Biggest project in a while

Remember that brown paneled wall in one of the previous posts?

Or these:

OHHHH! I don't think we told about THAT big project. We kept Stuart busy this summer and that picture above shows one of the major things he did for me. Those who have been here will recognize the wall between the living room and kitchen. What is new is that there is a NEW doorway to the right! You can see where the original doorway was--it is filled with those nice black shelves which are loaded with cups and plants etc. We changed the traffic flow in the kitchen and it works sooo much better now!

Okay, back to the walls.

In process:

Isn't it lovely?? Painting has changed the room tremendously! It is lighter and brighter--a great way to go into fall and winter!

An outdoor makeover

My mom gave me this glider several years ago--but it had really gotten ragged.

So, with Stuart's help, we transformed it. Beth painted the frame for me. I love the way it turned out!

Busy, busy, busy

Yes, we've been busy, but honestly, there was time to post. I just haven't been on the computer very much. We've had some projects going and I've been learning new things! (Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!)






But first, one of the projects:

We've had these shelves for a long time. You can see that some of the shelves are just plain, unfinished plywood. Ugh.

Sooo, one day I decided to paint and make them pretty. I'm pretty satisfied with the result.

Oh, and see that brown paneling? Well, wait till you see what happened to THAT!!

Mother's Day

We made it. Our first Mother's Day without my mother. We stayed busy. We had a good day. The new preacher had not one, but TWO, lessons about Mothers. And mine is gone. But we did it.

My Mama was a good, Christian woman. She loved my Daddy and she loved her kids and grandkids. She was still having a good time when cancer interrupted her at almost 82. I think of her daily and miss being able to go see her.

I wish you all could have known her. She was definitely not perfect but she was loving and she enjoyed life.

Here's a picture of her and Daddy

Old Friend

We first met about 43 years ago. She was my nearest and dearest for quite a few years. Life after high school carried us in very different directions and I followed her career with much interest--as well as her life with her family. We just saw each other again this week for the first time in almost 20 years! She hasn't changed all that much--still very pretty and youthful looking, I think. Me? Well, I am a matronly, fifty-something wife and mom.

As you can probably tell, the occasion that brought us together was a sad one. One of her older brothers had passed from this life. He was an extremely successful executive working for a nonprofit. His whole life was spent working for the benefit of others and he was very, very good at it--probably because he believed his work was important. He will be greatly missed by his wife and daughters and by his whole family--as well as those he had worked with. He had great faith and faced his death with courage.

But seeing her and her family really made me take a trip down memory lane? Wanna come along?

We met when we were babes of 14, freshmen in high school. Her family moved a lot. My family had been living in that same house for 10 years. She was smart and funny and different. She had ambition and heart--an unbeatable combination. I admired her. She made my life lots more fun and made me think about hard things. I loved her--and I still do.

In our little town and school, we had Junior/Senior banquets along with the Proms. A real sit-down meal to which we wore our formals. The Prom started after the meal. We went to both our Junior AND Senior banquets date-less--pretty much how we went through high school. I still don't understand why there weren't fist fights over her.

Anyway, here we are at 16, ready for our Junior Junior/Senior banquet.

Can you believe my hair??!!! Hello, Texas Big-Hair! But look at her!

Then one year later:

These pics are from our "career girl" days--between college and marriage. (Although she has had a very nice career which continues to this day--as well as having reared two great children and kept a lively hubby happy!

This is from the last class reunion we attended. It must have been our 20th or thereabouts. That pretty woman between us was one of our dearest high school friends. Isn't she gorgeous? And I'm on the right. My dear friend on left--isn't she still gorgeous too?

One of the amazing things is that I really don't feel THAT much older. But I must be. I can see what's in the mirror! I don't mind the passing of time all that much but I do mind that so many people pass through my life and are gone.

My BF from High school really had a huge influence on who I am. I would be someone very different without her in my life. Thank you!!!!

Gardening

This is for Lady Jeanne. The iris that got left behind! It is hard to see in this one, but it is in the center of the picture.








Here it is closer up. Right in the middle of the path.

My garden! We made a space by putting an old rug out last fall and that way the grass couldn't come up through it. There is some dirt on top of it now and then there are my lovely little plants, which have grown a little since then, but it still looks basically the same. :-)

Snow in March!

We had what we hope is the last snow for this season this past weekend! On Friday it was warm (70's) and partly sunny and just about perfect out. Saturday it only got up in the 40's and it snowed! A little stuck and it looked so odd on the green grass and the flowers.

Nothing seems to have been damaged by it. We were afraid the flowers would die, but they seem to be fine.