Had a wonderful evening last night - my daughter made an amazing Mexican feast - fresh salsa, homemade guacamole, fajitas (sans tortillas for me - on week 2 without wheat. Not feeling a huge difference, I gotta tell you, though I am down 3 pounds...that could be from all the whining..)
First things first:
This morning I dressed in a dress as I was taking my father out for a drive. My dad is not well - he lives in a nursing home and has advanced Parkinsons Disease and now dementia. We like to get him out whenever we can, and since I had not worn this dress yet this summer, I slipped it on. It shows a tremendous amount of cleavage and i am frankly not in love with it. It was an impulse buy a couple of summers ago and is by Nougat London.
Despite how I am holding my stomach, no I am not pregnant, but it sure looks like it in this shot! I am telling you, taking pictures like this is really giving me great willpower to dump the last 10 pounds!!!
This afternoon, I am starting on the clothing. However, AJC (who is away camping - I am praying for nice weather and few bugs for her) asked if I would post some photos of my house. I thought I would do so over the coming weeks.
Things you need to know:
1) I have a small house
2) I have a "more is more" approach to decorating (in other words, all of you wonderful minimalist/clean line people, be prepared to weep!) Magazine quizzes tell me that it is traditional/eclectic, bordering on eccentric I think!
3) I chose the dining room to start with as it was clean!
So here goes: the Dining Room of WMM and Co:
This room was originally the living room of the house. We had to make it our dining room as it contains our massive dining room table, which seats 10. It is oak, hand carved and was my Great Grandparents dining room set. The carvings at the top of each chair are grapes, which is appropos, as we drink a lot of wine at this table. It makes me very happy to sit here, as I imagine the 130 years of my family sitting around it, telling stories, eating great meals!
It took us a while to find a chandelier for this table. It needed to be heavy looking, if you know what I mean (there must be a decorating term for that) and one day we saw this chandelier on sale with, guess what, carved grapes on each arm. Perfection!
The buffet is oak with velvet linings in the drawers. It is always stacked with plates and things I love..
....like wine, little eiffel towers, a painting by my great grandmother, an antique clock with none of the workings, etc...
To the right of the buffet is my little liquor corner. We are not people to store wine, since we are people to drink wine...The hard liquor can last awhile....
To the left is a little antique cherry table which has been in my family for eons... and another chair (they are everywhere - they seem to multiply at times!)
Immediately to the right is a hutch. It was not expensive at all - it came from Wicker Emporium, which many of my fellow Canucks will be very familiar with, but matched nicely with the set! And look - another chair!!!
At the far end of the room is a chaise, another chair stacked with books and an antique windsor pub chair, that my grandmother, who was an antique dealer, bought VERY cheaply in London in the 1950s (you can see part of it below in the picture of my husband). Above the chaise is a painting by an artist friend of mine (you can't tell, but it is of a woman curled up in the fetal position), some antique bird prints and some new bird prints by a talented artist located in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Stephen Smith.
The chaise is too big for our house, but I had to have it.
To the right - my dining linen storage chest, some glasses, some vintage University of New Brunswick steins and the portrait of my mother by Jack Humphrey, who was a famous artist..
Another chair!
The chaise is used mostly by himself:
King of all he surveys (and he surveys a lot) Indy. You may note the hummingbird feeder outside - we have 3 that are always with us each summer and he never notices them. Either that or they have some kind of co-dependency thing going on..
Last but not least, my beloved husband. I have not wanted to put in any photos of my family to protect their privacy, but he wants you all to see how good looking and fun he is. I think he is both!
Have an awesome Sunday - hope you enjoyed the little tour!
Oh I love your home, years ago I used to write "At Homes" on celebs and what such and they were so samey, your house is so so cosy. And I love the bar! I can't drink wine but I'd be right through your hard liquor collection.
ReplyDeleteIs wheat the new demon in the Colonies? I think unless you are coeliac its goodness should be embraced.
I'm waving to your MR!
I have a video of mine dancing for me on my birthday - available to chums!
He'd kill me if I posted it.
Oh I shall share more if you like offline - he has a dinner party trick after 3 drinks that involves his linen napkin and him being a russian peasant woman in the 1800s.. Always a crowd pleaser!
ReplyDeleteOh I love wheat and plan to return to it - I just need to lose 14 pounds and am boot camping it a bit....
