Pivoting

I'm getting good at pivoting...or I'm just getting lazy. I thought I was going to use today to run some errands but I just didn't feel like it. By not doing so, I have probably put a bit of a kink into the rest of the week, but I'll deal with that when I have to.

I'm heading off to Connecticut later next week and there are some things I need to find before I leave. I told myself that I could just do it on Friday but then I remembered that Friday will be November 1 and I need to start taking down Halloween-probably at least a 4 day job. So, I either put that off until Saturday or I take the chance of not finding what I need if I wait until next week. We shall see.

In any case, I stayed home today and tended to things around here. And when I was done with that, I was looking for something to do. I found a frame-not my favorite but it will do-for Presley's pumpkin painting but it was navy blue. I think I had used it for a 4th of July print that I don't use any more. In any case, it couldn't stay that color so I gave it two coats of orange chalk paint.

 The color was right but a bit too bright so I toned it down with some antique wax. Still not in love with the frame but it will work until I find one I like more.

I actually googled the framing of watercolors because I was hoping not to have to use the glass but the recommendation is to use the glass to protect the piece, so I did.

And, since I seem to be really taken with water colors these days, I took the autumn tree image that I found somewhere and did my canvas technique with it. If you are about as tired of those things as I am, take heart...I am now out of canvases. Lol Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to using both of these pieces in my Thanksgiving decor.

And yes, Presley definitely has to sign and date her masterpiece even if she doesn't get to do any more finishing touches this year.

While I was working in the sunroom, my attention kept going out to the yard. The birds and the squirrels were everywhere and then there was this beauty.

 

I wonder how much more beautiful this would be if I paid some attention to it. About all I do is cut off the unruly off-shoots and never think of it again. Lol

So, that's it for now. I'm off to put together a little Halloween goody bag to take to the kids when I head to their house tomorrow. Not sure where the next few days will take me but you'll be the first to know. Stay safe and stay tuned.

What Fun!

 Boy is my house quiet! Daughter #3 and hubby arrived safely home late last night from the High Point Market in NC and the kids and dogs have returned home...but not before having a little fun moment with Nana. All of my grandchildren really do still have such fond memories of all of our "cousins weekends at Nana and Papa's" that we did for so long. But, as life happens, children grow up and move away and the number of available cousins has dwindled to just the last two.

I have posted that they were staying with me while their parents were out of town for four days-as well as their two dogs. With two days of school to contend with then a Friday night and Saturday before Halloween, their social calendars were pretty full. I think they managed to squeeze in everything they wanted without giving their old Nana too many worries. They know that I am a bit of a "nervous Nellie" but, as my mom used to tell me-just keep in touch so I know where you are and that you are alright...and, in this day and age of cell phones this a now a lot easier than it was in my day. They did what I asked and we had a wonderful visit!

They both wrapped up their activities early on Sunday afternoon and we then had time to pull off a bit of a traditional Halloween dinner. I had purchased some of the things hoping we might make this work but others I left open and we did some improvising. And we had a chance to reminisce about all of our previous weekends when things were much more involved. But as Presley said, "we've done all of that already Nana. This is just as good". And so it was!

We didn't even get a witch hat picture-I completely forgot about it-but we got one selfie to prove that we were there-and I do have my little witch hat headband on. Lol

Dinner was simple-spaghetti with eyeball meatballs, mummy garlic bread, salad with pumpkin and ghost cheese and pumpkin brownies for dessert.

And while my grand daughter and I had some down time, she was telling me about the art class she is taking. I have always felt as if she was gifted artistically so I am happy to hear she was able to get this class this year. She was telling me that right now her favorite medium is water color so I got out my water color paper and paints and she painted while we talked. And, this is what she made for me. She isn't finished yet. She wants to add more detail when she can but for now, I am loving this and it will soon be for display with my Thanksgiving decor.

So that is it for today. I really haven't thought much about this week just yet so I'm not sure when I'll be back but until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

I'm Back

 You are probably as surprised to see me back as I am to be here! I was just kind of biding my time until the football game starts and, since the kids are out and about for a bit, I was looking for something to do. Since the dogs are still with me I didn't want to tackle anything outside so my fallback is always a craft...and I had the stuff for this one still ready.

