i have been meaning to get to this for some time now; you will notice over to the right there that this "grotto" thing is a whole new category. some entries in it will also be in other categories, and some will just be here -- because they will involve things like sewing -- which, although not out of place on this blog, probably will not warrant an entire category, since i don't much care for it.
you see here, our basement. at least one part of our basement -- there are two parts. the "finished" part and the "unfinished" part. the finished part is currently occupied not only by cat items and a washer and dryer and a concept II rowing machine, but an ugly clock and a big ugly couch, both left by the former owners of the house.
here's another view of it. you will note that in this photo hillel is giving his famous symposium on How Not To Be Seen.
anyway, we knew that eventually that this "finished" part of the basement would look like something other than this, but we didn't know what. and then, i got a gift for my birthday -- a tablecloth.
this forty inch square linen tablecloth just took my breath away. the linen. to touch it -- it's incredible. i was very, very in love with the tablecloth. but where to put the tablecloth? i didn't want it just draped over something. i wanted to see it flat out. i also wanted it protected.
then, one day, i was taking laundry into the basement, and there was cat puke on the floor, and it hit me -- we should be eating down here!
thus, "the grotto" was born. or begun to be born. we think of it as rather, say, a north african-inspired rumpus room, for eating and knitting and board meetings, or something. we shall document its progress here!
as for the "unfinished" portion of the basement, that's pretty interesting too. we started seedlings in it this year. it would also work as a darkroom or place to keep ungainly bookbinding equiptment (if we had any.) currently it houses my collection of poultry wishbones, giving it a kind of "chez de leatherface" feel.