Thursday, July 23, 2009

Take a Break For The Worlds Best Apple PIE !

MrMartha has been painting like crazy the past few days....a further update on that will follow soon.

MrMartha has been influenced a lot by his incredible Grandmother. She just turned 90 years old on July 1, still lives on her own, and is pretty remarkable in a lot of ways.

Everyone who knows her also knows that she bakes one of the best Apple Pies on the planet.

Recently, MrMartha's Uncle documented the process on video, and Grandma has actually figured out her recipe (she always just "did it by feel" so was tough to get the actual ingredient quantities).



MrMartha hopes you will enjoy a visit with his Grandma, and even if you are scared of baking...try the pie recipe...you won't regret it!! (click on the video box to get larger full format video)

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Paint Store Follies


MrMartha has been suffering from Paint Paralysis the past ten days or so. It's a common but little studied malady that affects even the most ardent and color sure deadeyes among us.

It's that horrible chasm stretching in between "pretty much deciding on a paint chip" ------- and committing to having gallons of it mixed.

The more timid among us will opt to have some sample quarts mixed up and paint a bunch of test swatches -- drawing comfort (and perhaps insight) from this interim step. Not, however, those of us who take pride in knowing we can differentiate puce from cerise or heliotrope. With our eyes closed. In the middle of a bad dream.

MrMartha seems to have no trouble with puce vs cerise, especially since neither of those colors are in the palette for MidCentury Manor. The subtleties of turquoise, it would seem, are another matter. And, browns are absolutely deadly.

Luckily, MrMartha has an incredible local paint store, all they do is sell paint....no uber-chain--mega-mart-- home-improvement-supercenter--paint department for MrMartha. No way -- no how. The local option is always desirable, so long as it is quality and has competitive prices.

Today, MrMartha discovered that even with his proven history of dead reckoning skills, and a very sure eye -- one can never, never ever, trust a paint color to not be a complete surprise when it morphs from 4 square inches of chip, to a large expanse of surface.

Actually, it is not that bad. MrMartha was, in fact, right on the money with two of the colors, and got the third color right, just at the wrong intensity.
The fourth color, however, was so far out of the ballpark, that it's really making MrMartha's brain hurt a little bit just to have to write about it.
The other significant problem -- was an error by the paint store, though it took a bit of time and furrowed brow to figure out it was indeed NOT MrMartha's error, (and it is totally fixable).

Thus, our score, at the bottom of the 9th, with brushes loaded:
MrMartha: One home run, a second home run (when the paint store mistake is fixed), a strong triple, and the most heinous foul EVER.
Paint Store: One unforced error -- to be corrected.

Read More if you would like to know what MrMartha is going to do with all this paint!

Read More...

Friday, July 10, 2009

A Magnificent Sunset


Nothing like a visit from the Welcome Wagon when you move to a new home....

In MrMartha's case, the Welcome Wagon took the form of the most magnificent sunset EVER.
Not a bad way to be welcomed to the neighborhood, and end a first evening in the new home. It was absolutely hypnotic.

The new view is truly magnificent....
almost as exciting as all the wonderful MidCentury quirks inside the house.

MrMartha hopes you have a great weekend ahead!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

MrMartha Welcomes you to MidCentury Manor

Greetings after a bit of a hiatus during the move....
MrMartha has not actually fallen off the face of the earth, it has just felt like it.

Rocky the dog is getting used to his new home -- he is probably adapting a bit better than MrMartha at this point -- but things will continue to come together.....and none too soon, as this is starting to feel like an unsettling dream that one cannot quite awaken from.

The furniture and box moving portion of this adventure is complete, and MrMartha is surrounded by stacks of belongings yet to be unpacked, and furniture pushed helter skelter into the center of the rooms. But, this too shall pass!

A fresh coat of paint in the main rooms will be happening over the weekend and next week, and then the actual settling in can start.

The bones of the new house are great, the vintage details, and even the quirky aspects being discovered, are all going to make this a fantastic place to live -- MrMartha will be sharing the process and transformation with you as it unfolds.

MrMartha also brought many plants and starts from the old garden, and those will get transplanted into the landscape here this weekend as well.

It will probably be a couple weeks before MrMartha's kitchen's are back up and functioning...but lots of great posts with recipes, food, and entertaining ideas will return to the blog soon....
MrMartha thanks you for your patience!