simple curtains and AOC

Oh my goodness friends! I've received the sweetest comments and emails this week. You all have been so generous in your appreciation of this antique little spot on the internet. Blogs seem to be a relic of the past, so I am encouraged by all of your loyalty to sewandsowlife. THANK YOU!

I've got a backlog of things to share with you, so I'll be popping in here a bit more often in the next bit. I also plan to take a sabbatical from Instagram for the month of August, so this will definitely be home base during that time.

Let's talk do-it-yourself-repurpose-recycle here.

Our west facing windows provide a lot of solar gain warmth in the chilly months here in Vermont...but...yikes! In the summertime all of that sunshine can really heat the place up! A few years ago I bought inexpensive drop clothes from the hardware store, put grommets in the corners and hung them from hooks on the window trim on especially hot days. This has been a very warm summer, so I decided to upgrade to curtains that can slide back and forth, according to when we may need them (or not). Also, ahem, I no longer need the step ladder.

Batman had found some copper piping out in the shed, left by the previous owner, and we decided it might make spiffy curtain rods. He cut them to length and we put them up with plumbing fittings. I used the same (very affordable) drop clothes from the hardware store. The priciest part of the project were the curtain rings with clippy hooks that I had to buy at a big box store (BOO, HISS).

I have avoided window treatments, because I thought they would clash with our Shaker aesthetic here, but these turned out to be very simple and unobtrusive. And on wicked sunny days, I pull them across the windows early in the morning, and they really help moderate the temperature in here!

And my, oh my...no matter what your political leanings are, isn't Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a bright and shining light in America right now? Her response to Rep. Ted Yoho's outrageous comments was brilliant. In my COVID-19 induced isolation, I sometimes dream of being out in the big wide world (who doesn't?). I would love, love, love to sit with AOC, sip an iced latte with her and chat about the state of the world. Who's with me on this?