Moving right along...sorta

Yesterday, I had such great plans... as I do so many days.  After checking in with everything and playing a couple of rounds of Words with Friends with my niece who is expecting her second baby (a girl this time) and on bed rest.

I haven't been feeling great these days but finally  decided that I would venture out and do a couple of errands.  After getting "dressed" and ready to put on my flip flops, it started thundering...ground rumbling and shaking thunder... and then came the rain!!  No flip flops, no going out.

So I did this instead:

I did hang things before finishing painting.  On the left side wall, I had spray painted LiveLaughLove in aqua.  It covered well but as you can see, it just fades away on the wall.  I'll repaint it and the frames white.

I put the electric blanket (plaid) away in the seagrass trunk (not truck!) as well as a quilt and a Nate Berkus blanket.

I want to recover the couch with duck cloth or a simple drop cloth.  I need to measure.  I want to recover the 4 big, back pillows of the couch with the following material... 2 and 2...

I'd love to re-do the whole couch with this...
but for now... 2 big pillows will do.
Tidepool

and 2 pillows of this...
Seagrass

 But when I just went looking for it, it is out of stock.

Just my luck!!  Back to the drawing board.

This is the idea for the sofa cover and wing back chair.
Annabellea drop cloth sofa; here.

Today looks like more of the same...

Southeast Corner Garden Plan - Lowe's Creative Ideas

Southeast Corner Garden Plan - Lowe's Creative Ideas
To create this bed, place a stake at the inside corner of the existing bed and attach a string to it. Stretch the string to one corner. Then swing the taut string across the lawn to the other corner, and mark this arc with spray paint. The result is a deeper bed with a gentle curve. Remove sod, build the edging, and prepare the area with garden soil, compost and soil conditioner.

Remember, tropical plants start small but grow fast in rich soil accompanied by moisture, heat and humidity. Zinnias and sunflowers last longer if you cut the flowers often. When the plants start looking tired, pull them out and replant them for a second round.

PLANT LIST

A) Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum)

B) ‘Lemon Queen’ sunflowers (Helianthus anuus)

C) Ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium)

D) Zinnias

E) Sweet basil

F) Variegated creeping lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus ‘Variegata’)

G) ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard

LOWE'S

While this is a great idea, I have to figure out how to do this on my southeast side but on the northeast side is a perfect corner just like this that I could do something with.

Stay tuned while I figure out what to do where as the journey continues...

Explore further...

Usually I notice exterior doors more than interior doors.  That could simply be that walking or driving by, that's what you see and either it invites you in or not.  I like older doors.  I understand that doors are now made of different materials to withstand the different elements of weather but I don't find that they now have the charm of older doors.  I don't know why they can't design them to look that way.  If you look at doors, especially from a time gone by, there is such charm...the wood, the patina, the hardware!  Some hardware is so ornate but when you actually look at it and it's detail, you have to admire the craftsmanship.

My front and back doors seem to be heavy-ish but hollow with a plastic kind of board over the inside and outside, with a rough surface.  They each have a little widow but you can't see through the yellow plastic rectangle on the front door!  I also have a storm door on the front that has probably been here since 1972!   I love wood screened doors too and would love to find one that fits.  I one I have has been screwed and stripped so I can't get the screws out to replace the screen!  It bugs me so (pun intended) that besides not keeping bugs out, it is no longer serving it's purpose, that I keep thinking about just taking it down.

These days, I am totally attracted to yellow painted wood screen doors with the cottage trim and barn doors, with fabulous black heavy hardware.  I saw a wonderful castle looking door that I'd love for my kitchen but the closest door, the front door, is in the living room. I did think of a barn style slider but that's out of the question right now. Anything extra, is on hold, if it's not a quick, cheap, DIY!  This is the part of the budget where I try to work with what I have.


These are just an example of what is tickling my fancy!

Bath room door from a NH sheep barn.

I love barn doors and I was thinking I could put those thin pieces of wood over the actual door and add hardware to it... more like the white one below.

