It's a sign!

It used to be a desk. These boards were the top of a desk that belonged to hubby's dad. The thing literally fell apart and the rest was thrown away. I have no idea what the rest was made out of but hubby wanted to keep these because they are red oak and he thought we could use them for something someday.

 When we moved here we had this big empty wall going up the stairs and I thought I would clean them up and make some kind of sign with them. First I had to get the individual boards back in the right order, then I thought I would paint it and put a vinyl decal of some kind on it, but when I started sanding, I kinda liked the look of the bare wood. Yep - me, the girl that will paint anything that doesn't move decided I might like the bare wood look.

 So - hubby took the belt sander to it and it cleaned up all nice and pretty then I stenciled a saying on it and we hung it in that big blank space (we are only coming up on 5 years in this house so I got right on it! LOL)

 We both saw this quote at different times and liked it so I got out the black sharpie and  then sprayed a clear coat of sealer on it.

This last picture looks kinda wonky but I was trying to get a good shot of the color of the wood. It is hanging over my head on the corner wall going up the stairs so this was the best I could do without risking my neck. 

Can't believe I waited so long to finally do this. It only took 2 days ( only because we let the glue dry overnight before we took the clamps off, other wise it would have been a one day project) 

Hope you are all having a great week!

Spoke too soon

 I guess I should have waited a couple of weeks to plant the flowerbed - I didn't think my lantana was going to come back so I pulled them up and planted 3 new plants then this popped up - a little baby lantana!

 and I have little baby vincas coming up - I knew I would have some of those so I only planted a few new ones

 some of my hostas survived but I did add a couple of new ones around the trees

 I even have some happy little caladiums coming up - I didn't plant any of those this year but I'm happy to see they like it here.

even have a few gardenia blooms - they smell so good !

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

My blue hydrangea

I bought this pretty blue hydrangea - it was labeled as blue and had blue blooms on it. I know the soil can change the colors so I also bought the stuff to keep it blue. I have all but drowned it in the stuff.

Isn't it just a lovely shade of blue? Uncle! - now have a lovely pink hydrangea with blue bottles (removed from the front flower bed - this is in the back yard - take that HOA)

We had nearly 5 inches of rain yesterday so the plants are all happy today! We even got some cooler temps to follow the rain. Too bad they will only be here a few days but I'll take what I can get.

Hope you are having a great week!

Happy Mother's Day

Me. my mother, my grandmother and my great-grandmother - a long time ago. I've already talked to my mother this morning and never a day passes that I don't think of my grandmother and great-grandmother at some point during the day. These are the women who taught me how to be a mom and they all hold a special place in my heart.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. 

Two in a row

I'm going for a record!

My aunt came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and brought me some goodies. This scarf (or whatever  you want to call it) is one she picked up awhile ago and decided she wasn't going to use it - but I have the perfect place for it!

She also brought a couple of pieces that my great-grandmother made - I'll show those in another post soon.

Have a nice day!

Hello friends

Went out of town for a couple of days last week to take care of some things and visit with my parents. I had started coughing the day before I left and it seemed to get worse while I was there - I don't know if they have something blooming there that we don't here or what, but whether it is a cold or a severe case of allergies I'm getting tired of it. It is getting old now and I wish it to go away!

I have managed to finally finish one of the get-a-way projects. This is the pin round we got to stitch on the first night. I don't think it was supposed to take so long to stitch but for some reason it was designed to stitch with one ply of a 3 ply silk. I will never, ever split 3 ply silk again! I have a hard enough time stitching with silk floss anyway - my hands are always too rough and I get pulls and snags. 

 Anyway - it is a cute pattern even if my angel has a rather irritated expression on her face. Kinda like the one I was having while separating that floss. Mine isn't stuffed quite as tight as it could be but I wasn't going to take it apart and re-do it. It says 'Simple Pleasures' on it but it's hard to see in the photo.

If I had been sure I would have enough for the other projects we were going to get over the weekend I would have just stitched the thing with all three ply and been a happy camper (we always get several projects and some, if not all, the threads will be the same). The other projects don't require separating the floss, thank goodness! I'll get to them soon I hope.

I've got another project going right now with cotton floss and it is so much faster! This one has a time limit on it so I want to finish it before I pull the other retreat pieces out to start on. I'm still not speedy but at least I am not having to cut off pieces of shredded floss.

I've got a roast and veggies in the crock-pot for dinner so we can be ready to watch 24 tonight. I doubt I'll be doing much stitching while that is on - I always make mistakes when I tried to stitch and watch 24 - I hope it doesn't disappoint.

We have been enjoying some nice weather - hope you have too. All too soon we will be complaining about it being too hot - I will be in the front of that line. I had a couple of pieces of furniture I wanted to get painted but I may have waited a bit too late - they may have to wait until fall. I'm a fair weather painter - either the weather has to be nice or I have to be able to paint it inside - I know I can do one of them inside and maybe the other one too but I'll have to go outside for the sanding part. I'll have to think on that one a bit.