Git 'er dun

Git 'er dun seems to be my theme for this summer....I've been cranking out projects and checking things off my "To Do" list right and left.



Canning:  I've been wanting to get back into canning...not sure what ever happened to all my old canning supplies, so I re-equipped myself and got busy.

I put up 6 pints of Salsa, 3 tomatillo salsa, 2 Dill pickle spears, 6 Bread and butter pickles, 3 quarts of peaches and 8 half pints peach jam....also not pictures are 3 quarts of summer squash with tomatoes.  Our peach tree went crazy...so I'll be doing more peaches in a day or 2.

Corks: I've been collecting corks for years and recently started collecting ideas of what to do with them on pinterest.  

I started small, this could either be for the wall or a trivet, I bought 4 frames for $1.99 each at IKEA...but so far only completed one..

Next I decided to start on the big cork project...which was a wreath for the front door....Bill thinks we are advertising to the neighborhood that we are winos :-).....

It took a few days to stick all these corks into the foam wreath, then to my dismay, I ran out of corks with this much to go....I put a call out to friends....started drinking more  wine and asked for corks everywhere I went to eat.  Within a few days I had enough to complete it.

Cork wreath on the front door

Sewing/craft room:  With the help of Tori I got my sewing /craft room cleaned and organized....it took us 5 hours, I threw away 5 bags of trash...and that has helped me go forward my To Do list.  I know I posted a picture of the mess...maybe back in January ....and I thought I had a picture after we were done and before I started on projects...but the only one I could find was this one of my finally completed curtain for the room.

Next up is the stool I painted for Tiffany's classroom.  The one she inherited from the previous teacher was purple...and her "theme" is Black/White/Red....so I Mod-Podged newspaper on the legs for B/W and painted the top....I think it is super cute.

 Also for Tiffany, I made this runner for her entryway....she has also been busy organizing and decorating.

My last picture is a sneak peak for Rocco and Taegan's upcoming 3rd birthday party, we've been busy preparing for the big event and that will be the subject of it's own post....but I got this really great idea for a cupcake stand out of soup cans, cake circles, paper and ribbon....of course from pinterest....I'm really pleased with how it turned out:  

  That's it for now, I have about 3 weeks before I go back to work...let's see how much more I can get done.

Garden and life Update

After a rough start the garden started producing!  Not everything I put in the ground has grown, but I've harvested my potatoes, a head of cabbage (I might get 2 more heads) a few green beans....all pictured below. And not pictured are the jalepenos summer squash...had quite a bit of that with more to come.

And tomatoes....in fact I've had enough tomatoes and squash to start some canning as soon as I get the supplies....I'm pretty excited about that adventure.

New fence...in progress

We also got our new fence , finally...they were suppose to start June 4...but with rain all all they got delayed..but it was completed on the 19th...it looks so much better and my favorite part is the Texas star cut out on the walk through gate.

Just got back from a little trip to Austin with co-workers...we shopped, we ate and we learned about iPads in education....it was a blast, but I must admit I'm still pretty tried today.

Last week I took Joey back to El Paso, stayed a few days and did some decorating and organization for the boys...don't worry...I kept it masculine.

The best thing about these two trips is it got me away from my crazy mother-in-law for a few days,  there has been some extra crazy things going on with her...but I'm thinking that will be the subject of a entire post.  The good news on that front though is Bill is starting to see that she needs to be somewhere where she can get more care/supervision.

I have a few pinterest projects lined up in the next few weeks, as well as projects for the twins' B-day party.

And now that my trips are out of the way...It's time to get back on the 17 day diet and on my exercise machine. But I need a few things from the store before I start the diet...thought I was going to go today, but I didn't have the energy.

Too much going on for one post

As usual I'm behind....some dental issues had me a bit under the weather...but after 2 antibiotics, some Vicodin and 2 root canal re-dos...I'm back to normal :-)  Whatever normal is.

On May 4 the girls I work with and I did the Relay for Life... benefiting the American Cancer Society and honoring our friend and team-mate Becky Mabra who passed away from cancer earlier this year.  It felt great to do something positive and it at least helped me be at peace with the whole situation.

The Cervantes gang buying S'mores

our "campsite"

The Purple people at the S'more booth

Even though we got rained out...we had a great time while it lasted and we raised quite a bit $$.

Wake Up Call

I was going to talk about the weekend projects at my daughter's house this past weekend....and I still will (some)....but seeing these pictures was a big WAKE UP CALL!!!! 
So when I'm not doing projects around my house....I in some ways help her with her house...sometimes it's advising or throw ideas around, some times it's buying stuff for the house and then sometimes like this weekend it's physically helping with a project or 2.  Bill worked some overtime...so I didn't really want to be around my house much while he was sleeping and my crazy mother-in-law wonders arounds...being crazy.  She doesn't roll out of bed until about noon...so the timeline for these kinds of days is to do things around my house until noon....then spend most of the afternoon at Tiff's...getting back home in time to fix dinner for Bill be he goes to work.



Without the extra frame




with the frame

 So Tiffany got some ideas off Pinterest for a home organizational center....she been collecting items....had to do some painting to get the right colors....but here are two options of the work in progress.  You decide and give Tiffany your opinion. 











Now for the other project we started....and the subject of the title of this blog:  We starting do some planting in the front of her house; we only got about half done because we had to stop and treat for ants....they are bad his year....and we ran out of flowers.  But this grandma had the best little helpers ever: Rocco and Taegan had so much fun...and as it turned out it was Earth day...so what a perfect activity.  Tiffany took pictures...she is awesome about documenting everthing with the boys...but this is where my WAKE UP CALL came in...I knew I had gained some of my weight back...I've seen the number on the scale....I know my clothes are tight...but it's always that moment of seeing the picture that slaps you in the face.

