So Much to be Thankful For!

Wow! I think my Thanksgiving is officially over and I definitely have much to be thankful for! My whole family - minus grand daughter #2 who was battling some kind of a stomach virus - made it here for the holiday. In fact, daughter #2 came to town on Wednesday and after visiting with daughter #3 and family, we both headed back to Gainesville where grand daughter #3 arrived. We had fun visiting and then, of course, watched the beginnings of some Christmas shows.

Thursday saw everyone coming to daughter #2's house for appetizers.

When we were finished there, we headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house for our main meal...and we couldn't have had a more perfect day.

As the sun began to fall, it got a bit chilly so the guys started a fire and we sat around that talking away the rest of the day.

Friday saw us all back in Ocala for a TCHS district playoff game. Again Daughter #3 and her hubby hosted a tailgate.

Looks like I might not have agreed with a call here. Lol

And, as if that wasn't enough football, we were all off to G'vlle on Saturday for the FL/FSU game. We were all invited to a friend's tailgate this year so we hit that first before heading into the stadium. It could not have been a more beautiful day!

We had such great seats. We were in the touchdown terrace so, not only did we have free food and drink available in the lounge all through the game but, most of the extra action took place right in front of us. This is the team after the win! They all get together to sing the alma mater with the crowd...which was 88,000 at the game this week! Go Gators.

And, before I go I just want to share a few photos from my youngest grandson's 14th birthday on Monday. He wanted to go to a Japanese steakhouse, so that's what we did! His best friend came along and the boys had a grand time...and so did Nana!

It has been a super busy week and I could not have loved it more. Now it is time to get back to reality. My son-in-law and grand daughter went tree shopping while I was gone and Presley picked me out a tree. They said "pickings were slim", so the tree is nowhere near as tall as I usually get...nor as full...but Presley said she looked hard to find the widest one they had because she knows how much I like that. I am just happy to have a tree this year after the predictions of availability I had heard. It is in its stand and I got the lights on it. The ornaments will have to wait a bit as tomorrow I begin decorating and Tuesday daughter #2 is coming down for the day. I will be back soon to share more of my adventures. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

Fun Fridays

I can't believe that I am saying this but, I am going to be sad to see football season end. For a number of months, we have had at least two football games every weekend and, at times it makes fitting in anything else difficult. But, I have come to realize just how much I truly love it all! This week was no exception.

The fun started on Friday afternoon when I went over to daughter #3's house to help her get ready for a little pre-middle school dance get-together. My daughter had invited my grand daughter's friends and their parents over for appetizers and a light dinner before the girls were off to their dance. It was all of the giggles and glam you would expect from six preteens. It was so much fun to see how excited they were and the fact that they all enjoyed getting dressed up was a miracle in itself because these girls would usually rather be in a pair shorts and a tee shirt.

As soon as the girls got off safely daughter #3 and I were on our way to the HS football stadium where said daughter and her husband were also hosting another tailgate for the first high school football game playoffs that my grandson's team - Trinity Catholic - was playing this year. They had to win to stay in the running for state champs...and they did so it looks like at least one more fun football night is in my future next week!

I think while we are here I will also finish up my Thanksgiving tour for this year. Tomorrow is my youngest grand son's birthday and then on Monday I am off to my youngest grand daughter's school for the morning. After that, there will be grocery shopping on Tuesday before heading to Gainesville on Wednesday to get an early start on cooking with daughter #2. And, of course, after that, all of the rest of the family will be converging from various locations for a few more days packed full of football (both college and HS), family and fun...and, and of course, those ever loving tailgates!

So a quick peek at the sunroom...

...and the bathrooms.

So that is it for this year's Thanksgiving tour. I can't believe how quickly the year is going! I'll be back with some pictures of the fun and frolics. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Know When to Hold 'Em

So this post falls somewhere between "know when to hold 'em" and "dumb luck". If you are a follower, you might remember that back in September - when the entire blog world was going ballistic trying to find some 2022 $Tree calendars...and, might I add, getting downright greedy and needy in their comments to bloggers who were gifting the calendars to followers...I decided that the frenzy was kind of depressing me. It was taking the fun and "niceness" out of people who were all supposed to be gathered together for one purpose - to share their love of crafting. And so, I hit the internet just to see if there weren't images very similar to the calendars floating around out there for free downloading. And, yes there were! There were many for all of the seasons and holidays. I downloaded a few and I did the pumpkin patch sign for autumn. I also downloaded a few for Christmas and, since I already had this image and this extra piece of wood, I thought I would give it a try.

 I kind of went into it thinking that I would either use it in the basket of fresh greens that I usually have by my front door...

...or as another filler for those dreaded FR shelves...

In any case, it was not going to cost anything and it would fill an afternoon so off I went. I truly didn't know how I was going to do it but quickly decided to just give the wood a coat of antique gel, then white paint followed by green and red. I kept the paint kind of streaky because I knew when I sanded it it would appear more like old peeling paint.

At this point I ModPodged on the image that I had ripped to the size I wanted. Once it was dry, I sanded around more of the edges. This is kind of where my "dumb" luck comes in. Awhile back, I bought some recycled computer paper that I very quickly decided I wasn't thrilled with and would only use for "throw away" projects. Somehow, I grabbed that paper by mistake and, when I started to sand the edges, the paper literally disintegrated...which, it turns out is exactly what I wanted and would have been much more difficult to achieve with my normal paper. Lol I did have to be a bit careful because I could just as easily have disintegrated some of the image...which I may or may not have done...but I loved what was happening with the edges.

I was ready to put on a top layer of Mod Podge when I remembered that sometimes the ink would bleed when I did this so I gave it a quick shot of matte sealer before adding the top coat of Mod Podge. The sealer dulled the image a bit but, since I am all about chippy, faded, peeling, etc., I am fine with it.

I was going to drill a large hole in the top center to pull some cords, ribbons, etc, through but, as luck would have it, there is a really tight knot right there and, I know from experience that even if I started with a tiny hole and drilled progressively larger, I could chance splitting the wood. And so, I am waiting for this to dry before I decide what, if anything, I will do. I don't want it to look like a bow so, we shall see. Come back in a bit.

So this is where I ended up. I tied some fibers together and, after playing with their placement a bit, I decided to face the knot up as if it was going through a hole. I think it looks different enough from a bow that I am good with it. I actually have a few more signs I would like to try. Unfortunately, I have no more scrap wood so, until I make it to Lowes, that will be on a back burner. 

 I'm off to daughter #3's house for a little pre-dance get together with her friends and their parents. Once the girls are at the dance, we will hurry to Harrison's playoff game. Once again, my daughter and SIL are hosting a tailgate so another fun...and hopefully winning...night is in store! Stay safe and stay tuned.