Change Is A Comin'

 Everyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of change-unless it is for seasonal/holiday decor. Lol I am at the point in my life where I am very comfortable with how things are and no longer feel the need for constant activity or adventure-in fact, I'm not sure I ever really did. I could definitely be defined as a homebody and even though others may think I am missing out on "life", I don't feel that way at all. I love my home and all of the things that taking care of it entails. I am not a fan of travel but will do so if it means spending time with family. That being said, there's some change in the air. Some of it I am not happy about and other parts of it have got me excited.

So, when last we "spoke" I think I mentioned two upcoming trips. The first was to be next Friday which would have seen me and my three girls all staying at daughter #1's house in St. Pete for the weekend and heading to Tampa to see Barry Manilow on what is to be his last tour. Tickets for this were one of my Christmas presents. Unfortunately, even before receiving them, the date was changed after his diagnosis of lung cancer. His surgery was successful and the tour was rebooked starting next weekend. But, unfortunately again it will have to be postponed after his last visit with the doctor who doesn't think he is ready to get back to that strenuous routine and travel.

I am really disappointed because I love my time with my girls not to mention how much I enjoy St. Pete but, hopefully things will work out and I will have this to look forward to once again. My daughter said we could still come but, since she will be here to pick me up for our next trip to Charleston just a few days later, we decided to wait and maybe do something a bit later. 

And that brings me to today. Another change is in the air. I was planning to be outside today to tackle the "mess" that is live oak leaves EVERYWHERE!! 

But, as I was on the way to that I decided to take some pictures of the living room so I might possibly get the start of our tour going soon...and then, I saw all of this. This picture kind of shows how unsymmetrical my living room is. Even where the chairs are now across from the couch don't totally line up. I love this room but wish there was another way I could move furniture for a change-unfortunately, there just isn't if you want to maintain conversation areas. Believe me, both of my "decorator" daughters have tried and we all keep coming back to this. 

I put this corner cupboard here many years ago to kind of balance out the wall. I liked it because it also gave me another display area for pictures. A few years back I started hearing comments about how it really needs to go but I fought back because, after all, it is my house and I can decorate as I like. And, that went on for quite some time until the last time daughter #3 was here helping me with the new things I got from daughter #1 and she once again addressed how "married" I was to that corner cupboard and, for whatever reason, this time I saw it the same way they have and knew it was time for it to go.

Of course, I had no idea that would happen today but I decided to move it out and get a feel for what it will eventually look like. My daughter has decided that a ficus tree would look best there and she told me not to look for one because that would be my birthday gift this year.

And so, I got out my trusty "moving buddies"...

...and off we went. Moving furniture with those things is a breeze until you get to the slate in the sunroom. My intentions had been to put it in my hubby's office and offer it to anyone who might want it. And I got this far and was having a bear of a time moving it ...and then I looked up and the idea hit me. Why not try it here? That way I could still have my photo opportunities and it kind of rounded off the TV unit. Since the slate on the floor isn't totally smooth and level, it isn't as flush to the TV cabinet as I would like and I hoped a simple L-bracket would help me attach the two-except I don't have one the correct size so that is on my list and hopefully this project will be completed soon. I'll let you know if it is a "go" or not.

And that brings me back to this...

The BIG, EMPTY corner is driving me nuts. Fingers crossed that the tree will be tall enough to help balance things to my eyes! And then I guess we will address the things still hanging on the wall-do they stay or go?

And, the next change a comin' involves this area.

I have had this rug for YEARS and still like it but it does kind of fall back more into my love of Mediterranean decor and I was toying with the idea of a new rug perhaps a bit more faded and vintage looking-maybe along these lines.

Not necessarily this exact rug but along these lines...and so, I simply asked those designer daughters for some input and boy did I get it! Yes, it was time for a change and it would be another of my Christmas gifts but, only if I go with their input as to the size. Apparently, the size of my rug is way TOO SMALL. What is wrong with me that I didn't see that? Lol Of course, the larger the rug, the larger the price so that is probably why I went with what I did so many years ago.

