Easter 2013, It's Ever Changing..

This Easter was so different for me, I mean I still did a little decorating, a little cook'n, and quite a bit of reflection.

You know when my daughter Tiffany was small, her Daddy and I would go all out for Easter, just like I know ya'll did when your children were small. It was a Holiday that started the day before, getting the house ready for the relatives to come over, which were both sets of her grandparents, such fun coloring the eggs, making potato salad, getting the baked beans ready for the oven, and making my famous lemon cupcakes with lemon icing and just the right amount of pastel sprinkles. Oh those were such happy days. Easter morning, it was a fun ritual that we did with Tiffany, her Daddy, would sneak out the back door with her basket slam full of goodies, and put it on the front porch, ring the door bell, and jump into the bushes with the camera ready to get the money shot!! I would be ushering her to the door, "I think it's the Easter Bunny"!! gasping surprise! She would open the door and bam! Daddy got the picture! Those days are all gone now, ending when Tiffany was 4,  and I'm sad to say, along with that marriage. But now with Wayne, my hubs of 30 years, we kept things moving along with our own memories. Then the most wonderful thing happened...Grandkids!! Yeeehaa, first Evan and then 2 1/2 years later, Kingsley! Such joys, we would do the same things basically, except we would be loading the car up for our trip to their home. Wayne would spend the night before loading all the plastic eggs with candy, and certain ones with $5.00 bills,and we would get there so early, before the kids were even awake, and hide a bazillion eggs in their back yard. I'm telling you is there anything we won't do for the Grandbabies?? I think not!. Well  Evan is now 18, and spent Easter in Puerto Rico, surfing with friends, my Granddaughter Kingsley  went with her friends to the beach. So this year,our Daughter and Son in Law set up tents on the beach, and that is where we spent this Easter. No more small kids running around, but we were among friends and family, and it was such a relaxing day, 81 degrees, tons of sun and the most food you've ever seen! Change is inevitable, both sets of Grandparents are gone, the Grandkids are grown, but now the holidays are taking on a meaning that is so much deeper. Remembering all the moments we treasured, and all the people that we miss and loved. I truly thank God for all the Blessings he has allowed me to share with my Family. I hope you enjoyed this Easter with your Family and Friends, and didn't forget to reflect on all of your Blessings.

He Called Me a "Fish Murderer"!!

When my Grandmom passed I inherited her iron cauldron that was kept at the barn, just outta site of the chicken coop. I got stories about that for another day! Well we keep the cauldron in our screened room with a St. Frances of Assisi statue, that has turned it into a fountain. Wayne brought home some tiny, what they call feeder fish from the pet store, he started training the fish by tapping on the side of the cauldron each time he went to feed them. So cute, they would just come running. Over the months those fish grew to be about 3 inches long, we had about 5 of them. While adding water to the "Fishing Hole" , which by the way had that battery operated fish plaque that sings "Don't Worry Be Happy" hanging above it, I accidentally slopped some water on the cords that the fountain part was plugged into. I ended up electrocuting Wayne's cute trained fish. Oh God they were all floating, and when I reached in to pick up one of the floaters, I received a shock too. Now I had to tell Wayne. He took the news better than I thought and proceeded to cover any exposed plugs with electrical tape. Back to the pet shop he went, more feeder fish and more training. Soon these little guys were coming up at the first sign of a tap to be fed. Wayne was pleased again, and again months passed and they grew to be about 3 inches long. Sooo one day I decided to clean out the "Fishing Hole", I scooped some of the water out of the tank and then netted the fish and put into the water in my bucket. Took the cauldron outside and cleaned out all the old fish poop, and washed all the rocks, filled it with fresh water and returned the fish to their home. Later that night as I was putting the dog out in the back yard, I looked down at the sparkling "Fishing Hole" and Holy Shit! They were all floating!! When Wayne heard all my commotion he came running out, looked down and and started yelling "Why are you Murdering all the fish"? "That's it, I'm not buying you anymore fish, ever again"!

So now we have a "Fishing Hole" sans Fish!
As time went by I told Wayne I wanted to build a little pond in the back yard, and you know husbands, they always have a million excuses why you can't do something. Not having the word never in my vocabulary, I went to the garage and got one of those blue tubs that have nylon handles on each side, that you might store kids toys in, and cut off the handles. It's about 2 feet across and 26 inches deep. I took it outside and measured around it, dug a hole up to the lip of the tub, sunk it in the hole, filled it with water, put in a pump and There you have it...a pond. I took a ceramic fish off my garden table, knocked a hole in the bottom and put a tube up through the fish and out its mouth and made my own fountain. When I showed Wayne what I had done, he was so impressed he took me to the Rock Yard, and bought me about 100 lbs of flat rocks to put around the lip of the pond. It turned out so pretty! I was well pleased with myself!

