One Thing I Never Do

I never leave our home with an appliance running. There are 2 reasons for this.

One is when we lived in Yuma, Arizona, in base housing on the USMC air base there, we lived in a townhouse with 4 units. We were thrilled to get that apartment because it had 4 bedrooms and with just 1 girl and 1 boy we only rated a 3 bedroom apartment. Prior to that we only had 2 bedroom apartments. But it was the only one available so they offered it to us and we gladly took it. The fourth bedroom was an ironing room for me.

Our neighbor on one side had several kids and a portable dishwasher. Dishwashers were not included in base housing. But with that many kids I think they needed it and bought one to put in the kitchen.

One night they started the dishwasher and went to bed. It didn't work properly and almost set fire to the apartment, which would have spread easily to ours next door. We were grateful they caught it in time. I'd never have gone to bed with anything like that going.

The second reason is a friend of ours was going away on a week vacation to their cabin up in the mountains of Idaho a couple of hours away. As they were leaving she turned on their dishwasher and they left right then. After 2 days, her husband needed to come back down from the mountains because of work I think or to get something. But anyway, he came home and their house was flooded. The main area was upstairs and they had a daylight basement on bottom as they lived on a hill. The dishwasher malfunctioned...for 2 whole days water just kept pumping into the dishwasher and down the floor and walls. They had to completely gut most of their walls and flooring and replace the whole kitchen cabinets. It was a mess. If he hadn't had to come back to town, it would have been even worse probably even having to just demolish the whole thing.

So I never, ever take the chance of an electrical appliance going awry. I turn it off or wait until it finishes. BTW, the neighbor who lived in the same unit two houses down on the other end owned a skunk. And, yes, it stunk. You had skunk odor in the air all the time. I don't know how they stood it in the house. I hope to never, ever again have a neighbor with a skunk for a pet. Ugh!!
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A very cute pink and apple green bedroom. I really like these colors together also.

Oh my! How cute for a girl's bedroom. Lovin' the pink stripes on the wall.

Light filled room. Crown and drapes over the bed are adorable also.

This reminds me of an old English jousting tournament with the flags and heavy embroideries around the room. No, I don't like this room but had to show you.

Pretty, small pillow and vivid colors.

I like all these colors together.

A shop in Carmel.

Another small hidden hideaway to have a lunch with a friend.

Another Carmel cottage.

Adorable living room in shades of green.

Looks like a patio on the back of a small house. Doesn't look large and expensive to me, which just goes to show you how a beautiful patio doesn't have to be on a huge, expensive home.

Love. These. Colors!

While I've always loved Dutch doors, I'd never feel safe with just part of the door closed. Anyone could just walk in. But this is beautiful.

These tulips made a grand statement.

Another sweet stone-washed cottage with red shutters.

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Backyard Patio

Love Bunny finished laying the bricks on the side of the patio the other day. It certainly does widen it for the BBQ grill. I told him we don't need one that big for the two of us, and next time we need one, it's going to be smaller. We've never used that side burner! How ridiculous are men and their "toys"? But it was a good deal at $99.00 for it about 5 years ago, and it is still going strong.

The yard is really greening up nicely this year.

And the four little rose bushes by the back fence survived. This is a major thing for me! I hope they spread quickly but I do think we'll need to get some more for back there.

I'm loving this view from the back fence to the patio. No, it isn't a very big yard and for those of you who say you want a big yard, big patio or deck, just wait until you get older—maybe late 60s or 70s—and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you change your mind. We did.

This honeysuckle bush is thriving beautifully. I love how it dresses up the storage shed.

A branch on our apple tree. I found my dehydrator up in the garage attic so now I can dry them for our granddaughter.

If this clematis survives, it'll be a miracle. We've gone through 8 of them and this is the only one that is surviving so far. It's pathetic but it keep struggling along, kind of like some of us.

Hubby's little peach pit he planted is surviving also. You can see the stick in the middle of this side yard. That's it! The stick is holding it up. See it right across from the air conditioner mid-way.

