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It was an overwhelming landslide vote --  EVERYONE voted that we rip out the rest of the plaster and reveal the antique beadboard ceilings that were discovered under heavy plaster.       Keep in mind, we have only about a 4-6" swath of beadboard currently revealed (where the wall came out) and THAT sampling looks great. The concern is that we will get into tearing out the rest of the plaster ceilings  only to find that there was a really good reason why they covered over the  wooden ceilings -- like maybe there is a huge amount of damaged or, worse still, MISSING sections under there. But to NOT at least have a look while we already have a big mess and things are torn up, seems crazy. So... the big ceiling rip-out day is upon us and by evening time, we'll know whether our curiosity will be kind to us or not.  :) There have been some neat discoveries, that's for sure. 1.)  Of course the beadboard ceilings and walls were uncovered. Very neat "find" and may prove to

This'll be short & sweet, but I just wanted to share what was revealed to be beneath about an inch of plaster on our ceilings after a wall was removed... {Taken with my cell phone, so please excuse the poor photo quality} There are original beadboard ceilings under all that crazy plaster! Ditto for the walls!  Beadboard there, too! So we now need to decide (like in the next few hours) whether we want to see what's behind "door #2" so to speak and have ALL the rest of he plaster knocked off and have beadboard ceilings... or take the the "safe route" and just try our best to repair the 6" wide swath of plaster and try and make it blend in with the rest of the ceiling... What to do?! There are no guarantees that the beadboard is in good shape beneath all that  plaster and it covers THREE rooms. It's pretty much of a gamble... But the reward for bravery could be that we get to enjoy antique beadboard ceilings instead of funky, chunky plaster ceiling

Been wondering what I've been up to?? Well... there is a big project underway at Harsham House  and I'm preparing a proper blog post about it, but by way of a "teaser", here is a just a peek... In the words of Arnold S., "I'll be back...." Right now I hear bang/crash going on inside my home, so if you will excuse me...  ;)   

Yum.... That's all. I'm wanting to head to my kitchen and grab the ingredients. NOW! :) Dreaming of White Chocolate: Mini Cookie Dough Ball Brownies :

I don't pretend to think that my blog is worthy of  being book-bound, but... some of you have blogs that are just TAILOR-MADE for this!! My friend Cheryl mentioned this site one day on Facebook and I was enthralled! The site is called BLURB  and she says her daughter, a young mother of several children, blogs regularly all year long about family life, schooling, etc... and then prints it all out in book-form at the close of each year. Brilliant. When you think about it, so many of your blogs are filled with the everyday -- the precious, sweet minutia of life that 10, 15, 20+ years from now you'll wish you could  replay, revisit. Think of how wonderfully everyday life is chronicled here on our blogs --- what if with the start of every new year, you could just book-bind your entire year's blogging? It's the best of scrapbooking and blogging rolled into one! You end up with a beautifully bound version of your blog  and you have it for keeps. What fun! If you're newly

I am still here at home before heading over to attend to  "shop duties" for the day, and I thought I'd invite you to my kitchen table for an impromptu slice of fresh-from-the-oven banana chocolate chip bread and some coffee or hot tea. If you'd prefer, I can cook up some Irish oatmeal for you. Either way, as I sit here on my lap top, catching up on emails, blogs, and, of course, Facebook, I thought "Why not open the back screen door and invite my blog friends in for breakfast??" I took this quickie picture with my cell-phone so pardon it's lack of quality.  :) Yes, I was literally just taking the banana bread out of the oven and placing it on the metal tray to cool when I thought I'd just shoot a quick pic to upload to Facebook to say "Hi" to all my Facebook friends. So if you're on Facebook with me, sorry for the  duplication.  :) And if you are NOT on Facebook..... WHY NOT????  ;) Happy Friday to you ALL and please, have as much of th

Happy Valentine's Day, sweet friends! You love chocolate,  roses,  fancy dinners,  jewelry, and all that makes Valentine's Day,  well... Valentine's Day. But you know what we ladies also reallllllly realllllly like?? A sale and a chance to swoop in and snag that special something we've had our eye on forever, but we've been being "good" and putting off. Sweetie -- it's YOUR DAY today! For TODAY ONLY, sashay over to THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE and scoop up some "decor candy" for yourself   and through midnight take 25% off it all --  choose from the newest additions to the store  or shop the clearance section --  it's all included. Just enter coupon code: LOVE during check out and VOILA!  It's our gift to YOU!    :) Forrest Gump said "My mama always said, Life is like a box of chocoloates -- you never know what you're gonna get."   Well we say, scoot on over to The Beautiful Life and choose your own "gift" and know EXA