Bad For Sale Pictures

Now for a completely different chair. 

 This was on Facebook Market Place.  They are asking $50.  You can come to your own conclusions.  

Hell's Kitchen

I took a little trip Saturday to see Ann and Matt and to use Mitchell's season ticket for a Broadway show at the Tanger Center.  

On the way, I stopped at a mid century modern store.  They specialize in refinishing and reupholstering mid century furniture.   I had seen this style chair on another site several years ago and had been looking for it ever since.  It is very comfortable and would go great with the leather and chrome sofa I have.  Only, I have rearranged the living room and am happy with the current layout.  Plus, the chair was $2250 as is and $3000 if reupholstered.  A little out of the thrift store price range I was wanting.  

I also saw this coffee table size stereo cabinet.  I have not seen one this height before.  I made me consider the possibility of having something like this under my new gallery wall instead of a bench.  It is definitely something to think about since I do have a pretty good record collection.  

Then it was onto the show, after a nice seafood dinner.  

According to Google,  

Hell's Kitchen is a Broadway musical by Alicia Keys, with a book by Kristoffer Diaz, inspired by Keys's life growing up in 1990's Manhattan, featuring her music, a coming-of-age story about a teen named Ali finding her voice, and a mother-daughter relationship at its core. 

No pictures were allowed during the show.  But I did snap one at the end. 

My review, the story was ok, the music was good, the singing talent was great, the dancing was a lot of jumping and arm waving.  Overall, it was an enjoyable evening.  Thank you Mitchell for the ticket and place to stay, and  thank you Ann for everything else. 

 

Horses And Goats

There has been a lot going on recently. Having Otoelene’s shoes reset was at the bottom of the list. She was over 3 weeks past due and had lost a shoe.  

I finally got her scheduled and new shoes put on Friday morning. I was even able to ride her that afternoon.  

Friday evening Joe and I went out to feed the dogs.  Joe was carrying a salt bucket and all the goats acted like they hadn’t had salt in months.  

They swarmed the salt tub for about 30 seconds then went straight back to grazing.  Goats are funny that way. 

 

First Daffodil

It only took a little over a week of being inside before it bloomed. 

 I think I will bring a pot in every week until they start booming outside.  I really like this blooming extension. 

Evolution Of The Gallery Wall

A month ago I asked chatGPT to recommend a design update for this wall in my living room. 

Because I am using the free version, I am limited to how many pictures I can download and questions I can ask in a 24 hour period.  There was a lot to work through so it took some time.  Plus, every time I asked for it to mock up an image, it would change a major unchangeable item. 

These were the pictures I started with. 

I spent a lot of time working on different layouts. 

I streamlined the room and started with a blank slate on the wall. 

After asking real life people, I changed the layout again. 

There was lots of measuring and contemplating.  And maybe a few extra holes in the wall. 

But I finally finished it. I asked chatGPT to evaluate it. 

It wants me to raise it up 4 more inches (even though it recommended earlier to start it 6-8 inches lower),remove the horse brasses (lower right) and somehow tighten it up even more.

Joe said he liked it. I will take his opinion over chatGPT any day.   Now I get to look for an interesting mid century bench to replace the chest. 

Five Unfinished Projects

I have been working on a bunch of things but haven’t finished any of them yet. So I will just share my unfinished projects today. 

I decided to extend my back patio. In order to do that, I needed to move this spirea bush. 

But after I finally got it out of the ground I realized I didn’t really have a good spot to move it to.  I asked Virginia if she wanted it.  She did, but Mike hasn’t been over to get it yet. 

I took advantage of the warm spell to prune the grape vine. 

Every year I say I will prune it harder. I think I finally accomplished it this year. 

Now I need to take the vines and reinforce my vine globes.  

I also have been planning a gallery wall for the living room. I have asked chatGPT for help, taped up paper on the wall in the size of the pictures, laid the pictures out on the floor and most recently, cut out 1/4 scale patterns to make it easier to come up it an arrangement. I am sort of liking this setup.  But I need to frame so of the art first. 

I got this at a thrift store. I have taken it apart, added a strip of wood to the back to make it deeper, attached some fabric to a board and made spacers for between the mat and the fabric. Now I just need to attach the objects that I am framing to the fabric. 

And anyone that owns a horse knows it is a never ending project. 

 

Wascally Wabbit

Since the weather has taken a change for the better, I thought it would be nice to walk around the yard and evaluate what needed to be done this Spring.  

