Mother's Day Remembered

My eldest daughter has the name of my mother.

My youngest daughter has the name of my mother's sister.

This Mother's Day, my two daughters, my mother and I traveled to meet our cousins in the heartland of America.  We gathered in the old family cemetery where my daughters' great-great grandmother and several of her babies are buried.  It was always my aunt's wish that she would return to the farmland of the midwest, to be with her grandmother.  Her wishes were honored on Mother's Day, with 4 generations of her family clutching  umbrellas in the Eel River Church Cemetery.

Afterwards,we all gathered at the only place in  town.... Dairy Queen.   No matter though... the conversation was rich as 4 generations  shared story after story that only a family could love. 

  The old family home built in early 1900s is for sale. We had fun daydreaming about buying it !

                                                   Great great grandmother's farm

                                              House my mom lived in during grade school

 My grandfather built this house. We lurked out front for so long that the owner came out and  invited us in.

                                                         The old movie theatre

                            Sisters of a new generation on the steps of an old family home

                                     We toured Mom's  high school..looks like a movie set.

                                                Does your high School have a natatorium ? 

                                                         I think it is a good SAT word.

 It was a happy- sad- cold- warm Mother's Day we will remember....forever.

                          

Tuesday Morning Coffee

This is the last month of my son's last year in high school .

After drop-off on his first day of kindergarten a group of overanxious moms met for coffee to hold hands, share, cry and laugh.
Today is Tuesday.... and we are still meeting for coffee.

And guess what ? Next Fall, after college drop off....on Tuesday ...we will gather over at my house... or maybe Becky's house
to hold hands, share, cry, and laugh.

Ahhhhhhhh the power of friends dropping by for coffee.

You can read more about Tuesday Morning Coffee here

Thelma and Louis...part2

Awhile back I posted about my friend "Laverne" here. Well fast forward from then to now ... and a few bought and sold houses... and next thing ya know.... we are next door neighbors (week-ends)... in little 1930 cottages side by side in the hill country.


Here is Laverne's casa. She had a head start... so her house is in GREAT shape.

Don't you love her bright blue shutters ?

A view of my house from her yard.... well as you know... a total work in progress

( and I am loving the process)

Yesterday in her barn we found an old old cabinet original to her house that we are going
to use as an island in MY kitchen. Thanks LAV!

Can you see it that beautiful old chippy beadboard cabinet in my vintage kitchen with

shiny gleaming floors and beautiful white cottage cabinets ? ??? .
.... stay tuned !!!!

Grow..PRETTY PLEASE...

During the past few weeks I have visited so many beautiful garden posts from fellow bloggers, Joni at Cote de Texas, Brin at My Messy,Thrilling Life, FiFi at Chez Fifi, Cindy at My Romantic Home,Nancy at Shab-n-Chic... and I am GREEN with envy... because my thumb is brown and is coupled with the disadvantage of deer and hot hill country weather.

BUT we are trying to change the brown thumb trend this year!

So armed with the garden expertise of my MOM and the muscle of my DH and HS SON.... here are a few not so good pictures of the outside garden fun we have had in the past few week-ends.

                           

                            Brand new Belinda's Dream roses along the wall

                                    

                                    Birdhouse... no green thumb required

Bouganvillas... They grow like weeds at Nancys... but I will have to baby these



                                  Front porch.. no flowers due to deer



                                             Ladies on the front porch

                                  Geraniums from High School fundraiser



                                           Hibiscus in the big pots



                       Lavender... supposedly grows well in the hill country



      Secret garden....aka sideyard.... but secret garden sounds more artistic


  But if the gardening efforts fail...we can always sit back and enjoy the view !!


These are the garden BEFORE pictures.... can't wait to post AFTER.... keep your fingers crossed !

Demolition and Dirt **

"Would you like a pedicure this week-end ?" my DH asked on Friday.

What a sweet man..

Ladies....he had no clue what was on the agenda for the week-end..... demolition ...

We continue our demolition in the hill country house...discovering layers upon layers of surprises....some happy surprises.... some not.  Here are a few:

WE WILL BE DOING A WHOLE LOTTA SHEETROCKING IN THE R RATED BEDROOM ( see bad word above door?)




THERE ARE WOOD FLOORS IN THE MASTER BEDROOM.... under the carpet,the plywood, the linoleum, the black glue



THERE IS BEADBOARD ON THE WALLS IN THE KITCHEN.... but how do we match it ?



THERE IS AWESOME DINING AND GOOD FRIENDS IN THE HILL COUNTRY ... after demo eating place


SOMEDAY MY KITCHEN MIGHT LOOK LIKE THIS....kind of..


So no pedicures for now.... but it will be totally worth it...uh maybe !!!!

Hey God.... it's me... diana

The remodeling continues.... but has moved slightly down on my list of things to do... 

High school son is making last minute  college re-visits.  We made 3 last week.  The deadline for decisions... is May 1... and he is waiting until April 30.  Tad stressful.... but we will survive and come May 1... we will all have happy faces !

**Be VERY careful what you say....

As soon as I published my last post a YEAR ago... my world went topsy turvy and before I knew it... I was too stressed to be blessed. As I look back on that last post i shake my head and realize the gentle... no BIG BIG reminder life throws us to not be so smug, so content, so confident in our circumstances... as circumstances can change in a second. Yup, they really can.

And so I return today wiser, more reflective, but happy, enthusiastic, and eager to continue in sharing with my cyber sisters.  I will continue my search for humor,love, truth and beauty in my little life with my DH, my HS and College Princesses and HS son.

