"Free" is Fun!

This is always a pretty "slow" time of year for me as far as decorating and crafting. My spring decor has been out for awhile and, as much as I do love spring, it is not one of my busiest decorating and crafting seasons. I keep it pretty much just lots of greens with small pops of purples through lilacs, violets, etc. And, there really isn't a "big" decorating holiday in the mix either.

Since I like to have my decor up for at least a month, the 4th of July usually goes up the end of May...and, we're not quite there yet!

And so, I am finding myself roaming around inventing things to do...and that is exactly what happened yesterday.

The first thing I looked for was how I wanted to display those beautiful arches that I got for Mother's Day. There are three and they are each a different size so any sort of symmetrical hang wouldn't work for me. I thought about breaking them up and using them in different rooms but that wouldn't be my first choice. I do a lot of my decorating kind of hit and miss and, when I try something out, if I get any kind of "serendipity" that it looks right, it's a "go"!

And so, that is exactly what happened with the arches. I started by finding one of the only bare spots in my house big enough to pull this off - lol. And, since I didn't have an extra pair of hands around to hold them up for me to see, I just went with it. A simple matter of three nails and voila!

And then...wait for it...serendipity was there hitting me in the face! First of all, look how closely the arches mimic the shape of the lanterns which now stay on the mantle for every holiday and season.

And from this angle, look at how nicely the wood of the arches matches the wood of the lamp. Serendipity I'm telling you...just meant to be here - until one of my decorator daughters walks in and asks me what in the world I was thinking. I know they - especially daughter #3 - don't like clutter. But, she is the one who gave them to me so, what's a mom to do? In any case, I think I like them there - until I'm walking around looking for another project. Then, all bets are off.

 And, since this little project really didn't take very long, I needed something else. Once the garbage men emptied the cans, I knew I could do some more raking so off I went. And while doing that, I saw one of my brick walks in the backyard with "new eyes". There is definitely some moving going on under my house. I know my house sits high at the end of our circle and has water running under it to the area that in so much lower a few streets away. I don't really think it is a serious problem except that it is causing cracks in my driveways and walkways. The brick path up to the pool was moving so much that the concrete on the edges was breaking off and I figured then the bricks wouldn't be far behind.

And so, I needed a cheap - well, since I'm not leaving my house or having anyone else in - free answer for the moment. And then my mind decided that a border grass border would get so thick and tight that it would probably help hold in the concrete edges.

I am not a border grass fan because of its tendency to send out offshoots wherever it wants but, in this case that might be my friend. As much as I dislike the stuff and as much of it as I have pulled up and out over the years, there are always patches of it where I least want them. And so, with that in mind, I set out to transplant as much as I could.

I will say that once that stuff gets a foot hold, it is hard to get it up with roots intact. My back might never be the same, but I got it done. It took until almost dark last night and a bit more this morning.

I'm hoping that if I keep this wet enough, it will get some root growth before it gets scorching hot. I'm still not a fan, but it looks a lot better than just the raw edges of the bricks.

Now I am off to look for today's project. Since my back still hasn't recovered, I think I will look for something inside that doesn't require shovels and dirt! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Decorating Dilemma

I have been isolating for almost 10 weeks now. I really thought I was doing rather well and staying busy and productive. But, for whatever reason, today found me roaming my house looking for things to do. Now, again, there are plenty of things to do...just not things I wanted to do. And so, my mind started wandering.

I have two daughters who make their living doing interior design...and I love their taste and trust their judgement. They know me and what I like so, they're both usually quite good on zoning in on things I would like as well. My youngest daughter has been trying to get me to take down the shutter in my living room that I kind of use as a divider. That shutter was a gift from my brother and sister-in-law many years ago. They found it in a Winter Park antique shop and it came from the windows of the Winter Park Yacht Club. From the minute I saw it, I knew where I wanted to use it. This is where it has been for all of those years and I love it there. The pictures I have on it I bought on our trip to New York City from a Central Park artist. They show various parts of the park in the four different seasons and I love them too.

But, recently, as I have been watching a lot more HGTV than I usually do, I realized that EVERYONE wants the open area concept. Now, I am not ready to go that far. I still love individual rooms where many different groups can each have their own private space. But, the idea of opening up the line of vision a bit got stuck in my head and I decided to give it a try. So, here is where I am right now.

