More Flowers and Other News

This is what is on my front porch - white geraniums, red petunias, and an ever-growing potato plant. (I don't think I named the wrong flowers, but if I did, please correct me!) I love the color green of the potato plant and I am not a fan of green in general. My settee has seen better days. I am trying to look for something else, but I can't really find anything else I like. I am headed out to water flowers now - it takes me about an hour.

I listed some paper witches brooms on etsy today and have my photos ready to list what I sent in for my first OOTBS sample. I made the ones I am listing earlier this year. The ones I sent in were all done alike. These are much more random!!

Mom e-mailed earlier and said Grandaddy fell again. He does not always pick his feet up and he tripped over one of those metal strips that help carpet, tile, etc, lay flat when the floor surfaces change. Does that make sense? Mom has been out to the assited living home to see him and said he looked fine. She thought they were going to the ER, but Grandaddy said he had already been. I don't know for sure if he went. Mom said he has some new bruises and cuts and evidently a bit of a black eye. Otherwise Mom said he is fine and is acting fine. She is going to try to talk to him about getting a motorized wheelchair, but that is going to be a HARD sale! Grandaddy told his doctor just a few months ago he was working out on the recumbent bike (or something very similar) and doing several thousands of steps in the hope of not having to use his walker any more! Besides being almost 94 (his birthday is in September), Grandaddy has also had 5 different hip replacement surgeries!

It is ALREADY July??!!

WOW!!! Summer is just flying by isn't it?? This is what you see as soon as you turn the corner around my garage. I just LOVE all my flower beds and I LOVE them looking a little wild and untamed. Although there are some goose neck that need to be tamed for sure!! I will post some more pictures of the beautiful flowers my Mom planted for me later. The pink minature zinnias above are the only ones that are planted in this spot that are not an annual flower. We have gotten this side of the house to almost be all annual plants which is wonderful. There is also a yellow and red theme in this garden (save for the pink minature zinnias). I should add that not all of my blooms on the black-eyed Susan have opened yet! It is SO full! to give you an idea how tall it is, it is about 2 to 3 inches to the ground from the door out of the garage. The black-eyed Susans are as tall as the doorknob and are every bit as wide as the door. I swear I think this plant would grow on the concrete if it could! For those of you who may not know, I can not stand to put my hands in dirt. The deal is that my Mom comes over and plants my flowers and then I will water and weed them the rest of the season. My cardinal has faded, but I can not repaint it without it looking worse. Cardinals have a special meaning for me personally! It takes me right at an hour to water all of my plants each evening, but I get so much enjoyment from them!

Work is fairly better. My coworker is back, but there is still going to be some rough days ahead for them. The extra work I got is not seeming as daunting as it first did. Quite honestly, it was how I was told I was going to do this extra work that was more upsetting that the work itself. The good thing about my new duties is that I am going to have to stay on top of my job more than ever which I really think in the long run will be a HUGE benefit to me. Not to say I didn't do that before, but there were certain aspects of my job I would procrastinate about doing (i.e. chronos). That never really mattered or impacted anything all that much. However, my new duties require me to make sure some information is entered into the computer very timely because it CAN have an impact if it is not there and I am not available. So, I am just doing this part of my job as it happens which has made for some busy days, but, again, in the end, it will benefit me. Thanks to all who e-mailed and/or offered their support some way. It was and is very much appreciated!

Still in the work theme, my supervisor announced they would be retiring by the end of the year. That means there might be a chance for a promotion. . . . . I will have to seriously give it some thought. We will see. The job announcement has not come out yet and it may not for a few more weeks.

Onto other exciting news for me. . . . I have had some great sales on Etsy lately!! I have also been asked to be a member of the Out of the Box Sampler team. I was very honored by this and will be participating in the boxes beginning with the August box. I will be contributing some samples through at least the end of the year. The idea behind this store is that they gather samples (no less than 25) from various Etsians and then make sampler boxes they offer for sale. The boxes sell out quickly. It is great free advertising for me. I think I may have gone a little overboard on my "sample" for the August box, but. . . . I will say it is not something I have made for sale in my store yet, but similar items are coming for sure!! Check out their store: http://www.outoftheboxsampler.etsy.com

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!! I went home and went to a terrific fish fry and then to a picnic hosted by family friends. ALL the food was good of course and it is always great to spend time with family and friends.

