Yesterday was laundry day and my dryer broke. During the "whites" load, as you can see. So my husband quickly strung up this temporary clothesline. Good thing it's June and not January! Another reason to love summer. :)
My dryer is less than 2 years old. And it's GE. Isn't that something? It tumbles but no heat. Oh well, we'll see what the problem is. The tech won't come until next Friday. That's right, next Friday. There must be a lot of broken dryers out there.
I love Property Ladder on TLC...and since getting our dvr, I've become a regular viewer. This show is addictive! It seems like no matter how organized the people on the show are, something always goes hideously wrong - schedules, budgets. It's like watching a car accident. Every time!
There's a flip down our street, it went on the market about 3 weeks ago. All eyes are on it to see what will happen, when it will sell. I should take a picture of it to show you. The market around here has gotten so soft. Just imagining what it must be like to be the owners and trying to sell makes me a little uneasy...
Making lots of progress every day on the new house, and I'm going to (try to) keep up a regular post on this. There's some more teardown action going on in the next block down, and I will show you that, too.
Have a good one!
Ok, last post for awhile on "remember when". But a friend just passed this site on. If you were a saddle-wearing gal in your school days like I was, take a walk down memory lane as you peruse their vast selection.
As I just said to my friend, I remember thinking that these shoes were so comfortable. Clearly that was before I discovered Dansko clogs!
Finally, finally I am showing you the "after" version of my back porch. This was a long project in the making. Remember me bemoaning the paint job last year? I may have fallen behind on other projects, but at least this one has at last been crossed off the list. Oh, I haven't yet gotten around to painting the floor in here, and no, haven't yet spray painted the second pair of wicker chairs. Come to think of it, I still need to hang up my little sparkly star that's there in the corner (thanks, Brig!) But, close is good enough. Time to show you something other than house construction!
I'm not sure...but I think in the end I needed a deadline to get this room done. If I hadn't committed to hosting my Mother's Day party last month, I very well might be telling you right now about how long it took me to paint the second coat of paint last weekend. As it turned out, I spent 3 weekends committed to painting 3 coats on the paneling & trim, and then another week or two scouting around for seat cushions and pillows, a rug, lamps, bar stools, and accessories (major luck and success at the Crate & Barrel outlet, Target, and Sur La Table.) In the end, getting it all done in a short amount of time was the best motivation. It always is. For me, anyway.
And, as always, I'm glad in the end that I worked so hard. It was worth it. You may have noticed the little booster seat at the table there....we are enjoying all of our meals out here these days. And the boys - when they are playing indoors - are mostly out on the porch. It's a nice change. One of the biggest perks for me is discovering that our wireless connection works out here. So I can blog to my heart's content as I drink my coffee in the morning or listen to the sprinkler at night. Mostly I think we just appreciate being in a different space, and finally enjoying space that was right under our noses all this time.
Here's what's happening in the lot across the street. The old house was torn down 3 weeks ago. It took 2 days for the demolition. The foundation is coming along....you can see it pretty clearly in the photo. We don't know the couple who owns the land and is building the house, we've just met them briefly. But I see their car drive by in the evenings so they can see the progress. Can you imagine how excited they must be?
Hello! My travels are over and I am home for good. It is nice to be back. So nice!
I took 3 separate trips over the past 3 weeks. First, a trip to southern California for business. Interesting work....and bonus because I was able to see my youngest brother, who lives out there. From there I took a direct flight to Ohio to see my parents (and meet up with my husband and kids) for a week. We drove back here with the last of the 2 wicker chairs (yep, there they are) for my porch. Then, it was back to California last week to finish up on the project that I had flown out for earlier. I got back late Friday night.
So...
How are things with you, fellow bloggers and readers? Have you been enjoying the beginning of summer as much as I have? I hope so. I'll be back soon to talk more about what's going on here. Until then, I hope you're doing well in your little corner of the world!
I am getting ready to leave this afternoon for a few days on a business trip. In fact, this week kicks off a 3-week period of travel for me. Some is for work, some is for pleasure. All of it promises to be good.
I won't be blogging for awhile, but if I can I will check in with all of you, visiting you in your homes and catching up on what you're doing. I wish you a happy beginning to your summer. See you in June!
