Daybook May 31, 2010

 (One of my very own vine-ripened tomatoes.  After I took this photo, I immediately went inside and ate it.  I almost wept it was so good.)

Outside my window... my yard looks beautiful. 

I need a flag pole next to my mailbox.  If my grandsons lived closer ,we would have a Memorial Day flag raising ceremony under the pecan tree in the front yard.

Then they could salute their great-grandfathers.

Papa (my father) built roads in Korea.

Big Da, my husband’s father, ran a refinery in Duval County that provided fuel during the war. He lost a brother in the war.

I am thinking... about my to do list and I am excited.

I am thankful for... and humbled by the selfless giving of others for our safety and freedom.

 
From the learning rooms...  I learned at the training I attended this past week that

50% of all teachers entering the profession leave within the first 5 years.

They need support. 

From the kitchen... I am making my favorite green beans for supper.

***

Green Beans

Prepare a bag of frozen whole green beans according to package directions

After draining the green beans, slather them with real butter, and top them with sliced almonds.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

***

I am wearing... yard clothes. 

I am creating... a new perennial bed of white plumbago. I am so excited I found the white variety.

I am going... to baby-sit my grandsons this week.I can’t wait.

I think I am going to take them to the Houston zoo.

I am reading... Dominique Browning’s Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put On My Pajamas, and Found Happiness.

Dominique Browning was the editor of House and Garden, one of my favorite magazines before it was canceled. I always enjoyed reading her editorial letters. They were like wonderful essays.

I am hoping...  for a good night’s rest. I have been staying up too late reading, blogging, and watching television.

I am hearing... the Texas Parks and Wildlife television show in the background. I love that program on Sunday afternoons.

Around the house... I am going to start packing for my trip to see my grandsons.  I want to find a paint by number set or a macaroni art project we can do.

One of my favorite things...Lipton’s Cold Brew tea, lots of ice, no sweetener.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

*learning more about my new wide angle lens

Visit the Simple Woman’s Daybook for more entries.
 http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

Giveaway Winner Announcement

Using the random number generator, the winner of the magazine subscription giveaway is:

Theresa

at They Call Me Ganky.

Congratulations Theresa!

Since this was a Thank You Giveaway, may I say Thank You again to all who participated.

Go visit Theresa’s blog.

She is such a generous blogger and blog friend.

First Things First and I Have Questions

First things first:

My Thank You Giveaway ends this evening at 10:00 pm CST.

I will announce the winner as soon as I get back home this weekend. 

I am attending a training of trainers’ session to add an additional qualification to the consulting I already do.

Secondly, I have questions, Round III.

 1.  How do you manage your photos?  Do you have them saved on your hard drive, do you buy extra memory cards, do you print them, do you save them on an external hard drive, do you create CDs ,or do you not have a system and everyday is a new day?

2.  How do you manage lighting when taking photos – when natural light is poor, and you do not want to use your flash?

3.  Do you use a tripod? Why?

4.   I am having problems with taking photos of room arrangements.  The result is that things look too small, or I have zoomed in so much I am not getting a large perspective of the entire piece of furniture.

How are you able to do this?

Thanks-

I just want to get better.

Magazine Subscription Thank You Giveaway

Giveaway:  Select two magazine subscriptions (of the 3 above) for one year.

Just a reminder-

My Magazine Subscription Thank You Giveaway ends tomorrow, May 26th at 10:00 pm CST.

I am keeping things simple.

If you would like to participate, all you have to do is click on the link below .

It will lead you to the Giveaway post.

By commenting on that post you are entered.

http://whitespraypaint.blogspot.com/2010/05/magazine-subscription-thank-you.html

(Note:  If for some reason that doesn’t work, just scroll down a few posts, and you will see it.)

Mackenzie - Childs, Graduation Luncheon, and Color

        On Saturday, I co-hosted a graduation luncheon for a dear English department colleague and friend’s daughter. The other two hostesses are also members of the English department at the high school where I taught.

