Not Goin' Green and Goin' Red

It is with much sadness that I tell you we had to have a tree cut down in our front yard. Mick has been telling me since we moved in that it needed to come down, I didn't want to believe him. This spring I finally agreed, after I noticed that the large limb that hangs over the roof above our bedroom had really deteriorated. I didn't want to die in my sleep crushed by tree.

The man who cut down the tree even had to tie the tree together for fear it would come apart on its own. Below are some of the pictures I took of him climbing & cutting. I gave him a CD of the pictures I took. He said he has always wanted pictures doing his job. It was very interesting watching him work. Several times during the day we would have groups of people stop and watch.

Below is all that is left. We now have a quote in to have the stump ground. The costs of home ownership, never ending.......

The house looks so different with the tree gone. It will be replaced with a flowering plum.

A tree of about 12' tall.

Tomorrow at 8:30am I will be checking into the hospital, my gallbladder will finally be coming out. Please be thinking of me around 11:30am est, I'll take all the prayers and good thoughts that I can get. I hate surgery, but then again who likes it?

The Birds

Don't know why, but I've always had an interest in bird watching. I also like pictures of birds, I have several decorative birds through out the house & I even have four Beanie Baby birds. Remember Beanie Babies? We once spent one of our family reunions in search of & purchasing Beanie Babies. Are they even worth (monetarily speaking) anything today?

I purchased this book to help with bird identification. I wish I had birds to identify, the six or so types of birds that come to our yard I can already identify. It is interesting reading about each bird thou.

The pictures are not that great. I didn't have the telephoto lens on the camera and I didn't want to get so close that I scared the robin away. The cardinal was taken through the family room window.

Window Box

Just like last weekend, our weather was in the low 80’s and sunny. We went right from winter to summer, no spring, I guess we are being rewarded for our long winter. Even thou we are at least two weeks away from planting annuals I did plant my brand new window box. Mick made the box last weekend for the window on our garage. There is a plastic liner that I can remove and bring into the house if snow or frost is predicted.

I came across an online news service last week Brijit, pronounced “bridge-it.” I signed up and so far, I am happy that I did. I always think of my news junkie friends Mike & Terri when my daily selections arrive. Brijit breaks down articles from such places as NY Times to LA Times, Fox to NPR, stories on Nature, Home, Sports, etc. into 100 words or less. I didn’t count, but there must be 50 or more sources, you get to choose which sources you want to receive updates from. There also is a link to the entire article, if you want read the complete story. This is an excellent way to stay informed and there are no newspapers or magazines to purchase, pile around your house/apartment and then recycle. Only negative is how to justify more time spent at the computer.

Antiquing Part II

No, I was not able to find any reasonably priced crocks or jugs. I'm beginning to believe that all the ones I'd purchased anywhere from $5 to $20 is now a price of the past. Once the living room is finished they will have to go back.

I was able to add another picnic basket to my collection. I love the new height, Mick thinks it's to high. The one on the bottom is the new one. The best part, besides the price, is inside there is a carrying tray. I took the tray out and it's now on the top of our kitchen table.

The decorating rule of "odd numbers" applies to my stack of four baskets. You do know that when decorating a group of items should always be in odd numbers? Do you think there is such a thing as a picnic basket for one? I need one small basket for the top. Also, the third basket up from the bottom was a wedding shower gift from Liz's mother. Would a basket of 28 years be considered an antique?

Lots of questions today, of which I need answers.

Antiquing

In my quest to find crocks & jugs I visited our local antique shop. I spotted a rug, latch hook, it think. I loved it as soon as I saw it but had no intention of purchasing it. I continued to look thru the shop and I recalled when we spent a weekend in Vermont last November with Marie & Dave O. In one of the shops there were framed and matted pieces of latch hook, hearts, birds, flowers etc. When I was going to pay for my purchases, photos tomorrow of my great buy, I HAD to have the rug.

My thought is to cut the rug along the rows of black and frame each piece. I am also thinking of leaving together two of the squares with the circles and making a long frame.

Mick said he would make the frames, don’t know when he’ll find time for that. The tarps are still up on the living room doors so I'm not sure of the progress in there. We also have a mat cutter, so we are in business. Is it just me but wouldn’t those frames be the cutest things????

