TREASURES

They say one man's trash is another man's treasures and so it is...On Saturday afternoon we went to my son's to celebrate his 50th birthday. 

While there we talked about what kind of tool it would take to cut through some hard spokes of a fan cage. Thus he learned I had a Dremel tool. Now I am the recipient of a Dremel Drill Press that he no longer needs. How wonderful is that...





Then I noticed he had a very nice wooden statue sitting on his bench collecting dust so I ask him why and learned his wife did not like the statue so it was given to his daughter...








I have a giraffe statue she has coveted for years so I traded it for the Oriental statue with the promise that someday she will get it back...

Then on the way home later in evening we came across a "curb alert" with a pretty decent looking black iron table and 4 chairs.

Along with the table and chairs was a brown weird shaped end table... 












and a pretty clay pottery vase






After a good cleaning and some new seat covers for the chairs I am going to replace my white plastic wicker table and mismatched chairs on the lanai..It will still seat 4 people and take up less space and will be a better match to my black wicker furniture I got at a yard sale last year. I have no idea what I am going to do with the small brown wooden  end table but if nothing else it will come apart and be used for some fun creation. The clay vase is beautiful and will make a nice addition to my garden room which is where the round plastic wicker table is going to end up unless it is too big...So it was a fun and profitable day at the 50th birthday of my son Barry.

QUILTING WEEKEND CONTINUED

Our quilting weekend is over and the girls are all well pleased with the results.

Here are some pics from Saturday afternoon shortly after we got started sewing. The first thing everyone had to do was pick fabric and cut it into 3 inch strips. Here they are concentrating on sewing a straight line.

Shennon thinking about what happens next.

Krysta and Debbie well on their way to getting a few rows sewed.

Shennon has hers started and is happy with the results so far.











By the time we stopped for  dinner on Saturday we were able to see real results. 

Krysta was so excited when she got 7 out of 8 of her panels finished she had to give it a try.







Before I left for home on Sunday after dinner here is what the girls had accomplished...

Shennon, who had never sewed a stitch on a machine in her whole life finished first. She opted to make the small table quilt as her first...Doesn't she look proud of herself as well she should.

That is Krysta in the back ground pressing her binding.

Shortly after Krysta got her binding sewn on and her quilt was finished. Krysta made the larger version which makes it a perfect size to cuddle on the sofa on a cold evening...

Another happy and proud smile.

Debbie did not get her quilt finished but she spent time helping the girls and feeding the hungry masses but she has let me know that since I left for home she has hers about half way sewn together.








I think it is so interesting that everyone had the same choices of fabric to choose from yet look how different the quilts look when finished.

I hear we have a few more people who want to attend the next quilt workshop so I am thinking we need a bigger place to sew...we may have to rent a hall for the next quilt workshop. 

A QUILTING WEEKEND

Today was the last day to get my materials and supplies gathered up and ready to travel to Orange Park just south of Jacksonville. My daughter is hosting a quilt workshop for her niece on her hubby's side and her soon to be daughter in law. I think I am there for moral support, to enjoy a girls weekend and to get my hair cut. I have packed two sewing machines and will tote along several things that have been forgotten. Such as the bowls from the wedding that belong to Debbie and the acrylic table that goes with the sewing machine I gave Krysta, Deb's future daughter in law

I offered to bring up a lot of fabric and batting since I have more fabric than I can use in a lifetime of sewing and the batting is all scraps I saved in case I needed it. This qualifies as need in my book and it uses up one more bag of 'stuff' from the garage.

DOING THE FAMILIAR

I have been in sort of a creative slump for a while now so today I decided to do something familiar thinking it might help to get  me motivated. On Friday I am going to my daughters and together with her soon to be daughter in law we are going to make quilts.

We need 8 inch strips to sew the fabric to so I took bags of batting scraps saved from my quilting days and cut them into strips. Some will have to be pieced into the correct length but it is a way to use up resources already on hand. I always like using instead of wasting.

Here is the pattern we are going to do. It is a tutorial by Maureen Cracknell. Below is the link for the quilt if any one is interested..It is a free tutorial.


http://www.maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-herringbone-quilt-tutorial.html

HONEY DO LIST

We have had a couple of projects waiting to be done and recently Bob added one more to our list. Power wash the walk and drive. Today my son Barry came over and between all of us everything got done in a timely fashion. 

First was setting Bob up with Barry's power washer and giving him free range with it. He was like a kid in a toy store







Then Barry set about the back breaking job of carrying all the rocks scattered over the yard into the back yard and piling them up in an attractive way. After all that work I thought it should be turned so the back side was in the front...

Good son that he is he tore it apart and rearranged it to suit me...Now I love the look and will be planting some foliage in the spaces and watching for snakes to move in..

Then while Bob was still power washing Barry and I set about getting the sun shelter built for my outdoor studio using a piece of awning fabric I had laying around...It is not waterproof but will help with the intense sun in the height of summer...