 A great pocket door but no real reference to its original source.

I just love the pocket door above and all pocket doors.

I like this one for my bedroom room, which is at the end of the hall.  I don't kno what color I'm painting the hall yet but I'd paint this to match.  I think the mirror will bounce more light and hopefully make the hallway wider.

And the screen door that makes me drool can be found here:



Until next time...

Make Your Southeast Garden Sustainable - Lowe's Creative Ideas

I am always looking for information about gardening here.  Even the difference between here and Vero Beach leaves me scratching my head sometimes, but totally different from Long Island, NY.  I am trying to slowly but surely get 'native' plants going and growing here.  I used to do better with containers but the ones I have, I've been trying to get into the ground.





Make Your Southeast Garden Sustainable - Lowe's Creative Ideas


We’d all like to have a more sustainable garden as long as it doesn’t require more time, energy, strength, or money. Here are some ways to make your sustainable garden an enduring one.

Tip 1: Water Wisdom

While I have the best intentions of installing an efficient drip-irrigation system, I haven’t gotten beyond a leaky pipe and a sprinkler. However, I learned a lot a few years ago when watering was restricted due to drought.

• My garden needs less water than I previously thought to survive and grow. I try to group drought-tolerant plants to create areas that seldom need water.
• Watering well once (or twice if the soil is sandy) each week is better than a little bit every day.
• Reducing the water pressure to the sprinkler increases the droplet size and reduces the mist that usually evaporates.
• Watering in the early morning means plants are ready for the heat of the day with minimal evaporation.

Tip 2: Lawn Insights

• Raise the cutting height in summer to prevent the lawn from drying out.
• Use a reel mower for exercise and freedom from noise, fumes, and trips to the gas station.
• Fertilize only enough to support healthy grass, not excessive growth.

Tip 3: Tool Rules

• Buy tools that fit your hands, your height, and your needs.
• Sharpen all blades, including shovels and hoes.
• Use the right tool for the task; for example, use loppers rather than hand shears for a limb larger than your thumb.
• Buy well-made tools for long-term savings and enjoyment.

Tip 4: Good Ideas

• If you have a tree removed, recycle the wood chips for garden paths.
• Compost the easy way by burying non-meat kitchen scraps in empty garden beds.

Tip 5: Go Native

• Often the diehard plants are those that are nature’s gift. Blue phlox reseeds itself in my garden.
• Look to nature for well-adapted plants in problem areas. In a dry bed, eared coreopsis, moss verbena, and bird’s foot violet bloom without care. In a wet zone, sweet bay magnolia, Virginia sweetspire, and swamp hibiscus are thriving.

Really, a sustainable garden is one that belongs to a smart gardener — one who wastes little and uses everything. Have you found ways to be a smart gardener?

Be free in your spirit always...

In a recent morning devotional I read a line that hit me between the eyes. It said: Be free in your spirit always…do not waste your time attaching yourself to hurt and pain. (Joan Anderson)

It has taken me a very long while to be able to say, 'I will not dwell in the past, nor will I waste my time being attached to the hurt and pain.' 

Today is one of those days that my mind wonders and wanders but I am OK.  I was married at 21. My son was born 3 years later.  I remember that day well - like it was yesterday.  He was a cutie.  Six months later his Dad and I separated.  There is so much more to the story, of course, but today is my son's birthday.

1981 My First Mother's Day

As any other mother, that was not given that manual at the hospital or later with the divorce, I made a shit load of mistakes BUT did the best I could with everything I knew, and everything I had, to do the best I could.  To anyone out there: follow your heart.  I was a single parent most of his first 18 years.

During the end of my second marriage, he went to live with his Dad.  From that point, our relationship went down hill.  I always prayed that time was on my side and it would turn around but 12 years later, it hasn't.

