Progress Report

So - I have been falling into old habits - not posting because things are not done. I have been chastised - friends and family want to see the progress !! And since many came thousands of miles to help me - they are right - they deserve progress !!

After all these years - I finally hung the first pieces in the Grand Salon !


Some assembly required? how about ALL assembly required

Mission at St. Mary

When the ladies arrived, with tools and plants from their gardens, I said "The Marines have landed"!! They went at my weeds with a vengeance. Jayne ( here from Alabama with Twinkle) did the entire perimeter with that weed whacker - it never looked so good.

Another Jane (friends since college) - from Chicago - this is her idea of working in the garden.

Diane - the garden is her favorite place - except when it's 90 degrees....the heat was relentless.

Bertie (another college friend and Jane's sister) - giving my tomatoes some much needed TLC.

Marcia is a wonderful gardener - we've been friends since we were 14.

Patty , and below her is Mary Kay..... amazing friends.... we go back to when we were 10. And actually I don't think we've changed a bit.

Consultation with The Tin Man.

Mission at St. Mary

These are just random snaps taken during the week.......some beautiful faces of people I love

( OK - that's me )

Michael and Meghan (both from Laguna Beach) Looking like characters in a Bob Fosse movie

McGiver/Michael

Taste Master/Guardian Angel Diane from Laguna Beach, CA

Darling Randy - Contractor from California

My Meggie

Meghan's oh-so-darling Arnn from Laguna

Mission at St. Mary

We Got Plastered !!

I have never really used any shades of yellow or gold - but the windows here seem to dictate those colors. I don't mind...it's nice to try something so different. My youngest brother looked around the room and said "well, it's obvious how high you can reach". He would call out on regular intervals "People, remember to feather....keep feathering!"

"I'm feathering, I'm feathering!!"

Long time friend, Chuck, said he couldn't ever hit the nail on the head - but if I could find him some other job.......well Chuck, careful what you wish for !

Each time I would start then stop .... the color would be a bit different. I like it that way

Nancy 's Sweet Daughter Stevie who was also on the ceiling detail and my wonderful
Sister-in-Law Gail who has been here for me since the moving van arrived.

My darling Meghan

I'd forgotten what a monkey she was

My youngest brother Michael for whom I would do anything.

This was step one.........then we blended it all together with the same paint color diluted with water. This was all done with a rag...those pictures will be next. Finally I will go over everything with a copper glaze. Have to play with that a bit .
whew.

Mission at St. Mary

This dear friend Nancy made it her personal mission to finish my ( well, actually START and finish) my ceiling before all the others arrived. I had been down with vertigo since June 1, and was under threat of death if I climbed the scaffolding. We decided - after trial and error and listening to both solicited and UN-solicited advice that we would chip away all the loose paint but not try to strip the whole ceiling. If it was still hanging on tight - we decided it will probably outlive me anyway. So it was scraped , treated with a rust prohibitor, primed with a metal primer and painted with aluminum paint. Sweet girlfriend looked like the Tin Man.

Nancy's Fearless Son Hunter

The Tin Man

and her Sweet Daughter Stevie

FINISHED !!

(and speechless)

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

This was a birthday like no other:
I turned 60 last month and was wanting to do something monumental - I mean, who wouldn't right? My dear friend, Twinkle, cooked up this scheme.......she had visited last summer and loved the church and knew it would be years before I could ever finish it so she set out to organize a "mission trip" - Mission at St. Mary. Well, it took on a life of it's own and over the next week or two I will bring you up to date.

My friends and family gave me the most amazing birthday E V E R .

Big A** Fan

Amazing birthday/housewarming gift from my girlfriend .........really unbelievable.