A Glorious, Almost-Autumn, Day

Mother Earth has begun to shift herself; and with that comes the exhilarating freshness of autumn here in Middle Tennessee. The sunlight is a little brighter, the sky a little bluer and the breeze a little stronger. I am loving life right about now (I mean, I always love life; but this time of year, I am totally invigorated by it all!). The skies over Nashville were gorgeous this morning. I wish I would have had my camera with me then. I waited until the kid came home from school before heading up to the hills behind our house that surround our half of the little valley. We walked around and took in some of the changes taking place. We could see just a tad of color in the leaves, some are even beginning to fall--probably caused more by the heat than the new temperatures. The skies had become a little thicker with clouds than this morning, but you can still see the beauty I appreciate every day.

I have all the doors and windows flung open and we have quite a few visitors in here. Oh well, a few flying bugs never hurt anyone, eh? We'll live with them tonight because the freshness of the air was just too hard to resist letting in. (Looks to me like it's mating season for some kind of critters!)


Bratwurst with carmelized (burnt) onions and probably the last of the corn-on-the-cob is on the menu for dinner. It's smelling good right about now.

Hope you're enjoying Mother Nature's gift of the changing seasons wherever you may be.

All Gone

In case you're wondering what this is, it's the box of Italian cookies the hub brought back from NY last week. Finally, they're gone!

Each time I would walk by the box, I had to sneak one, sometimes two. Thank goodness they were little!

Red and Aqua Swap

Finally, I have my latest swap ready to go out! I've been busy at the PO. I got Pea's nesting boxes out yesterday, Plain & Simple's cigar box out last week (both from Peggy's auction) and now it's time for my swap to go out. I've been collecting red and aqua goodies since I signed up. I love these two colors together. My partner lives in Portugal.

I first found this little hand-made broom at one of our little shops. Almost too pretty to use. Then there's the pretty calendar (2007) that I fell in love with. The artist is Laini Taylor. Take a look at her stuff! They had all these little note pads too which I purchased also and will use as gifts.


I fell in love with this tassle and had to have it for the swap.










I made these two pieces, my second ATC and a little Christmas cone.

Swaps are so much fun, aren't they? My next one is the chocolate one Miss Robyn put together. I'm hoping this cooler weather sticks so I can get mine off! Fun, fun, fun!!

May We Never Forget

Catch Up Time

Today, I'm going to play catch up and try to see what everyone has been up to. While MJ was here, I moved my computer down to the kitchen so we could "play" with it together--didn't want her to see my "pig stye!" MJ wanted to see how I blogged and did all my pics. She helped me so much with Photoshop! She would read the directions while I would perform the task; and it worked! I learned a lot. Thanks MJ!!

My desk upstairs is still such a mess and I don't have the energy to do it today; so the computer will stay down here at least another day. It's kinda nice, actually, being in the thick of it all rather than being hidden away.

It's hot again outside, and you can tell by the cats. Two out of three want to stay in. Dave has taken to the table (as if he thinks he's allowed there!) and I've had to shoo him off several times. Poor Miss Bev has her allergies again so I am letting her outside as much as she likes per the doctor's suggestions. It's probably something indoors that she is allergic to since she spends most of her time in here. The fresh air hopefully will help. I just hope she stays safe. She is fond of Dianne's old house across the street and hangs out on their porch. Guess she thinks Diz still lives there to irritate! I don't have the heart to tell her otherwise. When she crosses the street, she does NOT look both ways and I just cringe. Just can't teach her that trick!! Here she is a couple of days ago sleeping in my father's planter on the front porch. What's with that? The kid took it from inside the house, so it's a tad dark.

Here's one of our beautiful sunsets last week. It was such a beautiful shade of purple. I wish the photo captured its total beauty. It was breathtaking. Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

So Much to Post On, So Little Time!

Been busy as a busy bee! Mary Jane was here and unfortunately left yesterday to head back North. Today is her birthday, so everyone wish MJ a very happy 60th! Oh, did we celebrate while she was here though--don't ya know! I made this card for her. (Had a heck of a time trying to get it printed at Costco.) I finally printed an 8x10 on my printer and will try again at Costco later. You know how it is when you want to get everything ready for a special occasion--nothing goes as planned!! This is her caramel cake from Puffy Muffin (her fav); and she got a little choked up by the kid's card. He absolutely adores her (as we all do, of course!). I wanted to get her a special cake because I will never forget the time she bought one for me when my parents didn't. I guess all families have times when they forget about such things. I guess I was about 11 or 12 and no one bought me a cake. I was terribly upset and was crying and ran into the basement (girls!). MJ went down to Giant and picked out the prettiest cake they had and had them decorate it for me. I was so happy (and quite embarrassed at how I had acted). Isn't that just the sweetest!

We had the best time, basically eating, shopping and gabbing. I told her she was going to have to go home because if she didn't we both would just get fatter and fatter and be completely broke! ha. It sure was fun though. We even made a cigar box together!

After dropping MJ off at the airport, I rushed home to drop mom off and then I was on to a collaging class over at a hotel right down the street from me. I had signed up for several classes when I heard about the Southern Scrapbooking Convention there. I didn't really know what to expect since I was really only interested in collaging and not scrapping. I have several books to do for the boys, but I find it tedious and a tad monotonous, to say the least. But, I will do it for them, the good mother that I am . . . hehe.

