By the time most of you read this I’ll be heading down I-65 South to Gulf Shores. My best friend (also named Judy) is meeting me off the interstate and we’ll follow each other to her place there. I’d love to ride with her but she's not coming back when I do…that’s the beauty of having a place at the beach, you can stay as long as you want!
Toodles Poodles!
This past Saturday we celebrated my mom’s 92nd birthday at the lake. I think I’m just going to share pics without a lot of “talking” (yeah right - we all know that ain’t gonna happen!)
My sister and I decided to keep it easy so we just had hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixins’ ….simple and good. The highlight was watching my mama enjoy being with her family….boat riding and seeing the kids and grandkids having a blast.
Here we go….
Side deck where we cook and eat…son was the designated chef as my sister’s husband was under the weather and stayed inside all day and my husband was working a ball tournament
My “baby” boy (who will be 38 next month)!!!
Here’s our bride-to-be (she is marrying my sister’s son next July). We’d love to hate her because she is so pretty and so TAN but she is just too sweet…we love her to death! BTW, I have created a Pinterest board labeled “Lake Wedding” if you’d like to see some of our ideas for their wedding next summer.
Her ring
Mama at the ‘kids table’….so cute! Surrounded by some of her great grandchildren and enjoying every minute
Granddaughter Taylor has a huge girl crush on Stephanie
And here she is on the boat surrounded by her “fan club”…both of my granddaughters
Jackson showing off his dance moves!
We had a dance-o-rama going on! I think they were doing the Cuban Shuffle….now I can’t get that song out of my head! (Can you tell they are twins?)
Leaving the dock for a sunset cruise
DIL and grandson Cade
This little place was owned by the former CEO of Health South (he’s serving time in prison for what I like to call “greed”)
My sweet grandson Cade…he was about to fall asleep
Too much sun and fun makes one sleepy!
The end of a beautiful day on the lake…I love spending time here
I was supposed to leave for the beach tomorrow but Tropical Storm Debby has other plans so hopefully she’ll be gone from the coast area by Wednesday and my BFF and I can head to Gulf Shores!
Today my mama turns 92! I can’t even imagine all the changes she’s seen in her lifetime. My mama is an amazing woman, she never complains and always sees the glass as “half full”…she’s full of life and never has anything bad to say about anyone. She’s so grateful for anything we do for her.
This was taken in the 1940’s….a “glamour shot” if you will!
And this is her with her four children:
From left: Sister Kim (black and white print), her twin brother and the only boy Kelly (in back), me next to Kelly (in gray and white), my sister Betsy in front and seated is mama.
Saturday we will celebrate her birthday at the lake house with 3 of her kids and all the grands and great grands! She loves being with her family and I treasure every minute of every day I have with her.
“When you were small and just a touch away, I covered you with blankets against the cold night air. But now that you are tall and out of reach, I fold my hands and cover you with prayer.”
-Dona Maddux Cooper
A few years ago I bought this bench at auction for something like $25.00…it’s not in the greatest shape, but it fits so perfectly on my porch so I make it work.
It was a faded teak when I got it so I decided a quick fix for me was to paint it. Here’s its first debut with my burlap stenciled pillow that I first shared back in 2009:
These were taken before I started using photo editing programs
I loved the black color because my house is khaki with black shutters so it “went” with my house
Then this past spring I got a wild hair to paint it turquoise. After spending a lot of time and $$ trying to find the perfect color, it ended up like this…..WARNING: EPIC FAILURE AHEAD!
U-G-L-Y!
…but I was not happy with it AT ALL! It looked waaaaay too rainbow bright for me.
Then the other day I was in WM and saw Rustoleum’s Camouflage in Khaki. When I first started spraying the bench, I thought it would be too close to the brick color so I had hubby move it back to the porch to see if it blended in too much. It looked okay so I went ahead and sprayed the whole thing. I love the color and even though the color is VERY close to the brick color, I love how rich it looks. Well, here, see for yourself:
That poor ol’ burlap pillow has been through about 3 seasons so it’s time for me to make a new cover…it’s so faded
The print pillow is an outdoor one I picked up at Target when I was on my turquoise kick….but I still like the pop of color it adds
See that empty wall planter back there? The brutal sun has already killed the flowers in there and a hanging plant on a shepherd’s hook so I’ve got to replace them with something else. I have some faux hydrangea stems I might use in there for now….even with daily watering most of my flowers don’t make it throughout the summer here. The ferns are Kimberly Queens….the only kind I can grow! They do wonderfully here on my covered porch.
