where the fairies dwell...

here...



and here...



...and here.

10 years...

Before Sofia was born, I enjoyed doing cross-stitch. I especially enjoyed designing and working my own patterns. I did this one while I was pregnant with Sofia. And, I figured that I would just add the first initial of her name to the bottom right corner after she was born.



So I finally did that today. It took me 10 minutes -- 10 years later!



I am planning on adding a fabric border and then making it into a wall hanging. Do you think I'll be finished before she's out of college?

butterfly Saturday...

The weather was so beautiful this morning -- and since it is shady on the west side of the house we decided to take advantage of it.

Rick shaped the new garden beds next to the new walkway.



And, I ...



...chased butterflies...



Hope you have a butterfly Saturday too!

waiting for weather...

Why? Why did those weather people force me to plan my day around their weather that never appeared? I took down my flag on the porch. I cut my afternoon shopping trip short. I believed them. Again.

All we got here was a bunch of hot wind.

typical...

Last night, as we were eating dinner, thunder rumbled overhead. In the backyard, giant raindrops splashed into the pool from the dark clouds overhead.

But...

if you were standing on the front porch,

the weather was a little different....




Guess summertime is officially here! :-)

a, b's...

...buzzing all around me.

I don't know what's worse -- these guys or the japanese beetles.

Ughhh... it's buggy here!

life after pavers...

According to our thermometer, it is 101 degrees in the sun right now. I just realized that the clock is not showing the correct time -- it is approximately 9:30 a.m. Thankfully, the pavers are done -- except for some detail work. The extra dirt and grading can wait until the temperature cools off. I think we'll be spending some time indoors with the air conditioner today.

ta da...

By 9:30 a.m. this morning the master craftsman was ready to fire up the tile saw. Nicholas had an orthodontist appointment -- so we left him unattended for awhile.



When we arrived home, we saw that he did fine while we were gone. We went inside to make lunch so he could keep going. I threw some chicken nuggets in the oven -- and -- I guess since my arm was tired from all that shoveling it decided to lay itself on the inside of the oven door...




Ouch! Good thing we only have to backfill some dirt and kick up some dust...



then it's time to relax...



Finally!

where we left off...

You guys are too funny with the comments! This is where we left off last night. Rick had to take a day off from work today to continue this project -- and hopefully complete it. All the blue skies and bright sunshine have set us back. We were hoping to finish by yesterday afternoon.

other stuff...

During our dinner break on Saturday we heard some rumbling noises along the pavement outside. Now, of course that is not unusual here since there is always some kind of construction vehicle driving around. But since we had rented a tamper for the pavers, out of curiosity Rick looked out the window. The tamper had not moved, but...

...this was sitting in front of the house.



Sofia thinks it would make a good playhouse. I am wondering where I can park it -- and -- do we get a shiny new recycling truck to go along with it?

bright blue skies, and pavers, continued...

By 9:30 this morning this was all that was left from the 5 yards of aggregate that was dropped onto the driveway on Friday afternoon.




This is what was accomplished in the paver area.



By 1:30, this is what was accomplished in the beverage area.




These were showing signs of the 93 degree temperature and sun exposure...





So, it was time to go inside and make some lunch!




to be continued...

best seat in the house...

Yesterday morning was a beautiful weather day. A perfect day. Bright blue skies -- and not a cloud in sight. Perfect weather -- except if you are planning on digging a 20 foot x 25 foot pathway. Rick decided to rent a sod remover -- it worked like a charm and kept us hopeful that this project would continue to go along smoothly.

However, the dirt beneath the sod was a smidge softer than concrete. So a trip back to the tool rental place was in order. Rick rented some sort of jack hammer thingie -- which worked well. He broke up the dirt -- and I helped shovel the dirt. By last night, this is what we had accomplished -- and after shoveling all I could do was think about sitting down in that chair.

By this afternoon this is what we have accomplished. It is waaaaay too hot out there right now.

So this is the chair to be sitting in!

the calm before...

It is the last day of 8th grade, and, 3rd grade. In a few hours, my daily quiet solitude will be over -- for the next couple of months. There will be no daily morning routine -- or -- any routine. There will only be, sleeping in (or not). Swimming in the pool (or not). Eating barbeque for dinner (or not). Evenings on the porch -- chatting with the neighbors as they walk their dogs, or, ride their bicycles. Sounds of Nicholas strumming his guitar. Playing scrabble. Counting lightning bugs. Being amazed -- because -- it's -- summer!

Oh, and what's that got to do with the picture in this post? Probably nothing. Just wanted to show that I managed to finish the foundation work for one of the bathroom curtains -- and -- I sent it to quality control for inspection. Do you think it meets their list of requirements?

bathroom curtains 101...

Find inspiration at the anthropologie website.

Put puppy in the crate while you cut some fabric.

Then see how much puppy grows before you are finished with this project! :-)

this makes me happy...

Sofia patiently cut out triangles for a few hours. When she could do no more, she let me know -- then I finished the rest. She did an excellent job with the cutting, and, is now patiently waiting for her first sewing lesson on my machine. I will let her sew as many pieces as she needs to feel accomplished -- and then I will finish the rest. Then we'll move on to another part of the quilting process.

This was supposed to be our project for the summer -- but it seems to be moving alot more quickly than I had intended. I just hope her enthusiasm doesn't wilt away before it's all done.

it's about time...

