EIGHTY--EIGHT-O

This year my mother turns 80

I can hardly believe it, she seems like she's 50 to me

full of life and zest and still the most interesting person I have ever met

Here are 10 interesting facts about her:

1.  She is a Registered Choctaw Indian..her grandfather was a boy on the Trail of Tears

2.  She skipped 2nd grade...her genius was recognized early on and continues today

3.  She is an inventor  Patent #4724468

4.  She was a flight attendant for Central Airlines

5.  She was the first woman Spearman Little League president...blazing the trail for many today

6.  She was appointed by Texas Governor Bill Clements to serve on the Bureau of Indian Affairs

7.  She owned a company that created items sold in Spiegel, Neiman's and Frost Brothers

8.  She was represented in a permanent showroom at every market...NY, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and LA

9.  She is a rated power seller on eBay

10.  She has a lucky rescue dog named Jet

She was  born in Bokchita, Oklahoma in my grandmother's house

I have the ashes of this bonnet in a Calumet Baking Soda container...her house burned shortly after this photo and her mother scooped up the ashes...stitches still intact.  Her rattle was a few pebbles, also in a Calumet can...that I cherish from my grandmother's belongings

she grew up in Amarillo, Texas

she was and still is a beauty!

inside and out!

I'm pretty sure here--she's wishing for 5 kids

This is my favorite photo of my parents...they were so Camelot!

Together they purchased and renovated 2 historical buildings in Spearman

this old hotel was moved by mules from Old Hansford in 1917

she was always full of ideas...this is her 

Mop Wig Idea

that's me in the center...as her model

I made her this card when we went to a convention and there was a woman there promoting and selling 

Kitty Wigs

....not sure what else to say about that....

She and her husband Clay did re-inactments

this is her full regalia which will belong to me someday...it is a treasure made by her own hands

At any given holiday she might serve her famous beans and weenies in her backyard in that life-size teepee

She calls this her Baku Dress

She was contacted by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright to exhibit this dress that went to the Embassy at Baku, Azerbaijan for 3 years. It then sold to an Indian woman who wore it to the grand opening of the American Indian Museum in Washington, D.C.

If you stop at the rest stop on either side in Quanah, Texas, the displays she created were commissioned by the State of Texas

She is considered an expert in many fields

today she still uses her patent in her eBay store

and as an 80 year old knows more about computers than any one person I know, although I can never get how she types so fast with her long orange fingernails!

she loves a great joke...usually very elaborate ones and usually ones that team her and my older brother against the rest of us.  Just recently he sold his company and they sent us all a photo of his check for $3 million plus with a long list of things that would have to happen in order for her to sell her business and buy a house in Taos to live with them when they moved...they really had us going and today I have no idea what's the truth.  

he's the cowboy to her Indian!

It reminds me of the time she used her patent in a trick where she took a dollar bill, scrubbed off the front and photo copied a hundred dollar bill...taking special care to leave the other side so she wouldn't be doing anything too illegal...she loved to leave it laying on her shop floor for people to pick up with excitement!  Funny!

So you ask?...why am I telling you all of this today when her birthday is not until December?

well...for the longest time she did not even believe she was turning 80...she thought she was turning 79 and she wanted to have her party at the Choctaw Nation...

....and it might snow in December....

so...

this weekend we will celebrate all the wonderful things she is 

many will receive their Indian names and be smudged/blessed by her

and we will have cake

and

another party in December...and I have reason to believe

MORE CLOSET PROJECTS

Another project that is nearly accomplished in the closet during

FANTASY FOOTBALL TRIP

example via google

This first and only time I have seen this application was at a

truck stop (a very nice one)

when you turn off the interstate at Springer and drive the road to Taos/Santa Fe

a row of tvs in a row of one way mirrors!