In any case, the exact rug has still to be chosen but as soon as that happens, more change will hit!

And, as I looked at the coffee table pictures, I saw another change needing to be made...

...all of a sudden the new vase was "crying out" for some flowers so I put in a small bunch of tulips I had and I think I like it better.

If you have stuck with me this long you deserve a medal because even I am confused but then that is how I roll almost every day these days. Lol I think I am off to grab a quick lunch and then head outside but, instead of raking the leaves, I think I am just going to blow off the deck and scoop a bit of the pool and wait for the rest of the leaves to fall before I start raking. Stay safe and stay tuned and, I promise, I will be ready to start our St. Pat's tour the next time we visit.

Too Late Smart!

 Nothing is going to spoil the fact that today is Fri-YAY again! But, my latest "brainstorm" could do it if anything was going to!

I spent almost all of yesterday out and about and came home with a fair amount of new clothing-which I am starting to stockpile so I will be ready for the two trips I have coming up soon as well as grandson #2's graduation and baccalaureate which will be here before I know it. I really don't like clothing shopping anymore so, if I see something that might work, I grab it when I do and, since I was going to the mall anyway yesterday, I roamed the stores and lucked out. And, with sales and store reward coupons, I actually saved more than I spent!! Lol I love it when that happens!!

The thing that took me back to the mall was actually some coupons the sales clerk in Yankee Candle gave me the last time I was there. She gave me the two you were allowed for $12 large candles but, once I was in there, a different saleswoman took a liking to me and "snuck" me another so, between those coupons and a $5 reward bonus I got three large Yankee Candles for literally less than the price of one these days! I always have to chuckle when these kinds of things happen because I can remember coming home after having a day like this and telling my husband "look how much I saved"...and him always jokingly saying "and look how much you could have saved if you hadn't gone at all". LOL

After those two successes, I hit Target and HL in hopes of finding a few specific things. I found most everything I wanted with a few tweaks to the actual want list.

Everything here is from Target with the exception of the unfinished wood tray-more to come on that in a minute. Here's where some of it ended up-on the bench in my bedroom.

Since I had finished my St. Pat decorating but still needed a few little fill ins, I grabbed that pretty faux plant from Threshold and then the table runner and small dish from their $ Spot. And then I spied that brown vase. It is just the size I need as a fill-in to my many Pottery Barn vessels that I have collected over the years. I don't usually give in to trends but I love urns, olive jars, pots, etc. so much-and actually have since way before they became trendy-that I am really loving all of the decorating reels I see where they are becoming a beautiful focal point in all rooms. I have so many but this one caught my fancy and it was way less expensive than the ones I get at PB!

So now let's address the elephant in the room-at least in my room. I have been wanting another round wood tray-this time wood toned. I have this one in my family room that I painted and it works for many vignettes but I felt I wanted one in wood tones for other areas.

I was hoping to find one locally because I am not a fan of ordering online sight unseen ever since my "Christmas tree" disaster! But, without going way more places than I had the energy for, that wasn't going to happen so I started looking at all of the typical places online and to get the size I wanted I would have to spend more than $100. Some things I would definitely splurge for but this wasn't one of them. I came close with this from Crate and Barrel.

But, it really wasn't as large as I wanted and with shipping and handling, it was a pretty fast "NO".

And so, when I was in HL and not finding one ready to go there either, I headed to their spring unfinished wood section and grabbed another of these. It is the same as the one in the family room but that one I painted with white chalk paint so there were no issues. This one is 18.3" so that is wonderful but, the edge of the tray is not one piece of wood but many pieces of thin ply glued together and I didn't think I would like how that looked.

And so, my genius self decided to go over the sides with wood filler. My filler was a bit dry so I used water to smooth it down and I thought it would leave just enough filler to give the sides a solid wood appearance. And, it did.

