more pink kitchens

wow. lots of good pink kitchens, i'm finding...LOVE the first pic....

hope to finish up the painting in mine tonite ;))
then, let the decorating BEGIN.

new lite

so, i have to tell you about our monday night worship group (again). i guess you know it's been ramping up lately. God is in da house, people!! our group leader advertised in her church's life group pamphlet, and we were surprised to have NINE additional people sign up!! for a group that we "press into Open Heaven experience through ardent worship and prayer." yeah. nobody EVER signs up, so nine people is ALOT!

last night was really cool. only 4 additional people showed up this first week (more coming starting next week), 2 men and 2 women. 3 of the 4 had AMAZING testimonies of how God is leading them. one young guy made me cry with his recount of a life of drugs and crime and a pending 40 year sentence in the penitentiary, that God somehow amazingly reversed. this guy preaches to people at TARGET, guys. he is 29 years old. he said that he was never a "popular" kid, but that somehow God has made him very popular with people, very charismatic, the kind of person that people his age seem drawn to. he swears that God has made him the life of the party!! he was just an amazing encouragement. the kind of son i think we'd all like to have, i'm sure God is just smiling over his life.

soooooo. i am thrilled beyond measure. several of us are going to do the street evangelism school together. all of us are excited, and SURE God will show up and His Glory will be known!!! hallelujah!!

ps. can you tell i'm happy/excited?!?

chocolate and cherries

apparently, i was hungry for something this morning. not work, which did not seem too pressing today. sometimes, we freelancers get away with stuff.

anyway, the walls are more than halfway finished. gotta let the paint dry before i can move on, but i should knock this out in the next couple of days. i ended up going with a color called dhurrie pink, which is REAL close to the 1953 kitchen...looks more orange here than it is, although it's an orange-ish pink for sure.

thing is, i have absolutely NO pink things in my kitchen. not one. well, i have a plastic pink gerbera daisy. that needs dusting. i really am thinking this is more the neutral backdrop for all my great green/red/yellow/orange vintage things. oh my heaven's, it's bright! just a cheery, happy bright. not weird at all. i know, call me nuts, but i'm not going for an overall pink look. i'm so excited about how good the floor looks with the color! and also how the big black hole of a refrigerator and stove suddenly make more sense.

and all day long, i got to think of kathy (carey's mom) who helped me - actually mostly did all the work - paint the kitchen the first time. i miss her. i hope she will approve of this new color when she sees it :)

whew. i'm tired. going to go shower and admire for awhile...i kind of wish it was finished, though!


:)

weekend wrapup

sigh. it cannot REALLY be monday, can it? dang. well, if the weekend is over already, i'll waste a little time talking about it. better to live in the past, than in monday morning, i think.


friday nite, i got invited over to check out lou's new patio furniture. the good news is, it's comfy and it goes well with hot fudge sauce. kristie does get a little psycho if there is a chance of rain, cushions must go IMMEDIATELY to the basement, kind of like when i wrapped my new couch in placemats to protect it from siesta. this, too, shall pass.



on saturday, i got in about 5 hours of good garden labor by finishing the next third of the garden mosaic project. whew. i like how it's looking. i am not getting super duper into planting (which is HARD) because i plan to transplant some perennials from the side garden here next spring. patience, that's what i'm growing.



my fave thing in the yard right now is my little dwarf cherry tree. it's rocking the cherries this year, after its "cousin" got ripped out by the roots and stolen last year. sweet baby!

oh, on the frugal front. i am trying to reuse plastic ziploc freezer bags, like i read on somebody's blog. trouble is, they do not seem to dry out!! i want to do my own part, so that nazi minnesotans (in stores, not kirst) who think they are so cool by refusing plastic bags still think i'm cool. cause THAT is important ;)

not much else to report, yesterday was the longest, laziest, best day ever. naps rule, that's all i'm sayin...

i hope you all are rested and ready to go!! happy monday!

thinking pink

i've been thinking about it for awhile, and i admit the urge is growing stronger - to paint my kitchen...pink. well, not pink exactly, but more like a lite, orangey sherbet-like pink. salmon, really. which is a food, no? from the ad i found about it when i googled "pink kitchen" - looks like it was somebody else's great idea in 1953!

a life of fridays

sometimes, i think i measure everything in fridays. everything leads to friday during the work week. and everything subtracts during the weekend. it's like my ground zero, and i get a new one every week.

there is nothing better than waking up on friday morning, knowing that soon, a few tasks here and there, you'll be FREE for an entire weekend. this morning, i've been in the garden, sitting and looking and getting up and looking and pulling a few weeds. perfect way to start the day....hope you have a great one too :)


















on another, completely unrelated note, look what happens when you turn on the faucet in the sink to do dishes, hear your favorite chris tomlin cd playing, stop to go worship, get caught up in worship and forget what you were doing, go back to work in your office, hear something funny an HOUR later, and discover that completely tepid water has been overflowing into the accompanying drain, but not onto the floor.

definitely NOT a friday thing.

lovely day

this song is my absolute favorite, as of sunday evening when i was driving home from brookings at sunset, and heard it on the radio. i also saw Heaven and the angels gathered around the throne, singing "worthy is the lamb."

