Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Some of This and That and the Skunk

Hello there, well here it is ending sort of July.    We had a dab of rain today maybe 2 tenths of an inch but will take it any day.    Some days we have the dog doldrums and just plod along in the Summer but we always seem to have little projects beside our regular doings in the Summer.    Our little surprise project is almost finished and can show you soon.   Here is a tad of things that was going on last week.

When we went to the parade of homes in June and there were lots of end of bed things and I thought I can do that.   So here it is.  I used some of the blue silk for the base and then had the pretty embellished silk and used it for the top, added gimp and lots of beaded trim and happen to have some pretty pins with lots of bling so added those.   I think it weighs maybe a ton or close to it but keeps the feet nice and toasty warm.  One we saw at the parade of homes was leopard fur with pins but no leopards for us.  It may be finished not sure.   I took it off of the bed and we thought it looked blah now without it.  

 
Here it is with the "Queen" pillow as we call it and some of the same silk on the pillow as on the end of bed doodad.    Now we only have 12 things to put on the bed every morning.   The good thing is though that we do leave the end of bed doodad on there.   That thing isn't going to budge.  I used an old comforter for the inside and thinking now maybe just  some of the polyester stuffing but who knows it may get replaced yet.   Probably not though. 
 
 
 
Now me and my doings,   I  was thinking we have two very comfy chairs and ottomans we happen to use every night while watching the Texas Rangers play and I thought they need to be spiffed up big time.  They are to good to chunk and I have never really made slipcovers for chairs.  So we got online and found a company with fabric we liked.  Well the first fabric was for outdoors and the lady said it might not wear as good as we would want.  She and I looked together on the computer and she said you know you might light this.  Well I loved it,  I just flopped the fabric  on the chair to see what it looked like and I love it and so does Hubby.  That is good enough for us.  Just needed something to add some cheer and life in there.   I went to JoAnn's, love that place, and bought 12 yards of muslin and am going to make a pattern first before I order the rest of the fabric.  The lady at JoAnn's said if I could make wedding gowns this is a piece of cake.  I will let you know while I am doing it.  Pictures to and may or may not pull my hair out.  Shouldn't be to bad if I take my time.  
 
Our living room rug, over the wood floors, is the cranberry color here and the turquoise is scattered around.  I did buy a new yellow and turquoise rug for the kitchen dining area.   Ya gotta wait for that one though.   Now I have to redo the chairs around the table, see?   Another project.

 
 
Next, the other morning when we were sitting outside the sun was shining here I love it.  One Bougainvillea is blooming it's heart out and the other one it trying.  We have several more scattered around the patio.  

 
 Just a couple of pics of some the West Texas greenery we have right now.   I am thinking the Croton will come in the sunroom when it gets colder.  We have one pot with three of them in it and then a watering can we painted turquoise with one croton in it.   We have some Hibiscus also but the tree one died. It was probably 10 years old but bit the dust this spring so just have a baby one now.  



One of the Mandavella  blooms, not sure of this one spelling but spell check wouldn't play with me so it is my spelling.   They are so pretty and love the heat and sun so heat and sun it gets.  We have tried to over winter them but the mealy bugs seem to invade them so they will be frozen little popsicles this winter.   




Now I did mention a skunk.   Our sweet Libby protects us at night and during the day from Dragons disguised as trash trucks and the coyotes that go down the alley, yep they really do run down the alley at night.   We heard Libby and thought ok she is protecting us.  Well she really was. 

Eldon is usually the early riser, I am not !!!!!   He said he opened the sunroom door and he knew instantly what it was-----Peppy  La Pew had been in the back yard.   Oh what a fragrance only to be loved by another skunk.   Do you remember a couple of years ago that Jewel and Libby got sprayed and we let them in the house before we realized it ?   Oh my what a smell.   Well we ran down to Pet's Mart and got some de skunk concoction and gave this baby a bath.  Last time we used peroxide and baking soda which worked well.   Libby's skin is so sensitive we thought this Pets Mart concoction might be better for her.  It was but we didn't put it on her snout and around her eyes.  They still smell like Peppy.  I have some cloths that I soak in baking soda and wipe the snout and the hair around the ears and hope that helps.  

