Mango season 2016

 I made the *mistake* of feeding my two mango trees last fall and now I have about 800 mangoes. No joke. 

The new dog has discovered the stair landing. His napping spot.

Don Loper’s iconic “Martinique” wallpaper.

I spotted this in a store in South Miami.

I asked, of course, and they confirmed that is is  Don Loper’s “Martinique” wallpaper.

I am trying to create a live version in my back yard. 

November sale --disco ball ornaments 50% off at Macy's

Craig's List stuff

Craig's List : Two Chinoiserie foot stools $35

Daisy wearing a wig for Halloween. 

Lonchocarpus violaceus trees

My backyard "lonchocarpus violaceus" trees are blooming . The beautiful blue Venini "Monofiori Balloton~1970" vase was a gift from our exchange student from Venice, Italy who is staying with us for the school year. I planted the trees in my backyard last year and this is the first season of blooms. The flowers are attracting bees and hummingbirds and they have a lovely scent. 

saw these on eBay.

seashell collection summer 2015

Statue of Liberty patina in minutes.

So rather than wait decades for my copper flashing to achieve a beautiful patina I decided to force the issue by applying Miracle Gro. All I did was rub a strong concentration of Miracle Gro on the copper and it immediately started turning "Statue of Liberty Green". Less than 10 minutes. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Coconut Grove neighbors band together to save 1920 Mediterranean villa on St. Gaudens Road.

The 1920's Villa on St. Gaudens Road built by Albert William Frantz of the Sunshine Fruit Company. "The two-story L-shaped house, with a picturesque wooden balcony overlooking the front yard, was designed by Richard Kiehnel of Kiehnel and Elliott. The firm introduced the so-called Mediterranean Revival style to Miami with its design of the El Jardin estate, today home to the Carrolton School, in 1917." (Miami Herald)photo by Andrew Bosch

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/coconut-grove/article4191476.     http://www.savethegrove.com/

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/coconut-grove/article4191476.html#storylink=cpy

Pink & Green forever.

ooh..looks like I need to take a drive up to Palm Beach to check out the newly remodeled Colony Hotel.

Carleton Varney's "Brazilliance " wallpaper. 
An adaptation of the Beverly Hill Hotel's iconic "Banana Leaf" .

Carleton Varney, President of Dorothy Draper & Company, was the interior designer for the $9mm renovation of The Colony Palm Beach. 

Mirrored door project finished. Passes the inspection.

The best part is--I did not break anything or injure myself. I spent $30 at lumber yard to cut mirrors + $5 for glue + $10 for home depot mirror tiles. The dog? priceless.

projects!

I have not posted in a long time because I am lazy.  I have been working on a few projects and if I don't get injured in the process I will post the after photos soon. 

Gluing mirror tiles on to all the glass panes --- bedroom closet doors...

These two windows (mahogany side light windows from an old front door) will be closet doors for a small linen closet. I found these on Craig's list. 

Solar panel delivery--on a rainy day in Coconut Grove.

Solar panel installation begins tomorrow thanks to a
$20k grant from FPL.

up and running and our electric bill has been reduced by 75%

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20720682_21369074,00.html 

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20720682_21369074,00.html

your trash

So whenever we have guests over no one can ever find the garbage can in the kitchen because of course it is hidden behind a cabinet. So I found this peel and stick removable sign. Problem solved.

It is a wee bit bigger than I wanted but will do for now.

So

....more Craig's List light fixtures.

I found these on CL---originally from an old 1920s Coral Gables house. I am not totally happy with the 

size/proportion of the pale blue shades. 

$20 for the pair of sconces. Pale blue linen shades from Amazon.com. 
The "Coral" chandelier is from Ballard.com. 

Craig's List Light Fixture

I found this light fixture on Craig's List--it is from a circa 1925 Coral Gables house. VERY heavy, solid brass. A bit gaudy, but what the heck. 

TADA!  cleaned, rewired and installed. 

Dappled sunlight

I have noticed this roof tile as window detail on several 1920s
Spanish houses, so I thought I'd try it.

Here is how it looks on the inside of the
window in my foyer.

The best part-- the morning sun polka dots.
(mirror--Craig's List/ table: dumpster dive)

This window is in a powder on the other side of the foyer.

The capiz shell ceiling light fixture is also Craig's List.

It softly jingles when the AC is on.

I found these wooden *screens* on Craig's List to hang over the powder room windows for privacy.
They are always slightly crooked because I did a half-assed job as usual.

oooh my kitchen is almost all put back together after wood floor rip-up...

here we are... ONE YEAR LATER.

There were installation problems with the wood flooring which led to warping from moisture. So...now all the floors are getting ripped up and replaced.

You can see how each individual wood plank has "cupped". There is an underlying moisture problem.

My contractor feels  sorry for me, so he gave me this jackfruit from his yard.

Where there's a will there's a way....My son playing minecraft on the XboX while the guys are using loud power tools and tearing up everything.

                                 F-U-N.

July 4th, 2013

Meanwhile in Coconut Grove....The Totally Dog bus making it's rounds for Summer Camp