My Grandaddy fell just before the holiday. He was trying to use the table to help push himself up and managed to flip the entire table over as well as cause himself to fall backwards. He will be 94 in September. Can you believe that he had NO serious injuries in regard to this incident? Not a broken bone or anything. Don't get me wrong, anything that happens to him at this stage in his life is serious, but from this fall he just sustained some deep bruises, has been very sore, and was hospitalized for a couple of days. Much to his chagrin, he is having to use his wheelchair more just because he is so sore. He normally uses his walker and has a goal of being able to not even have to use that some day!! I hope I have his attitude if I make it to my 90s!

I have scored some great vintage stamps lately and I can't wait to share some new creations using them!! I have SO many ideas and am just having difficulty in finding time to "play." I have done some serious purging in my scrapbook room and that has added fuel to my desire to create!!

It is July and I am STILL waiting on my roof to be repaired. Yes, that same damage that was done the first Thursday of April. I have a new roof contractor that really seems to be on the ball and I have had a second inspection by the insurance company of the damage! The adjuster met my roofer out at my house last week and I hoping to hear back from the insurance company this week. I do know the adjuster acknowledged there was more damage than he initially noted, so. . . . .keep your fingers crossed.

I am back on my low-carb, low-sugar diet and have lost over 14 pounds so far!! This is really an easy diet for me to do. Now, I just have to get my exercise routine back up to par with my eating habits!

Enough of a break for me for now!! Back to finishing my samples, making some cards for some special people, and creating new items for my store!!

If I didn't have to work . . . .

I could get SO much more accomplished. AND - unfortunately work has hit an all-time worst case scenario right now. Last week was an absolutely horrible week. It didn't help that two icons from my preteen and teenage years passed away and that I only slept for two hours one night and not much more any of the other nights. I am trying to stay positive on the work front, but I don't know. I have a bad feeling it is going to be very hard to stay positive and there is virtually no relief in sight - definitely not for the near future. So, I just had to vent a little. . . . . maybe this will make me get in my craft room more to relieve some stress!! Cross your fingers for me as well as for all my coworkers. It is definitely a difficult time. I can't go into a lot of details. Sorry. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Taking a break from . . . .

cleaning out my scrapbook room. I am making GREAT progress today!! I can see the end!! I will be SO thankful to get this room done where I can come in here and just create! I am purging like crazy. Of course, I still have tons of other stuff I have taken out of here and put in another room to go through. BUT - I will be done with this room by the end of the weekend which will be a wonderful feeling!

I finally broke down and turned on my air conditioner last night about 10p. I don't know why I hate to turn it on. I seriously had not been uncomfortable at all until yesterday . . . and there was a heat warning out yesterday. I still had a great breeze coming through the house, but it just wasn't enough. Oh, well.

I am going to try to post some pictures of my flowers later today. Mom worked so hard in them and they are so pretty. For those of you who may read this, but do not know me, I don't dig do dirt. I will water and weed and take care of these flowers for the rest of the season, but I am not putting my hands in the dirt to plant them. So, my very nice Mom comes and does that for me. I am excited that she planted hollyhocks back by my bedroom window. They probably won't grow a whole lot this year, but they should be really nice next year. Anyway, I am trying to figure our Picasa so I can post several pictures at once. We will see how that goes!!

Back to cleaning and sorting and organizing (and making a huge mess)!

Welcome to my new front porch!!

I am absolutely thrilled with how the columns changed the look of my front porch. If you don't recall, I did have three posts and a railing with spindles. I love the open look so much better. Dad did a GREAT job!! I just had a neighbor stop and tell me how wonderful the columns look as well!!

Dad came on Monday afternoon and stayed through Wednesday afternoon. It was probably one of the best visits ever. Usually he comes and I have so much I want him to do that he is rushed and we don't get much time to visit with one another. Also, because he is trying to do so much in a short time, it is easy to get irritated and frustrated with things. This time there was no rush because he stayed longer, we got everything done we wanted to do (met with the roofer, got the columns up, sprayed, mowed, repaired the siding where the hole was made - well, sort of, trimmed trees, hoed down weeds), we were able to sit and talk, we grilled out for at least 3 meals, and we even did some shopping!

