Southern Magnolia

Back at the Bottle and Brush. This was harder than I thought. Just because of the limited color and shading. We only had white, brown, gold, rust and blue-green.

The background...


Rough in the petals...


and the leaves...


Got so involved that I forgot the camera.

Good Grief

9:30a Let me preface by saying I have only been up an hour or so. Watched a little bit of A&E...with a "Horders" commercial. So inspired, I hopped up and decided to clean out a kitchen cupboard. First, a bit of caffeine. We only had regular coke (left over from the visit this week). So I poured some and it fizzed. I lightly capped to bottle and waited for my cup to defizz. In the meantime, I started pulling stuff out of the overhead cabinet. And yes, knocked the 2 liter of Coke onto the floor. There the top popped off and it thoroughly exploded and fizzed everywhere! Good grief. I mopped three times...and I think it is still a little sticky. Or maybe it is my feet that are sticky now. And everytime I walk into the kitchen, I see where more Coke it stuck to a cabinet or wall. I think I will take a shower and go back to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be better...

My New Love

Thanks to Sharika, I have a new love: Pinterest. I have attempted several of the projects...with varying success. I took some pictures that I shot in the Denver area and printed them on regular paper. Then modgepodged them onto a canvas. Finished with ribbon trim. When grouped together, I think they will look really good.

Craft - 1

Thanks to J who made me go to craft night at Willowbrook. I seriously needed the distraction, after the rotten day I had.

It was really easy. Paint the $1 Michaels frame. Modgepodge and cover with scrapbooking paper. She burnished the edges with a drimmel. Paint embellishments. Hot glue it all together.

Homecoming Prep

Girls get an outfit, shoes, hair done, nails done.

Guys. Well, guys are different...
I took Tdawg shopping. The salesman asked for Tdawg's shirt size...um, XL. No he was wanting the neck and sleeve measurements. Tdawg was lost. We finally found a shirt.

And then on to the pants. No luck. Even after doing the "jump test", he couldn't get the pants on. Ok. We try another brand. He says they are fine. I told him to come out of the dressing room. The pants are puddling on the floor. How about the waist. All good he says. Um, you could fit another person in there with you! Not a whole person...just a smurf. Well, Tdawg, the goal is not to put a smurf in your pants! The third try was a real success.

And on to shoes. What size: 16. Um, we don't carry anything larger than a 13. Wonderful. So we go to another shoe store. Tdawg says: I guess I don't get to pick my shoes. Nope. If we can find one pair of black shoes that fits, we're done.

And then...touching up the mohawks.




The result

Hoosier Cabinet

After lots and lots of work. Hubby has finished stripping and refinishing the Hoosier cabinet for me.

Still has all original parts, including: the flour sifter, the glass sugar dispenser and the two baskets, one for lids and one for spices.


We found glass tiles (light enough and thin enough) to do the top with. It was quite the challenge. Originally, they were porcelain (tough to find). Most materials were either too thick or too heavy to allow the bread board to slide.


I wasn't really sure what to fill it with. S & V suggested pottery. Hubby got me the milk bottles from an antique mart. Still looking for eclectic mix of items to go in it...

Vs. Grissom

Despite offering $5k to play in HG, Grissom opted to make us play at Goldsmith Schiffman field. Constructed in 1934.


With the rock wall surrounding it and the dilapidated conditions, we felt like the field was constructed during the War of Northern Aggression!


It was so bad that there were portapotties. Not something fun to do after dark!

Tdawg was one of the Captains.


A very hard fought battle. And we won! at the very end 20-10...so there was lots of dancing after the game!

Blackout Game

The Cotton Classic...the Blackout Game:


The guys (CB on the left and Tdawg on the right)were ready with their new black jerseys and their mohawks trimmed...


...but sadly, the team was not focused. And we got our second loss of the season. This one hurt...Tdawg was one "sad panda". The better team did not win. We just handed it to them. Very disappointing.

Mexican Folkart

My sister moved to Atlanta. She wants the kitchen in her new house to be like a mexican cantina. So I found an interesting folk art picture using Google. I freehand drew on brown craft/wrapping paper with a Sharpie, using the picture as a guide. Then I crumpled up the brown paper to make it look old. And then I painted and varnished it.

Fan!

Sports fan: an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity
(reference: crazy woman in the middle of the picture with her arms up).


Moms know it is all fun and games unless your baby is on the field!

And what a game! Down by 7-20 at the half. By the middle of the third quarter it looked bad at 7-34. Then the boys came roaring back. Score! Score! And Score again! It was 28-34, with less than two minutes left in the game. Tied it up at 34-34 with less than a minute left. Kicked the extra point to make it 35-34 and stopped their last drive to win. It was REALLY exciting!

Nice double chin...but ya know when I have my mouth open that wide...my neck gets in the way!

Victory

Another battle won in the war against beige. Love the beach-y color of "Ocean Blue". Looks good with the white. But I probably need a prettier shower curtain.

Gardening Success

Love our neighbors use of containers. It has been really dry this summer. Watering in one hundred degree heat is not much fun. So this is a fun idea to use a lot less to water and spray painting inexpensive metal buckets give a splash of color.


Cletus planted these interesting succulent plants. They have taken off and are starting down the stairs. Love the tiny red flowers. Almost cactus like.

Friday's Game

Well, it was a blow out from the very first play. Very depressing. I felt so bad for the guys. They have been working for nine months and to have it blow up in their faces...ugh!

At least Buddy was having a good time...