So the plan is to make another "busted canvas". I'm not sure why I keep doing these things. I am not a big fan of the finished product nor am I very good at making them. And yet, I persevere. Lol

I ModPodged a crackle paper in an autumn color onto the front and then one with autumn leaves onto the back.

Then I trimmed down the pilgrim image and backed it with a piece of card stock

Next comes the part that I never seem to get right-slitting the canvas and pulling it back and hot gluing it in place. There are so many things that can go wrong here and almost everyone always does every time for me. Lol

I did put some distress ink on all of the cut edges so no white of the canvas was showing. Next up would be the embellishing but...since I have Halloween out right now and all of the autumn is packed away, I had very little choice of what I could use. Normally I would have grabbed some of the small pinecones and maybe an autumn leaf or two but I wasn't about to go and try to find where all of these things are stashed so I grabbed the only thing available which was the pip berries. I couldn't make them look right and was about to throw in the towel when I saw the little "Thanksgiving Joys" sign that I had to cut off of the image to make it fit inside the canvas. I backed it on some autumn card stock and then onto some cardboard, inked up the edges and the back and glued it across the top corner that looked kind of wonky to me...and came out with this.

As usual I have no idea where this will go but, since I don't have all that many Thanksgiving things, I am sure I will find a spot. I do wish the colors on this image were a bit more intense. It is from an antique postcard so I know it is supposed to be faded but I would love a bit more contrast. I actually thought of trying to darken parts of the image with paint but there were soooo many things that could have gone wrong with that that I decided I will just go with the vintage coloring and be happy.

Off to see the game. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Let's Do It

 I have had a busy week but things are quiet for the moment so I thought this might me a good time to finish up the Halloween decor tour because, much to my surprise, Halloween is next week. I'm not complaining...well maybe just a little. October is by far my favorite month of the year and I feel as if the stress and clean up from the hurricanes has whittled it down to nothing. I truly didn't realize it was next week until just a bit ago.

In any case, let's finish up this tour. We'll start in the guest bath.

And of course the nod in the master bath and a peek at the bedroom.

And that is it for this year's tour. I have had a lot of visitors this past month so I am glad that someone other than me got to see all of this...although I would still do it if it was only just for me.

I have grandchildren #s 6 and 7 here for the weekend plus the puppers. They all came yesterday as Mom and Dad headed to the High Point Merchandise Mart once again. It's kind of strange having kids here on school days and once again having to check on homework, bedtimes, etc. And now we go into the weekend before Halloween when both of them have a very full social calendar. They're pretty good about staying in touch because they know their Nana is a worrier so we should be fine. I prepared for an impromptu-sort of-Halloween meal but it looks like if we are going to get a chance to all be together with time to make it, it will not be until Sunday so we shall see. I may be eating eyeball spaghetti by myself next week. Lol

I'm not sure when I will be back. I know I will be taking down Halloween and getting Thanksgiving up as soon as possible because we're once again heading up to Connecticut to catch one of my grandson's football games and we'll be gone for 4 days so I don't want to come home without that being done first...we shall see. Stay safe and stay tuned.

 

Wasn't Sure I Would Make It!

 I am happy to be here...not sure how long it will last! This has been a busy weekend with lots of comings and goings...people and computer!

Daughter #2 was here on Saturday and she is a whirlwind! She got my entire roof and gutters done and then went on to rake up almost all of the stuff that came down for me. She would have finished it all except I only have 6 trash cans and she filled them all. I should be able to finish up the rest once the cans get emptied.

My grandson was spending the weekend with me as well. He was in and out a lot because of obligations that he has but he made it home in time for dinner with his old Nana on Saturday evening and was due back around lunchtime after an early departure on Sunday morning to go hunting with a buddy.

While he was gone, I was working on the computer with no issues and then stopped to do something else and when I went back, there was no connection...even though my internet was working just fine. I waited for Hud because I had NO idea what to try after rebooting and still not having it work-that is truly the extent of my knowledge when it comes to fixing something. Every time I clicked the mouse, it "binged".

