Spidey Sense

Well we finally got some rain. We really needed it.

Only thing is, the the mosquitoes are worse.

I was outside this afternoon trying to take a few pictures of the crape myrtles.

In between swatting the bugs.

I had Henry outside with me so he could do his business.

He’s such a goof.

The bugger got a wild hair and took off for a little stroll while my back was turned.

He was right there. And then he wasn’t.

I thought he went to the neighbors so I tried to run around the side of the house.

I took off to go look for him and almost ran right into this.

It was ginormous!

It stopped me in my tracks.

Here it is from the other side.

Can you see what is in the middle?

It’s a little hard to see because of the sun.

Here….allow me to enlarge it for you.

GAH!!!

It’s was like something out of a sci-fi movie!

If I had not seen the web when I did….

and I and ran right into it….

oh geez, I would have freaked and died right then and there.

Oh yeah,

#3 son was able to grab goofy.

see ya,

Texture Tuesdays

It’s Texture Tuesday at the Cafe.

Which gave me an excuse to spend the day playing in Photoshop.

Today we're using Kim's texture called Golden.

All textures by Kim Klassen except where noted.

Golden: soft light 31%

Golden: soft light 66%

Sweet Treat soft light 81%

levels adjustment

Stained Linen: Linear Burn 20%

Golden: soft light 50%

Golden: linear burn 28%

Sweet Treat: soft light 64%

Mad Love: multiply 38%

 

Golden: soft light 100% (two layers)

Polaroid: soft light 45% (Shadowhouse texture)

It was a rainy day. No working in the yard today.

Which is what I did all weekend. The front yard is looking better now.

I planted a new hydrangea. My others out front are not blooming and I don’t know why.

So I planted another in hopes of getting some blooms this year.

I also planted some purple coneflowers, zinnias and a yellow one, I can’t think of the name.

We put down a bunch of pine straw too. Did some trimming.

I was filthy the whole weekend. But it felt good to get it finished.

For now.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Any projects completed over at your place?

Half completed? 

Just started?

see ya,

Summer Mantel

Did a little fiddling with the mantel today.

I wanted it to look a bit more summery.

 

Here is what it looked like for Spring.

 

The one day I want to take pictures indoors and it’s cloudy.

We need the rain but didn’t get much at all.

Just dark and gloomy.

Are you making things more summery in your home?

I hope we have good weather this weekend.

You all have a great one!

see ya,

A Fathers Day Blast From the Past

Happy Fathers Day to all the daddy O’s out there.

I thought I’d share some vintage shots of my father and me.

I guess I now can be classified as vintage.

Getting tortured with the hose. Don’t you love that old station wagon?

Here we are over the Christmas holiday. I had a cast on my arm that year.

Let’s take note of some of the items in this shot shall we. 

Let’s start with the space ship like light fixture? You can probably find it on ebay now.

Oh and the phone on the wall. Remember when you were tethered to a wall? With a rotary dial??

There was always a variety of drinks ready for when guests arrived. Oh and the Christmas Panettone. Sort of an Italian fruit cake but not rock like.

Great memories. I love looking at old pictures.

I learned a lot from my father growing up.

My love of gardening came from him. He had the greenest thumb and could grow anything. He had a big vegetable garden and cared for it like another child.

My ability to tinker with and fix thing. That was him. I would call him for help on how to fix something. A tv or vcr. If I couldn’t get it working he’d just laugh and tell me get the hammer and give it a wack.

Maybe that’s where I got my impatience from.

Happy Fathers Day

I miss you.

see ya,

It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere I’m Sure

I did a little research for you guys.

You’re welcome.

Have you heard of this stuff?

Skinny Girl margaritas.

These two little words drew me in.

No, not all natural.

Open and Serve!

Okay, I like all natural too.

 

It’s really very good.

Not like made fresh for you by a hot guy named Eduardo while you lounge on the beach in the Caribbean good.

Close though.

But it is open the bottle and pour good.

And it’s only 100 calories for 4oz.

But lets face it.

Who’s drink is only 4 oz? A half a cup?

Let’s get real.

So really you’re saving a lot of calories.

That’s my logic.

It was created by Bethenny Frankel.

A skinny girl herself.

She’s is one of the Real Housewives of NYC

or at least she was.

I’m pretty sure she’s not on it anymore.

I had no limes to garnish my glass.

So I grabbed a berry off my plant and it gave it a nice pink tint.

I didn’t even wash it.

Nope.

All in the name of research.

Cheers!

disclaimer: These opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way by Skinny Girl. However, if Skinny Girl should see fit to send me additional bottles of their margaritas I would love to continue my research.



see ya,

Garden Progress

My garden is growing. It’s actually producing veggies.

It was sort of haphazardly put together so it is a bit of a shock that it has survived.

It’s just a little patch that hubby put together. We have plans to make a raised bed next time. 

