Getting Back Into Routine

It's Monday morning and I have already repainted my barstools that were just a bit chipped up and restrung 2 Valentine bracelets that just popped when I put them on this year. It seems like all of my stuff has been around so long that it's all just getting tired...but, I won't let it give up. There's always a fix some way or another. We'll see how long they last this time. Lol

Before I hit the to-do list for my next chore, I thought I would try to get in another post. Let's go into the sunroom today...and, as usual, the sunroom has just a nod to the holiday - except for the TV cabinet that is always chock full of holiday photos - so that we can use the table in here. It is my go-to spot for crafting even though I have a whole room that was supposed to be my craft room. I just love the sunroom and being able to look outside and watch what's going on out in the yard at any given time.

That's it for the sunroom. But, before we leave, let's revisit my last post. I showed you my new bunny picture that I absolutely love...and I told you I thought I had made a pallet picture last year using almost the same image. As soon as I published that post I headed to my Easter Rubbermaids. Luckily, things like this are stored inside where there is climate control so it wasn't hard to find what I was looking for and yes, I think the two images both came from the same original image. There were minor differences but, since I think they will both end up in the living room, I thought they were too similar. Luckily, I have no lack of images downloaded so I found another bunny with the lettering that I love, printed him out, ripped his edges and ModPodged him right over the other. Then, I gave him a bit of distressing.

When I looked at the new one, I wasn't crazy about the only color in his garland being the pink of the center flower so I found some markers that matched the colors of the designs in the corners and added just a bit of pop. And now I love him! Crisis averted. Lol

I seriously need to slow down my brain. It isn't even February yet and I'm not only thinking of St. Patrick's Day...I'm on to Easter. Lol

So, that is our visit for today. I'm off to rake some leaves...and try to keep myself from cutting back freeze burned plants while I'm out there. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

 

Whew!!!!

Wow! This was a super fun, super busy week. It's funny how I can have weeks at a time when the most exciting thing I have to do is the wash and then one like last week where I was on the go almost every day! 

I think you're up to date through Thursday so let's head to Friday. Daughter #3 and I headed downtown for lunch at our favorite little restaurant, Stella's Modern Kitchen. It only has 5-6 tables but, if we can get one, it is our first choice. If not, there are so many other places to eat downtown now that it is always fun and sure to be delicious.

As I said, there are not a lot of tables in this restaurant/gourmet food shop but we are almost always lucky enough to get our favorite table right inside the window. It is fun to watch as people go by and wave to so many friends who are bustling around downtown. We had a nice leisurely lunch and then we were off to my grand daughter's school where they held their annual fund raiser, a Color Run. The kids absolutely love this event and it is always a big money maker for the school.

We had the nicest visit and when I was about to go home, my daughter says "are you up for another trip south tomorrow?". Well, she didn't have to ask twice and so, on Saturday morning my daughter, grand daughter, her best friend and I were off to Apopka once again. It was kind of deja vu! When Jen heard we had gone down on a day that Trader Mae's was closed, she thought it would be fun to try again on a day it is open. And so we did.

I was pretty excited because I had seen a bunny picture that I loved on one of their FB posts and was a little disappointed when I couldn't get it on Wednesday. I think we weren't in the front door 20 feet when I happened into the room full of these pictures.

  And after going through all of the pictures, I finally found the one I was after and it became an early birthday gift from my daughter. Here it is home all safe and sound.

And, you have to know I would choose that one since it is a vintage postcard. I love it...in fact, I love it so much that it is almost the same image that I used on a pallet sign last year. This one is so much prettier but I'm sure I will find a way to use them both when I decorate for Easter this year. Or, I have another beautiful vintage Easter postcard image that I could probably use to replace the image on the wood pallet. It should be an easy fix...I'll put it on the growing "to-do" list. Lol

After Trader Mae's, we were off to pick strawberries at our traditional strawberry picking farm-this gang is nothing if not all about tradition. Lol

The weather has been so crazy this year that the strawberries ripen and get picked out very quickly. We were actually able to get more than enough for what we wanted and then were off to Eustis for lunch at the Mexican Restaurant restaurant that is another tradition for these two girls...and, life is even better if they can get their favorite table outside and right by the fountain! And, of course, one more visit to The Peddler's Wagon. And, the girls were so excited because they were able to find the "store cat" curled up inside a basket that was for sale. As cats tend to be, this guy is very independent and it is always a challenge to see if they can find him.

