One Man's Trash

This post is dedicated to some of the random things found in our apartment on move in day.  Some things aren't so much random as they are simply, in my opinion, ugly.   

1. Can anyone tell me what this thing is?  A vase?  A candle holder?  A bird bath?  The vessel used to hold holy water in a Catholic church?  That last one might be true, this is Ireland after all! 

2. This next one I get, but it's just so weird.  There were actually four of these in total, one on each of the sides of the sofas.  It's an end table, which measures about 6"x6".  I guess just big enough to rest your beer!

3.  OK, this is one we all know well.  At least the scale is correct, but come on!  Many of you had this same lamp back in your dorm room in college.  If you still have one of these lamps, I'm sorry, but it's time to give it up.  Maybe you could donate it to local college student. They're poor and can always use the light to study by.

4.  This is my favorite. You probably saw these in the pictures of the last two post.  Three in total!  Out plowing the fields and can't decide what to do with those extra sheaves of wheat?  Kirklands special isle five!  Three weeks later and we're still picking up red straws from the floor!

5.  Fancy Art!  It's 3D!  Miniature flower pots? Jam? Cherries?  I don't get it.

6.  This may very well be some expensive handwoven antique tapestry.  However, if it is wouldn't you take better care to display it?!  See how it has come un-taped and is falling down behind the glass.

7.  This in only one corner of the bathroom.  I get it when people choose to paint only one wall as an accent or statement, but that is not the case here.  What you can't see is the opposite wall is also green, as well as one other random wall in the bathroom.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind it.  Maybe they ran out of green paint?

8.  Nothing so wrong here.  The love seat is actually kind of cute, but the pillows with the Chinese characters have got to go!

9.  Here is another one that is perfectly functional, but pretty much too ugly for me to look at everyday.  Were those wheels stolen off of a grocery cart?!

Needless to say all these items are now gone!  No, I did not throw out my land lady's things.  Just because I don't care for them is no reason to put them in the dump. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right? The "trash" is now residing in a small storage closet we have access to.  Along with what I've shared here are several other things not pictured, such as crappy rolling desk chair, a broken wicker chest, pretty much every piece of artwork, random small accent lamps, and a faded cheap chair that was in the bedroom. 

I'd love to hear any other quips or captions for the above photos.  I wasn't feeling particularly funny when I wrote this.  I know someone out there can do better.  So if you've got one please share!

Window Treatment

One of the first things on my apartment transformation list was to do something about the curtains in our bedroom.

The fabric is actually very nice, but it was dark and heavy feeling, especially with the dark red wall to wall carpet in the room.  The previous tenant must have felt the same way because he removed the panel of fabric hanging behind the bed.  He actually left it wadded up on top of the wardrobe, in case you were wondering what that was in the picture.  As you can imagine we opted not to put that fabric back up!

So what to do about the curtains?  My initial thought was to hopefully replace them with an inexpensive find. Two problems.  Number One, finding ready made drapes that were long enough, and number two, even if I did find them, inexpensive or not, they still cost money. Spending a little here and there to spruce up our new digs is ok, but I have to consider carefully each purchase.  Do I really need it, and can I take it with us on our next move.

After a lot of thought and a little pouting we decided new drapes were not in the cards.  But that still left me with the problem of dark red drapes that I didn't want to wake up to every morning!  The solution?  Turn them inside out.  The lining of the drapes is simple and neutral, not too far off from what I would have replaced them with if that's the way we would have gone.  Here is a picture of Adam up on a ladder turning the drapes around.

During the process we decided the windows needed cleaning.  And while we were at it we decided to wash the white sheers as well.  What I'm about to show you may just freak you out a bit.  It gives me the creeps just looking back at these photos.  Here are a few photos I snapped during the cleaning process.  As I promised a few weeks back I plan on sharing the good, bad, and even the ugly.  So here is the bad and the ugly.

Here is another little doozie for ya'.  A side by side comparison of the sheers we took down and washed.   The clean one is obviously on the left!  No photoshop was used to alter this photograph.

After both sheers were washed, we rehung them and turned the drapes inside out.  We did have to rehang the valance, which I'm not a fan of, but I am hoping to come up with a creative fix for that as well.  So here is what it looks like now.

If I ever get around to it and can figure out an inexpensive way to create a new valance this is what I'm thinking about.

Boxes, and Bottles, and Cans, Oh My!

Our apartment is just a stone's throw from town and the English Market.  A short 5-10 minute walk down the hill and I can get my hands on just about any food items I may need.  Many Europeans living in a city like Cork will make a trip to the market several times a week. The refrigerators are small and fresh food outweighs frozen and processed.  I love to cook and so I'm enjoying that aspect of the culture. 

Shopping daily is great, but a big part of feeling settled for me includes having a well stocked pantry and fridge. How was I going to be able to do that?  Carrying canned goods, bottles of olive oil, vinegars, jars of spices, flour, sugar, jams, etc., not to mention household items like paper towels, tin foil, laundry detergent, and bottles of shampoo wasn't high up on the list of fun!  A few tomatoes from the market, a cut of beef from the butcher sure, but I had a list a mile long and only two hands!

Fortunately, Adam has a car and we had a free weekend.  So we planned a trip to the Cork suburbs.  the village of Douglas, just south of the city, is one of the nicest suburbs and has a new shopping center which includes the largest Tesco (the main grocery store) in Southern Ireland. 

 It took two hours, a completely full trolley (cart), and about 380 euro, but it was worth it.  If you're thinking 380 euros is a lot for a grocery trip we did purchase a few things outside the realm of food.  We picked up a few large coffee mugs, an emulsion blender, a Brita water pitcher, and several bottles of wine and a bottle of Irish whiskey!  

Here are a few pictures of our take away!

Can't forget the Streaky Bacon!

And here is everything neatly put away in the press (cabinet)!  It may be silly but this trip went a long way in making life feel a little more normal around here!

Now that the Groceries are purchased and put away I can get to cooking.  Hopefully I'll be able to share some tasty meals with you in future blog posts!