Ten on Tuesday

1. We went to Panera this week [not a place we frequent, except, for the occasional coffee and egg soufflé’] and I had my favorite sandwich – EVER! The one I had most mornings the last time we were at Disney [and have been searching for ever since without even knowing it - lol]: tomato, basil, and mozzarella [YUM!] I added chicken and had half one evening and the other half for lunch the next day. DOUBLE-YUM!
2. Enjoyed time on the water with my sweetie – it was a beautiful, dare I say it? A fall-feeling day – so it was very nice to sit out in the sun and read while Craig fished a bit.
3. I’ll admit – I’ve not ‘babied’ my garden at all this year – but we have managed to have a couple of messes of okra, banana peppers, and bell peppers. Also a few cucumbers, zucchini, and LOTS of basil [yum!] But the squirrels have taken a liking to my tomatoes – and I’m finding them green and half eaten, around the edges of the garden. But! I will not be foiled! This week I picked a few that barely had a hint of red on them and after a couple of days – they are DE-LISH-US. Take that you nasty squirrels.
4. I also spent some time with my mom again this week – and am just so tickled that she’s doing so well!! Amazingly well. So. Good.
5. And we had dinner with Craig’s mother at Ricatoni’s – it’s always nice to have time to enjoy a good meal together and catch up a bit.
6. According to Elizabeth Dillow’s book The Scrapbooker's Almanac - Friday was National Dog Day so I did a little scrapbook page to show our new emma-lou. [Still trying to decide if she’s named after Emma Watson, Emma Stone or Emma whomever – we’ve been told she’s named after an actress…]
7. All of these ‘back-to-school’ commercials advertising new computers with youngsters saying, ‘Hey Mom, what’s a ‘floppy disk’?’ have me thinking that I need to get a floppy disk drive and move my first digital photos to a CD for safe keeping, because, yes, you heard me – we don’t have a computer anymore that will take a floppy either – lol…
8. I’m trying so hard to get up and going a bit earlier so I can have some time outside with my Lord before the day begins. It’s a wonderful way to start my day – just listening to the world wake-up while counting my blessings. Life is Good.
9. This week I’m making the effort to Be Present and Be Real in my daily life – an attempt to limit how much time I spend just mindlessly browsing the internet. I’ve given up most of my Yahoo Groups but have somehow been placed in lots of FaceBook groups – so I’ve weeded those out and am making efforts to manage the ones I’m staying it a bit better. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE TO STAY IN TOUCH with everyone – but I’ve got lots of life to live right here in real-life -
10. We ended the weekend out by the fire-pit. So glad it was cool enough to enjoy a little summer-time fire. Again – very relaxing to have time to just ‘be’ together.

Summer Decor

Well, hello there!
None of this new - and I may have already shared it with you before... I enjoy changing out some things seasonally around the living area of our home - and I loooooove having a walk-in attic to store my stuff in so I often use the same things again and again each year. This is on top of our old wardrobe [I'll need to get a full length photo to share later -] and is a collection of seashells from The Gulf, bird houses, and a painting from a street vender in Las Angeles [done COMPLETELY with spray paint - love it.]
Frame is from Goodwill - originally from Target, I believe. And this is a little collection of [silk] poppies and tulips in a pottery bowl from our favorite pottery place in Gatlinburg, well, really Pigeon Forge, TN. Love that we found one in the same purples and greens that are found throughout our house... And here's another birdhouse [most of these are from Hobby Lobby] and an old watering can with cotton and more [silk] flowers. A nice little welcome when you come in the front door -

And above the mantle - near the wardrobe - another birdhouse and my collection of blue mason jars - these jars actually stay out year 'round and hold candles that we light some evenings...

and this little piece of art [mixed media?!?] hangs in the foyer and was inspired by Donna Downey. Just a sweet reminder of all the warm sunny days we've spent at the beach throughout the years - I made it more than a few years ago...

And this is our newest addition - I photographed it in the foyer to get better light - it actually sits on the drop-leaf table [we use a buffet] near the dining table. I fell in love with this little water-colored light house when I found it during The World's Longest Yard Sale.
And seeing as how [southern y'all] we have two large framed light houses
[Mobile Bay & Pensacola]
in our adjacent den - this little piece may need to stay out year 'round as well...

