to a red haired fox

soft and elusive
you slip and sneak through my gate
and into my heart

Flashback: Melville

*photo by Strawbs

(today is)

moving day!

(it's true: I'm moving from Melville today)

The Melville Pantry

If you want an insight into my roommates and Melville, this one is pretty great.

Last Days at Melville

Birthday Delights

Reija's Birthday (3/20):

MH's Birthday (3/23):

SS's Birthday (4/6):

JP's Birthday (4/11):

Christmas in Melville

We had our Christmas celebration Saturday 6 January (which appropriately was also Epiphany or Three Kings Day) as roommates here at Melville.

You can read my roommate Sarah's blog post on it here. (The link includes recipes for the pear/gingerbread pudding and I also posted a comment on how to prepare the pork loin).

We awoke in our pajamas and had Christmas presents downstairs. We had a new coffee table from Santa, and each of us had a single gift, from an assigned roommate. In addition to the individual's gift, there was a house gift from each roommate.

Individual Gifts
Reija (from Michelle): a Ph.D Survival kit, which included polka-dot pajamas, a white Banana Republic blouse, the most recent issue of the Economist, 2 butterfly drinking glasses (for egg nog & OJ), and Mega M&Ms
Karren (from Sarah): silver earrings and green/white polka-dot shoes
Michelle (from Karren): bottle of scent (Charmer, from Anthropologie), Wit & Wisdom of Jane Austen (book), and four white drawer pulls for Michelle's linen closet/dresser (which up to this point has had an assortment of mismatched and even chipped knobs.
Sarah (from Reija): large wooden jewelry case (three levels high) with green/white polka-dot lining (it looked remarkably similar to the shoes Sarah gave me...)

We agreed that polka-dots are the new black... or so it would appear from the number of polka-dot'ed items in our collection.

House Gifts
Reija: curtains for the Mud Room Door, Dining Room windows, and Kitchen windows
Karren: placemats in slate blue, green, & grey
Michelle: picture frames
Sarah: curtain rods for the curtains given by Reija, a metal strainer
Santa: coffee table (large, wood, beautiful)

The Melville Poems: Ode to SO

First peeping, peering round my door
now pontificating on my bed
the brilliance I have found
is bold
and dark
and wears
the slippers that I gave her
as she trips and slips about the wooden floors
of Melville

The Melville Poems: Ode to RM

Find her in the nook
pretty shoes, curling hair
Find her in the lab
tending cells, lamenting time
Find her alone at Melville
spreading peanut butter and
singing joyously to the bread

The Melville Poems: Ode to MH

Fresh golden sunshine
smiles, attends her as she runs
leading her back to Melville

The Melville Poems: Untitled

The Austen-esque book
will chronicle our affairs
real and imagined

Reija's pretty prose
reads with quips and quibbles quaint
what a silly scene

Find the Melville House
Forever immortalized
just like Patty's Place

The Melville House

Here in California, There are many things I love about my house.

First of all, it's a hundred years old and it's full of crown moulding, hardwood floors, white walls, and sunlight. It's shaded and surrounded by trees and all other sorts of greenery. There are lovely doors, diamond-paned windows, and little details I find charming.

In the Living Room, we have a living work of art. We could (and often do) sit here all day simply looking outside.

Even before you step into the Dining Room, you can see our china cupboard:

Throughout the room there is simple wainscoting and beautiful garden wallpaper.

We have a moderately sized solid wood round table right by the window. My next project is recovering them in a delightful stripe. The table and chairs are a highly prized find from craigslist. Black finish with wide North Carolina chairs. I love sitting there in the morning.

The Mud Room exits out the back but also gives access to the laundry and powder rooms as well as a half sink.

The kitchen is perhaps my favorite room in that we have bright red dishtowels, light blue tiled counters, colorful bowls, and spices shelved throughout. I have some great tin canisters in bright colors (orange/yellow and green/blue) as well as my beloved toaster and food scale.

Also making the kitchen a colorful and cheerful place is my magnet collection.

But perhap my most favorite thing about the kitchen are the lizards that greet me as I come through the doorway.