I enjoyed being with them so much.

We held the luncheon at a local ladies for lunch restaurant, and we brought everything for the table.

Anna (a co-hostess) is a master at wrapping gifts.  We bought the honoree a Waterford jewelry holder.

Years ago I bought a box of milk glass vases at the flea market, and I used them to hold zinnias from my garden and lime green pom poms I bought at HEB.

Each guest received a small gift bag with a beaded bracelet.

Everyone ordered from the menu and chocolate earthquake cake with ice cream was the dessert most of the girls ordered .

   I was so proud of my zinnias.

Details:

rented hot pink tablecloth

Anna’s lime green napkins

Anna’s metal floral napkin rings- Pier I

Anna’s Courtly Check  chargers

Anna’s white dinner and salad plates

Anna’s clear glass goblets

gift bags- Target

milk glass vases

my zinnias

                                                   *****

Tomorrow is the last day for the magazine subscription giveaway.

Click on the button to enter!

 

Cantera

         My hope for all of you reading , in addition to the well known phrase ‘I hope you dance…’, is that you have something in your material world that gives you repeated pleasure at the very sight of it.

        Large or small, old or new, bequeathed or bought, known or unknown, I hope you have something that may be breathtaking, even if only to you.

My cantera fountain, or Big Daddy as I call him, is mine. 

I have shared before that Big Daddy was my gift to myself , using money from my very last teaching paycheck, the year I retired.

Since then, I have collected other cantera pieces, all at a bargain, that provide the same pleasure.

In fact the experience surrounding these purchases is just as memorable.

I found Big Daddy on 5 mile line in Alton, a small community near where I live. 

The gentleman that helped me said ‘Si senora’ to everything I asked.

I spotted this bird bath , and he managed, single-handedly to get this in the back seat of his car, in order to deliver it to my house that same day.

And then there are my cantera birds.  These were at the flea market I go to north of Mission , that also has goats, roosters, horses, avocados, mangos, and hay for sale.

 I fell in love.

My next cantera piece is a retablo with Our Lady of Guadalupe, also called the Virgen del Guadalupe, which is the Catholic image of the Virgin Mary. 

        I found this outside a Mexican food restaurant in San Juan, where I stopped to get a cup of coffee while exploring one Saturday morning.

Cantera is a quartz based volcanic stone, often hand carved ,from Mexico. It has many shades, but I prefer this limestone color.

***

Don’t forget to click on my Magazine Subscription Giveaway Button to join in.

 

I am linking to three great parties.

Just click on the button to visit other entries.

Smiling at Spiders

  I really must disengage from my tomatoes.

I care too much.

I am in such humbled shock that they are growing , I check them everyday looking for proof.

As a card carrying arachnophobic, I am now thrilled when I see a spider spinning its web from tomato plant to tomato plant because spiders allegedly kill pests attracted to tomatoes.

This morning, when I actually smiled at a spider , I knew I had gone to a land far, far away.

After reading an online forum on protecting your tomato plants from pests, I went to every Dollar Tree I could to locate small, organza wedding favor bags.

Why?

So I could individually bag clusters of my tomatoes (while still growing on the vine) to protect them from pests my new spider friends haven’t killed.

At that point I took a deep, calming breath.

I asked myself if I would want to stand all day in 95 degree heat with an organza bag tied over my head and Spider Lady staring at me.

My answer?

No.

(at least for now…)

***

If you are interested in participating in my Magazine Subscription Thank You Giveaway just click on the button below to add a comment to the giveaway post to enter.

***

I am linking to

Magazine Subscription Thank You Giveaway

This one is for you.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Thank you for all of your answers to my one million questions.

Thank you for daily inspiration, kindness, and selflessness.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

Thank you for huffing and puffing along with me in my yard.

Thank you for not asking if I ever wear anything other than yard clothes.

Thank you for reading my crazy lists of periodic favorites… and then writing one of your own.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for encouraging me to write because writing is what it is all about for me.