I let it dry and then took it outside to sand and then that is when I started to think about how this "new" surface would accept the antique wax I was planning to use. I kind of knew it would be an issue but forged ahead because, after all, it is Fri-YAY-a day for only fun things! Lol

Of course, once I put the first of the wax on I realized that it would be a problem. It went on fine but once I went to wipe off the extra, it kind of wiped everything off. And then I spotted the INSIDE of that tray edge which of course presented the same "multi-layer" look. Not sure why I hadn't thought of that before-but, I guess my "stupidity" worked in my favor this time because I hadn't mucked that up with the wood filler.

And so, I am here:

 I am waiting for this to dry entirely because every time I try to move it I leave fingerprints and have to keep going back. The inside edges are darker than I like but there is no getting the wax off of that very absorbent area. The middle looks OK but the edges-which you can't see here-leave much to be desired. Once it is good and dry I will either go back around the edges and try to jerry-rig them into acceptance or possibly get out my power sander and just try to sand off every bit of the filler. Of course, I'm afraid if I do that, I might jeopardize the rest of it as well.

I'm going to take a break and grab some lunch and come back with fresh eyes in a bit-and I will let you know. Try not to fall off the edge of your seats that I know you're all sitting on right now. LOL

I am back. I ended up dry brushing and fudging a bit on the sides of the tray and I am OK with it. After all, it was about $9 on sale so what was I expecting? Lol I am giving it a number if coats of a clear matte sealer in hopes that the wax doesn't chip off of those sides...fingers crossed. It is far from perfect-in fact, once it has all cured a bit, I might go back and do some more touching up but for now it serves the purpose. I just put it here quickly so you could see but changes are probably soon to come.

And, here is the latest update on this cutie. 

The one bloom is so heavy I needed to prop it and I added the cute little leprechaun and shamrock that granddaughter #5 made all by herself for me many years ago and I still love!

So that is it for today. I am probably going to be outside all day tomorrow-or at least until I fill all of the garbage cans-because the live oak leaves are coming down fast and furious and I can hardly see the pool deck let alone the water in the pool. I'm not sure if this is because of our cold temperatures but it sure seems earlier than usual.

Hopefully then I can start out tour because I will be gone for four days at the end of next week to go see Barry Manilow in concert and then four days the next weekend to visit granddaughter #2 in Charleston and go on the Junior League Garden tour in Summerville. We also have the Southeastern Youth Fair starting today and my brother and sister-in-law are coming for a visit on Tuesday so life will be busy and full and I will enjoy every minute-and, of course, I will share my pictures so you can join in on the fun. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Mama Said...

 Mama said there would be days like this! Lol Today was to be my day to get the last three rooms decorated and then start to pack up Valentine's stuff. And I planned to do just that...except for the fact that the last thing I posted yesterday was that there were already some things that I saw that needed tweaking. And I decided to address those things first-WRONG decision! 

When I looked at this picture last night I was reminded of something I thought about doing but didn't.

I was bothered by the color of the pitcher in this vignette. It is a very heavy "stoneware" that I bought at an antique store many years ago. I don't use it as much as I used to but it does always seem to make an appearance in the fall when I use heavier, chunkier things for the warm feeling. My first thought had been to "metallic" it up but I was hesitant. And then I saw this again and decided that is exactly what I wanted to do. If this thing has any value I just obliterated it but then I don't buy these things for investments so I went for it.

My first impulse was antique copper but when I had that done, it was all wrong. So then, I added a layer of plain copper...and that was all wrong too. And, that was the start of a very long morning going back and forth and dabbing on antique gold, Spanish copper, more gold, more copper.....it is by no means perfect but it's better.