See how cute! It wasn't long before Wayne came home with a surprise for me, a bag of fish for the pond!! Well ok, here we go again, of course Wayne trained the fish to surface when they heard the tapping and he would feed them, he was soo happy!
Months went by, and over the winter with all the leaves falling in to the water, it was like a black hole, you couldn't see the fish at all. The leaves I guess had dyed the water such a dark brown. Well to me what was the use of having fish in the pond if you couldn't see them??? Right?? So I decided to clean out the pond, but having learned my lesson, I was not going to touch the fish, I took the hose and ran it to the bottom of the pond slowly filling it so that it would overflow, sending all the brown water out into the yard, leaving clean water in the pond. It was now so pretty and all the fish could be seen and were swimming around so happy! Ta Da!
UNTIL...Wayne went out to feed the fish...THEY WERE ALL DEAD AS DOORNAILS!!! Wayne didn't say a word, we fished them out of the pond, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the trashcan. I have never asked for, nor has he ever mentioned getting fish again, What is it with me and fish?? I don't understand, but for now there will be no more, I just can't take the carnage! I now have a cauldron with no fish, and a pond with no fish..Truce..

 

Mixed Nuts!

Hi All! I haven't posted for almost the whole month of March! I guess life just gets in the way sometimes. I have called this post "Mixed Nuts" because I have a collection of things I want to post before I start showing Easter Decor, and Spring Time in the yard.
I have had the winter constellation of Orion overhead guarding my home, but now that he is moving away, I have the constellations of Hercules and Leo taking the place as centurions for the summer. Just makes me feel good. My constellation Virgo will be off to the side of the night sky. Check out the constellations that will be over your home this summer.
 The header picture that I have on my blog is of the Goddess Flora, I painted her about 8 years ago and I just wanted to show that she really does reside on the gate leading to our back yard at our home.

She is life size and I painted her with a sponge. I had seen her picture in a magazine and tore out the page and put in one of my "Save it folders". Do you do that? Have save it folders? I tear out any page that has something that I love, or that may spark a new project. Fun to go through all the pictures that I collect, that is a good way to find out what your style is, by placing all the pictures out, you can see a pattern emerge in how all the pictures relate to each other. And voila! Your style! I found mine is Traditional with a lean to the Neo Classical for my home, but my garden is more Shabby Chic. Oh don't forget I do mosaics too, that rusted shovel head was another trash find, I used plates from Goodwill and a porcelain rose to design the mosaic. Love it!

Now talking about Shabby Chic, I have a fun collection of  Bird Houses scattered throughout the yard, some I've made and some I've decorated, others I've bought or gifts from friends. Don't they just add so much fun to the garden?

Huge bird cage that I use hanging from a tree in the corner of the yard, planted with ferns and a spider plant.

 

Some of the houses I've made and painted, or covered in shells, or have added porcelain flowers and birds, I also painted the wooden cat I found at a garage sale. I love the ones with the porcelain on them, my neighbor had thrown out a piece of bead board, so I went over and got it, and it was enough to make three houses!

This is just a few of what is in my yard, but I know you don't want to look at tons of houses, now they aren't just hanging willy nilly , they are hidden gems that you just discover as you walk the yard, and that is how all things in your garden should be, hidden discoveries at every opportunity.

It's crazy whenever I see a new project that I feel I can attempt, I'm right on it! When I saw the postings of people making cement leaves I knew I had to try it!! So I got an Elephant Ear from the yard and made one! I loved it, and was so easy! Just type in Cement Leaves on Pinterest and you will find all the instructions there.

I found a Mardi Gras mask at Goodwill, it was out of shiny gold plastic, like a Lone Ranger mask you would find at Woolworths (dating) LOL. But when I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for a cement mold, using quickcrete I made this sun, I still have the mold, but have chosen not to make another one, as when I looked at the finished sun, he had a down turned mouth, kinda didn't like that. Gotta be positive! And this thing is so heavy, I have to have my hubs move it for me, it's about 2 feet across!

Be My Valentine!

