We found a Linoleum Rug!

Ok, so we didn't buy anything at the Arts & Crafts Expo last week. Saw some Great Mission style furniture to long for. Maybe we can work up to a rocking chair one of these days.
Anyway.
In the closet under the eaves off the back dormer, we pulled up several layers of 70's carpeting and found a linoleum rug---

I guess the people we bought it from saved it when they redecorated thirty years ago, which was cool of them to do, though they never mentioned it to us.
It makes sense given that they said the place had original blue linoleum in the kitchen and white with blue hex tiles in the bathroom (which they covered with
beigh 80's tile, argh...).

I learned a lot about such things from Jane Powell's book Linoleum. I love that it is an all natural product that is so much more environmentally friendly and healthy than vinyl and gosh, they invented it in the 1800's. At least some companies are again offering the stuff, such as Marmoleum.
We hope to use that for our kitchen next year in something very similar to the original blue marblized pattern.

Arts and Crafts Chicago Expo this weekend

Can't wait to check this out. It is the second annual event, in River Forest, May 12-13, '07. Lots of vendors of all things Arts & Crafts. Hope they take credit cards :). Click on the photo from their website for info.

Native Plants and Arts & Crafts

I will definitely ramble on more about this later, but for now, here is a photo of the currently blooming Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon Meadia). They are in the fledgling prairie garden along the south side of the house, with a bit of Prairie Smoke in front and yet-to-bloom Spiderwort and Nodding Wild Onions behind.

Definitely finding it cool, the more I read about the Arts and Crafts movement, the more I see how I have fit into all that all along, living more in tune with nature, having houses made of local materials and so on.