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.

A FUNNY THING.......

A funny thing happened on the way to finishing my kitchen island:

I got a job. It's the age old story - if you have the time ( not working ) you don't have the money.....if you have the money - you don't have the time.

I am thrilled with my new job but it has taken all my time.....however, I seem to be reaching that level playing field where I may get to do both. This speaks volumes of what's ahead.

ALMOST

It is so hard to believe that it's almost two years since I first put these cabinets together. The doors were missing - it took a month to get that straightened out....and then things just came to a stop. That was a hard year. And the blogging stopped. This is going to be a great year , I feel it in my bones. When I review my life I see that I seem to live it by decades.....this will be a new decade and a new beginning.

I reconciled with the fact that I couldn't afford marble or granite - the island is almost 12 feet long - by 4 feet wide. I found a tile that is huge and looks like slate and was very reasonable...I can get the job done and always change it down the road as it is an affordable DIY. My neighbor is helping with this stage as it's a bit "big" for me. But he has limited time so it may be another week - but I promise to keep posting the updates.

FROM THE DESK OF..........

Lots of things going on in the church - and I'll post some pics tomorrow. In the meantime I wanted to give you this visual. This is my new desk......so when I write a post for the blog remember that I am speaking from the pulpit.

MAGPIES

When most people think of Magpies - they think of a chatterbox. This is true - they are noisy - but they also LOVE shiny, sparkly things and will steal jewelry and like to keep their gems in their nests....I've always thought I'm a bit of a magpie. And though I am usually a bit more restrained, when it comes to Christmas I fully subscribe to the "Pirate's Booty School of Decorating" . The china cabinets are dripping with sparkle and the tree looks more and more like a chandelier. Tomorrow, while I watch college football I will take everything down - so one last look - good bye 'til next year.

I learned last year that I have to decorate the top of the tree from the loft - so here we go......... as you know, the ceiling is an issue and the paint is literally falling off. But it wasn't until I took these photos that I saw the perfect angel flying along with my angel on top of the tree. Do you see her? Very special. So now I think I want to keep that one tin white with her always there........



Then it's slowly moved across the room and finished. This year - the angel fell off the tree - her wings are heavy and I was trying to straighten her - whatever........I let it go for a day and then couldn't stand it so I pulled this 15 foot , fully decorated tree back to the loft - went upstairs and tied her on with a ribbon - and dragged the whole thing back. Didn't lose a thing


As you can see I have begun plastering. I had first repaired the bead board wainscot and the chair rail and had planned on posting photos of all this but lost everything in a hard drive meltdown. I started in this corner because I SO, SO, SO wanted to get this dear antique off the floor. I'm still experimenting with color as it changes all day when the sun moves and shines through the different colors of the windows. I have said that when it comes to Christmas I love to revisit the scene in Goonies when they finally find One Eye Willie and all his treasures....jewels just dripping from everything. YEP I'm a secret pirate.

SMITTEN

The following post is from my darling daughter on her blog "C Stands for Carrie" It's about one of our adventures when I visited her in Montana last September. If you like crafty, party things - read her blog. She's been building quite a reputation - in a good way ! The kind of reputation that makes a mother proud !!



C stands for... CARRIE: Smitten for My Mittens: "When my mom came to visit me a few weeks ago she gave me a pair of adorable mittens. She then informed me that not only did she make them, b..."