Biding My Time

 I woke up to rain today-the day the fence guy was supposed to be here. I pretty much knew that would be delayed and, again, I couldn't work outside where the majority of the work needs to be done so I started looking for a fairly simple project to bide my time until the rains stopped. I remembered that I have three pieces of furniture that need repainting or refinishing so I chose the one that would be the easiest-the little piece that got moved when a larger one went into the sunroom. I liked it white until the other black piece moved in and then the white, black and walnut was just one too many colors!

I headed out to the garage to see if I had any black paint available and since I did, I grabbed what I thought I would need and got started.

My initial plan had been to use the small foam roller so I didn't get brush marks but, for whatever reason, the paint just didn't want to stick from the roller-maybe because I was painting over chalk paint. I actually thought that would make it better because the chalk paint has some tooth but it became obvious very quickly that I would need to use the brush. I was also hoping that I could do it in one coat but I should have known that black over white would probably need more than just one coat.

I'm going to let it cure for a bit and then decide if I might just leave it like this-I think it already has the distressed look that I would probably want to add so we shall see. Lol

But, while I was out in the garage going through my stash of paint, look what else I found!

Those of you who are regulars here probably remember a few weeks ago when I was repairing a large hole in a wall and having so much trouble mixing the paint until I remembered that I had used a glaze when I originally painted that room so many years ago. Well, here it is, I really can't believe that I still have it but, yay me! Since I finally got the colors matched up OK, I'm going to keep this for when I ultimately get that hole repaired correctly and have to repaint again!

While I was still waiting for the fence guy now that the rains have stopped I also decided to get my clock working again. I had to repair it once before and in order to do that I had to make a lot of structural changes to the back where the "works" fit in. I was worried that I may have used up all of my "dumb luck" but I started anyway because I NEED that clock working again.

I took off the old "stuff" and got out the new. The funny thing is that the very small bag that came with the new contained 2 extra pieces that were neither anywhere on the picture with the instructions or with the words that were so small that I pulled out a magnifying glass to see if it could help me see better...it didn't but I eventually read it all over and over and decided to just plow ahead without those pieces because I had no idea where they would go.

The hands on this things are VERY thin and delicate and shoving them down onto the shaft of the works was nerve racking as the instructions had warnings about making sure you supported everything from top and bottom or the clock may not run correctly. By the time I got to here, I was just waiting to see if it would work or not...I was done!

And, miraculously, it did...and it is now back on its spot on the wall in the family room.

Then I fooled around with some Easter. I took the little egg arrangement apart and added some new flowers while leaving out some of the greenery. And, I found that cute bunny image for the frame which will add anther pop of gold. And, yes, I ended up painting the silver bunny gold...you probably knew I would! Lol My gold accent collection is growing.

When you look at the egg planter from here you really can't tell it's an egg. But, I think this is going to go into the middle section of the new shelf in the living room so you will be looking up at it so I think it will be better? Maybe...otherwise it is just a small, plastic gold pot. LOL

So the fence guy was just here and we will see what the estimate comes in like. Hopefully I will be "fenced in" again soon. Stay safe and stay tuned.

And Just Like That!

 And just like that I made up my mind that today was the day. I had a plan. I would start cutting back frost damage and weeding in the terraced garden by the pool because that is the area I see the most when I am outside doing anything-and, it totally drives me crazy when it looks like this. Of course, the millions of fallen leaves don't help but except for on walkways and drives where I can use the blower, I pretty much wait for all of them to stop falling before I tackle that. In any case, my plan was then to head over to the gardens I can see from the sunroom and do the same. It was a little cloudy and a bit humid but I was ready! Until, I wasn't!!!

I started cutting and then put my hand down on the bed so I could balance as I reached to cut some more when it happened! I got the WORST pain in my thumb-the kind of pain that sends tingles up and down your spine. I thought for sure that I had encountered a piece of glass or nail or pointy "something" but when I looked at my finger, I saw nothing. And then I realized that it felt more like a sting. And so I grabbed a tool and dug a bit and there he was-a large, nasty yellow jacket. In all of my many years of gardening, I have NEVER encountered a nest below the ground. I think I knew that they could do this but I never changed my games plans because I had never seen one.