Next, still before decorating any more rooms, I decided to look for the missing pizza paddle so I could finish the shelf in the kitchen. Yesterday when I first missed it, I looked in all of the places that I usually put something that just needs to be gone for one decor round. I took the paddle down so I could put up the Valentines picture but now I couldn't find it anywhere. Luckily, yesterday, I decided to forge ahead and worry about finding it at a later date...today. I went back to all of my hiding places and...nothing. Then I started looking in other places knowing all the while that I probably didn't do that because it would have been so much harder to get to and still...nothing. Now I was DETERMINED and was just about to start going under beds, behind things, anywhere and everywhere when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I LITERALLY had that AH-HA moment. I think I actually said "ah-ha!!". 

It was hiding in plain sight! I actually thought the handle was much longer so the kitchen counter never crossed my mind. I have no idea why I did that but I am happy that I did even though it took almost another hour out of my day.

And then just when I thought I was ready to move on, I passed the hutch in the kitchen and noticed the nail holes that were now visible because I was using a different height to hang the St. Pat's wreath. This spot in my kitchen has something different hung for each decor and I have about 4 spots for nails that I move as necessary. Usually the extra holes are behind what is being hung but not this time. And so, I decided to fill the holes and give it a swipe of paint. Of course, I failed to realize that the kitchen paint is the only one where I didn't have any left. The living room, kitchen and dining room all have a different shade of the same color but they are different enough to make a difference. I thought I could squeak by but, NO WAY. I painted over the patches and watched it dry so much darker. Then I added some white and painted an even larger patch and watched it dry still too dark. And so it went I don't know how many more times with me adding white, painting it larger than the one before and it still not working. Again, much more time painting and drying than I care to admit to but I finally got close enough.

By the time I got "all" of that done-which should not have taken any time at all-and then got the rooms done, I was ready to call it a day. And so, I still have all of the Valentine's decor to pack up tomorrow before I can start to take some pictures.

I did catch a glimpse of this cutie as I went through the sunroom. I actually noticed the fragrance before I realized that it was starting to bloom. It is now in its third new pot.

And I did snap this picture last night as the candles started coming on and I also had the three battery lamps lit. Between the candles and the lamps and all of the green, this room makes me happy and where I am heading in just a few minutes.

Definitely time to sit down, put my feet up and think about dinner but I'll be back soon. Until then stay safe and stay tuned.

Pride Goeth...

 They say that pride goeth before the fall. I can't tell you how much I am believing this right now. I was thinking that my next post would be to tell you how clever I was in all of my "pre-swap" preparations. Remember that I told you I was opening Rubbermaids ahead of time and gathering all of my St. Pat's decor in one place? I was looking back over last year's photos and I really felt like I would be hitting the ground running. And, on Sunday morning, I did just that. It was a dreary day with predictions of FINALLY  some rain coming so I was anxious to get started.

I think I also told you that I was starting to simplify and I also knew I would need to rethink some of my vignettes because of the things we recently moved around. But, I sure wasn't ready for what I got!

I just finished my second day of the swap and I am NOT done yet-and, remember, St. Pat's isn't a huge swap so it shouldn't take too long. With all of the prep that I thought I was so smart doing, I thought I would be breezing through but, au contraire! Lol. This might be why I take pictures every year and go back to them as reference because once you have a plan, it is just easier to stick with it. Redecorating takes time-at least for me. MY other problem is that I love green and I have SO MUCH of it that I am constantly seeing something else I would like to bring into the mix. And, it really doesn't help when you put something away to decorate for Valentine's and CAN NOT find it now when you need it again. Or, when looking for said thing, you find two more beautiful "paintings" that you bought on sale a few months ago and completely forgot about...and now you just have to make room for them even if it does means moving 100 other things. 

And so, this is how my days have gone. I still have three more rooms to decorate and then EVERYTHING Valentine to put away! Hopefully by day end Wednesday I will be done and can start taking pictures but I thought I would give you just a little sneak peek at some changes I have made. 

As I look at these pictures I realize that there are already tweaks that I want to make but I will be back to start the whole tour once I make those tweaks and finish up decorating. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 The day is finally here and it could not be more beautiful outside! When I am finished here I might need to reconsider my plans for the day because it really is too beautiful to waste! But, in the meantime, I am remembering my Valentine's celebration which happened yesterday.