...than going to your mailbox and finding an adorable thank-you note from one of your best friends? Brig, this wasn't necessary, but you should know that it's made my day. So, thank you.
Plans are in motion to tear the house down across the street* from us. Prep work started this morning. We received a letter in the mail yesterday which said that demolition will be May 30-31st. If you are a Bob the Builder fan, if you have an almost fanatical obsession with diggers and cement mixers, if you eat, sleep, (and dream) construction, consider visiting us next week. It's bound to be a good show.
It's the pink seersucker Issac Mizrahi swimsuit from Target. I would have never known it was out there if I hadn't become so immersed in blogland. Someone was talking about it on a blog a few weeks ago, so I ended up looking for it in my local Target store and buying it (I have the tankini top and the side-tie bottom.) It's pretty darn cute. $40 is what I paid, though I think you can pick it up now for around $30 on the Target website.
Yesterday's trip to the city was exhilarating. Aside from a successful business meeting, I stumbled into a 25% off swimsuit sale at Macy's. And I happened to find another cute suit. I would post a picture, but I can't find one online and my camera batteries are charging. I know you would like it if you saw it, though.
Two new swimsuits in one season! I have not had this much success in the swimsuit category since I was a child. I was thinking that I'd return one, but now I'm having second thoughts. How often is it that you find a suit you actually like, never mind two? And it isn't even Memorial Weekend yet!
This is a treat. I'm catching a train to the city this morning for a business meeting. My destination is one of the buildings you see in the picture above. I'll be slipping on my is-she-or-isn't-she-a-mom mask as I ride into town. Wonder what my fellow commuters will guess? It's so tempting to wear flip flops, but I think that will give me away. Maybe not if I'm casually reading the WSJ. Will be back this afternoon in time to watch the newest episode of Bob the Builder with members from my favorite construction crew. Hope your day is a good one, too.
Let's say you live near a Wonder-Hostess bakery outlet (and, oh yes, those delightful places do exist.) In addition to getting great deals on bread and muffins, you can pick up those sometimes hard to find grocery items, like Light Hostess Cupcakes (have you tried finding these at the grocer? Not an easy task.)
Let's say you live less than 2 miles away from the outlet. It'll be easy to justify in your mind that you can go back as often as necessary. So it's no big deal if the box of 8 cupcakes somehow shrinks to a box of 1 in less than 24 hours.
Let's say your kids didn't know the cupcakes were in the house and your husband doesn't eat junk food. No one can point a finger at you when the stash is diminished. Right?
Well, no, actually. My experience is that there's always someone who keeps an eye on you. Call it your subconscious. Call it your inner voice. Call it the last, lone cupcake in the fridge. Someone will be there, calling you out on what you did. Making you think twice about going back for more.
A little low on news today, so instead I'll show you what was going on here yesterday.
First, my Mother's Day roses are still holding on. When they first arrived they were pale pink, but as the blooms have opened over the past week, they've turned into a beautiful shade of cream. Wish you could smell them through your screen. They are still fragrant and obviously very lovely.
Next, we had a visit from Fireman Small out on the porch after lunch. He wouldn't have shown up without Daddy's help.
Finally, new best friends mowed the lawn together. The little guy wants to do everything with the big guy these days. Well, almost everything...I still get a lot of snuggle time. In the picture below they are walking right by the tomato plants (which by the way, sailed through the frosty night last Thursday.)
When my parents drove up here last weekend, my dad came ready to work. He brought 2 more of the wicker tables that had belonged to my grandmother, and spray painted them out behind my garage (he tried to bring 2 more chairs but couldn't get them to fit right on the top of my mom's car.) He fixed our broken doorbell. He hung up a sign on the porch. Because I rely on his extensive knowledge about it, he went out and selected the wine for my party. He bought tomato plants for our garden. But he didn't plant them.
When I asked him why he didn't want to plant them (it was more of a whine, "Daa-ad, wwhhyy not? "), he said we needed to wait a few more days. Until after the "three sisters" pass - May 16th, 17th, and 18th. He said it's an old German farming rule of thumb, he learned it from his grandfather. It's not enough to wait until May 15th. You have to wait for the 3 sisters to pass to avoid risk of a late spring frost.
