Mary Anne Carter
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Category Archives: Shopping
May 5 2012

Dressing up the cluster mailboxes

by Mary Anne

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never really paid a lot of attention to cluster mailboxes up until now. Seems to me that they have simply been very Spartan and utilitarian in design. After all, how can you really make a group of cluster mailboxes visually appealing? Well, today I saw some photographs of some cluster mailboxes that had been accessorized with finial tops and decorative pedestal wraps and they looked like they were part of a Victorian themed amusement park.

You may think that I’m being a little bit crazy here, and to be honest I would normally have to agree with you. But when I saw these mailboxes all gussied up like that my mind wandered to memories of wonderful vacations that I had spent in luxurious surroundings. Thoughts of Norman Rockwell settings of a time and a place when life was less frenzied, and more serene. Odd, I know, but there it is!

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May 5 2012

Silly little toy

by Mary Anne

Have you every played with one of those silly little toys that looks like hundreds of dull nails in a perforated board of some kind, with a clear piece of glass or plastic on one side so you can make the nails go up and down in different shapes? I can’t remember when I bought this little toy for my now-adult son; I’m thinking it was probably when he was around ten or so. The toy is one of those things that people will play with for a short period of time and then pack it away forever. Well, yesterday I was sorting through the boxes of “junk” that my son cleaned out from his room. I wanted to see how much was actual “trash” and throw it away before moving the rest of the stuff down into the dark bowels of the house that we call “the basement.”

Well, I came across this silly little toy and for some crazy reason I pulled it aside and put it beside my computer keyboard. Every now and then it catches my attention (it is bright yellow) and I stop and play with it for a couple of minutes. Then I think to myself “what a complete waste of time this is” and put it back down. I can’t decide whether to give it to a thrift store like Goodwill, put it in “the basement” or throw it away. Somehow the pack rat in me keeps whispering in my ear that I should create a toy chest of odds and ends like this so that if and when company comes over with some kids that get bored I can pull it out and let them play with it. I wonder if they would think it was totally lame or if they would like it. What do you think?

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May 5 2012

Every home should have a fire resistant safe

by Mary Anne

Every home should have a fire resistant safe. Important papers, such as life insurance policies, vehicle titles, copies of wills, and stock certificates all need to be protected from the possibility of being lost if the unthinkable happens and the house catches fire. Sadly, there may even be times when one family member needs to lock up other types of valuables to protect them from dishonest friends, family, and even service personnel.

Back when I was a newlywed, my husband was taking classes to become a paramedic he brought home some special vials that had hearts on them, and a big heart shaped sticker to put on the refrigerator door. He told me that the idea was people that have medical conditions that emergency response personnel should know about where supposed to put information about that condition in the vials and put the vials in their freezer. The emergency response personnel were trained to look at the refrigerator door for that heart sticker and if they saw it that they would look in the freezer for that medical information. Part of the reasoning for this was that freezers are insulated and would resist burning in a house fire, so that would be a great place to keep something important.

From my point of view that’s a good idea, except that my refrigerator doors are always filled with magnets and shopping lists – I’m not sure that anyone would see a heart sticker on it! But that was back in the 1980′s and I don’t have any idea if the rescue people still hand those out or not. And my hubby at that time is now my ex-hubby and I’m not very inclined to call him up just to ask him about it, so I may never know.

Categories: Around the House, Family and friends, Health, Life, Memories, Opinion, Shopping, Tips & Words of Wisdom | Comments Off

May 5 2012

Grandfather clocks are the comfort food of home furnishings

by Mary Anne

I think that grandfather clocks are the comfort food of home furnishings. Every house that I’ve been in that I felt welcome and at ease in always had a grandfather clock in the living room. There simply seems to be a feeling of warmth and comfort that I associate with the grandfather clocks.

My mother has a very handsome grandfather clock in her living room.  The clock is standing in a corner, lonely and unused. The clock has been there for about the past twelve years now, a silent sentinel, quietly standing watch over the room.

I have told her that I feel bad that this gorgeous clock is not being used. She told me that the ticking sound “bothered her” so she stopped using it. I asked her if I could have the clock for MY living room because I have always found the ticking sound of a clock to be a comfort. I think that one of my other sisters will probably end up with it as an inheritance piece instead – she has always favored them.

 

Categories: Around the House, Family and friends, Home Improvement, Life, Opinion, Shopping | Comments Off

May 3 2012

Counter stools for the kitchen island

by Mary Anne

When we first looked at this house one of the things that I had mixed emotions about was the dropped surface of part of the kitchen counter island. Obviously it was intended to have a couple of counter stools tucked up to it, and I like that idea a lot, but I really would have preferred that it just have an overhang instead of a dropped level.

The house that I had lived in before I was lucky enough to have been able to design my own kitchen and have all of the cabinets custom built by a master cabinet maker so I had everything exactly the way I wanted and designed it to be. So I have to admit that I was spoiled in that regard, having everything exactly the way I wanted. That’s really hard to compete with, but since we were planning to move about seven hundred miles away we really needed to get a different house.

From time to time I think about how I would redesign this kitchen if I had the chance, and I have to admit that I really don’t know any way to make it better, given the shape and size of the kitchen. Except for that dropped counter.

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