I don't usually work outside when the sun is that hot but at least now I have an option to do so if I want to...and by rearranging a bit I now have the round table to set extra supplies or materials...

By the time Barry and I finished with the canopy Bob was almost finished with the drive way.











And I even had time to start cutting out my tee

DEARLY DEPARTED

Several years, in fact it was 58 years ago, my husband objected to me hanging onto a pair of saddle oxfords that had come unsewn on the sides. I kept telling him I could get them fixed but he insisted I pitch them and get new. Finally he bought me new shoes at the PX and after presenting me with new ones he pitched mine into the trash. it was like losing an old friend since I had them from my sophomore year in high school. But I got used to my new penny loafers and finally forgot about my old friends the saddle oxfords. Fast forward 58 years...

The other day, after at least 5 years of me complaining about his sandals that he bought in 2002 when we first moved to Florida, I bought him a new pair of shoes........

.....to replace the ones that were so worn the cork soles were only about a quarter inch thick when they should have been an inch  thick.....

...... and the straps over the arch were held together with black electrical tape. 

He ask me if we shouldn't have a solemn ceremony to celebrate the life of these dear old friends.....









I said NO...just suck it up and pitch them...He then ask if this had anything to do with the saddle oxfords...

REVERING THE ANCIENT

We have this old sand pine standing in our upper yard. The builders wanted to cut it down back in March of '02 when they first started plotting out our home they were going to build us. I protested and insisted they work around the tree.

Because it was piled high with debris from years of Turkey Oaks dumping their big claw shaped leaves and them catching in the graceful  branches along with old dried up needless and branches that had broken off it was dubbed "Darlene's Ugly Tree."  That name has stayed all these years. I don't mind. It is a beautiful tree and I seemed to be the only one who saw that beauty and felt it deserved to live it's life out naturally. 

I am told Sand Pines traditionally grow straight up reaching for the sky but this old tree is like a gnarled old woman who has seen more than her share of history. Bending to the winds of Florida summers, sometimes breaking under the weight of the rains that come with the winds but always surviving to greet another dawn.








We built a fence around our property a few years ago and the process left the 'tree' on the outside of the fence where I could not see the beautiful base..so changes were made. My wonderful husband removed a couple of the fence post, rerouted the fence to go around the tree creating a lovely little nook for birds and other animals that visit my garden when I am not looking.

Then he cut several holes in the fence to accommodate the large limbs that were in the way and thus allowed my wonderful old lady to continue on her destiny. 

Now she continues to stand tall, reaching for the sky and growing as she should with no interference from mankind. Though we may have to replace a section of fence or two before long. 

SUNDAY LEISURE AND SUNSHINE

Finally we got sun today...lots of sun Interesting the shadow patterns on my painting...

Today was a day  of doing nothing but enjoy. My oldest son Brian arrived in the middle of the night after the rest of the household was asleep. By household I mean Bob, Marshal and me. We went to bed with the door unlocked in anticipation of my son's arrival in the wee hours of the morning.  Marshal, our fearless watchdog snuck into our bedroom and made himself comfortable on the bolsters off the bed that lay on the floor every night  after Bob retires. He is usually the first to go to bed so leaves them in corner of room where Marshal takes up residence as soon as he can. . I stayed up to watch a program I had taped and retired an hour later.Once upon a time I would have stayed up to wait for him but not now. At my age sleep calls out to me and I listen.

When I got out of bed this morning to have coffee and do the crossword puzzle Brian was fast asleep in bed so I could then relax knowing he made it safe and sound as far as our home. I finished up the last of the preparation for brunch, put dinner in the crock pot and set about getting myself ready. 

My son and his wife were invited over for brunch this morning as was my grand daughter Liz. For no other reason than to celebrate family. We had a tasty brunch of an egg and ham casserole, grilled smoked sausages, roasted potatoes, Caesar salad, wild blueberry muffins and grapes...washed down with Mimosas...it was a nice filling meal to carry us all over to dinner time and it was my first time to make and serve mimosas so a new experience was enjoyed by all..

Everyone took a tour of my outdoor art gallery and I received compliments around. It is always fun to show off new art ...My son, Brian, took a panoramic view of my garden..which I am going to try to post on this blog. The view goes from North, right side of photo where you see the paintings and pergola to South, left side of photo  where you can see the corner of lanai.

While we were outside my youngest son and I made plans for building my outdoor wash station. This is my recycled sink.

Here is where we are going to install it...convenient to the work table in my outdoor studio..of course the 'stuff' in the way will be put where it goes..Stuff has a way of getting out of order during the summer months.

Then we took a tour of the front where my son will be doing a power wash for us next weekend...the sidewalk has mold and the eaves on the side of the house has mold...

Wherever the sun misses gets mold easily and these trees hanging over the sidewalk, that probably need trimming, shelters the sidewalk from the sun...hence the mold.








I know I should have Bob trim the trees out front but I love the way it looks so keep saying no...soon will have to relent or our front door will be completely blocked...