counting down the days...

5 days til our 7th anniversary.

This man I have loved since the moment I met him {back in '94, when we both were married to others who would eventually cheat on us with others.}  We were friends for a few years, then he moved away in '96, and I saw him once in 2000, and not again until 2004, when I was right in the midst of my nightmare. {I had just found out a few weeks prior, that my husband of just about 20 years had been screwing around with a girl that my parents were godparents to!---and that's only the beginning of that nightmare....but it's enough about it for now.}    When this man came back into my life, at just the right time, we were just friends.  I was enjoying riding on the back of his motorcycle, and just starting to breathe again, after weeks of crying all day and night.  He taught me so much {one of the qualities I'd always admired about him was the wisdom he had--I could sit and listen to him talk for hours}.  Anyhow, one night, at the top of the ferris wheel, our lives changed with one kiss.  And exactly one year from that kiss, we had a beautiful wedding with many friends and family around us.  That was 2005.  We had a couple of fun years together, and then a summer was spent with him having heart operations.  That slowed us down a little, but the big slow down came the following year--2008, he had a major stroke.  He didn't lose his ability to speak {but he lost his beautiful singing voice}. He didn't lose his wisdom, though he doesn't share it as much, and he gets tired so easily now.  He did lose the use of his left side, both arm/hand and leg/foot.  And his lung problems have intensified since the stroke, so that slowed down any physical therapy he's been able to do.  But, he still is my love, and such a wonderful caring person.



21 days til I turn 46. {I feel like I've gained a year!--I thought I was 46 already!}

Wow! How did I miss a whole year of being only 45? {Only 45...what?!! ONLY!!! only should be used for ages under 25!}  The only request I have for my birthday is for someone to make me a 'pumpkin roll' {recipe on the Libby's can of pumpkin!}.... and maybe some unexpected little surprise gifts!


and....


Can you believe it? It'll be here before you know it!

the culprit!

                                                           
                                        see next post for details!

Bombs Away!~~~

This is a magnolia seed pod.... They're falling all over my lawn, now that the flowers are done blooming.  {Yeah, that's sand, not snow! We're in Florida!}

 Here's one, still intact, it hasn't dried up enough yet to see all the red seeds inside.

 I was relaxing for a few minutes, in my hammock, and was being bombed by a squirrel! He was chewing up these red seeds, and spitting them at me... okay, so maybe he dropped them, but he sure did drop alot!!!!

 I finally had to turn around, and let him drop them on my feet... I'd had enough of slimy chewed up seeds falling on my FACE!!!!

**had to add a little note---I'm sitting inside at the computer, and I now hear these big pods being dropped onto my roof!  He just won't stop!

Remodeling with my mother

oh, no! I'm gonna have to re-learn how to blog.... I have yet to figure out this new way... So, here goes!

It's been 2 weeks since my mother flew back home.... ---She had been here for 3 weeks, and just about every day of that time she and I were working on the house my parent's bought nearby.

Here's a few pix of the work we did....{If I can figure out how to post! ---Hope they'll be in order!}


 ok, so this is the BEFORE picture... {in case you couldn't tell! --Definitely Yuck!}
 This house hadn't been lived in for at least 3 years... Stood empty {and open!}.
They got a great deal on it!  {I kinda wish I bought it myself!!!}

This bathroom was disgusting. Looked like a 'camp' with all the 'wainscotting' on the walls... This 1 piece fiberglass tub/surround was RUINED by amateur 'wanta-be' plumbers!  They had a huge hole cut for the hot and cold water supply and covered it with a piece of thin formica like stuff.... and they didn't even seal that, you could pull it away from the tub to see in behind the wall!   Also, there was no exhaust fan, I was really surprised to not find any mold on that wood!

 Here's a picture of  'in process'...   That is--- In the process of ripping out the old tile floor, and old nasty wood that was on the walls, and some of the old sheetrock, and of course, putting in new moisture resistant sheetrock, and installing all new fixtures!  ---Including, our masterpiece--

 Tile surrounding the new steel bathtub.  With 2 inset shelves. My mother and I did all this tile work ourselves.  {She had a contractor doing most of the other stuff.}

 Here we are, finishing up the tiling of the floor {and baseboard} with Arianna {age 10}. She came over near the end, and helped lay in some of the baseboard. {We used bullnose tiles for the baseboard here.}

And, here is the finished project... painted, and with the 'finish plumbing' done {faucets on tiled walls, toilet/sink installed}...  Now, we'll be adding towel rods, etc. And my mother thinks she wants 2 handicap bars in the tub. One will be horizontally on the back wall, and one will be vertically on the left side.

