A Few New Things

But, first, the weekend wrap up... 

Christopher's team won his league basketball game yesterday by 19 points. Although you wouldn't know it by the score, it was actually a pretty competitive game and the other team definitely hung tough until the end. Next weekend, his team plays the only other team that is also 5-1. Unfortunately, that team is cause of the "1" in our loss column so it is a pretty important game and will determine our seeding for the tournament. No pressure boys. 

Caitlynne's team lost yesterday and it was just such a frustrating game. Our five starters played really well the first quarter and I had (reasonably) high hopes for the rest of the game. However, we were missing three good players to church obligations and we just don't have a lot of depth on the team to make up for the absence of their skills. Yesterday, when one or both of our very good players were resting, we lost a lot of ground and could not get back in the game. It could have been worse I guess...Caitlynne and our best player were both in serious foul trouble late in the 2nd quarter and I was in a panic about what to do if they fouled out or if someone was injured. 

Caitlynne and Christopher each have a school basketball game on Wednesday at home, at the same time and on adjacent courts so I will be able to watch both games. I am kind of bummed that Kevin will not be home until late Wednesday night and will miss seeing them play.  It is a rare treat for them to both have games on the same day and at home.

And now for the "new"...

Fresh cut orchids. I bought all of these stems for about $2.50! If cared for properly (I trim the stems and refresh the water every few days), these should last at least 2 weeks. 

 

Last week, I went back with a friend to Benjarong Village (which I previously posted about here).  Over the last few weeks, we had been to Chatuchak and a few retail shops around Bangkok to look at different patterns and pieces of Benjarong but she wanted to see what was available at the Village before making any purchases. As you can imagine, she did not have to twist my arm very hard (I rarely decline an invite to go shopping!) and off we went on a little "field trip". 

When I had gone to the Village with the Embassy in June, there were a few pieces that I really liked but wasn't sure I liked them enough to buy right there on the spot. Of course, the minute I left the shop, I regretted not buying them so this was my second chance! Fortunately, the shop still had the two beautiful blue and white porcelain garden stools (photo below) in stock and I snatched them up. Literally!

I sit in this chair every evening with a glass of wine and a book or magazine. I was always annoyed not to have a place to rest the phone, my glasses, etc.  Believe me, the floor is not a good place for a glass of wine! On Pinterest and in the interior design magazines I read, I have seen quite a few photos of garden stools being used as side tables and thought that would be the answer to my problem.  And it was.  

 This is Kevin's chair, just waiting for his return.

The garden stools are quite large (about 20" high) and the top surfaces are large enough (over 13" square) to hold all of my "stuff". I think they are a little too high for these chairs (Embassy-provided) but will be fine with what we have in storage back in the U.S.

The colors and artwork are beautiful.

 The top.

After I got home and set everything up, I was happy... for a few minutes. Originally, I had these pillows on the chairs...

but, once the garden stool was in place, the the pillow & chair combo just looked "blah" next to it.  So, I did some "shopping" around the house and swapped them out with the red paisley pillows (in the photos above) that were on our sofa.  Much better. It is only a temporary fix though as I found this fabric online over the weekend... 

 And am having it made into pillows like this...

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Have a great Monday and Happy October!