New Faux Fireplace Screen

Hubby made this screen for me some weeks ago and since I have a "faux mantle/fireplace" I needed a faux fireplace screen, but I just now found time to decorate it. He keeps taking me to California, Seattle, the wilds of Idaho to camp (more on that soon!) and letting the relatives visit so I've been so tired and busy taking care of those things I've been neglecting the house.

So I ordered some decals on ebay, waited a week for them to arrive and put them on after our return from Seattle. Neither one of us like the decals on the faux fireplace screen so I took them off. I thought they'd be bigger than they actually were and they simply didn't work well on it. I think you'll agree it looks like a shotgun sprayed it.

Since I do much better with fabric I decided to cover it with some shabby roses barkcloth and any other pretty fabric that I had enough of without having to purchase more. (Hubby's kinda weird about all the fabric I have.) I left 2 small decals on the sides but the front I covered with fabric that I wet with liquid starch and "glued" it on with that so it can be taken off easily when I tire of it. (This has been known to happen frequently.) :-) I added some netting to the top and it looks much better than in the photo but I'm going take it off. I don't like it on there much. The fabric and roses and lace can really stand on its own merit. But I thought I'd show you what it looked like at first.

And this is how it finally looks. The picture above was taken at night and these two were taken in full daylight so I wanted to capture them accurately.

I like the final look of it. As is always the case, it looks much prettier in person.
~*~

On our trip to Washington state we saw a bunch of cows lying in pastures—all of them. I asked Love Bunny why they were all lying down and he said they must have been "party hardy animals" who were too pooped to pop. He's such a kidder.
~*~

Shopping in Seattle

Okay, let's just say it wasn't pretty, shall we? Whenever my daughter, granddaughter and I get together they think I have to be "remade" for some reason.

The year Mandy graduated from the UC Berkeley it was the blonde hair dye that did it. I had always promised her that when she graduated college she could change my hair color. Little did I know how that would turn out. I knew when she rinsed it and was toweling me off that the look on her face was not going to make me HAPPY with the new hair color. Plus the fact that she immediately said, "Nana, I'll fix it; I promise." YeppPPPppp, I knew there was going to be trouble when I looked in the mirror. There WAS!! It looked like one of those scary blond guys in the horror movies.

Fast forward five years to the visit to her the first part of august when my daughter, grandson and Love Bunny and I all met up at her house in Washington, near Seattle. Once again they wanted to "change" me—hair color, clothes, shoes, etc.

Now, I love my kids and my only granddaughter but I knew I was in trouble. First, I tried to ignore them. Then it got down right nasty. I told them to leave me alone. They said my hair color needed to be done to eliminate the gray. Hey, God, are you listening: gray isn't the "IN" color anymore. Nuuuuuuu, Clairol had to one-up ya on this one.

Then they said my clothes are too big on me. I told them I'm waiting to drop some more weight until I buy any more clothes. Would they listen? Again, nuuuuuuuu. Mandy said it was going to be her treat.

They dragged me to a store and kept throwing clothes into the fitting room. Stretch, hip hugging, bell bottom jeans, blouses that were clingy under the breasts. They called the jeans "boot-cut" but I have enough cowboys around here in Idaho to know they were NOT "boot-cut" but bell bottoms. Then the bras........ Sigh......... Mandy and I were laughing so hard trying to stuff my.........uhhhhh, top part........into the bra I almost didn't make it to the restroom. When she'd see a "look" she liked she jumped up and down clapping her hands. Now, I ask you, how many of you have had your granddaughter stuff you into your bra. I didn't even want a new bra but they just muttered something about the b**bs needing to be perky and not sit on top of the stomach............Sigh........

Then there was the pedicure. See photo. I'm the one in the middle. Daughter is on left and a friend of my daughter's is on the right. We three had the pedicure; granddaughter had the manicure. Ooooh, and since I wasn't supposed to get my toenail polish scratched they marched me over to a cheap shoe store to buy a $3 pair of flip flops. I liked the pink snazzy color but those things give you NO support walking. I was beat by the time we got home 4 hours later.

Mandy and Nan thinking they're so clever! I may write them outta th' will, chicks.

The very top photo is me after I got home with the new color. . I'm not thrilled with it because it is NOT my natural color but Mandy said it will wash out after 28 washes. So far it's been 12 days and I've washed it 10 times! I want my old color back! Sob........ This is the photo Mandy took of me after the new color, style and makeup job. I do not normally wear eye shadow, eyebrow makeup, blush, eye liner, hoop earrings and my hair is curly (permed) but they straightened it out that night. I'm glad they didn't change my eye color! But they woulda tried, I can assure you!