 

 Eustis was having a vintage car show as well so we hung around a bit, had some ice cream and enjoyed the cars, the music and people watching for a bit longer.

And, while we were traveling, the girls decided that they need to have a weekend at Nana's house to do a holiday extravaganza. The next holiday up is St. Pat's so, I am going to enjoy not being in a car today and maybe catch up on a movie or two while I look through some ideas and see if I can find anything new for the girls to do. But, I think rainbow pasta has once again been requested for dinner...we shall see. 

Stay safe and stay tuned. And yes, I know there is more of the Valentine tour to do. Fingers crossed I'll be back soon.

It IS Easy Being Green!

 Those of you who have been here for awhile know how much I LOVE the color green. I think of it as a neutral. Everything goes with green because there are flowers of every color and they're all enveloped with green leaves...nature loves green. I think it makes my home feel calm and refreshed. And so, combined with my Irish heritage, it is easy to see why I look forward to St. Patrick's Day every year.

When last I posted, I told you about my upcoming trip down to Apopka with my brother and sister-in-law to a place I have been wanting to visit for quite some time. It is a market full of over 100 vendors offering antiques, furniture, holiday and seasonal items, jewelry, art, etc. I have looked at countless pictures over the last few years (ever since it found its way to my FB page) and even saved a few. I was raring to go!

And so, you can imagine our surprise when we pulled into the parking lot to find it practically empty! There was a lady out front working on a piece of furniture and she gave us the bad news that they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Insert sigh and tears...lol Note to self...next time, don't just check the hours...check the days! Who would think a shop would be closed in the middle of the week?

But, since we were this far south, we figured we would make the best of it and move on to another fun spot...we chose Eustis. I love the little town of Eustis. It is very quaint and inviting. It doesn't have a lot but that is fine with us these days. It definitely has enough to have a full and enjoyable day...and we did. And, of course, that meant a visit to one of my favorite shops, "The Peddler's Wagon". The middle of this store is always full of the latest holiday/seasonal things while the other parts of the store are chock full of everyday items and decor.

And, of course, there is always the beautiful Christmas area.

It was a perfect day and a walk by the water was just the thing after checking out all of the stores and a delicious lunch! 

 

Since I was already feeling sad because we missed Trader Maes, I decided I needed a little pick-me-up. Lol And so I took myself to the St. Pat's area of the Peddler's Wagon and managed to find a few things.

I was extra excited to find more Bells of Ireland this year. This is the only place that I have seem to be able to find the faux flowers any more. Last year I got the long stemmed ones and this year I found the shorter bush variety. And that dish towel spoke to me. The ball of greenery is a half sphere. I am seeing them pop up on many decor blogs these days. They can be put on top of a vase opening to look like is is full is stems or on top of a candle stick, in a dough bowl, etc. without worrying about fitting in the usual wire stems. I'm not sure where this is going just yet but it will probably remain out most of the year.

I have today free before my fun day tomorrow so I thought it was probably time to make this happen.

And, while I'm waiting for that to dry, I dragged some craft supplies out to the sunroom to work on an idea someone gave me when she commented on the post of my vintage Valentine's wreath. Since I have already made my St. Pat's wreath and had some vintage images left over, I ended up making a St. Pat's collage on an old $ Tree sign I had bought to just use as a base.

This was fun to do and by the time I got this far, the floors were dry.

I added a little scrap bow and called it a day.

