Wrought iron furniture

Wrought iron garden setting and coffee : Three Squatters Pop-Up Cafe and Bar

Coffee on a budget at pop-up cafe

By IVY FLEMING

They may be working 17-hour shifts, but the three Wollongong university students behind Three Squatters Pop-Up Cafe and Bar aren’t looking the slightest bit tired.

Friends since year 11, Nick Underhill, Tiffany Blackmore and David Columbro are using their summer break from studies to operate the cafe from the former Yours and Owls site.

‘‘The coffee helps,’’ laughs Blackmore when asked how she gets through the hours. The cafe has transformed the former live music site into a cosy inner-city nook for students and friends.

The deliberately mismatched furniture creates a laid-back feel. There are lop-sided mirrors, timber stools, wooden crates and even a white, wrought-iron garden setting.

Along with homemade biscuits, muffins and slices at the counter, the place is filled with artwork, woodworks, relishes and jewellery, showcasing the talents of the trio’s friends from university.

‘‘You can only squat for so long’’ is written on the blackboard at the counter, alongside the ‘‘Squatters Countdown’’ written above a lop-sided mirror, marking  the number of days the bar will remain open.

Three Squatters opened on February 1 and will close on February 28, when the trio prepare for their return to university.

The three friends had just three weeks to set up the cafe, which now operates from 7am till midnight on weekdays and from 9am till midnight on weekends.

They leased the venue after Yours and Owls moved out and Underhill says having a leftover coffee machine, equipment and cutlery made the set-up much easier, especially as there were approvals such as a liquor licence to be finalised. ‘‘In terms of opening a cafe there’s so much to do,’’ Underhill says.

All three have had experience in hospitality at certain stages and are now studying various degrees. Underhill is completing his honours in international communications and media studies, Blackmore is studying a combined degree in law and arts, and Columbro, who is studying accounting and international business, has taken a month’s leave from his  job to help with the cafe.

After finishing her shift, Blackmore then goes home to prepare relish and craft jewellery pieces. Underhill says social media has helped get word out about the cafe and it has been busy. ‘‘We wanted it to be a really relaxed place to hang out,’’ he says, adding that the prices have been kept low to fit in with university students’ budgets.

‘‘We’re kind of spending our time there anyway so we’re enjoying it just as much as everyone else is.’’ Drawing towards its final day, Three Squatters is holding a gourmet burger night on February 26, hosted by Little Prince chef Jimmy Callaway.

Blackmore says that along with having live acoustic music on Sundays, the group have set up quirky events at the cafe, including an anti-Valentine’s Day, which included pinatas for those keen to show their distaste for the day.

Wrought iron coffee table for the rustic-chic Galveston house

This rustic-chic Galveston house has haunted beginnings
In a historic Victorian that was once reportedly inhabited by ghosts, a Houston boutique owner finds a bright, rustic-chic Galveston getaway

By Melanie Warner

Helen Carmody Stroud grabs the pull on the white-trimmed floor-to-ceiling window and draws it open. The petite redhead then steps onto the balcony and takes a seat on a hanging swing.

The breeze blowing in from the Gulf on this day in Galveston is cool, and sun floods the gray painted wood plank flooring of the outdoor space, which is just large enough for the charming swing, an Adirondack chair and a small wicker table with a container of seashells on the bottom shelf.

The owner of the Rice Village linen and home store Olivine, Stroud, who also has a home in The Woodlands, bought this circa-1899 Victorian home in 2008 after Hurricane Ike using an inheritance from her aunt. In the ensuing months, she transformed the dark – and reportedly haunted, but more on that later – house into a bright, casual weekend retreat that combines rustic French country coziness and just a hint of coastal flair with elements paying homage to Stroud’s Louisiana roots.

“The truth is, when I first walked into this house, I thought it was so creepy,” said Stroud.

This diminutive balcony is accessed via what Stroud believes is a “trunk room,” which in homes of this era and style is where the well-heeled, well-traveled Victorian families would store their traveling trunks. It’s possible also that this small, single window room is a “bedroom” what we now call bedrooms were at the time referred to as “chambers.”

Whereas the chamber was a room for sleeping and dressing, the bedroom typically contained a daybed and would be used for naps, so that beds in the proper chambers weren’t messed up.

