Running With Scissors

Purple Haze

Spring is busting out in all it's purply glory. Purple is definitely the dominant color in the garden this year.

I'm not quite sure how it happened, except that it's probably due to our wierd weather this winter. The Dutch iris are late, they usually bloom for my mother-in-law's birthday in mid-March.

 

And I think this geranium that reseeds itself all over the place might be a bit early.

Ooooh, purple and orange. I like it.

The herb garden is purple too.

I didn't even think I liked purple. But, you know, it's growing on me.

The Internet Made Me Do It

 

When my husband travels I spend too much time on the internet reading blogs.

Honestly, I do that even when he doesn't travel.

But when he's away I tend to get a little carried away and actually implement some of the interesting ideas I find on my travels through the blogosphere.

Charlie went to Atlanta this week and I got crafty.

First, I found this wreath and then I found a whole bunch of them here. I dug up an old dictionary that I had abused for some scrapbooking project or another, pulled out my trusty glue gun and voila, a book page wreath.

I took this photo with the flash:

It looks fine to me, but I know all the photo types will be appalled at my blatant use of the flash. So I opened the front door to take one with natural light.

I suppose you like the natural light version better. I don't, because when I opened the door the dog ran out and I had to go grab him before he did something bad to the neighbor's lawn. 

So that's my book page wreath. The first link is a tutorial to show you how she did hers. Mine is pretty much the same, except that I folded my pages differently. I used ink instead of paint on the edges and I went through a lot of glue gun sticks. A lot. That wreath could probably weather a hurricane.

You may notice my dress form in the photos. She is modelling her Halloween costume. She's going to be a Girl Scout. But she felt the sash (yes that's mine) needed a little more bling. I'm still looking for the beret.

 

 

 

I've About Had It With Nature

Ducks.

Aren't they cute?

No. No they are not.

These damn ducks are bound and determined to set up housekeeping in my backyard.

It is not going to happen.  

I chase them out two or three times a day.

Here they are yesterday chilling out on the spa.

Here they are after I ran out and yelled at them.

Mr. Duck got up and scooched a little closer to Mrs. Duck.  He looks terrified, doesn't he?

They don't even stand up until I'm right next to them. And then they just jump in the pool.

Hello! It's saltwater you dummies. There is a river six houses away. A regional park on the other side of that. Why do you insist on hanging out here?  I'm convinced that you enjoy the little show I put on, what with the arm waving and ranting about duck poop.

I'm about to take this battle to the next level.

I have a water gun. And I know how to use it.

The Accidental Gardener

Look what I found back behind the pool under the lime tree -- an amaryllis. I vaguely remember planting the bulb back there a couple years ago. I like to force amaryllis to use as Christmas decorations but that year I just couldn't bear to put used the up bulbs in the compost heap. I had read that bulbs that have been forced are too weak to ever bloom again, but I took a chance and planted it in a hidden spot just to see what would happen. Then I forgot about it, that is, until I spotted this vivid red flower. What a treat.

It's Not Crap, It's "Vintage"

You know how "purging" all the excess stuff in your house makes you feel all virtuous? Not only charitable (that is if you donate it and don't heave it in a landfill), but organized and tidy too? I felt that way today for about 10 minutes. Then I blew it.

A women's organization I belong to holds a rummage sale every year. It's a very lucrative fundraiser, I think, but it's a lot of work. The sale is on Saturday, so I went to help sort and price donations this morning. I also filled up the back of my SUV with junk gently-used, quality items to donate to the sale.

My first reaction when I walked up to the two-car garage virtually filled with stuff was "Holy crap, that's a lot of crap." Seriously. There were at least five complete sets of dishes alone, never mind all the random mugs, glasses, plates, silverware, cookware, Tupperware, Pyrex, and one ashtray. And that's just one category. There are sporting goods, tools, luggage, linens (oh my God, the linens!),toys, books, games and small appliances. And plenty of stuff I have blocked out because it was just too cute, or too darn weird.

Last year, I got away clean. I did not drag one thing home with me. Although Charlie bought himself a book. This year, I just could not help myself. Look at all my loot:

How cute is that little fold-up table? I love it. Those plastic boxes are full of rick rack and seam binding. There's a short stack of embroidered pillow cases with crocheted edges and some extra crocheted edging too. I have some sort of wierd affection for those bendy rulers. That's the third one I've bought. But it's blue!
The little bags are full of old wooden spools. I have no idea what I'm going to do with those, but aren't they cool? Check out the Longaberger basket -- score!
My very favorite find is the case of knitting needles. There are even more than are pictured here, some slipped down in the case. That wooden tube next to the needles is filled with double pointed needles. I brought home the crochet hooks too even though I don't crochet. Yet.

