creative little daisy

Really??

How did I not know this? I was nominated for an Apartment Therapy Homie Award and I didn't even know it. I was doing a little more blog tweaking this morning and noticed a referral to my blog from the Everything Typepad blog. That peaked my interest so I clicked over to see that I was one of the Typepad blogs nominated under the DIY category. I'm really bummed. Not that I would have won, but I could have let my readers know and shamelessly begged asked you to vote, pretty please with a cherry on top.

Oh well, a day late and a dollar short, I guess. Thank you to the three people who voted for me anyway. Had I known I could have managed at least three more votes from Alyssa, Kelli and Mitch. I'm sure my sister would have voted for me too. Unless you have to have a blog to vote. I don't even know the rules.

I'm happy to have been nominated, and so bummed that I didn't know. I definitely would have campaigned. Maybe next year.

I've been a little under the weather for a few days and have felt like doing little more than sitting on the couch. I've taken advantage of the down time by giving some attention to my neglected blog, uploading photos to my forgotten flickr account and also taken a few trips down memory lane by reading some old posts. It really made me appreciate having this little journal and reminded me how important it is to just blog. Stop worrying about who is reading and how it will be accepted. Some of the posts that meant the most to me, may not have been the most "popular" in terms of hits or referrals, but I'm so glad to have captured those moments.

On one of those personal notes, I have a proud mama moment I can't let get by without mentioning.

I think you all know that my son Casey is a Marine. His job involves maintenance of this big bird, a V-22 Osprey. He and his dad teamed up and did some painting.

 

The quality of some of these photos isn't the best. Casey took them with his phone and he said he got overspray on the lens.

I'm super proud of both my talented guys and so glad they had this opportunity to work on such an amazing project together.

In the middle of the information super highway driving a tractor

That's what I feel like sometimes. I just can not keep up. I guess it doesn't help that every little bit I know about blogging has been self taught. I'm not a very good teacher. I'm a good worker, but not a good teacher.

So, apparently Google Friends Connect is going bye-bye. I'm not even sure if I should be upset.  See, I told you I'm darn near clueless. I don't want to loose any friends, not friends who read my blog and I also don't want to loose the blogs I've subscribed to. I use Google Reader, will my GFC subscriptions no longer be updated? Clueless I tell you.

Why does Google have to be all sneaky in trying to make folks try Google +?  Another learning curve I have to navigate. Folks, I'm not getting younger. I'm not nearly as sharp as I once was. Not that I was ever the sharpest tool in the shed.

So, can anyone enlighten me? What do I need to do to assure we can all still be friends?  BFFs.

While googling around to try to find some answers, unsuccessfully btw, I came across a suggestion to check out Bloglovin. First I'd heard of it, but I'm going to try it out.

Anyway, I guess I'm going to have to devote some time to tweaking the blog a bit. It looks like a dinosaur in this world of sleek and sophisticated blogs. I need to streamline things, remove some things, add some. Lord help me, my head hurts thinking about it. I guess the GFC gadget will be the first to go. If you are following me through GFC and would like to continue reading my sporadic and semi interesting ramblings, please follow me through... oh I don't know,  some other method. There's a Blogloving button over there on the left, there's also a button that lets you follow through a reader of your choice.  I added the Google + badge, but I'm mad at Google for starting this whole mess to begin with. I'm mad at Picnik too. I'm mad and pouting.

Now, aren't you glad you checked in here today for all this positivity? You are welcome. Now I'm off to take some motrin and  demo work on this blog. Can't I just spray paint it?

Happy Friday!

I'm want to try to be a better blogger. I used to have no problems blogging.

Even when I didn't have anything special to blog about,

I blabbered on about something.

It kept the blogging muscle toned, so to speak.

Like everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Use it or lose it.

These days I get too caught up in feeling

very insignificant in this world of the

Super Blogger.

Like what I have to say surely doesn't matter

when there are dozens and dozens

of blogs out there that are big and flashy.

I know I've published nearly identical words.

I've said all this before. 

I'm still struggling with it.

I love my blog.

I love the friends I've made through blogging,

I want to be here more.

So forgive me as I struggle with my insecurities and try

 to

restrengthen my blogging muscles.

Happy Friday friends.

Happy Veterans day.

Happy 11-11-11!

I'm going to get a much needed hair cut today.

And color.

I really, really need color.

My roots are about two inches long and very gray. 

