A Teeny Weeny Re-Do

Not sure how a person is to sit on the sofa (with ice on knee) or lie in the bed (with leg elevated),

 and be productive.

I've used up so much yarn crocheting that I'm pretty sure Wal Mart and Hob Lob don't have any left.

I've watched so much TV that I can tell you all 400 channels by number that DISH has to offer.

I've eaten orange sherbet until my skin looks like I am sunburned and this is supposed to go on for 3 months? Please...

While sitting, I've looked at every room in my house and mentally re-arranged it...

today, I decided that I couldn't do much but the living room needed a little "summering" up.

Here's the fireplace wall "before"...

I know some of you are horrified that I still use "oriental" rugs and a brass fireplace cover...

but ever since I saw Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds,  

I have been afraid a bird might come down the chimney and escape into the house...what would I do?

Notice the black chair?

 I sat at an auction for 7 hours one day waiting on that chair to come up for bid...

and I wasn't going to get outbid...

I waited and waited and bid and bid and finally victoriously brought the thing home

(paid way too much)...and it's been there by the fireplace ever since.

But summer means light...that chair and pillow is NOT light.

I thought about the thrift store chair that  I re-painted and re-covered.

(I did it on the back porch..sitting...and leg elevated, sort of.)

It is solid wood and painted Old White by Annie Sloan... Fabric is from Hancock's.

I had every intention of taking it to the store, but I sat it by the fireplace just to rest

and she captured my "summer" heart!

I brought in some rusted white iron doves and I think I love it!

I painted my baby spoon holder to match...and guess what else?

I re-painted the duck egg blue table by my chair...Old White... I distressed it and  let the blue show through...I love it, too!

I also stood up long enough to Mod Podge these old maps of England

onto two panels I found at the thrift store...

they are going to the shop!

Now, this was just a teeny weeny little re-do...

but it certainly made me feel that I had done something worthwhile today...

Time to ice the knee,

The Promise of Morning

No matter what the season, my very favorite time of the day is early morning.

I am one of those strange creatures who relishes early, early morning.

The peacefulness, the quiet, the unhurried pre-dawn hours are precious to me.

When I am not working, the first thing I do, is turn on a light or two and light my favorite candle.

BTW: this "favorite" status changes with the season...

Swan Creek also has Thai Pear (heavenly) and several others that I especially love.

I get the coffee going in my tiny four cup pot and begin the "opening of the blinds"

ritual...(yes, I still have mini-blinds).

Just before the sun rises, I look out my window and see my little flower bed by the white picket fence.

This picture documents what I was told long ago...white flowers are the first you see in the morning and the last you see at twilight...always have some white in the garden...more bang for your buck.

They look like tiny stars.

If you look carefully, you will see the last twinkling star in the early morning sky.

Across the pastures....

...the sun begins its glorious ascent.

I usually wake the birds...

I love the first twitter and then they  flock to the feeders...

chickadees and redbirds first.

I sit for a quiet few minutes and gather my thoughts...make plans for the day.

No matter how the day closes, the beginning of each day holds promise.

God's in His heaven, all's right with the world.

Be calm and carry on,

Until I Saw A Woman With No Legs...

This is a good morning for reflection.....

 Last week as I waited for physical therapy (grumbling inside because I hurt),

a woman with no legs arrived for her therapy. Enough said.

                               

 As I thought an unkind thought about my husband because he didn't pick up the pillow that had fallen off the front porch rocker during a little wind, he called me to a delicious breakfast he had made.

As I re-visited some heated words my son and I had yesterday at the store,

he motioned for me to come to the back of the auction house

so he could load my purchases.

 I have made a conscious choice to finally release my desire to have a perfect circle of friends and family, a formal dining room, a studio, a log cabin in the woods (or better the mountains), to be thin,

to be young again, have everything go my way....

In doing so,  I have to admit something I have learned....

life is too short to continually re-visit unpleasant events and unfulfilled dreams.

Dreams are ok, as long as they don't obscure the present and make you ungrateful.

My home, the physical house, is what it is. As of May 24, 2012, there will very probably no more chances for "add ons" or complete re-do's...so? Is my life any less blessed? Maybe a bigger, better house would be more comfortable, but hey, this one is paid for. It's in pretty good shape. 

It's infinitely better to live in the moment and be grateful for an abundant life.

Always striving for more is exhausting, folks.

We must do the very best with what we have been graciously given.

 If that means moving around pieces in and outside the house and inside your heart, to make something function better, or paint or repurpose what we have...great...but let's not waste another precious second crying over spilled milk.

Examples of "spilled" milk (aka: what might have been):

*It would be nice to be 5'6" tall and weigh 115 lbs...but it "ain't" happening, (unless when I DO have knee replacement, the doctor agrees to add a 5" dowel in each leg during the operation...and the 115? Haha.)

* It would be great to have a 4,000 sq ft home with every little detail "just right"...but then you'd have to dust all that space...hmmm, small is looking better. 

