Don't Stand Still!

I used to joke that if anything stood still very long in my house it was in danger of getting moved, hung or painted. Such was the case today.

I have gone through many changes in decor likes over the years. A long time ago I was country and loved all things Habersham Plantation or Disharoon Valley. I still have many pieces of Habersham Plantation in my house but they are the ones that are not really country...Habersham started to change their "look" about the same time I began to change mine.

I do still have a few of the more country pine pieces but, in almost every case, I have painted them either black or distressed brown...with one exception.

I like this little console. It has moved all around my house...its last permanent home being in the living room under one of the mirrors but I never really like it there. When I bought the new piece for the foyer, the piece that was there moved where this piece was...and so, this piece was once again displaced!

I carried it all around the the house but I could not find a place for it...yes, the rooms in ALL of our house are just that full! But, it was too good a "flat surface" to just get rid of so I put it in the sunroom-right in front of my desk-and moved some of my plants over. It is not a perfect solution but it will do. Of course now I am looking at it and thinking it needs a make-over. I still have some of this left so....

...it's kind of a "no-brainer". Think I have found my next project. Not sure I will like it white so this may end up being more of a project than I think but, we shall see. Stay tuned.

Feast or Famine

I have posted before about my cooking habits. I like to cook. But, I do not like to cook every day things. I like to cook the things we should not be eating...and, even if we should, with just two of us these days, it takes forever for us to finish a full recipe of any kind. And so, I usually leave the "fancy" dishes until we have company.

But, every now and then, I get "the urge". I think it is usually seasonally motivated. You can almost always count on pots of soup as it gets cold, pumpkin flavored "anything" in the autumn, macaroni and cheese or meatloaf and mashed potatoes (comfort foods) in times of stress, etc. So, I guess I was feeling "summer" today. I also had 6 ears of fresh corn left over from our cookout.

I happened upon an Ina Garten Fresh Corn Salad recipe a year or two ago and I love it. It is simple and delicious and the fresh corn just screams summer.

I have also been trying hard to get more protein into our diets now that neither if us eats much meat any more. I have a bean and quinoa salad that I love and get every time I am in Tampa. I have been trying to duplicate it myself and I think I am getting close. I made up another HUGE bowl of that today and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I hit the jackpot.

I also had a boat load of fresh veggies in the frig, so they are in the oven roasting with olive oil and garlic right now. Let's just say that tonight we will definitely be on the "feast" side of the coin. Don't know if we will be able to finish all of this before it goes bad but we will sure have a great time trying! And it's all healthy too! Stay tuned.

Summertime, Summertime

My grand daughter made this cup as a gift for hubby this past Christmas...right about the time he was selling his business and feeling very sad that the longest stage of his life was coming to an end. He has been a CPA for so many years that it kind of snuck in and took over everything. After all, it is a career or endless deadlines!!! I used to chuckle when people would ask him what he was going to do with the rest of his year after April 15. Most people don't realize that tax returns are the minor portion of a CPA practice.

My husband is an extremely well respected accountant. He was known for his honesty and integrity...and, he really knew his way around a tax return. His clients came to love him and they thought of each other as family. And so, leaving that life was a HUGE decision for him. But, our family reminded him that even though he was a top notch accountant, he was a more loved and respected Papa in their eyes and they were all looking forward to more time spent with him-although I will say that no matter how busy he always was, unless it was April 14, he could find a way to get to most all of our family highlights.

In any case, thank goodness we are done with all of that because the last week has shown us once again how nice it is to "be free".

We stayed busy every day with all sorts of family-filled fun. Today I am playing a bit of catch up on little things that have been patiently waiting for my attention...like:

Daughter #2 found this metal ceiling tile frame when she and her sister headed to a salvage yard in Atlanta recently. We thought it would look fabulous with a mirror and since I love this kind of "chore", I headed off to find the supplies to finish it off. I can't wait to see it up on the mantle in their home!

And those are the kinds of things that I will be doing the next few days...nothing really "blog worthy" but fun for me none-the-less! Although, I will admit that I am finding myself "going" to thoughts of autumn and Halloween more and more these days. I almost hyperventilated when I saw the first of the glittery Halloween branches in HL yesterday. If sunflowers are next, can pumpkins and autumn leaves be far behind? I will be on the search for ideas soon.Stay tuned.

Don't Have Much...

...but wanted to get in a quick post so you don't forget me!

When last we "spoke", we had made it through several birthdays, the track meet and our party. Father's Day turned out to be lovely as well. All three girls were in town and got to help my husband celebrate. Then, on Monday morning, most of us hopped in the car and headed north to help my brother and sister-in-law re-do their kitchen. This was a project that had been thought about for a long time, so it was fun to have any hand in helping it get moving along.

Daughter #1 is a painting pro. She is now living in her third home and each and every house she has seen her "touch" in ultimately every square inch in some way or other-and painting is usually involved. She actually LIKES to paint. With her at the helm, the kitchen project moved along rather quickly and, by the end of the day, most of the painting was done. We left the ceiling for my brother to do on another day as all of us maneuvering in kitchen was already a bit much!

After a day of work on Monday, we decided we needed a day of fun yesterday so we headed off to do some salvaging and antiquing. We picked Presley up from art camp at the Appleton Museum, had a fabulous lunch at Blue Highway and hit just about every place we could find here in Ocala. It was a fun day but boy were hubby and I tired by bedtime!

Today also promises to be fun. Two of my girls own an online boutique and run periodic U-Tube videos with "instructional" ideas with seasonal and holiday themes. The videos are always so funny but the filming and out takes are totally hysterical so I try to be an "audience" to this whenever they are "filming" in town. Should be fun!

