One of Those Days!

 When last we "spoke" I mentioned that daughter #3 and I had been invited to a book launch-the first one for me-and I was excited. As the time got closer, my daughter mentioned that she had a huge presentation scheduled for today so if I could meet her at her office, she could work a bit longer. And so, that is what I did and I assumed that after we left the launch, she would be going back to work and I would be headed home for dinner on my own. 

But, as sometimes happens, the day went differently and it could not have been more wonderful! And that started with us finding the MOST PERFECT parking spot right downtown almost in front of the venue so no walking for blocks in the unrelenting heat...and, believe me, at this time of the year in Florida, that is a HUGE PLUS!! Lol

The book launch with signing was a fabulous success and we visited with so many old friends and Jen introduced me to so many new ones. Our initial thought was to buzz in, chitchat a bit, get our books signed and head out. BUT, as usually happens, we got deep into conversations with everyone and before we knew it, we were closing down the place when Jen suggested we head to our favorite (Harry's) for dinner. And, a quick text to my son-in-law saw him joining us. I got home much later than anticipated and I was tired but the really good kind of tired. What a wonderful, albeit unexpected, day!

The author of the book is a childhood friend of my daughters and just a beautiful human being. To say that we are happy for her would be a vast understatement!

And her illustrator is a friend of many years. I met her when she was a teacher at my girls' middle school and then we did some craft shows together. She is such a talented lady. She went on to be an incredible elementary school principal and when she retired, she went back to her artistic talent and has become very successful in that endeavor and her work in this book is absolutely perfect for the theme!

These three have been friends since elementary school and the tales they tell and the things they  remember when they're together are truly heart warming and hilarious. Their lives are all so different now but when they get together it's as if no time has passed.

The story that this book tells is beautiful and the way we should all try to live our lives-children as well as adults! "Bee" kind, "bee" patient, "bee" thankful, "bee" courageous, "bee" honest! What a wonderful world it would be if we all just were!  I hope it finds incredible success!

So now I am on to today. We had a storm last night with lots of rain so everything looks green again outside-finally, But, since I really don't have anything left out there to tackle momentarily, I have just been piddling around inside and, for whatever reason, two things-that really have nothing to do with anything-caught my eye.

The first is the very large picture display that I have had on the side of the pantry ever since we had it added to the kitchen. I don't normally post pictures of it because it truly isn't all that attractive. That is what actually got me looking at it. I thought about taking it down in my "simplify" mode.

When the pantry was added years ago, that very large white expanse bothered me so I added a bulletin board that I covered in the fabric that was also on the stool cushions and the "curtain" on the front of the kitchen desk area. And, when that wasn't large enough, I added some fabric covered foam core board that made the display pretty much the whole size of the area.

For many, many years I would change those photos out monthly to match the theme but, as time went on, I had family Christmas cards photos that I wanted left there and then other priceless photos that I wanted left there and, before I knew it, I was leaving SO MANY photos there all of the time and then just taking the "themed" ones and sticking them in willynilly until, I have a huge mess!!!

One plus in this predicament is that even though I have changed the fabric in the kitchen twice since doing this except the fabric on here-which would require taking down all of those photos and, well...!-  there is so much "stuff" on here that you can no longer tell what fabric I started with. Lol

So, once again I am thinking about removing this "treasure". The question then remains, "where will I put all of those memories"? There are not enough frames in the world nor enough space in my house to display said frames if there was so???? I'm guessing for now, this will just go onto a back burner and we shall see. 

And then, as I was getting out of bed this morning, I once again realized maybe why I enjoy decorating so much-little things just make my heart happy...and, for whatever reason, this glimpse is one of them...

My plan is always to add a bit of the current holiday/season theme here as well as other places in the bedroom but I could not bring myself to do that here. For whatever reason, this little glimpse just makes me feel at peace.

And so, that is all of the "feels" for me today. I am off to photograph the family room and I hope to be back soon with that. My car goes in for servicing early tomorrow so I will be "stuck" at home until I get that back so I am sure I will be anxious to visit again soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Feelin' GOOD!

 I am feeling pretty good about myself right now. I have almost completed everything on my "TO-DO" list-both inside AND out. I still have one more garden to weed but I am hoping to get it done this afternoon when there is a bit more shade on that side of the yard. Of course, right about the time I finish it all, it will be time to start over since our summer rains have caused the weeds to GROW in double time but that is for another day! Lol

I am feeling extra good about myself because I had one more visit from Towanda. The older I get, the less it seems she comes to help out. It is a long story and, again, one best left for another day but, suffice it to say that after MANY unsuccessful attempts, I was FINALLY able to get all of the pieces of one of my concrete fountains back together and the new pump installed. I have been moving this thing around ever since the day I first brought it home but, somehow, ,magically, it seems to have taken on MUCH more weight. Lol In any case, it is now back where it belongs and running beautifully. There is just something about water sounds in the yard that make my heart happy and my blood pressure to go down.

So, with all of that being said, let's get on to the reason I am here...the sunroom ready for the 4th. And, you know what I am going to say...things are once again at a minimum so that we can utilize this area quickly. It seems to be a favorite hangout when anyone comes over.

I still love this guy so much. He was super easy-even my youngest grandchildren were able to make one-and he's just cute.

The console holds the lantern and a photograph sent by granddaughter #3 to my husband one Father's Day when she couldn't be with us because she was on a school field trip to D.C. and they were at the Planting of the Flag at Iwo Jima statue in Arlington National Cemetery. She made a sign to send her greetings and, next to having her here, it was the next best thing!

