One Part Inspiration...

I have been looking at this bench for several years. My husband bought it for me as a Mother's Day gift a decade ago.  Over time, the sheen has become dull and there were bite marks from teething puppies on the handles.  It is much loved, but worn looking. I decided to bring the bench back to life. One summer day, my daughter and I went to the paint store.  She had some projects too.  After much discussion, I bought "onyx" stain (at a great discount) and armed myself with some new paint brushes. One of the reasons I felt free to start the project was an afternoon I had spent with a flap sander that someone had given to me.  I was able to sand down the handles enough to smooth out the puppy bites.   The bench was  paint-ready.   As you can see, Kitty was a good supervisor throughout the task. It was a messy job.  I had enough forethought to wear gloves. Otherwise, people might have thought I was born in Africa. I decided to take a...

Some of you who read my blog on a regular basis know I love a garage sale.  I haven't done too much of it in the past several years, because Pancake Breakfast generally takes precedence. However, in the last few weeks, I have been out several times. The first time was the day our # 1 son left to fly away for an out-of-town job.  It was a very hard day for me.  I tried my hardest to put on my big girl panties and not cry too much.  I took four kleenex with me, and told myself that when I had used them all up, I had to move on.  It didn't work that well, but I got some great deals at the garage sales my husband took me to, in a desperate effort to distract me from my sorrow.  I mean, who can resist a 40-ish-ish woman with red-rimmed eyes and a drippy nose offering 25 cents for the vase on the garage sale table? I didn't go for a couple more weeks.  Other things came in between me and the 'deal of the century'.  One was a weekend getaway tha...

Fresh flowers from the garden at work for "Music and Company" Father's Day Celebration One of the ways I have been amusing myself in this season of my life, is with flowers.  I always welcome the opportunity to play.  I can put aside all the cares of life and lose myself in the process of cleaning the flowers, setting them out in groups, preparing the container and then arranging them - trying to keep in mind all that I learned in "Floral Design - Part One".  Sometimes the flowers have been for a special occasion.  Sometimes I have created an excuse to bring them in - "Happy 150th day of the year" ; "Sorry for your loss of a filling"; "You're Retiring already?" ; "My kids are bugging me arrangement"; etc. etc. These two arrangements were done for my boss who was retiring.  We put on a party for her and I signed up to do the arrangements for the head table.  I bought an every day arrangement at Costco, took i...

                                                    On a semi-not-rainy-day in June, two friends and I set out to enjoy a day together - going through other people's gardens.  It was such fun to look at the way others had dreamed, planted and watched their dreams take shape, as the blossoms began to grow. Add caption Mostly, it was fun to see how the other half lived.  We spent the better part of the day, driving from one garden to another, perusing plants we knew, plants we didn't and discussing the pros and cons of planting what other's had decided to put in their own gardens.  Some gardens were small (manageable by my terms).  Some were large. ("I come home from  work, and go straight to the garden every night" declared that owner.)  Some were dangerous (straight down the broken cement pathway) We saw this d...

Something I have always wanted to do is take a Floral Design Course.  The first year we were married, I looked into it but it seemed too expensive.  Other years, I looked into it, but the kids were too little, or their schedules would conflict with the hours of the course. This fall was the culmination of the dream.  I was waiting for the brochure to come in and it didn't.  The week after school started, I looked online to see if the course was being offered.  It was.  The start date was that same day.  I scrambled around and called my husband. He knew I'd wanted to take this course for a long time and right away said "Well, you'd better register for it". This was a sacrifice on his part, because the course ran on Saturdays, which would mean no pancake breakfasts for a while.  However he was willing to take one for the team and I ran off to register and begin the course. Right away, I knew I was going to love it.  I began learning abo...

Take a beautiful setting such as a "Friendship Garden" in the city and it makes a wonderful backdrop for a Friendship Birthday Gig.  Some of the ingredients included a thermos of hot water and a small tub, for the birthday girl to soak her feet while the henna was being applied.  Other ingredients were a warm summer evening and the element of surprise - we just showed up at her door with and took her away for the evening.   The three of us have been friends for a very long time, and the birthday girl had celebrated a milestone.  As it turned out, we had to postpone our celebration of it because of conflicting schedules, but in the end it was a lovely way to extend welcoming her to the "Ruby" club. We took our time with the events we had planned for the evening,  and ended up at a private venue for a birthday tea.  While the tea was being steeped, she got to enjoy a mini-pedicure and foot massage.  Caramel corn and other goodies ...

Do not adjust your sets.  The 40's are backwards.  This is because they are printed on iron-on transfer paper.  We are preparing for another party for a girl at work.  There was much discussion about a special gift - one that would capture her interests, like being a Beaver leader, and the way she stashes things in her locker for a rainy day, as well as the many sayings she has like " Well, if that's the worst thing that happens today, we are doing good", and " Is it Friday yet? "  We finally came up with the idea of making her an apron with transfers.  I kept my eye open for a great sale at Michael's for the paper.  I got 10 sheets, just in case it didn't work out well the first time.  After a few hours work, I stopped.  I needed to regroup.  I asked my very good friend [who works in the front office] to give me her professional opinion.  To my great delight, she said she would help me when it came time to ironing them o...