Loving Summer

Lawn mowed...check. Flowers watered...check. Glass of Pinot Grigio...check. Jimmy Buffett station on Pandora radio...check. Dreaming of a beach...check. Life doesn't get much better than this!

Grandma's intuition?

Just found out our new grandbaby in the making is a boy. We are all very excited. I don't know if I had any idea or feeling about the gender, but, I have been crocheting in colors that are suitable for the little guy. Who knew? I can't wait to wrap the little fellow in these and hold him in my arms...

How I spent my snow day.

Lampshade redo

I had an old lampshade in the basement. Cut out pages from an old dictionary from the thrift store. Printed images on the pages. (Free from the Graphics Fairy) Decoupaged the pages onto the lampshade.Not sure where it will end up. But I kind of like it!

Wine riddler

Been wanting one of these for a very long time. Patience is a virtue! I have looked for more than a year online, prices were way too high. Priced out supplies for making my own, within budget, but I was fearful it would look like I made it! Enter Joss andMain. When I saw it on their website, for a very reasonable price, I assumed it would be skimpy, wimpy, etc. Ordered it anyway. It arrived today.It's quite nice, heavy duty, good hardware for hanging. I'm impressed! Bede put it up. Wine "riddling. I love it. Now I get to fill it up.

DIY curtains

New curtains for the living room. 2 tablecloths on clearance from Target.Less than $16.00 for the pair. They are not as blue as they look in the photos. Actually a soft teal. Matches the teal in the chair. No sew, add some cafe clips and you're done! Can't get much easier or less inexpensive than that. My kind of decorating!

Peasant Bread

Made this "peasant bread" from a recipe found on Pintrest. I really believed that most, if not all Pintrest Pins were just repined after repined photos that no one really ever made. I have had one fantastic Pintrest Fail involving brownies made in a waffle iron. DON'T EVER TRY IT!!! Tried it, failed, failed, failed. Actually had to throw my waffel iron away. Way easier than trying to clean up the horrific mess. So I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this recipe not only worked as directed, but the bread is delicious!

Pony Express

I went to the Post Office yesterday to mail a package to my granddaughter for Valentine's Day. There were 7 days to go, so I thought I had plenty of time. I told the young lady to post it the normal (cheapest) way. She said it would get there by Friday, the 15th....(8 days) She then explained to me that recently the USPS has had all packages mailed from Lincoln, NE routed first to Des Moines,Iowa then on to it's destination. Des Moines is 188 miles to the East of Lincoln, NE. So my pkg goes 188 miles to the east before it can then redirect and go to Tacoma, Wa. She also told me that all letters mailed from Lincoln, Ne first go to Omaha and then on to their final destination. So all mail goes east first from Lincoln, even if it is actually destined for places West.

The Pony Express made it from St. Joseph, Mo to Sacramento, CA in about 10 days normally. The record was 7 days! 7 days...does that ring a bell? 8 days for my package to get to Tacoma, WA from Lincoln, Ne by 2013 mail, 7 days for the Pony Express to get mail from Mo to Ca. I really understand now why the USPS is in such financial difficulty. They're still using horses! So I paid for the quicker delivery and Maybe they will actually put it on a plane and a truck.

Gotta Love Dennis Miller

Dennis Miller Radio: Videos - Video: Miller in the No-Spin Zone

Thank you for your support Mr. President!

We all have heard Korean singer Psy's song "Gangnam Style" I've heard it. I like it. It's catchy. But how many of us know what he sang about before? He was a rapper who espoused the killing of American Soldiers and their families. Here is a sample of his lyrics:

"Kill those f...ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives. Kill those f...ing Yankees who ordered them to torture. Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers. Kill them all slowly and painfully."

As the wife and mother of a soldier, I am deeply offended. Not just because of what he sang about. I can handle stupid people saying nasty things. What I am truly offended about is that our President, yes, the President of the United States of America, the Commander in Chief of the same soldiers PSY sang of killing, met with this guy. He met with him after a performance in Washington on Sunday at the Christmas in Washington concert. Not only did the President watch him sing, but he met with him after the performance and shook his hand. He introduced his daughters to this man.

Rappers have long been known for lyrics that offend, degrade and glorify crappy lifestyles. But this is a little different. This guy actually sang, many times that American servicemen and women and their families should be killed. He apologized right before the concert. I won't question the sincerity of the apology. I don't really care how he feels. I care about our country and the men and women who spend their lives protecting it. I care about a country led by a man who doesn't seem to care. He knew a couple of days before the concert about the past of this singer and his incredibly offensive song. As president he could have easily asked the concert directors to uninvited PSY. But he did not. He sat and listened, enjoyed himself and then met with the guy!

The president of the United States of America should hold people to a higher standard, especially people he meets in public.

