peaceful

well, mid-week arrives, and for some reason it feels like friday. i'm looking forward to a 3-day weekend, even though i know it will probably involve some packing.

it's been overcast here the last couple of days, and i've actually been thankful. it makes me think of cooler temps, and starting to settle inside again. it lets me be okay with being still.



i have been enjoying many, many of the 3 b's in the back forty the last few weeks (bees/birds/butterflies)....it is so wonderful! i discovered earlier in the week that a hummingbird has taken up residence near the hyacinth bean. he will not let me take his picture, however, he never goes too far away :)



i don't blame him. i would stay back here too, all day, if i could :)

happy wednesday all!

look at the pretty!

so, mabel got 'all done up' by a professional photog today!! wowza! i swear, she is looking waaaaay too pretty to sell :)

The Help

big day over here on the back forty...my friend paul is coming to shoot photos of mabel, then the realtor is coming tomorrow to do the listing! whaaaaaaaaaaa! she is as clean as possible. however, still have a few small projects to do....seriously. nutso with the projects.



i thought i would blog about 'the help.' but that is kind of boring!

it's good. it's great! you'll laugh, cry and get mad (taken from another friend)...!

i kept seeing the people in the movie as other people i know.


i kept seeing myself in minny. i guess i'm a mini minny.


wouldn't minny be a good house name?




she is sassy, but the girl means well :))







go see it. it made me want to have time to read the book ALL THE MORE.

what i did for my birthday

i went to world market, and cashed in my $10 birthday coupon for a big bag o' sumatran.

i know.

the girl at the checkout asked me what day my birthday was (it was about 7pm) and when i told her, she said 'oh, sad.'

ha ha. yeah. sometimes the single life is a little sad.



however, don't feel bad for me. the celebrations are continuing into today, with a birthday lunch and a birthday movie tonite. so there!




have i mentioned that i like world market? i do. i wander around the food aisles and look at all the pretty packaging. sometimes, i even recycle the pretty packaging :)


yay! it's friday! have a great weekend, everybody!

49 and still loving wicker

whew. it's my birfday today. in honor of this special occasion, i think i'll blog about wicker.

anybody who knows the REAL me knows that i have a pretty big fascination with wicker. and let me tell ya, it's not for the faint-hearted. wicker rarely gets the accolades, people. oh sure, we all have our pier one moments, but MY moment has lasted 30 YEARS.

thank God for emily henderson, because she is bringin' back wicker. seriously. only in a good way. that is what i was thinking last saturday night when she did a 'retro polynesian kitsch' room on her show.


that chair made me seriously happy. as fortune happens, i ran into an almost EXACT duplicate at a thrift store last weekend. $68. i may need that chair.

i was thinking of putting it here:


and then, you know, obviously, i could recreate the whole vintage hawaiian thing in the sun porch, with a painted cement floor and bright color and a bunch of bark cloth....

yes. i knew you would agree.




ahem. the above pics are 'inspiration' photos, in case you don't know what vintage polynesian kitsch means. not that it's not fairly self-explanatory ;)






on a completely unrelated but quite related note, look what i got from lou for a birthday present last night! a pleasantly green version of a vintage rattan chair! rattan is quite similar to wicker! small world :)


happy day. live it like it's your birthday :)

2 down

i think it's not a coincidence that i have started reading job in the bible this week. because these home improvement projects feel like boils and lesions all over my body :)) ha. truly, i am ready to be DONE fixing this house. 3 rooms to go in 3 days...think i can do it?


to ease the stress, i bought some stuff yesterday. yeah. that's healthy.



lowe's did have a great little pedestal sink, which is sorely needed in Fern. and natch, they had a matching light fixture that i really liked. i hunted down a 10% 'moving' coupon on the interweb, and lo and behold, now i just need a plumber to install. life is good.



oh. and i decided on the wallpaper. no crazy here, just a very expensive yet wonderful design by the famous julia rothman. i heart her, and i will heart sitting in the clouds in my newly redone bathroom, too :)

onward people, it's tuesday already!!!

