I Do Declare!

Spring has Sprung!!!!

I walked outside yesterday to go to work, and look what I found!  It appears Spring is indeed coming to pass, in spite of the snow last Monday and Tuesday!  And oh, WHAT a sweet gift this beautiful purple and white bearded iris was to see open yesterday morning.  As momma used to say, "Ah do declarah" (she was very deep old southern lady in accent, mannerisms and all things Southern).  Declare had 4 syllables when she said it!  Anyway, momma taught me to appreciate iris and I remember planting bright red ones with her when I was 5 years old and we lived in Dallas.  We had what seemed like a million of them.  Guess I just inherited the fascination ...  and every year I can feel my mom's love when they all begin to bloom.  And, yesterday was mom's birthday so it was a double gift.  I miss you momma.   Thanks for the sweet spark of encouragement and love.

 Sticking with the spring theme ... this group of thru hikers were outside the post office on Friday, receiving their packages, digging into their treasures, rearranging their packs and hanging in the sun.  

 This is my favorite time of year at the post office because the young adults are so FILLED to the brim with happy, enthusiastic energy about walking from Georgia to Maine.  Always amazing to me!

Having done a section of it one summer with Paul and my son, I have true admiration for all the people who truly do the entire thing.   Good luck hikers!

I did a perimeter sweep this afternoon and found the garlic flourishing, the strawberries blooming and the mint and sage going absolutely wild!  Here, just look!

 The snow must've been kind because we still have a gozillion blossoms on the strawberries

 and they are starting to form!!!! :-) itty bitty berries!  Whoo hoo!

 There is plenty of garlic thanks to our friend Sarah Greene.  My Siamese kitty uses it for hiding in.  Crazy cat!

This is mountain mint trying to take over my sage! Going to have a "stay in your own space" conference with the mint tomorrow. There is also some lemon basal in here.  It smells incredible!

During my work sessions on the computer and etc., this  guy has taken to the "assistant" position.  He is the most shy of all the cats here ... maybe he's coming out of his shell!  The business card here is from one of those hikers ... not intentionally advertising, but whatever, it was in the shot!

Below is one of my favorite shots I've taken lately.  I don't know why, it just is.

And THIS is what I've been obsessed with the WHOLE ENTIRE PAST WEEK.  Watching the Modern Vespa Cannonball Run Official Thread website to follow along with the ride that my Mr. was on.  And now, I'm exhausted!  I hope he has landed in San Diego safe and sound.  I hope to have him back beside me Tuesday night.  Your best thoughts for that to happen will be greatly and immensely appreciated!  Who knew I could miss him so much!  Who knew I would obsess and lose sleep, not eat and be concerned for 8 straight days.  I am absolutely floored! GAH!

 

 

Super Scooter sporting his alien sunglasses in Roswell, NM. ;-)

 

Here's to a brand new week.

Blessings to you all!

Thursday Chatter

I would love to give proper credit to this photograph, but I have no idea where I got it, probably from Pinterest.  I LOVE this photo, the depth, the dimension, the color, the entire thing is magnificent.  So, to whomever is the creator, WELL DONE!

In words, these balloons are how I feel my synapses are firing this week.  Things just pop into my head, and by the time I can react to them, they are out of reach again.  It is very, VERY distracting to have your husband riding a Vespa across America.  Lord have mercy!  So here are some of the balloons I have floating around in my head:

* my sweet friend Janine has managed to heal her broken left hip enough to walk again and YAY for that! She is back at Crista's Country Corner, so you folks who love her, go visit with her.  I am so pleased and happy that she is up, about and back to her happy self again.  xoxo, Janine!

*My friend Teresa has achieved a HUGE goal of completing her CPA requirements, and now has her CPA license!  I may have mentioned this already, but it is so worth repeating.  It was such a HUGE accomplishment.  She is my current role model for achieving a goal ... a GREAT BIG one.  She has also had the lenses replaced in both eyes and is seeing once again in living color, and with perfect vision.  For this part, I am green with envy --- but oh, so happy for Teresa!

*I have made 5 journal covers and will commence the "guts" part this afternoon.  Not as much as I had hoped for --- too distracted.  But it is enough to get started and maybe even soon have a give-away, as I had hoped.

*The hardest part of doing Jillian Michael's Shred video is keeping my feet parallel. (well that and all the gasping for air)  I just have to do the punching part in 2nd position grande plie with turnout.  I cannot, at this point in my life, seem to stand parallel.  WHAT is wrong with me!?!  A modern dancer I am not, have never been and apparently will not ever be! humph!  I've even tried to channel Martha Graham.  (to no avail)

*I just finished the second book in the Hunger Games series.  Oh my gosh.  Will continue to read to the bitter end.  Wish I could be on the costume crew for this.  My brain sees these costumes! What an incredible mind this author must have ....