Daughters #2 and 3 were here and we fit in a birthday celebration for Becky and enjoyed such a nice visit and the chance to all catch up a bit. We haven't all been together since Christmas and there have been lots of adventures in the between time so it was fun to hear about all of that first hand.

Our plan had been to go out for dinner but I guess we are at "that" age where the thought of dinner out on a Friday night-albeit the night before Valentine's Day-just didn't sound inviting so, after our celebrating, we put on our V-Day PJs, ordered in Chinese and watched a movie. And, it was the perfect choice for us!

Since there were no young people here to help with selfies, picture taking was kept at a minimum and believe it or not, this one of the three of us is the best we got! It was taken on Becky's phone and even as we were doing it we realized it was "foggy" but we couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong. In any case, it's evidence that we were together and we had such a fun visit.

Becky loves red velvet with cream cheese icing and cupcakes so Jen ran by a favorite local bakery and picked up some of these beauties!

The house is quiet today but that is OK. As much as I would love to start my St. Pat's swap out, I just can't bring myself to do it so I am going to enjoy one more day of "red". Becky always makes a stop at Fresh Market in Gainesville before coming here to pick up all sorts of my favorite foods-not to mention all of the leftover Chinese-so, I am guessing that I will not go hungry today-or for a few more days-and I am just going to let the day happen and I will see where it goes. Daughter #1 gave me some binge worthy program ideas so who knows?! I have already got all of the real candles lit and I am enjoying the beautiful flowers I got as well. I am a sucker for tulips and I love peonies but I honestly don't think I've ever had any "real" ones so this bouquet is extra special.

And while we're admiring flowers, let's look at this cutie! It has shot up even more. I think I will move it to an even larger pot soon and it will be blooming before I know it.

I hope you all have a beautiful, love filled day and the next time I'm back, things will probably be green! Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

MIA

 MIA...or at least it feels like that! If I don't visit with you every few days I feel as if something is missing in my life but, this week, my life has been full and happy and I truly don't know where the days have gone!

When last we visited, I think I left you with the image of all of the supplies I had ready for making my Valentine goodies.

 I thought I had the rest of the week to make said goodies but then realized that I would see the gang on Tuesday and then the rest of the week was so full for everyone that that might be my only chance. And so, with that in mind, I used Monday to bake and make.

I will say that I got so busy that I forgot to take a lot of pictures but I do have some from previous years so you can at least see what I'm talking about. And, by the time I was actually on my way to their house on Tuesday, I completely forgot to take any pictures of everything wrapped and ready but, if I do say so myself, it was pretty and all tied up with a sparkly Valentine ribbon.

The first thing I made was the Rolo pretzels. I started by just getting everything lined up on the pan and at this point I was going to say that the hardest thing about this recipe is unwrapping the Rolos...

...that is until they were nice and gooey after a few minutes in the oven and it was time to add the M&Ms. Between my somewhat shaky hands, my long nails and the heat of the baking sheet, getting those M&Ms centered and pressed down without getting chocolate all over my fingers which then messed up the next one was not going well. Let's just say that it was a good thing that I bought the candy at Target when it was buy one/get one 50% off so I just happened to have a bag of peanut M&Ms at my fingertips. Those things are just enough larger that they were no trouble to press in and I got it done! Then, a quick sprinkle of sprinkles-lol-to gild the lily. LOL

Next I moved on to the "Red Hot Popcorn". I found this recipe many, many years ago and my grands and I used to make it as gifts and everyone loves it. The hardest part of it the last few years was finding the Red Hot candies-the only place I could find them for a few years was at Walgreens. But, as I was standing in the check-out line at Publix one day last autumn, I spied them back on an end cap and actually grabbed a few boxes then to be safe.