That's it...I can't look like that!..... Today is Tuesday...so I can't really change what is going on grocery wise for this week....but come Sunday ...I'm back on plan with a vengence!
But on a positive note....I love my crew....even if they pull out flowers I just planted!

Spring is in the Air

and nesting instincts are in full swing!....OK...last blog one of the home improvement projects I shared was the mantel and built in that Bill refinished....so of course that prompted needing to redo the entire space. We got a new painting for over the mantel....which I believe I shared already....and now for pictures of the new furniture.

That is from three different views....I still need a new coffee table....found the one I want at Sam's....Found the perfect lamps at Home Goods .....I'm still on the look out for end tables.

Now for Easter, of course most of my pictures are after pictures....but these cute little "favors" and my cake were both ideas from pinterest.  We also had the typical Ham dinner; the Cervantes gang came over and we got to enjoy a little egg hunt and Easter baskets with the boys....of course I didn't get any good pictures...but Tiffany did, so you will just have to wait for her Blog update for that.

I did manage to get some flowers planted in the front this weekend; only on the left side through...I ran out of flowers and it started raining.  The first year I had these areas to plant....I did multi color...an explosion of color is what I had in mind....then last year I tried all red and that didn't look nearly as good.  By looking at the left side you can see my before.  Usually Bill prepares the dirt for me and all I have to do is waltz in and plant...but for some reason this year I was on my own....I have my suspicions as to why, which I will share when I get to my veggie garden.

Below are my herbs, the biggest plant is an herloom tomato, also there is a big pot with a lone jalepeno....I'm also going to plant some eggplant in that pot.

This (pictured below) is the outdoor kitchen counter Bill finished.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

And last but not least...my veggie garden....my potatoes are doing awesome...but the veggie garden, not so much.  Everything around the perimeter is growing, but everything in the center dies; my suspicion is that when he was preparing the dirt....he got carried away with the round up....of course he denies this, but that is really the only explanation.

Long time no Blog?!?!

Why no Blog?...Well a couple of reasons, I guess...with the first of those being that I was just really discouraged with my garden.  The last time I posted, I was super excited about everything that I planted.  Well, most of it died...my husband thinks it was too early....I think it was MIL's stupid dog.  Another reason I didn't blog for a while was because my nose was buried in books...I read the Hunger Games series....I wanted to get the books read before the movie came out....I could not put the books down....great story.....and now we saw the movie last night...the movie was excellent....but not nearly as excellent as the books...as usual they have to leave things out and and change things to keep it at a reasonable time....but it is always interesting to see how another person visualizes things.
Since then I did a bunch of replanting both indoors and out....and things doing much better than they were earlier in the month, and I'm really excited about the potatoes in the barrel finally sprouting.

potato barrel and garden...you can see some green now

tomato plants

mostly herbs in the pots

another view of the potatoes and garden

Notice the little fence?....I hope this keeps the dog out.  I added dirt to the potatoes, you can see some of the lettuce that's doing pretty good....I planted peas directly in the ground and those are coming up....also have garlic and onion looking pretty good....maybe the broccoli will make it this time as well as beets and carrots....all of which got transplanted today.  I need to keep Bill away from the miracle grow,....I've been showing him articles that explain why over fertilizing is bad....I'm pretty sure that is why we didn't have peaches or very many tomatoes last year....keep your fingers crossed on this one :-)

Now, remember the the built in and mantel that Bill was re-doing...it's done and he did a fabulous job...we also got a new painting for over the fireplace....which made the living room furniture look even more hideous.  Bill was not down with the slip covers...after he thought about it for a bit...so over spring break, one of our adventures was to find a new sofa, love seat and chair....but it's going to be a few more weeks until that is delivered.  But while we are waiting for the furniture...just look at how awesome the built in, mantel and new picture look...here is a before and a now.

Before

Now

Bill has also started re-doing a portion of the outdoor kitchen....the prior owners.didn't do something right and the tile starting coming up....Bill started looking at the inside and the framing wood was all rotten...so here is a picture of the work in progress.

It's not grouted yet....but I know it's going to be fabulous when it's done.

ME....let's see...I need to get busy with some of my creative projects....

How does your garden grow?

I know it's technically still winter....but the garden has started...mostly indoors, but started none the less.

We currently have tomatoes, broccoli, peas, beets, lettuce, beans and cilantro started.  I will get a few of these in the ground in the next week or 2.

I think a couple of post ago, I talked about a pinterest idea of growing potatoes in a barrel....well here is my barrel.  This weekend I put in about 6 inches of peat moss and then 6 inches of dirt and planted potatoes.  As they sprout and grow, I'm supposed to add more dirt...and according to Mother Earth News...you get a boat load of potatoes.  I'll let you know how it goes...I'm hoping we don't have as hot of a summer as last year....

Looks like the strawberries survived the mild winter....last year they did pretty good....the birds got to them before we did...but we did produce some berries.

Now to share what Bill has been up to.  In the downstairs living room is a built in entertainment center that is hideous, and to add insult to injury the white trash that had this house before us....did a crappy job of antique-ing it....then ripped out the TV mounting.  See below

Ugly with a capital UG.  Bill has stripped, sanded and stained....it's not done...but looks SOOOOO much better.

I'll share a picture when it;s all done, but I'm pretty excited about how it is looking so far......so now the wheels in my head are turning and thinking about re-decorating....my mother in-law's furniture is in this room....it's good quality...but horribly out dated...the floral sofa is a flashback to to 80's.  I had the brilliant idea of slip covers for the wing chairs and sofa .....so much cheaper than replacing....and Bill seems to be OK with it!  Once he finishes the entertainment center, he is going to attack the mantel.  I'll keep you posted on the progress.  Below is a picture of the ugly sofa.