Craft Night with the Non-Crafting

Recently when Mick was out of town, friends had me over for a Sunday afternoon and dinner, it was a nice treat to my week alone.
I was able to return the favor when my friend had her husband and son away on a golf trip.

I’m not sure if she thinks this exchange was such a treat for her since I had her crafting. Now, for us who craft we can’t comprehend the craft phobia. Right Donna & Brittany???

Well, she did great and there was no complaining. Actually, there was no pattern and she was the one who figured out all the measurements.

I can’t show the completed project since they are gifts.

I also just realized I feed her a low fat dinner. It tasted fine to me since after a month I am used to this diet. She may never accept a invitation to my house again.

Birthday Boy

One year ago we were on in beach in St. Maarten celebrating our 50th Birthday's.

Sun, sand, waves, rest, good food & drinks and one Cuban cigar.

Today, when Mick turns 51, he will hard at work in his office.

At least he will be getting his favorite dinner tonight, meatloaf.

HaPpY bIrThDAy, Mick!

The winner is.........

I've had two contests on my blog, the first Angel was the out right winner. The second, there was no winner but I decided to have one anyway. I printed out everyone who guessed which presidential candidate had the most views like myself, cut the names out, had Mick close his eyes and

pick a winner.

Lilpoppy was the lucky winner!

This weekend I finally got into my mess of a scrap room or as Mick calls it crap room and completed a project.

The picture is Donna in 1973. The color scheme is green/purple to match her kitchen/dining rooms. She can put it there or in her bedroom closet, if she doesn't like it or I am sure MoM would take it.

It does look better in real life, honest.

Comfort Food Part II

Sunday I decided I needed some comfort food, so I got out a Low Fat Cookbook & made some mac–n- cheese. It was delicious!


Mick even liked it. He didn’t want to try it but since it was the only choice for lunch, he gave in. In fact he finished it off for dinner. Sorry Mickey P. I will not be going back to my old mac-n-cheese, well except for you. If anyone wants the recipe, I made some changes to the original, let me know & I’ll mail it to you.

Friends invited us over for a “spring fling” party on Saturday. Our weather was not very spring like, cold, rain & some wet snow. They then turned it into a “welcome recession” get together, can’t call recession a party. After dinner we played Apples to Apples. We all knew it is a popular college game. We also had the feeling that students must replace the green card with a shot?? Or somehow drinking is involved.

I was bad and did no sewing over the weekend. I guess I need to have some incentive that I can use the cushions on the deck. Our weather is no where near deck sitting. I did get a craft project completed thou. I’ll have pictures of the project tomorrow. It was made for the winner of my presidential candidate contest.

Happy MOnDaY

I now know the true meaning of "comfort food."

I’ve had cravings for foods that once in a while I just have to eat; pizza & macaroni n cheese mostly it’s just chocolate. So yesterday, while at the grocery store, I brainstormed about making a pizza. I was able to find a crust mix with 3% fat, pizza sauce with 1% fat and then mozzarella cheese & fresh mushrooms 0%.

That low fat pizza turned out pretty darn good. The crust was the only part that I didn’t really care for. In fact it was so good I thought I was going to be sick from eating so much.

While looking for my mozzarella cheese I saw cheddar cheese with 0% fat. So, this weekend I am going to attempt a low fat macaroni n cheese. I’ll use wheat pasta, less fat, and skim milk.
Our weather forecast for the weekend is for rain, more rain and snow. With temperatures high 30’s to low 40’s. It will be a good weekend to sew. I would like nothing better than to be able to post pictures of my Adirondack chair cushions on the blog Monday.

Hope you will enjoy your weekend.

Good things come to those who wait.

For the past three springs I have searched the sides of our country roads looking for pussy willows. This year I asked several friends and even called our local garden club president, she told me I could purchase at a flower shop. I followed up on my one lead and it paid off.
I called someone who works with Mick that drives by the lead from his home to the office & he confirmed the site. Yesterday I was going to go to Mick’s office & he was to drive me to the site, I told him he didn’t even have to leave the car. I just didn’t want to be on a country roadside by myself holding pruning shears. I called Mick to confirm a time, he told me he would handle the job, and he did. I came home to find the biggest pile of branches and limbs of pussy willows. I cut
them down and filled one of my crocks

The pussy willows are the biggest, whitest and fullest I have ever seen.

