Take Your Best Guess!

Well,

Today's the day.

What day, you ask?

Well, the day to paint

the bike.

Yes, Yes, It's true...

I garbage picked it...

Shhhhhhhh..

We don't want the 

neighbors to know!

You didn't really think

I could use

SPRAY PAINT

when SweetCheeks was here

did you, you silly goose?

We had other fish to fry...

er...crowns to polish...

and SPRAY PAINT

and SweetCheeks just kind

of sounds like a 

scary duo to me.

Now then..

Back to the bike painting~

Here are the choices.

Do you think I am going to paint

the bike 

THIS COLOR?

(I will list these for all

you color blind people)

#1 GREEN?

#2 PINK?

#3 TURQUOISE/AQUA?

above images here

#4  WHITE?

image here

Did you know they call

white bikes

GHOST BIKES?

Well, they do!

No ghosts in my gardens so far...

although I have a few skeletons

in my closet...

And MyHero?

Well, he has even 

MORE SKELETONS

in his closet....

after all he once wore

something that looked like

THIS!

So, if he 

SHOULD OFFER

to help me spray paint

today I will tell him,

"Thanks, but no thanks".

C'mon...you'd say the same thing!

So...

What's your best guess?

#1, #2, #3, #4

Tomorrow we will see

how well you know me!

Seeking Prayers On Sunday

I talked to a sweet friend

of mine, Janet O,

this week.

Her children and ours grew

up together.  They had

one of those love/hate

relationships that only happen

when kids are close in age

and temperament.

Matter of fact, I think

there were some

"first kisses" between

her kids and ours but

my kids SWEAR that is

NOT TRUE!

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!

Anyway, Janet O. has a beautiful

daughter-in-law,

Jessica, married to her son, Nathan.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Janet asked for

prayers for Jessica.

I told her I have the

best prayer warriors

in all of Blogland...

YOU GUYS (or girls).

She has a rare-very rare

type of cancer...

Choriocarcinoma

You can read about it here.

It is through her whole

system, including her

brain and her lungs.

Please, please, please

pray for Jessica.

Pray not only that she

will be completely

healed but that she

can have a baby sometime

in the future.

She is feeling sad and 

disheartened by this whole

experience and we want

to see her looking like

this again.

All prayers will be welcomed

and Janet will tell 

Jessica to check for your comments.

Another update on

Charlie-the nephew of

Jettie.  The one that 

fell and landed on his face.

This is taken from her blog.
You can read that original post here.
Charlie is now off the Vent, and in a step down room, out of ICU.  His mouth is wired shut, so he isn't talking, but he is looking around and has both eyes open.  Discussions are ongoing as to his therapy, which will be at a hospital closer to home.  No time frame is in place yet, just have to wait and see how his recovery goes.  He won't be having more facial surgery, I was told.  Just keep praying for him and his family, please.  He has a long recovery ahead

 The other person I 

am waiting for an update on 

is this darling little boy, Evan.
Here is the only update & this
is from April 19th.
The surgeon called our daughter late last night.  He told her our grandson's condition is VERY complicated and he is unsure how to treat him...spewing off words too big for her to wrap her mind around.  His office called her today and she and our little guy will be meeting next Thursday, April 26 with a a different doctor specializing in pediatric immunology and infectious disease. The following day, Friday, April 27 they will return to see the surgeon for a follow-up visit since his bone biopsies.  He is still leaning towards some kind of infection I guess...but what? And...why so complicated?  I am discouraged because it is taking so long to treat him, to let us know what exactly is going on with him.

You can read his story here.

I hope no news is good news..

and I will let you know as

soon as I hear anything.

Sunday blessings to all....

I Hired A Gardener!

Yes!

Yes-It's true.

I hired a gardener to 

help me with this

blasted front yard.

I told the hired help

that I would pick them

up at 8:30 and to wear

clothes suitable for

digging and dirty work.

Here is what 

the gardener wore.

You see this outfit often

because it is her

FAVORITE.

She said she was really tired

cuz she had worked all morning.

She had to do the dishes

(put her bowl in the sink)

and start the laundy

(put her dirty clothes in the hamper)

and clean everything up...

uh-huh

To keep her little hands 

from getting dirty

she wore these.

She has her own hoe

which often ended up here.

So that she could do this...

on a tricycle that may

or may not be a tad too small.

Then...She went with me to 

Home Depot

and smelled all the flowers.

She picked these out herself

because she thought her

sisters would like them best.

You remember I said

I HIRED a gardener?

Well, friends,

here's where the payday

started....

A child's vanilla milk steamer..

Of course I had to be 

dragged there because it

was Starbucks.

okay-I might have lied

about the dragging part-

Then a salad on the bench...

And dinner divine...

After dinner there was 

another small payoff.

Now, are you wondering

if we got any gardening done?

Well, folks,

you will just have to come

back again, won't you?

You won't be disappointed...

because it is going to 

include a bicycle and spray paint.

And, NO, I am NOT

going to be pedaling 

my butt all over town,

but thanks for asking!

Staging Stinks-Sometimes

What?

Well...there I said it!

You want the truth, right?

It stinks when you don't

have much to work with....

MyHero and I went

to Door County yesterday.

You remember our friend,

Keys?

After he passed away

last month we were left

to deal with the

house he was renting.

The landlord is

now going to sell the house.

So, MyHero asked me

if I could stage it 

working with what 

was already there.

Now, the funny thing

is that about 15 years ago

 we provided

Keys with just about

every piece of furniture

he owned.

Dated?

You bet!

But,  you work with

what you have, right?