I am a pretty tough cookie and usually I shake things like this off pretty quickly. I have been stung before and it hurts for a bit but I get over it and so, that is what I thought I would do this time. Since it still really hurt a lot, I did go in and wash it and put on some Neosporin and back out I went. But, it still hurt so much that I was having trouble using that finger to hold anything or grab at weeds and so, almost as quickly as it started, it has stopped. And I am not at all happy-with myself for putting my hand down where I did and definitely not with that yellow jacket!

I had such plans for the day but they are now altered as I try to decide what I will be able to accomplish as my thumb continues to throb and swell. And so, let's take a look at the family room and then I'll catch you up on another little-very little-project.

I still love this sequined shamrock that the kids and I made a few years back.

And then a few tweaks I've done since I took the initial pictures. I showed you this addition of the gold tray before.

Daughter #2 always likes to "feed" my holiday obsession so she brought me this pillow the last time she was here. I wasn't sure where it would land until I realized that I didn't really have a place for my small St. Pat's pillow either. So, with this on one end...

and then my small pillow and the addition of the green one I just got, I think the couch is a bit more balanced.

Sort of-LOL

And then there is this:

This was a free image from a blogger that I follow and I love it. A simple download and print and here we are. This is one of the inexpensive frames I picked up at Walmart the other day and it adds to my "gold pops" perfectly.

It looks so pretty at night in this room and even better with a fire!

So on to what I will do with the rest of my day. My finger is still hurting a lot, so I think I am DONE outside for the day. I might work on the peat pots if I can or possibly the small gold egg arrangement. I have already taken it apart so we shall see. But, before I met up with that yellow jacket, I did get this done.

We went from this:

I didn't have a gold spray paint as I thought I did so I used my Martha Stewart metallic paint for this. I have a few spots to touch up because it was hard to see all of the nooks and crannies when the shiny paint was wet. I'm also thinking I might tone it down a bit with my antique wax-we'll see.

I'm off to nurse my wounds. Hoping I will have the fence guy and the handyman here tomorrow so hopefully my day will be full and moving forward. I must admit that I don't like the feeling of not having privacy with all of those empty acres behind me...I like my fence better when it is standing. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

Best Laid Plans

 When last we talked, I told you I had a slew of errands to run today and I didn't know when I would be back again...and here I am. I awoke this morning ready to set out to run those errands and, hopefully, find some new treasures and craft supplies. And I was just about to get ready to do just that when I noticed that one of the valance rings had slipped off its holder on the very long window in the sunroom. And, since those things can then drop off in domino fashion, I decided to get a stool and fix it before it went any further. And that is when I saw this!

There have been 3 posts that were wobbly and needing replacement for a number of months. This is something that the muscles in my family usually do-they have actually replaced others in the past-but everyone has been so busy that it just didn't happen. We talked about it this past weekend and it was scheduled to happen after lacrosse season. Unfortunately, I guess it can't wait now and it might also be a repair now larger than the "muscles" in my family can fix. My daughter called a fence company and I am waiting to hear from them. Unfortunately, I guess a lot of fences went down yesterday because of the winds. I think I posted that our winds weren't at all what I had expected. There may be a few hunks of Spanish moss down in my yard-that is it-no branches, not even the usual twigs that come down in every rain. But, I guess they got the fence.

And so, because I am on standby for the fence guy, I didn't feel comfortable leaving the house because I seldom hear my phone ring when I'm out and about. And so, no errands today. I also didn't want to start any projects that I would get in knee deep just in case he would be coming by. And so...what to do? and that question is what led me here:

Do you remember the packing materials that I got when I ordered some candles?

I kind of got Easter basket vibes from them. They are sort of like a peat pot but larger. And so, I thought I would see if I could do anything with them because I'm thinking ahead to Easter decor and know I will definitely need two similar, small things to go in the new living room shelf. I found those adorable images and blew them up to what I am hoping will be the right size.

And then, I mixed up some paint to kind of look like a basket color.

And while I was waiting for them to dry I thought I would just download the new pictures I had taken and come in and start this post. Well, have I told you how much I truly dislike change?!!!? There are SO many new things to learn every day just to keep up with the essential technology to live life doing things you have been doing all of your life but now they must be done with technology. I have come to accept that but why, as soon as I learn something and finally become comfortable using it, do the powers that be have to come in and change everything?!!