I had a hair appointment on Tuesday and my hairdresser loves this stuff too so I decided to make a double batch so I could gift her as well. Making the popcorn is easy. Once that is done you are on to the candy. This step requires a bit of constant baby sitting as you put together the candy, butter and white corn syrup-stirring constantly until it comes to a boil and then continuing to stir constantly as it boils for five minutes. This is tedious but, for whatever reason, I love this step. It is so satisfying to first see the butter melt and then the candies...and, always at one point, questioning whether it will really ever all melt from the big globs that it becomes and turn into exactly what you need...and it always does just at about that five minute point!

It bakes for an hour as you keep tossing it to get all of the popcorn covered. I had two large roasting pans going at once.

Once it is all done, it gets put out on wax paper on the counter as it cools and hardens and is ready for bagging.

And then the last one for this year is a Martha Stewart recipe for brownies. I'm not a chocolate fan so I am not really the one to judge but these things are "chocolate" decadent! They use only unsweetened chocolate-and lots of it-and are the perfect brownie consistency-IMO. I use a small heart shaped cookie cutter for the brownies and then the leftover pieces are moist enough to be "smushed" together and made into balls so no brownie goes to waste!

I got no pictures of this process but here are some from a few years ago where we apparently made the pretzels as well.

I always bag the popcorn up in cellophane bags and this year I grabbed these containers for the pretzels and brownies.

Once everything was packaged, it went into a pretty gift bag and was finished off with that pretty bow before being delivered. And, I included a treat for the dogs in hopes that they would then not eat the human goodies which they are so often apt to do!

As I also said previously, lacrosse started this week and with having three kids in the family all playing, between practices, travel and games, there is a LOT of lacrosse in this family. I went to Hud's first game which they won handily and he played so well. It was actually really cold by the time the game was over and since they always have a rather lengthy meeting after the game, Jen and I gave him a quick wave and headed home before waiting to grab a picture-there will be PLENTY more opportunities for that.

And, while we were "freezing" down here in Florida, grandson #1 was playing up in CT in this.

Most of the rest of the guys were dressed like this so not sure why he decided to wear the regular uniform but...???

I have to say, I'm glad I wasn't at that one! Lol

And then, the next night granddaughter #5 started her season down near Tampa and they also took a BIG win and she played SO well. This is only this team's second year and they graduated a lot of girls last year so it is almost like starting a new team-with a new coach-so they may not always do this well all season but it was a fun way to get the show on the road.

Daughter #2 surprised me by calling and asking if she could come spend Friday night with me and take me out to dinner. Since we still haven't had a chance to celebrate her birthday together, I think we will combine a bit of Valentine's Day with birthday and, if daughter #3 gets done on time with a previous commitment, she will join in on the fun.

As I was out shopping for Friday I happened upon these tiny little hyacinth plants. Usually they are larger but these were meant for garden planting so they were all tiny. I don't want them outside because they just don't do well here but I love to always have one next to my chair in the family room through spring so, because these were inexpensive, I grabbed one to see how it might work out. As soon as I got home, I gave it a bit of water and placed it on the sill in the sunroom. I wish I had taken a picture because it was truly not more than about four inches tall. The next day I decided to get it into a pot so I did that and put it back on the sill. AND, just now I walked past it and I couldn't believe my eyes. It is truly twice as tall and I am feeling confident now that it will go on to bloom and fragrance my house beautifully. In case you didn't know, I LOVE spring flowers. That is one of the things that makes me sad about living where I do-but I love living here so I can cope. I do wish we could grow bulb flowers. There are occasional gardens of tulips and daffodils around town but I am pretty sure that they were just all recently planted because it just doesn't get as cold as long here as bulbs usually like. In any case, this cutie will bring me much joy and I will be grabbing more as they start to arrive in all the stores.

As much as I am excited to begin my St. Pat's decor, I will be sad to see this view go away. I love it when I'm in "my chair" in the family room around dusk when all of the candles start to pop on. Still not a fan of "red" but I do love this view. 

Not sure when I'll be back but I hope it won't be long. Stay safe and stay tuned.