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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

9 Years Ago Today, This Happened

A Little Break

One of my sisters is coming for a visit, so I am taking a little blog break.

See you in a few days!

Welcome Home,

Penny

Hughes Talks About His Huge Game 3 Star

From Chad Jennings:

“There’s always pressure that comes with every start,” Hughes said. “I don’t really feel like I can, you know, sort of feel any added pressure just because of the circumstances. I just have to go out there and pitch, that’s all it boils down to. Not really worry about being down 0 2, that Verlander is on the mound, that we don’t have our captain. Those sort of things are going to be wasted energy, and all I really want to focus on is the Detroit Tigers lineup and doing the absolute best job I can do.”

Hughes’ two starts at Comerica Park this season were a pretty good snapshot of the highs and lows of his yaer. In August, he couldn’t get out of the fifth inning. In June, he threw the first complete game of his career.

“You can’t really look at those two starts and take a whole lot away from them coming into this start,” Hughes said. “I just have to hope that I have good stuff and good command and attack the strike zone like I normally do, and I think we’ll have some good success.”

...

“I remember I actually started off a little bit slow in that (complete game) start,” he said. “It was kind of a struggle for me to get going — almost similar to my last start against Baltimore (in the division series) — and then I remember I got stronger as the game went on and I was able to command the ball a little bit better. So hopefully (tonight) there’s a little bit of a similarity in the fact that I can command the ball and hopefully command it early and often. It’s a tough lineup, and I’m going to have to be on top of my game, but I have confidence that I will be, and I look forward to it.”

—

“As a pitcher sitting on the bench, I am not used to seeing [the offense struggle like this] either,” Hughes said. “We are a team that is a high-powered offense. We get a lot of home runs and things like that. But anytime you are going through these struggles, as pitchers, we take it as we have to step up and do a better job and put up a bunch of zeros because we know we can scratch and claw and put together a couple of runs. As long as our pitchers do a stand up job, we know we will have a chance to win the game.

“I think it is a challenge for our pitchers and we’ll have to do a really good job and have the confidence that we will score at least a few runs, and hopefully a bunch, and turn this thing around.”

I don't have to explain how important this game is for the Yankees and Hughes himself. A win tonight with CC going in game 4 could turn the series around. Sure, it's a very tall order, but this is sports and stranger things have happened.

Let's go Hughes, make this a series.

As some of you noticed I updated the blog a wee bit. Small changes - removed the coloured background. Tidied up the sidebar a little. The biggest change would be the header you see above - a new font and layout. I've being inspired by things that are a wee bit more feminine - I'm obsessing over florals and calligraphy but still am in love with modern clean structure. I feel that the mix of the cursive font against the white background is a perfect mix of feminine with modern.

As a designer it's terribly hard to design things for yourself - much like an interior designer may find it hard to decorate their own interior (I wonder, do they find that hard?) I have 10 different business card designs lying around my office, all of which are not exactly right and I still don't have a proper card to hand out.

I associate the changes to blog design/layout to much like moving around furniture in the house when things get boring after awhile. Or switching out pillows on the couch when your tastes change. Don't you do that ? Please tell me you do that too. ;-) Anyhow, still tweaking it so don't be surprised if you see things move around. xo Linds

Ps., There is a new section called "Archives" that I'm continually adding too. If there is a blog post that I've missed that you think would be good to feature in there let me know.

Photos via. Lovely Little Details, Found on Pinterest

around the shop

We always seem to be getting new stuff in the shop, selling our favorite pieces and getting new ones. And, of course, we always seem to be rearranging just for fun! We have decided to stop with our online shopping, but want our out of state readers to know, if you ever see something here that you would like, just email or call the store and we are always willing to ship it to you! We have new pillows, new Vietri dishes (you are all going to want the new little teapot and biscotti dish!), plenty of pumpkins and new fun gifts and furniture pieces. Come in and see us or check it out right here...

Brett Gardner Could Start Game 3

From Andrew Marchand:

With the idea of shaking up the lineup going into Game 3 against the Detroit Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Brett Gardner could be a starting outfielder.

"He still might play a role in this thing," Cashman said on ESPN New York 98.7 FM’s "The Michael Kay Show." "You could very well see Gardner in this big outfield that Detroit has. The way our offense is, it is a possibility. He deserves consideration considering what is going on right now."

Gardner could start in the outfield with Nick Swisher or Curtis Granderson or, in some arrangements, both sitting. Previously, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said he is hesitant to play Gardner because he has only had three major league at-bats since April. Gardner missed most of the season with an elbow problem.

Gardner is 5-for-11 in his career against Verlander and at this point I'd have to imagine he'd put up better at-bats than Swisher, after all Swish got his feelings hurt. Also, and more importantly, Swisher is just a .180 in 61 at-bats against Verlander.

