FAKE OUT

Slowly over the years, Mr. Sweet Pea and I have put our stamp on this 70's ranch~style place we call home. With him being in the carpentry biz sometimes we have lucked out and gotten materials for very little and a few times for nothing.

The room that I now use as my studio got some fabulous wide crown molding from a job that had leftover's. With the crown molding at 6 inches we couldn't very well install wimpy baseboards. So I came up with a way to fake the look of fabulous wide baseboards using regular 3 and 1/2" base with shoe mold on the bottom and a quarter round trim placed 4 and 1/2" above. Then I painted the molding and the wall in between white and voila, big fat baseboards!

MY JUNKY MARRIAGE

Take one of these...



and one of these...



add one of these...



and of course one of these...



and you get one of these...



a junk marriage if you will... sorry this one is mine but you can totally copy this for yourself... you'll need an old floor lamp base, a crusty ceiling fixture, a tart tin and of course a candle.

Enjoy...

COME SIT ON MY PORCH

In Florida it's a must to have a screened porch unless you don't mind mosquito bites. Sadly, we don't enjoy ours much as it's too darn hot most of the year to sit on it. But, I still like it to look inviting and cozy...

I don't put anything out there that can't stand up to rain, humidity and cat hair. Yes, we have a nearly 19~year old cat who lives on the screen porch year round. It's her domain if you will...

On the porch you'll find an old metal glider, a beautiful twig chair that I have owned for many years, my great~grandmother's old primitive wash stand, and two of my fav finds~~a round victorian wire plant stand and a large wire aviary that I bought in Texas from Tim Bolton of Homestead. Sprinkled about are chippy architectural pieces, birdcages and birdhouses, urns filled with shells and a zinc obelisk.

I hand~painted the floor to look like stone. When we hang out there I toss some old ticking pillows on the glider and chairs for comfort. Candles set the mood and jazz softly plays in the background...

Sit down and join me, will you?

NEWS FLASH

Okay stop the presses. I'm just back from an emergency trip to the grocery store, completely out of toilet paper, tooth paste, prilosec, all the essentials and had to post this. For all of you mourning the shuttering of Country Home magazine like moi...


IT'S BACK!

Now in the style of Decor, Cottage Style, Tuscan Style, and Country French, they are proud to re~introduce the title. I snagged the Late Summer 2010 issue which is chock full of gorgeous homes, many from past issues but who cares... I love it!

Next issue due in September.

Don't say I didn't tell you...











(all photos property of country home magazine)

TODAY WAS A TWO~FER SO PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE FIRST POST FROM EARLIER.

THE BLINDSIDE

Where to begin but the beginning?

Last Saturday Mr. Sweet Pea and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Carrabba's thanks to our oldest son and daughter~in~law, who had given me a gift card from there for my birthday. I was all set to let you in on the discovery of my new all time favorite drink on the planet in my next post. Sounds great right?

Until Sunday, the 4th... We were going to the neighbors for a 4th of July party, and I was sitting on the couch waiting for the ever sleepy Mr. Sweet Pea to wake up from his catnap. Out of nowhere, like a sudden drop in blood sugar (which you will never have to worry about if you have my new all time favorite drink) I had chills and it hurt to touch my skin, and most evident of all, I felt HOT. Off to find the rarely used thermometer...

Huh? I have a fever? I never get a fever... Ever.

Okay so I'm sinking fast, Mr. SP wakes up and goes stag to the party... Bummer.

Fast forward to Wednesday... Mr. SP is back on the road since Monday and I'm on my own... Sick. Not that he's a good nurse or anything cause well he... well he sucks. He'd be fired on his first shift. Since Sunday I've also developed in no specific order muscle cramps and the equivalent feeling of swallowing a cup full of ground glass as well as a fever that goes down in the am only to return full force in the pm... Oh and I forgot the part about waking up in a pool of cold sweat two nights in a row... Not damp mind you. Full on get up and change your jammies and find something dry to put on the bed... Not once a night but twice... Got to the point where I stopped turning on the light. You can come up with some interesting ensembles when you rely on feel alone...

Anyway, Wednesday is the day I finally caved in and sought medical treatment... Dragged my butt to the doc sans makeup (isn't it funny how you change as you get older) in my now much looser fitting loose fit boyfriend jeans... ah a silver lining after all... I do want to mention that I did shower out of respect for the general public mind you. Off to get my much needed antibiotics the size of a Cadillac Escalade from there... Why do you get the biggest pill in the universe when you have the least ability to swallow it?

Note to self... Do not put above mentioned mega pill in mouth until you have actually gotten the glass from the cabinet and the water from the refrigerator...

So one more night of sweat~a~palooza... I thought a fever broke once????

By Thursday feeling better in the throat and keeping fingers crossed for a sweat free night which hallelujah did finally come...

So here we are at Friday... Not 100% quite yet but on the way there. And for those of you who are wondering why I waited til Wednesday to go to the doc, well I think I'm Superwoman. Not really... I just don't go unless I really need to. I don't want antibiotics at the drop of a hat like a lot of docs are doing these days and I rarely get anything serious. So I wait it out a little... That's all.

Now on to the good stuff.

The drink, remember? Blackberry Sangria. Nectar of the gods I tell you. I tried to get the recipe from our server... You would think I asked for all her tip money... Anyway google it. There are a few recipes for it out there and I picked one that said they got it from a friend that bartends at Carrabba's. Or better yet just go there and have them make you one. I personally can't wait to make a pitcher, but that will be next week after I choke down the rest of the Escalades...

Thanks to all who wished me well. It really helped.

I'm leaving you with some random pics I took today around the house. I hope you enjoy...

Hugs to all,

Shelley

IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING...

where I am...

I'm sick... since Sunday... strep throat...

Chills... fever that spikes every night... raw throat...

You get the idea...

Went to the doc today and got some antibiotics...

Should be good as new soon... spending very little time on the computer...

Until a better day... missin' you...