*Wouldn't we all love a family where every member looks and acts like angels 100% of the time...

is it really necessary to go completely berserk about that tatoo, that long hair, those torn jeans?

(This one is hard for me..I must admit.) 

So for all those out there who have all the things I used to long for...then, lucky fortunate you..

(I'm Presbyterian, we don't believe in luck).

For the rest of us, let's live the remaining years of  life trying to play the hand that has been dealt us in a cheerful, loving way...knowing that we won't always be successful, but at least we can give it our best shot.

Be thankful,  

Little Fabric Stool...From Blah to Bling!

Sometimes things just line up correctly and viola!

You are in love!

That's me this morning. Look at what was "born" last night!!

The idea for her began in the thrift store. I brought her home and she patiently sat during all my knee surgery trauma. The idea fluttered by every once in a while, then became more dragonfly like...then like a wasp dive bombing...I couldn't ignore her anymore...I had to change her from a ugly duckling into a swan!

(My ideas start out gently and go full throttle quickly.)

Poor girl...she had seen better days...I hope.

We all deserve better than this...

Out comes "you know who"...in Old White.

One coat (and that wasn't a very thorough one)...but it is what it is.

Little re-cover...

with fabric that Sister picked up for me in Alabama...

Pre-distress......Better, but NOT perfect....

Distressed but not distraught.... she needs some fabric bling...

What to do , what to do....here comes the wasp...

Rolled and twirled flowers and burlap leaves...(and I have the hot glue blisters to prove it)...

those cuties aren't quite as easy as they look...)

I am in love....yep, I most assuredly am!

Love being the Fairy godmother,

Fairy Tales....

Today the Coach and I drove to the edge of the Delta to see the progress of my sister, Leslie's,

Fairy Garden

 

Welcome to the Fairy Garden!

. (Notice hand built ladder being tested by its builder.)We all agreed it is great.

To understand our fascination with all things FAIRY...you must know that

our grandparents (on my father's side) lived in a fieldstone house surrounded by huge old oak trees.

Grandmother was somewhat eccentric (imagine that!) but had a great imagination. We spent many fun

hours at that house roaming the yard and poking in the abundant little doodle bug holes that were

 around the bottoms of the oaks. There were tons of acorns, feathers, sticks, seeds and assorted other

enchantments that led to stories of fairies, gnomes and benevolent birds and such.

When we spent the night with Grandmother,

Leslie and I slept in the "guest" bedroom at her house

and it was grand to us!

The bed was a  four poster "pineapple" bed with the most wonderful feather pillows

and a pink satin feather quilt! You felt as though you were sleeping on a cloud.

Before we'd go to sleep Grandmother would read some of

the poem Hiawatha to us and then tell us stories about the creatures in the oak trees..

.(I personally liked the story about the little pink bird who lived in the pink house and used all pink china...)

So when Leslie called to tell me she was making a fairy garden in the shade of an overgrown bush in her front yard, it did not surprise me one bit.

I felt you'd like to see bits and pieces of what is under construction.

 This carefully constructed house is one of the centerpieces of the garden. The entire garden is only in its infancy...there are so many possibilities and we spent quite a while discussing them...

even though it was rather warm. (Remember she's the outdoorsy one...I prefer a/c.)

However, when it comes to fairy business, even I will hang around outside.

Here is another house with a frightful cat at its door.

(My sister has always loved cats as much as I detest them. She once trained one to leap out from under the couch and scare me senseless every time I walked through the living room. I hear you laughing, Leslie.) 

This little kitty seems to be as ferocious as those she trained so long ago.

We moved the American flag..it's scale was wrong.

Notice the angel on the left...she's also

afraid of said kitty.

So she just sits aimlessly outside the house as if waiting on the beast to leave the premises.

 

Another part of the garden is the Lily Pad...which is currently under construction (oh, there's that flag again)and hasn't been landscaped as of this morning. (The vintage wagon was an early Christmas present from a friend's mother.) My nephew said that the Lily Pad sounds like a bar...which is just might be or it might be a tea room for the fairies...they've got to unwind somewhere..

My contribution was the frog...I'm the realist in the family.

This is Leslie's rendition of a fairy topiary. I like the pennies...and the touch of pearls.

There are other little parts of this fairy town but they are still under wraps...the wooden fence that runs all around the area...at night there are tiny white lights that light the path of the fence and outline the various structures....metal scrolls outline the wood fence...very fairy-ish. Ferns and woodland flowers must still be selected and planted. Paths must be installed and blue glass pebbles added to a coming water feature.

Mulch is coming in by the yards and more structures will be added in the trees... LIKE  MAYBE A PINK BIRDHOUSE WITH A PINK BIRD WHO USES ALL PINK CHINA!

Now, you might think we are loony...

but I am now past 62 (see below) and she isn't far behind...so we are to that glorious phase in our lives where we don't really care if anybody thinks we are loony...

We are carrying on a family tradition of looniness and fairy loving,