:)

1 down

i just want you all to know that i am never moving again, ever. never ever never never again.

thank you.

oooh. ahhh.

someday, but not today i will tell you about accidentally painting over the painted tile in my shower with acrylic paint, when lo and behold, there was an oil-based paint there before.

someday. but not today. especially since i am tired from scrubbing tiles until midnight last night. and especially since i need to start all over with an OIL-based primer today.




sigh.

look at all the littles! for real, almost!



check this out...both nasty wallpaper and circus lighting....

but for today, i leave you with a wallpaper sample. a possible 'new bathroom' wallpaper sample (not like i'm jonesing to wallpaper a bathroom, but it already has HIDEOUS wallpaper, and it might be easiest just to re-paper....)

pretty.



good day!







post script: found another one....think this might be good? it's called 'underwater world' and i think i could be happy applying makeup and looking at the crazy fishy scribbles :)

goodbye pink

i hate having things in total disarray, don't you? perhaps that is why i'm not really longing for this weekend....i have to spend it here.

at any rate, hopefully it will be purtier by monday morning. and hopefully, it's the LAST of the home improvement projects that mabel will need from me. hopefully.

thank goodness for hope ;)
happy friday, all....

radical update

so, last night my bible study group finished up the book 'radical.' thought i would give a little synopsis of my experience....

well. first off. when you are reading the book 'radical' about giving up the American dream in order to really, truly follow Christ, and in the middle of it all, you decide to buy a house that is cuter and more perfect for you as you transition into middle age, you have to admit you've put yourself into a conundrum. i don't think i have ever been more tormented, to be honest. NOT wanting to 'sell out' my faith, but really wanting to go with my gut and move NOW was a super big conflict for me. i had to wrestle with that for much of the book study.

the book is not super unexpected. it talks about the majority of the world who don't have starbucks and vacations to disneyworld as part of their daily existence. it makes you think 'what am i doing with what God has given me' in terms of our obvious wealth in this country.

and the answer for me was not that simple - what / when / where do things need to change? i admit the whole thing made me a little crabby....until yesterday. i woke up in the morning and read the last chapter, which in my estimation was better than all of the other chapters rolled together. here's what the author suggests i do:

1) pray for the entire world (this was/is the toughest one for me to imagine myself fully committing to)...not sure where i will start...

2) read the entire Word in a year (have tried this for the last 5 years or so, i'm not 100%, but i've read my daily Bible quite a bit, and i feel i am at least attempting this faithfully).

3) figure out where/how you can SACRIFICE your resources for the good of the kingdom....the author talked about 'capping' your lifestyle. good stuff to think of .... and sacrificial giving vs. just giving what is not really a sacrifice. hmmmm. will require some prayer and thought.

4) spend 2% of your time experiencing your faith out of your normal context. so, one week a year. maybe it's going on a mission trip. maybe serving regularly at your community soup house. finding ways for God to transform your culture trap into HIS culture trap. love this one....! i want more than anything to change in this way.

5) getting with a real, authentic community in Christ and doing something there. yep, i believe in this also. thankfully, mercy church is setting me on my path here....even though there is much more to do/be as part of a real church body. i've never really had that experience before, and am so grateful to have it.

whew. so, that's my take. i came away very pumped up! and realizing that a 'radical' faith is also a 'doable' faith....at least it seems so. pretty sure God tells us that also :)

hello, fall.

i woke up this morning with no idea who i was, or where, or when. i think the brain overload is starting to affect me in strange ways.

i am pretty sure i dreamt about david bromstad. go figure, i would rather have been dreaming about john gidding. or emily h. :)) ha.

at any rate, it's one of those beautiful fall days that is especially appreciated when it's not. fall. i just want to sit in the sunporch and read. or nap. or something.

things are going pretty well. i closed on fern on monday, and now have about 9 days to get mabel ready to show. my realtor brought a lady over yesterday, i would not let her in yet (!) because the place is a wreck. but she looked around the yard, and seemed pretty interested. the big problem is how/what to price the old girl. i need to go with my gut, but it's hard. i will lose quite alot of $$, no matter what, i guess. mostly because the old adage of 'location, location, location' is true. however, mabel is so good. i hope someone who needs her will find her. and as for the location, it has been good for me these past 8 years, too. God has been here, and will stay, i am pretty sure.


sigh. lots of emotion. best to just keep plugging along with home improvements and dreams of david bromstad, or else it will be just too hard.


happy wednesday!

suckity-suck-suck-sucky

that is the adjective i would use to describe tarring a roof.

ps. those are the clothing items that were discarded right after i took my bath in gasoline.

now, i just need somebody to come over and clean out the bathtub :)





however, i did manage to check off a GIANT checkmark on the list. and if things roll my way, i'll never ever ever have to do that again.

beautiful friday