It will keep Henry out and be a bit more organized. 

It's sort of the garden version of my desk right now. I could use some organizing there too. 

The tomatoes are really yummy. I love to make a caprese salad with them. 

I have the basil growing too.

The cucumbers are producing really well. I’ve just started getting a few of these oddly shaped ones. I read that it is from a pollination problem. Not enough going on or something like that. 

I need to find some recipes because I don’t know what to do with them all!

Sugar baby watermelons. They are not ready yet. 

I have never grown melons but I think I have to wait until the tendrils turn brown. 

Has anyone grown these before?

      

 I may have to make some salsa with the peppers and tomatoes.

Goes well with a bottle of Corona on a hot summer day.

I almost yanked out all of the zucchini because of this mildew it had on it. 

But I left 2 and low and behold a tiny zucchini is growing. 

See it right below the flower?

I almost stepped on this little guy. A baby gecko!

Henry loves it outside. He had to get a steroid shot the other day so he is a peeing machine right now. But it helped his itchiness a lot. He’s barking a lot deeper now too. HA!

Hope your gardens are growing well. I know a lot of people are having crazy heat. 

I think we’ll be getting some of it the next few days. 

Stay cool everyone!

Linking up:
Fishtail Cottage: Cottage Flora Thursday

see ya,

Camera Bag Insert

I have been wanting to find a camera bag that doesn’t look like a camera bag. 

You know what I mean? Some look like big coolers, some scream I HAVE A CAMERA IN HERE. 

I just wanted a tote bag really that would hold my stuff.

And I wanted it to be cute. That's important.  

So here is what I came up with.

I needed it for my trip so I put together this insert rather fast. I already had the tote bag. My sewing lines might not be straight and I have a few adjustments I’d like to make but I think it came out rather well.

 

I had the fabric too and just needed some foam and velcro. It’s the iron on velcro. It works really well. Oh and I used some cardboard on the bottom for some stability.

The padded dividers are sewn so they fold down to cover the top. That is part of the adjusting I need to do. They need to be a bit longer I think.

It has pockets all the way around so I can stick my cleaning pen, filter case or lens cap in there.  

This tote has pockets on it’s own so it holds a lot of stuff. That I like.

But I had originally made it to try to use it for this new bag I bought. Isn’t it cute? Very summery. It just didn’t fit right.  Since it closes with a snap and not a zipper it wasn’t staying shut. I need to come up with something smaller for this purse.

I’m sorry I didn’t put together a tutorial. I was doing this at 11:00 the night before my trip! I have got to stop waiting til the last minute! I will put something together for my next one if anyone is interested in it. Otherwise, here is a tutorial I found online that helped me along from LilBlueBoo

I made a few adjustments for what I needed. Like the size, dividers and I didn’t use cardboard all around as I wanted it to conform more to the bag. I didn’t use the spray adhesive because it was so late and I was getting blurry-eyed. I think I will next time.  I thought her instructions were great. Very easy to follow. Thanks Ashley!

ps. The book was a gift from son #3 for Mother's Day. It's full of tons of information and a perfect size to stash in your bag. I have another book by the same author and he explains things so it's easy to understand.
Understanding Photography Field Guide by Bryan Peterson

Linking to:
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday
Freckled Laundry: Air Your Laundry
Funky Junk Interiors: SNS

see ya,

Happy Summer!

That was one fast week! I got back from my trip on Wednesday. I think. The days are just flying by and I’m not sure what day it is. I had a great time visiting the family. Got to hug on my great nephews a bit. I miss my boys being that little and huggable.

The 7 hour drive down to Clearwater was a bit long. It was just me and #3 son. Oh and Henry. We were all there for my niece's graduation. On the way home I drove to my sister’s house in Jacksonville to break it up. Okay, and to play with the little guys a bit more.

 

I’ll share a few pictures of her house that is on the Arlington River. You can read more about it’s history here. It’s the oldest lived in home in Duval county. There are some shots here that my son took a couple of Thanksgivings ago. And some here from another visit I made.

There are some huge old oak trees on the property that are just dripping with Spanish moss. 

The porch ceiling are all painted blue. You can see the front porch that wraps around 3 sides in the other photos. Actually I guess it’s the back. The front is originally the river side as it was the only access to the house.

This is the original well. They found a bunch of neat old bottle down there. The top is screened off so no falling down the well. 

Next visit I will take some indoor shots. There are a few in some of the links. But not enough details.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer breaks. But I guess some of you are just starting with winter! So stay warm. I say that as my AC is running non stop.

I need to get back in the swing of things around here. Lots to catch up on too. My reader is ready to explode. Time to get the paint out. I’m missing the smell and I’m itching for some new colors. What have you been working on?

Linking up to:
A Beach Cottage: Good Life Wednesday

see ya,