Here she is tired after the bath but she is pretty and white again.  She is a protector for sure.   Good Libby.   Oh she is part Australian Shepard and Brittany .     Smart as a whip and is getting over our sweet Jewel going to Heaven.  For any that are worried she is very up on her Rabies shots 
 
 
 
There you go what has been happening in our world this week.  Thanks for stopping by and checking in to see.   
 
 
XOOXOX
 
Annette
   

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Miz Lazy Bones and CQing

Ok, now what is up Miz Lazy Bones Annette?   My goodness I thought-- oh my I haven't blogged and I know it is summer and we get so busy doing things and little projects before it gets so rip blazing hot outside.  Sometimes Hubby and I think why do we give ourselves so many projects?  We are retired and thought we were relaxed retired.   Right now he is in the back garage/shop finishing a little project for me.   This one was a total accident.  A great one and will have pics of it soon.  I know when some see it you will say what is she thinking ?  BUT no one will see it except y'all and us.   Can't wait to show you, a happy accident I guess you would say.

Now we ordered some Adirondack chairs on line.  We looked at some sort of like them and they were $499 each.  I thought I don't want to spend that for some chairs that will sit out in the sun and weather.   We got them in, they were stained and I thought well that won't do for our patio.    So spray paint world here we came.   Yellow and Turquoise were the lucky colors.    I had painted an outside rug a couple of three years ago and just wanted something to go with it.  It does have a few Jewel footprints on it.  Seems like she liked the turquoise paint and branded the rug and patio with her little footprints.  

The chairs came in pieces and many pieces I might add.  I used liquid sander and some of the chair is turquoise and some is yellow.  They recline and have a foot stool that pull out.   I even wore a mask with this project.   I don't want to be brain dead from the fumes.  

I got those painted, sprayed some polyurethane on them and Hubby put them together.  We spray painted outside pots and spiffed them up and even bought a cut little table at Garden Ridge and repainted it.  Man alive it didn't move in our back yard it got sprayed a color.  


Pictures please Annette:


 
Have some fabric ordered to cover the cushions for the newly painted old patio chairs.  They were standing still so zip zap they got painted.    The little yellow and  turquoise stools now little tables.  They were some stools I had left over from photography days.  They were brown and very useful at the time and I used them a lot from the photography days. I thought they needed a new lease on life.   So tadaaaaa   little tables. 

 
Even the garden trellis got a coat of paint.  This is a pic also of the rug, it has resisted several bad hail storms and lots of sun and snow but still perking along.  This rug must weigh a million pounds and only once blew up one corner with our winds.  It has one coat of kilz and two gallons of yellow paint. 

 
Fresh painted table also.  


 
Now you can see at the top of the pic the stand alone flower bed which is where my faerie garden is. 
 
 
 
Had to show some of the flowers we get to see and we have planted 11 trees after we got here and the two bigger ones were here and have grown like weeds.   Our water is so hard that if anything survives it we plant more of it.   Tough little trees.
 
Now we have several other projects going and I have been Crazy Quilting also.     I am also a member of a group called Crazy Quilt Divas on FB and they are doing a round robin where we make 6 naked blocks and mail them off and each of the 6 players in our group embellish one block that we have pieced together.  Then we get all 6 of our blocks back and they are embellished to each artists taste.  I did 6 blocks of faeries, who would have thought that? The blocks are 6 1/2 by 6 1/2. 
 
This is the first block that I did of Mary Beards in Austin , Texas.   A fellow Texan and very talented.   I forgot to take a pic before I started putting lace on but I bet you get the picture of a naked block.
 
 
 

 
The block after I embellished it.  I had found a pin at an estate sale and thought it would be perfect for this block..
 
 
One more July piece I have created.. Not sure what this one is going to be but she is ready maybe to be a purse?  
 
Now even the sun room is getting a make over.  The Martha Stewart wonderful chair and foot stool even got painted white.  Shuuuuuu don't tell her we painted it.   It has a new run in there, I did mess up and yes I admit a mess up.  The rug is perfect but cotton so I am spraying scotch guard on it hope that helps.  Pics later don't want y'all to have overload here.    
 
There you go what I have been doing, well not all of it but some of what I have been doing for July.   Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world.
 
OXXOXO
Annette