Corner View - Early

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane and currently curated by Francesca, where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme. If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your Corner View post in the comments at www.fuoriborgo.com, and be sure to visit other participants, too.

Hit the snooze button - I don't want to get up!

I Spy - C

“I Spy” is a weekly appointment - each Monday - created by Lete.  If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your “I Spy” post in the comments at http://www.okiemmym.pl/.

I spy Catnip making Katie the Kitten very happy. (Although his claws look a little scary in this shot.)

Happiness is a day at the beach

I played hooky from work on Friday and headed to Cocoa Beach for the day with my book.  Every day should be a beach day! (Why oh why don't I have a trust fund??)

Corner View - Through the Eyes of a Child

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane and currently curated by Francesca, where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme. If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your Corner View post in the comments at www.fuoriborgo.com, and be sure to visit other participants, too.

  

My children are all furry and four-legged (3 dogs and two kittens).  So, my CV for “Seeing Through the Eyes of a Child" is a literally what one of my dogs sees from his favorite spot in the house.

This is my beautiful and sweet Chip.  He can sit in that chair with his nose between the curtain panels for hours.  (Except when I try to take photo of him...)  He used to prefer watching the front and all the activity of the cars and people.   However, like me, he's slowed down with age and prefers the quiet view onto the back patio.  (I should make a point to clean the glass for him.  Actually, I probably should have done that before posting a photo... There is a screen there as well, so it's not all dirt.) This is the view from his eye level in the chair:

On a somewhat CV-topic-related note, I do have a cute story about one of my neighbor girls, who I'll call "Mia"  for the purpose of the story.  Mia, a frequent visitor at my house, was about 10 years old at the time this happened.    She was visiting and we were having a "grown up" conversation over a cup of tea.  I asked her if she liked carrots and she said she did.  I told her that I have more growing in my backyard than I could ever use and if she wanted to pick some to take home with her, she was welcome.  Her eyes got all wide and she said... "You have a carrot tree in your backyard?"



Muscadines

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.  Wild muscadines grew in the woods behind my childhood house.  The smell always brings back good memories.  So, a couple of years ago, I planted a vine in my backyard.  It fruits wonderfully, but the grapes are much to bitter to eat.  So what to do?

Put them in the dehydrator!

 

I now have lovely and healthy snack.  

If you have excess oranges (which is common in this neck of the woods), I recommend throwing some in the dehydrator as well. They come out like candy.  Even the neighborhood children like the dried oranges.

I Spy "B" - Big Blue Heron

“I Spy” is a weekly appointment - each Monday - created by Lete.  If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your “I Spy” post in the comments at http://www.okiemmym.pl/.

I spy a big blue heron.  Blue herons are my favorite birds.  Even though I've lived in Florida for almost 9 years, I still get excited when I see one near my home.  This one is fishing in the pond behind my house.  

Corner View - Postcard(s)

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane and currently curated by Francesca, where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme. If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your Corner View post in the comments at www.fuoriborgo.com, and be sure to visit other participants too.

If you’ve ever wondered who buys those silly “at night” postcards, now you know – my parents and I do.  We’ve an odd sense of humor… It all started when I was a teenager as a joke.  I don’t remember who bought the first one, but it became a tradition.  This is just a small sampling of my vast collection.  I probably have in excess of two hundred.   I can’t bear to part with them. (I wonder if my parents still have the ones I’ve sent over the years.  I’ll have to ask.)


As silly as these postcards are, I enjoyed re-reading the messages in my mother's tiny neat handwriting with an occasional jot by my father.  It was even fun looking at the addresses and remembering where I was and who I was at the time I received the postcards.

And to brighten things up, some photos for Swig.  When I said my taste is LOUD, I wasn't exaggerating.  Put on your sunglasses! 

Three Day Weekends and a New DIY Mag

I have two three day weekends coming up and this came in the mail today.  Hmmm.  My weekend to do lists may be revised shortly.

AHHHH!

I don't know if I've done something wrong or if blogger.com is having problems, but I have not been able to post comments to any other blogger.com blog. I was even locked out of my own blog for a couple of days.  If anyone has any tips, please HELP!  Thanks.

Corner View - Before and After

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane and currently curated by Francesca, where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme. If you'd like to join in, please leave a link to your Corner View post in the comments at www.fuoriborgo.com, and be sure to visit other participants too.

Before and after.  This is the front door of my home – when I first bought the house 5 years ago and now.    As you can see the entrance was originally neat, organized and beige - not me at all. It is now loud, colorful and a little gaudy – much more like me.  Beyond the after door, is an after house.  When I bought the house, the interior was white and gray  throughout – white walls and doors, gray carpet and cabinets.   It is now full of color – the master bedroom is pepto-pink, the master bath is hot pink, the guest bath is lavender, the office is pale green with red accessories, the sewing room is tangerine.  I even painted the cabinets in the kitchen as I couldn’t afford to replace them – they are no longer white and gray, but yellow, green and blue. 

To me, a home should reflect the personality of its owner and not follow some master decorating rules set by someone else. Over the past couple of years, I’ve had several friends describe my house as a happy house.  That makes me smile.

Plaid and Thistle

I love three day weekends - especially when I am able to reserve one full day for myself at home.  Today was one of those glorious days.  The only time I left the house was early this morning when I took the dogs for a walk.  Once I got back, I took a shower, put on clean pajamas and hit the craft room where I spent the rest of the day sewing and watching movies.  I think that's how EVERY Monday should be spent!

I was fairly productive today.  I made three plaid drawstring bags embellished with cross-stitch thistles, one bag with dragonflies and one striped bag with checked ribbon.  The last bag ended up being too small for its intended use.  (Hmm... perhaps I should have pulled out the measuring tape before I started cutting and sewing?) 

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Friday Night at the Enzian

Last night, I went to my favorite local movie theatre and outdoor bistro.  It was a beautiful night - the first in over a week without rain.  (Not that I'm complaining about the rain - we desperately need it!)  We saw The Tree of Life.  It was visually spectacular, but otherwise I did not care for it.  The story line did not flow well to me.  However, I must be honest I had quite a bit of wine beforehand and perhaps it would have been easier to follow had I abstained...