Mean Hombre

Mean hombre on the field. He loves this pic with his mohawk and the eye black smeared. He has got the look...and the attitude. A.I.E. (attitude is everything)



Off the field: sinus infection, upper respiratory infection and bronchitus. A shot and three scripts later-ouch!

But he is still ready to kick butt at Friday's game against Bob Jones High. It is gonna be a WILD one.

Quote for today.

“You don’t need more hours in the day. God has given you plenty of time to do what He wants you to do.”

Wow! That speaks to me in a powerful way!!

Game Day

Not just a jamboree...a real game. Tdawg (#79) played all four quarters. He was amazingly energetic after the game...probably because they won! 28 to 13 #happydance

one of the team captains!


taking time to sign a Little Trojan shirt!

Philosophy

When you take things for granted, the things you are granted get taken. Don't miss the blessing...be thankful!

Finished Project!

Finally finished. The last steps were mudding (caulking) and putting on the patina, then buffing. I don't think that the pictures do it justice.

Weekend Project

I had so many plans for this last weekend. And got nuthin' done! I felt crappy all weekend. By Sunday night, I was feeling a little better. My buddy at work showed me a video and challenged me.

It's a little rough, as most first attempts are. It is a tshirt bag. You trim up a tshirt. Then flip a tshirt inside out and cover it in duct tape. Then staple the bottom and make corners.

Not sure if you can wash it without the duct tape coming off. But it works well for groceries and as a beach or workout bag.

Since you only need a tshirt, scissors, stapler and duct tape. How much easier could it get?? I'm going to try it again with some of the colored/patterned duct tape.

Celebrity in the house!

Our local NBC station interviewed Tdawg after football practice on Monday. It aired during the ten o'clock newscast. He was SO excited. He took a pic of himself on the hi-def tv. Ah, makes a Mama proud!

Clean up Aisle 5!

In step aerobics class, I nearly fall off the step (or try to tip it over) once per class. The instructor doesn't even turn around. When she hears it, she says: "L are you ok?" Somehow (!) she knows it is me. After class, I was explaining what a klutz I am. Both T and C said: "Oh no! You re not klutzy!" Mmm-un-huh. Ok.

I left class and went to Wally World. I wanted to pick up a few items. I found some colored duct tape (it comes in patterns: leopard and zebra print!) and some spray paint. I was trying to get a can. I ended up bumping another can off the shelf and it fell on the floor. The cap broke and it started spraying everywhere! (oh no, I'm not klutzy #sarcasm!). The nozzle stuck and would not quit spraying. I set everything in my hands down. In total frustration, I picked up the can and whacked it against the floor. Finally it quit spraying. One problem solved.

So, I set the mangled can on the paint table. I was going to get another can when the sales associate came up behind me to ask if I needed help. He startled me. And yes! I knock another can to the floor (#waytogome). The cap broke but fortunately, it did not spray. I was nearly in tears.

The poor sales associate (all of maybe 18 years old) was so sweet. He obviously has not had much training in dealing with weepy women in the hardware section. He said it happens about once a week (I swear it isn't always me). The mess would be cleaned up and not to worry. At least he didn't get on the loud speaker: "Clean up needed on Aisle 5. She's on the move. Clean up on Aisle 4. Clean up wherever this woman goes!"

Jamboree

Can you tell...it is GAMEDAY!

Week 3: Stain Glass

Almost done. Got it cut to fit and soldered (with only minor cuts and bruises). Doesn't look like much but it took me another three hours. Should only be a bit more of mudding and polishing next time and it will be finished!

Bucket List Addition

I know y'all think I'm crazy...but I'd like to ride an emu! I drove around the countryside this weekend trying to find the emu farms. They must not be as popular as they were 15 years ago. One had been sold and subdivided. The other was destroyed by the April tornadoes. Bummer dude!

I thought about ostriches. But they are 9 feet tall, 350 pounds, with talons like a velociraptor. And tend to be quite cranky. I did see a u-tube video of someone riding an ostrich on vacation in Kuala Lumpur (in Malaysia). But Malaysia is really far from here...best I can tell it is halfway around the world.

So, looks like a field trip to Tennessee! Anyone want to go along for the ride?

First Day

Tdawg's last first day of high school. Wow it has gone by quick. I asked him if he was excited..."just another day, Mom."

Stain Glass Week 2

Lots of grinding this week. And started fitting it all together with the lead into the frame. A slow process. Got about half of it lined up. I'm liking it a lot better with the silver lead borders.

Stain Glass...day one

I signed up for a groupon (group coupon) to create a stain glass picture. Looked pretty interesting. I probably would not have signed up if I had know it would take four weeks. I'm pretty completion oriented. Oh well.

Week One: we practiced cutting glass in line and curves and circles with different tools. Then we picked out our pattern (1 of 5). I liked the linear Frank Lloyd Wright inspired piece. Then we chose our glass. Then cut the glass with the pattern pieces. Sounds easy but it took the better part of three hours to do.

Can't wait to see what we do next...

Quilling

I remember playing with paper and quilling when I was in Girl Scouts with Jeannie. Each piece is a tiny strip of curled paper. I never imagined that it could be made to look like this. WOW! This lady is talented! I really wonder how long it took her to do this. Amazing!

Tdawg's Bday

Tdawg is always so serious...NOT! Too much like yours truly.


We ate for the first time at Wintzell's. It was really good. We ran out of conversation before he ran out of food. Yes, he ate all of it!


Some days I want to throw his phone out of the window. Strangely, he said he could live without his phone more than his ipod.


Cletus and Tdawg:

Hard to believe that in less than two weeks he is starting his senior year of high school. Really...where has the time gone???