my new jersey home

So now i have two homes! one in CT with mbh and one in NJ all to myself. over the last couple of weeks i have been enjoying setting up a little abode for myself here in NJ.

kitchen/dining area.

i bought the DIY kit for the table and chairs (and many other things besides) at IKEA and enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that i always feel when i manage to put furniture together successfully. mbh always likes to boast to people that i am the furniture builder in the house. he hates to do it and since i love doing it, it is usually my job. its like doing a puzzle but ever so much more rewarding in its usefulness.

i love the birch wood of the table...birch trees make me think of my mother and the Finnish forest and beating each other with fresh birch twigs in the sauna to get the circulation going.

I went one step further in my home improvement spree this time, emboldened by my success in the simple task of putting the table together. i bought a drill from Home depot! and was determined to put up a shelf on the wall. the whole experience was quite traumatic actually. I had to face fears of drilling into wires or through the wall into the neighbours apartment or that the whole building would fall down or that i would drop the drill and drill into my toes and all manner of other horrors... i did it but i didn't enjoy the experience i am afraid to say. i think i would like to apprentice for a while with a builder or carpenter just so that i could learn a few tricks of the trade. here is the shelf. (i actually bought three to put up but stopped after the first because i couldn't take the stress any more :)