Chugging along

This is the third installment of a sporadic series I've come to think of in my mind as the Progress Series. I've never been much of a housekeeper (just ask any of my roommates) but I am turning a corner and making some fun changes in my home. See previous progress entries here and here, if you are so inclined.


In a fun new turn of 'Something's Wrong with Ashley' events, I started having back spasms last weekend. (I kept having visions of 'turning into my dad,' who has dealt with these nasty things for quite some time now.)

There are only so many days in a row that a girl like me can lie flat on her back, hanging out with the ice pack and watching a Top Model marathon. So when I felt good enough to move around some, I decided tackle the (*ahem*) two-foot high pile of papers to file, most of which was lounging on top of my file cabinet.

There are no before photos.

But check out the result!

Oh, wait. I pulled from the wrong folder. Here...

The plant is a succulent called Chocolate Soldier. 

Seriously. Imagine a stack 2 feet high of papers, notebooks, folders, who knows what, and some other stuff there, and then look again...

Notice the bowl. I'm about to talk about it.

That silver bowl is an antique Homan silver. My former boss friend Cathy is a direct descendent of the silversmith, and she gave me that bowl (along with a tall water pitcher and creamer) as a going-away present when we moved out here. I used to keep my spools of colored thread in it, but those have been tossed in a baggie and will find a new home somewhere else. Eventually.

The candle and pinecone probably won't live there forever. The candle was necessary to clear the air after an indoor 'incident' with the puppy this morning, and the pinecone is something I picked up today on one of our morning walks because it was so oddly shaped. I don't know where it's going to live yet.

See how the pinecone is kinda bent in the middle?

The yarn is some yarn I got for like 55% off at Tuesday Morning a few weeks ago (I have big plans for that yarn, so be on the lookout) and the little jar has shells and stone and little corals I've picked up along the way. Most of them came from the shores of North Carolina, but a few are from other beaches I've visited - including a few from our honeymoon in Hawaii (See here, here, here and especially here for more on that).

So anyway. Instead of a giant stack of guilt-inducing eyesore atop my little blue cabinet right in the middle of the living room, I've got a little collection of happy memories and things I love.

And now, I'm off to find a home for that pine cone.