Summer Dreaming

Do you ever have the idea that you are going to clean out one little area and the next thing you know, you're digging out your entire stash of every piece of scrapbook paper, fabric, pens, markers, DMC floss, glue, tape, paint, scissors and punches and the next thing you know, you have this humongous mess! And you're thinking, what happened? And you're tired, and it's now 10 p.m., and you don't know where to begin to get this all put away.

That happened to me a couple of days ago. Just give me an hour to dig it out and I can have my house ready to go on "Hoarders."

Fabric from Mom

Oh well...*sigh* By midnight, I had it all tidied up and I plopped into bed.

I have some extra days at home during the summer--which I LOVE--and of course I want to get some writing done, I'm still tweaking my play and novel as ever--but I also want to finish up my latest mixed media projects and start AND finish some new things!

I started cleaning out my big ole basket-o-markers and colored pencils and throwing away the dried out paint pens, etc. I love to doodle. The problem is, I draw like a child (see above) but I don't care. I started creating these little doodles on pieces of card stock so that I can patch them together and hang them in a poster frame--that is one summer project right there! Hmmm...maybe I'll have my gallery showing some day after all! Dreaming...

My daughter a few years ago on our first visit to the Titanic museum

But, as the doodle says, family is so important to me and it will be fun to get away on a little trip soon. I may make it back to the Titanic museum, since we just recognized the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's demise, I love going to the museum, it's touching and beautiful.

Little pots o marigold seeds I planted last week

My mother gave me a whole bunch of fabric that she had stashed away for decades. I weeded through it and came up with some really cute stuff--I think I can even make a summer dress from one of the pretty, silky pieces. I have some Simplicity patterns I bought on sale, big time, for like 99 cents--so I have to sew something wearable! But my bobbin is messing up lately--I finally found that the problem may involve tightening up a little tiny screw on the bobbin case, so I'll get right on that!

Then, I'm going to plant seeds constantly all summer. Why? I have no idea--I'm just driven to do it!

Okay, so this is unique, but I decided that when I'm on my computer at home, I mostly want to be standing up. I got this idea from watching "A Day in the Life" on Hulu, and I saw this guy, who is extremely healthy, and writes self-help books, and he was going through his day, what he does, what he eats, where he goes, and at the end of the day he does his writing. But he puts his laptop on a table on a box, so that he can stand the entire time he's on the computer. Professionals are constantly telling us not to sit all day--so I moved my laptop to a place on top of some craft draws with a tray to keep it level, and it is very comfortable to stand there. We'll see how it goes. I'm in the process of decorating the ribbon board I just hung above it. I completely cleaned it off too the other day. Look at me go!

I tell you, this all makes me happy because I had a very hard winter with some back problems, so I'm feeling better and happier each day! I'm still in Zumba class once a week and I just signed up for the June classes! Taking an actual class lets you really learn the moves so that you can put on your iPod and practice them all the time when you're not in class.

I know--I draw like a child!

Dishcloth from scrap yarn

I also need to go to church more! My back problems had kept me out for many Sundays, and I love my church. I've also always wanted to hold a cross-stitch workshop there sometime. I wonder if anyone would be interested.

I just knit a little dishcloth the other day. These are great on-the-go knitting projects to stash in your bag and they get done quickly. You can knit up a stack of dish cloths from your scrap yarn, and keep some in your gift drawer--a few tied together with ribbon make a sweet gift with some wooden spoons and a cute vintage bowl.

My summer dreams and schemes also include cleaning out my cookbook collection (I'll be sharing that) and plenty of tag making and scrapbooking! Yay! I love summer days.

It Was the Happiest of Mothers Days

Usually, on Mother's Day, I get up early, go to church, get to stand and be recognized with the other mothers, and then receive my carnation on the way out.

But this Mother's Day was different. It had been a lovely, but extremely hectic and busy week. I have a lower back strain--and I was sooo tired!

This photo is what I woke up to: a beautiful bouquet of roses and my morning coffee. I got to drink coffee in bed! LOVE IT!

I skipped church.

I laid in bed, drank my coffee, watched The Barefoot Contessa making brunch, and smelled my roses. I have the sweetest husband. (Sweet daughter too who bought me my favorite Body Shop Body Butter!)

Further proving his sweetness and helpfulness, my husband had worked all day Saturday to finish putting in my new raised bed garden.

To me, this fresh, new, raised bed garden is a beautiful sight and site. It is built over the old middle garden, and it is full of nothing but promise at this point. Ignoring all back pain, I had an egg, and went straight out to get busy with the first planting.

I brought along seeds, gloves, "Mater Magic" and a couple of cats.

One of my smaller raised beds is full of luscious varieties of Thyme...and my cat Minnie.

I plotted out where I would plant the first tomato starts--and drew up a little garden plot on paper so that I could remember what variety went where, and where I have planted basil and squash seeds.

 The tomatoes went in with plenty of room to grow! My back went a little numb, but a hot shower took care of that!  Then it was time for Mother's Day lunch at Heminway's Blue Water Cafe.

Hemingways is my favorite--delicious chef food! Their Mother's Day buffet had it all.

I feel blessed and fortunate to have my 86-year-old beautiful mother--and she is crazy about her granddaughter!

After we enjoyed the luscious first few courses--it was time for the dessert bar!

Best thing about Mother's Day dessert? The chocolate fountain!!!

 

Now, the last thing I need is to stuff my face with a bunch of desserts--let alone a chocolate fountain! So my plan, to enjoy all this, was to just take a little bite of a few things--who needs to eat the whole thing? But, it was my day, not to be a diva about it, and I knew the next day it would be back to a.m. oatmeal and noon turkey/veggie wrap!

My little dessert plate!

After this amazing Mother's Day lunch, we decided  to take my Mom walking around the store that houses this restaurant (Bass Pro) and check out the live alligator, and some of the fishie tanks. We had fun! And hopefully the walk helped us digest!

 

Ahhh...but now it's Monday and back to another busy week. I do have some beautiful time off this summer...I can't wait! But until then, I'll be tending to my garden, watching seeds grow, and organizing my other projects, hopefully getting some things finished up. And then there's always that crazy thought of entering things in the fair! We'll see.

Me and my sweet hubby

 EAT, WRITE, DREAM, STITCH!