Have a Seat

Awhile back I decided it was time to find a new sofa for the family room. I was just tired of the sofas we had brought with us from the old house, but I wasn't sure what style I wanted instead. I went ahead and found a new home for the old sofas and in the meantime filled in the empty spaces with the double-sized red chair from the study and two pieces I had purchased on impulse when a local furniture store was going out of business, a red flowered chair and a chaise. I went from having way more seating than I needed to not having enough seating if more than 2 people stopped by for a visit.

Sofa shopping was not as easy as I had thought it would be. It turns out that I really don't like the styles that apparently are very popular these days. I hate, hate, hate recliners, which are now frequently built into sofas. I hate the traditional 3-cushion over-stuffed sofas. While I appreciate the look of a nice leather sofa, I don't want one myself because they seem cold and uninviting. Time passed and I was still making do with my 3 big chairs and losing hope that I would find a sofa that I could embrace with enthusiasm. I even considered buying an antique setee and having it re-upholstered.

A few weeks ago I impulsively stopped at a little furniture store in neighboring Smithville, thinking I would see if they had any bookshelves I could use for the bedroom. I found to my surprise that they carried a wide variety of good brands and that their showroom was about three times what I had expected. I browsed around, finding quite a few things of interest, including bookshelves. I had about decided the sofa issue would have to stay on hold for awhile longer, when I turned the corner and saw exactly what I wanted - a couch with old-fashioned lines that would meld into my eclectic assortment of antiques and also keep company well with the big flowered chair.

I don't know why I didn't buy it immediately, but I left it behind that day. I kept thinking about it, though. This past weekend I decided I should go back and see if it was still there and still spoke to me. It was and it greeted me with a "where the heck have you been?" The time had come and I took the plunge. It was delivered this morning and oozed into place like it was meant to have been here all along.





The rocker you see at the end of the couch was one I fell in love with the minute I saw it. They had just put it on the showroom floor that morning and I guess it was kismet. When I saw it, it fairly screamed at me from across the room. When I sat in it, it hit me in all the right places. I had no hesitation this time and I added it to the day's purchase. I love how it too has old-fashioned lines and how it blends in with both the couch and the chair.

Mojo and I have taken quite a few breaks today and are both delighted with this little rocker. He can sprawl in my lap, get rocked to sleep, and then just barely open his eyes to peer out through the front window and check on things. Coco was delighted with the couch and the way it sets off her tawny beauty to perfection.

I'm just delighted, period. Now if you stop by, there will be a comfortable place to "set a spell".

The cats have been warned they had better not get any ideas about breaking it in. They just gave me their Cheshire cat smiles.

LSW

Almost Back to Normal

For weeks I have felt slightly under the weather. Nothing I could put my finger on. Just blah. I'm fairly sure that my problem is rooted in allergies (all this rain we've had - which I'm NOT complaining about - has the mold count way up there) and I finally caved in last week and started taking a daily antihistimine. It was with a great deal of relief that I woke up Saturday morning and felt almost normal.

I decided to take advantage of this rare burst of energy and good feeling and set about getting some long neglected items checked off my to-do list. Bright and early Saturday morning I was out mowing the yard, followed by a half-hour's toil of pulling up clumps of weed grass against the house and wielding my pruning shears against assorted tree sprouts. I was pretty much wiped out by the end of that, but a shower and a bottle of water brought me back to life and I was ready to go again.

I decided it was time to check on the sofa I've had my eye on at the furniture store in Smithville and so long as I was going to Smithville, I figured I might as well check out Antique Row on Main Street. I found a few small items to add to the household, but the highlight of the Main Street tour was walking into a favorite store and spotting the display they had set up just inside the door.

I know you've seen the portrait of the poker-playing dogs somewhere. When I walked into the store, there sat the scene recreated at an antique table. Stuffed dogs were sitting around the table, each with a pile of milk bone chips and each with a card hand. These were Old West gamblers, with a six-shooter sitting at one dog's elbow. A little dog, who needed a book to sit on to bring him to table height, had an ace protruding from the book and ready if he needed it. I took one look, laughed in delight, and was inspired to consider making a miniature of the scene in the near future. (The photo is horrible, but I only had my phone with me.)


I was getting pretty tired after walking up and down Main Street for the better part of an hour and had almost decided maybe I didn't want to go sofa shopping after all, but I forced myself to go on to the furniture store anyway. My sofa was still sitting in the showroom and I was admiring it again and deciding it might be time to take the plunge before someone else bought it out from under me, when the owner himself came up and sweetened the deal. He would let me take advantage of the sale that was to begin this week. I took him up on his offer and began to roam the store while he helped another customer. I should have sat right there on the couch until he was ready to write up my ticket because the next thing I knew I was falling in love with a rocking chair. I ended up arranging for both to be delivered this coming Wednesday. Another item scratched from the to-do list.

After a quick guacamole burger at Pocket's Grille, I headed home and began considering what all had to be moved out of the way before the new furniture arrived. The rest of the weekend was spent carefully shifting furniture around, determined I was not going to throw my back out in the process. The dogs fretted constantly at the disruption. Despite the willing assistance of the three heathen cats, who were delighted at the unexpected activity, I succeeded in clearing space in the living room, but gave out before completing the rearrangement of the bedroom and study. So the order of the week is semi-chaos and we will continue our efforts next weekend.

The dogs were perplexed at the empty family room and even more so when I piled some pillows in the floor, stretched out and spent the last few hours of Sunday watching old movies on DVD. It's been a long, long time since we have spent an evening lying around watching tv. They have just about calmed down at this point - just in time to be upset again when the furniture is delivered.

So far the burst of energy has continued and I am crossing my fingers that the allergies are finally abating and I can get back to a life that has been interrupted. I am grateful for the summer rains, but other than a source of penicillin I am at a loss why we needed molds.

LSW