I've always been a big card sender.  So in the beginning I'd send a card every Hallmark holiday and then every birthday and Christmas.  In the beginning, I still shopped on birthdays and Christmas.  Then it just became a Christmas ornament.  Every move I made, these wrapped gifts (got boxed up) came along with me.  Every card I sent went unacknowledged.  There were not cards, gifts or even a call to me for my birthday or holidays.

As I started this journey, and started to clean out the shed, I came across these plastic storage bins of unopened wrapped gifts I'd been holding on to for 12 years!

2000 Mother's Day

KEY WORD: holding on!  It is with great sadness, today, I am acknowledging that I must and am letting go. 

From things I hear, I don't know him anymore.  I am not around so it is easy to blame, distort and live in a place of hurt and pain.  But that is not a healthy place for me... I have to set my spirit free.  Moments out of my control are talked about with dates, times and people like it just happened.  Things where I came through are forgotten but that's OK, I did what I could as a mother.  It was my job.

So.... today:
 I wish my son a very Happy Birthday.  I wish him a good life and pray that life is good to him.  "I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living My baby you'll be." (Robert Munsch)

love ya




meanwhile:

I am that which has emerged from the fire.

A Year by the Sea ~ Joan Anderson

There are people, places and things that can some how grip your soul.  They somehow reach in and you have one 'a-ha' moment after another.  It helps too if you are open and willing to see yourself and take a chance to move forward.  I was at that time in my life and my journey had just taken a zig instead of a zag and I was so searching... who the heck am I going to be when I grow up? who the heck am I? what am I going to do?

Do you know what I mean?  Joan did!!  And she wrote about it in the book: A Year by the Sea!

I first wrote about her books here.  I guess I needed a refresher!

~ ~

A Year by the Sea ~ Joan Anderson

Overview:

A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman gradually evolved. I didn’t run away to write a book. I was too brain dead to do that. I ran away to get rid of the clutter in my life and listen to what my heart was trying to tell me. My two sons were out of the nest, my husband was pursuing his dreams, and I needed to ask myself some hard questions without relying on the input of others. So I retreated to our Cape Cod cottage (off season) and gradually-- as I walked the beaches, ran into a fascinating mentor, and took a job in a fish market--came up with some unconventional answers for a new life.

It was when my best friends came to visit me and saw how different I was from the person that left them behind that they wanted me to tell them just what I had done to change. With their encouragement I began to retrace my steps and put my thoughts on paper. Several years later my first book, A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman was published.

After 36 rejects and 10 rewrites the book met with tremendous success. Women write to me from all over the world asking, “How did you know what was in my head?” The connection with these women has been more of a reward than I had ever imagined.

Praise for A Year by the Sea
"In this accessible memoir Anderson shares the joy and self-knowledge she found during her time spent in semi-isolation. Through vivid and meticulous observations about the natural world, Anderson makes clear her strong affinity for the ocean, with its changing tides, subtle colors, and burgeoning life."
—Publishers Weekly

"Curling up with this autobiography will refresh readers’ souls and adjust their attitudes. During her year-long separation from family she was able to reestablish her connection to nature and discover new hope. She swam with seals, ran a mini-marathon, worked in a fish market, and earned extra income clamming—activities that gave her the opportunity to shed her image as a family nurturer and allowed her to grow as an independent woman. Anderson’s story reminds readers not to overlook their personal needs. This is a good choice for discussion and a companion piece to Anne Lindberghs’s classic Gift from the Sea."
—Library Journal

If I had to sum it up, it would be more in line with that of the Library Journal.  I lost my job due to the company's bankruptcy in 2008 and wound up disabled due to a work related injury.  I moved basically because of a choice of no other.  I was wrapped up in NOW WHAT'S like an old blanket that I couldn't get out of.  I took this journey with Joan...as her uncertainty lifted, so did mine. I could totally relate as I read her story.  I listened, I laughed, I cried and the end of the book left me wanting more.  Luckily, she has written more. 

I am so appreciative of the sign she left in the fork in the road... the journey continues.

Working on A Wall...