On a side note, I’d like to thank EVERY ONE OF YOU that left me a comment about the removal of the Southern Living Idea House photos. It seems that they want to feature the home in their August issue and apparently don’t want to spoil any surprises. However, it would seem to me they’d love any free publicity getting word out about the house and sparking interest in others visiting it. I’ve always loved Southern Living but this has left a bad taste in my mouth and I doubt I’ll ever feel the same about that company. But, what’s done is done and after the magazine comes out, I plan on reposting a lot of the photos. Thank you for your understanding about my “uh oh” moment!
I have been contacted by a copyright person at Southern Living demanding that I remove my photos from my blog of the Southern Living Idea house in Senoia, Georgia. He stated there were signs saying something to the effect of no photographs can be taken. I did not see the sign and specifically asked the person on the front porch where we bought our tickets if I could take pictures, he said to help myself and take all I wanted! Just about everyone there in the house touring it was taking pictures so I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.
So in order to comply with his demand I will be removing both posts today.
I hate to sound disgruntled but I think they need to be a little more clear about their policy…surely I’m not the first person (nor will I be the last) to take photos of their idea houses….and I know I’m not the only blogger posting them!
Remember this trunk in the guest room of the Southern Living Idea house I shared last week? Here it is in case you missed that post….
I was lucky to find that truck at Ikea when we went later that day and happily loaded it in my buggy! At $59.00 I thought it was a great buy and although I didn’t have an exact spot in mind where I’d put it, I subscribe to the notion that you should buy what you love for your home, and you’ll find the perfect spot for it! When I go back to Ikea I’m going to buy another one to use in one of the guest rooms (just as soon as I get it cleaned out – you could call “Hoarders” right now and I’d qualify!!)…..I want to use two twin beds with this truck in between.
Anyhooo, here’s where it landed at my house:
I love it! (I don’t know why my floors look so red…they aren’t red at all). I shopped my house and used things I already had so this new vignette didn’t cost me anything
Love the strap
You can’t really tell but this trunk is huge! It will provide some good storage for me
My nephew sent me these antlers from some of his collection….I love free!
And here are more of those free antlers:
What a busy bee I’ve been…I made a skirt for under my kitchen sink (promise I’ll share) and I’ve repainted my porch bench a gorgeous neutral color. I’ll be sharing both projects in the next week or so.
Next weekend we’re having my mama’s birthday at the lake….she’ll be 92! A lady at her assisted living cottage turned 100 this past week!!! Then I’m leaving on Sunday to spend a week at my BFF’s place at the beach!
Toddles Poodles!
Being a Southern girl, I love anything monogrammed. I think it’s in our blood. So now that I’m retired, I’m eager to finish up some projects that have been left halfway done. I decided to tackle my bathroom first. It’s probably more than 1/2 done but just needs a few finishing touches before I share. Just like in the rest of the house, my bathroom and master bedroom is awash in creamy neutrals. While out shopping yesterday I stopped in one of my favorite monogram shops and found a darling linen towel that I left to have monogrammed. I picked it up today and love how it turned out!
I need to iron the ruffle but I couldn’t wait to hang it up to see how it looked
My shower curtain is a pretty linen curtain panel that works well as a shower curtain (I have a heavy duty liner behind it). I’m adding a cream colored ruffle to the bottom to give it a custom look. That’s the plan anyway
I also want to say a big ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone who left such supportive and encouraging comments on my retirement announcement. I’m still pinching myself about this new change in my life. Today I was able to take care of some personal business and drop by my daughter’s office with lunch for her. I think I’m going to like this retirement thing!
Last week I hinted about some drama going on in my life which was work-related. Due to said drama, I am now officially retired! (Unless I find something part-time I love doing). At this time I can’t go into a lot of detail about the drama (and it’s juicy) but I promise I will at the appropriate time.
Since this is my first week “off” I’m trying to figure out how to fill up the day. So far I’ve been shopping and eating out! But of course, that can’t last forever. I have lots of plans for purging and cleaning my house and working on never-ending projects. Also, I’ll be making a much anticipated trip to the Ikea store in Atlanta soon for my new slipcovered sofa….but I need to sell my old sofa first.
My BFF has a place at the beach and I'm heading down there sometime this month to spend some time with her. I also want to keep the twins once a week….since they turned 8 it seems like they have grown up overnight….it won’t be many more summers they won’t think hanging out with MiMi is fun!
I’ll be taking my mom for our annual visit back to the home place in Lowndes County.
I’ve been planning our meals better and hubby loves having a home cooked meal every night as opposed to us rushing around and eating out.
I plan on starting to walk around the neighborhood early in the morning before it gets too hot….and I want to join a ladies’ Bible study.
As you can see, I have lots of “plans”….I just hope I don’t get too bored not having someplace to go every morning.
Right now I’m off to change sheets and clean bathrooms…..not fun but necessary!
Enjoy the day!!!
Can you relate to this? When I found this on Pinterest and I just had to share….this is s-o-o-o true of my life this week. Lots of drama…will share soon (does not involve anything between me and husband)
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