This arrangement is just so me, it belongs in my home.

PTI

We have another family member that has caught Blogchitis.
Look at my side bar to find the new addition.

It's over, winter that is!

Below is all that was left of my deck snow when I got home yesterday after work. I found out that Mick spread the snow around to speed up the melting when he was home for lunch. I wish he hadn't done that. Now I have more pressure to start making the chair cushions.

We did more yard clean up, much yet to do, and things are looking so much better. Also was able to sweep off the entire deck.

Now this is a true sign of spring!!

Spring Yet?

It was a high of 62 today and we still have snow on our deck. While driving home from work, I got the idea of shoveling the snow off just to be done with it, but figured I could spend my time better elsewhere. I raked the flower bed in the back of the yard, picked up all the limbs that had fallen during the winter and for some reason we had about 20 pieces of green singles throughout the yard. Thankfully, since our roofs are black they are not ours.

Wish the flowers on our kitchen table were real.

We won’t find any live flowers around here yet.

Surprise Renovation

Saturday morning we put dust protectors up over the two openings into the living room. There has been sanding on the walls all weekend. Shortly the wood floor is going to be refinished.
When I got home Saturday evening, from visiting with Mau and Z at Z's honors program college interview, Mick told me he didn't want me to look into the living room until the renovation was complete.

There is a small tear in one of the door coverings, I had to promise not to peak, I stood on my tippey toes to look. (Just for the sake of the picture.) I just hope I don't have to make any major design decisions.

Mick is a Holmes on Homes wannabe. When the project is complete he is going to take down the coverings and surprise me with the finished room.

If you haven't seen the TV show Homes on Homes, you need to.

Leaving on a jet plane.

My world traveler will arrive in the good old U. S. of A. at 7:00 pm EST.
When she left she was only 22. She’ll spend her birthday traveling home. At least she can celebrate for 32 hours! She says the trip has been a wonderful experience and that she is ready to come home.
She took over 700 pictures and has many stories to tell. She has now traveled to nine countries, she is catching up to Mick’s 13. I am in second with five and for once Bone is in last with three. Although, he lived in a foreign country so that may count as a bonus.
We also keep track of the number of states we have been in; Mick with 38, myself with 29, Amie with 26 and Bone with 23. That drive across country really helped Amie and I with our count.

Since I can’t have post without a picture; I am happy to report that my herbs have sprouted!

Chives, Basil, Oregano, Parsley and Cilantro.
I will plant them out in my herb garden, when our weather permits. Using fresh herbs when cooking makes a huge difference in favor.

Everyone have a GREAT weekend.

Honoring a Veteran

Mom went to the Collamer Cemetery yesterday to bring flowers.
It would have been Dads 75th birthday.
While there, planes from the 174th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard were out practicing. She waved to the planes and during their next fly over one of the planes flew off formation and tipped its wing.
I hope the pilot knows what the significance of this gesture meant,

for some reason I think he/she does.

The above picture was taken Easter Sunday in 1953 while Dad was home on leave.

He was so proud of his service to our country.

My favorite Brick Salesman

My favorite Brick Salesman helped me with my second purchase from him. The first was the entrance from our deck into our kitchen/family room. We get so many compliments on that floor. I think most would not think to &/or have the nerve to put together the color combination. You can see it on my March 25 post, if you missed it. I was just so thankful it came out how I imagined.

The showroom has so many choices. Customers better come with somewhat of an idea of what they want. Otherwise, you would leave with your head spinning. The reason we have to reface our fireplace is the previous owners had a fan system with four grates to circulate heat. I hated those grates. We have only used the fireplace once, Bone started a fire our first Christmas in the house. We are going to install a gas fireplace.

Below is what I ended up choosing. The three rows pictured on the right will represent 33% (more gray) and the three rows on the left 66% (more red.)

I hope all my readers appreciate LUD's picture. An employee at the store commented on the fact that we both had the same color sweater on and it would make for a nice picture. She was shocked when I then asked her to take our picture. She assumed I was kidding. I had to drag LUD to where I wanted him to stand and told him it was the least he could do for our blogging family. It then took me until this morning to get permission from him to post his picture. Thanks so much for everything LUD!