I'm working on a wall...in my living room.  It's been a stormy weekend, so I am putsing around the house from one thing to another.  So this is my inspiration:  Casual Beach Inspired Living Room see this link for before and after photos of the living room below.  There are so many details to see which I love and I love the casual-ness of it.

I am liking the use of letters, IE:  SEA on a photo wall, on a shelf, stencilled on walls and/or pillows, etc.  It's an easy enough up-date.  I can't find it but I saw a gallery wall that had painted letters, NY, among pictures.  I can't remember where "she" was living but she was from New York, and the pictures were of favorite places and people in New York.   I thought it was a wonderful idea and decided to do something similar.  I decided on the letters:  NYC and KSC... they are the same number of letters and I am obsessed with the grounds of Kennedy Space Center and it's Wildlife Refuge.

Here's my wall:

some photos I'm thinking of using

I am painting the letters.  I stained them, but they match the wall too closely, so I am painting over with white and then I will sand some edges.  Easy enough.  One side I will put some NY beach pictures and on the other Florida beach pictures...and the shuttle fly over Patrick's AFB (good-bye) and Statute of Liberty (hello). 

"N" at top of picture fades away

stained, now painting white

I want to give a white coat of paint over the brown wood frame and 2 black shelves for under the picture. 

the way I'm thinking of laying it out

I'm looking forward to pulling it together!  My living room, my journey in pictures, one wall at a time.

Official Start of Summer

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe weekend.  I hope everyone that began their summer with a storm, made it through to sunnier skies this morning.




Coastal Living Magazine has a list of  99 Days of Summer  to live the coastal way.  I am all about lists and started mine on May 1st.  You can check it out here.

Mistake! My attempt at a Decorative Twine Ball...

There are always things that look easy but when I actually do them, they just don't seem to come out right.  Here is one for the record book!

This was going to be so simple!  All I needed was balloons, twine, and white glue and water.  Don't let anyone tell you that it isn't messy... it is very messy!

Follow the directions HERE 

You will want to.

 

not exactly what I wanted...

I didn't exactly pay attention to the directions.  And it was my first time, so what did I know....

• first, I didn't use as much twine as most of the pictures I'd seen;  I don't think that matters;
• to keep the dripping mess to a minimum inside, I clipped them to a bamboo and left them to dry OUTSIDE; that may have mattered;
• I forgot about them till the next day; that could have mattered;
• and this is what I found - a hard jumble @!#!?

I'm not sure whether it was the wind, the air coming out of the balloons, or what but that's what they looked like.  I didn't know what to do so I left them there and after the rain, there was a puddle of white glue and water and straight twine attached to the deflated balloon!

Do as I say, not as I do!!  Follow the directions above - let them dry on a plate or waxed paper.

Do over!

Just a quick post - from inspiration to reality

I am in love with Pinterest... as many of you may be.  You can check out my boards here .


While looking around today and not finding what I was looking for, I did come across something I did like:

Beach Themed Living Room

And from there, I went here: Using Inspiration Photos to Create your Home's Best Look
That's how I get lost; one click to another; read; click and so on.  Without repeating the whole article, I hope you'll read it if you find lots of inspiration but get stuck on how to implement it.

Their 5 Step approach:

1. Break down each imagine...what draws you in.
2. Now that you know what you like, create a mood board.
3. Go shopping with your board; bring real fabrics and paint samples.
4. Put your spin on it...
5. Don't be afraid  to edit.

When I was re-doing my kitchen on Long Island, it was basically from scratch and I wanted to bring in things and the feel of Prague.  I carried around paint samples, cabinet piece for color, paint samples, napkins, curtain valance, tile... each time I added something to the kitchen I added it to my collection so when shopping, I could easily see if it would match.  Even when I thought so, I'd take it home and lay the things out (in the kitchen light) and see if it still matched... Don't take the tags off or throw away packages until you are absolutely sure.  And even then hold on till you have lived with it a while.  One of those recycle shopping bags are good for carrying these things around and easy to grab to go out the door, (many times I left it in the car for shopping).


