Finally back to semi-normal

click to enlarge pictures

finally able to do my fun home stuff, family stuff under some control and I can think more clearly and do the things that make me happy.. re doing my backyard..we fixed the cement , which i am in process of painting..just haven't found just the right shade of expoxy paint to go with my soft colors.. I am looking for a soft tera cotta on the pinkish side.... I refinished my picnic table with 3 differant shades of green , blue and aqua and some white wash.. I love the way it came out.. I redid my sunroom funriture In the same subtle colors which complement my curtains .. I love painting furniture..its so theraputic and sanding in between colors...seeing what happens as each layer is added, not two are the same!

Playing the Waiting game.....

Seems like I am in a waiting phase in my life right now... Mom sick and waiting for results and outcomes....projects piling up taunting me.. each time I pass... half done backyard remodel project on hold waiting for the contractor ..( long story) Dogs (3) waiting for me to take them out for potty and the park.. because thier yard has been inhabited by machines and dirt and cement...and they can not roam freely.. waiting for hubby to come home from business trip..sigh.....deep breath.....waiting to have time to go buy new digital camera...mine died on me last week and we live in area that shopping is 35 miles from here ...any ideas out there on good camera's that do not cost a fortune.. are welcome.. maybe I can find one on line... Everything comes in cycles in life. There are peaks and there are lows....and then there is waiting.. I am waiting.. learning patience..for right now..

Not enought time..in the day.....

Well these 2 weeks have been very busy and a little stressful for me, no time to do any of my MANY projects that are lined up...stacked up really for me to do...My elderly parents that live in Campbell Ca are both sick and went down to help them...its 3 hour drive from here.....I am helping a friend decorate his beach house here( he has no clue on decorating so he is leaving it mostly to me..which is fun and he has $$$ so I have big budget! ,picking paint colors, furniture, curtains..ect..its fun but that has taken alot of my time thinking and fretting over choices....

I also had 2 friends visit from out of town...and..... I always fret and worry when people come over trying to get the house all cleaned up...I have 3 dogs which shed and I work 4 days a week and I HATE to clean..So I tend to get side tracked when I am doing chores and end up going outside...I always long to go to the garden. not be indoors !!! Alot of my friends here have someone come once a week to clean....but its not in our budget so I have to do it myself....My mother loved to clean, I have cousins that say it relaxes them to clean house??? ANYONE out there like this????????!! I don't like to clean.. I have tried putting peppy music in the background that didn't work..
And I always fret when people come over that my house will not be clean enough..I think it has to do with how I was raised..my mom was an exceptional housekeeper she could do everything..cook , clean everything was perfect...and she did it effortlessly... we always had dogs and we had no dog hair anywhere and she also always had a part time job too while we were in school and she managed to do it all...we always had a hot meal on the table and breakfast in the morning............ hummmmmmm maybe I need therapy?????? anyways ...I have to stop writing cus ..this Friday tomorrow night!!!..we have 2 couples coming over to play cards.. and I have to clean....ugh!!! Its me and my swifter...wish me luck!!!!

Busy but FUN week...

It has been a very busy week, not only tuesday.....but the entire week.. Had a friend come stay with us for couple days and we went antiquing an I bought couple of silver items for my dresser.. a beautiful silver box lined with velvet..to keep my jewlery and a silver pen..2 pictures of bunnies.. ( I collect bunnies) which I am going to paint the frames Ithink.. what color I don't know.. I finished the lap blanket I crochet for a baby shower.. love this new yarn I never used before called "baby cloud" and I redid the sofa in my living room with new colors.. soft blues and whites..I am really happy with how it turned out.. very light and breezy....I am thinking again of changing the color on the walls of my living room again.... I get this urge sometimes for change..and once I do... well...there is usually no way to make me stop...alreadyI have been collecting tons of paint chips....trying to get inspired... was thinking of a very soft butter yellow........hummmmmm......

My Gift arrived!!!!

I am very excited about this, cus I never win anything!!!!!

I just got my beautiful winning gift from FiFi Flowers and Designs... I picked this sassy shopping gal.. walking the street with her bag and not a care in the world..looking forward to the next purchase and meeting friends for lunch...I identified with her immediately! ...I love the bookmark, I think I may actually frame it and not use it for a bookmark.. even the back is finished really nice job..love it!!!

before and after....

How they have grown!!!! I couldn't resist...

Tuesdays are my day.....

changed my Hutch...added tatouage to walls, changed my entry....

Every Tuesdays my husband goes out of town on business to the Bay Area..I took that day off work so I can have a day just for me! I paint and garden..the dogs get to go 2 times to the doggie park where I meet my friends.. and after go to coffee house ....Its a day to get caught up with friends or maybe spend the afternoon in San luis Obispo which has great shops ...OR I spend the day on a project such as painting, or refinishing furniture....or re-doing a section of my house that I crave a change....I love my tuesdays!!! here are some projects I did today!

Garage sale find chandelier...

I found this chandelier in a garage sale here, dirty and black and so gross my friend didn't even want to put the box int he back of the car... but I knew it had potential..I sanded it, painted white of course and hung more crystals and I love it..sits right over our small dining nook...

Guest room...redo...all shades of white

This room is used as a guestroom an sewing room for me..I had to really work hard at finding storage for all my sewing things out of site...boxes, baskets, under bed plastic bins..and I even covered shoeboxes with Martha Stewarts papers.( they look really great in my colors of aqua/blue and white) its a never ending battle to keep clutter free..cus I keep everything..but I'm working on it!!!

Still blooms after heat wave!!!!

My garden..in bloom!!!

My Coastal Mantel

I really love my mantel, I know I love it cus its one of the few things in my house that doesn't get changed constantly...I love to change my decor according tot he seasons, and somehow my mantel mostly stays the same..

Garden in June

My Courtyard is really taking off this year..all the flowers are just bursting from my planters and the roses are spilling over the courtyard wall...the Ivy I planted under the lattice fence will soon cover it, like a little English garden wall...

bedroom in progress

Garden..in progress...

some pictures of my flowers in the backyard, we are in the process of redoing the back, adding flagstone pavers, getting rid of the gravel garden ( I love gravel but it was a bad idea with 3 dogs..you can never get the smell out even with bleach...I wish I could have the whole back in gravel but ... its thier yard too...if anyone has had success in keeping gravel clean let me know!!..)

My flowers are just starting to show their blooms and my Cecile B and Nelly Moser have really taken off this year...The fragrance is heavenly!!!!

Sunroom windowbox

I love my Faux window in my sunroom...when we created this room off the back there was was a hall bathrrom window there that became part of the sunroom ...I had to come up with an idea to hide it since it was the inside of our room and visible from our kitchen and dining area..so I hung 2 window pane mirrors up together over the window, found old shutters in a flea market painted them and hung a ready made window box, filled with fresh ivy and flowers which I now change seasonally...now I love the view when I look out to the sunroom everyday!

Painted Windows!! Garage Sale find!!

I go to Garage Sales every Sat..( its an obsession with me!) and found these great windows for

$5 a piece!!! i was so excited..had my husband put eye hooks and link them together and hang them on my fence in courtyard..I love them!!!

courtyard in progress....

This is my ever changing courtyard...I experiment with differant plants all the time and my husband always asks.. are you done buying plants now..is it done? he doesn't get it.. so I do my buying on my own and he thinks they have all been there forever ...He enjoys sitting there and

reading with the fountains and our dogs...I have music out there now and it truly has turned into

our second living room!

My courtyard....always welcomes me home!

Gardening.. can't wait for Spring!!!