Thanks again Dad. I love you!

Yes, I am still here. . . .

despite what you may think. Work has been busy and that is the main thing that has kept me away. However, I am taking off next week and you should see lots of interesting things on my blog. Mom has been here and my flower beds are looking beautiful (pictures to come). I have been working hard on my scrapbook room and am ready to create (pictures to come as soon possible - I plan on making a lot while I am off). I have made a few new vintage finds since my last post and Mom has put some vintage spin on my garden (of course, I will share pics of those as well). Dad is coming some time while I am off and I should have new columns on my front porch (pictures to come). Hopefully, I will make some headway on my roof (yes, it still has those lovely blue tarps - very long story). I will be visiting my Grandaddy and Garden Glory Days at the Garden Patch is coming up as well!

BUT - first things first. Yes, I am technically off work now, but I have to work in the morning. I know - that doesn't make a lot of sense. I said I would help out and I don't mind. The good thing is I will be earning comp time, so it all works out. Then I am headed to card class, then back to the office, and then a pedicure!! At that point the vacation is ON!!

So, don't give up on me. More to come!!

Our Treasures

The finds Mom and I made are not listed in any particular order. These are just pictures of what all we couldn't live without last weekend when we went shopping. We pretty much just shopped here around town. It was Sunday, so some of the spots we wanted to it were not open. The picture above is a very pretty blue quilt that was really in good shape. It had a very, very fair price as well. Mom took it home with her. Notice my old kerosene heater on my porch? It has now moved back into my garage, but it is in great shape. I found out when we were loading things to take to the show it still had kerosene in it - that was not a good thing!

The vintage postcard on the left was my single purchase at McClard's show. It came from a vendor who comes every year and who, evidently, does several shows a year. The little puppy's face is truly priceless.

Pitty Pat: The Fuzzy Cat has a little story behind it. I am always telling my Mom she is a cross between Prissy and Miss Pitty Pat from Gone With The Wind. Of course, Mom does not agree with me. She has a "fuzzy" black cat book that I have no idea how old it is that she has in her house. So, when I saw this and then saw the title, I just HAD to buy it for Mom.

I am all about vintage and/or primitive pictures right now, so the festive dressed little boy just had to come home with me.

All of these items are things Mom brought to sell and I now have claimed. The far left is an old glass ketchup bottle. Remember them? I barely do. In fact, I had forgotten they were ever in glass until Mom told me what that bottle was used for. The next is an old glass cottage cheese container. I never knew cottage cheese came in glass - it has always been in a plastic tub for my life. The blue drawer is something Mom picked up somewhere, maybe from a hardware store, but it will love even more adorable holding cards for me. Then, I had to have the unusual shaped flower frog for me. I have a fairly large collection of them as well. They are great to stand pictures in. If you have ever looked at my Etsy or Artfire stores, you can see I use them all the time in my pictures.

Mom is all about feed sacks right now. I was holding this one up for her and had this side facing me (it is the back). I immediately told her she had to buy this feed sack no matter what. I mean, seriously, how adorable is that little girl??

Didn't I say Mom was all into feed sacks? This is the stack of the ones she bought that day. The scale was given to me earlier this year by someone who knows I like old things.

Last, but not least, is a red and white quilt Mom bought. I had seen it right before Mother's Day and had thought about buying it for her. I thought it was fairly reasonably priced, but I did not buy it for her. Honestly, I didn't want to pay what it cost and then have her cut it up to make stuff. I thought it was in better shape than that. I should mention, Mom and I are GREAT quilt hunters, and we find some GREAT buys (as low as $15) on them. Anyway, this quilt was still there and Mom snatched it up.

One of my most favorite things to do is to go antique shopping with my Mom. I can barely remember going to garage sales with my Mom and my Grandma when I was little. They would give me change and I would buy depression glass. I am sure I got some other stuff because I am pretty positive I acted up a little and I kind of think Grandma may have spoiled me just a little (I was the first grandchild in my defense). It is always fun to find a bargain or some other great find, but some days just going and looking is just as much fun. We both enjoy old things, so it definitely something we enjoying doing together. I am much more into primitives than my Mom and we have distinct tastes. I am very thankful we are able to do this together. It is amazing she still shops with me after she has to put up with me. Love you Mom!!