:) happy wednesday.

happy 3

well, actually it was last week. for 3 years (and a week), i've been blogging. pretty regularly, at least more regularly than i jog. or go to the movies. three years goes by pretty fast, although in some ways it seems like forever ago. in that time i've gained and lost a fiance, a cat, more pounds than i care to think about, and some clients in my business. i'd like to think i've grown in my relationship with Christ, the only gain that really matters. and of course, i've documented bugs and bunnies and fruit and veggies and flowers and found treasures. those are the constants, and i am grateful.

thanks for being here along the way! i still love blogging, i cannot see stopping unless for some reason life shifts dramatically away from my computer. i am glad you stopped by ;)

summer's here

in honor of the first monday of summer, i broke out the skort. ah. what an invention! people over 40 rejoice with me!! this particular version has weird knit biker shorts built in underneath. i don't know yet, but i bet i can sweat and will still be comfy in skorty goodness!

he he. skorty goodness. ah, to live a grateful life...


in other news, the perennial beds are looking nice. they don't normally get watered, unless it's really bad. so, they liked the rainfall.


Lord, help me to quit buying plants! this flat of moss roses will have to go somewhere. better keep digging up dirt, i guess...


you couldn't resist either, right?!


oh. the unfurling. going quite nicely, thanks. i may have a giant caladium by summer's end!

whew. okay. monday mode, monday mode, monday mode.
:) wishing you as much luck with that as i'm having!

sunday goodness

it's a sleeping in, sitting on the porch and drinking coffee, staring out at the unfinished yard work, baking cupcakes and heading down the highway kind of day.

hope yours is a good one!

succies

i could look at you forever.

rain rain

so far this month, it has rained more days than not. i kind of like it. today, for example, it rained and looked gloomy, but now it's brightening up! kind of like a fresh batch for every day. bring it on. that's my rain barrel above. i am so excited that kristie's dad is going to get me a recycled rainbarrel (old soap container) over the 4th of july. woo hoo! i hope it keeps raining.


the unfurling is complete. now we just need to see how BIG he is going to get.


i did discover a fairly major leak in my nest. doh. the joy of home ownership. anybody know how to tar a roof?


luckily, i got my $1 thrifted plastic tablecloth set up yesterday. see how cute it is, lou!


oh, and the digging up of the back yard continues. sweat was produced doing this little section. i ran out of mulch and busted a paving stone, but ALMOST there.

is it friday yet? so much to do besides working!
:)

random design day

like every designer who is worth even a small hoot, i appreciate great design when i see it. that's why it was exciting to behold this "Jolly Jug" at the thrift store last week. i love, love, love the perfection of the design. for all those designers out there who think they are cool with their sleek and modern design, take a look at the people who invented it. in the 1950s, no less. this great little guy was designed by a lady named petra cabot, who is my new favorite dead designer. her bio is interesting. i wonder if it was her idea to put the red round cap on top? because that is GENIUS.

anyway, i love looking at it. i was not going to buy it though, because what the heck will i do with all this useless stuff. until lou unscrewed the lid, and yep, there is a neat glass container in there. so i can actually make hygienic lemonade with it this summer. to be honest, i just want to take a photo with a beach blanket and feet with flip flops and this. sigh.

happy design day!

unfurling still more

well, one thing that is unfurling is that i am scared out of my bejeebers. absolutely TERRIFIED.

it seems that very soon i will get an opportunity to "take it to the streets" as some young prophet evangelists come to town to host a school of ministry. yikes! that was quick, Lord!

oh. get this...remember way back when a long time ago, when i admitted my fascination with flag waving/worship?


well, it looks like a "flagging" workshop is also on the agenda. that guy right there is an INSANE flag waver. insane. he's also 6'3" or so, and skinny. i hope he brings some shorter, rounder flags too :)

he he. unfurl, unschmurl.

the unfurling

new favorite word of the week: unfurl. Webster's defines it this way: to release from a furled state. that little guy above got me thinking about it... you might remember him.


i got him in april, with the promise of him turning into an elephant ear caladium. for a LOOOOONNNG time, he did nothing. now, he's unfurling into something. can hardly wait to see.


hmmm. let's see what else. the berries are coming in, few but scrumptious. and pretty, right?


i know you guys are sick of the chair, but it's absolutely where i live right now. this weekend, i knew it was bad/good when my saturday cleaning moved to the screened porch, and the inside of the house remained untouched. i am working on a super secret project, which fit perfectly into my outdoor nest. kirsten, that other chair is reserved for you ;)


lastly, lou and i had a thrifting FRENZY on friday nite. yes, you heard that right, friday nite. who says we're not party girls?! i am truly DONE with succulents. but not before i od'd on them. succulent overload. sounds like a band.


well. so much for happy, carefree weekends. now, i can hardly wait to see how life unfurls this week :) enjoy your monday!

one day summer

well, yesterday was "it" apparently. today is grey (and - at least - rainy) again! i managed to take advantage of the sun yesterday, pulled weeds, went for a walk, grilled chicken for dinner, and just generally enjoyed the sky and warmth.

i even went thrifting for about 20 minutes. i have not been thrifting NEARLY enough yet this season, have not had the time so far to dig in wholly. but, nevertheless, i have found a few things. wanna see?

yellow - my official favorite color since i was about 6 years old - is now coming in more strongly around the house. and pears. i really like pears. i have had the little ceramic honey pot for awhile, but i just got the glass jar. oh. and glass jars. and enamel ware. i know. you are getting the idea i like everything, which is SO not true.


he he. i have been fantasizing for a couple of years about those giant plastic lighted santas from the 60s. this little guy is NOT that. but he will look very cute on the steps this winter, if i can figure out how to get him open to change the lightbulb. $2. tell me you think i'm nuts.


everything has to be a collection, i swear. lately, it's "succulents and old ceramic pots." cannot have enough of those. last weekend, i finally hit the jackpot and found some cool old succulents that remind me of my grandma's windowsill. and late yesterday i said to lou: "i really need some old chippy planters."

of course, look what i found on the lone garage sale i went to! i see more of these little gems in my future!!


ah. looking at pretty things is something i don't think i'll ever tire of. maybe someday, i won't have to necessarily OWN them. happy friday!