#Rugs Store In Canton

[mallofgeorgia]

Rugs Store In Roswell | Rugs Store In Marietta | Rugs Store In Canton

We have been dedicated to providing the best-looking rugs at the best prices to our customers in the Rugs Store in Roswell & Rugs Store in Marietta.

[invisibleraven]

deciding together how they want their house to look + willie/anyone please and thank

When Willie and Alex first move in together, it's in shitty student housing that they just have to suffer through. After that, it's a series of cheap apartments, lofts, and one memorable time living in a bus with the rest of Alex's band as they tour.

But now that they're married, with a house all their own, they decide that they can finally turn the place into a home, and the best way to do that is to give it a splash or two of their personality.

Willie vetoes any and all the neutral colours adorning the walls, saying they remind him too much of the various group homes he spent his childhood in. Alex immediately drags him to the local Home Depot, and straight to the paint section, where he becomes like a kid in a candy shop.

"Who knew there were so many shades of turquoise?" Willie wonders aloud as he runs his fingers over the sample cards.

"I like that Canton Jade one," Alex supplies, "Maybe for the bathroom?"

Willie nods in agreement, though that means they do have to find new accessories to match, but a day of cavorting around Bed Bath and Beyond sounds like a fun chore to him.

Then the topic of what to do with the extra rooms comes up. One becomes a studio for Willie's art, Alex takes over the basement to drum and dance. But there's one extra bedroom left. "M-maybe one day it can be a nursery?" Willie suggests. They've discussed having kids one day, very vaguely, but never anything concrete.

"One day," Alex agrees, pulling Willie in to press a kiss to his temple. "But until then it can function as a guest room, maybe get a funky quilt for the bed?"

"The funkiest," Willie replies, and delights in scouring thrift stores to find the perfect piece. And if he finds a truly garish rug that Alex snorts with laughter at before relenting that yes, it would look great in their mudroom, well that's all the better.

In the end, the house is a perfect reflection of them; bold colours, bright patterns and prints. Every wall space is covered in pictures of them, their friends, and pieces of art that Willie got from his artist friends. Plants litter mantle pieces and the tops of cupboards, Willie's old skateboards function as shelves. Overflowing bookshelves, overstuffed armchairs, scattered drumsticks, it's what makes their home. It's them, every piece.

And years later, when Isla is old enough to have opinions about what she wants her room to look like, she lets them know. Sure Alex would have preferred she not decorate her walls and herself with permanent marker, but he can't fault her for her artistic expression.

But that doesn't stop him from muttering curses under his breath as he attempts to scrub her clean, Willie giggling in the background until Alex reminds him it's his job to clean the walls before they take their daughter on her own Home Depot shopping adventure. Willie gives a sheeky salute and a wink before dashing off.

Isla grins at Alex, her smile big and proud, showing off where the last of her teeth are coming in, and Alex has to smile back, kissing her nose, despite the large blue smudge that lingers there. And texts Julie to ask if she would be willing to babysit while they paint, because there is no way Alex wants to find out how hard it is to get paint off a two year old.

[supersteamers]

Choose the Best Carpet Steam Cleaning

The majority of dust and grime can be removed with a competent vacuum cleaner, but some stains will withstand even the most powerful models. Every few years, area rugs and carpets both need to be thoroughly cleaned. You can do this yourself with a steam carpet cleaner or hire a professional service.

Your carpet cleaning requirements can be met by Super Steamers Carpet Cleaners, which has over thirty years of experience in carpet cleaning. A tried-and-true method for keeping your home clean is to clean your carpet and upholstery at least twice a year. Your carpets will inevitably seem old and unclean as a result of pets, kids, and everyday activities wearing down the carpet fibers. Soiled, unclean carpeting is a result of outdoor factors such dirt from shoes, dust, pollen, and allergens in the air. To ensure that all soil, allergens, and stains are removed from your carpeting, we offer a truck mounted deep extraction steam cleaning.

One of the most reputable companies in Canton, Michigan for carpet steam cleaning is Super Steamers Carpet Cleaners. The owners of our businesses have been residents of Canton for more than 20 years. We take pride in serving the neighborhood and have progressed with Canton. Both business properties have been in our care for more than three decades.

Why choose Carpet Steam Cleaning

Removes Pollutants

Several sources of pollution are trapped in dirty carpet:

Dead bugs, cockroach allergies, and pet dander.

From the outside and the workplace, lead and foreign particles were tracked in.

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from paint, cigarette smoke, and other sources can be absorbed by carpeting before being released.

Even your regular everyday activities might discharge a lot of contaminants into the air within your home. Additionally, young kids who play on carpet are significantly more likely to come into contact with carpeting pollutants.

Clears Dust Mite

Every one of our homes has the small dust mites. They live in soft, fabric toys, bedding, curtains, rugs, mattresses, and upholstered furniture. They thrive in hot, muggy environments like ours. Feeding on pollen, fungi, germs, and animal dander as well as skin flakes from people.

Allergens incorporate the protein from dust bugs and the rubbish they produce. Ordinary activity delivers the little particles, which we take in and aggravate our sensitivities.

First, think about preventive to reduce the number of dust mites in your carpets. A excellent place to start is with routine, thorough carpet steam cleaning.

