Don't quit your day job...

Sigh...

It all started because I wanted to do a simple little table top.  You see, I had that new book, One Thousand Gifts, and I had an empty nest. I thought it might be nice to copy the nest on the cover and display them together.

See?

I also found these pretty blue ceramic thingies at Cracker Barrel. I had it in my head to pile them in that treasure box that I've yakked about along with the word grace. (Well, actually, I had it in my head to tile out the word eucharisteo, but it didn't fit.


So I chose grace.

And I wanted to put them on the side table near my prayer chair. In my head, it was going to look wonderful.

On the table, it just looked blah.

Clearly not enough stuff for the space.

So I added a plant.  I'm pretty sure something either taller or shorter would have been better, but this happens to be the only plant alive here right now.

It still looked blah, and just too dark. This is not the look I'm going for.

 I thought maybe an old window behind it would help.

It's still just too dark to me.

 I thought maybe it needed more blue so I changed out the grace thingie.

Fixed the letters and tried another plant holder.

I don't like this one any better than the first one.  

Then I flew this little bird to the top because I'm a remedial table topper and was trying to have more blue and more height.

Tried it with just the bird on the box.

Didn't like that either.

Folks, no matter what I did, I just didn't like it. I'm so disappointed because I really do think the concept was a good one and would be nice for the Easter season.

I have dinked with this stupid thing for a day and a half because I'm too stubborn to quit. I moved it to the foyer and even the half bath. I moved it to the kitchen on the baker's rack. I didn't like it there well enough to move out all my new red accessories.

I was (and am) so frustrated that I lined it all up on the fireplace with some more blue stuff.  I sort of  like it against the white, but that presents yets another problem.



I had to remove the picture that usually lives there because it clashed. Now, I have a huge gaping white hole behind it. I could put a mirror behind it, but the one that fits is brass. I don't think that would look very good, and no... I'm not willing to paint it for the sake of a seasonal mantel.

So there's the whole ugly mess.

If anyone can fix what ails it, I would truly appreciate the advice.

Clearly, I'm not linking to any parties.

I do have some pride, you know.

Practically Grown

You may have noticed that I rarely if ever post on Sundays. I basically set my Sundays apart to  rest from almost everything, even blogging. Besides, I'm too busy grazing around the family table to waddle to the computer.

But sometimes, a date is so ingrained in the calendar that it practically demands a yakabout even if it does fall on Sunday. Sometimes, a date is practically impossible to ignore.

Today is such a day. Care to guess why?

It's April 10th, one of my favorite days of the year. It marks the anniversary of the day that I began The Great Mommy Adventure, the birthday of my first born daughter, The Practical One.

The Practical One was born 22 years ago on a Monday afternoon. Outside, the rains were driving and the winds were raging.  We could have named her Stormy Gale, had that kind of a name passed muster with the Duchess.

 It didn't.

It didn't matter anyway, because I was completely oblivious to what was going on outside. From where I sat, there was nothing but sunshine. The girl has been lighting up my life ever since. 

We call her The Practical One because she has always been a bit on the serious side. She was given the grace gifts of intellect and compassion...

...a listening heart and a helpful spirit...

And in this mom's unbiased opinon, a great loveliness as well.

I thought she might use her gift of intellect to provide for Good Old Mom in her old age, and I mentioned as much to God.  I suggested a geriatric dentist... or maybe a plastic surgeon.

But noooo.

She's getting a degree in psychology.
Maybe she'll become a therapist.

I report. You decide.

So Happy Birthday to my very Practical Daughter.

 No matter what you grow up to be,

 you will always, always be my little girl.

Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel  them all.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

~Proverbs 31:29-30 NASB

It's Simply a Woman's Perogative...

...to change her mind.

Isn't that what they say? I hope so because I'm exercising that right today.

Have you ever written a post and known even as you're writing it that it's not what you're supposed to be writing that day?

Maybe it's just the timing...
Or that you can't quite get the words from the heart to the fingers...
Or maybe there's just another story to tell or picture to post that day.

That's how I have felt all day. Thursday, you see, is Simple Pleasures day. That's the day that I slow down and focus on the still, small, something that gave me pleasure during the week.

I thought that I had mine.

Even as I typed it out, though, I kept thinking about this other silly thing, and this nagging voice kept telling me that this other silly thing was supposed to be my simple pleasure. I argued back because it just seemed too simple for a yakabout.

Yeah, I know. Isn't that the whole point?

So I changed my mind.
And I submit to you this week's simple pleasure.

It's my kitchen window. 

Really... that's it.