When in doubt, frame it

Do you have projects around the house that you've been wanting to do forever, but just can't seem to get around to them? Here's how I get them done: I get involved with a big old project, preferably one with a looming deadline, that is more than a little intimidating. Voila! All those other projects start crying out to be done right now and you effectively avoid working on the big, scary project.

Here's one of those little projects. Some time ago, my mom gave me some doilies and bits of lace that her mother and grandmother made. I love them, but unfortunately I'm not really a doily on the couch/table/dresser kind of gal. I found these cute glass frames at Aaron Brothers (about $20 a piece, but wait for the buy one - get one free special) and the smallest ones just fit in the frames perfectly. The frames are two pieces of glass, so the lace just slipped right in. I hung them over our bed and I think they look pretty darn good. I did move the bed out a little from the wall so when the big earthquake comes the frames won't come crashing down on our heads. 

Garden Invaders

Remember back in April when I was bragging about my garden? Things like that always come back to bite me. When will I learn? Here is my garden today:
Lemons, roses, and what's that smothering everything else? Pumpkins? Yes, pumpkins. Seems that my homemade compost was filled to the brim with mini-pumpkin (and other decorative squash) seeds. That would be a great big oops for me. Last year I bought a bunch of those cute little gourds to decorate the house in the fall and when I was done with them I tossed them in the compost pile.  I did notice an awful lot of seeds when I was spreading the compost around the yard earlier this spring, but I didn't really think they would all germinate and take over the garden! When the tiny plants started sprouting I pulled most of them out, but I left a few just to see what would happen. I thought they would grow along the ground behind the roses and maybe produce a squash or two.  Um no.  They like it back there. A lot. They are growing up, over and through everything else. Yes that is a mini-pumpkin growing up the lemon tree.

Look here, this one looks like it's going to jump the pool.
 Better be careful swimming over here, the invading mini-pumpkin may grab you with its tentacles. I picked the first tiny pumpkin today. Hopefully there will still be some in the fall.

Yet Another Project

This is a typecase I bought at the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet last week. It's a divided drawer that was used to hold various pieces of type used in printing presses.  At first I thought I would store all my rubber stamps in it.  Turns out most of my stamps do not fall into those size categories. Then I remembered this idea from Ali Edwards' blog. I think this is a fun way to use/display extra photos as well as some of the other random crap very interesting items I've found (note the tiny little troll doll--I knew I would use it some day). Here are a couple more photos so you can appreciate my masterpiece from every possible angle.

One Woman's Trash

Is probably treasure for me. My Dad's friend Ellis calls me the dumpster diver. Several years ago when he was remodeling my parents' family room I would come by and check the dumpster in case they were trying to throw something "good" away.  You gotta keep an eye on those old guys, they're cagey. And yes, I got some good loot there. 

This truly terrible photo is my latest prize. My friend Sandy was getting rid of this cupboard (that she got from our friend Angie) that she used to have in her kitchen and she offered it to me. Of course I said yes.

Technically, it wasn't in her dumpster, it was in her backyard, so no dumpster diving there. I dragged it home and spray painted it black.  I just realized that i paint everything except walls black: my Dad's old desk, my stair railings, the patio furniture.  I'm like the opposite of shabby chic.

After I painted this baby I put it on the big pine dresser in my office (I really want to call this room my studio or my atelier, but I don't think I can pull it off. Charlie calls it my lair.).  Then I ran around the house trying to find things that would fit in the cubbies (note the ball of yarn).  I definitely think it needs a little more "staging" as the decorator types say, and then I will hang it out in the hall.  Or not.  We'll see.

Money, Money, Money, Mon-ey

As you know, I love my dollars (I would love to insert a link to my April 14 post, but this new compose function in Typepad is making me crazy).  Here they are after I left them to bleach in the sun for a few days (don't forget to turn them over!).  I think they look nice is this glass jar.  I added some sand because this thing is huge and even my many, many sand dollars didn't come close to filling it.  I think it will live in the guest bath, but for right now it's in the family room, since I have still not sullied my pristine walls with any type of decor.  Hopefully the jar of sand dollars will distract the eye.  Unlikely, I know.

I also have another jar full of "dollars."  This one is in the laundry room above the dryer.  I throw all the change that winds up in the washing machine and dryer in there.  Quite a haul, huh?  Well, it's probably about 10 years worth, but everytime the jar gets close to full some of the money mysteriously disappears.  I suspect it is when someone's allowance ran a little low.  The jar has also funded several change and penny drives over the years, so it has charity going for it.

But now I'm cashing it all in.  Bwa ha ha ha.  It's all mine.  How much do you think is in there anyway?

Enough for this:

No?  They may be too sparkly for me anyway. How about this:

 

Notice the "C" theme? Okay, this is what I really want: a card catalog.  Doesn't everybody?