Ten on Tuesday

1. Okay, so I had a yahoo mail mishap this week – they kept BUGGING ME about upgrading to the new and improved mail – so I finally did and I completely lost one of the mailboxes at faithbasedpages [it’s a ‘small business’ account that has two in-boxes.] NOT FUN. But, my husband, my hero, found a number where I could SPEAK TO A REAL PERSON and it was resolved within 12 hours. Yippee. So heads up – the upgrade is NOT designed for ‘small business’ accounts at this time – just sayin’
2. We did the Arts Stroll again this week and I can share a few observations: August heat is SO MUCH HOTTER than June heat; families aren’t into hanging out together ‘round the square on a school night; and less purchases are made when one has just spent all extra income on back-to-school paraphernalia. Still, I sold some and did ‘okay’ it just wasn’t the crazy fun time we had in June…And really, we left an hour early because we had planned to attend ‘Victoria Shaw: Under the Covers’ – a songwriters show case [where they ‘cover’ the songs they’ve written and tell the stories behind them,] with her, Robin Meade [Morning Express on HLN] and Billy Dean. So. Fun. And Merrimack is a great venue – converted from one our old cotton mills in town…
3. Included in this busy week was another three days of out / town travel, a dental appointment, and a manicure – just for fun.
4. And I had the opportunity to drive through the Sipsey Wilderness area of Bankhead Forest . So beautiful, and green, and ...... desolate. And once again, I’m glad I live within walking distance of groceries, doctors, vets, and restaurants.
5. And we celebrated 28 years of married bliss. Well, not totally bliss because I must be honest and we all know that every marriage has its ups and downs – but I can most definitely say I’ve been ‘up’ more than I’ve been ‘down’ and I’m blessed beyond measure to be married to my best friend – the love of my life.
6. Ever since we’ve had Emma [our new-to-us 3.5 pound chihauhau] we’ve had concerns about ‘the hawk’ getting her [remember, we live RIGHT-IN-TOWN, but in an area with large lots FULL of wildlife – with hawks, and raccoons, and fox, ETC.] We’re pretty sure we’ve lost at least one kitten to ‘the hawk’ and maybe a couple of cats to fox attacks [they have a safe place to go – but choose not to - it’s the circle of life, folks.] And we’ve heard an owl in the trees when we’ve had Emma out late at night - now we have a new concern – a couple who live within a mile of us was IN THEIR YARD and a COYOTE came and took one of their chihuahuas – OH. MY. And now Craig’s talked with a neighbor closer to us who says they’ve been spotted two streets away. Coyotes, not chihauhaus. – NOT GOOD.
7. I made MawMaw's bread 'n butter pickles - too easy - but oh so delicious - drain dill pickle slices and then layer back into the jar with layers of sugar. [Don't put the dill juice back in --] Yum. Waterbath if you you're going to give as gifts...
8. I have to share a ‘new to me’ hair product that I’m loving in this southern summer heat – Frizz Ease, by John Freida. I’ve used this product before and thought it was ‘too heavy’ and made my hair flat and greasy looking. But after much complaints about my hair and suggestions from my hero to try his free sample, I READ THE DIRECTIONS [use just a little and do NOT put it on the roots--] and I LOVE IT. I even bought some. Seriously, love. I only wished I’d given it a try before I was so frustrated that I cut two inches off my hair a few weeks back…
9. You guys know I love thrifting. So when I’m out and about I often take my lunch break at local thrift stores to see what I can find [mostly looking for wood to paint on these days.] It always surprises me when I find someone’s precious baby all posed and smiling at the camera – and FOR SALE – in a thrift store… I should start a new album on fb called thrift store babies…
10. I have a few big art projects to work on and I got started this weekend – using a HUGE white board that we bought at the Re-Store for only $10.00. I hope you love what I do with it!

Favorite Photo Friday

I do love heritage photos so much! And not just because you might look back at good ‘ole [great-great –great-?] aunt so & so and see YOUR eyes [so fun! Did you know that only a few of us cousins have Mama M's eyes?] but also because they preserve images of our lifestyles too. And contrary to what ‘The Help’ might lead people to believe, all white families in the South didn’t grow up with help in the home… not in my little neck of the woods anyway.

Love that I’ve found these photos of my gr-mothers in their kitchens – probably taken in the early 50's [and John – that’s your daddy’s grandmother with Grandmaw B.] In these pictures you can see that my family grew up without a lot of luxuries. Note that neither of them have 'running' water.

I love that you can see the bare walls in the kitchen of Grandmaw B and the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Love the curtains and the scalloped shade - As far as I know, Grandmaw B always lived in town and while I have no memories of this house I'm sure some of my older cousins do. I do remember that she always wore her hair in a little bun at the back of her neck ...