Yankees Fans Should Be Embarrassed

The title speaks for itself. Since the beginning of the postseason, I have heard some pretty ridiculous things from Yankees fans. One of my favorites was one female fan’s claim that because the Yankee players are clean cut, that makes them “classy.” Please, so now facial hair dictates what kind of a human being you are? For the most part, these were the type of humorously naïve comments I would be subjected to on a somewhat consistent basis. You laugh at them, poke a little fun, but ultimately, you just roll your eyes at the stupidity and carry on with your life.

Now we are learning that not only has the fans turned on Nick Swisher, but some of them are actually blaming him for Derek Jeter breaking his ankle. Are you kidding me? That brings ignorance to a whole new level. I get that in the postseason, especially in close games, emotions run high but the suggestion that Swisher had anything to do with Jeter’s broken ankle proves how dumb people can be. Everyone is frustrated with how this team is playing but there is no excuse for saying something like that to someone that has been a great player since he came to the Bronx. Not only has he been a great player, he has been one of the most likeable guys in the game, and one of the few celebrities out there that seems to genuinely care about his fans. If you want to be frustrated with his postseason performance, that is fair but leave the ignorance to the two fools that are campaigning for President.

Swish has also said these “fans” have made it personal with attacks on his family. Way to go whoever you are. There is a good reason why fans of the New York Yankees have a really bad reputation. Just like fans of Philadelphia sports teams, the popular opinion is not a positive one. It is absolutely vile to go after a person’s family. This is a game, people. Remember that. So if the New York Yankees and their $200Million payroll don’t bring home a World Series this year, is it that horrible of a thought? Is the idea so offensive that these fans feel it is their obligation to spew such hatred? I am not even 30 years old and I have already seen five World Series championships. Most people will not even get to see one in their lifetime. If they don’t win it all this year or the next, I will be fine. You all will be fine as well (unless you placed big money on the ALCS). Everybody should just relax with the theatrics already. The guy isn’t playing well but it is certainly not due to a lack of effort.

I am not defending his postseason performance this year or any other year, it’s been pretty bad. I just cannot wrap my head around why there are people at a baseball game that would resort to such classless tactics. Just for kicks, I have even heard fans complain that he is smiling too much. This isn’t news. When doesn’t Swish smile? He is a happy guy that is living his dream & being paid handsomely to do so. I would be smiling from ear to ear all the time if I had his life. For some reason though, these fans seem to expect Nick Swisher to not be himself. What do you want him to do? If he frowns when they lose, does he get his Yankee-Cred back? Do you guys want him to sulk in a dark corner?

Nick Swisher has the right attitude in life and he has his priorities straight. The Yankees fans that feel the need to try and destroy his spirit could learn from him because they do not. Remember, it is just baseball. After the final out is recorded, life goes on.

This weekend at a fair I bought two ledger books. Nothing valuable, but the sort of encounter that sends a little frisson up my back.

I picked up the first book, with an unpromising dusty black cover, not really expecting to find anything interesting on its pages. Inside I found a most beautifully written ledger of accounts, dated from 1858 to 1893. No doubt, kept by a business man, keeping track of his expenses and investments. The contents are too vague to be really informative, but the careful handwriting and neat notes are charming and unique.

The lady selling her pile of bric-a-brac saw me smiling at the pages and sidled up to me with a much much smaller book in her hand. "You might like to look at this one too", she almost whispered to me.

The little notebook had a handwritten label on the front: "Recettes et Dépenses", (income and expenses).

I opened it to find a notebook, a financial record for the year 1912, whose sparse pages spoke to me of a simple life with few and inexpensive needs.

I thanked the lady enthusiastically, and she told me the book had been her great uncle's. He apparently bought bicarb of soda, shaving cream, stamps and other small necessities.

"Why are you selling this?" I asked; "But why would you want to buy it?", she replied. !!

I opened a page of the tiny ledger, where the owner had listed a hotel bill at 44 francs, and a list of othr travelling expenses*, then pulled from my pocket a receipt from a trip to the supermarket this week. Dozens of items required for one week of family life.

We both smiled as we looked at the two short pages that covered her uncle's expenses for the whole of the month of May ...... "Don't you think life was simpler then?!"

*[this is in old francs, so today 44 francs would be worth 67 centimes of a euro or 0.86 US$]

As we wind down our kitchen renovations posts one important element that I need to write about our appliances. Appliances are a major financial investment in a kitchen. In some cases you may be able to work with the appliances that you already have (which saves you a fair bit of $$) but in our case, we desperately needed to purchase everything new. (Our fridge was making monster noises at night)

I initially found the selection process really overwhelming - I was considering function, quality and the aesthetically how it would look in our new renovated kitchen. We ended up falling hard for the GE Cafe collection. You can read about why we picked the collection in this post, but the rest of this particular post will give you more details on each piece. Stove, Microwave, Counter Depth Fridge, Dishwasher. If you're looking for top of the line appliances that give you great style and function, I would highly recommend you consider this line by GE Cafe.