Magazine Subscription Giveaway

 

Giveaway:  Pick any two magazine subscriptions (for one year),  from the three illustrated above.

Guidelines:  All you have to do is comment on this post , so that I will know you are interested in participating.

The giveaway ends May 26th at 10:00 pm CST.

That’s it.

This one’s for you.

PS.  I have removed Southern Accents because it no longer exists.  Sorry guys.  Heat stroke in the garden!

***

 

Daybook May 31, 2010

FOR TODAY 
Monday, May 31, 2010

 (One of my very own vine-ripened tomatoes.  After I took this photo, I immediately went inside and ate it.  I almost wept it was so good.)

Outside my window... my yard looks beautiful. 

I need a flag pole next to my mailbox.  If my grandsons lived closer ,we would have a Memorial Day flag raising ceremony under the pecan tree in the front yard.

Then they could salute their great-grandfathers.

Papa (my father) built roads in Korea.

Big Da, my husband’s father, ran a refinery in Duval County that provided fuel during the war. He lost a brother in the war.

I am thinking... about the wonderfu

I am thankful for... and humbled by the selfless giving of others for our safety and freedom.

 
From the learning rooms...  I learned at the training I attended this past week that

50% of all teachers entering the profession leave within the first 5 years.

They need support.

From the kitchen... I am making my favorite green beans for supper.

***

Green Beans

Prepare a bag of frozen whole green beans according to package directions

After draining the green beans, slather them with real butter, and top them with sliced almonds.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

***

I am wearing... yard clothes.

I am creating... a new perennial bed of white plumbago. I am so excited I found the white variety.

I am going... to baby-sit my grandsons this week.I can’t wait.

I think I am going to take them to the Houston zoo.

I am reading... Dominique Browning’s Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put On My Pajamas, and Found Happiness.

Dominique Browning was the editor of Home and Garden, one of my favorite magazines before it was cancelled. I always enjoyed reading her editorial letters. They were like wonderful essays.

I am hoping...  for a good night’s rest. I have been staying up too late reading, blogging, and watching television.

I am hearing... the Texas Parks and Wildlife television show in the background. I love that program on Sunday afternoons.

Around the house... I am going to start packing for my trip to see my grandsons.  I want to find a paint by number set or a macaroni art project we can do.

One of my favorite things...Lipton’s Cold Brew tea, lots of ice, no sweetener.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

*learning more about my new wide angle lens

Visit the Simple Woman’s Daybook for more entries.
 http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com 

Stay Focused and Keep Moving

 

Disclaimer:  I may have had a heat stroke yesterday . I worked so hard in my yard even my fingers hurt.

The temperature was in the 90’s.

I knew if I stopped, though, I wouldn’t be able to start moving again.

What is that about?

My father stopped by to visit around 6:30 in the evening ,while I was working on the patio, and I sat for a while outside to visit with him.

After offering him some iced tea, we had this short conversation.

Me:  Daddy, I am working so hard, but I can’t keep up ( sweeping my arm dramatically over Tara).

Him:  You have too much ( in the yard) to tend to.

That was that.  He’s right. Drama queen comments have never worked with him anyway. (That hasn’t stopped me from trying.)

Throughout the afternoon, I used some great advice from Jayme at Tales From the Coop Keeper.

Start at one point, stay focused ,and keep moving.

This is my new affirmation.

Try it.

Stay focused and keep moving.

I started working at one end of the backyard- anointing my side yard my Brecha, and made my way to the other side.

It really works.

My body doesn’t , but this theory does.

FYI:  I bought pea gravel for my Brecha from Wal Mart.  It is $3.98 a bag.

I recycled a broken trellis and painted it.

The red stepping stone squares are from Wal Mart too. $1.48 each.

The new wrought iron trellis is from Lowe’s.

My Brecha sign is scrap lumber.

And… my zinnias and tomatoes are here!

                                      ************

I am linking to