Mama M lived rural her entire life. - And I love seeing the window by the stove in her kitchen that looked out on the drive and the big cedar tree- just wish you could see the hoosier-like cabinet she had also. I can't remember them not having running water - but I DO have a vague memory of taking a bath in a big washtub in the middle of this kitchen - and memories of sharing in the happiness when Mama M finally got an inside bathroom. Seriously. And, oh my - what wonderful tea cakes she'd roll out on that side counter top.

So I thought I'd contrast these photos with the some more recent ones [ha] - here's the kitchen I grew up using - it was small and tidy with the washer and dryer sitting against one wall and the 'pantry' was the bottom right cabinet [my bi-weekly job was to put all the canned goods away in there.] We baked many a chocolate brownie and chef boyardee pizza in this kitchen - and look! There's that mixer that lost a screw while we were making divinity one Christmas -

And this kitchen is the one my boys will always remember at gr-mommie's house - this is the kitchen where they learned to make biscuit men from left-over biscuit dough and where Mama would cook THE BEST blackberry jam this side of heaven. This kitchen almost always had a pot of coffee brewing or waiting to be served.It's the kitchen that was home to Joey for most of his life. And honestly, with Mom moving into assisted living - it's leaving us all grieving a bit to let it go -- but we'll hang tight to the memories ---- and the recipe for that jam!

Ten on Tuesday

1. More travel for work - it's the story of my life these days - but it's nice to be catching up to date with things - and again, went to a town in my state that I've never been in [and after traveling for work these last ten years I feel like there aren't many of those left - lol] - I love these sleepy southern towns where you go to the local grocery store deli for lunch -
2. They always reinforce that while I may not live in a busy urban city - I'm definitely NOT a country girl. LOL -- That's my office, third window from the right at the top of the yellow building to the left. And yes, I love my view.]
3. Found a shipley's donuts in Birmingham - who knew? I tucked a box into the front seat of my car with a work jacket and traveld on southward - and they
4. melted all over my jacket - I searched and searched for the stain before putting it on and going into my meeting only to rub my shoulder half-way through and feel a dried sugary mess on one shoulder -ha.
5. Craig has found the true joy of facebook - to entertain oneself - and if you happen to be following along with Cameron's Travel Log then you know exactly what I'm takling about. [Cameron is my brother's stuffed -- think taxidermy -- fox that was 'kidnapped' a week or so ago. And no, this is not a real photo of him.]
6. Craig and I went to see "The Help" during the weekend - and we enjoyed it so much - now I've GOT to read the book so I can see these characters developed just a bit more [may have to read Jump the Broom too because when we saw it there seemd to be a lot of missing info-] Also loved the bottle tree in Constantine's yard.
   
7. Went to a fun scrapping yard sale - I'm still amused at how my paper purchases have changed now that I always have foremost in my mind the need to dress my girls -
8. And I cropped with a different group of ladies - so fun to meet new crafters!
9. I'll be honest and say that I'm not loving the worship time at church since we're getting farther and farther away from songs I'm familiar with - but I always pray that the Lord will use them to touch someone's heart [maybe I should include myself in that 'someone' - ?]
10. And I visited with my mom this week - SO HAPPY [!!!!!!] with the improvements she has made!

I love mail surprises!

When I got home from my scrapbook day I found this in the mail -

Fiskars chose my suggestion for the new Double Bubble Punch!!
Love it!

You will too - it should be in stores soon!
[Much thanks to my sweetheart for finding the video!!]

The World's Longest Yard Sale

I first heard about The World's Longest Yard Sale a few years ago and thought it might be fun to do. [We do love thrifting!] And since we already had a couple of days planned for a get-a-way we decided it was the perfect time to give it a go!
- so we did a little research [not too much] and decided that we'd start around Crossville, TN and drive South through Chattanooga and to Mentone, AL - & possibly Gadsden, if we made good time. As the day grew closer I begin to think it was either going to be REALLY FUN or possibly, depending on the traffic / crowds, REALLY TEDIOUS.

We love seeing the crazy - quirky side of life and we were tempted to get this [park playground] duck for MK - but honestly didn't know if we could lift the concrete tire into the truck [and with the glider / chairs, where would it fit anyway?]

