WHERE I LIVE

36 degrees North of of the Equator and 101 degrees West of the Prime Meridian

36.1983° N, 101.1919° W 

to be exact

I have my very own

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Life Under the Tuscan Sun

Shangri La

San Diego Zoo

Five Star Restaurant

Two Weddings and No Funeral

Arctic Circle

Macy's Parade

Pebble Beach

Mayberry RFD

Stairway to Heaven

Dr. Zhivago

Pitcairn

Wine Country

8 Seconds

A Charlie Brown Pumpkin Patch

Gilligan's Island

Brady Bunch

Green Acres

An Iron Chef

Nirvana

in my home and in my garden

I have

PURA VIDA

and I assure you

YOU HAVE IT TOO!

DE ETTA AND THE ART STUDIO

Years ago my mom had a friend named Francis

and she had a daughter named

De Etta

who called me last week:

D: I am tired of waking up and tripping over dead people's stuff, do you like antiques?

Me: Uh...sure..I'm thinking along the pressed oak line

NOT

So...I hopped on over to Cotter Drive and I then understood what she was talking about

it was like Horders on Cotter Drive only not her fault.  Her mother recently passed away and she inherited all her stuff and I mean

GOOD STUFF

I am full up to my ears with my own good stuff, but these are some things I took

This buffet will get the paint treatment and become the sink in my art studio

I'm thinking trough sink

and rosy pink!

This pretty little thing will become my boho daybed, covered in some kind of

Moroccan gyspy fabric with lots of pillows and paisley

note the art boxes and that whiskey box

whoop!

I'll be standing on that looking out of my tower into neighbor's back yards

this old chicken coop will coop up my chickens..not really

but it will make a very nice table for art books

and a purple water basket!

This light fixture will hang in the all white bedroom with green walls and green curtains

from a ceiling medallion, unless I find a really neat old crystal chandelier somewhere...

it goes with my flower and bird thing I have going on....

I might even add some crystal drops to it

she gave me this..it's just missing a few drops

I'm going to hang it over my wine barrel table down in my wine cellar

and never dust it

uh...can you say cheese wheel box??? 

can you say authentic cheese wheel box?

ten dalla

I about had to whop my hubs on the head when he asked if these were fake

so I just let him carry them down to the cellar so he would know not to ask next time

They will be windows in the studio

now get ready to be verdigris with envy

she GAVE me this

for showing up

DOOR PRIZE

Me n De Etta...

peas n carrots

she's a blast to trade with!

SHEET ROCK

You know what they say about sheet rock!

"it makes aaaallll the difference defining the space"

personally I'm going for pillows to karate chop and maybe some dupioni silk curtains

this is the view into the closet and bath

all overhead will remain open and covered with some sort of washed out reclaimed wood

also huge rough 8 x 8 beams

the hole to the left will be a double view fireplace

bath and shower area

ceiling to bath and shower area

view into the closet

the big opening will be a mirror that will house a tv that you can only see when on

no doors..just arches

the customary joke is "where is he putting his stuff?"

well..this is the truth...mine will fit in that little red can you see to the left

stack-able washer dryer

o Lordy

heaven

bedroom wall facing into the atrium

uh...who's going to paint this?

atrium facing back yard

one of those very fancy barrel ceilings

for the tall folks we love

Pool Progress

Hubs was a bit annoyed..it took them over 2 days to rig the camouflage

and they keep plugging in their radio to his work bench and forgetting to unplug and lock the door

not to worry...soon he can cool his jets with a dip

Did you think I had lost my mind?

well no of course you did not

You know I know when I have a good deal

and I have sheet rock! 

THE TOAST

I haven't really been to that many weddings

 where I paid attention to the toasts

but they were very special at this reception

those words spoken by the Maid of Honor and Best Man

Maybe because the Maid of Honor was also our daughter it seemed so moving

except that the Best Man's was also and I'd never met him

I realize this whole speech thing is not new

perhaps I just listened closer this time

The Best Man praised my new son and they were good words to hear

he spoke quite eloquently of 

his loyalty, his goodness, his honesty and his kindness

his depth

things a mother wishes for her daughter to have in her man

but he also included a statement that I loved

and that was because Mattie had chosen Coach Been, in his mind

it cemented his view of him...so a compliment to both at the same time

two good kids who found each other

Grace spoke of Columbus's voyage, treasures, jewels, crossing the ocean

 saving that treasure for the mainland

 and her moral compass

and how she has made us all better by knowing her

and then she ended with her favorite poem

One ship sails East,

And another West,

By the self-same winds that blow,

'Tis the set of the sails

And not the gales,

That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea

Are the waves of time,

As we journey along through life,

'Tis the set of the soul,

That determines the goal,

And not the calm or the strife.


Ella Wheeler Wilcox

They are most certainly a fine set of sails on just one ship

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

The showers and luncheons and festivities are a sweet memory

The tossed bouquet dries in a careless position

the toasts have been made

and the Beens are on the way to Montego Bay

the summer birthday celebrations stuck in for fun

 have been celebrated

the guests have gone home and the laundry has piled

 the dishes remain to be done in dozens of cycles

the trash needs to be taken to the alley

Monday

a new to do list for the week for 822 

that includes rocking the new addition

yep....

the June calendar (with a tear and a heart tug) 

has been turned over 

July

and the beat goes on

la da da da dee

BEEN AND BEEN

This photo could surely signify how I feel on Sunday

I have been unable to turn my June calendar over

 there is just something so melancholy about the

 the months long plans ending in a quiet simple whisper

and the beloved dress

muddied in a sweet summer wedding day rain 

tossed onto the bed 

that just a short time ago

grew the dreams of a girl 

who now

no longer belongs to me

A LUCKY RAINY DAY

The Dress

these photos are from Friday, but somehow I didn't have to the time to even get near a computer

Her dress, her sister's dress, and her niece's dress

all hanging in her childhood room.  The decision to dress here at her old house

(now her sister's house and just 3 blocks down) was easy...she has never lived at 822...

but there were plenty of festive events at 822 despite the

heavy construction and mess

she is waiting on her ride to the church

which was a 1980 Mercedes limo driven by her

uncle Jamie and our B.  We had much more fun with this limo

than should have been allowed.  It is rumored of driving some to skinny dip

after the reception dance ended..this was only a rumor

Grace (right) married in a 14" driving snow blizzard

Mattie married in record breaking 105 degree June heat

until

a very strange thunderstorm appeared over head and dropped about an inch of rain

I'm thinking it could have been because the groomsmen were drinking beer

at church

More photos to follow, but the ceremony was the most

simple, sweet and precious thing I have seen in a very long time

The cloudburst passed and the outdoor dinner dance was perfect until the

2nd round of thunderstorms where we all moved inside for a bit

everyone said

"it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day"

and so

what else are we to do 

but dance in the rain?