So, when Hud got here I thought I was saved because he is pretty good with a computer but, he tried everything he knew and still nothing.

By then I knew it was time to call in the big guns-my son-in-law who happened to have set this all up for me-except he was out of town. I was patient and he called just a bit ago and walked me through whatever to get back to where I was-well, not exactly because there is still something going on between the monitor and the laptop and he thought he could probably walk me through it but it sounded too complicated for me so I will survive with it the way it is and the next time someone with any computer savvy comes by, they can address the issue. Lol

While my grandson was still here, he and I kicked it into high gear. We were looking at why so many of my fence posts were leaning so we went into the field behind my house and discovered that when I had my two big trees taken down, the tree company loaded a PILE of not only large limbs that they had taken down back there against my fence but also, literally, a 3' x 6' pile of the shavings from stumping that big tree there. He and I managed to drag all of those limbs out to the curb to add to the debris from Milton that is still there and then we grabbed shovels and got the pile of shavings down quite a bit. I have been going back there and working on it some more as well so, in a few weeks when he and his dad have a free day, possibly they will be able to at least get to the posts to replace them.

I was really disappointed to see that because I was so impressed with the work that that company did. I'm sure if I called and spoke to the owner he would have been upset as well and sent them back out here to take care of it but, honestly, I just wanted it done-and now it is,

And so, before a click of a key changes something again, why don't we head into the family room and see what Halloween looks like in there?

I changed the mantle up a bit this year. I left some of the green garland and twinkle lights where they were and draped the creepy cloth over it so it is a bit fuller and then added back the pumpkin mercury glass lights. I also decided to replicate the vase I had on just one end last year onto the other end as well. I like it more now that it is a bit more symmetrical.

I also swapped the position of the broom and the witch shoes and I like that better too.

This is where the new "busted canvas" turned up.

Now that the "moon" wreath is backed with the black twig wreath and has the fairy lights, I really love the way this turned out.

I still really love this guy so much. He is one of my first Grandin Road " knock-offs" and I am still pretty proud of how much he looks like their original...and how much I saved by making my own. If I remember correctly, this guy was over $200 in their catalogue-but then, almost everything is. Lol

So that's the family room for this year. The computer just did something a little weird again so I an going to get this done and published as fast as I can. Lol If I'm not back for awhile, you'll know why. Stay safe and stay tuned...if you can.

Today You Would Lose!

 If you bet on me today, you would lose...and so would I. I can hardly believe this happened but, here's the proof!

Yep, that is the cabinet back in its original spot WITHOUT getting finished! That is just so not me...but, I feel like I can justify it. There was no way that cutie was going to finish getting sanded with the sander I have and I just didn't feel like running out to find a new one. Then, I still had my grandson's school uniform shorts that need hemming-a task that I really don't like to do but he asked so nicely-Lol. The dogs are arriving tonight to spend the weekend while my daughter and her family are gone once again and then daughter #2 is coming tomorrow to help me with a few things that just need more than two hands.

The more I looked at the cabinet in the entry, the more I realized that it would probably complicate life-especially each time someone came to the door while the puppers were here...and so, back it went. It probably is also a project that I should do outside because in the the small area that I did, there was MUCH paint dust...and, I can slide that thing somewhat but I can't just pick it up to move it to the garage . These are my excuses and I'm sticking to them. Believe me, this surprises me more than you. Usually, once I start something I am not stopping but I just didn't have it in me today.

So, since there is nothing more there to show you how about we head into the sunroom?

Pumpkin man has made a return. He hung here for many years...until he didn't. But, for whatever reason, this was his year to return. I found him at a favorite decor shop down in Dade City many years ago. And today, with all of the windows open, he is just waving in the wind.

Once again the sunroom decor is kept to a minimum so we can use this space without having to move whole vignettes. And, this is the perfect time of the year to spend even more time out here because we finally have our beautiful autumn temperatures and I have had almost every window in the house open all day long. And, we finally have a forecast without major rain so I have filled the feeders again and the birds are flocking...and, of course the squirrels are back up to their antics getting ready for the colder weather. There is a lot going on in the yard and this is the perfect vantage point.

So that is it for today. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay safe and stay tuned.