Wasn't this the most fun Holiday when you were in grade school! We would make Valentines for our mom, using colored construction paper, doilies, and school paste (yumm) LOL! Then we all had to bring a shoe box with a lid to class, and we would cover it with doilies and cut out red paper hearts. This would be our box that sat on our desks to hold all the Valentines we would get on that Special Day! The Teacher would cut a big slit in the top so we could stick the cards in our classmates boxes, going from desk to desk to deliver all these fun messages of Love and Friendship. You would always look for that special Valentine from that Boy you had a crush on, hoping his Valentine would reflect some inkling that he liked you too! Oh the Drama! Now this was before the time of political correctness, I mean some kids got more cards that others, it wasn't like today when you have to give everyone int the class one. But even then my Mom insisted that I have a card for all, I can remember looking for a card in the group that reflected the least amount of sappiness for the boy I really didn't like. Priorities.. Oh and Dad would always bring Mom a Huge Box of Chocolates in a gorgeous Heart Shaped Box, covered in lacy ruffles, flowers and ribbons, I always wanted one of those! My Dad would give my Brother and I the smaller medium sized  Valentine Red Heart box of Candy, no ruffles or lace or ribbons, but loved it so much none the less. For years Mom kept all the boxes, in shades of Red, Pink and soft Yellows. After my Dad Passed, Mom would arrange them on the couch in the living room as a Beautiful Valentine Decoration, I always loved seeing them. She would also blow up Red Balloons and place all over the couch, and even in the Bath Tub in the quest bath. Missing them both this Valentines Day, But loving all the fun Memories ♥ A wonderful feeling to be Loved, I hope you have someone Loving you This Valentines Day.

Wild Turkey Native American by Johnson Brothers

35 years ago my Dad worked for a Spirit Company, He was the number 1 salesman for 10 years in a row! Selling such brands as Ronrico Rum, Cutty Sark, Chevis Regal and Wild Turkey. As a reward for sales these companies would offer Bar Mirrors to the salesmen to use as incentives, buy my product and I'll give you a Mirror for your Bar. My dad had so many Mirrors, He would give me one and he kept one and the rest is what he used as his incentive to his customers. At one time I had a small paneled den that I had literally covered every inch of the walls with these Mirrors, it was glorious, all the colors that were used in the labels and the beautiful wood frames, I have no digital pictures of this but I'm sure there are print pictures around somewhere of my den, hmmm. Well the Wild Turkey Liquor Company gave my Dad sets of the Johnson Brothers Wild Turkey Native American China, all of which has passed down to me. I have served Thanksgiving Dinner on this wonderful China for all of my adult life. It was just in the past two years that I have given over the tradition of the Thanksgiving Dinner to my Daughter, but not the China! I have had this dinner every year since I was 22 year old and after 42 years I thought it was time for my Daughter to set her own Traditions for her family. Never knowing the worth of this China, I went on Replacements.com to see if I could find them, and boy did I ever! I found out that all the pieces of my set added up to $5,730.00!!! I couldn't believe it! here are some of the prices and pictures of  "My China"!

Isn't this glorious China? I never get tired of seeing it.
The Vegetable Bowl in the upper left  is Listed for $190.00 and I have 7 of them.

The plates are priced at $69.95 and I have 12 of them.

The Gravy Boat is listed at $300.00 and I have three of them.

Cups and Saucers are listed for $40.00 per set and I have 15 sets.. The Salad plate is listed for $90.00 and I have 9 of them. The Soup Bowls are listed for $100.00 and I have 9 of them.

I also have 1 of the Large Platters, not shown, it is listed for $350.00!

I can't believe that I have been the keeper of such a wonderful Treasure, Thank you Dad and Thank you Mom for sharing these with me all these years.

The Curiosity Shop ( My Closet)

About 4 years ago as I was getting the house ready for our Christmas party, when something told me to clean my closet! Wayne said "Rena with all the stuff that needs to be done, you're cleaning your closet"?? Well yes I was, you know how you just have to do something, there's no stopping you! Fast forward to the party, and one of our best friends, now wait for it, asked if THEY COULD SEE MY CLOSET!! For real, now I have had many things happen in my life that was odd, but this question absolutely floored me! You want to see my closet, why yes you can, so her and the Mr. followed me to my closet, and when I opened the door she gasped "Rena this is like a Curiosity Shop, I love it"!! And we just ooo'd and ahh'd over all the fun things I have in there, She goes out to the party and is telling all the girls about my closet and is taking them back to see it!!! Wayne said "They're doing tours of your closet"! I said I know, can you believe it.
Honestly we broke out laughing. Now in my whole life I have never asked to see anyone's closet nor have I ever heard such a request from anyone before. But to this day, girls want to show my closet to the guest they bring to the party.  They say the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I am a firm believer! Cuz he surly told me to CLEAN!
You know how you always hear of people checking out medicine cabinets at other peoples homes, well I have a tiny table in my bathroom with one little drawer that I keep those hair sticks we used to put in the top of our French twists back in the early 60's, you know with pearls or rhinestones on the end, well a guest at the party said to me "I just love the way you have things displayed in your home, and I especially love the hair sticks in your table". That is when it hit me that people really do check out your stuff, so from that time forward I have always emptied the medicine cabinets of things I don't want strangers to see and I clean the drawers in my vanity. Maybe this is what started me thinking of my closet that faithful day.
I have a quirky way about me, I have to have everything set up in vignettes or like a little store front, I don't know where this comes from. But when I work I have to arrange my area like a small room, I like my desk to have a table ,wall, or credenza in back of it,  I'll pull out the two side drawers to my desk, thus making only one entrance into my work space. It's kinda like a fort.