Because of the symmetry and only layout of the room that will work for the furniture that I currently have, the couch can not get moved...not even a few inches. And, for whatever reason, I feel like there is too much room between the couch and the wall.

And so, I thought I would bring back the floor lamp that used to be there. But here is my next dilemma. I kind of like it where it is now and I think I like it even better with the shutter behind it. I think it gives that end of the dining room more balance with not only the height but it brings the white from the picture and the candles over to the other side of the room.

So, here is where I am right now. I sent out a text and all of my family like the LR without the shutter. They like the brightness that it brings to the room. I'm still not convinced. I am loving the shutter in the DR but missing it in the LR...too bad I don't have two of them. Then, I wouldn't have a dilemma. Lol

In any case, I have wasted spent enough time on this little project that it is now time to put my feet up and call it a day. Mission accomplished! Haha.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I got to talk with all of my family and then got to spend the day with daughter #3 and her family. We had a lovely day relaxing, visiting, eating, having a glass of wine or two and playing family games. Although things were different than usual, it was a wonderful day just the same. And, to top it all off, my son-in-law loaded me up with all of the leftovers. Yipee, no cooking for me this week.

And, along with a certificate for a day of labor by this group, I also received these beautiful windows. I'm not sure where they're going but I LOVE them. Just my style. And, I think I see tomorrow's project. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

It's Just Like Magic!

Wow, have we been having the MOST picture perfect weather! I can not stay inside so, as promised, I brought back my favorite pressure cleaner and went to town. I think I have read that you are really not supposed to pressure clean wood but, we had this fence custom built many, many years ago. It was definitely worth every penny we spent but, it is finally beginning to show some wear. So far, I have been able to just do some repairs but, with not all that many more years in its future, having it be visually pleasing is more important to me right now. I love to sit out by my pool in the afternoons but, with all of the mildew and algae on the fence, my eye can not help but focus on it instead of all of my pretty flowers that are beginning to pop back up.

And so, I hit the ground running. It took two days and there are still some more things that I could clean...but that will be for another day!

I was so excited to get going that I didn't get any good "before" photos but I did get this one near the end of day 1.

Isn't the change amazing?! It almost looks like a new fence.

And then, I got a lovely surprise...daughter #1 called and said I needed to be by my front door and have my ID. OK, I'm game. Wasn't sure what was up but, with Mother's Day being tomorrow, I figured flowers would be arriving-I wasn't sure about the ID part but thought maybe with the virus and such, things were different??!

In any case, in a few minutes a car pulls up and out comes a young lady with two huge Publix bags and a bouquet of flowers. It took me a minute until I peeked into those bags and saw that she has sent me all of my favorite indulgence foods - which I have not had in over three months - and two bottles of wine - hence the ID! Duh.

Who would have ever thought that we would go from Mothers' Day gifts of jewelry, clothes, perfumes, etc. to one of every day grocery items and be so excited to almost be giddy? These are items I haven't put on my grocery list as daughter #3 is doing my shopping for me and it seemed selfish to ask for anything other than essentials. I guess I didn't realize how essential comfort foods really are. And, to top it off, there is a gift from daughter #2 on the bar waiting to be opened and an invitation to daughter #3's tomorrow for a fun day with the gang. I am one lucky lady! Hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Holy Spring Weather Batman!!

We have had a few unseasonably warm days of late and, just when I am about to give in to the fact that we may be in "summer" mode from here on out, Mother Nature throws us a curve ball and I could not be happier. We have had a bit of much needed rain of late and even though we still need a lot more, it has "greened" up everything! And, that rain has apparently brought with it much cooler temperatures.

This is usually when I am spending way too much at garden centers to really spike up my spring colors in the garden. I honestly think I miss the garden shops more than anything else...and, they will probably be my first outing when I finally get up the courage to get out and about again.

This week our weather has been so gorgeous that I just can't stay inside. In fact, when I headed out with my coffee early this morning, it was actually a bit chilly...in Florida...in May. Yay!!

I have actually had every window in my house open all day long. And once I get this post done, I am heading straight back out to sit by the pool and read for awhile. It is breath-takingly beautiful out there and I'm not missing one second more than I need to!

In any case, I have gotten a lot of heavy duty stuff done this week with way more to come. I think my friend the pressure cleaner will be back to visit tomorrow. But all that aside, I am thrilled to see so many of my old plants popping back up and beginning to bloom again. There are some definite blank spots from last years annuals that haven't been filled but, when I can bring in two flower arrangements in a day, I'm a happy camper. Here are today's beauties...with so many more gardenias finally getting ready to pop.