Read more »

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was busy but nice. Our house & garden tours went well in spite of the cooler temperatures. We had the fireplaces going and the wood stove so we all could warm up by a cozy fire.We had about 45 people from Japan between the 2 tours and I was happy to see their smiling faces!
On Friday we had our little granddaughters come for a visit.The girls ( Abby & Olivia) often like to dress up in some pretty dresses when they come.

Tea is serious business for Olivia!

May they always enjoy a cup of tea at Grandma's house!

Just a few other sweetness photos from my older files.

We had our first frost of the season a few nights ago but this shot was taken in the garden a couple of years ago. It is one of my favorite autumn rose pictures.

We have 25 visitors from Japan coming on Tuesday afternoon and it looks like a warm but wet day for us so we will have to dig out the umbrellas again. Ater this tour the season is over for another year. A little clip of our garden(and other points of interest on the Island) aired on the BS network in Japan a couple of weeks ago and it is interesting that some of our recent visitors have enjoyed seeing it. Hopefully, they all want to come visit us next year!!!

Some day soon I am going to spend a day taking photos just for you!

Take care,
Carolyn

Apparently, Nick Swisher was upset at the treatment he's been receiving from some bleacher creatures over the last couple games. Here's more on the story via Bryan Hoch:

Nick Swisher and Yankee Stadium's right-field Bleacher Creatures have enjoyed a warm relationship over four seasons in the Bronx, one that includes Swisher enthusiastically acknowledging cheers with a left-handed salute during "Roll Call" each day.

But on Sunday, as the Yankees took the field for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, Swisher's heart wasn't quite in it. Stung by jeers he heard from the home crowd during the Yankees' Game 1 loss to the Tigers, Swisher acknowledged that he offered just a lackluster wave when he heard his name chanted.

"That's the last thing that I ever thought would be in this ballpark, that people would get on you that bad," Swisher said after the Yankees lost, 3-0, to fall into a 2-0 deficit in the ALCS. "Especially your home, where your heart is, where you've been battling and grinding all year long. It's just frustrating, man. You never want to be in that spot. It's not like you're trying to go out there and do bad on purpose. It's just tough, man."

... what troubled Swisher were personal jabs and critiques that seem unfair.

"Last night was pretty big," Swisher said. "A lot of people saying a lot of things that I've never heard before. Prime example: I missed that [12th-inning Delmon Young] ball in the lights, and the next thing you know, I'm the reason that [Derek] Jeter got hurt. It's kind of frustrating. They were saying it was my fault."

...

"I'm one of those guys that if you give me a hug, I'll run through a brick wall for you, man," Swisher said. "It just seems right now like there's just a lot of ... it's tough. It's really tough. You want to go out and play for your city, play for your team. Right now, it's just really tough.

"It hurts. Sometimes I'm a sensitive guy and some of the things people say, they get under your skin a little bit. I've been lucky to be here for the past four years, bro. We're not going to go out like this. We're going to go to Detroit and give everything we've got."

And one more from the Daily News:

“As the game progresses, you’re trying to go up there and get a hit. If you don’t, people let you know about it,” said Swisher, who is batting .154 with one RBI through seven postseason games this October. “It’s a tough spot. Hey man, I guess that’s playing in New York... That’s New York for you.

Also, according to a this Newsday article fans serenaded him with: "Na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye." after his final plate appearance.

Swisher also went on to suggest that the atmosphere in the Bronx might be hurting the team, calling it "a negative setting."

I'm sure there will be some who side with Swisher here, but it's not going to be me. Grow a sack and I don't know, maybe get a damn hit. Then those boos that hurt you so much might just go away.

A-Rod said it best in his postgame:

“Our fans haven’t had much to cheer about, so you can’t blame them. You have to blame us. If was sitting there I would be perplexed too. We didn’t score any runs. What the hell are we going to cheer about?”

{ Clover Market }

Yesterday was our first day at Clover market.
Clover Market is a vintage and handmade outdoor market in Ardmore, PA.
It only happens 6 times a year. So when there's a Clover Market, you get there if you can!

I wanted to share some pictures of our tent from yesterday. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and the crowds were just as beautiful.
I'm so thrilled to be a part of the Clover Community!

Here's a little of what we offered at Clover...

If you'd like to be kept up to date, find out about upcoming Painted Home activities, and be invited to cool events like these, then subscribe to our mailing list by entering your email address. It's right here in the right hand column ---->

I'll be having a pop-up shop to sell the remainder of our wares very soon.
If you'd like to be invited, simply add your email address to our mailing list in the column on the right!