So this is where my "green" stash stands for now...Bells of Ireland, vintage wreath, vintage sign, St. Pat's canvas, wood shamrock, green leaf garland and dogwood garland (all from the Target $ Spot), St. Pat's towel and the greenery half sphere. This stuff all makes me so happy. I almost can't wait for February 15 to arrive so I can put it out. At my age, it's probably not smart to be wishing my life away but I DO love my green!

Tomorrow I'm off to lunch with daughter #3 and then we're off to grand daughter #5's school fund raiser-the Color Run. It was so much fun last year...I can't wait. Photos to follow I am sure. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

What a Weekend!

 It is Monday morning and I am waiting for Florida Pest to arrive for my routine spraying. I thought I could visit with you while doing so. I'm not sure where the weekend went but when I post these pictures I get a beautiful reminder.

Hudson, Presley and Hazel arrived on Saturday morning. In the "old days", I would have had a schedule of everything we were going to try to do. It was never as rigid as I may make it sound because if the kids were really into something it could last longer and other things could be eliminated but, after raising my own girls and so many, many years of other interactions with children (Sunday School, Girl Scouts, teaching, etc.), I learned that it is always better to have more planned than you might need. Now that the kids are older, I don't really need to worry about my filling their down time as they have more than enough interests that they can fill it all on their own. Hud even brought along his lacrosse equipment for some outdoor time.

I just quickly told them all of the things that I had managed to gather and let them decide what they might want to do. I knew that baking and cooking would be on their list because they both enjoy those things a lot but I wasn't sure where the crafting would fit with Hudson now that he is in high school. But, much to my delight, he wanted to join in. And, he actually did so all on his own while Presley and I experimented with "crackle" paint.I have to say, the "artistic spirit" wasn't with me that day and their hearts turned out so much better than mine...which will probably never be seen again. lol

They each wanted to bake one of the recipes I had pulled so that happened as the crafting was progressing.

And, of course, Hazel had to check things out and make sure nothing delicious hit the floor without her seeing it.

Our dinner was soooo much simpler than it used to be. We could have gone back to some of those more complicated menus but I don't think we could have enjoyed it any more! We started with a salad with heart shaped toppings, spaghetti with RED sauce (sort of in the shape of a heart-lol) and one heart shaped garlic bread slice just for the picture. 

And then their cookies for dessert along with a chocolate mousse cake Jen sent over. The chocolate cookies are a favorite. Presley tried the Kiss cookies. It was a new recipe for us and, although we liked them, I'm not sure we liked them enough to make them again. lol And, the cake was delicious! I had ice cream in the freezer but everyone was too full to even think about it...until later when it appears that "someone" decided on a little midnight snack. Lol

Presley also coated some pretzels in chocolate and gussied them up with sprinkles for us to give as gifts.

The next morning we had heart shaped pink pancakes for breakfast but you'll have to take my word for that as, by the time we actually got the day started, no one thought of pictures.

And so, another fun weekend is in the books. They are so different now than they were but I'm loving them more and more. Maybe because I realize that all of the grands are almost all grown up now and will soon be scattered hither and yon and these days will no longer be possible. But, also because I enjoy getting some down time with the kids-no sporting event, no dance, no school activity, no family filled holiday-just one on one time with Nana to reminisce, talk about life and cure all of the world's problems. Lol

We didn't realize it until later that this one had already sampled her pasta and was wearing it well. lol

It was a busy, wonderful weekend. I am using today to catch up and then I have a fun week ahead. My brother and sister-in-law are coming tomorrow and then on Wednesday we're off to check out a new fun place in Apopka. It promises lots of antiques, painted furniture, decor items, holiday goodies, foods and even jewelry. We shall see. And then on Friday I'm off to lunch with daughter #3 and then to Presley's school fund raiser where they will once again have a "color run". I loved it last year...can't wait to see it again!

Oh, and for those of you with inquiring minds...no, the wood floors are till not waxed...and, the floors that were all so pretty and clean are no longer that either...and life goes on! Stay safe and stay tuned.