Later today Alyssa, Bayleigh and I are driving to

West Virginia for the weekend.

I don't really like long road trips,

but my hair will be cute,

and I will be with my favorite girls.

Happy weekend friends!

I love you bunches!!!

 

 

 

Ever feel like a dog chasing its tail?

That's how I'm feeling lately. Like I'm going round and round in circles and getting nowhere. My mind is spinning with things I want to be doing but for one reason or another things just aren't happening. I never used to be one to have lots of half-done projects floating around. Just the opposite. I was very one track minded, focusing on one thing and only that thing until it was done. Right now I have more projects started than I can count. Maybe if I try counting a few it will shame me into gear.

• I've got a half naked chair on my back porch I'm in the process of reupholstering.

• I drug and old ottoman out of the attic I want to make a slipcover for and use in the living room. It's sitting in the living room in all its ugly dirty green gingham glory in my gray living room. Not very cute. 
• The dressers in my bedroom have been in the early stages of a redo for about a month now. I spackled the ugly 80s carved  flowers in preparation for  painting them and that's as far as I got. White spackle on black dressers,  really not cute. You know how when you are happy with a room, the way it looks, you tend to keep it cleaner. Keep the bed made, keep clothes from piling up. Yea, lets just say, it's quite apparent I have fallen out of love with my bedroom. I have plans, but you know where they are, right? Yea, spinning around between my ears.
• I did get one project completed that delights me to no end. I organized my spices. I even took before and after photos and everything, but guess what? I can't find the camera I took them with. (long story) I've looked all morning. I finally gave up on the before photos and decided just to take more afters with my big camera. Battery's dead. I have one interesting thing I could blog about, but can't find or take photos. Is this a conspiracy?
• I'm sitting in my sewing room that looks like a small bomb exploded and dropped things everywhere including new fabric for making pillows for the living room. Before any sewing can happen some cleaning has to occur. Chasing my tail! All I can do is chase my tail.
• I did manage to clean the shower in my bathroom last night. Scrubbed and scrubbed till it shines, and it still smells like mildew. What the? Chasing my tail. 
• My laundry room... I can't even talk about the state of my laundry room.

OK, enough public humiliation. There is still time in the day to get something accomplished and Alyssa has taken Bayleigh to the movies. I declare I'm stepping away from the computer and getting at least one project finished. I'll be back with something to report tomorrow. Promise. If you don't see me here, please send me stern emails with words like young lady and what do you have to say for yourself?

 

**One more thing before you go. We are having outdoor movie night on Sunday. Like we did for Bayleigh's birthday. The last time it all centered around the movie Tangled. It was beautiful and magical and all had a wonderful time. All but Bayleigh. She fell asleep before the movie started and woke up midway through to throw up. Turns out she had strep. So to make it up to her we're doing the movie part again. We haven't decided upon a movie yet. Any suggestions for a good family friendly movie that adults and kids would enjoy?

Forty-three

That's me, 43. How about 43 bits of random useless info, shall we?