It Extends Carpet Life

Currently available high-performance carpets hardly ever "wear out." Instead, your carpet gradually starts to lose its beauty and impact as dirt and traffic wear it down. BEFORE it becomes too dirty, your carpet needs to be completely cleaned. The carpet's life is shortened as a result of soil tearing at its fibers. Additionally, cleaning your carpets becomes more challenging and expensive as a result of foot traffic driving soil further and further into the carpet.

We utilize carpet steam cleaning for thorough carpet cleaning because it is the BEST. We apply secure, biodegradable cleaning solutions to your carpet before using a strong, truck-mounted vacuum to extract the dirt and solution. Our professional grade equipment and cleaning solutions are far more powerful than the rental units and store-bought materials you have access to. Deep-clean your carpet every 12 to 18 months to keep it looking as good as new.

[watchesreview]

DELMA BLUE SHARK III BLACK EDITION

Delma, the family firm based in Lengnau, Switzerland is renowned for making divers’ watches that are extraordinarily robust and remarkably good value for money. On the face of it, the new Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition perpetuates the company’s reputation. US-based journalist Meehna Goldsmith looks closely at the brand’s latest creation.

Believe it or not, the dive watch used to be a niche category. Built for divers, it appealed mostly to the underwater crowd and those going on rugged adventures. Now it’s one of the most popular sports watches on the market, evolving from a tool into a fashion statement.  Even luxury brands have gotten in on the game. For example, Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille offer their own versions for about $25K and $90K, respectively. But would most owners risk testing the limits of those watches while exploring the depths in scuba gear? Probably not.

Fashionable dive watches in general don’t come cheap. A new Rolex Submariner will set you back about $10K. And, you can’t waltz out of a store with one on your wrist the same day, as there’s always a waiting list. You want a dive watch that looks cool, has solid underwater cred, and won’t decimate your bank account? Look no further than the Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition.

It’s possible you may not have heard of Delma before – even though the small, family-owned company has been in existence for almost a hundred years. With few exceptions, brands owned by groups such as Richemont, LVMH and Swatch drown out the little guys with their big advertising budgets. So, I will use my small megaphone to bring your attention to Delma.

Delma made its first professional dive watches in 1975, so the company isn’t a newcomer to tackling the sea. The Blue Shark story began in 2011, with the logically named Blue Shark I, a diver built for land and sea with a water resistance of 3000m. The Blue Shark II soon followed in 2018 and the Blue Shark III in 2019. The Blue Shark III proved to be such a hit that Delma decided to do an encore performance with the Blue Shark III Black, a limited edition of 300 in three dial treatments.

Essentially, the Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition is the Blue Shark III dressed up in a stealthy black cloak of stainless steel coated with DLC. But that’s okay because the Blue Shark III is a formidable workhorse with an eye-catching design.

Like the Blue Shark III, the Black Edition has impressive specs. The helium valve on the side of the case at 9 o’clock indicates the watch is built to withstand extreme depths, up to 4,000 feet. While very few will take advantage of this feature, it reveals the Black Edition is no poser. Many companies make dive watches that have the appearance of one but don’t have the goods to back it up. Delma proves its claims with a certificate from the Swiss PST Laboratory for Product Safety Testing in Zwillikon, Canton of Zurich.

When diving, visibility is essential. Keeping track of time, muscular, luminous hands and indexes pop out from the dial offered in a punchy black, blue or orange. With all three versions, orange remains the theme colour on the indexes, flange and framing the hands. It also punctuates the unidirectional bezel, another requirement for a dive watch. The colour orange was chosen because it’s one of the easiest to see underwater.

Making sure the trains run on time, Delma powers the Blue Shark III Black Edition with the solid SW200, a self-winding movement with a power reserve of 38 hours which offers a date at 3 o’clock. There’s also the special rotor emblazoned with Delma’s logo. However, you can’t see it because the case has a solid back.

If you have any doubts about the Blue Shark III Black Edition’s ability to perform, Delma put it to the test with Klaus Thymann, a cave diver and photographer. He explored several deep water caves, including the Yucatan Peninsula in Tulum and Laguna de Kaan Luum located in Mexico. The watch performed as advertised.

The Delma Blue Shark III Black Edition comes in a beefy 47mm case that stands high off the wrist at 18.5 mm thick. All three versions come with a black rubber strap with a DLC coated buckle, matching the rest of the watch. The exchange of straps is easy with the included tools.

Wrapped up in a very nice wooden box featuring Blue Shark details, the Blue Shark III Black Edition fits the bill for a dive watch that not only proves its mettle but also looks good doing it. Better still, it all comes at a very attractive price.

[magidcarpets]

Rugs Store In Alpharetta | Rugs Store In Canton | Rugs Store In Snellville

Explore our wide selection of stylish and high-quality Rug Stores in Alpharetta, Rug Stores in Canton and Snellville to elevate your home's decor.

[tsgmainlinephiladelphia]

Struggle No More! Meet Amy Forshew Owner of Interiors for the Home in Wayne

For years, I struggled with a long, wall-to-wall mantel in our family room. Every six months or so I would get a burst of inspiration and buy a bunch of accessories for it. But no matter how much I fiddled and rearranged, it never looked quite right. Something was always off. My husband could never understand how one 12-foot piece of wood could cause so much heartache. But I couldn’t help it; that mantel really bothered me!   

Amy Forshew gets it. Customers stop by Interiors for the Home, her Wayne home décor and furnishings shop, with similar problems all the time. “Many are emotionally distraught, which may sound silly, but they’ve spent hundreds of dollars and countless hours on something that still doesn’t look right,”Amy told me. Fortunately for them (and me!), Amy and her staff love these types of problems.

I’m a longtime fan of Amy’s store and its classically stylish look and feel, so I was thrilled to learn that she also offers in-home design services. She recently told me about an entire home she designed in Wayne, right down to the kitchen fixtures. “The client gave me a lot of leeway and trusted me to design a home that reflected her lifestyle,” Amy said. The result is a stunning oasis that’s both elegant and practical. “I’m all about keeping it real. Everyone wants a beautiful home but it also needs to be comfortable and accessible. Otherwise I haven’t done my job,” she explained.  

When I asked Amy about current design trends she said clients want fresher, more neutral palettes and a more transitional style. “It’s about comfort and designing around the way you live your life. People don’t want heavy and ornate; they want streamlined and uncomplicated,” said Amy, who takes up to eight buying trips a year for her shop and design clients.  Her favorite part of the design process? When clients trust her enough to take a risk and wind up loving the result.

Refresh your home this spring with help from Amy and Interiors for the Home. Her design services run the gamut, from single room redesigns to whole-house renovations. Interiors for the Home carries lighting, botanicals, accessories (including an ample selection of high-quality blue Canton ginger jars), artwork, holiday décor, custom rugs, furniture and upholstery and more. 

Images by Rachel McGinn Photography

Interiors for the Home

Eagle Village Shops

503 West Lancaster Ave.

Wayne, PA

(610) 989.9665

www.interiorsforthehome.net

Thanks for reading!

Your Editor,

Angie

[zmediaoutlet]

first lines

like, a while ago @silver9mm tagged me in this little ask meme, and I put it off because I felt like I had just done it--but now I have produced more things and also I am trying to kill some time, so

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (or however many you have altogether). See if there are any patterns. Then tag your favorite authors.

1. Hazard's one of those little speedbump kind of towns—a tiny collection of cobbled-together houses strung along the state highway, a few stores and too many churches—hidden in among the Kentucky hills. (to make the sun stand still, E, Sam/Dean and Sam/Dean/Benny)

2. This is the fourth of Mike’s stupid fucking parties that Jensen has been dragged to, against his will. (Regarding Inappropriate Conduct between a Teaching Assistant and an Undergraduate Student, E, Jared/Jensen AU.)

3. Dean sits at a solid wooden table, his socked feet flat on the soft, thick rug. (over, part 12 of ‘A Perfect Circle’, M, Dean/Lisa, Sam/Lucifer, rape warning)

4. Dean keeps thinking about time. (breña, part 11 of ‘A Perfect Circle’, E, Sam/Dean)

5. Sam knows that Dean's outside the panic room's door, because he can hear Dean's heart beating. (thinking of you, part 10 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ M, Sam/Dean)

6. When they leave Canton, the morning after killing Leshii, Dean actually does sleep, for almost two hundred miles. (thomas, part 9 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ E, Sam/Dean)

7. When he’s a teenager Sam hates the PT—hates running, hates working out, even if he gets why it’s necessary (god, Dean, yes, I get it, have to be able to outrun the werewolf, shut up already, I’m going), because it’s just one more thing for Dad to give that look about, all disappointed and you should be more like your brother. (reevaluation, E, Sam/Dean)

8. It feels— (sleeping beauty, part 8 of ‘A Perfect Circle’, M, Sam/Dean)

9. Dean runs the water in the sink for a while until it finally gets hot, then plugs it and fills it about two inches deep. (three libras, part 7 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ M, Sam/Dean)

10. Sam stopped at a bar, on his way back to the motel, but he's not drunk. (orestes, part 6 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ M, Sam/Dean)

11. Sam won't stop looking at Dean. (judith, part 5 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ E, Sam/Dean)

12. It's raining outside—a windy, blustery kind of rain, unusual for Palo Alto. (rose, part 4 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ T, gen with past weecest)

13. The Impala's parked back in front of the motel building when Dean finally escapes the trucker's lounge. (magdalena, part 3 of ‘A Perfect Circle’, M, weecest, warning for prostitution)

14. The motel phone is ringing and the shower’s running when Sam comes home from school. (the hollow, part 2 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ M, weecest)

15. It's an abandoned cabin they're squatting in, this time. (by and down, part 1 of ‘A Perfect Circle,’ gen with implied weecest)

16. There are about a thousand bright pink toys scattered all over the living room when they come into Ms. Winslow’s house and she grimaces, says, “Sorry, my girls—” and Dean may not always be the sharpest tool but he sees the writing on the wall, right then. (petting (literally), G, Sam/Dean)

17. Castiel brings him a bag of take-out from Jiffy Burger. (remorse; correction, E, Sam/Dean first time)

18. When Sam was a freshman he took an English class in film analysis, a course that he’d read online would be maybe kind of hard, but a fun way to fill a gen ed requirement. (ambiguity, E, Sam/Dean, feminization)

19. Sam wants to and Dean’s not sure, because what if Sam doesn’t know it’s him—and Sam says, I’ll know it’s you, how would I ever not know it’s you, and Dean says, but you might—, and Sam says, well, you’ll just have to talk to me, make sure I know, and Dean says, you know I’m not good at that, and Sam says, yeah, well, and he says, I trust you, and Dean doesn’t have anything he can say against that. (certainty, E, Sam/Dean, d/s)

20. It doesn’t hit him until after the hunt. (saturation, E, Sam/Dean, sweatkink)

Okay, first of all, twenty is so many. Second: I’m noticing a lot of almost movie-like establishing shots. Jeez. A lot of these are very short so you have to get to exactly where you are and what the tension is immediately. Of course, there are also a few deliberate misdirects--’over’, for sure, and technically ‘judith.’ I’m not sure what other comparisons we could draw, but this is always sort of fun to do. Now: who has been prolific and hasn’t been tagged in the last little while? Let’s try...

@winchestersinthedrift, @wetsammywinchester, @anotherwinchesterfangirl, @linden-cypress-birch, @rivkat, and really whoever else wants to do it. Plz tag me if you do it, I want to see some stories.

[yesterdaysdreams]

Mandi’s Board and Batten Study Makeover

.When we purchased our home last year, I knew the front room would be a perfect place to put a study. The little room was tucked away from the rest of the house and had a door to separate it from the hustle and bustle of family life. It was the perfect space to house our library with a cozy spot to get lost in a book. I’m happy to finally be able to share with you all of the design considerations for this space, as well as how easy it was to DIY an inexpensive board and batten wall treatment.

Style Considerations

I considered so many options for this room, as far as style, paint color, furniture selection, and arrangement goes. The look I finally settled on is a sort of mod take on a traditional masculine study. Think: mid-century cabin meets surf shack meets Gatsby’s mansion. That’s a logical combination of styles, right?

Next, after much deliberation, I settled on Benjamin Moore’s Oil Cloth as a wall color. It’s a medium-toned grayish green that takes on different hues depending on the time of day, but always to me as if it’s channeling a movie set from the ’50s. After deciding on a wall color, I chose this seasalt gray Burrard sofa from Article��that had a subtle mid-century silhouette and slim arms to fit perfectly in the narrow room. The smoky quartz womb chair I chose from Rove Concepts obviously has mid-century styling and also closely matched the gray of the sofa. Both furniture colors offer very little contrast with the wall color, which was an intentional choice. I wanted the room to feel calm and unified, as our book collection is quite colorful and would add an element of visual chaos, particularly if paired with contrasting colors and patterns.

To lend some of the casual California mood that had been part of my style inspiration, I chose woven wood shades from blinds.com. The color I selected (Terra Oak) brings out the wood tones of the window and helps warm up the generally cool feeling from the grays and metals in this space. The art over the sofa is an original mid-century porcelain piece I purchased on Etsy, which alongside the globe floor lamp also adds to the “surf shack” vibe. The morroccan-style rug from Lulu & Georgia feels more bohemian, while the vintage coffee tables I got from my friend Susie in a swap add a modern take on the art deco Jay Gatsby look. (I always think of Jay and his uncut books when I think of a traditional study!)

Before & After

I’m afraid the “before” photo of this room isn’t a true before. The month we moved in, I ripped out all of the carpet on the first floor, and didn’t think to stop and take a before picture of this space first. Just imagine a shaggy brown carpet in here, which tied in nicely with the brown walls and oak trim. (Not sure “nicely” is the best word to describe it, but you get the gist!)

The study is somewhat narrow, and it became even more so when I added bookshelves* to one of the longer walls. I figured the room didn’t need to feel spacious, right? After all, we wanted a cozy study to house our library. Further enhancing the cozy vibes, I decided at the last minute to paint the ceiling too. I hadn’t been happy with the stark contrast of the medium-toned walls with a bright white ceiling. So we rolled Benjamin Moore’s Gray Horse onto the ceiling. Funny enough, the gray sort of reads as white in the daylight in context with the darker walls.

*The boxes on the floor in the before image are IKEA Billy Bookcases! They’re what we used as a base for our built-in bookcase—a DIY project which I’ll be sharing with you very soon!

Board and Batten Installation Process

Adding board and batten moulding really took this room makeover to the next level. I love the monochrome look of painting the walls, bookshelves, and trim all the same color. But the empty walls (without bookshelves) definitely needed something to bring it all together. I knew I wanted to add some type of applied moulding, but for a while I was stuck on the style. Finally, I decided that vertical board and batten would be an easy and inexpensive way to add texture, also in keeping with the mid-century cabin vibe I like so much.

I’ve created a board and batten wall treatment before in our bedroom, but using vertical strips only was much less work and significantly less expensive. This time around, I used pre-primed lattice moulding. Lattice moulding is very thin (about 1/8″), so it will add a textural element to the wall, but won’t stick out so far as to be an impediment for hanging art or to be a collector of dust. Getting pre-primed lattice moulding saved us lots of sanding (and the mess that goes along with sanding), but I have seen treated lattice moulding available at hardware stores for about $1 per 8′ strip. This take on a board and batten look ended up being a super affordable way to dress up a room!

Prepping the baseboards: If your baseboards have a curve on top that is thinner than 1/8″ at any point, you will need to address that before adding the board and batten strips. I had already removed my baseboards before beginning this project, so it wasn’t difficult for me to address this issue. I simply glued lattice strips to the back of my baseboards at the top and bottom so they would come out from the wall far enough to perfectly meet the batten strips. Then I primed and painted the baseboards before putting them up on the wall.

Step One: Before gluing up the strips, I calculated spacing between strips to be as close to 1′ as the wall width allowed. (One wall is a bit more than 1′, another wall is a bit less than 1′ between strips.) Then I took a scrap piece of lattice and marked where each long strip should be mounted. I did use a level when making the marks to make sure they weren’t drawn crookedly on the wall.

Step Two: Apply a bead of construction adhesive to the back of your board and batten strip and use a level when applying it to the previously marked spot on the wall. These strips are lightweight enough that construction adhesive should probably be enough to hold it in place, without the strips pulling away from the wall as the glue dries. However, I’m not one to take chances, so we also nailed them up after placing each strip. We used an air nailer for this, but a hammer and nails would do the trick just fine!

Step Four: After each board is in place and the glue has dried, apply paintable caulk to where the batten strips meet the wall. Caulk is a flexible filler which should not crack over time and will fill the gaps between the board and the wall nicely. I used my pinky to run along the line of caulk to remove the excess, then used a damp cloth to remove any extra smudges of caulk on the wall and batten strips. If you have nailed your boards into place, this is also the time to fill any nail holes with spackling.

Step Five: Paint! After everything was glued and all of the cracks were filled, my husband graciously taped off the walls for me. I added plastic sheeting to the windows and floor then spray painted this entire room! You can check my highlighted “study” story on my Instagram profile if you’d like to see more behind-the-scenes footage of this endeavor.

Let’s just say the spray painting job did not go super well. The process itself went smoothly, and I thought I had done an amazing job, until the next day when I noticed the sheen varied all around the room. I mentioned it to my dad and he said, “Yeah, spray painting is definitely an art. You have to hold your gun in the same direction evenly across the surface or the sheen will vary.” Ugh, would’ve been nice to know before I began! I was just worried about getting even coverage and avoiding drips. Oh well. I ended up hand brushing and rolling around the board and batten to give the room a final pristine coat of paint.

Creating a Workspace

Finding a desk that wasn’t too bulky for our small study was also quite a challenge. My husband works from home occasionally and needs a dedicated office space in the study to set up his laptop and make calls. He also is a mentor for some of his peers, so he needs a private room for confidential meetings, with comfortable seating and access to his library. I decided we could nix a desk with a file cabinet if he was happy with keeping file boxes on the bottom shelf of the bookcase, so then we could get this more minimal desk from Lulu & Georgia. The chair is a vintage find from a local favorite of mine in Canton, Ohio (Main St. Modern), and provides a comfortable place to sit and work for an extended period of time.

I’m so happy with how the library aspect of this room makeover turned out! I’ll be sharing this bookshelf DIY soon. Adding color to the wall that also encompassed the bookcases really helped make the contents of the bookshelves feel more unified. I don’t have the prettiest book collection of all time, but I did integrate several vintage books to the mix to add a more timeless feel. Most likely I won’t read many of those vintage ones, but who knows—maybe a 1950s book called A Career in Fashion may provide useful to me one day? While thrifting one day, I did stumble on an old copy of The Fountainhead, which I couldn’t resist, even though I already own a newer copy.

Now that this space is finally completed, I’m excited to set down the power tools and work at my summer reading list instead! Any favorites I should add to my list?

As always, I have included a link list to all of the materials I used in this room. Check it out below. Let me know if you have any questions! – Mandi

I worked with a few brands to gather some items for this space. Those items are noted with a c/o in the list below to signify that they are gifted “courtesy of” items.

Material Sources:

Wall color: c/o Benjamin Moore Oil Cloth

Blinds: c/o Blinds.com

Flooring: Lumber Liquidators

Rug: c/o Lulu & Georgia

Sofa: c/o Article

Floor Lamp: c/o Article

Table Lamp: vintage

Desk: c/o Lulu & Georgia

Desk chair: vintage from Main Street Modern in Canton, Ohio

Coffee Table: vintage

Lounge chair: c/o Rove Concepts

Glass side table: c/o Rove Concepts

Bluetooth speaker: Amazon

Gray marble vase on coffee table: 31 Bits

Art & accessories: all other acessories + art is vintage

Bookshelf Boxes: DIY (blog post coming soon!)

Credits: Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 https://ift.tt/2MeaDM4 via IFTTT

[180abroad]

Days 41-42: The Golden Pass and Lake Geneva

This was one of the highlight days of the trip that I had been looking forward to since the planning stages. We would be taking the scenic Golden Pass rail line, running down the spine of the high Swiss Alps from Lake Lucerne to Lake Geneva.

Not wanting to waste time (and not having a choice anyway thanks to our Spartan accommodations at the Ibis Budget) we headed down to the train station to pick up breakfast and a sandwich for lunch at the station shops. I absentmindedly left my wallet at the shop after paying, but luckily I noticed before too long and was able to run back and get it from the shopkeeper, who handed it back with a perfectly polite, neutral expression.

Swiss trains are famously reliable, and we didn’t have any trouble, despite the many transfers. There are normally three legs to the Golden Pass: Lucerne to Interlaken, Interlaken to Zweisimmen, and Zweisimmen to Montreaux (from which we would take a fourth train to our next home in Lausanne.)

Apparently, the Swiss rail companies are working to standardize the rail gauges of the three segments so that a single train can make the entire journey without any transfers required. But in the meantime, that means that long sections of the track are closed for construction, with buses filling the gaps.

So instead of our journey having four legs, it actually had nine.

it worked out so that most legs were between 20 and 45 minutes long, and making the connections was no problem at all. The changes would have been annoying if we had been wanting to relax or work on the journey, but we actually didn’t mind them. We wanted to enjoy as much of the scenery as possible, and the regular changes kept us awake and on our toes the whole day.

The Swiss Alps are magnificent. It is as if someone took the cold, rugged mountains of Alaska and laced them with the rolling pastoral hills of Tuscany to form a single magically scenic world. Looking up, you see dramatic snow-draped peaks in all directions. Looking down, you see lush green valleys, charming farmhouses, and quaint stone towns.

Unlike a lot of people who take the Golden Pass, we didn’t stop to linger in any of the towns we stopped at. This was partly because all the bus detours made the trip longer than it usually is, but mostly it was just because neither Jessica nor I can really relax when we know we have a train to catch in the near future.

One particularly charming town that we got to peek down on between trains is Spiez.

The only downside to the trip was the heat. According to our phones, it only got up to the mid-70s at the hottest. But the trains on the Golden Pass are mostly older and have limited or no air conditioning and the large panoramic windows effectively turn the cars into greenhouses.

We had thought we brought plenty of water, but by the time we reached Lausanne, we were parched.

Lausanne seems like a beautiful city, but at that moment, all we wanted was several tall glasses of water and a cool room to lie down in. And there was about a mile of uphill, sunny roads between us and our destination. By the time we got to our Airbnb, it was all we could do to stay standing and project as polite an image as possible while our host explained the essentials of her apartment.

As soon as we were alone, we downed nearly a liter of water each and flopped down on our beds. It was barely cooler inside than it was outside, but that was beyond our caring, at least for the moment.

One immediate disappointment was that the Airbnb did not have a washing machine, despite the listing saying there was one. Also, the ceiling light in our room didn’t work, so we had to make do with a small desk lamp in the corner.

Again, though, at the moment we really couldn’t bring ourselves to care too much.

After a couple hours, we gathered our senses and wandered down the street to a Swiss burger joint called Holy Cow! (The exclamation point is part of the name.) The prices weren’t too bad for Switzerland--about $17 for what would be considered a gourmet burger in the US, fries, and a non-refillable drink. They didn’t have any sodas, but they did have apple juice, an unusual but not untasty pairing.

I briefly considered walking the 10 minutes or so up to the top of the town for a sunset view, but Jessica and I both decided that we weren’t up for it--mentally even if not physically.

After flopping back down on our beds for another couple of hours, we discovered another, larger problem. The room was hot. The Swiss don’t seem to believe in home air conditioning or even room fans. Keeping the window open made it barely tolerable--but it also let in an obscene amount of street noise. We’d dealt with noisy rooms before, but this was on a completely different level. We couldn’t even understand each other from five feet apart.

I assume you can see our dilemma.

Eventually, we decided that if we weren’t going to sleep well no matter what, we might as well not be hot. So we kept the window open, put in our headphones, and tried to tune out the street noise as much as possible.

Apparently, we somehow succeeded--I distinctly remember waking up half a dozen times during the night.

We had planned to go down to the lake and find a cafe to “work” at all day, much like we did in Lucerne. But with the morning here, it was all we could do to drag ourselves into the kitchen and figure out the coffee maker.

The caffeine helped a lot, and we got to spend the morning chatting with our host. She’s an American and a professional baker, so she and Jessica had a lot to talk about.

Around noon, we decided to get out and walk up to the Lausanne Cathedral nearby at the top of the town. The cathedral was nice if not spectacular, but we did get a great vista of the city and the lake.

We also saw the town castle, which currently serves as the meeting hall of the canton (county) government.

At this point, we were getting hungry, but I was also having stomach issues and needed a bathroom. And unfortunately, most stores and restaurants in Lausanne aren’t open on Sundays.

After failing to find a place nearby that looked good and accepted credit cards (we didn’t withdraw any francs since we are only staying in Switzerland for a few days), we headed back home to refresh ourselves, then walked over to a diner-inspired restaurant nearby.

At first, I worried that we had made a mistake. They sat us down at a table where I was directly in front of the sun, then proceeded to ignore us for the next 20 minutes or so. Eventually, about five minutes after asking one of the servers if we needed to go inside to give our orders (to which they said no, someone would be over), they took them. They also asked us to move to a different table so that they could give ours to a different party. But the table they moved us to was in the shade, so I was happy.

In the end, going to the diner was the best thing we did all day.

We both ordered the “Super Chicken Club” sandwich, and I must say it was pretty super. Swiss restaurants may be painfully expensive (the sandwiches were almost $20 apiece), but at least you seem to get good quality for your money.

We sat at the diner for another hour or so, chatting and pulling ourselves together. Again, the caffeine from the drinks helped a lot. We discussed how we were feeling about the trip so far and how best to balance sightseeing with relaxing as we go forward. By the time we left, I was feeling a lot better.

Unfortunately, we decided to use that newfound energy to head to the lake.

Now, I’ll chalk this up to a combination of our tiredness and the various inconveniences of it being a Sunday. I know plenty of people love Lausanne. Our host decided to move here from America. But I have to admit that we did not particularly enjoy it.

It was hot, loud, crowded, and swarming with lake flies. And we couldn’t find anywhere that we felt comfortable setting up shop like we did in Lucerne. Here, “cafe” seems to mean fancy restaurant, not an informal place to drink coffee and maybe get some work done on your laptop. The lines of Ferraris and Porsches up and down the road might have given us a clue.

Stressed out again and starting to snap at each other, we collapsed on a shady patch of grass just long enough to rehydrate and catch our breath before bolting to the metro station for a ride back uptown.

Away from the crowds and flies, we both immediately started to feel a little better.

Ultimately, Lausanne seems to be an upscale, party-going beach town, and we just aren’t upscale party-going beach people. One person’s heaven is another person’s mild disappointment. Having successfully retreated back home, we determined to spend the rest of the day in the relative solitude of our very noisy little room.

On the plus side, tomorrow we would be meeting up with my aunt (Jessica’s mom Donna) in Lyon and continuing on to Avignon where--most importantly--we would finally be able to wash our clothes in a real washing machine!

Next Post: Welcome to France (If You Can Make It)

Last Post: Lucerne

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History of Vacuum Cleaners

Vacuum cleaners are great appliances that are quite helpful in our homes today. Almost everyone knows what a vacuum cleaner is; we use vacuums (sometimes called Hoovers or sweepers) to suck up dirt, debris and dust from our floors, rugs, and even our cushions and upholsteries. But how many of us know the history of this handy appliance that has made sweeping so easy? Today on Black Oak Vintage, we will be bringing to you a brief but interesting history of vacuum cleaners.You can find their website here https://blackoakvintage.com/best-vacuum-for-long-hair/. Who are the people that invented the vacuum cleaner and laid the foundation for the modern day vacuums we have in our homes today? The Inventors of the Vacuum cleaner The first vacuum cleaners were actually not vacuums but rather carpet sweepers that blew air instead of sucking it. These carpet sweepers used bellows and were manually operated using a crank that was whirled by hand. They were bulky and awkward. Carpet sweepers – first commercially built in 1876 in the US by Melville R. Bissell of Grand Rapids, Michigan – are the precursors of vacuum cleaners. The first commercial vacuums were introduced in 1898, 1899, and 1900 respectively. The first and the former used internal combustion to blow air while the latter used electric motor. In 1901, a British inventor named Hubert Cecil Booth built the first vacuum cleaner that used suction instead of air blowers. At the same time, across the Atlantic, an American inventor name David T. Kenney also built his own independent vacuum cleaner that used suction. 

The Advent of Domestic Vacuum Cleaners Modern day portable vacuums came into existence because of the ingenuity and effort of a department store janitor named James Murray Spangler in 1907, Canton, Ohio. By June 12, 1908 Spangler got a patent for his invention but due to lack of funds, Spangler was forced to sell his patent to a local manufacturer of leather named William Henry Hoover. It was Hoover who had Spangler’s invention remodeled and sold commercially. By 1922 Hoover started the vacuum cleaner company known as Hoover Company. Vacuum Cleaners Today Vacuum cleaners have come a long way with contemporary innovations made to the earlier designs. Today we have the upright and canister vacuums; the hovering vacuum cleaner developed by Airider in 2004 that uses a technology similar to that of a Hovercraft. We also have the pneumatic, drum, handheld, backpack, robotic, and the cyclonic vacuum cleaners that were made popular by Dyson’s DCO1 upright Vac that uses cyclonic technology. If it wasn’t for the ingenuity, doggedness, and creativity of the earlier inventors, maybe we would still be beating our rugs manually with rug beaters and also using wet cleaning rags or brush to clean our rugs and carpets. We would also have been manually sweeping our floors, but thanks to the likes of that diminutive small town departmental store janitor James Spangler and others before and after him; we have our handy and efficient vacuums to remove hairs and other debris from our floors, cushions, upholsteries, and carpets.

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My Love Affair with Landour

Its 9 am here in Landour and the daily life has begun in its full mayhem. A squirrel is shooting across the road and has disappeared into the bushes. The soothing rays of the sun are finding an arduous task to somehow find a way to penetrate underneath a blanket of towering deodars. The mist is making a move forward from down the valley and caressing not only my body, but my soul as well. An old inhabitant of this sleepy Himalayan hamlet, sporting his rugged felt cap, is out on a walk on the rain kissed curvy serpentine road cutting through dense cedars. The bells of the nearby church are producing a reverberating sound, giving the pristine surroundings an aura of mystery and divinity.

a different world

I could easily feel the aura and enigma of Landour as I munched on my delicious Cheese Omelette at the famous Anil’s Cafe of the legendary Char Dukan. “It’s just 2 kms and a thousand feet away from Mussoorie, but a world apart”, said Candice, an American, who had got herself enrolled to learn Hindi at the famous Landour Language School. “That’s what I hope”, I murmured within, gulping the last piece of the delicious Apple waffle, as I made a move forward to explore Landour in its full glory.

char dukan

The cool dew laden air of Landour was narrating its rich history and heritage. Its beginnings can be traced down to the post Indian Mutiny period of 1857, when the cantonment township of Landour was built for the British Indian Army, and developed into a sanatorium or a healing station for its wounded soldiers. The town’s name was derived from tiny Welsh village, ‘Llannddowror’, as it was a custom during the British Raj, to name Indian towns after those at home, just to get rid of homesickness.

The best way to befriend Landour is by embarking on a walk across the ‘Landour Chakkar’, which a circular path, going all around the town.  So there I was, in front of the famous St Paul’s Church, right next to Char Dukan, considered the starting point of the walk. A beautiful British era church, St Paul’s has the distinction of being the venue of Jim Corbett’s parents’ wedding venue!!

St Paul’s

I left behind the hustle and bustle of Char Dukan behind, and slowly ventured deep into Landour, deep into the realms of the resounding beauty of nature. With the canopy of those mighty deodar’s above me, and the glorious glimpses of Mussoorie cocooned under a blanket of mist on the left, it was slowly becoming a walk to remember. This road took me to Lal tibba (Red hill), the highest point in Landour, from where I had hoped to view important Himalayan peaks like Badrinath, Kedarnath, Banderpunch, etc. It was not to be though. The gloomy weather and an overcast sky had some other plans maybe.

spellbounding views of Mussoorie

I continued further, and now was probably on the most beautiful stretch of the ‘Chakkar’. A stretch exemplifying  Landour’s casting spell; sprinkled with Raj era colonial bungalows radiating an old world charm, a dense deodar infected dwindling road  laden with blooming wild flowers, and the stillness in the air only perturbed by the sweet chirps of the many variety of birds habituating in the surroundings. The acclaimed Indian actor, Victor Banerjee, resides here in his beautiful villa named ‘The Espionage’, which sits pretty adjacent to an old cemetery.

into the lap of nature

I could relive the bygone era by coming across house names such as Kenilworth, Scottsburn, Wolfsburn, Shamrock Cottage, Waverly, Ivanhoe, among others.

A few minutes of further walking, and there I stood in front of Landour’s another Raj era church, the Kellogg’s memorial. A large concentration of foreigner’s made me realize the presence of the Landour Language School in the vicinity. Remember Candice??? The students stay here for months for their Hindi course, and stay in many of the cheap accommodations available in this area. (All you backpapker’s!!! You know what I’m talking about!!!)

kellogg’s memorial

And how could I miss another of Landour’s landmarks. The popular Prakash Store, located in Sister’s Bazaar, is a few minutes’ walk, and certainly a not to be missed spot. Known for its renowned peanut butter, jams and bakery items, the shop has been here since decades, and boasts of some well known clients. Even the Gandhi’s have shopped here!!

It was a Sunday that day; otherwise I could have been surrounded by the students of the legendary Woodstock school, that is just around the corner.

homestay’s with those captivating views

Continuing further on my quest to unravel Landour, I ventured through some of the most well known home stays like La Villa Bethany and Tabor Cottage, before finding myself standing on the gates of one of Landours’ most famous addresses, The Rockeby Manor.

Rockeby Manor

A 175 year old English style country estate, the property is now run as a luxurious resort, famous for its old world charm, perfect location and some stunning views. My lunch at the Emily’s, Rockeby’s famed restaurant, was nothing short of bliss. A platter of sumptuous fish-n-chips, coupled with the enchanting views of the mist filled cedar and oak forest..Is heaven somewhere else??

A few steps ahead of Rockeby Manor, and I reach back the spot where it all started. I was back at St Paul’s, but did my tryst with Landour end here? Certainly not. I mean, how can a date with Landour end without a visit to its most famous address?  I am indeed talking about Landour’s favourite son, Ruskin Bond. He lives at Ivy Cottage, a 10 minutes’ walk from St Pauls, en route Landour Bazaar.

Ivy Cottage on the right

“Dear Ruskin, of all the places, why only Landour”, I thought. And then I smiled. Why? Cause there’s something in the Landour air. Something that cannot be defined, but only be experienced. A calmness, an ethereal charm and a resonate walk into the bygone era that has attracted poets, writers, and artists; who once come here, become here’s for their lifetime.

Writers such as Ruskin Bond, Hugh and Colleen Gantzer, Bill Aitken, Allen Sealy, and film personalities such as Tom Alter, Victor Banerjee and Vishal Bharadwaj; the list of Landour’s victims goes on an on..

My love affair with Landour is an everlasting bond that takes me to a level of happiness, where no one else can…

Explore more at www.travelwithrohit.com. Travel with Rohit is the Best Travel Blog in India, Give readers a sneek peek into world of travel. Through TWR, I wish to share my varied travelling experiences, both in India and abroad.

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