Ode to old friends

So long old friend. 

You've been with us for six years, and you've held many an important person. 

But recently, you've given out a little, and that's okay. You're getting older. 

And, truth be told, you and your friends never really fit in well with our new house. I'm not saying it was a color issue but...

And, so while we're sad to see you go, we'll remember you like our friend Charlie did: "I've never seen a table foster so many long conversations." So true, my friend. 

As you and your friends are leaving to go live in the attic (except your truly broken brother who is out by the trash), please pass along some wisdom of the ages to the new folks.

We want to be sure they keep your memory alive and host lots of long conversations and delicious meals. 

We think they'll fit into the family nicely because it appears we found a long lost cousin of Coffee Table. They both seem to have similar features.

So here's to you, six-year-old dining room set from Sam's. May the attic treat you kindly, and may your replacements uphold your honor. 

Six years ago

What were you doing six years ago?

Me?

I was getting married!

My readers have spoken

Never say I don't listen to you, dear readers. We purchased a Dyson!

Recently, I put out an all-call to my readers for input on vacuums. Who loves their vacuum? Who wants to throw it down a flight of stairs, etc.? And do you know what? The only people I heard from were people who own Dysons. They really love their vacuums, and they wanted me to know that uprights are okay; bagless is cool; and Dysons are worth the money. 

This really caught my attention. So Chris and I did some research, and we decided to take the plunge. We basically purchased exactly the opposite of what we had: we had a bagged, canister vacuum. 

Once we decided which Dyson we wanted, I went and did what I do best: find a deal!

Turned out that Sears had the Dyson the cheapest, and if you ordered it online and picked it up at the store, it was even cheap. DONE!

That was Sunday. 

Monday night I had a work event, and so I put together the Dyson and let Chris have the first go with it while I was gone. 

I wished I had asked him to take photos. He reports that he filled the dirt canister twice. Once from the upstairs and once from the downstairs. 

So today when I got home, I had a go with it. 

I vacuumed the upstairs and then the down. Then I saw this: 

What is all that?

So I did what any normal person would do. I took the dirt canister outside and investigated it. 

Here's the first thing I saw as I slowly opened it. Dirt. Real, actual live dirt. 

A lot of it. 

Then hair. Brown hair. Wonder where that came from....Grace.....

A lot of it. 

Now remember that Chris had vacuumed the entire house just yesterday evening. There was a whole lot more in the dirt canister but I didn't want to dump it all out because I didn't want to pick it all back up. Nor did I want it wafting through my backyard. So just imagine. There was more. 

Then I looked around the filter and saw a ring of dirt and hair. AHA! I thought. What a terrible design. I'm going to have to clean that out with a chopstick or something. 

Then, I took it to our big trash can, opened the dirt canister and gave it a little whack on the side of the can. The ring of hair? Yeah, it just fell out. Oh. Cool. So, no chopsticks, then? That's cool. 

I think what you call us is converts. Thanks, Dyson. We'll leave the dirt to you. 

A Compromise

If you'll remember, I redid the guest bedroom with new bedding and a lamp. You can see the entire post here. 

The finished project looked like this: 

We lived with it for a while, and Chris mentioned that maybe we could tone it down a bit. So I went on the hunt for a woven blanket or quilt that I could use to break things up a bit. 

Finally, I found one from Peacock Alley that was tremendously discounted, and I snatched it up!

Here you can see the sheets, blanket and comforter.

I think the added layer really works.

Porter still likes it too. 

A Compromise

If you'll remember, I redid the guest bedroom with new bedding and a lamp. You can see the entire post here. 

The finished project looked like this: 

We lived with it for a while, and Chris mentioned that maybe we could tone it down a bit. So I went on the hunt for a woven blanket or quilt that I could use to break things up a bit. 

Finally, I found one from Peacock Alley that was tremendously discounted, and I snatched it up!

Here you can see the sheets, blanket and comforter.

I think the added layer really works.

Porter still likes it too.