Today's Garden Photo~~~~

those are radishes growing by my toes...and kale in the front... and 2 sweet grandbabies with one of my garden statues!

how my Japanese maple looks in the early spring... The little helicopters look kinda like fairy wings, or ballet slippers~ *Thanx, Carolyn! She's a friend that gave these descriptions!
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies.... Melt in your mouth goodness! They're like a 'shortbread'. We put apricot jam in some of these.
What's better than homemade macoroni and cheese? =nothing!

We add broccoli, cauliflower and carrots to ours.
The last Saturday in February: we spent in the garden.... One week later, I'm happy to say--From seeds: green bean plants have sprouted, radishes, onion sets, cucumbers.... And our plants are doing great...they are--tomatoes, basil, kale, and many varieties of peppers.

a bit late, but here's some pix of my village~ after not having any of it out since 2006, it was nice to have even just a few houses and accessories to enjoy... Hopefully by next Christmas, I'll have a shelf ready! ---Since I did buy a 10 foot long pine board already for it!

And, here's my Mister~he takes such lovely Christmas photos!

 

 

a visit with Santa~

what's on your nightstand?

Here's mine!

Kind of a mess, right now... but that's because I just got out some of my Christmas books!... Been reading a Belva Plain novel {Harvest}, just finishing that...And I'm looking forward to starting that Susan Wiggs novel next.

Also on my nightstand... 2 remotes for our sleep number bed, a box of tissues, a photo of me and my first 2 grandbabies, a mini flashlight, and a container of emu oil "Purple Rub". {Ever heard of that? check them out... http://www.vtemu.com/}

what i accomplished this week!

Well, after taking a leg-cramp pill that my father had left here, I slept for 11 hrs!!! {midnite til 11am}.... As soon as I got up, I started on this..... Sliced up a bunch of gala apples and threw some flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg on 'em... and tossed them into a 'cheater's pie crust'.... in no time I had the kitchen smelling good! Next, I worked on a big ol' pan of stuffing! {I made another turkey the other day, and we ate all the stuffing already!}.... Oh, and I had 2 huge butternut squash-es to use up or throw out! Half of that went right in the freezer, ready for soup!

Yum! This pie looked so good with the sugar on top... Can't believe I didn't have a piece until after dinner! {...like 6pm!}
{I love Gooseberry Patch! And Ribbon Candy!}
And today, just now, I finally got my tree up, and lit! Now to get all the decor. out of the shed!

Maybe by the end of this day, that'll be done! ........ I so want to get out all my houses!!!!!! Gotta get a shelf put up for them first....

Meanwhile, it's time to go pick up 'the little girl' from school.... And take her home to her momma and new baby brother.... Can't wait to see him! ....Gotta run!

discarded treasures!

driving thru some back streets, the other day...

I came upon a pile of furniture!

There was a sign, telling the prices they wanted for each item....

I was not interested in another particle board computer desk!

But, look what I did take home!!!!!!

Such a cute little wooden stand.... missing its dividers, but, it'll make for a nice fabric holder!

I paid $10 for it.... I think it was a good deal, since it's probably a '60's or '70's piece, still in great condition... Right away I rubbed a wax stain finish on it to restain the few spots that had worn thin. Then, I sprayed a glossy finish on the top....and used steel wool to rub it down when it was dry. Took me all of about 30minutes.... I guess I'm too scared to paint it!!!!! One of these days, maybe....

uggghhh! If only I could figure out how to post pix in the correct order!

Here's a look at the backside of a project I'm doing for my daughter's birthday... And here's a look at the front! She spotted this, at a little sewing shop in town, back in the spring, .... so I decided to surprise her with it... It'll finish about 3"x5" so I should be able to finish it by Oct.23! She'll be 25 then... and a month away from delivering her first baby!!! I can't wait!!! {But, that also means I must get busy!!!! Lots of baby projects to do too!!!!}


update: Oct.3,2012..... I finished this and sent it to my aunt that loves witches~she celebrated her 50th birthday this past spring, and I decided to give it to her, instead...  Here's the end result, in a frame....

Happy 4th of July!

what a paint job!