Why?

Because there is 

NO BUDGET

for this redo.

Door County, WI

is noted for 

cherries and 

big shipyards....

lots of nautical stuff

in this area.

So, we are going for a

nautical theme here.

 Here is what I

started with looking in

from the foyer.

There used to be

THREE pianos in this room..

A concert sized grand,

an upright

and a harpsichord.

Those have all been

removed and a couple of them

are awaiting new homes.

This is from a slightly

different angle.

And this is looking

towards the dining room.

So....

after a bit of moving things

around I found an old

desk upstairs

and moved that to the corner

that held the chair.

The top is in terrible condition

but there was a piece of

black felt that I used

to cover the top.

After looking at this I went

back and turned the drawers

to the back when I noticed

the hardware was all wonky.

I used an old chair to make

this odd space a little

reading nook.

These chairs were 

"country blue"

from the 80s.

I ordered slip covers from 

Overstock.com 

in a rich cocoa brown color

and gave them to

 Keys a few years ago.

The little pillow was a gift

from my sweet son-in-law

and is on loan for

staging.

The dining room is

bare and spare

but I dressed the table

as best I could using

what I had on hand.

There is a little built in

on the wall in here.

It is in an awkward space

so I added the nautical

bell pull to one side.

~Blue & White & Yellow~

I thought the yellow

cheered it up a bit.

The kitchen is still a mess.

But that is next up on the

TO DO LIST.

These HAVE to go!

And, I am replacing the

burner pans... they're awful...

trust me....

So, that's what

I did yesterday.

Today I have

SOMEONE SPECIAL
spending the day

so you know how much

I will get done!

Not much...

but I'm sure I will

have lots of laughs!

And probably a few

new "stories" 

to share with you!

Have a great day friends!

My Hero Delivers (The Mail)

Yesterday was 

ONE OF THOSE DAYS.

You know the one.

The one where you have

a kagillion things to

get done and

somehow end up 

getting nothing done.

Yeah...

that kind of day.

The kind that leaves

you feeling kinda

suck-o.

Yes-that's a real word.

It is in my 

Nana Diana Dictionary.

I will be glad to sell

you a copy for only

$38, 550.67.

Cash or Money Order.

Then you, too, can

have a vocabulary

that will amaze,

and delight,

your friends.

So, I was most happy

when MyHero came

in from the mailbox

toting a box with

a wonderful surprise inside.

A few weeks ago I won

a giveaway from

Kristin over at

My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia.

Here they are-

3 of the cutest frames 

you will ever see.

#1

#2

#3

Here they are with

a different light source..

Pretty sweet, huh?

The giveaway was sponsored by

 Jennifer Rizzo Design Company

They are darling and I love

them.  

Thank you Kristen & Jennifer.

I would also be remiss if

I didn't share what my friend

Mary @ Hope Filled Living

sent me a couple of weeks ago.

She is just a sweet, sweet person.

Here is what widened my eyes

when I opened her 

sweet package.

The tag is just adorable..

as is the necklace.

And some seeds to plant

to remind me of her

all season long.

Thanks so much, Mary.

Now....if you are very good

and promise not to spit

in the cat's dish,

tomorrow I will share

the staging I have been

doing in our friend's house

in Door County....

working with some

very meager furnishings

and accessories.

Here is a sneak peek...

What?

Sneak Peek?

What did you THINK you

were going to see...

My Hero in his 

birthday suit?

Oh- Wait!

That was his 

LEISURE SUIT...

Uh-huh

THOSE were the days, huh?;>)

BBAP-Before Blogging And Pinterest

I don't know about you

but I used to collect

magazines like some

people collect 

dust on their shelves.

If a new magazine 

was published I was right

there to pick it up.

There were some wonderful

ones that have fallen by

the wayside 

as the internet has

become our go-to source

for ideas and inspiration.

Remember when

Country Home

was published bi-monthly?

And how about

Home Companion?

I had my own little system

before the internet craze.

I had (still have)

binders and binders

full of ideas.

They are all labeled and

organized.

I probably have 30 of them.

I have been poring through them

to figure out what to do

with our front gardens.

I took a drive on the west

side of the bay yesterday.

I came across this sweet

little spot.

It won't work for our 

landscaping problem

but it would work for 

my son's house.

Isn't this cute?

I think they did such 

a nice job...rustic

and so sweet.

I wanted to drive right up

this drive

and introduce myself.

Looking at that red barn

just makes me smile.

Somehow, I just felt there 

was a piece of apple pie

and a cuppa hot coffee

waiting there for a visitor.

(if this is your house and

you see this please call me...

I will bring the coffee myself

just to walk through your 

sweet space!;>)

So...still no answers for

me about what to do with 

THIS mess....

I know it doesn't look 

bad here but,

trust me,

another month and it will be

AWFUL.

So, until I figure out what to

do I guess I will just have to

dream a bit.

And, while I am dreaming,

I am going to dream

that
MY GARDENS

look just like 

Laurie's gardens

over at 

Heaven's Walk.

This is a side yard shot.

And another...

That is at her OLD HOUSE..

now for sale.

Do you suppose if I 

begged hard enough

she would cross 

Lake Michigan on her

rowboat and help

her poor Wisconsin friend

figure out what to do here?

The pay isn't much

but I will keep you laughing, 

Laurie....

while I sit and watch and 

direct things....

and if you drink enough of 

that FatCat/StupidDog 

wine you make you won't 

mind at all.

Okay- back to my

notebooks to see if

I can find some inspiration.

I hope you all have a 

wonderful Wednesday!