I love your dining room and I'd really love to pop around and sit at that table... I'll bring the wine!
ReplyDeleteI also gave up wheat without actually realizing it, I am on an "energy-diet" which involves more protein and vegetables, olive oil etc, grass-fed beef yadayada, but one of the things is to have a Scottish oatmeal with berries as a carb meal for breakfast, then that's it for carbs for the day.
I do feel a bit better, my skin looks better and I have lost 5lbs.
Your husband is very handsome and by the twinkle in his eye I can tell he is lots of fun!
It really cheers me to see your happy home, thanks so much for sharing.
Come by for a glass of wine whenever you like - there is always plenty!
DeleteI am going to try the oatmeal - that would probably fill me up and i love scottish oatmeal! How does your skin look better?
I will tell him you think he is handsome and he will be insufferable!
My skin looks less wrinkled not kidding! I think my diet was a bit low in fat and protein, that really shows on the skin. My goal is to not look like the Crypt Keeper as I get older. Oh I regret the sun damage when I was a kid, I was always red as a lobster!
DeleteOh I want to amend my comment on your previous post, I've got 16 items actually, I ordered some Brora cashmere on sale this weekend in pink and brown!
Thank you so much for the tour of your home, WMM! I absolutely love that your dining room table has been in your family for so many years! My great-grandparents passed away (except my great-grandmothers on my mother's side) before I was born, and my father's parents moved around a lot, so there have not been many family heirlooms passed down in my family. I sure could use a table that size for my brood though! Looks like I need to put that on an entirely separate shopping list! Better yet, I should ask my hubby to build me one. That is going on my honey-do list now. ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dani that Mr. WMM is very handsome and looks like a lot of fun! Didn't you mention before that he is 6'3"? He looks tall in this photo. My hubby is 6'5", and my 13 year-old is already close to 6 foot tall...see why I need a dining room table like you have?
Thanks again for such a lovely and entertaining post! Enjoy your Sunday! :)
We are all full up with heirlooms here - I am very lucky and i know it!
DeleteMy husband is indeed tall and my so in 6"4"! My daughter is 5'7" - I am the shrimp at 5'2" - it will be interesting this weekend when we go to Boston - 5 of us (we are taking my son's girlfriend along, too!) are going to Boston - will be a bit cramped and I will likely be stuck in the back seat as I am so darn small.. sigh...
I brutalized the closet this afternoon - got rid of stuff to the charity bin and am putting nice things up for sale tomorrow on the mothership. I am clearing it out in anticipation of the next phase - "the wardrobe renovation" which henceforth shall be known as "Would Rita wear this?" "Would my fellow bloggers let me wear this?" I don't have much of a plan yet, but am counting on you all to help me get there! I am starting to get excited!!
What a nice house! Your "more is more" philosophy makes me laugh. I always mean to be modern and minimal with the house but there isn't even a corner of it that looks that way. More is more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cate! I am content so long as the more has meaning, if you know what I mean!
DeleteI love the stories behind your furnishings, and that room is so warm and inviting, I can see much good food and laughter in it. Your husband looks to be so much fun, just like you. And I agree he is indeed handsome.
ReplyDeleteI went into a little panic this afternoon because I came across some J.Crew suiting that may be the crepe wool, I'm not sure. But if it is, what I told you on the JCA is not accurate. IF what I'm seeing is the crepe, it is NOT of thicker threads and heavier/more wintery. It is actually light and lovely and has a really nice drape and probably more wrinkle resistant than the gabardine. If I was previously mistaken, I hope you weren't counting on a heavier suit due to what I said. :/
I don't think wheat is necessarily bad. I think it's the refined and overly processed wheat (white, bleached, and enriched is not what it sounds like) that can be so damaging to one's health. And health really should be the goal as opposed to weight gain or loss. OK, I'll stop my little lecture now ... ;)
Thanks for the tip on the suit - haven't ordered anything yet - am cleaning things out before I begin to replace!
DeleteYou are right about health being everything! I am re-calibrating everything and feeling very healthy indeed!
Love all your furnishings! Hate when I feel uncomfortable with too much cleavage! I just tried on a great work dress at J.Crew Factory...except for the fact that the v-neck was ridiculously low. I guess you could layer a cami but why can't designers realize too much cleavage is not something most women want?
ReplyDelete