Now, I've Googled "three sisters", and where crops are concerned, I am not seeing anything about planting dates. I see results about companion planting, as in, plant your beans, squash, and corn all together (could be that this is common knowledge to all of you green thumbs out there.) But never for a moment do I doubt my dad. I'm sure the rule exists. He's the smartest guy around.
But anyway, we didn't wait. The tomato plants went into the ground on Sunday, May 13th. As we were getting ready to plant them, I told my husband about the 3 sisters warning. But we both agreed that a few days ahead of time shouldn't make any difference. After all, the forecast on Sunday said we would have a mild week.
Of course, you all know how the forecast can change.
So, with a frost warning in place last night, I called Dad after dinner for some advice. He did not say "I told you so". But he did tell me what to do (that's why you see my little plants under cover up there.) In a little while I'll go out to see how they did overnight. I just called Dad a few minutes ago and he says sprinkle them with a little water as I uncover them. I'll let you know how they fared.
I promised you an update on the window boxes, so here we are. Since last Friday was my party, and the boxes were empty, we had to act quickly. My husband did not have time to cut out the screens. But fortunately, we took Rick up on his offer and borrowed his ladder. One night after work last week, my husband dragged the ladder out from our back yard, set it against the house, and climbed on up. He just set our flowers inside the boxes, they are still in their little plastic pots. If you can see, there are red geraniums and a little yellow-greenish ivy. It worked out great as a temporary solution until we (he) can get back to the windows this weekend and cut those screens out. We've had just enough rain to keep the flowers thriving in their pots. So far, so good!
| YELLOW |
You are very perceptive and smart. You are clear and to the point and have a great sense of humor. You are always learning and searching for understanding.
Borrowing shamelessly from Sisters with Style, I present to you...drumroll...the color test. What is your color? What does it say about you?
I admit I'm a sucker for online tests. You may have guessed this since I've posted one or two here before. Are you? I think nothing of grabbing paper & pencil in the middle of the afternoon to score my way through emailed personality tests. It doesn't matter how long they are or how much time they waste. No, I didn't get a chance to schedule a dentist visit today, but I did confirm that I'm still an ENFJ. Good thing, too. You never know when your personality will change.
The continuing evolution of all the tests you can take to better understand yourself only fuels my interest. Yes yes, there's what color are you. But have you taken what does your favorite color say about you? Two different tests. How about what song are you? Maybe that's too general. Ok, which hit song from 2005? There's much, much more. What kind of traveler are you? Do you worry too much? Which TV character are you most like? Quite awhile ago I took the Desperate Housewives test (I'm Lynnette). Recently I took a few minutes to do the flower test on TulipMom's site. The results show that I am a snapdragon. Hmm. Wonder what that means?
I'm sure one of the reasons that these tests are so irresistible to me is because they provide results that are generally flattering and nice to read. Come on, just look at the results above. It doesn't matter how I fare in real life, my online color test suggests that I'm smart. Don't you love reading that you're creative? Successful? Fun to be around? The people behind these tests and quizzes know what they're doing. If you need more proof of that, pay a little visit to this site today. Spend a minute or two. Or ten. But don't say I didn't warn you.
The party was great. Wow, and all of your comments... I felt like I had my own personal little cheering section with me on Friday! Thank you for that.
We had so much food at the party, almost too much. Thinking that it would be just the opposite, I whipped up a few things at the last minute. We didn't even get to my favorite dessert, Gooey Butter Cake:
The whole thing was intact until Saturday a.m., when I started in on the interior. I've been working away at it little by little, as you can see. The good thing about this dessert is that it is very rich. So even if you think you can eat the whole pan, you can't. Still, I might have to send the rest in with my husband to work today. The party is indeed over.
Anyway, if you're a southerner, you may already know and love this dessert. If not, I highly encourage you to throw out worries or cares about cholesterol and calories and make this for yourself (and some special friends) very soon. It's delish!
Gooey Butter Cake
Top with (mixed together)
Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 until lightly golden. Center will be soft and (of course) a little gooey. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top.