While I am here, I thought I would take a minute and finish up the 4th of July tour. If the truth be told, I am already looking forward to putting out my sunflowers for the summer decor so red, white and blue days may be numbered-haha!

I love this Uncle Sam the little kids and I made last year. He was super easy and super inexpensive...and something they could do entirely on their own.

I love how they each have different personalities!

This card is from a few years ago when I was doing "Bingo" art for every holiday. Do you remember that? It was all the rage! I really don't see it much any more but I still love the vintage look of it.

My cozy corner with my "world's fastest" - not to mention, cheapest -  candle holder on the table. I whipped up a bunch of these last year to use outdoors at our big party.

I used glass holders I saved from burned out B&BW candles tied with a small flag - that I had bags of bought from the $ section of Target. Simply pull the flag off of its dowel and tie around the container with twine. In my case, the candles were even "free" as I have a LOT of them left over from the days I did "white as snow" decorating for January. I only use white candles now to join with red and blue so I have many just waiting for me to find a way to use them.

 Well, I hear some stirrings come from the guest rooms, so it is time to begin today's adventure. I'll be back. Stay tuned.

Still More Celebrating to Go!

What a fun few days we have had! It started early morning in Gainesville when lots of the family gathered to cheer on Harrison and Hudson at their track meet. The kids always spend a week every summer with my brother and sister-in-law and since my brother is still the director of the Alachua County track club, the boys get to participate that week.

 Many ribbons are won and a fun time is had by all!

Saturday was a big birthday in our house...hubby's #70! Yikes!!! How did this happen!??! After I got over the sheer shock of it all, my girls convinced me that this day deserved some special recognition. Even though I know my husband does NOT like being the center of attention, I figured we could squeeze this one through if he thought we would be celebrating daughter #1's birthday as well (just the day before)-which we usually do-and Father's Day for all of the fathers. It wasn't until we put out all of the "Yankee" themed decorations that he began to catch on that this might be for him. Any way, he got over the surprise rather quickly and reveled in the celebration.

I always like to do a little something for all of the fathers and uncles for Father's Day. I knew I would be making my "famous" Famous Amos chocolate peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookies for the party but knew there was a pretty good chance the dads wouldn't get to them before all of the little munchkins did, so I made a little gift bag for each with their own personal "little stash". Then I found this cute chalkboard tag, downloaded and printed it. I tied them all up with twine and I was good to go...thanks again Pinterest!

Even though my house is decorated to overflowing for the 4th, The girls wanted a special theme for the party and since my husband has loved "his" Yankees since he was a little boy, that theme seemed to speak for itself...and, it was pretty easy as he has received so many Yankee mementos over the years. Jennie did up this favor bowl with lots of baseball themed goodies.

And, even though it didn't quite fit the color scheme, this edible bouquet that he received from his sister was a "hit".

Lots of peanuts and popcorn...and Yankee napkins that daughter #2 found online-just perfect!!

My pig joined in the fun. We started the day with LOTS of yummy appetizers and ended with a dinner of ballpark themed goodies: hamburgers and hot dogs in baskets, corn on the cob, tossed salad, macaroni salad, potato salad and baked beans.

The three youngest kids made this banner and some fabulous birthday books while they were up in Gainesville.

My pool is starting to fill up...just the way it should always look!

The birthday boy with his baseball cupcakes made by daughter #3 and really delicious! I might have gone a bit too far by using the relighting candles. Everyone thought it was kind of funny but I should have taken into consideration the age of the recipient...guess he could have passed out hyperventilating-haha.

Always love a "4th of July" photo with all of the grand children. Today we were missing the two oldest-Hannah couldn't get off of work and Caitlin is out in LA seeing the sights and attending UCLA film camp. Both girls did call Papa with lovely birthday greetings, so it kind of made up for how much we missed them!

Papa and two of his girls...the third one says she will take a picture today after she is made up-haha.

So that was our celebration so far. Today is the "real" day so I know there are more exciting plans for that as wellas for the upcoming week as daughter #3 and Liv stay on for a visit. I will keep you up-to-date. Stay tuned.

"Whew"!!

I think I must really be catching on to this retirement thing! So much so that I have let go of ALL of my schedules-so much so that I am really not getting any of the mundane things done-EVER! That is fine for awhile, but eventually, the "piper" must be paid...and that would be today for me!

I have been having too much fun going off and spending time with my family...and, isn't that really what it is all about? But then when they surprised me by telling me they would all be coming to our house this weekend for 2 birthdays/ Father's Day/ 4th of July, I had to slip into first gear. And so, today, things are being tackled that have not been tackled in a long while. But, I am still giving myself some down time as when the gang hits town this weekend, so will one of our grand dogs-for a three week stay at our house. Makes sense to me not to go overboard on floors at least. Looking forward to an afternoon spent in the pool-we shall see. In any case, let me show you the kitchen before I head off for a week-daughter #1 will be here for 5 days so we will be having some fun during that time catching things that we don't get to do often enough.

I still really like this wooden star I made several years ago. It was a simple wooden star from HL decoupaged with a napkin, glittered with clear glitter and embellished with ribbon and wire. So simple yet one of my favorites.

This picture is another print I got out of an old Good Housekeeping magazine and framed.

OOpsd...just realized that I have this star sitting on its "side".

So that is the kitchen this year. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We are off tomorrow to Gainesville to watch the boys compete in their end of the week track competitions. Then, all of the fun this weekend and next week. I will try to share our adventures. Stay tuned.