Moving Along

I spent most of yesterday running errands and picking up supplies so I could get a few more little things off of my to-do list. I don't know why things don't bother me (sometimes for years) until they do! That seems to be how this week is going so I thought I would squeeze in a few more pictures between a number of little projects today.

We'll start with the porch that is about as photo ready as it will be for awhile. Last year I lucked into large red, white and blue flower baskets all ready to go. This year, Lowes wasn't quite as generous-at least not yet-so I had to buy individual plants and pot my own. Some of the colors I could only find in the smaller sizes so it may be a bit before they reach their fullest.

Come on in where it is a bit cooler and let's head to the kitchen.

As I look at this picture, I think I see another project looming large. I love the fabric on the bar stools - which is also on the little covering on the leg space on the other side of this bar. It was once a desk that we never sat at so I filled it with more storage shelves and covered it - but it definitely was more geared to the tone of this room when it was painted red. I just really have never noticed it since I painted...and that has been at least a few years. Not sure which direction I will want to go, but go I will. Add another line to the to-do list!

If you're looking carefully, you will see that the large round tray with stars in the photo above was once under the bowl in the photo below. When I was posting these pictures I realized that I did not like the large empty expanse behind the plate and pot so I moved the tray that I just grabbed at WalMart up and like it so much more. I tend to grab plastic trays and serving items because I'm never sure where we will end up celebrating or what goodies I might be asked to make. This way, I am always prepared!

This was just a silly craft I made on a whim one day when I just had the urge to make something. That being said, I like it as much as some of the really complicated things I have done.

So that is the kitchen for this year. I will say that I haven't really been out and about in the stores that carry a lot of holiday items, so once I get there, things may change. I'll keep you up to date - lol. I'm off to re-paint a portion of my TV armoire in the family room. When I painted it oh so many years ago, it had doors that we closed to hide the TV when it wasn't in use. Fast forward to my husband buying a TV too large to fit in with the doors there so I had to remove them. I then painted the area inside as well but somehow used a flat paint instead of the satin I guess I had used everywhere else. For all of these years, every time I was dusting out there, the area in the middle looked like it was still covered in dust because of the flat paint. It bothered me a bit but not enough to do anything...until the other day when I knew I had to get on it...and so I am! There are sure to be more exciting days like this coming soon - Lol Stay tuned.

We Interrupt 4th of July....

...to bring you a little summer. For some reason, I always think of summer when I see zinnias. For as long as I can remember, I have loved zinnias and have tried to grow them many times. I have always started with small plants because I have had very little success with any kind of seeds. And yet, I have not been successful. Everyone tells me they are the easiest things to grow and I should just throw down seeds. Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong. In any case, I have not had the urge to try this again until yesterday!

Daughter #3 invited me to join her and grand daughter #5 at Wet Hammock Berry and Flower Farm about 25 minutes up the road from Ocala. We have never been to this farm and we were in for quite a wonderful surprise. Right now the only berries for picking were the blackberries but the zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds were as far as the eye could see, And, they were all up for grabs.

When we arrived, we were given a large Mason jar and clippers and were told to cut the flowers with a long stem, strip the leaves and squeeze as many into the neck of the jar that we could. I am telling you, this was a gardener's dream. What we thought would be a quick trip through the fields turned into about a 3hour visit. We just couldn't get enough. It was hot, but they provided ice cold bottles of water and lots of umbrella covered tables and seating so it really didn't bother us that much. There were also rocking chairs and lawn games available for bored children and an old wooden porch swing. The farm also boasted many crape myrtles and magnolia trees. It really was a picture perfect southern summer day.

I cut many different varieties and colors of zinnias and sunflowers and was feeling pretty good about myself until my daughter got started on hers. She chose to do all of one color with different shades per each bouquet and hers turned out absolutely beautiful. She was getting a few to gift to clients who had just finished up their re-dos with, of course, a number for each room in her house. I will say that if you load the jars the way they recommend, you can fill many more vases full when you get home.

After the farm, we stopped and grabbed some lunch and went back to spend the day at Jen's...and visit with my grandsons as well who were now home from football camp. With three children of varying ages and interests, life in that house is almost busier in the summer than it is during the school year.

Who knew there were so many different variations of zinnias!?