My quaking aspen trees. I love those trees because they truly look like they're quaking. They shake and shimmer and are just kind of sassy.

Made these two roses the other night. I did these a bit differently. I didn't roll them but folded them over and kept going around and gluing with my hot glue gun. Imagine that!

I like the way they turned out. More stuff to add to t-shirts or maybe even sell. Who knows? ;-)
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Glammin' Up the Backyard for Pink Saturday

Thank you for visiting today. Be sure and visit Beverly at howsweetthesound for more participants in Pink Saturday.
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Our son and grandsons were here for a couple of days this past week. The 2 on the right are our grandsons, 20 and 11, and the young man on the left, 13, is a "sort of adopted" child. He takes him whenever he and his wife can because his mother isn't a good influence on him and he loves our son and boys. He is treated just like his sons in everything: trips, cruises, punishments and college when he is ready. His mother won't give him up because......well, just because. He is a sweetie though. Keith is doing much better but, of course, he will have to repeat the surgery on his leg that the gang injured when they beat him. He is very optimistic about everything though.

Here is hubs planting 2 grape plants for us. I suggested we use this metal arbor since the clematis' have all, but one, died. He transplanted the clematis. We'll have a lovely place to view from our patio door and have the grapes to eat. The arbor will definitely hold them.

I have looked at every garden and hardware store in town trying to find a window box I thought was pretty enough. There was nothing available and then "POOF" an epiphany! I had two french vintage wire window boxes in the house—one in the living room and one in the family room under the faux mantel. Another "duh" moment for me. *Sigh*.........

Anyway, out it came from the wall and I put it under the window in my office with the faux ferns (I can't grow any other kind). Then...........

We went out to Michaels and Joanns and found some lovely silk peonies and roses and I stuck them in there with the ferns. I absolutely love looking at it from the front of the house and I can see it out my window seat.

The peonies are really very pink. I took this picture just after a rain storm and it was a bit dark but you can see underneath how the water stayed out from the box a bit. (Notice the rock underneath in the above photo.)

Here are the other faux roses and dahlias I purchased today at Michaels and Joanns. They are truly lovely and 60% off!

While I was out there I snapped more photos of the new crop of roses in the rose garden. Aren't they lovely? I have finally succeeded in growing something!

Just absolutely stunning to me, chicks!

Have you ever seen anything as gorgeous as a rose except for a newborn baby? I think not!

Ooooh, I almost forgot to mention th' thumb! This is what happens when hubby and son take me and grandsons target practice at the local shooting range and they neglect to tell me my thumb is in the wrong position on the semi-automatic handgun for the sliiiiIIIIiiiide (slide)! These are 2 Marines who know and taught Marines how to shoot but neglect to tell th' wife and mom. They're just lucky they weren't standing in front of me after I dropped the gun. *Sigh*........it hurts!!!!

And...........*sigh*........the fluorescent ear plugs you wear when shooting???? Well, I tried one pair and they fell out of my ears so I tried the 2nd pair and they got stuck in my ear! I tell ya, it was not a good day for me, bloggerettes. Thank goodness my son is a nurse. Hubs tried to get them out. I finally got the right one out and I couldn't hear out of my right ear. It was strange because it seemed that I could hear out of my right ear through my left ear. Then Keith tried pulling the left one out and he couldn't get a hold on it. He said, "Mom, why did you put them in so far?" I said that they kept falling out. He used his fingernails to grab the very edge and started pulling and boy, did it hurt. Felt like he was sucking my ear drums out! I had to tell him twice to stop as he was pulling. Well, I can hear out of the left ear but the right one is still plugged up badly. I can hear it trying to pop but I've been going around for 3 days "yawning" to pop it but so far nothing. I think I'll give up shooting.........unless it's a hubby and son! Target practice just could be hazardous to their health, ya know. :-)