Some of my other faithful bloomers:

My Meyer lemon tree has about 8 lemons now and just finished another bloom so there are a lot more to come!

As simple as a penta is, it is one of my favorites because the birds "plant" the seeds for me all over the yard and I have them of all colors popping up where I least expect to see them. And, for right now, I am letting them bloom where they were planted.

They all just make my heart happy. Of course, this is what was happening yesterday:

After the garbage men emptied 6 cans full of leaves, I began the work on the far side of the pool. Once all of the azaleas have bloomed, I usually cut the bushes all the way back. This seems to be where I see my two friendly black snakes the most often and, even though I could never hurt them I don't like to give them extra room to hide so I tend to keep these bushes either totally cut back (when they have just gotten too large-like this time ) or at least cleared off down near the ground so I don't reach down to grab an errant weed and pull up something else instead! Lol

And now the cans are full again awaiting their next pick-up...at which time there will be 6 more cans of leaves quickly in their place. Such is the life of a person with 3/4 of an acre shaded with huge oak trees!

And even with all of that gardening, I have found some time for some much needed fun this week as well. As daughter #3 was dropping off a really large grocery gift, she mentioned that they would be having a cinco de Mayo dinner that evening and I was welcome to join...and join I did! She made a fabulous dinner hitting all sorts of Mexican highlights and Presley borrowed some of my party decor and had the house and table decorated to the hilt! Sorry, we were so busy eating that I forgot to get a picture. But, we did snap these when we were done.

This is silly Parker with his head on the rung of the table and, apparently, more than happy to pose with this silly sombrero...

...as were these goofballs. It was so nice to have some levity in this time of such seriousness!

So that is really all of my news for now. My big excitement the rest of the week will be more pressure cleaning. I actually really enjoy doing that because of the immediate gratification so, I will probably be back soon with photo proof! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Wow...Just Wow!

I knew yesterday would be a special day...I just didn't realize quite how special. It was the first time most of us have seen each other in about 9-10 weeks. We have all been faithfully quarantining and doing all of our due diligence so, it was a little scary to venture out but, we did and I know we are all the better for it. My brother jokingly brought his thermometer and we were all good.

Those of us who could, gathered to celebrate two college graduations. This was not at all how we had envisioned it. Half of our family was to be in Tallahassee, the other half in St. Augustine. But, alas, that is not how life is right now, so we made the best of it. Caitlin "graduated" from FSU with a degree in  digital media production. As it turned out, her cap and gown have still not arrived, so her "official" photos will have to come later but, we did all get to watch her virtual graduation together. We cheered as if we were there and then got to do a nice face time chat so she could feel all of our pride and love coming her way!!

Those of us who live closer got to celebrate Morgan in person (which we will do for Caitlin and her HS graduating sister as well as soon as everything has opened back up) and what a fun time we had!! I will say that all of the photos aren't in yet but I couldn't wait to post so there may just be a part 2 to this story. Lol

So here is our sweet Flagler graduate. This child blows me away. She is graduating with a degree in Media Studies (she and her cousin have very similar interests) summa cum laude with honors distinctions!

There's always one...Lol.

Definitely a proud Nana...so happy to let the world see!

Morgan's sister was in charge of entertainment. It was such a gorgeous day that everyone had fun with the traditional outdoor games and then even more fun with "Shoot for the Stars" (marshmallows blown (and hopefully caught) through paper diplomas, "One Smart Cookie" (moving an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth sans hands) and, perhaps the most fun of all, a graduation themed Family Feud. So many laughs and I'm not sure if they were all about the game or if some of them were just from the sheer joy of being united as a family again!

Because none of us could get out to really shop, presents were exclusively money...probably what most grads are hoping for any way! Lol

And, because I haven't gone to any stores in over 8 weeks, I had to come up with a card. Luckily, I had all of the equipment out so I came up with this one!!

And, of course, no graduation would be complete without the "hand shake"...no matter that this floating hand was attached to Uncle Elton! Lol

And now we are all back in our own homes. We're pretty much staying in place for a few more weeks even though things are starting to open back up...just playing a bit more of a waiting game to see how things are going to go but, once we are given the all clear, there is one BIG party in the works!!!

Stay safe and stay tuned.