I painted that kitchen yellow, walls and ceiling and never got over how happy and bright that kitchen was.  I had to paint this kitchen yellow too.  This time, the ceiling and walls and cabinets are a pale yellow, while the cabinet doors are a brighter yellow.  And I am trying to work around things that I have and "put my spin on it".  See my kitchen ideas.

What I am doing now with my living room is burning that Living Room into my brain and putting my spin on it BEFORE going shopping, and will edit as I put it together.  I'm not sure why exactly but I am working in sections.  (Maybe it has something to do with clutter I create due to lack of room and my disability to move what needs to be moved.)  Right now, I have 3 walls painted a brighter aqua color...the ceiling will be the same pale yellow as the kitchen ( they run into each other).  I keep playing (in my head) with the 4th wall.  There is a break-thru on the wall between the living room and kitchen; so I go over whether to just paint the wall the aqua or the lower half aqua and the top yellow or all yellow.  I'll figure it out, meanwhile, I'll keep working on painting wall accessories from black to white (frames, shelves).

Stay tuned as I go along on this journey.
~pat

Practical Tips for Productive Living

Marc and Angel Hack Life - Practical Tips for Productive Living:

From time to time people ask me how I hold my head up so high after all I've been through, and I always tell them the same thing:  

“It's because no matter what, I am a survivor, not a victim.”

Never let go of hope. Remember what you deserve and keep pushing forward. Someday all the pieces will come together. Unimaginably good things will transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated. And you will look back at the times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself,

“How did I get through all of that?”

- via:  Marc and Angel Hack Life

I can, now, relate to this so much!  I remember being told I was a survivor way before I believed it myself.  My mother told me that I came from a stock of strong women, and thinking:

"what the hell does she know?!"

Well, it takes one to know one.  SHE is a survivor!  And there are those that don't even realize it. 

I just called her... I asked her who she sees when she looks in the mirror?  She sees her mother (my grandmother).  I told her, I didn't now what coma I just woke up out of or when it happened but this morning, I was looking in the mirror and looking became staring because I didn't see "me"  I was staring at her!  She use to tell me I look like my father, BUT somewhere along the way I look just like my mother!!  That is NOT a bad thing, just surprised me.

Not what I was looking for but I posted this to Mom's wall with "Thank you!"  Destiny's Child - Survivor

and Christina Aguilera - Fighter

and I wish they all knew my mother or had a mother that kept them from the edge so they would believe they are Fukin' Perfect - (Pink).


It is so good to know not to ever give up hope and things do get better... not how you planned BUT better!

Love ya Mom...have a great weekend!

My Memorial Day Weekend

I just want to take this time to thank all our military, past, present and future, and their families for their service and sacrifice so you and I may continue to live in a free country.  My Great-Uncle Joe was killed by a sniper during World War 2, after getting his men to safety.  My mother says that you don't know what it does to a family unless you live it.  After being killed-in-action, you are never the same.  All gave soon, some gave all.



RIP Uncle Joe
January 15, 1918 NYC;
October 3, 1944 St. Antonis-Overloon, Holland



So much about inside the military is unspoken in all generations, but what each solider lives through, we must not forget their sacrifice for our lives. There are things we just shouldn't take for granted.



Above is this week-end's forecast...my friend, Brenda, in Texas, posted this to my FB page.  I am in the cone of the path.  It has been windy here and with gusts from the northeast.  Yesterday while I was spray painting, I did it in a corner with the drop cloth trying to block the breeze.

We didn't have a winter here; our winter, so to speak, was very mild and warmer than usual.  Our winter was more like our (normal-ish) spring and spring has been more like summer!  Having had gotten used to the weather pattern, our winters are usually by New York standards are a wonderful spring or fall time (depending on which way the wind blows- north, chillier, and south- warmer)  The air conditioners are off, windows open and really great sleeping weather!   I have been lucky since I moved to Florida.  With the exception of Tropical Storm Fay, where I am sure it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, when I lived in Vero Beach, there haven't been any major hurricane hits here. 

so began my understanding that rain alone could disrupt your days

and my fascination with clouds.

