And On We Go!

So, I made it through another holiday and, as so often happens, I got a last minute invite for a little celebration. When my son-in-law arrived to pick up Hazel, he said they decided on a little impromptu dinner and wanted me to come over. After just getting home from three days at the beach, I figured they would be pretty tired and maybe we would have some leftovers but, true to form, they pulled off a delicious meal. We had salmon grilled with a lemon-butter sauce, fresh cucumber salad and corn roasted on the grill. And then for dessert, they went with root beer floats...for some reason they came up as a memory while they were talking on vacation and the kids wanted to do them again. It was a lovely, laid-back evening and now we are on to a new week. I will probably need all week to get back on the right day as I always have trouble when my week starts on Tuesday...but, I digress.

I have much vacuuming in store for me today after having Hazel here for so long but I thought I would take you into the next room before I get started on that. Let's head into the kitchen.

I don't think I could have ever imagined how much the old carpenter's box would be used and loved when I picked it up many, many years ago in an antique store. I seem to always be drawn to old wood boxes of any sort. I use them all over my home...sometimes still as boxes and other times just used as a riser, planter or just a piece of interest. I seem to especially like the ones that you can tell were hand made by someone who might not have had the greatest of carpentry talents but just needed something to fill a need. This month it holds the usual old silverware that was my mom's as well as a few napkin decoupaged plates, coasters, salad tools and the beautiful pot holders made for me by my sister-in-law!

Here is where the pallet sign ended up.

Not really a lot of changes from last year but, even though I know it is hard to believe, I did hold back on the flags a bit. Last year I used every one that I own and even I was a bit "over flagged"!! Lol So now I am off to make a fresh corn salad. Since my daughter and her family have another super busy week and weekend and then head off for two more weeks, they were trying not to add more to their fridge. I happened to be the lucky recipient of that and came home with all of the rest of the roasted corn. I have a delicious Ina Garten recipe that I make many times a summer so I guess today will be my official summer send off. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

 

 

Bring on the Patriotic Decor!

Well, I have finally gotten it done! The spring decor is down and the patriotic is up...just in time for Memorial Day as well as the 4th! I don't have everything packed up and put away but I do have enough to take some pictures so I thought I would start our tour today.

 Let's start on the porch. I didn't find what I wanted but I did find some red, white and blue (sort of) flowers so the porch is good to go for now.

OK, let's head inside.

Once again my hand written Declaration of Independence is rolling out of my typewriter...lol...and I am still loving the fire cracker I made many years ago!

 

 

 

 

I changed up the blanket chest a bit. This is where I added the new Statue of Liberty picture that I decoupaged onto canvas instead of the "cutesy" sign that used to be there. But, never fear, you will see that sign again in its new home soon.

I don't know why but the little vignette inside the cloche still makes me happy. The vintage picture so closely resembles the Uncle Sam that they could almost have been made for each other.

So that is it for this year's porch and living room...until it isn't. I've still got some time to do some tweaking so if I come up with any brilliant new ideas, you'll be the first to know!

I've got my grand dog with me again as my daughter and her family are out of town for the holiday weekend so I'm off to give her a "comb out". I love this dog so much but boy does she shed!

Stay safe and stay tuned...and have a wonderful holiday weekend.

 

Snips and Snails

 The weekend has arrived...and so have the very much welcome rains - at least if they only come when there isn't something special going on like graduations, proms, parties, etc. Lol

In any case, I can't really do anything outside because it is either raining or everything is dripping from recent rains and the sky is gloomy and black. And, believe me, that is all it takes to give myself a weekend off. And so I have. But, for me, that still doesn't mean that I can just sit the entire time and do nothing - although, a few movies is still a possibility. That has found me futzing around with all sorts of silly things. 

I was looking at some old pictures and saw a piece that I forgot I have. It has actually been on a shelf in the sunroom in the exact same spot for so long that I don't even notice it any more. In any case, I grabbed it up and moved it to the family room where it really does say "spring" to me. Of course, that meant taking a picture and so I decided to finally put the zoom lens on my camera and see what it does and how I might like using it more often.

And here is a nice close up of the change in the family room. I got that vine covered tray many, many years ago when my daughters owned an on-line boutique. It should be in more prominence this time of the year. Afterwards, it will probably go back to its shelf in the sunroom where I will inevitably forget about it again. Lol And yes, it is sort of a close up but I had to go so far away to take this picture that I was almost around the corner! I definitely could have gotten the same picture with my regular lens.

And then, I added a small piece that I ordered from a decor shop online. It took forever to get here or it would have been in my initial pictures. For some reason, it just spoke to me and, since it is white, I think it may be a piece that can stay out all year long and just change what I put in it over the seasons. Right now I just stuck the closest candle into it because, quite frankly, the spring stuff is on thin ice even this weekend. I think everything will change starting on Monday. It will definitely be out again during that decor.

Then I headed outside - before the rains - and snapped some close up flower pictures. Even then, I found it hard to get where I could take good pictures. It is really sad that I have been to so many events for my grand children of late where I really could have made use of this lens but never thought of it. For some reason, it seems so cumbersome to me and, since my family all have new phones that take amazing photos, I tend to rely on them for those photos...if I can get them to remember to send them on to me.

Look at this cute little petunia that popped up out of nowhere right outside the door out to the pool and near the pool pump equipment. I don't have another petunia anywhere in my yard this year so I'm not quite sure where this guy cam from but I'm going to leave it alone and see how it does.

So that took a part of that day and then, we once again had a family conundrum. Just like last week, we needed to be in two places at once. Presley had her middle school award ceremony and Har had another spring football game. Jen and I aren't dumb...we chose to go to the inside, air conditioned ceremony with Presley while the boys headed to North Marion HS for football. Lol Presley received two awards that night and then the following morning had her "Candle" ceremony where the 8th graders passed the "torch" to the upcoming new 8th grade class.

I am so proud of her. This was a child who really did not like school. She is very artistic and "free spirited" and was struggling in the large public school she attended. She asked her parents if she could transfer to this much smaller private school and she has found her place. She is so happy and has made a large circle of friends. She would still rather be creating than figuring out a math problem but now she realizes that to get to where she wants to be, she still has to take a traditional route and she is much happier doing so - and making the honor roll, honor society, etc.

When the ceremony was over, she got to pick her favorite restaurant for dinner and, as expected, she chose "Sushi Bistro" downtown. Our downtown has turned into quite the bustling place so we were thrilled with that choice. She can be a bit of a picky eater but has very eclectic taste and she loves this place. She ordered their chicken hibachi with an avocado roll added and ate every speck of it while her mom and I both had to get take home boxes. Lol

And, while I'm bragging on grand children, I have to mention this guy again. We got a random text the other day of this picture.

That look of confusion on his face is because he had just left a mass for the graduating seniors and he was called up and given this $1000 scholarship. It seems as if this is a lot like his sister's "passing the torch" idea where "moving up juniors" are recognized for their leadership abilities in their soon to be senior year. This kid is really something if I do say so myself. He is an athlete, scholar and into everything he can be. He was the student body secretary this year and it looks like he will be the president next year. He was chosen as the captain of both his football and lacrosse teams. He will be going the Boy's State this summer. I'm really not sure how he does it all - and always with a smile and hug - but, in only a year, we will see where the world will take him!

And so, that is my scattered, all over the place post for today. I promise I will get more focused soon. I just gave myself the weekend to do just what I want - and that is just what I am doing!  Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.