Let me explain. When I had to get a new computer, I had to get all sorts of new programs that were very different than what I was used to. The most notable was my photo download and editing programs. I have to be able to use those to be able to post this blog. My grand daughters were showing me some things on the computer this weekend to make my life easier and I was grateful. And then this morning as I was trying to download my new pictures, the access button that is always there, wasn't. I thought maybe we just somehow removed it and it could come back. I tried everything I could. And finally, in a panic, I texted grand daughter #3 to ask her. She got on her program and after a bit of investigating decided that there must have been an update-which makes sense because I had used the program the old way several times after we were on the computer this weekend so I should have realized that we didn't remove anything! In any case, she was able to see where I now have to go to start the download and I am working again and good! Thank goodness for younger minds who actually understand how these things work because I know just enough to be dangerous. I actually got myself to the right page at one point but I didn't have the camera attached then so the new little icon didn't pop up. Lol

So now I'm off to grab some lunch and then see how I want to finish these things-or even IF I want to finish these things?! Lol

I am back-two days later...and the title of this post is even more apropos. I ended up heading out to do my errands yesterday after waiting at home all day Thursday for the "fence guy". My daughter said both he and the handyman knew what to do and could do it even if I wasn't there, so off I went. And, before I go any further, let me say, sometimes some good "retail therapy" is just what the doctor ordered. I will say from the get-go that these photos leave MUCH to be desired. I was totally exhausted at this point of my day but wanted to get some pictures before putting things away and then sitting down for the evening. I snapped all of them without once looking to see how they looked-my mistake but....The first picture is my stash. I got some decor items, some craft essentials and then just some things I thought I might want in the upcoming months. I got a late start because my girlfriend called right as I was leaving and we ended up talking for over an hour. Then, I hit $Tree, Target, HL, Walmart and Publix. In the old days, that would have just been a drop in the bucket but, these days, that wears me out! Lol

I spied this cute bunny board in HL and then grabbed more of those pretty frames from Walmart as well as a few others. I also grabbed some more of the scrapbook flowers since I gave my bunny to my daughter when she was here this weekend. She saw it and liked it and I didn't think I cared...until it was gone and I decided that I need to make myself another. Lol

I picked up that very inexpensive green pillow in the Target Dollar Spot for $5 and thought it would be perfect with some of my other smaller St. Pat's pillows-actually wish I had gotten two. Then I grabbed the small egg planter thingie. I am not a fan of the arrangement but I like the bit of gold to add to my new "gold" obsession so I will probably redo it soon. I think I will need to know where I am putting it before I know what to do. And then, I was looking for a large gold bunny and there were none in the places I stopped so I grabbed this big guy at HL and figured I can paint him and he will be perfect. I did find the smaller gold bunnies at Target and the medium sized silver one-jury is still out as to whether he will maintain his silver status or bow to the gold. Lol

I found the cute wood bunny tray from HL, some small real touch tulips from Target and new clock hands to try to fix my family room clock that fell off the wall and is no longer working. Everyone says I don't really need a clock there since I have my phone next to me most times but I am a creature of habit. Even though I know that that clock no longer works, I must have looked up at it a thousand times since it broke.

 

I grabbed a pink candle holder at $Tree as well as the inexpensive Easter pot holders. I have much prettier pot holders but I don't like to use them because they are so pretty and so, I rely on these. Lol I also grabbed the lemon plates and napkins from HL. I just thought they were so pretty and I will hopefully get a chance to use them this summer.

So, this morning I decided to get back to my little project before I had to get ready for another unexpected something. But, as I looked at the "basket" that I had been working on-I wasn't done with it yet but I liked the way it was headed-I was thrown off a bit by the proportion of the image to the basket. And then I thought about blowing up the image but it was already on the cusp of blurring from the previous "blow -up" so I grabbed some peat pots and first painted two a light sage green and then painted one in white. After a bit of debate with myself, I think I have decided that I am going to continue with the green peat pots and use the others for something else.