And you never know when you might need a motorcycle with a CANOE side car - too funny -

But here is Friday's deal of the day -

a bottle tree - shown at home with my little collection of blue glass transformers. I may outfit it completely in these little beauties, or I may go for some green and blue bottles. The premise behind a behind a bottle tree is that the upside down bottles capture evil spirits and keeps your house safe. There are those in the 'old south' that truly believe this - but in recent years bottle trees have become more like little works of art in the yard. Loving ours... sitting where the butterfly bush used to be [before it got too big for its britches.]

So here's my take on TWLYS - there are areas where 20 - 50 people may be set up in a field or huge yard, areas [miles] where there's nothing at all, and areas where people have just thrown things out on their lawn to sale --- soooooo, there needs to be some rules. Number one - no commentary on the goods until you've stopped; # 2: You say STOP if you want to stop, otherwise, you keep driving to the next area... The other 'rule' for us was - we just weren't in a hurry. In fact, on Saturday we probably didn't get started until nearly lunch time. Rule # 4: You can turn around, if you both agree on it. Rule # 5: Don't eat the food sold along the way [no matter how good it sounds; fresh fried pies and pinto beans & cornbread y'all? That was hard to resist, but we couldn't risk stomach upsets when we were set on going the distance.]


Instead, we stopped on a [North] Georgia mountain ledge and ate our leftovers from a little mom / pop Italian place we'd had dinner at the night before. Delish - even cold.
Could have been the company and adventure of it all.

We laughed because our phones / cameras [I hardly carry my 'real' camera at all any more - lol] said we were in two different locations even though we were standing mere feet apart...

So here's the goods:

Canvas & frames for painting, AU shirts, laptop sleeves [$1 each!], five of those little wooden cars, a couple of green flowered [retro] pyrex bowls [so fun!], a small milk glass compote [for my ever growing milk-glass collection], a bag of tomatoes, a basket of peaches, a couple of paintings with scriptures on them that I plan to vamp up a bit with mixed media, a chamber pot with lid that I plan to use for my compost before it goes outside, and a precious little matted light house painting that's already sitting on our side board in the dining room.
Not shown is the fun NASCAR book Craig bought for a friend, a phone holder, and three smaller [and cute] frames for art work, [and the bottle tree, of course.]

Note: We took a little stop at Rock City - I wanted to buy some magic rocks [such fond memories of going there as a kid and then with our boys.] But alas, the wonderful rock building that was the entrance / gift shop full of rocky novelties is now a STARBUCKS. And I'm sure that's heaven to many of you - but it was very sad to me. The new and improved gift shop was inside the gate and you had to purchase a shopping pass to get pass this guy:

Who knew?
Even Rock City has gone commercial...

One of the things we enjoyed most was seeing the gliders / sliders that were for sale. Craig even helped one guy sell his for $100 more than he was first asking. But the glider we wanted most was a little further south... so we stopped the yard-saling in Mentone and drove over to Guntersville for dinner at our all-time-favorite catfish place, then on Sunday we drove on south to pick up this:

And for us, THIS is the grand-prize of gliders. The wedding ring pattern. This is the only one we've ever seen IRL [in real life.] And it's in pretty good shape. It'll be painted a nice creamy, buttery yellow. And while the red set is gorgeous up on the hill under the trees, this one will sit on the patio for us to enjoy each day too. Yay.

Ten on Tuesday

1. A work week in town! So nice to have time with paperwork [seriously.] And lunch with a friend.
2. Who’s loving the current issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. as much as me? The last few have been so much better to me – and not just because Ali Edwards is showing up in them… and how funny is it that I knew the article this month was hers just by looking at one layout [with no children’s photos]?
3. Pauly as a sleek summer dude - He finally went to the vet for the first time – started to just get a rabies shot, but decided it would be best if we go with the full exam so he can be neutered in a few weeks – not that he’s a wanderer, or anything, bc he surely does stay close to home, but you never know … [Pauly as a winter marshmallow -]
4. Youngest left for AU on Thursday evening – it always surprises me how quickly he can get things packed into that car of his. And it was sad to see him go – even knowing that we’d see him on Sunday…
5. I’ve started the Made to Crave Bible Study again – this time with on-line friends. [You might remember that my local group did this in the spring when I was traveling so much due to the storms – so I never got back to it.] There’s A LOT OF STUFF packed into these two little books.
6. Oldest rode his motorcycle to Birmingham this week – and I’m just glad I didn’t know about this in advance or I would have been an Anxious Annie… he made it safely home despite my worries.
7. And Craig and I enjoyed a much needed get-a-way this weekend. We love to get away from the hum-drum of life and just enjoy being together every now and then.
8. So we went to Tennessee and had a nice meal with family and then we picked up these gorgeous things. Oh. My. I almost cried when I saw them. Remember, they looked like this as we collected them with three different purchases: They are every bit as beautiful as I’d imagined and I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out.
9. I also went over to CKC-Nashville and shopped a bit [saw where Archiver’s is coming to Nashville in just a couple of months, and while it won’t be a reason for me to go – it will be a stop when I’m in town.] I took a class from SEI – I really love their products - while Craig shopped at Bass Pro. And then we went on The World’s Longest Yard Sale for a bit and found only a few things to buy – but had a lot of fun along the way. [I’ll share more about that adventure in a couple of days.]
10. We finished up the weekend by going to sweet MK’s birthday – it’s hard to believe she’s THREE already. And she’s not one to sit still long for a photo – so I grabbed this one from her blog and took it on a little picnik --

