Peacock Window for the Living Room (10-17-10)

Jennifer Hanson made this beautiful mosaic glass window; a natural spot for it was in the living room, next to the piano.

New Flower Windows for the House (10-17-10)

I got some gorgeous windows from Jennifer Hanson again. I absolutely love them.

Stunning at night when the light is on indoors.

This one is in the staircase.

Gorgeous Windows for the Art Studio (10-17-10)

I liked these windows the minute I saw them on Jennifer Hanson's website. The problem was their horizontal orientation, making less than ideal for the vertical window frames in the dining room or the living room. It turns out that the only place where these windows will fit is the Art Studio...

And Here is the Artist... (10-17-10)

...the amazing Jennifer Hanson, who created the lovely mosaic glass windows I mentioned in previous posts. She came to deliver more windows and very kindly hung them up.

My Octopus Window (06-10-10)

...Here are some photos of the window Jennifer Hanson made for our house since the other one was too small for the window frame. The window is in the bathroom upstairs now and looks superb, especially from outside at night.

Mosaic Glass Windows (06-07-10)

I decided to post some photos of the absolutely gorgeous mosaic glass windows made by Jennifer Hanson. I found the window with the hand, the window with the flowers and the wide sun window at Portico. The cherry tree and the small sun windows were on display at Houlton Bakery in St Helens. Jennifer made two smaller windows for the master bedroom in a crazy mosaic patterns to match the colors of the "real" stained glass windows. She also made a large window with a big octopus for the upstairs bathroom (the photo of the octopus window below is similar to mine).

My Closet Palace (06-06-10)

My closet is finally finished. It's so big, it's more a dressing room than a closet; I could lie down on the rug to meditate or read a book.

We got the clothes rack, the cute red bookcase and the dresser at Ikea. The antique mirror belonged to my mother and is a replacement for the big mirror with a blue wooden frame that fell and broke at our previous house. The big black trunk came from Village Merchants. The rug and the floor lamp in the far corner both came from the local Goodwill outlet store. The floor lamp was rewired by Hippo Hardware; the small candle lights were outfitted with specialty flickering light bulbs for an added fun touch. I bought the crazy chandelier in Belgium, but it is essentially a novelty deco item made in China; it used to hang in my closet at the old house. The gorgeous mosaic glass windows were made by Jennifer Hanson; my favorite is the one with the hand, and the colors of the sun window work perfectly with the room's color scheme.

Paint Problems (04-16-10)

While (reluctantly) painting my closet, Christopher accidentally tipped over the paint tray filled with purple paint, and it fell against the mosaic glass window with a hand.
The window was saved by Monica’s quick reactions: she grabbed the window and ran downstairs to the kitchen (without dripping paint). She then helped me scrub the paint off the pieces of colored glass with a dish brush. As we were frantically scrubbing, we in turn sent purple sprinkles flying on the inside of the sink, on the wall, the floor... There was purple paint everywhere! The only way to get the paint off the window frame was to scrub it with baking soda.

Mosaic Glass Windows (04-07-10)

I went all the way to Houlton Bakery in St Helens where some mosaic windows made by Jennifer Hanson, the same artist who did the three windows I bought at Portico were on display. I bought two of the windows on display, one of a cherry tree in bloom, and one of a sun. I think this type of windows is just what I was looking for to bring some color to the house.
I am pretty excited that the artist is coming by on Saturday, to look at the bedroom upstairs, to get an idea of the colors of the exiting stained glass casement windows, to match then, -if not in style-, at least, in colors.

Contractors (04-07-10)

I got a call from the weatherization contractor, who told me that when his assistant went under the house, he distinctively smelled an odor of gas. He said it would be a good idea for me to call the gas company. So I called them, and a truck was in a driveway within five minutes of my call. I swear, the guy had to be parked down the street waiting for the call!

The guy from the gas company was a tall old guy with a German accent. No matter how I mentioned growing up a mere 20 miles from the nearest German border, and how much I love German food, he just acted gruff and unfriendly.
When he entered the house, he gave me a weird look and said that he’d been here before. When I pressed him for details, he was vague, though…just like the guy who came to install the phone line who, once he volunteered that he had been here before, refused to say anything else… I am starting to feel that I bought the (cursed) house of a sorceress.

In any case, this big guy claimed there was a possible gas leak at the furnace to floor junction, but since he didn’t anymore than waive his wand over the furnace pipes, I don't know what to think. He didn't go under the house either. I knew he wouldn’t the minute I saw him: he was, ahem, lumbering and pot-bellied; I couldn’t imagine him fitting in the crawlspace without getting stuck. He just gave me a card with the gas company logo on which he had checked a box saying that “the problem needs to be addressed,” to call the number printed on the card to get a referral for a contractor who would fix the leak.

Pretty Mosaic Glass Windows (03-28-10)

I went by Portico to pick up the windows that were on hold. They are absolutely beautiful, especially the one with flowers. I placed it over the front dining room window. The one with a sort-of metaphysical hand design on it will be in my closet.

Pretty Mosaic Glass Windows (03-27-10)

I went by Portico and saw some gorgeous mosaic glass windows on display and ask for three of them to be placed on hold. I need to think about this, because it’s a lot of money.