Some Beautiful Things I Received Lately That Make My Heart Sing!

Recently I helped a fellow blogger with her computer and an application that was giving her fits on her website. I made a few suggestions and she was thrilled. I was more than happy to help her as I do frequently with a lot of people because I'm somewhat computer savvy - somewhat(!). Anyway, for my help she sent the following items to me and I was astounded. I never do anything with the thought that I'll be rewarded and I am astounded at the things I've gotten for helping others.

These have got to be photos of her gorgeous garden.

The following are postcards she's had done from her paintings. Squeeeeeeal.......how fortunate am I to have received them! I spent last night painting some small humble frames to put these into and will hang them on a wall in my shabby chic family room with gratitude and honor. Thank you so very much, Jo-Anne. I've loved admiring her painting from afar for a couple of years now. They are beautiful and I only wish I could paint like that.

Plus a little tag and a sweet bookmark as I absolutely love reading and spend a part of each day with my nose in a book. Reading gets me out of this world for a snippet of time each day and I sooooo need that.

So like a wall I dedicated to Susan Rios when I repainted the house pink, I'm dedicating this wall beside the window in my family room to Jo-Anne. I framed the postcards and fun-tac'd the rest of the little cards she sent me. It looks kind of bare in this photo but it looks very pretty when seen in its entirety with the rest of the room. Isn't that always the case though? ;-)

Since I had 2 extra cards that were the same I tacked them to my laundry room wall under the shelf after I added some vintage handkerchiefs to the little shelf. I also tied a vintage hankie around an old clay pot (too lazy to paint it today) with some faux greenery (my favorite because I can't kill it!) and put that up there also.

A Tail of Three Kitties...........

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. (Sort of like today's world happenings.) But this is the tale of 3 kitties - Mandy and Ivann's kitties who live in Washington, not France...........

Hugs, Princess and Monkey

Princess is the queen bee around the ol' homestead. She loves the other kitties, but will reprimand them if they get too close, eat too much, or take too long at the water bowl. She lives for bedtime. After sunset, she hangs around on the stairs waiting for the first soul to venture up into her territory - the second floor bedrooms. The first person to go upstairs sends her running up meowing and wiggling her tail. When she gets excited she will roll back and forth on her back, alternately licking each front paw. She is definitely Mandy's cat and will sleep curled up under her Momma's chin. She also cannot stand Ivann - the kitties' dada - and has been known to pee on him when she is upset. :-) She is very petite and apparently her brain is comparably small because she seems to be the dumbest of the three cats, unable to learn anything new. She still cannot figure out how to get through raccoon-proof cat door, even though the two others have adapted completely. It's electronic and activates with an RFID tag on each of the cat collars. The door was a necessity when a raccoon took up residence in the house and could be seen exiting the house every time they pulled into the drive way.

Hugs is the large alpha male and lost his brother, Tugs, in February. He misses his brother terribly but is recovering nicely even though he is outnumbered by the feminine felines now. I think the men reading this can understand. He is usually very docile, but tends to fall asleep in heavily trafficked areas with his large orange belly exposed. He lives for food and will beg as if his life depends on it. He will eat nearly anything you give him, including wasabi, nuts and curried green beans. When Hugs wants love he can be quite demanding and will grab your hand to pull it to his head. He's very loyal and has earned the name "loyal pup" because he comes outside every time the garage door opens to welcome his parents home.

And Monkey. Monkey earned her name because of her freakishly long tail and toes which she stretches out while she sleeps. Actually, her front legs are stretched out and her head lies on the the legs. Princess and Monkey are sisters, but Monkey is much more of a tomboy. She is over confident with her abilities and will often attempt clumsy leaps and jumps that end miserably with her landing in water, knocking over vases, or falling down quite embarrassed. But she only remains embarrassed shortly before she is strutting her stuff around the house again. Since Princess can't stand Ivann, Monkey makes up for it by being completely infatuated with him. She follows him around on the kitchen counters while he cooks and will attempt to jump on his shoulder if he stands in the same place too long. This has caused holes in countless shirts, see clumsy comment above. :-)

Needless to say they go wild and crazy over catnip. They'll even stay in the rain and roll in it. Funny to watch!

Uhhhh, excuse me, I'm trying to be a lounge lizard here. Do you mind?

Oooh, ahhhh, yessssssss, chuckles under the chin, especially when you have treats for me - something like "Friskie Whiskas" or some such name.

Momma, you're ignoring me for that silly monkey!

Yummmmy, yummmmy, whisker treats.

Say what, humans........ You're speaking to ME????

This is the kitties' "Momma" - Mandy, who contributed greatly to this "Tail"!

Mosaic Monday 8/17/09

The new message board in my office that I created.