 

And now on to my next "best laid plan" gone awry. Lol

I thought I would have today to do what I wanted-seems that none of the needed people will be here for the fence, etc. until Monday-when I got a message from daughter #3 asking me what I was bringing to the bar-b-que today? Bar-b-que? What bar-b-que?? I guess either she thought she had already told me-which she didn't-or this came up rather quickly but it seems as if the families of the boys' lacrosse team will be having a bar-b-que in the tailgating zone of the field before today's game here at home. Honestly, I thought his Saturday game was for his travel team-which I don't generally go to because they're far away and LONG! But, no, we're at home today and so I am now off to make some Paula Deen brownies which are always a favorite and then get ready to head.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get back to my "best laid plans" and I'll show you how things turned out. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Happy For Some Rain

 We are getting just a small bit of that storm that is blowing across the country. Others are having horrible wind and tornados but we are really just getting a small amount of wind and a much needed rain. I love rainy days for so many reasons! It definitely gives me "permission" to stay inside and not worry about garden chores and it means that I probably won't be leaving the house unless I really have to because I'm not a fan of driving in rain and, it also usually means that I won't be cleaning because, to me, nothing really looks or feels clean on dreary, rainy days. So that pretty much means I am free to do anything I want without feeling guilty that I'm not crossing things off of lists. Lol And so today I thought I'd take you into the sunroom and then give you a glimpse of a few other things that my over worked mind has come up with. Lol

These shamrocks need a few more days of TLC after just being dug out of the garden and they will be beautiful. I thought about repainting the pot but decided I liked its "rustic" look. Lol

I honestly can't believe I'm still hanging this "subway art". This stuff was so popular a number of years ago and I think I made one for almost every holiday-wonder why this is the only one that seems to have survived the cut. Lol Maybe it's because there just aren't that many St. Pat's crafts out there.

So that is the sunroom-simple as always. But, yesterday my mind somehow got going on "gold". I don't actually use a lot of gold in my decor but it is all the rage this year and I have to admit that I like some of it. To me, it's a natural for St. Patrick's Day because of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so I guess I use more of it this month than most. And so, I spied this pretty tray that I bought so many years ago in a boutique decor shop here in town. It was made in Italy and one of those things that spoke to me. I have used it in various places but most recently it has just been in my bedroom on a chest.

I happened to see the rim of gold and decided to bring it out into the family room because there was already a number of gold accents there from the St. Pat's decor.

This is one of those cute chargeable lamps. My daughter had one and after using it so much during our power outage in the last hurricane that went through I decided to pick up a few for myself. This one actually came from Walmart and has a number of different settings and light intensities. I think they said it will "burn" for 6 hours when on.

These are just a few of the things in this room that have gold accents and I'm sure I could have found more. I think the things most of them have in common is that they are a burnished or antique gold. I think that must be why I like them. I'm going to be running some errands tomorrow and I think I am going to be on the lookout for some gold bunnies for my Easter decor-just enough to make a pop. 

And then as everyone was leaving this weekend, we noticed this. It has taken many years for this to happen. They are finally meeting in the middle and they are BOTH blooming. The one that gets the most sun is doing better but I am just so excited because this was exactly what I had in mind when my brother and sister-in-law helped us rig this up. The leaves took a bit of a hit in our frosts because I only covered the roots this year. They're taking longer to come back but the blooms are gorgeous!

And then just a couple of random pictures from the lacrosse games the other night. Both the girls' and boys' teams played a team from Gainesville who are always very good. Our girls took a loss but not as large as we thought and, considering that they are just starting out, they played well. The boys were actually ahead at one point but then things got "real" and they too lost but were actually very happy with the way they played. It was freezing as we sat there for four plus hours so we didn't hang around to see the kids after so, no pictures with them but a couple of them on the field. The TCHS Celtic mascots showed up for this game and the bagpiper accompanied the boys' team on to the field. That is always exciting because you don't hear too many bagpipes in person these days. 

So that catches you up on me-if you were at all interested. Lol Tomorrow will be busy and then my hopes for the whole weekend are to hit the outside running. I think it might be safe to finally cut back everything hit by our cold weather and I am chomping at the bit to get to it. Not sure when I'll be back-maybe if I find some treasures tomorrow I will share-so until then, stay safe and stay tuned.