“It was not my taste at all,” said Stroud. “There was stenciling. The kitchen had big, huge ceramic tile [that] was a dark wine color.”

So Stroud ripped the dark tile and drab brown cabinets out of the kitchen, opting instead for painted gray wood floors and white Ikea shelves and cabinets. The countertops are butcher-block style, and the pièce de résistance is a deep, white porcelain farmhouse sink paired with a curvaceous Perrin & Rowe faucet.

Stroud made the executive decision to use the front living room as the dining room, and the dining room as the living room. She appointed each room with a combination of both rustic and soft, feminine elements, which along with the natural pine floors, creates an inviting atmosphere.

The living room, awash in white and gray, is appointed with four chairs and a sofa all slip-covered by Houston-based upholsterers and furniture purveyors Hein Lam. The coffee table has a wrought iron base and oval marble top, and a distressed wood table is nestled under the flat screen TV. A handful of decorative items – such as a shell-covered trunk and baskets – and art are placed on tabletops and the walls, but the overall look is sparse.

In the dining room, Stroud departed from the white and gray color palette, opting for blue walls. Stroud’s daughter, Catherine Stroud, created the farmhouse-style table using salvaged wood acquired locally at Antiques Warehouse, with the help of its owner and family friend, Scott Hanson.

Off the dining room is a generous foyer, with a long, blue wooden bench and grand wicker chair, which during Stroud’s popular Mardi Gras and Halloween parties doubles as a seating area for partygoers. It also is home to Stroud’s grandfather’s plantation desk.

Upstairs, the three bedrooms – or chambers, as they were – are a showcase for bedding from Stroud’s store Olivine. Layers and layers of linen drape and decorate each space.

Despite the bright, comfortable décor, Stroud said many a family member or friend has encountered a foreboding presence, especially in the middle of the night. “I have ghosts following me everywhere,” said Stroud. “They love me.”

Stroud said ghosts and Galveston go hand-in-hand. While it’s not a typical topic of conversation in Houston or The Woodlands, where she resides with her husband, surgeon Daniel Stroud, in Galveston, ghost stories are as common as seaweed on the beach.

Reports of dark figures chanting and pushing on Catherine Stroud, choking a family friend and clamoring up and down the stairs disturbing Stroud’s sister’s sleep led to a visit from an MTV psychic and TV crew to rid the home of its ghosts – by luring them into the trunk room to cross them over into the light through the window. Stroud, however, credits her long-time friend Sonya Fitzpatrick, the Animal Planet host of “The Pet Psychic” and “Pet Psychic Encounters,” with ridding the house of its harrowing hauntings after the show’s taping.

Not all of the ghosts were malevolent though, said Stroud, who often sensed the presence of two female spirits when she was picking out paint colors for the house, which has a barely gray exterior with white trim and blue and purple accents on a decorative wood border between the porch and balcony. “It’s kind of sad,” said Stroud. “I miss the women. They guided me.”

These days, sans benevolent, design-savvy Victorian ghosts, Stroud finds herself more in Galveston than in The Woodlands. Four years ago, Stroud said this idea wouldn’t even have occurred to her, were it not for having seen a post about historic Galveston houses on Joni Webb’s design blog, Cote de Texas.

Now, the shop owner looks forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when she and her husband can call Galveston and the storied Victorian their permanent home.

from chron.com

Wrought iron 1970s Peacock Chair

Country Living Appraises 1970s Peacock Chair: What’s The Worth?

We’re very excited to syndicate one of our favorite columns, ‘What Is It? What Is It Worth?’ from one of our favorite magazines, Country Living. All text and images below are provided by Country Living. Get ready to be surprised!

“I picked up this chair, along with its mate, at a garage sale 15 years ago. How old is the pair?” -M.D., New Palestine, Indiana
country living what its worth

Professional appraiser Helaine Fendelman identifies and evaluates your collectibles and antiques.

The outdoor seat, named for its resemblance to a peacock’s fanned tail feathers, was likely imported from Mexico or Europe in the 1970s. The design imitates the ornate style of Victorian lawn furnishings — the peacock motif was popular back then, too.

