And Just Like That...

 ..."that" feeling is gone! Yesterday you couldn't stop me and today it is taking all I have to get outside and get something off of the list. I did do more picking up after yesterday's really strong thunder storm already today. When fairly large branches come down that are still fully alive, I know it was a rough one. I'm used to losing dead branches from all of my huge oak trees that but the live ones make me realize just how strong that storm was. Gotta love summer in Florida. You would think I would be used to it by now. Lol

And then I did manage to get lots of the really large weeds out of the garden by the back door off of the sunroom. I swear those things are like Jack's beanstalk-one minute they were tiny and the next thing I knew, they were over 3' high-so high in fact that the storm blew them completely over-but not to the point of uprooting them. I had to get my shovel and dig them out and in doing so, I realized that they might be one of the things that I am allergic to-they have very fine little "sticky things" all up and down their stems and leaves so I wore gloves this time and closed in shoes and then hit the shower and scrubbed once I was finished. Fingers crossed if that is one of the culprits that I nipped it in the bud. Lol

In any case, we are expecting some more rough weather this afternoon as that low pressure system comes across Florida so I thought I would visit with you now just in case we lose power.

Let's head into the kitchen.

I love the seasonal local tea towels that I find at a favorite store of mine. I actually bought this one last year after my sunflower decor came down so this is the first time I am getting to use it.

I love this corner of my kitchen with that candle warmer lamp that my grand daughter gave me for Christmas. It helps brighten the area on gloomy days and at night and everything smells so good.

So here is what the top shelf is currently looking like.

This is how the pig started out...

...and here he is now with the new little amber vase. The plan had been to use this in the TV unit in the family room but even with those tall shelves, it was too high to fit so I switched some things out.

So that is it for the summer kitchen this year. I do love all of the colors of this season. The house is so pretty at night when all of the candles are lit-some day I will have to do a night time photo shoot. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Towanda!

 I wish I knew where my bursts of energy come from so I could bottle them to keep on hand for times when they would definitely come in handy.

I have been telling you for quite some time that I have a very long to-do list of outside chores. And, as much as I want to get them finished, I was easily put off by heat-mostly-or rain. I would do a little but then give up when it got "rough". And, honestly, that was probably my plan for the rest of the summer. I would get it all done-it would just take time.

But, for whatever reason, I woke up today and, without even thinking, I found myself outside with tools in hand and I got SO MUCH done that I shocked myself. I did have to walk myself into the pool a number of times to cool off enough to keep going and not have a heat stroke but, keep going I did and all of the areas-almost-of weeds as tall as flowers are now beautifully free of anything that shouldn't be there and things look so nice. And, that is always my goal as I am one of those people who can not sit and relax if things around me aren't as they should be. I have been pulling some weeds a bit at a time for many weeks but today I got down and dirty. I used my favorite tool-I think it's called a handheld circular hoe-and got down on my hands and knees and got out all of the weeds as well as their roots. I am feeling so accomplished although I'm betting I may not be able to stand straight tomorrow. Lol

In any case, with all of that behind me, let's start the real tour of "late summer decor 2025". We've seen the porch so let's head to the living room.

Since I took this picture, I actually went back and put the shelf sitter in the middle on an easel and it looks a bit better raised higher up. I'm actually thinking that the sides cubbies could use something other than just the peat pots but at this moment, I have no clue what! Lol

Here is where the citrus starts to creep in-in both the fruit in the bowl and the colors of the candles. This opens the way for more of the citrus, Mediterranean theme as we head into the kitchen and dining room. I love that I get to use so many of my olive jars, urns and vessels in this decor.

So that is the living room for this year. It may change but for now I'm good. Not quite the same with that Mason jar canvas. It has had yet another update. I didn't like having just the one flower on the bottom. For whatever reason, it just didn't look right. There is a "rule of three or uneven numbers" in decorating. It seems uneven things are just more pleasing to the eye. Since "one" is an uneven number, I figured I was OK but, I was not. And so, I took off the larger flower...

...and added three smaller ones that I had in my stash and a tag. I know I am now at four add-ons but I think since the flowers are at three, I'm OK...at least until I change it again. Lol

I'm off to load up more of the old fence pieces to put out for garbage pickup tomorrow and then probably call it a day. I've got some appointments this week so I'm not sure what my time will look like but I will be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Calgon...Take Me Away!

 I swear every day just feels that much hotter than the one before! I know that's probably not true but the heat is definitely cramping my style-more so this year than ever before. Maybe it's just because I am yet another year older but I refuse to consider that as the reason. Lol

In any case, I woke up armed with a long list of outdoor chores that I WAS going to accomplish today and I headed out to start spraying the weeds that seem to have appeared overnight between the stones of one of the patios and, let's just say it's a good thing it wasn't any larger than it is! I got that done and then the fountains refilled and the potted plants all watered before I had to call it quits!

And that found me back inside and figuring I'd finish up the Mason jar decoupage. Here is where I last left you...

Once I gathered the supplies, it was back to the basics for decoupage. I ripped the edges of the image, painted the canvas, ModPodged on the picture, distressed the edges of the print and called it a day.