*cooking for myself involves a bag of microwave popcorn, it seems.  Janine brought me some homemade potato soup and cornbread, which has been delightful.  I find I do not feel like messing up the kitchen for myself.  So, that has been a walk down memory lane.  Before Paul and I married there were lots of popcorn and cereal dinners.  I must be digressing! HA!

*Artemis, the most scared-y of my cats, has been looking for Paul for days now.  And he is quite verbal about the fact that he can't find him.  The other two have just decided to take up his place in the bed. :-/

*Thanks to everyone who has supported me this week, sent good thoughts and prayers to Paul, and called, written, texted etc.  It is really appreciated and a wonderful feeling to know there is so much caring (and sometimes disbelief!) in our little bubble of the world.

That's all folks!  Except this! Be aware, help out ... it's gone from 1 in 80 children to 1 in 6,000 children in just 20 years.  Mind boggling!

Count Your Blessings!

Blessings to you all,

Goodness! Pure and Simple

 So yesterday I woke up to this .... snow! Ugh! As most of you know, I took my husband to Savannah on Saturday for his VESPA trip across America.  Savannah was lovely and warm.  Not here!
I rushed back for this?  What?

It was kind of peaceful and pretty for a few minutes.  But gosh it was cold!  And the 50mph wind gusts were no picnic either!  Air born bits and pieces every place.  So I got to practice my fire building skills! Lucky for me I remembered how and the cats and I did not freeze.  Test 1 of the Mr. being gone - passed! Whew!  One of my big plans while he is gone was to clean the wood stove inside and polish it outside ... maybe next Monday.  I need it right now!  This little stove is my best friend about 6 months out of our year.  It was a gift (!) unimaginable, right?  Beth gave it to us our first winter.  She knew we would freeze ... we had no idea.  Ignorance can really be bliss sometimes!

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 Today is my son and his wife's wedding anniversary.  I am so proud of them.  They are a darling couple, and seem to be on top of things in this big bold world.  Happy Anniversary Jon and Melissa!  Hope you see about 95 more years of life together and enjoy every second of the adventure!

I love you two. xoxo
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I began advertising on an additional blog because I just love this woman!  PLEASE check out
Melody Joy right here.  I fell in love with her, the precious family and life of hers, and her style the minute I first read her post!  We will do a giveaway soon.  Hence, my journal cover intensive!
Stay tuned ... and ALSO

as producing an Etsy shop is my new goal, I began the endeavor yesterday in between stoking the fire, shivering and checking the thread from the Vespa Run that the Mr. is in every 47 seconds.  Busy .... but here is how I started the project:

First things first - maintenance.  After the push for the Metrolina Expo show and using muslin for table runners, I decided that I needed to clean and oil Ms. Daisy (my sewing machine) before I began my new push.  So, I showed her some love and she was absolutely purring by the time I got to sewing!  I have a VERY simple, basic machine.  I'd love to step it up, but have NO IDEA where to go from here.  Please, if you have any suggestions and/or recommendations, I am ALL EARS!  Ms. Daisy has been a pleasure to work with but she is tired and gets frustrated with me when she cannot do what I want her to do.  Then she strokes out and I have to rework her.  That takes too much time and patience in the middle of projects!  Please forward any suggestions!!!

And the cutting began ... journals coming up!  LOTS of them ...  and a variety of styles and types.

First up --- happy vintage orange and gold

And of course, inspirational art work for the soul by Tammy Brinkley. 
So, although not finished with all of my thoughts here, I must be off to complete some more journal covers to hit my goal of the day.
If you are interested in the newest update from Sir Paul, you can find it right
HERE
just scroll about half way down the page and there is an entry from Sir Paul.
He is on Day 3.   I cannot even imagine riding a Vespa across America.  But I am so happy for him and his enthusiasm and ability to seek out adventure at every turn.  You go, Sir Paul!
Thanks to all of you for your good thoughts and prayers, your positive energy and your support.
GOODNESS, pure and simple.
Blessings!

Savannah

It's been so long since I've been down to the GA coast.  Oh glorious Spanish Moss and palm trees!  It was such a delightful change from our landscape ... and it was WARM! 80 degrees worth of warm.  Yes!

The purpose of the trip was to take the Mr. down for his trip across America on the scooter.  You can catch up in my previous couple of posts if you want to know more.  Anyway, we arrived Saturday noonish and did the sign in thing for his trip.  

The Highland BBQ in Roan Mountain, NC is sponsoring him.  Such nice people and such DELICIOUS BBQ.  check them out!

