Catching Up

While cleaning pictures off my phone and sorting them out, I realized that lots of potential posts have gone unwritten.  

 I entered a drawing on Confessions of a Semi-Domesticated Mama for Southern Breeze Sweet Tea, which is sweetened with Spenda and sweetens as it steeps as the Spenda is in the tea bag.  I never, ever win anything, so I was really surprised to get an e-mail from Delia saying I'd won!  I'd pretty well given up on sweet tea because of the sugar, but this stuff tastes like the best sweet tea and is calorie free.  Winner winner chicken dinner!  The sad part of the story is that my favorite grocery store doesn't carry it, but Amazon does!  I've finally run out, and I think I'm going to need to restock.

 We had tomatoes this year that we could actually eat!  I ate as many as I could hold until they started causing canker sores.  A good summer tomato is worth a little pain though!

 The Tuesday following Labor Day, we took Riley to the annual dog swim.  Most of the dogs spend their time sniffing each other and staying on the pavement.  Not Riley!  He doesn't care much at all about sniffing.  He'd much rather be swimming.

 The weekend after Labor Day, we camped at Springfield Lake for Bass Pro's annual Outdoor Days.  It was cool and rainy on Saturday, but Sunday was gorgeous.

 I really like David's new addition to our campsite...don't you?  I think every camper needs a plastic flamingo?

That's a little of what we've been up to.  More fun-filled busy weekends are ahead, and I'll try to do a better job of keeping up.

Celebrating Another Year

I turned another year older on Saturday.  Well, I suppose really it's only one day older, but now if anyone dare ask my age, I have a new number to tell them.  It's certainly better than the alternative!

 I started my birthday with a chilly but pleasant walk on the track at the Y.  Then we headed off in search of the great pumpkin!  We found several great pumpkins at my favorite pumpkin getting spot in Jane.  I thought Riley might enjoy a ride in the wagon, but...nope!

 We took the scenic route home through Eureka Springs, then had dinner at Cantina Laredo.

It was a great birthday!

The celebration of birthday week continued last night with dinner with Mom and Dad at the White River Fish House in Branson. My fish tasted just like chicken fried chicken!  It was delicious!  I love the decor of anything Bass Pro does, and the WRFH was no exception.  They should probably hire me to shop for the neat old stuff that they use in their stores and restaurants!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!

Happy Birthday to my favorite mermaid.

Here's to many more miles of memories.

dd

Feeling Crafty

This post is part of the link party at Anderson+Grant's blog.  See more great projects by clicking on the link below the button (since I don't know how to make the button an actual button).

Your turn to shine link party

I tend to assign a little too much personality to inanimate objects, so when this cool basket languished at my friend's garage sale after 2 days and a price reduction, I had to claim it.  Its first life was as a baby bassinet long ago and I couldn't stand for it not to have a good home. ;)  Can you see how this feeling sorry for objects might be a problem? 

I liked the white paint on it and the natural distressing provided by age, but to go in this particular spot, I thought a dark color would work better.

 So...black it is!  I painted it with a Martha Stewart paint I found at Michaels.  It's supposed to have a matte chalk finish that works well for distressing.  As I painted, I realized how long it's been since I worked on some sort of crafty project.  While painting something solid black might not really get the creative juices flowing, I had a good time painting!

After letting it dry overnight, I took some fine sandpaper to it for some aging.  Here it is...it's not that it's really that much lighter than in the above picture, but the sun was shining on it from the window in the picture below.

 More often than not, the end result that is in my head is seldom the end result that I actually get.  It's usually a little disappointing.  But this...THIS turned out just like I pictured!

I will have to admit...I turned on the dining room light this morning just to admire it one more time.

Happy Birthday!

 Happy birthday David!!!  Love you!

Fall Came Early

I love decorating for fall, and find it too hard to wait for the actual first day of fall to get out the tubs of pumpkin themed goodies.  

 These little pumpkins and crow came from the Ozark Craft Fair, which is my favorite of the area fall craft shows.  I found the two little pumpkins at one booth, then said to Mom, "Now I just need a crow to go with them!"  She reached down into a half price bin at another booth and found this cutie!

 New faux leaves this year...found on clearance back in June and tucked away for fall.

 I love the brown colors and the texture of these dried gourds, but had a little trouble finding a good spot for them.  I think a few little (real) white pumpkins added to the bowl and they'll look just perfect!

 So far, Gracie is leaving the little pumpkin shaped seed pods in the bread bowl alone.  I figure it's a matter of time before she spreads them all over the house!  The Harvest wood blocks, a birthday present from my mom several years ago, have had many homes in my fall decorations, but I think I like them up here with the oak leaf and acorn garland.

 This quilted wall hanging is my favorite addition so far this fall.  I found it at a flea market in Ozark and slowly turned the price tag over, a little afraid to look.  Much to my surprise, it was not that much!  Both of the ladies at the cash register admired and said they hadn't seen it yet.  I have a feeling that it wouldn't have stayed much longer if I hadn't been the one to find it.  It's not especially old, nor is it handmade, but I love the fall colors.

 The Welcome Harvest sign, a gift from Christina, is the first thing I hang up every year.  I like it even more against the newly painted gold walls in the kitchen.

This is a fun little collection of mini pumpkins, tiny Colorado pine cones, little dried gourds, a velvety pumpkin, and a can of pumpkin.

I haven't done the outside fall decorations yet since it's so hot, but I'm looking forward to getting some pumpkins and mums put out.  Staying home today with a cold had given me an extra day to enjoy fall, and the cool damp weather outside is a nice addition!