My first class was an intro to ATC cards. I hadn't even heard of them before a couple of months ago. I saw one on Ebay and ordered it (which I am told is total taboo--it's not an Art TRADING card if you sell it!). The class was fantastic! I learned a lot about ATCs and also collaging. The lady, who owns European Papers, was a fantastic teacher. Her supplies are gorgeous. You have to go take a look. This is my first go at ATCs. It has a French motif.

After that, I had another class on distressing. Little did I know, it was basically a scrapbooking page layout class. Grrrrrr. I found out very quickly how much I hate doing layouts. (I really hadn't realized how much scrapbooking got on my nerves.) A bit too neat for me. I couldn't wait to get out of there. Knew I was in trouble when the teach told everyone to cut their sheets into 6X12, 3X12, 1/2 X4 etc, and everyone whipped out their cutting tools and zip zip zip, done. I was still measuring my first piece! hehe. (She'd look at me and ask "Am I going too fast???) I finished my "pages," which I will never use, I'm sure. I did learn a couple of distressing paper techniques. Quite an expensive way to get a couple of techniques! Oh well, live and learn. I won't even show you a pic, it's that bad!
Today, I took a "Postcard Under Glass" class. Same teacher from European Papers, so I knew it would be good. And it was. I am sooo excited to learn more about collaging and turning them into different things. This piece is so much fun to make. Again, French motif. Guess she just had a lot of French papers and stuff, so I went with the flow. Fun fun fun!

Here is my table full of goodies and some of my favs.

Look at these little portable watercolors!! How fun are these?? A couple of kits I will now need to do, beautiful botanicals and glue that won't fade them!

While I was at the convention, I took the boys' scrapbook covers over to have them embossed and also my father's book. They all turned out very nicely. It really makes them look "official" once their names are on them.


If I'm gone for more than a couple of hours, I always find it quite "interesting" to see what I come home to--having boys and all. These are two peculiar items I found as soon as I walked through the door. The first is on the side door. I wonder why that pencil is there? Who knows--boys. Then I go to the kitchen sink to wash my hands and this is what I find there. Rocks, obviously cleaned from today's excavation. And who had heartburn??? Don't you love boys? I sure do!!! You just never know what you might find and where.

Today, I checked in on my blog only to find it had a little breakdown, poor thing. Missing me, no doubt. All you could see was the picture of the cookies the hub brought home. I checked in blogger help and was told it was just a glitch and to choose another template and basically start over. Oy! I saved the old template first and did the best I could in placing everything like I had it before. Apologies if someone was left off! I'll work on it again tomorrow.

It feels good to be back in blogland; and I have a lot of catching up to do!!! I miss MJ terribly already, so I'm sure I will be busy on here!! Can't wait to see what you all have been up to. Hope everyone is well.

Sweets from the Sweet

The hub was in NYC last week and then went up to the Catskills to visit his parents. On his way home, he stopped off in Hoboken--like a good hub--and bought my fav Italian cookies. I was so surprised when he came in and gave us the box of goodies.

Carlo's is a wonderful Italian bakery that has been in Hoboken forever. The hub used to have a condo there when we first met (when Hoboken was still in a very "transitional" stage--to say the least). Of course, that's when I found the bakery. Hey, there are just some things a girl looks for--good stores and good food.

Each time we're in the area, I always get a box of delicacies to take on our journey either upstate or back home. Of course, they never last long enough to make it to our destination. These cookies are soooo good. In the winter months, I've also been known to get some of their pastries and bring back. They are even better than the cookies. Their canoli's are to die for.

So, enjoy the little collage of goodies I did for you. I think the real ones are just about all gone; but now we have these to enjoy any time we have a sweet tooth.

Fashion Show

Mary Jane and I have been out and about today. We went to have lunch with the kid, teenager and mom;and afterwards mosied over to a little shop around the corner that I love. It's the place where I bought my One Sole shoes. Guess what MJ bought?

Here's MJ strutting her stuff in her new shoes:

These are her bling bling ones.

These are my blings. (Obviously, I'm in need of a pedicure, or I would be modeling mine, EW.)

Here are our latest purchases.

Mary Jane showing off her new favs, the bandana with a tad of bling.

These shoes were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do!

We're off to hit the town. See ya!

Friday's Favorite Corner

Mary Jane made it in fine this afternoon. We have been running since she stepped off the plane, poor thing. We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory--YUM. I had their "luncheon" size Santa Fe salad which I only at half of. Their portions are huge!! Mom always orders their grilled cheese; and this time, she at the whole thing! I was amazed!! MJ got the seafood salad and said it was delish. We then came home for a bit, ran to downtown Franklin to pick up an item I needed and then off for dinner. After din din we ran over to see what was shakin' at the football game. Not a good night. We played Franklin HS and they won by some blowout! We couldn't find a seat so we only stayed until halftime. Poor guys. Off to a rocky start.


Today's corner is outside our guest room. I have collected several Moravian tiles from Bucks County, PA over the years. (Click here for their catalog of tiles.) Most are cracked from the kids playing with them, but whatchya gonna do? We were building our house in Leesburg, VA at the time, and I had thought I wanted to tile the fireplace in these smaller tiles. I'm glad I didn't because I was able to take them with me when I moved.
Anyway, I'm way too tired to go into details but I wanted to get my FFC in for the day and have been showing MJ how I do the bloggin thing. Of course, my machine is in slow-mo tonight--and I do mean MAJOR slow-mo.

ZZZZZZZ. Night.