A vendor at an antiques market gave me this extraordinary hand -forged 17th c. lock plate as “un petit cadeau,” à little gift. I’ve traced the top and bottom of the plate into my journal. I love it so much, and the fact that it was a gift makes me love it even more. We…
Author: Jalina Mhyana
A gift for our new home…
A vendor at an antiques market gave me this extraordinary hand -forged 17th c. lock plate as “un petit cadeau,” à little gift. I’ve traced the top and bottom of the plate into my journal. I love it so much, and the fact that it was a gift makes me love it even more. We…
The footprints in our wall
Look at what we found when we excavated a fireplace from inside of an old stone wall in our bedroom yesterday….can you tell what it is?…..It’s a 300 (or so) year-old brick with a dog’s paw print next to a human footprint! ✨ I’m going to keep this brick on my desk forever as a…
Sean’s cartoon diary of our home renovation journey
Sean just drew this cartoon of us discovering a floating fireplace that was mostly hidden in our bedroom wall! While we’re drinking coffee in bed in the morning🔆Sean sketches little snippets from the previous day. It’s a visual diary. Here he shows us discovering the 18th c. (or maybe 17th?) fireplace mantel in an old…
Writing letters on our Juliet balcony
Sean and I often slide my sewing machine table onto the tiny balcony nook so I can write letters to loved ones while watching life go by on the little rue below. I push the treadle below the sewing machine table and a large iron wheel affixed to the side of the table spins. I…
Our bedroom lock was made by “JCB,” an artisan & locksmith who lived in our home in the Victorian era
Our bedroom lock was made by “JCB,” an artisan & locksmith who lived in our home in the Victorian era!…Eventually we’ll take off the wooden rectangle and incorporate the lock into the door in a more aesthetically pleasing way. 🙄 Not only is the lock beautiful (I love the hidden circle that swivels up to…
Picnic with farmers’ market veggies and cheese from a local monastery
Sean being adorable, all “ministry of silly walks” at the local monastery Our local farmers market right around the corner from our house Back to the abbey where we bought our cheese…you can also buy eggs, candies, jams, etc. – all produced by the monks at the abbey. Fontgombault Abbey, founded in 1091, is on…
Poems fit for small gods and wild things
Jill’s poems are “fit for small gods and wild things.” My review of Jillian Brady’s début collection starts with this line and I couldn’t stop myself, I just kept writing and quoting and glorying in her work. Sean created the stunning cover with artfully arranged sticks when we were house-sitting in the south of France…
The En suite (Plumbing Part 2)
Pipe not to scale!! We cut the old water feed under the stairs then ran our shiny new copper pipes up through the floor into our en-suite. I’ve stuffed fluffy insulation under the new floor for soundproofing as well as warmth. Now we have cold water running into the bathtub (and a toilet that flushes…
The En-suite (Plumbing part 1)
At the beginning of September we retired our pee-pee jar in favor of a toilet! We’re moving up in the world! The toilet doesn’t flush yet – we need to fill it with a bucket of water at the moment – but next week the copper “incoming” pipes will be installed. This week the top…
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