Since the blackberry vines have a fungus, I had considered pulling them all up.  I decided to give them one more try.  But when I checked them, it looks like a rabbit has been gnawing on the stems.  I am certain that this will not help their recovery.  I will probably be pulling them up anyway.  

Then I noticed that the rabbits have been pruning my holly bush.  This was not the shape that I was going for.  But I guess it is the shape I now have to work with.  If only I had Elmer Fudd to shoot that wascally wabbit.  
 

Flower Craft

In my last post I failed to tell what the craft was. 

We used an old calendar, cupcake papers, gems, paint, popsicles sticks, construction paper, markers,  scissors and glue. 

 Allie and Sadie each made one. Allie wanted to go play then but Sadie made a second one. She wanted to take them home. They are now on Virginia’s refrigerator. 

Saturday Funday

Sadie and Allie have not been able to spend much time at our house recently.  Yesterday, Virginia said since the weather was supposed to be warmer the girls wanted to come over and ride Clyde. That was speaking my language. 

Clyde was such a good boy as always. 

And Sadie was in a great mood all day. She even let Allie go first and lead her around.  When it was her turn Sadie trotted so much I never had a chance to take a picture. 

After putting Clyde up Sadie and Allie still wanted to play outside since it was so nice. 

There was swinging, trike riding and basketball. 

Sadie practiced and practiced, 

Allie wasn’t far behind. 

 And what’s a Funday without a craft!  Saturday was definitely a Funday!

New Life

The snow is finally mostly gone. After 2 weeks  with temperatures staying below freezing, I was a little worried about the bulbs that I had planted in pots and wintered outside. 

But no worries, it looks like they are popping up out of the shredded leaves that I had covered them with.  I think I will bring one of the pots inside to speed up the blooming so I can enjoy them sooner  and maybe stretch out the season longer. 

A Beautiful Life

 I said goodbye to my mother Wednesday morning.  She was an amazing women.  I will never be able to put into words all that she meant to me and my family.  Virginia wrote a beautiful poem about her. 

In the Blink of an Eye

In the blink of an eye, the kids are all grown.

In the blink of an eye, they’ve all left home.

No more dishes to wash, meals to cook, or laundry to fold.

Before I knew it, I realized I was getting old.

Growing old is a privilege - so they say.

I’m getting used to it more and more each day.

In the blink of an eye, I have wrinkles and gray hair.

But it also comes with wisdom that I can share.

True wealth isn’t about riches or things.

It’s about having family and peace through whatever life brings.

I’ve endured loss and many years of pain.

But I wasn’t alone - I had my faith and family to keep me sane.

I’ve been blessed to be a ‘Mama’, ‘Grandma’, and ‘Gigi’.

I have multiple generations who look up to me.

In the blink of an eye, my life here is done.

Don’t worry about me, I’m on my way home.

I have lots of loved ones up there who have been waiting for me.

From all of my pain I’m finally set free.

I’m passing the torch now to the next generation.

I hope you’ll stay in touch with each other, no matter your location.

Treat others with respect and stay true to your core.

In the blink of an eye, we’ll be together once more.

I have been struggling with what to say on this blog about her. Or whether to even share her death. But since this is mostly a journal for me, I decided to try.

But what do you say about someone you knew your entire life and who knew you better than anyone. So much of our life is just about us that we lose sight of the people that are most important. They are just someone that is always there, until they are not. As an infant, Mama was the caregiver.

She did the laundry, cooked the meals, did the housework, bought our clothes, all the endless tasks that a mother does. As I grew, she was the chauffeur to school activates, 4-H meetings, gymnastics practice, doctor, dentist and orthodontist appointments.

And she didn't just take care of us, she took care of the entire town through her 32 years on the town council.

When we were children, my father, who was 13 years older than Mama, would introduce her as one of his children.

I know it was just my father being funny, but as a child, when you think your parents are an embarrassment, I was mortified. She was my mother, how could anyone mistake her for my sister.

But in the pictures we looked through for the funeral, I saw someone different.

I saw her for the person she was, not just my mother.

She was beautiful in every way. I also found that there are not enough pictures. Do you take a picture of the person doing the laundry, buying the groceries, driving you to practice?

No, we take pictures of scenery, tourist attractions, wildlife, nature.

It is so easy to overlook what should be the more important focus.

She was an incredible Mama,

Grandma

and Gigi.

But I wish I knew her more as Frances.