It has made me smile all week, and I don't know why. There's nothing blooming out there right now. A month or so ago, that green that you see was a burst of pink magnolia. I didn't bother to yak it out then. Today, it's just a leafy green branch.  The lawn isn't particularly pretty, either. In fact, if you look closely, you can see debris from our recent wind storm. And it is not yet green underneath.

But for some reason that window has given me a case of the the grins. I even dragged the husband in the room and pointed it out. Don't worry. He didn't get it either.

I'm the kind of person who loves to hide behind curtains and blinds. I'm private and phobic and always a little afraid of a Peeping Tom. Why Tom would want to peep at me is anyone's guess, but I remain shadowed behind blinds anyway.  Can I confess that it seems to be getting worse with age?

But last week when I washed those windows, I left the trusty blinds up for a while. Every time I walked in the kitchen and saw those unfiltered branches against the blue sky, .it just plain made me happy. Sometimes, I just stood there and sighed.

Maybe it was the little  playhouse hidden behind those leaves.

 Can  you see it?

That's the Little House in the Piney Stick Woods where my own Laura and Mary whiled away their childhood.

I used to stand at that very sink and watch them when they didn't know it...

...back before I started hiding from Tom.

I have enjoyed the unfiltered kitchen window so much that, except at night, I've left those blinds up all week.  I even opened the blinds in the rest of the back windows, too.  The front is still well filtered, but one of these days, I'm going to lift them as well, Tom or no Tom.

So that's it.
Lifting my blinds is this week's very simple pleasure.

*****

Sharing with Dayle at A Collection of This and That

for the Simple Pleasure Party.

Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden

It's the first week in April.

Here in Georgia, that makes it golf time.

The nearby city of Augusta welcomes the world for the Masters Classic. The tournament and the course are known for their beautiful spring blossoms.

Each hole is named after a different flowering tree.

photo source

It seemed only fitting that we nestle our table among the azaleas too.

My father was an avid golfer.

 When he was alive and in good health, he went to The Masters every year.

He took my brother, the Duchess, my sisters, and even the husband.

By mutual agreement, he never took me.

He didn't like shushing, and I don't like being shushed.

We could have done a full table in the famous Master's Green, but we chose instead to be inspired by these  vintage salad plates from the Duchess's collection.

The greens are softer.

So we went with more muted greens and masculine browns.

We're calling that tablecloth 

the  sand trap.

The salad plates have four different duffers in the traditional

knickers and argyle.

So an argyle napkin was the only natural choice.

In keeping with the masculine look of the table, we chose a simple iron napkin ring.

Four more iron flatware pieces, and we have 5 irons at each setting.

(That's a golfing pun in case you missed it.)

The stemware is simple and hearty and that same muted green.

Of course, we couldn't completely neglect the famous shade of Master's Green.

We added it to the center of the table.

The golf balls are my sole contribution this week,

and they don't even belong to me.

They belong to the husband.

He was gracious enough to be our tablescape caddy.

Like any good caddy,  he made suggestions, too.

I had painted the golf tees Masters' Green and hot glued the ball and bow

for place cards. 

Mine were just going to lie there like the one in the background of this picture.

The caddy suggested we create a little green instead.

He even cut them out for us.

 He probably doesn't want me to tell the world that he helped us play with dishes...

So I won't.

And there you have it.

Our Masters inspired vintage golf table.

By the way, that acronym in the title is nothing but urban legend

so ladies, don't get your dander up.

Instead, sit down, relax, and enjoy

Tea Time at the Masters.

*****

I'll be sharing this with Susan for

Tablescape Thursday.

The Big Black Thunk

Meet Lazarus.

He’s been a member of the family since we bought this house in the last century. He was so outdated then that the former owners left him behind as a parting gift. Since the refrigerator we were bringing to the party was also bedecked in 80s almond, we just left it in the garage and gave Lazarus squatter’s rights.

I didn’t mind so much. I figured he was old and his eventual death would usher in the era of a whole new kitchen.

Who knew that refrigerators were so resilient? Good grief, in the years that I’ve been waiting for him to kick the bucket, we’ve replaced the dishwasher and the range… twice in fact.

Lazarus just kept his cool.

Oh, he gave us a start or two over the past ten years. He would start whining and moaning, and the ice cubes would get a little runny. Mr. Scottish Thrift would call the appliance doctor, and he would be up and running again.

When we finally ripped down the wallpaper in my Big Fat 80s Kitchen, we knew it was time for Lazarus to go, and it looked as if he might do so voluntarily.

He’s nothing if not a Drama King, however. He’s been playing out his swan song since Christmas. I thought we were going to have to get the hook.

He would whine and groan and do a wonderful impression of a helicopter landing in the kitchen. We would head to Lowes to choose his replacement, and he would suddenly burst into life.