I knew I wanted to use a green for the canvas and as I was looking for one I happened upon a small container of some paint I had mixed up for a previous project. I have no idea what colors I put together to make this but it looked good with the leaves, so I went with it.

Is this a project I couldn't have lived without? Definitely not but, did it keep me busy inside the house while the outside world was melting away? Yes. Lol Of course, that brought me to "where could I possibly want to put this?" now that it was done. I tried a number of spots but it just isn't large enough without a frame-and, honestly, I won't be "wasting" a frame on this-so, ultimately it ended up on the baker's rack. I figured since it is a Mason jar somewhere near the kitchen would be appropriate. Not sure this is where it will "live" forever but, it is here for now.

Fast forward...it is now Sunday and although when I left this post yesterday my intentions had been to sign off and publish it, I found myself unable to "hit that button". I just really didn't like leaving the post where it was because, honestly, not only did I not like this piece and was beginning to question the time I had spent on it but, if I was going to use it, this was not the right spot...its proportions weren't good amidst all of that chunky stuff.

And so, I grabbed a crystal candle holder from $ Tree from my stash and got to work today. I started by painting it green. Since I had already emptied the rest of the custom mixed green I had yesterday, I had to mix something new. This time I used chalk paint because it adheres to glass a bit better. I mixed up white, green and a drop of aqua and it got close enough for me. It took two coats of paint and then I covered it in antique wax.

As soon as that was set enough, I used a wet-wipe to wipe off most of the wax. I was heading to grab a dowel when I remembered that I had small pieces of dowels left over from not using them as stands on the frames from the hanging decorations I made recently and they worked perfectly.

I hot glued both of them to the back of the canvas and when that had dried I did put a piece of packing tape over all of it before covering the back with a piece of matching card stock.

Then, it was a simple matter of fitting some floral foam into the opening on the holder and pushing in the dowels. I strengthened it all with more hot glue before adding some green reindeer moss and then a small sunflower. My plan had been to use the silk messy bow that I made but I wasn't crazy about that no matter where I tried to put it so, at least for now, I just went with the moss and flower.

Is it now a favorite? The answer is still a resounding NO but, it is better. I like that it has a bit more presence but I'm still not sold on this spot as the perfect home for it so we shall see what happens. I will live with it for a bit and then let you know what happens. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Done!

Today is Fri-YAY and I am done with the decorating, putting away and photographing my latest swap out. There is now late summer decor in my house and that means sunflowers and citrus. When I do this, I can also bring in all of the Mediterranean "feel" things that I have like my urns, olive jars, etc. And, of course, we all know that that also means I am so happy because I am one step closer to autumn! Lol

This swap did take me a full four days but that is probably a lot because I tried to do a bit of yard work each day as well and the heat out there did me in. I still have so much weeding yet to do but hopefully now that the inside is done I can make haste on the outside.

Let's just start with the porch because then I have a few other things to share before we really get into the tour. It took two trips to the nursery before I could find two different kinds of "yellow" flowers. The urn off of the porch is really pretty when the blooms are there but I just realized in this picture that they weren't there today. Lol

The urns on the porch have buttercups. These plants were smaller so I mixed one in with some leftover white pentas.

I like the little sign that I made and added to the burlap door hanger last year.

So that is it for the porch. I was still looking for things to do to keep me busy and inside these days and I happened upon this image.

Since I had a stack of new canvases nearby, I decided a simple decoupage project was called for. I printed the image on "best color" but even then it came out really light-and my inks are full-so I grabbed my colored pencils and had fun using them the darken my image a bit. Now I think I am set to go.....

......except I didn't. Lol I went on to something else and then I was off to run errands. I don't know if I am just so old that I have everything or at least have seen everything or if there are just not that many new things coming down the pike but, even though I loved walking up and down the aisles FULL of autumn goodies and smelling the autumn fragrances at HL, I really didn't fall head over heels with anything. That doesn't mean I didn't grab a few things but not as much as usual.

I found the sunflower pillow that was in their "spring" area so 50% off-that was a no-brainer since I don't have many pillows for this theme. I also grabbed that small amber vase for now. It matches two larger ones that I bought a few years ago. The small sunflowers and the other yellow flowers will help me fill in where needed now and then all of the orange flowers, pinecone and acorn and pip berry sprigs will come into play in the next swap. I also grabbed two of the autumn leaf candle rings-I can always use them somewhere. And then I grabbed that autumn church picture for the living room under the shelf. I was actually hoping to find one similar but with some pumpkins but all of the "pumpkin" pictures were just too "cutesy" or word signs and, for some reason, I want this area to be more "artsy". The colors and size are perfect so we shall see. If I happen upon something I like better before then, this will go somewhere else.

It looks like I have lots to add but, not really so I will be on the lookout for some new ideas. Here's where I stand right now. And, since this is all next to me in my office just waiting, I am in a much better frame of mind when I am in here. It's amazing what you can talk yourself into even though you know better. Lol

Off to do a few things before calling it a day...and a week! I'm going to try to finish the Mason jar picture tomorrow and you'll be the first to know. Happy Fri-YAY! Stay safe and stay tuned.