Back to my Curiosity Shop, I have a collection of handbags from the 50's and I also have a collection of jewelry boxes too, and I like to incorporate these into my spaces. I like to have my faves on display, and I enjoy seeing them on a daily basis. Even when I put away my Christmas in the closet in my guest room, I arrange it in a way that when I open the door it's more like a Christmas Stoppe, even in July I can open the door and get my Christmas Fix! My personal closet is sooo small, 3.6 feet x 5.6 feet, but it is packed with some pretty cool items, I'm not a clothes horse, so I have very few things, I found a small dresser for $19.00 at Goodwill. and it is just the perfect fit on one side, while my few things hang on the other
In the picture you can see the right side of my closet and one of my jewel boxes, given to me when I was 19yrs old, My Moms High Heels in Mustard with a gold tip at the toe, a picture of  Me and my Sister-in-law, and in the little red frame the only picture I have of  My Dad and Wayne, taken the day of our Wedding 30 years ago.

This is the extent of my clothes on the left  side of my closet along with my shoes.

This is the top middle shelf showing some of my handbag collection. The one on the left is a Gold Lizard Pantera, the Green Lucite is a Patricia of Miami, the brown oval with a tortoise shell trim is a Bienen-Davis, the Gold Leather is by Murray Kruger and the Gold and Black Beaded bag is a Mary Frances of which is sitting on an oval Black suede. In the top picture you can see a picture of  Me and Mr. LaRose, shoe designer extraodinaire , I modeled shoes for him for 2 1/2 years at the age of 19. Don't you just love my Polynesian Ceramic Face from the 50's. And I just love the Green trendy Wire Girl with her flower handbag!

On the left side of my closet, another jewel box, a Girlfriend Doll, pottery made by my Daughter in middle school, her big graduation picture, an old picture of my Grandmom Vera with her broad White Collar and big White Pearls, my Mom is just a teen standing in back of her. Tiles stacked that I brought back from Greece and Croatia.

A Rare Picture of the Grandkids hugging each
other LOL, Royal Secret the perfume I have worn since I was 18, it was the signature fragrance of Germain Montiel (no longer) now I have to order online. I love my Valentino Jar with the Bakelite Lid. Another Black Patent Box Bag from the 50's.

My Black Hat at the top that I made for one of those Mystery Dinners, I was Mama Rosa, an Italian Widow and I made this hat for my character. Have you ever been to one of those dinners, so much Fun!
I hope you have enjoyed seeing my tiny Curiosity Shop, it is really a treat in person, hard to get the personality of it all to show in pictures, but I think you got the gist of it.

Happy New Year! 2013! Good Grief!

Can you believe we have made it to the year 2013?? Wowzer, I am totally amazed! Is it the way you pictured 2013 to be when you were young? I used to get Popular Mechanic Magazine, and one issue had a cover showing cars zooming through the sky on laser beams. The cars had clear dome ceilings, and inside you could see the people, with their seats turned toward the middle with a table in-between, playing cards!! You could see other cars zooming right along, programed for their own destinations! Just like the Jetson's! And this was their prediction for the 1980's, what the hell happened?? It's like we have advanced... but not.. Seems like the more we go forward, the more things stay the same! I mean basically things are the same as when I was little, the homes haven't changed that much, furniture and clothes are basically the same too. I mean we did get polyester, microwaves, computers, skinny TV's but we have to pay to see them! and the list goes on and on, but really my life kinda runs the same way as my Mom's. I do wish we would have kept the different styles of cars, now they all look the same, you have to look at the hood or trunk for the logo to see what it is! Oh man you used to know when a Corvette or XKE went flying by, and eyes would pop over a Cadillac, but now nothing..unless a tricked out car pulls up with Spinners on their tires, Ooo excitement..I'm thinking we really did have the best of times, I know we had the best of music! Right through the 90's, then now...not too many songs that you will remember, Nothing will be burned into our brains, Like Del Shannon singing "Runaway", or the Stones "Satisfaction" or Smoky Robinson "Ooo Baby Baby". How lucky we were! But now, we at least have Bruno Mars, Adele, and even Taylor Swift, trying to bring some songs to the front that we will remember..I often wonder what songs my Grandkids will request when they want to hear an "Oldie"! "Shake'n that Ass"? Eminem? poopoo!
Well the total wonder of the future is ahead of us, and I have a feeling 2013 just might be "The Year"! Wouldn't that be great! Everyone says "Make Everyday Count", well I say "Try and get as many good ones in there as you can"! Come on 2013, BRING IT ON!!