I had a long day and dinner plans so here's what we're doing: fun with magnets.

Dinner

Spring rain

"Double negative? You mean you have photographs!"

Tell me that was not a perfect subject line.

Maggie visited us this weekend. And by "us" I mean "Julia." This afternoon was spent teaching Mags to play Clue. She chose Miss Scarlet for her piece. I was bereft. You can only imagine.

"What are you planning to do with that candlestick, Colonel?"

The conservatory is hopping. Just watch out for the dogs.

The arsenal.

"Let us in! Let us in!"

"Let us out! Let us out!"

(Yeah, I know Mrs. White shouldn't be there and the whole thing should be moved over to the lounge. But it's not like I had a dead motorist piece, so verisimilitude was out of reach anyway. If you're my cousin, chances are you'll understand all of that perfectly.)

In March.

Blue night sky

Porch candle holder

Purple Chucks

Pile o' tickets

Walking on Edgehill

Radio Flyer

Crafty supplies

Home improvements

I spent this evening putting up a shelf in my dining room, so that's what I photographed.

This is an old "before" shot. Note the buffet.

And this is what I put above the buffet, with the help of my father's kick awesome drill which he lent to me because my drill is the EZ Bake Oven of drills. (But at least it's not an electric screwdriver.) Please note how perfectly centered and level the shelf is. That was not easy.

This is what the buffet area looks like now. More space for more stuff is a recipe for making me happy. Also, I can use the shelf for extra serving areas at my next dinner party.

I took my match collection out of a box and displayed it like this. It occurs to me that most of those matchbooks are from NYC establishments, but check the yellow Barr's Hotel matchbook. Awesome, no?

Pretty, pretty books...

...and little touches of red.

Hatpins

Clutter-scapes

Spring walks have begun again.

When I was taking this photo, I noticed that the Inclined Plane smells exactly like the carousel at Idlewild. I guess it's something about century-old timber and heavy-duty paint.

Yes

This is a little toy I have. It's like a bingo ball version of a magic 8 ball.

Our little "crick," as we like to call it...

...has become a raging river. I don't think these photos properly convey how high and fast it has become.

A little home improvement

My kitchen wall before I got out my drill, screw gun, and level...

...and my kitchen wall after. When one has limited cabinet space, one must improvise.

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice the clock in the second photo is missing its hands. That's because I knocked it off the wall with an unfortunate swing of my tape measure.