But that delicate aesthetic belies your piece’s sturdiness and durability: Lacy wirework adorns a wrought-iron frame. While not particularly rare, this chair feels on trend and is in nice shape. Plus, the fresh green color adds to its overall good looks.

from huffingtonpost.com

Wrought iron chairs in hospitals super sizing equipment for obese patients

Hospitals super-sizing equipment for obese patients
Health-care facilities are making accommodations to take care of their heaviest patients.

Hospitals are getting super-sized. Waiting room chairs are being built with wrought iron for heavy patients. Wheelchairs and beds are made to sustain extra weight. And toilets are being mounted to the floor, not the wall.

In response to America’s obesity epidemic, health-care facilities nationwide are making accommodations to make sure they can take care of their heaviest patients.

The trend started about a decade ago when bariatric surgery took off in popularity and the American public began ballooning in weight. By the mid-2000s, hospitals had started to update with these patients in mind. That can mean anything from wider doorways to bigger commodes.

“It really runs the gamut,” said Cathy Denning, a vice president at Novation LLC, an Irving, Texas-based health-care supply chain company that produces an annual report on the cost of bariatric care.

And they’re finding that those products have uses for other patients. Vein viewers can locate veins in patients whose fat obscures their vascular access; they’re also useful in patients with difficult-to-find veins. Scanners need wide enough holes and strong enough tables to accommodate larger patients; patients with claustrophobia may also appreciate them.

Some doctors are developing reputations for treating larger patients. They use longer needles to deliver injections into thicker arms or special surgical equipment that let the surgeon reach deeper inside a patient’s abdominal cavity.

to be continued

from usatoday.it

Wrought iron and Santa Cruz Chocolate Festival

Santa Cruz Chocolate Festival benefits UCSC re-entry students

By Cathy Kelly

More than 800 people turned out for the 6th annual Santa Cruz Chocolate Festival at the Cocoanut Grove Sunday, turning a love of everything chocolate into scholarships for re-entry students at UC Santa Cruz.

A representative of the UCSC Women’s Club, which organizes the event, said they hoped the event would raise about $15,000 for scholarships.

The festival offered six samples of chocolate for $15 and crowds milled about Sunday trying chocolate toffee, truffles and things such as chocolate-covered coconut curry cashew candies.

Other creations included a balsamic chocolate ganache and brie atop poached pear crostini by Lifestyle Culinary Arts of Santa Cruz and a Seattle-based company called Theo that claims to be the only one in the nation creating chocolate “from bean to bar” with organic, fair trade cocoa.

Lead organizer Ann Berry-Kline said the festival added wine tasting for the first time this year and that about half of the 38 vendors were new. They included several area chocolatiers, as well as ice cream makers and others.

“It’s been amazing; it’s going really well,” said Berry-Kline, a realtor with Bailey Properties. “We’ve got lots of great stuff.”

A new confectioner, Boulder Creek Candy, made their debut at the festival, selling mostly chocolate-covered caramels.

Jackie Young of Boulder Creek had a box of their chocolates under her arm, saying she wanted to support the new business. She also had something from the silent auction — a red, wrought-iron chair used as a planter with “hen and chicks” succulents growing from the seat.

“We’re really here to support the UCSC re-entry program,” Young said. “This is a great gathering of local talent. It was very enjoyable.”

The event also included naming of the Chocoholic of the Year — festival founder Lorraine Margon of Santa Cruz.

Margon’s husband, Bruce, is vice chancellor of research at UCSC. The couple moved to Santa Cruz from Maryland not long before she agreed to organize a new fundraiser, Margon said. She said she had her doubts about whether she could pull it off, especially since she was new in town.

But Joe Marini of Marini’s Candies was the first to agree to participate, giving her a verbal promise he made good on, and others followed, she said.

It has become a great fundraiser that has also brought the Women’s Club closer together, Margon said.

“I’m happy to see it going strong,” she said. “I didn’t realize how open Santa Cruz would be to a new festival. And it’s a great cause. A lot of students fall through the cracks and need help with summer tuition or childcare or a new laptop.”

Larry Mosely of Scotts Valley attended with his wife, Becca, and some friends.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “I had a lot of fun. I tasted a lot of chocolate and decorated a cupcake.”

And ate it, his wife chimed in. Mosely smiled and gave a nod.

from santacruzsentinel.com