We brought this little hydrangea plant from our garden in NY. It bloomed once the first year we had it -- and then I pruned it back at the wrong time (in the fall). I couldn't let it go, so it moved from NY to here with us. When we first moved here, we planted it on the west side of the house and it almost turned it's toes up. So, we stuck it in a pot and put it aside in the section of the garden where the convalescent plants dwell. It was happy in the pot -- so last year I placed it next to the large hydrangea on the east side of the front porch. It seemed happy there too -- showing signs of growth. This year, during the early spring it showed signs of flower buds. The roots were growing out of the bottom of the pot, so I wanted to find a place to plant it in the ground. There was a bare spot on the east side of the garage -- and I couldn't figure out what to put there -- so there it went. And, now it is blooming -- PINK hydrangeas.

Well, that only took about 5 years!

pathway to the lovely...

...in progress! Our next project is the paver walkway from the driveway to the gate. The pink string has been strung! If you squint and look right behind Ozzy in the picture you can see it. The pavers and aggregate are being ordered as I write. If weather permits, the existing sod will be removed on Friday morning, and we will continue working non-stop throughout the weekend -- except for a barbequed hamburger on Father's day.

Oh, if you're wondering what is "the lovely" -- it's this:

ahhh...a quiet, relaxing sunday...

NOT!!!!!

Nicholas was at the end of his prescription -- I had finally taken down my guard -- I thought that finally there was an antibiotic that he could tolerate. But it was not meant to be. Last night at dinnertime I noticed a light rash on him. This morning, it was full blown. So off to the emergency room we went. When we arrived, he was the only patient there, and, it was quiet. The NP (nurse practitioner) looked at him right away, and, she said -- this medicine is now off limits to him. Another one bites the dust. At least the medicine got rid of the swelling from his pilonodial cyst.

This afternoon, he's staying inside with the air conditioning. That's okay -- it's thundering out there right now anyway.

We checked with the pharmacist and the rash should subside in a couple of days.

are you ready for this...

Hope you enjoy the show!

~*~

balance beam...

vault...


floor routine...


uneven parallel bars...


(Audience applauds) Thank you! Thank you!

where did the music go...

I temporarily deleted the music. The website that I was using is having some issues -- hopefully they will be resolved soon.

yup, you heard me right...

I went for my monthly vet checkup yesterday. I weighed in at 36 pounds. I gained 14 pounds in one month -- think I should have a chat with Valerie Bertinelli?

we all just wanna have fun...

Today is PAR-TEE day at school. Nicholas will be enjoying a relaxing day poolside at the local YMCA pool with his 8th grade friends, and, Sofia is all ready to shake her booty with her 3rd grade buddies at a "remember the 1980's" bash.

Today is Thursday -- so it IS my assigned day off. Since it's overcast this morning, I'll be vacuuming the mulch out of the pool that blew in there during the windy weekend weather. Then my calendar is clear, and I'll have a couple of hours to play too. Oh, what about Rick? He had his fun on Tuesday at a golf outing with his work buddies.

Hope you have time to find your fun today too! :-)

pink plants and pots...

Oh, yesterday was such a beautiful weather day. Ozzy and I spent the entire morning outdoors -- came in for a little break, and, then we went back outside again. While I played in the garden, he chased bugs, and, caught a few (yuk!) I also painted a few of the old plastic pots that have been idle in the garage. I am amazed at how great this spray paint works. The pot on the left side of the picture was white and had some stains on it. I didn't spray the bottom. I put that awesome pink leaved beauty in it and now they are both keeping company with the other front porch plants. So far, I painted 3 pots (all similar to the one in the picture). The can of paint was about $4 in Wal-mart. I figure I saved myself about $10 -- so that will go in the piggy and we'll use it for a summertime treat for the kids!

almost four months...

Hey, look at me GROWING right before your eyes!

almost professional...

Don't you hate when there is just that little piece of a project that for one reason or another is not getting done? Me too. So after much delay (a full 6 months or more), plus, a wasted Saturday afternoon looking at refrigerators, the decking around the pool is almost complete.

There's not much you can do at 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday except pose for this picture and plan for the next day.

And, when the next day is hot, but overcast with 20-30 mph winds, you just put your nose to the grindstone...

And, be thankful that the wind is blowing all the paver dust away from your house -- and your neighbors' houses too!

Thanks to our wonderful brother-in-law for lending us his tile saw -- this was done in record time!

Now, just a little bit of sand filler and I think we're probably good to go.

dor-o-THEEEEEE...

Now, this is just messing up my Sunday...

...and the pool!

it doesn't hurt to ask...

I spied a great flag at the garden center during one of my visits there prior to Memorial Day. It was being used as a display -- hanging at the entrance of the garden center. I liked the flag so much, I put it on my shopping list for my next visit there. During my next visit, the flag was no longer hanging -- so I searched for it in the store -- but it was nowhere to be found. Sigh... I put the other items on my list in the shopping cart and went to the register to pay. As I was checking out, I mentioned the flag to the person at the register. She looked in a pile of things she had next to the register and found it. She gave me the total for my items, and then she handed the flag to me -- and I looked it over -- it seemed fine. I told her I would take it. She had already printed out a receipt for me to sign, so I anticipated that she would print another receipt for the flag. She didn't. She just handed the original receipt to me -- which did not include the price of the flag. I signed it and she said "have a nice day" and then left the register to go work somewhere else in the store.





I think it is looking very happy displayed here at the front of our home. What's that saying...one man's trash is another man's treasure...