Pink Patio and Light and Shadows

Some little signs I've had for a couple of years that had some prints of garden items on them couldn't take the hot desert summer heat anymore and gave up th' ghost—that's Idaho talk for "peeled off." I was ready to trash them but hubs—YES, hubs— said to try and paint them. I almost fell out of the dining room chair, chicks!! Ohmygosh, I couldn't believe he was telling me to keep something and not to throw it away. Well, I didn't want to spoil his party so I did as th' man said. I painted them the other day and then decided to go for it totally and paint the patio table since I had my painting apron on, the wind was not blowing and I had paint cans in my hands already. PinkkkkkkKKK. While I was at it, and being totally embarrassed at our yard at the moment since Love Bunny is campaigning for a state position and barely has time to mow the front yard. I decided to show you what the back yard looks like at the moment. This will change very shortly I can assure you. ;-) They don't call me the "nag" for nothing, ya know.

Krylon's Ballet Pink spray-on paint is the color and it is a lively pink but looks lighter in the photos however. I was just so sick of looking at that black round metal table all rusted and dust covered. (I figure the dust won't show as much on the pink! "I don't do dust" has always been my motto.)

Then as I was photographing it I noticed the light and shadows across it and saw how pretty it was. Looks almost lavender where the sheer curtain shadows fall across the table.

It almost felt ethereal out there early in the morning all by myself and no neighborhood noises yet. Actually, we live in a very, very quiet neighborhood. But I felt like it was almost transformed with the light falling softly on the top.

Concord grapes grow here for hubs because he loves them. He gets just enough to satisfy his appetite for a year from this small vine. I don't care for grapes with seeds and am not fond of concord grapes so he gets them all to himself, much to his glee.

Our little patch of garden. Last year we planned on putting stones around it this year but haven't had the time yet so this is—embarrassingly—it for the moment. I plan on getting this done posthaste though. Remember, I'm th' nag here and I'm very good at it. ;-) We've got 3 tomato plants started and will have cucumbers, lettuce and a few other things. Not much as I am NOT canning anymore.

That little beige pot next to it is my gardenia we're nursing back to health. It stays in the house for the winter and then goes back outside in the summer. I love them but it gets pretty cold in the winter so we have to bring it inside.

Forget-me-not seed packet was a gift from an order I received over the internet. We'll—meaning Love Bunny, I can assure you—will plant these soon and then I'll use the package to hang in my laundry room on a wall.

Crafting Patio Lights for Pink Saturday 5/9/09

I was crafting today after getting a MUCH needed massage. But first let me show you what I bought. Squeeeeeeeeeeal..........

I ordered these beautiful roses file folders from Polly and received them the other day. Aren't they gorgeous? I also received several yards of vintage pink ribbon and I intend to embellish some t-shirts with some of it. I'm so excited.

This is a close up and I thought I'd put it on here in case someone wanted some ephemera for a project. Just enlarge it and then snag it for anything you might like to use it for. Gorgeous rose!

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I saw a canning jar made into some patio lights on another blogger's post and cannot for the life of me remember who. Sheeesh, I can't believe it. If I see it when I'm surfing my favs I'll let you and her know.

Anyway, I did this first one and didn't have any tea lights to put in it—I actually do, but they're up in the garage attic and can't find them at the moment(!)—so I broke a red taper candle and lit the bottom part and tried to melt it down to drip into the jar—okay, okay, so I started a fire but can we NOT let Love Bunny know this?— and stupidly let it drip onto a paper towel (I said I was intelligent, not that I didn't do dumb things every once in a while!) The paper caught fire and in blowing it out I sent little pieces of flaming paper towels around the kitchen. I need to work on the smell before Love Bunny gets home.

Isn't it adorable? And it can be hung on a porch or patio and is protected from the wind. That's especially important out here in the Idaho desert! I plan on making several more out of some of the tall olive jars hubs gives to me after he finishes witht he olives. Try them yourself. Easy. Wire around the top of the jar. Wire over the top for hanging. A scrap of fabric or ribbon. Candle. Embellish with roses if you want. I did on this one. Just be careful and only use tea lights OR fatter, shorter candles.

I did this one also in green and net lace ruffles. Ummmmm, I didn't put a candle in this one yet. I think I'll wait until I can find the tea lights or some short fat candles.