But this year has been different ... too hot, too soon, too long, keeps the water temperatures up.  That is one of the factors that make good TS travelling and feeding.  Hurricane Season starts June 1st and runs through November, and I think we are up to the 3rd named storm.   So this weekend, I will be keeping an eye on the weather!

Today's advisory for Brevard County is:

Hurricane Statement

Gusty Winds And Squalls Expected From Beryl Sunday Night ...Precautionary/Preparedness Actions... Precautionary/Preparedness Actions... Persons Should Check Outdoors Today For Loose Items And Secure Them Or Bring Them Indoors As They May Be Tossed About By Gusty Winds Starting Sunday Afternoon. Take Advantage Of This Opportunity To Review Your Hurricane Disaster Plan And Evaluate Your State Of Readiness For This Season. If You Do Not Have A Plan...Make One.

You can check Central Florida here.

Sightseeing in my own town...

Downtown, NYC

I find it amazing how much you neglect when you are born and raised in one place and all the things you missed and miss once you've moved.  My sister has lived in Manhattan since she graduated college.  One particular evening, we were walking from her apartment on West Street to the South Street Seaport. I think she knows it  the streets BETTER than the back of her hand!  As we walked and zig and zagged, I was completely taken by the architecture of lower Manhattan and the ages of some of the buildings.  I was so sorry I wasn't carrying my camera and playing tourist.  At that time, I walked the NYC pace which is not slow enough anyway.  (These days I have no choice but to walk slow. 

This is something I didn't do as much, if at all, before I moved to Florida.  But, not on a schedule, no where to be by a certain time, living on beach time, gives me the opportunity to just drive leisurely along and stop when something grabs my attention.  There are still places I want to check out more closely and take pictures, so there's always more to come. 


In the meantime, as much as I can't stand moving, I became okay about the move to Titusville. I was going to be right THERE when shuttles launched!  No more driving an hour to see it and more than hour back (traffic is unbelievable).  I had just moved in and was out trying to find the insurance office and went right past it and wound up on this road under construction and found a spot to pull over.  To my amazement, I was across the river from Kennedy Space Center and was staring at the Vehicle Assembly Building!

It excites me to drive down there.  I find the drive invigorating...

To get there, I still drive east over the railroad tracks where an old train station has been converted for businesses but the inside of the insurance company is still in old decor.  It's funny but you hear the swinging doors and expect an old cowboy to come by, spurs a clicking...do spurs click or do they clack??  anyway...

Instead of turning south to the historic part of town, I continue east and over the Indian River on the new Max Brewer Bridge.  On the other side, to the left and to the right there are cars and trucks pulled over on the side, fishing and sail surfing and para-sailing... I've always said some day I am just going to hang out here and watch.

I am now on Canaveral National Seashore/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and NASA property.  I'm on the north side of what you would know as Kennedy Space Center.  As I continue to drive, if there is anyone behind me, they are passing me.  I just love the drive and I'm constantly looking back and forth to see what I can see.  Usually a hawk or a vulture for sure.  I pass the Refuge Center.  It's a great place for a walk or just to get maps and information for walking and sighting and/or  a guided drive it yourself ride... that's pretty neat.

But as I get further east, I have to stop at a security booth and show my pass, or you could pay an entrance fee.  Soon we come to these little labeled pull over spots.

There's a sign that tells you about the area;
plants, animals...

This is the first parking lot.
There was a shuttle on both launch pads.

From the Indian River
cell phone

It was a very sad day for the finial launches and then again when Enterprise was loaded on top of the jet to fly to New York and Discovery to Washington, DC.

Photo Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Enterprise (left) and Discovery at KSC

Photo Credit:  NASA's KSC
Discovery's arrival to Washington, DC

Photo Credit:  NASA's KSC
Enterprise's arrival to New York