been going on in the den, or the front room.

Before, the den had tan colored walls, and with the light carpet, the white canvas uphosltered furniture made the room fairly bland. I decided to give the room a little more kick and painted the walls a greyish-blue, as well as the ceiling a light yellow. I am very happy with how the wall color goes with the new floors. That blank wall in the picture below will soon be filled in with some art that I'm waiting for.

Oh yeah - and I also got a new TV. Since none of my friends come over anymore to watch games because I'm the only one with an outdated TV, I had jump on the HD wagon. Though I'm not a big TV watcher, I'm really liking it.

Here's what the den looked like before: