Hi Clare~~I don't really have anything concrete to tell you, but I am literally going through the exact same thing. My DH's company CLOSED in October, and since he is 58 years old and was in the financial market, there is no hope of him finding another job, so we are trying to figure out how to semi-retire. For the first few months, I thought I would pull every hair out of my head. Thank God, I work full-time at a job I absolutely love, so that is a huge help. However, I, too gave him a few months to settle into a different type of living, but lately, I am getting very aggravated because since I work all day, and then come home to cook, do laundry, etc., I find that he sits at the computer or TV ALL day and does nothing. I am ready to run away. Our third son, who still lives with us (20 yrs.old) is bipolar, and my husband suffers from depression. All I can say is that you need to get out of the house a few times a week and work it out with him to help with your son. If you don't get alone time, things get tougher. I find that I am looking at my DH differently because I feel like he is just lazy. I know things will work out eventually, but if you don't make some time for yourself, it will definitely get harder. I'm sorry that I don't have anything more valuable to tell you. Hang in there, and like others have said....."in good times and bad times". Take care.

Hi all, no photos yet as I've come down with a bad cold; taking a decorating timeout. Right now I'm sitting in the LR with a fuzzy bathrobe and some hot tea. But sometimes a couple of days to let things settle is a good thing. GK, I'm looking forward to seeing your piano. Mine used to be turned so that the keys were visible in the room. It has its advantages, for sure. Awhile back I posted here with another question about the Living room, and Les suggested I look at turning it the way it is now. I hadn't thought of doing it that way, and once I tried it, I really like it especially from the viewpoint of the person playing or singing. Now I have a view of the outside instead of looking up into a corner, and it's wonderful. Whatever you decide, when you have your piano delivered, I'd advise trying it a couple of different ways while you have the movers there. I can't wait to see your pics; I'm sure it will be beautiful, and what a wonderful addition to your life! Oh, and I'm going to check into a way to raise the height to a different level. Right now mine has two settings; one very high, and another about 4 or 5 inches. I'd love something in between, and it looks like the piece that holds the top up is something you just screw into place. So maybe there is one that would allow me to keep it raised but just not so high. Thanks jenny, bigdog, and oceanna. I appreciate your interest and kind words. Oceanna, I do like your suggestion about a more colorful piano shawl. If I go back in that direction I will definitely try something else. I agree that when the lid is raised it's not the best for seeing the artwork, although that view is only a problem when you view it from a sitting position. When you are standing up or walking around, the art shows up better. I do love the three paintings there now and will most likely keep them on that wall. The painting of the young lady used to be in my kitchen, and I miss her there, so she may go back eventually. So that wall is probably in play......(LOL) as you said in one of your other posts, it really never ends, does it?

My goodness, you guys are fast tonight! I was moseying through the Kitchens forum, stopped by here on my way to bed, and there are already three of my friends online and commenting! ML, I swear I did not lift a finger. I just pointed and Belinda did everything. The most I did was empty some drawers, then she carried the boxes. Belinda needs to earn spending money (she is on disability) and she does everything I can't do or don't get around to doing. Black for the desk would be perfect. I was trying to lighten the area, so did not think of it. The keyboard that will be next to it is black, though. So are the trombone cases, the music stand, and so on. We will have to see how it looks once the room is done. The fake red mahogany may look okay. The room faces east. The honeycomb shades are fairly new - we installed them the day his dad went blind about 3.5 years ago. DH may let me do a valance and side curtains, though. I can only imagine the fun I would have in a fabric store - I am a color and texture lover. Maybe I should look into hanging the 7.5' square rug on the one empty wall behind the loveseat? That would muffle a lot. The rug is in the basement, rolled up after being professionally cleaned. DH is weird about practicing. Lately he has been practicing in the hallway outside of the bedrooms, pointing his horn into the tiled bath. He seems to like that sharp sound. I will have to ask him tomorrow. He went to bed an hour ago, after struggling for hours to figure out a stock distribution issue with my sister's taxes. Her taxes usually take about 10 minutes to do, but not this year! I cannot take credit for the maple, it came with the house. I can only take credit for not trimming it back, or shearing off the bottom so that it looks like an umbrella, like some folks here do. I did choose the door to match it, though! For artwork, there is an interesting photo montage of parts of a trombone, all different angles and perspectives. DH also has a framed poster from the Montreaux Jazz Festival, from the year he played there. I have a picture of him with a mop of hair from his college days, playing. A friend gifted him recently of a sculpture of a figure playing keyboards. I do have a couple of those down lights that you place above artwork that I can use to illuminate something in the bookcase, I like that idea. We have an old broken trombone or two in the basement. Maybe I could look for more musical items in thrift stores and make a sculpture to hang on his wall. The horns live in their cases. I have offered to make shelves for them and DH has declined. Hi Marti, yes that is a barrister bookcase. I got it from Craigslist several years ago and had planned to use it for a display case - even purchased several T3 fluorescent fixtures to put inside some of the sections. It ended up just holding books because we ran out of space. Today we discussed what we are going to do with it, and DH wants to keep it in the foyer. I had planned to put my art deco buffet in the foyer, but the bookcase will fit better. The little curio cabinet next to it holds a few of my precious items. It is supposed to sit a bit down the main hall, where it intersects with the hall to the kitchen and family room, but when Dad was alive we needed it out of the way for the wheelchair and ambulance crews (who else decorates around what the ambulance crews might need!). Now, I leave it in the foyer because I do not want it near where Casey has his pee pads. I don't want it to become a target for him! Since he is on prednisone, he sometimes needs to "go" with little notice. Once the brain tumor or liver cancer take him, it will move back to it's proper place. The hall tree is heavy wrought iron and quite handy, so I may keep it there, too. I just envisioned the foyer looking a bit nicer, with a table and flowers and a picture or mirror on the wall! A tall bookcase (with my McCoy pottery inside) and a coat rack? What do you think? Hi Chris, I did ask the heart doc about the far infrared sauna, and he said it was okay. I got it up to about 120 degrees last night and it was just heaven. I felt well-baked. Know anyone driving through the Detroit area? I have two more shelves in the garage I cannot use. They are 30" wide, 91" tall and 10.5" deep. I do like the color of the bookshelves. They look nicer now than at the lawyer's office. That makes me think that maybe the shelves need touching up. I am not sure yet, since I am not picking them up to look at, since I still have a weight restriction. The shelves are solid pine planks. Jim wants me to look into replacing the metal shelf bracket tracks. They are silver colored and stand out. He wants me to look into getting them in antique brass. My feeling on this is that most of them will be hidden by books, and can't I just paint the visible ones? DH and I are having discussions on what material to use to top the three chests below the middle bookshelves. I want to get this nice granite tile with bullnose edging. He wants to spend less money! The link below shows the product I want to use. I would like the color Giallo Almafi. Here is a link that might be useful: Granite Solutions

I was developing some musical ablilty in our high school band. I played the euphonium (baritone horn). It is fingered the same as a trumpet or coronet and has a range of about 3 octaves. After high school, I messed a bit with a harnomica and learned to play well enough to entertain myself. (A hermonica is much more portable and cheaper than a horn.) When ncessary, a hermonica can be played quietly in a closed room. I whiled away some of the many lonely hours I spent while working my way through collge. In my youth, I whistled tunes while running a tractor. (Plowing was a very boring job.) These days, I have no talent; Only music appreciation remains. It was a lifetime ago when I dabbled in making music. My upper lip is partially paralized and that seriously affects whistling. Although I can read music and know how it should sound, I am frustrated because I do not have the physical coordination to create music. I have a fair singing voice, but can not accurately hit the first note. Usually, I find my self sliding into the first note after hearing it, and that sounds awful in a choir or quartet. In public performances, I should stick with spoken passages. I envy those who can perform music from memory (without sheet music). I find these are the best performers because they can instinctly make the msuic and concentrate on making a beautiful sound without the encumberance of reading the music. Nuanciances and feeling can be put into the music. However, music performed from memory is not always duplicaed the same each time and is best for solos.