we wanted to do this fun thing in our closet/master bath

so here will be the television...inside the closet behind the one way mirror

this is what the mirror looks like from the bathroom side

but when the tv is on...you see the tv...when it's off only the mirror

like in an interrogation room 

which in my case feels pretty much the same as looking in that big mirror

in order to cover up the tv, cords and cable box, you need doors

these doors will only open when and if you need to service/change the television

they cause the space to be dark so the tv can show on the other side

one of my tricks is that I select fabrics that can be used in any part of my home and use those fabrics all over here and there to bring it all together...this fabric is on a chair recover, the back side of a throw 

and a pillow or two

and of course the doors

the other side of the doors will be the leftover of the turquoise velvet

 used to line the drawers in the last project

I purchased the velvet tiger due to reading about a tiger couch on

a recent Cote de Texas blog

I have no idea what I will do with this yard of tiger velvet

I put some batting under the fabric because I wanted a very slight tufting

the door knobs were a long ago purchase from Hobby Lobby that I had completely forgotten about

a tiny nail into the mdf door and hot glue on a diamond button for a little glamour

The carved angel was a whimsy purchase from Madrid, New Mexico

the candelabra was from Tex Kopke's Flea Market for $5 that features 12 crystals 

(that has to be worth that buy!)

Baskets for texture and a gold leaf tray of seashells.  The picture was a vintage purchase from eBay and I just framed it in a nice frame 1/2 price from Hobby Lobby

I love Hobby Lobby!

I love this crazy angel and I've been saving a seat for her right here for a very long time!

there is definitely a mixture in this area...wood, silk, glamour and masculinity 

all mixed together

a favorite photo of my mother

and a little angel that Baby Bo Peep drew when she was 5

(I love angels)

my dad's hat is covering exposed wires that will someday be a vintage sconce if I ever find one

vintage perfume bottles on a silver tray

Mr. PV isn't too keen on this picture of

"The Director"

but I love it

 and I slipped it in on him while he was drafting his team

when the cat's away

some of his ties

my wedding dress

well...hello jewelry section of master closet!

now then.....where am I going to use that tiger fabric???

LINED DRAWER PROJECT

am I the only one who is head over heals for 

tufting?

In our master closet project we had first planned to

put in an island

much like this one 

to display my mother's gift of her Native American Jewelry collection

but we became to love how open the space was without it

(this is why living with a renovation can be so good sometimes...to see how you actually "live")

 instead of an island, we just added another section against the wall

which then left enough space for

a bench

I am not only crazy about tufting but I am crazy about World Market

I could vacation in that store while away from my home in Anthropologie

in our closet we have used EASY CLOSETS

and while I feel they have been a bit on the expensive side

there is no debate on the quality and ease in which you can customize your closet

and we have done that one section at a time

I have only lined the drawers with fragrant paper liner but wanted a 

softer finish for the jewelry portion of the closet

tools ready

bench box, box cutter, scissors, batting, hot glue, velvet fabric

and did I mention it never hurts to have a nice glass of Monkey Bay near to take a break when you

get a blister from the hot glue gun

I just cut the cardboard box that my bench came in to the right size and

placed the padded velvet squares into the drawer

easy and pretty

this weekend is my man's fantasy football draft

which means golf trip to New Mexico

which means

a few days for me to decorate my drawers

who does that???

I'm guessing you do too!

THE DINKY TREE

What if you went to the local Alco Discount Store in mid May

and rescued a little dinky apple tree

from the way too cold spring

and

planted it in a place that was far from ready for anything to be planted yet

and

it had only one little teensy blossom that should never survive

and

you planted it in your yard anyway because, well...what did you have to lose?

and

that blossom

turned into one apple

that was nearly as big as the little dinky tree

I don't know about ya'll

but

I would have to say that's not a dinky tree at all

but

instead, a pretty special little tree that not only produced the biggest fruit it could against all odds

and with that fruit, gave a certain amount of hope

of much more to come

no

that's not a dinky tree to me

at

all

and a very important lesson in the gifts that grow in us all