Then his sister and niece (Janet and Sara) came down to visit with us.  It's been YONKS since we've seen them.  It was so wonderful to catch up!  So we went wondering around historic Savannah, and here are some visuals.

 The trees with their moss dresses and draping scarves are just magnificent.

 Sara, Janet and Paul (l to r) in front of one MASSIVE tree!

 Some very interesting head stones ... as well as the way they are displayed.

 and more

 Sara wanted to walk around the grave yard and read the markers.  It was a pretty cool idea.  Apparently there was a Yellow Fever that wiped out a lot of people in the 1800s, I think.  Yikes!

 It was a lovely day and smiles were so easy.  I'm going to miss this guy while he's gone.  It's so quiet in the house and I have control of the remote ... weird!

This is a huge bronze eagle on top of the entrance to the park.  Pretty impressive!

 The participants of the Cannonball Run 2012 took off this morning from River Street in historic Savannah.  It was a very energized hour with all of them getting ready and riding off.  After a goodbye kiss and a couple of tears on my part, this is Super Scooter, off on his journey across America.  Be safe, Paul.

 They traveled on cobblestones to get out of there, and this was not an easy feat in my opinion, as I had a trailer to haul in back of my Explorer.  We were all bouncing!  This is the back of my sweet man, riding away ...

and there he goes .... God speed to all the riders.

and are some of my favorite shots from this morning

 the bridge in the background was so cool in the mist and sunrise

 and you can sense some of the chaos with the riders in the foreground

and wouldn't it be fun to have one of these to cruise around in?

ok,

This week will be a test for me to stay on task.  

Clean the house.

Make some journals and such.

Open an etsy shop.

 Please keep me on task!  After I rest up tonight from days on end of scooter prep, I plan to be a ball of fire and get lots of things done!  We'll see how that works out ... HA!  Your help will be wholly appreciated!

Blessings to you all.

So Random you will be dizzy!

I made cookies!  Quite a big deal in our house because I have the "not allowed to eat junk" mentality that is left over from my decades of ballerina eating habits.  We didn't eat any cookies then EVER.  But I saw a great recipe on one of the Cascade Farms cereal boxes (of all things, maple and brown sugar granola) and I couldn't let it go.  Had to make them.  And let me just say - it was SO worth it.  I made a huge mess and wonderful cookies!  Who knew!?!  If you make these you will get a stomach ache because they are addicting and you can't quit eating them.  I had to give a lot of them away!  Made some other people smile in the process. Fun!
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Super Scooter is preparing for his "voyage" and the more he prepares the more I get nervous so ... I am trying to just have fun with the preparation and not concentrate of the anxiety!  The VESPA has gone from this

to this

to this

He has more added to it now ... he will certainly be stylin' on this adventure.  I am truly excited for him.  I am also apprehensive and anxious, but who cares!  It's an adventure ... if all the facts and happenings were already decided, it wouldn't be a very fun adventure!
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 Does your front porch become a salvage storage during the winter?  Ours does ... every.single.winter.  It's embarrassing but so much easier to find stuff when it's just all over the front porch!  For example:

 here you have a cider press and a collection of vintage ceiling tiles Paul is collecting for our kitchen ceiling.  These are the ones which have not been cleaned up and painted.  And at the far end there is the beginning of a gate, made out of rubbed steel shaped into the form of a bunch of branches ... plans and ideas folks ... art lives here.

In this view, you can see the potter's wheel (good ole' Number 4) who is just waiting for warmer weather so it will get some love.  And it will, I promise.  

Here on the other side of the porch are a collection of vintage windows for glass quilts, and some really cool vintage window medicine cabinets and some other things Paul has designed and plans on making.  As well as the ceiling tiles which have been cleaned and painted (although the painted side is inside so it won't get scratched and loved on by the cats).  I can't wait for all of these ceiling tiles to be on the ceiling instead of the porch! Someday ...
 Paul will be gone for 10 days ... the porch will be clean and ready to open for girls' nights on the Veranda by the time he returns...so long as Mother Nature doesn't snow on us.  Right now, that's a 50/50 chance!
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Check out this awesome photograph!

 This lady is so unique and wonderful with her photography!  Her name is Heather, but her biz is Strawberry Goldie (She's a ginger head like me ... ) and she is right up here in the High Country.  Check her stuff out here! ... she's awesome!  She is also on facebook ... of course .. right here.  Her rates are incredibly affordable and your photos will be incredibly wonderful!  Check her out!
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I have been working on all kinds of things for my up and coming Etsy shop.  But I won't go live until I get Paul on the rode ... so I'm saving that post for next week sometime.  I hope you are ALL having a wonderful spring filled with fun, love, joy and COLOR!!!  Most of all, COLOR!

Blessings!