 

Today has been another busy catch-up kind of day but hoping I can get back to our 4th of July house tour soon. Stay tuned.

I'm Seeing Red...

...and white and blue! I couldn't wait a minute longer. My spring decor is probably my least favorite of the whole year and I was ready for a change. And, since July 4 comes so early in the month and I like at least a full month of any decor theme, I am right about on time-at least I will be by the time I get this job finished!

So, without further ado, let's start at the beginning-the living room. If I were to be perfectly correct, we should always start at the front door and porch but I haven't had a chance to get my red, white and blue flowers just yet so we will come back to that another day.

I normally use my silver and red mercury glass candle holders here but, for some reason this year, I wasn't "feeling" them so I stayed with my weathered ones that were here for spring.

I still enjoy using all of the vintage inspired things I made so many years ago when they were all the rage. I don't see much of it any more but when I do, you can be sure I will be stealing copying the idea. I just realized that I don't have any new 4th craft ideas (with the exception of the paint stirrer star) for this year so I better get myself to Pinterest soon!

I love how kids say the darndest things. My grandson asked me why I had the Declaration of Independence in the vintage typewriter since it was obviously written by hand! Guess I'll claim "designer's license"!

I really still love the flag holder that was inspired by Martha Stewart. I had had that idea ripped out of her magazine for awhile but when I went to buy the ball feet to use, they were more expensive than I wanted since I was making so many of these. I kind of filed it in my brain and one year when we were at the Fancy Flea, there was a huge barrel full of antique ball feet. The only other thing I needed was my trusty chop saw to cut up the pieces of 4X4 I had in the garage as well as the trim pieces. They made a pretty impressive gift that year and they were fun to make!

I made this flag Pledge of Allegiance many years ago and it took me until just the past year or two to realize that I had spelled "allegiance" without the "i"...and no one pointed it out to me either...either they didn't read it or they didn't know how to spell it either-Lol. In any case, if you look real closely (right under the smeary finger print-lol), you will see where I squeezed that "i" in there. This was just an inexpensive flag that I tea dyed and then wrote the pledge on the white stripes.

The flag pillow covers were another year's gifts. I copied the idea from PB and mine were definitely less expensive!

I just realized that I sure do do a lot of "borrowing" of ideas. I saw this banner in a Bethany Lowe ad. It was a bit of a bear to make but well worth it as I have used it for more years than I can count.

The little framed flag was also so simple. I downloaded it all from a blog tutorial and then all I had to do was assemble and frame.

I love how this guy looks so much like the Uncle Sam on the vintage image.

I just realized that everything in this vignette with the exception of the downloaded picture of the girl that I framed came from my favorite store in Micanopy, "The Shoppe". This store is jam packed full of treasures but their seasonal and holiday items are unbelievable! I always find something when I visit!

That is the living room for this year. Wish I had more pictures to share but today I basically spent the day un-doing one of my most recent projects. If you recall, I recently painted my front door, shutters and garage door. It was a doozy project as our heat was already starting to creep in and, since I was NOT going to put on 2 coats, I bought really good paint and put on a nice, thick coat. And, I was so proud of myself with how great it looked.

Fast forward to opening the garage door and I realized that I "might" have painted together each of the 4 sections of door. I used a heavy blade to try to coax it apart and when I pushed the remote, it pulled for a moment and then broke loose...yay me. Or so I thought until the door began acting weird and I realized that when the door recoiled, it bent the track.

I finally called a repairman out and he informed me that he could not just replace the track-it would be all or nothing...but, he would try to just bend it back for me. It actually bent a little too easily so we shall see how long it lasts.

But then, he told me I had created a monster by getting the paint between the sections. The heat we have been having actually keeps melting the paint together and the sticking and recoiling problem will continue.

He did have a $75 vial of lubricant he could use but said it would probably keep happening any way so I politely said "no" and have spent the next many hours scraping paint off between the sections and then sanding and lubricating. He told me Vaseline may work but since I didn't have any, I used Vapor Rub instead...we shall see. Lol And, of course, my beautiful, smooth, solid coat of paint now has bits of aluminum showing through. So much for trying for perfection!

I'm off to a berry and flower farm tomorrow but hope to be back soon with the next part of our tour. Stay tuned. And, if you live anywhere near me, stay cool!!