Join me on August 15th over at Big Picture Classes:

Real magic in relationships
means an absence of judgment of others.
- Wayne Dyer
[photo from an internet search--]

Favorite Photo Friday

It was just so nice to share a hot doughnut with my Aunt Carol and Uncle Elton while we were all in The Shoals last week. And very fitting too, I think - since it was my Uncle Elton who first introduced me to those Krispy Kreme delights waaaaaay back in the sixties when I was visiting with them for a few days when they lived in Huntsville. They took me to Krispy Kreme after church on Sunday evening and my little eight-year-old self was completely blown away by so many choices of doughnuts in one place!



This is another slide from my dad's collection [not re-touched.] And from most people's recollection it's my Aunt Carol and Uncle Elton [in the 50s] at my grandmother's house, holding their oldest daughter. Of course, I didn't know them then since Bonnie's a few years older than me, and that side of my family is HUGE, with ten daughters + spouses + 35 grandchildren - so who knows who this might be... but I like to believe it's my Aunt Carol and Uncle Elton, and until someone proves to me that it isn't that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Ten on Tuesday

1. I’ve made the difficult decision to move the Faith Based Pages Yahoo Group to FaceBook. Not easy, since I know we’ll lose some members, but the group is virtually inactive as it stands now and has already had more activity in these few days that it’s had in the last few months on Yahoo.
2. Look at my bougainvillea now!! Wow! Is it ever gorgeous! I’ve seen fuchsia and yellow – but never this gorgeous white / pink color. It hangs right outside my kitchen window – and I love it.
3. Traveled a bit this week and took advantage of it by staying with my mom one night – I don’t mind sleeping on the couch – but next time I’ll put a note on the door to not disturb us. [But it’s good to know they check on her throughout the night.]
4. And I had an added treat in that my Aunt Carol and Uncle Elton were visiting from out of town!
5. I helped my friend Rita set up for ‘Fourth Thursday’ in Tuscumbia – looks like a really fun sidewalk sale, [I’m not sure it’s limited to the arts like in Huntsville ,] and it sure was HOT! I may try to do it in the fall –
6. And I got some freshly picked blueberries from her so I had to make blueberry muffins Saturday morning – YUM.
7. The summer has snuck away from me and I feel like I’ve barely seen the youngest due to our opposite schedules with work, sleep, and play…
8. But I did enjoy both lunch and dinner with all of my boys for my birthday! TIME TOGETHER = the best gift ever for me.
9. I had such a relaxing weekend – it’s been so very long since I’ve been totally relaxed and not rushing through whatever was at hand because something more was waiting to be done. Burning the candle at both ends is never fun…
10. I painted two 14x14 pieces on Saturday that I’m very happy with. The [mostly] white one has bits and pieces from some of the girls in the [on-line] Soul Restoration class I took this Spring. A great group of gals from all walks of life – I’m so happy we’re still chatting away together! Both of the quotes are 12x12 paper that I bought at the AdornIt Ware House sale before CKU-Prove ’09.

Summer of Color - Orange

I know some of you have been joining in The Summer of Color fun for the last few weeks

where the focus has been on a different color each week.
This week the color is ORANGE.
[Sooooo NOT a favorite of mine...]
But I seem to be using it a bit more these days -


And as I mentioned last week - I LOVE THIS GIRL!
The Psalm 23 was a clear sticker that I put on orange paper
and cut into strips. The balloon is hand-painted.
She's hanging out near my art desk for now...