1. I'm delighted to be getting older. Beats the heck out of the alternative. I do not however delight in some of the joys associated with getting older. Hot flashes can go back where they came from thankyouverymuch.
2. I'm not digging summer too much this year. Too dang hot for me. May have something to do with the aforementioned hot flashes.
3. Do you remember a while back I may have complained a bit about being skinny. Having trouble gaining weight? Well forget everything I said. Not an issue anymore. Maybe I'm not that delighted with getting older after all.... I kid. About the delighted part. Not the weight part. I've had to buy all new pants. Lets talk about something else.
4. I ripped the bead board wall paper off my bar last week only to put more right back up. What I took down was black. I wanted it white. I also pulled off the baseboard.
5. I bought new chunkier baseboard. In my mind I would cut and install it myself. I just needed Mitch to explain the miter saw to me. Yesterday he cut it for me. No griping was involved.
6. I love that man. He puts up with a lot. 
7. The chunkier baseboard has created a bit of a dilemma. I may be coming to you my friends for some advice. You never fail me.
8. I love being a nana. Bayleigh is the cheese to my crackers, the peanut butter to my jelly. She's my girl. Sometimes she drives me just to the edge of crazy and I tell her I'm running away.
9. I wouldn't get very far before I missed her terribly.
10. Both of my kids are adults. How did that happen?
11. I'm so very glad my kids aren't teens anymore.
12. They drove me well past the edge of crazy, but they are pretty great young adults.
13. I love my kids.
14. I'm very proud of them. 
15. I've developed an unhealthy pinterest addiction. Seriously. Somebody organize an intervention.
16. I seem to enjoy cooking more these days. (See #3)
17. I blame pinterest.
18. I do not enjoy cleaning up after cooking. I blame my family.
19. I think I'll declare this the year of if I cook it, you clean it. Sounds good to me.
20. I should be doing laundry right now instead of making silly lists.
21. Oh well, if it weren't lists, it would probably be pinterest.
22. I remember when 43 seemed old.  Not so much anymore.
23. I'm going to paint part of my lower cabinets white. See #4. Bought the paint last weekend at the Sherwin Williams sale.
24. I have no new progress to report on the attic.
25. I'm very happy with the stairs.
26. When I was a child, I dreamed of living in a house with an upstairs. When you live in a trailer, a house with stairs seems like a big deal.
27. It tickles that kid in me to see those stairs.
28. My favorite desert is tiramisu.
29. I started getting xolair injections. I've only had one shot. Anyone else on it?
30. For a long time I felt sure I was going to die young. That my only hope was to get a lung transplant and that prospect scared the bajeebers out of me. I don't really feel that way any more. 
31. I've decied not to put so much stock in what the doctors say. When you have an unnamed disease, how can they know what your prognosis is?
32. I'm getting the xolair because I researched and asked about it, not because it was offered. You have to be your own advocate. Look out for yourself.
33. A childhood friend wished me happy birthday on facebook and told me I was her first kindergarten memory. I had no idea. I wonder what it was.
34. I have mixed feelings about facebook. I like the ease in which you can connect with friends and loved ones. Share pictures, say hello. But, I don't think it's the place to air all your problems. I wish there was a TMI button next to the like button. Some folks share TMI. 
35. Sometimes I don't wish people happy birthday on facebook because I feel like so many have already done so, mine won't matter. I feel differently now. Every single birthday wish I've received today had made me smile and I've been grateful for each one.
36. Clutter makes me crazy. Messiness makes me crazy. I've been feeling very crazy lately.
37. I blame my family.
38. I blame pinterest.
39. I blame that darn clean house fairy whose GPS must be broken.  Come on sister. Sprinkle your magic pixie dust already!
40. I wish I was the dog whisperer. Man, these dogs and their barking drive me crazy. I've tried that anti-bark thing that emits a high-pitched sound- worked for about a day. I've tried squirting them with water- worked for about a week. Any tips?
41. I'm not a fan of the Fresh Beat Band on Nick jr.  
42. I love to dine alfresco. Not so much at home, but when we go out, I love to eat outside if possible. Not in this 100+ degree weather though.  Something about eating a good meal and sipping a glass of wine outside that makes it seem more special.
43. I made it to 43. Even though I may not post here as often as I used to, I still love this little corner of my world and I hope to keep hanging out here for many years to come!

Dang it's hot and other ramblings...

Is it as hot where you are as it is here in the stinkin', sweaty, humid beautiful southern US? If you walk outside after around 10am it feels like sticking your head in an oven. Seriously. I prefer warm weather to cold, but a nice comfortable spring would have been nice.

Since I last visited this spot, there have been changes. Large and small. I've done some sewing, mostly skirts for Bayleigh. Talk about your instant gratification. I made three in one day. In a matter of a couple of hours. No pictures, sorry. I had some computer issues, as in both my laptop and desktop decided to die within days of each other. Nice.

I do have pictures of our little garden. We did two beds this year instead of one.

 We should be able to have a 'mater sandwich in a few days. Yum!

 Bayleigh and I love to go out every day and see what's growing.

She got a trampoline for her birthday. It's right beside the garden and at least once a day she jumps and I pull weeds.

We've been blowing bubbles again this year. I don't know who loves it more, me or her. Or is it she or I?

Bayleigh got a tattoo. Yea we went to Myrtle Beach for bike week and she got her first tat.

I kid! We didn't really go to bike week and she didn't get a tattoo. Not a real one anyway. But she has temporary ink all over. On her arm, on her leg, on her side. It isn't pretty at church I tell ya, but she loves them. She wants to be like her mommy. That's so funny to me. Growing up, that's not something I ever heard a kid say. I want a tattoo, like my mommy. Times they are a changin'. Alyssa only has one, by the way. I think that may have sounded like Bayleigh wanted to be covered in tattoos, like her mommy. Not covered, just one.