I can only speak for me. But I'll bet there are thousands of American military who feel the same way. Thanks for the support Mr. President!

Fine dining without the fat and calories!

Recipes from Skinnytaste.com

Crock pot Santa Fe Chicken... Making this for dinner. In the crockpot now. The house smells soooo good.

Dark chocolate and mint chip clouds... Made these for dessert.

Self Portrait

I've been taking a class at the local Junior College...the principals of Photography I. I'm loving it. But what I really have learned is how much I don't know! A common phrase around here is I have achieved a "higher level of ignorance". When you know a little about a subject matter, you may feel like you know actually quite a bit. BUT...(there's always a big BUT), when you begin to really learn how much information is out there, as opposed to how much you really know...well, let's just say it's a long process. I'm committed to photography II, III, IV. It may be a couple of years before I feel like I can take a good photo. In the meanwhile, I'm having so much fun taking photos and using different settings, actually understanding my camera... This is what I have been playing with today. Large aperture, shallow depth of field, low light...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Kitchen cabinet redo Before and After

Before

After

Before

After

Kitchen cabinet redo...DONE!!!!!!

We did it! Yeah! It's finally finished. We got all the cabinets hung, hardware on. I love it! The project took longer than we had anticipated. But I thought that might happen. I've lived long enough to know that everything takes longer and costs more than originally planned. It also was not as difficult as I thought it might be. Tedious, for sure. But not difficult. I'm taking a break for a couple of weeks and then I'll paint the woodwork in the adjoining family room. I'm already excited to see the whole space finished. We have been looking at grays for the wall color. Our home is very beige /neutral. I'm kind of tired of beige and tans. The kitchen has by far the most woodwork/cabinets than any other room in the house. We have also learned a lot during the kitchen redo. So the next rooms should be easy peasy... Painting the hardware.

Here's the finished project.

Fall beauty

Had to take a break from painting (on my last coat!) The Autumn Blaze Maple tree in our backyard reminded me to stop and smell the roses. Or in this case stop and admire the beauty that Fall brings. Gorgeous day here, about 80, sunny , beautiful bluest of blue skies. Enjoy...

kitchen cabinet redo, day 10

Just finished the 3rd coat of paint on the inside woodwork. The doors in the garage have 2 coats on the back and 1 on the front. Tomorrow I will try to do 2 more coats on the front side and then...DONE!!!!! The inside looks great. I'm very happy with the look. The only problem is that the new paint makes the walls look awful! I knew that would happen. We plan on painting the walls as well. The kitchen is open to the family room and there is oak wood trim and cabinets in there as well. So that is the next project. I might take a couple of weeks off painting duty before I tackle those. When all the oak is painted then we will paint the walls. Right now we are thinking of a warm grey. We'll see...

Been painting all day...you can see my celebratory glass of wine awaits...

Kitchen cabinet redo, day 47. (seems like it, anyway)

Actually it's day 8. Just finished up the last of the priming on the doors in the garage. I've painted 1 coat of the semi-gloss on the inside woodwork. We changed our minds on the color. the "creme fraiche" looked a little too creamy, antiquish...So we went with White Dove by Benjamine Moore. Looks just like I had imagined it should. I know I will be happy with the finished product, but right now, I'm tired of it all. [See, I told you I would whine!] I'm tired of painting. Seems like there is never an entire day where I can just put on my painting duds and work until it's done. Every day this week there has been one thing or another that interrupted progress. All of it, my own choosing, but that would mean I have to blame myself... Anyway, just popped in from the garage and now will put coat #2 on the inside. Hopefully by Monday afternoon, all painting will have been completed. That's the goal.

Day 5 ????

This is the dining room. Where we are keeping everything from the kitchen drawers and countertops and the cupboards that we removed. There's stuff all over the floor as well. This is the stuff that you don't see on blogs. We always see the before and after. Seems like magic! That's why I am writing about this project. There's a lot of ugly in between!

First coat of primer on one side of every door and drawer.

Kitchen cabinet redo day 2

Yesterday we successfully removed the upper cabinets over the breakfast bar. I washed all the cabinets with TSP, then rinsed them all. Today I sanded them lightly and wiped them down with a tack cloth. I am really getting to know my cabinets! I use the word "all" lightly as I have only done these steps with the wood work inside. All the doors are still in the garage untouched. My plan was to clean, rinse and sand them this morning after church...but it was freezing in the garage today! I decided to work inside instead. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be warmer, so I'll work on the doors then. I applied the 1st coat of primer today in the kitchen. I can sort of get an idea of what my kitchen will look like with painted cabinets and I love it! So far so good...

No more upper cabinet! Yeah!

All sanded and ready for primer...

1st coat of primer.