Here is  a new project I have undertaken  in the beautiful hill country of Texas.  I think I will call it.... design a house around this chandy.
Here are the "bones" of the project.  A Sunday House to be


A stone patio
A cutie little german stone house ...exterior
The interior of the stone house.... complete with wall to wall 70s sculpted carpet,lovely wallpapered wall boards, layers of  70s linoleum
I am in heaven... why???? because I don't really see the sculpted carpet, the wall papered wallboard...the linoleum.   I see something very different...  because I just know there are beautiful patinaed  oak floors, cream colored walls, crisp white trim, and that beautiful chandy in store for this baby ! 

And HS princess says I have lost it... she called me INSANE .  Can you believe she said that ?

More soon and much much love to my cyber sisters. xoxo diana

Too blessed to be stressed...

High School princess wanted to watch the academy awards this past week end. It wasn't on my list, but since I had been sick in bed all week and since she was sweet enough to want to be with her sick mama... i did her a favor and watched the whole enchilada... barbara walters,the red carpet, and then dozed thru the actual awards show.

High school princess loves watching the stars arrive on the red carpet and to me the best red carpet moment was when John Travolta told Joan Rivers his life philosophy " I am too blessed to be stressed."

Yeah.right.John.Travolta.is.blessed,

but as the night drug on, I mean passed by... I kept thinkin about that cute John Travolta.... and ya know..just like John, I am so blessed...we all are...

And so once in awhile... I am gonna dance a little dance and sing a little song with John...

I am too blessed to be stressed. I am too blessed to be stressed.

Please dont call HS Princess to see how this is goin... i'm workin on it...k?

Rock solid

My college princess is a gentle giving soul. She is my first born and came out of the womb smiling,talking, and reaching for her mommy. During the years she has bestowed me with many gifts in quite a celebratory fashion: dried weeds, love notes,imaginary food she cooked in her baby kitchen,songs,artwork, pottery... the list goes on and on.

The summer after my father died, she and I were in a little giftshop when she spied a group of rocks. Each rock had a word of inspiration on it. She immediately picked up one and presented it to me as a gift. All of the love gifts this child has given me have melted my heart... but this rock melts me to my core. I keep it on the coffee table.

This rock of love is my daily reminder of the importance of rock solid love... unconditional love that I yearn to give to my children, my husband,my friends and family. If my legacy is this rock-solid love then I will leave this earth an eternally happy woman.

These are a few of my favorite things...

We girls love to surround ourselves with family memories and treasures . Here are a few of the treasures I keep on the white bookshelves opposite the desk in my studio.

a few favorite design books

My mom's Sogetsu flower arranging items

Lunchbag..... very 60's

darling daughter's artwork

and my dear Daddy's pipes

I love having my favorite things all together in my creative space. What are a few of your favorite things you have kept ?

Ooops!

The other day I was reading a fellow bloggers post in which she congratulated herself for finally getting all of her Christmas decorations taken down and put away. As I read her post.. I smiled to myself thinking.... oh girl I had those down the day after Christmas!


After I finished my round of blogs, I went into the kitchen and saw this:

(those would be my Christmas dishes)

Then I went out to check the mail and saw this in my entry

(that would be my Christmas wreath)

And we wont EVEN go into the Christmas Closet

oops.... guess I better wipe that smile off my face !

RDQ

"Mom, did they have the SAT test when you were in School? "

"Well yes they did my darling... SON."

" Did you have to take an SAT prep course ?"

"No I didnt have that opportunity ....SWEETIE ."

"What did you do to get ready for the test ?"

"Well.... I got a good nights rest, ate breakfast and my mom drove me to the test. Just before I got out of the car, my Mom reminded me to RDQ."

"RDQ... what's that ?"

"Read the Damn Question".

"Oh"

Why did life seem so simple back in the dark ages when I was in High School ?

*EXTREMELY RIGHT*

(photo bysluggo)

Last month the TV*Crew*EXTREME*MAKEOVER*HOME*EDITION* came to the hillcountry for a makeover. The home chosen by *TY*and*company* belonged to a family I knew... in fact I taught 2 of their children.

This sweet family has 6 children,5 of whom are diagnosed with autism. The parents are good,dedicated, HARDWORKING parents, but they were in jeopardy of losing their house. *TY*and*company*came to town and paid off their old house, leveled it, then built a new paid for furnished house, and arranged for the new home's taxes to be paid.

Last night as I watched the TV show, I was so moved at how the *HOME*MAKEOVER* staff researched autism and used the advice of experts to design five unique bedrooms for children with austism. Tears filled my eyes as I watched the reveal of the house...

and in the end.... I say Hooray for *TY*and*company. They got it right ..*extremely* right.

Daily Walk

Outside my front door
Fresh air feeds my mind,my spirit
Return full,renewed.

For the Love of McCoy

The Nelson McCoy company began manufacuring clay pottery in the Roseville area of Ohio around 1910. Mccoy pottery covered a realm of uses from functional jars to sophisticated vases and jardinieres. There is something about old McCoy pottery that makes me swoon, especially pieces in the old creamy white matte finish. Through the years I have collected a few uh I mean several.. NO... way too many pieces. You probably caught a glimpse of my McCoy in my creative space shot.

I also have a few pieces under the sideboard on the sun porch


On my desk

On my dressing table

And a token seaglass green piece in the kitchen


What do you think ?? Do I have too many ??? Can a girl really have too many things she loves ???