I've seen some really interesting ones on pinterest and have even given thought to getting one. I think I'm too old for that though. Too old and not nearly cool enough. I'd want something small but meaningful. Alyssa wants us to go together and get one. We'll see. What are your thoughts on tattooed grannies?

Speaking of pinterest, are you pinning? I'm so addicted. That's probably part of the reason I've not posted in a while. Most of my computer time is spent on Pinterest. I think I should be sufficiently inspired enough to keep me busy for the next six years. If only I could stop pinning and start doing.

On the topic of doing... don't you love how I flow from topic to topic? Mitch, Alyssa and I have a big project ahead of us.

 

Alyssa and Bayleigh will be moving back home. We are going to convert our unfinished bonus room above the garage into an attic apartment. It will be almost entirely DIY. We will probably have to get some professional help with a few things like electrical and maybe building the stairs. Right now we just have fold down attic stairs.

We are thinking of starting a separate blog with updates about the progress of our tiny budget reno. Are you interested in following along? We'd love to hear suggestions about making the most of a small space. It's 11' x 22'. We aren't sure yet if everything will be upstairs or if we will close off part of the garage as well. If you've done anything like this and have words of wisdom, we'd love your input.

 

Hi there

Had to get glasses. They aren't bifocals, apparently they don't call them that anymore, they are progressive lenses.  Whatever. 

They make it look so easy!

I've been pinning photos of lovely kitchens with open shelving. Ones like this beauty

Jones Design company

Artfully arranged dishes. Simple stacks of plates and bowls arranged in a way that pleases the eye and complements the surrounding decor. Nothing about it contrived or complicated. Like it just happened.

Well, for me it didn't just happen.

I spent two hours Friday night, (yea, I need to get a life) arranging these two shelves.

I climbed up and down from a stool so much my legs were sore the next day. (I need to get a life that involves more exercise apparently)

I'd move a piece,  get down, step back and look.

It was too busy, too stark, too blue, too, too, too...

It finally came around, or else I just got tired of fooling with it, once I took all the blue dishes out. Either they looked to arranged or too haphazard. If I tried balancing equal amounts of blue on top and bottom, left and right it looked like I was trying to hard, if I didn't balance them it looked, well, unbalanced.

I really wish I had photographed each step along the way so I can share how exciting my Friday nights are. Kid you not, two hours arranging dishes, so that they wouldn't look arranged.

I didn't want the shelf to be full of stuff that isn't used to just collect dust and in the end, there are lots of things there as fillers.  Now that I really look, it's mostly fillers. I do use those coffee cups and the white dish on the bottom shelf is new but I will use it.

I need to quit looking at these pictures, it only makes me want to go change things.

The stuff in the cabinet, we do use that. No fillers here.

For a little Valentine love, the pretty felted heart from my sweet {former blogger} friend LLA. Former blogger, not former friend.

And a bird. Oh my! Have you seen this?

 

I got a new sink, but that's a story all its own.

Oh what the heck, as long as I brought it up.

When we built the house, we had a white cast iron sink. I don't remember why, but at some point I decided I wanted to change it. I think it was losing some of it's shine and was hard to clean. Anyway, I got a composite sink that closely matched the lovely dark gray formica counter tops. Blackish gray composite sink with darkish gray formica, not bad. Darkish gray with butcher block, not so good.

I told my loving husband that I wanted the white sink back. It was still here, behind his barn. Yea, it looks like hoarders back there. Not really. Maybe a little.  We live in the country.

I'm rambling. It used to look sort of like hoarders. Before Mitch, the loving husband took a huge truck load of junk to the metal salvage yard (he collects cars and car parts like I collect furniture and lamps) and since the sink was cast iron, it went too.  That was after I told him I wanted it back in the house. After he told me there was no way he was putting that thing back in. It nearly broke his back taking it out. He said I'll buy you a new one, an acrylic one. He said that to put me off, hoping I'd just get over it. I didn't.

Long story short I have a new sink and it's big enough to bathe in. I don't know how, it is in the same hole, but this baby is HUGE.  I love it.

So there you go, I walk on the wild side arranging shelves and putting birds on them and my husband buys me gifts in the plumbing section of the hardware store. Don't you wish you lived such a glamorous life?

