(no subject)
I'm sitting at my kitchen table at 1:30 in the afternoon, listening to Old Crow Medicine Show, eating my post-morning-shift second breakfast, and watching light snow blow through the alley outside the window.
A few minutes ago, as I rearranged towels under our kitchen sink while talking on the phone with my landlord about sending a plumber on Monday, I was suddenly amused by my still-new life in this tiny, crooked, crowded, tweaky, patchily repaired little apartment. The rooms are too small for Teffer and my collections of battered furniture, Ikea pine shelving, nostalgic artworks, sweaters, dishes, and books upon books upon books. The apartment is bursting at the seams and in a constant state of move-in, with the big rubbermaids of camping gear and fabric stacked inside the front door, the placeless pictures leaning against the wall in the hallway, the books piled two stacks deep on the shelves, Teffer's incessant organizational projects heaped on the floor and futon couch. My bedroom has been affectionately dubbed the cave, due to the fact that it is never light enough to read without a lamp - its one tiny window tucked under the upstairs balcony. Each room's floor is at a slightly different height, which caused many stubbed toes during our first weeks here. They're gutting our old (moldy) apartment upstairs, and with the floors ripped out the construction workers might as well be having their noisy, laughing conversations all day in our kitchen.
I took a few pictures - a few honest, not cleaned up pictures - trying to capture a small taste of our cramped little nest.
the kitchen table, crowded with the few remaining houseplants trying to take advantage of limited sunlight... and an attempt to capture the rest of the kitchen in one picture. All you're missing is the washing machine next to the table, and the sink, to the right of the frame, with its not quite three square feet of countertop. Note how the laundry rack takes up all the empty floor space - even with our small sized stove and fridge.
an attempt to capture the living room, from two different angles. The boxes and piles in the middle are Teffer sorting her things. All you're missing in these shots is the wall on the left hand side of the frame - the front door, a boot rack, several large rubbermaid containers in a pile, and another bookshelf.
I'm not going to attempt a shot of my cave, but here's my bedside table (filing cabinet), photo taken just now - midday. Granted, it is a grey, dim sort of day. The farm on the base of my lamp is courtesy of a certain Jake Leishman, to remind me that one day I'll live where I can put my toes in the dirt and touch living things all day. I didn't notice that the goat had fallen over until I uploaded the photo. Oops.
the bathroom, which consists of all you can see plus a sink against the wall, and some narrow (6 inches wide, about) shelves between the tub and the wall. But we do have a pretty shower curtain, don't we?
Teffer is, as I said, mid-organizational binge, so I won't take pictures of her room. It's quite nice, actually, with a big window and a funny corner angle.
I do find myself homesick, some days, for this kitchen and living room...
...thinking that that apartment had more of the good bohemian flair (wood floors, old-fashioned details, attic, cast iron radiators...) and this one has just a little too much of the bad bohemian flair (leaky pipes, running toilet, bumpy floors...) ...but lately I am not forgetting the fact that this apartment is warm enough to make my morning coffee in boxers and hoodie, rather than head-to-toe fleece.
I suppose all of this is to say that for all I feel like I've been in a constant state of transition the past year, and for all that's not about to end in the foreseeable future, Teffer and I have a quirky, cozy, funky thing going here.
I did a DITL on New Year's Eve, but never posted it. Teffer will make dark, unkind comments until I do, so expect that sometime in the near future. I am also being harangued to post Christmas-time pictures including my brother's lovely new lady's face, so those may just appear too.
Now, off to buy tea and hang out with the fambly.
A few minutes ago, as I rearranged towels under our kitchen sink while talking on the phone with my landlord about sending a plumber on Monday, I was suddenly amused by my still-new life in this tiny, crooked, crowded, tweaky, patchily repaired little apartment. The rooms are too small for Teffer and my collections of battered furniture, Ikea pine shelving, nostalgic artworks, sweaters, dishes, and books upon books upon books. The apartment is bursting at the seams and in a constant state of move-in, with the big rubbermaids of camping gear and fabric stacked inside the front door, the placeless pictures leaning against the wall in the hallway, the books piled two stacks deep on the shelves, Teffer's incessant organizational projects heaped on the floor and futon couch. My bedroom has been affectionately dubbed the cave, due to the fact that it is never light enough to read without a lamp - its one tiny window tucked under the upstairs balcony. Each room's floor is at a slightly different height, which caused many stubbed toes during our first weeks here. They're gutting our old (moldy) apartment upstairs, and with the floors ripped out the construction workers might as well be having their noisy, laughing conversations all day in our kitchen.
I took a few pictures - a few honest, not cleaned up pictures - trying to capture a small taste of our cramped little nest.
the kitchen table, crowded with the few remaining houseplants trying to take advantage of limited sunlight... and an attempt to capture the rest of the kitchen in one picture. All you're missing is the washing machine next to the table, and the sink, to the right of the frame, with its not quite three square feet of countertop. Note how the laundry rack takes up all the empty floor space - even with our small sized stove and fridge.
an attempt to capture the living room, from two different angles. The boxes and piles in the middle are Teffer sorting her things. All you're missing in these shots is the wall on the left hand side of the frame - the front door, a boot rack, several large rubbermaid containers in a pile, and another bookshelf.
I'm not going to attempt a shot of my cave, but here's my bedside table (filing cabinet), photo taken just now - midday. Granted, it is a grey, dim sort of day. The farm on the base of my lamp is courtesy of a certain Jake Leishman, to remind me that one day I'll live where I can put my toes in the dirt and touch living things all day. I didn't notice that the goat had fallen over until I uploaded the photo. Oops.
the bathroom, which consists of all you can see plus a sink against the wall, and some narrow (6 inches wide, about) shelves between the tub and the wall. But we do have a pretty shower curtain, don't we?
Teffer is, as I said, mid-organizational binge, so I won't take pictures of her room. It's quite nice, actually, with a big window and a funny corner angle.
I do find myself homesick, some days, for this kitchen and living room...
...thinking that that apartment had more of the good bohemian flair (wood floors, old-fashioned details, attic, cast iron radiators...) and this one has just a little too much of the bad bohemian flair (leaky pipes, running toilet, bumpy floors...) ...but lately I am not forgetting the fact that this apartment is warm enough to make my morning coffee in boxers and hoodie, rather than head-to-toe fleece.
I suppose all of this is to say that for all I feel like I've been in a constant state of transition the past year, and for all that's not about to end in the foreseeable future, Teffer and I have a quirky, cozy, funky thing going here.
I did a DITL on New Year's Eve, but never posted it. Teffer will make dark, unkind comments until I do, so expect that sometime in the near future. I am also being harangued to post Christmas-time pictures including my brother's lovely new lady's face, so those may just appear too.
Now, off to buy tea and hang out with the fambly.