Granddaughter #5 cringes every time she comes over and sees this but I love it. She made it for me after returning from a weekend here at my house with one of her brothers where they painted "interpretations" of the American flag. She got inspired to do this all on her own. I wish I had had her sign and date it but it was awhile ago and even though her talents have come far since then, I just love the honesty in this painting-and the fact that she made it for me because she knew I would like it. 

Memories from 2018...sigh!

I kind of chuckle every time I see a picture from this time. Grandson #2 LOVED his hair like that-and, he didn't really get any resistance from me because I have lived through many, many hair fads and, in my opinion, if it makes the person feel better about themselves, who cares-it is just hair. But, now that he is a handsome young man of almost 19, he questions why any of us ever let him do this. Lol You're damned if you do and damned if you don't! HA-HA!

Not sure where I am headed right now since there is "nothing" left for me to do around here-LOL-but, I know I will be back and we will get this tour wrapped up. Tomorrow I am heading to a book launch.

One of daughter #3's childhood friends has had a children's' book published and it is being launched locally tomorrow and we have been invited. The other fun part is that the illustrator is also an old friend-she was one of my girl's favorite teachers from middle school and she is now a locally recognized artist. We love them both so much and will be wishing them nothing but success on this new journey. And, it is being held at one of our favorite downtown spots for lunch that is, sadly, leaving their downtown location and moving quite a bit farther away. We will, I am sure, visit them at their new location but there is nothing quite like the downtown vibe when we are looking for a place to eat and visit-everyone you know seems to walk into or by this place while you are there and it is sad to see it go!

Until we meet again-stay safe and stay tuned.

Next Room Please

 Let's move on from the kitchen and into the dining room. There are only a few changes here but I did simplify a bit.

I love the double table runner that I am using now. My brother and sister-in-law gave me the striped one many years ago and then when I happened upon the starred one last year I realized that the combination would draw your eye from the table up to the "matching" square platter in the niche.

I still love the Styrofoam stars because I remember making them on one of our "grandkids' weekends" They were a chore but we made them as gifts for family and friends and I can still see the kids sitting around this table creating their treasures. When we did these weekends before any given holiday, I would come up with the ideas and buy the supplies and the table would get piled high with everything available to them as well as anything else from my stash or from the computer that they might want to print. I always loved their creativity and how we could all start out in the same direction and yet end up so differently. This is from a different craft but it kind of gives you an idea of our process.

I had fun making this drum and fire crackers. The fire crackers are just dowels I cut down, covered with a flag napkin, drilled holes and inserted twine "wicks". The box was a bit more challenging only because I am not the greatest at measuring-I tend to just kind of "go" and this one really needed some math to make the embellishments turn out correctly-not my forte but I think I got close. Lol

When I got to this photo, I had an "ah-ha" moment. I realized that this is the only vignette where I used a number of flags this year. In the past I have had flags stuck everywhere! I'm not sure why I didn't do the same this year but, honestly, I really like it simplified. I also didn't use all of the other small signs I would normally put here. I decided that since this is birthday #250 and we bought these commemorative plates 50 years ago to celebrate birthday # 200, I would use all six that we had somewhere in the house-and, I managed to find room for all of them. And, I must say as I am looking at these flags that they might need to be coffee stained to knock down a bit of that bright white-looks like I've found another afternoon project! Lol

I still love my vintage image wreath that I made several years ago. I think I managed to make one for almost every holiday/season after buying a few of the dummy board wreaths for Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter but not being able to find any others that I wanted.

I made the 4X4 fire crackers many years ago and they have been done by everyone by now but I still like them. This year I pretty much "cleaned off" the top of this console and they are the only decor I used.

So that is the dining room for this year. Now that I consciously realized that I don't have flags EVERYWHERE, I think I am liking it a lot more.

I have some heavy lifting to do outside so I am off to see what the temperature and humidity are feeling like. It just might be a project that I need some help with but we shall see. Happy Saturday and stay safe and stay tuned.

Summertime!

 After spending a VERY HOT day in the yard yesterday, I decided that even though there are still outdoor to-do list items waiting, I would be tackling INDOOR chores today to give myself a break. It is actually quite gloomy out there any way so not my kind of favorite day to be outside. Fingers crossed we will get some rain to cool things down a bit.

In any case, while the washer and dryer are going full steam ahead, I thought I would move along with our 4th of July tour...we are on to the kitchen.

I really didn't make a lot of changes in here this year except for the addition of the 4th of July "art" on this counter.

I do love the glow these little inexpensive, chargeable lamps bring to nooks and crannies.

And, of course, I am still loving not only the glow but the fragrance that the candle warmer adds to a dark corner.

The only reason I am adding this picture is to reconfirm what everyone in my family already knows-I am just a tiny bit OCD when it comes to colors, scents, images, etc. having to do with any holiday/season. I was so excited when I found Mrs. Meyers soaps with blue labels a few years ago because not many other brands would "match" my 4th theme and, of course I grabbed up both a dish detergent and a hand soap and I was good to go...until, I spied the red label last year and just knew I had to have that for my red/blue color scheme. LOL The only problem is that the red labeled soap is "tomato" scented and definitely not my favorite but, I will concede to going around with my hands smelling like a vegetable until I finish this bottle at which time I will quickly replace the soap with another fragrance but keep the red labeled jar...for real! I am just that crazy. Lol

I am including this picture to remind myself that if I can't find a Yankee Candle with an image on the front that I like-and, last year they didn't have any new ones for the 4th-I can just print an image, put it on a candle of the appropriate color and we are good to go!

So that is the kitchen for this year. I am sad that I still haven't come up with anything new to make to add to the mix but I do still enjoy revisiting all of my older crafts and moving them around a bit so they still seem a bit newer to me. I'll be back Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.