Yes, I know that normal people would have gone ahead and replaced him anyway…

But then… on the third day of green smoothie season, I opened his freezer door to discover brown mush where my frozen bananas ought to be and a glacier in the ice dispenser.

Eureka!

I pronounced him dead and headed to Lowes to order a shiny black replacement. I emptied the freezer but left him plugged in. After all, his upper room was performing as well as any zombie refrigerator can be expected to perform.

Saturday morning, the new recruit was scheduled to arrive. I got up early to do the deep clean.

I opened the freezer, and behold…

Good try, Lazarus, but you’re too late. I pulled the plug.

It was as I was giving him the post mortem wipe down that I discovered what actually killed Lazarus. Apparently, he was grossed out.

You wouldn't believe the artifacts I found when I started digging.

 I discovered them when I removed a drawer.

 I’m assuming from the faint drip marks behind it that
 this little fossil was once a member of the dairy family.

And by the size of it, this raisin went in as a grape.

And there’s more. (Am I the only one ever tempted to toss Tupperware rather than open the lid?) Unfortunately I have no evidence because Mr. Clean was tossing and washing faster than I could snap pictures. Oooh, that man...

He said there were some things that even bloggers should be ashamed to yak about .
I said, "There's an APP for that"…

And so we cleaned out Lazarus just in time for the new recruit to arrive and take up his post.

And well… I didn’t hate it.

It’s just so very shiny…

and so very black...
And so very deep.

These new Energy Divas are a bit big in the backside, aren’t they?

I kept coming in and out the door to get used to the big black thunk sticking out in my kitchen. And then as I was taking this picture, I noticed something pretty cool.

 Do you see it?

Apparently, my refrigerator doors were made out of fun house mirrors. That’s the way it appears anyway because I look ten pounds thinner in my reflection. You ought to see the side view. (Ignore the hips. That’s just the door handle talking.)

So I’ve decided to embrace the Big Black Thunk and welcome it to Debbie Land.

Good-bye Lazarus…

Hellooo Honest Abe.

*****
By the way. I'm planning to paint that hood rather than get  a new one since the plan is to change out cabinets with a built in microwave. If that's a bad idea, someone please stop me.

Don't Blink!

Or you'll miss the pink.

That's how it feels, anyway,  for pink lovers who live in the Land of the Ten Day Spring. You see, for about two weeks around this time of year, the south turns into a Pink Paradise. Azaleas of every shade imaginable burst into bloom in perfect concert with the flowering dogwoods.

It. is. beautiful.
 It's also fleeting.

And this year, I nearly missed it.

Meaning, of course, that I almost missed capturing it with the shiny red Kodak.

We had an early spring in these parts. The pear trees bloomed two full weeks earlier than usual, and it looked as if our dogwoods and azaleas were on the same fast track.  I had the Kodak poised and ready, but then... it started to rain.

                 And it rained...
                                              and rained...
                                                                     and rained some more.

Any days that weren't rainy were cold and gloomy.  I tried to capture it anyway, but the pink exposion just doesn't pop against gloomy gray.

See?

I was about to give up hope, when I woke up this morning, and the sun was shining, just in the nick of time. Too bad the drama in the above photo was already gone. As I said, don't blink.

Never fear, though. There are plenty more yet blooming around here.

Since you've already seen the pear tree view from my front porch, I thought you might want to see  the pink explosion in the piney stick forest.

I'd like to see a pink explosion in the piney stick forest too. Unfortunately, that's not our piney stick forest. Ours has exactly one azalea, and it's already droopy. Who wants to see a droopy azalea?

Instead, I took a little tour around town
stopping traffic and crouching in bushes at will
to bring you the azaleas of 2011.


That hot pink azalea is my favorite shade of all,

but it's certainly not the only shade.

There's a purply pink magenta

And this varigated one

And this medium pink, 
which isn't even the lightest shade of azalea.

 There's a pastel one that hasn't fully bloomed yet.

It has huge blossoms, just like those white ones.

The lighter the color, the bigger the blossoms seem to be.

White azaleas flank the lawn of the local botantical garden.

There's a wedding here today. Won't it be lovely?

Here they have native azaleas, too...

Kind of freaky looking, aren't they?

I think I prefer the more common  kind.

As for the dogwoods, I'm just the opposite.

While I love the lacey white ones,

my favorite ones are the less common pinks.

Have you ever seen anything more lovely?

I don't think I have.
I think the pink dogwood gets the grand prize.

*****
I'm sharing this with the gals at Pink Saturday.
And since pink azaleas and dogwoods are some of  my favorite things,
I'm bopping on over to Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie
  for her  Favorite Things party as well.

Just call me a party girl today.