A bit of this and that

I've been stripping again, and unfortunately, no twenty dollar bills were slipped in the waist band of my granny panties while I was at it.

The table from hell strikes again! The polyurethane topcoat didn't harden (I"m sure the 90% humidity had nothing to do with it) and scratched if you looked at it. No joke, I could scratch it off with my fingernail. I didn't get too upset, because truth be told, I wasn't completely in love with it anyway. Am I fickle or what?

I am ready for autumn. I love summer and am so glad we were able to slip in a late beach trip last week. But I'm over it. Enough summer. Enough humidity. Enough 90+ degree weather.

 

 

We had a great time. It was as bright and sunny as any time I've been in July. I loved it, but fickle me says be gone summer.  95 degrees in late September is just wrong.

One more random unrelated bit. I hit a few thrift stores this week and found some goodies. I always look for white dishes and this was my lucky day.

I also picked up this lamp.

Not too cute in this state, but it will look quite handsome orange. ORANGE? Did I just say orange? Yep, and I'm not talking about halloween decor. I'm thinking my guest room would like a pop of color. A little something like this.

(image credit)

I'd say that's enough random jabber for one day. Have a lovely weekend folks! I may be back later to share the progress of my stripping. Completely G rated, I promise!

Comfortable jeans that look good too, too much to ask?

I've reached that milestone when you find yourself at the mall, in the trendy stores and you can't find a thing you want to spend your money on.

Mitch gave me a gift card for Christmas so I could buy myself some jeans. Oh joy. I get to go shopping for jeans. Another sign of being old. If I weren't old, that would have delighted me to no end. Instead it felt like he had given me a gift card to go out and be tortured. Thanks honey, just what I wanted, frustration and disappointment all wrapped up with a pretty bow. In his defense, I had been whining about having nothing to wear, so he did do good, even if it meant I was going to have to brave the dreaded fitting room mirror to cash in. I suffer the same fate and so many women, be they tall or short, curvy or bony, I can never find jeans that fit. Jeans that fit, but also look good. Jeans that fit and look good and are also comfortable. Fit, look good, comfortable and don't cost as much as a small car. Too  much to ask? Yea, I thought so.

On Sunday, he and I ventured out to the mall. I poured through the racks, starting in the clearance section. Hey, I wanted to make the most of my gift card. I've recently gained about 15 pounds, for me, that's a good thing. I wasn't sure what size to get so I grabbed up several pair and went to the fitting room. I went through several definitely not's, a few maybe's and finally found a pair I felt pretty good about.  The rise was good, not way too low and not mom jeans. The length was good but most importantly, the butt was not bad. Alrighty, I ventured out of the fitting room to show Mitch. Pretty sure I was looking kinda cute in my nicely fitting jeans, I walk past the 20-something, perky little associate who asks,  you want me to get those for you in another size?  I looked at her a little puzzled. What? Was she talking to me? Ahem, they don't fit,  I asked.  And she said, well, duh, granny.  OK, she didn't actually say duh or granny, but the look on her face said it all. Then she so gently explained how they shouldn't loose here or baggy there. (She was talking about the jeans not my butt, by the way).  I was getting a jeans fitting lesson in a store I'm probably too old to be shopping in in the first place.

So what's a granny to do? Rock the skin-tight skinny jeans? Not a chance. Truth is, I have to wear what feels good to me, even if it means I'm not on the cutting edge of the latest trend. Which is apparently skin-tight skinny jeans. The helpful little sales girl could tell me all day long how they were supposed to fit, but bottom line, if I don't feel comfortable wearing them, they'll never make it out of the closet. I ended up going with a "boyfriend" fit. Slightly relaxed, so I can be comfortable crawling around on the floor with Bayleigh, or climbing up and down a ladder painting...washing dishes, taking the dogs out...or even sitting on my behind at the computer. These are the things I'm likely to be doing in my new jeans. So if I'm not keeping up with the latest trends, that's OK.  I'm sure it's  just another sign I'm getting old and I'm completely OK with that. 

Hi there! Just me, a nana in her boyfriend jeans.

And no, that isn't a white pumpkin you see back there, under the sewing machine.  It most definitely is not fall decor that was forgotten about throughout the Christmas season and still hanging around on January 12. No, it's something else altogher. I'm just not telling what it is, cause it's none of your business. So move along. I'll be seeing you later. I have things to take care of. Things that are not forgotten about pumpkins that only get noticed when taking dorky photos of myself.