Just thought I'd share these photos, which I took about a month ago, when this pretty plum truck was leaving our driveway, for it's long haul north--to Vermont!Once again, I've posted these pix, and they all are in the opposite order of what I thought they would be! Oh, well....One of these days, I'll take the time to figure that all out!
And most of these pix don't matter what order they're in! {except you'll notice the last one, should have been the first one--before the truck was loaded onto the car carrier!}....One of my dear husband's brothers has been coming down to Florida for the past few years now, for about a month, staying with another brother in town....Then his wife flies down, and they spend a few more weeks here, until she's ready to head back home. Each time that he's here, he finds a vehicle that he must purchase! Oh, by the way: He's got a collection of '57 Fords in his 3 garages in Vermont!--yeah, he's made of money!!! Haa haa, no, seriously, they worked hard for it, and they just celebrated 50 yrs of marriage, so, hey, if you're in your 70's, retired and find a 'beauty' like this, wouldn't you jump on it, too???? ....Anyhow, so, one day, here, while out with riding around with his son {who also lives here in Fl.}, they saw this truck, for sale...so they stopped, checked it out, met the owner, and a few days later, here it was in our driveway, because he had just bought it, but, now his wife was ready to head north! Lots of phone calls later, a trucking company was found, and dates were set on when it would be picked up.
That day finally came --it was only about a week, if I remember right, but Dear Brother-in-Law had been so anxious, my husband said he was never that way when his wife was ready to deliver any of his 4 kids, but, he sure couldn't wait for this pretty baby to arrive!!!! So, on a Monday morning, the truck driver showed up, to load 'her' up, and head north. He told us that it would be delivered by Wednesday afternoon. {And it was, actually, I think it may have been still a.m. hours when he got there.} I wanted to hide inside and go, too!!! {We are planning to go up for a month or so, this summer....to get out of the Florida heat for a little while!}
I was so surprised when this truck driver pulled up, with this pretty purple car loaded on the top! It was like it had been planned!!!! Those two oldies looked so great together! {But, sitting next to that car, now this truck looks 'pink' instead of purple!--That's okay! They both are beautiful!}

....When Brother got his truck, one thing he was not happy with: that car on top LEAKED transmission fluid or something all over the hood of his truck! And it was not coming off! {I haven't spoke to him recently, to see if he has gotten it off.}

The truck driver was so happy to find this truck to deliver to Vermont {city of Rutland}, because the car overhead, and another one on there were going to Burlington, Vt., and 2 more vehicles on there were going to Canada. And he has a daughter in St.Albans, Vt! So, he was excited to be able to stop and see her. He now makes his home in Sebring, Fl., which is south of us, by an hour or two....And he hauls vehicles for the "snowbirds" that fly down here for the winter. So, other than the transmission fluid mishap, I do believe that my Brother-in-Law has found a way to get his vehicles home, when he buys too many! {Last year, he bought 2 Ford Explorers and 1 Chevy truck, and towed one explorer behind the truck, while leaving the other explorer in our driveway ALL YEAR!!!!--it's ok, we have plenty of room, but, some darned brats 'egged it' one nite and that ruined the paint on that! {I am so happy they left our 1 and only vehicle alone!!!!}

Well, I feel like I'm rambling on and on, and I'm having a hard time trying to finish this post. So, I'm gonna end like this! Hope someone else out there enjoys looking at these pretty old cars/trucks!

beautiful day for a ride!

Today, I went motorcycle riding, with 9 other bikes. We went to Sleepy Hollow. It's an outside bar/restaurant, on the water, here, in Florida {in the backwoods!!}You can even get to it, by your pontoon boat, or by air boat! And they always have live music.
Here's a picture of me & my friend, Jimmy... Since it was mother's day, all mothers got a corsage to wear... And our $5.00 BBQ plate was a special! Steak & Shrimp! {with baked potato and corn on the cob}. I'm always surprised at how good the food tastes out here!!! It's all cooked on a huge bbq outside.
Here's just one view of the bike parking! That's my friend, Helen, on her phone, standing next to my Red & Black Harley.
And here's one more close up of me...no one ever takes pix of me, so I got this one myself, early on.... Just as we were leaving, Helen's hubby asked if I'd like my pic. taken, so that's how I got the one of me and Jimmy!

I stumbled upon this blog! it says alot!

If you click here:

http://christinasadventures2010.blogspot.com/2010/10/cinderella-story.html

You will see a cute make-over on a piano bench!

Just a few weeks ago, I purchased this red one, pictured above , for $4.00 at a yard sale. I think it's time to refinish mine!

{It's also time that I learned how to post pix where I want them to be! ---I didn't know that this photo was going to be at the top of my page! Help Me!! Anyone? I think I'm a quick learner!}

~~time to go look at my fabric stash, and see if I have anything that will match any of my paint supply!