Good Morning All! My you all have been busy!!!

We got back Thursday evening from our trip to the campgrounds, it was a work holiday...well not really a holiday! Everyone who can shows up when they can and help to get the campgrounds in order after the winter. I get to cook and it was fun even though cooking is not one of my fave things to do. Anyway, I was checking out my unruly garden and stepped wrong and broke a bone in my foot. So after spending the night in the hospital and having surgery on Friday, now I can't walk on my foot and my hands and underarms are getting sore from the crutches. I often times have wished I could just sit back with my feet up and do nothing....WRONG! It is so boring! DH has been so nice and I like the fact that he is cooking again, he even gave me one of my bells to ring when I need him. I am hoping that by this time next week I can stand to have my foot "down" and then I can dedicate my time to painting...is that really an action...painting. I haven't picked up a brush in so long. Just can't find anything to jump start my "I have to paint" syndrome.

Thank you to whoever mentioned the Preen. I have so many "mystery" plants this year, and the grass is coming up everywhere. And with the rain and warmer weather everything but everything is growing like weeds. Oh! They are weeds.

It is nice to see new people posting here, but also nice to see the "old" timers. How fast we become a village.

Well...Dh is looking at me like..."what do you think you are doing sitting there with your foot on the desk" or "Oh! You can type with your keyboard on you lap?" So I think I will take another pill and sleep for a couple of hours, at least I won't be bored.

Belle

Oh, Belle, so sorry to hear about your foot! Things like that can happen so quickly. Is it in a cast now? If so, remember to keep it elevated as much as you can so it won't swell so much. Just prop it up on an upside down trash can and sit and paint! ;o) That's what I would do.

I admire you for being the cook for the group. Did you have a kitchen or have to do it outside over a fire? I'd have a hard time deciding what to cook for everyone--can't even think of things just for DH and me most of the time! LOL

I got busy this morning and finished my projects I'd been working on. I will take some stakes along but let whoever wants one of the signs decide if they want it on a stake or if they want to hang them. I got the pics posted.

Now I want to try to get a couple of Patriotic things painted, hope I don't run out of time. I also have some pants that I need get cut off and hemmed, so need to work on those as well. No matter how far in advance we plan a trip, I always feel like I'm rushing at the end! LOL

Punk, I will take my paints along and a few items to paint on, but not sure how much I will get done. DH does say we are not going to drive such long hours each day this time--but we'll see how that goes! He starts driving and it's hard to get him to stop some days. ;o) I'll have my computer along too, so will still be popping in here most evenings. How much I post will depend on how fast the Internet is where we are camped out!

Glad to hear you have a slower week coming. You are always so busy, and I know you'd like to finish the yardwork and just be able to enjoy it a bit.

I was glad to see CC posting again. What a pretty bathroom she stenciled. I stenciled a simple "headboard" in our bedroom and some roses in the guest bathroom. I'm not that good at it though.

I'm sure Anj is busy as usual this week. I keep forgetting to ask how the chickens are doing? Do the kids just love them? Are you raising them for eggs or for meat? Are you planting a garden this year too? I'd like to put out a couple tomatoe plants, but won't since we won't be here to take care of them or use them. I'm sure I'll get lots of fresh from the garden veggies while in the Midwest.

Okay, I'm off to do some laundry and vacuum, then I want to work on those pants. I'll check back with all of you tonight.

Luvs

Hey girls....having some technical difficulties with my puter so sometimes I can get here and sometimes not and sometimes when I finally do, my post won't go thru cause it's freezing up. Need to spend some time and get some stuff backed up on here and get it cleaned up a bit so it will run smoother. Need to take my million pics off and put them on thumb drives and that would probably help immensely. Maybe I'll do that on Wed when I'm here paying bills anyway.

Well, my inside cat just became an outside cat as of today. Found out he'd been peeing in my dining room (hardly use that room)....realized he had a UTI so took him to the vet and got him meds. She said in 4 days he'd start using his litter box again. Not. I cleaned all the carpets this weekend only to come in this morning and find him peeing in the dining room again! I was furious. So he's outside until further notice. And now we are going to have to replace the flooring in the dining room....hopefully with a laminate or tile and maybe I can talk DH into doing the kitchen at the same time.

Luvs~ my time schedule and DH's don't always mesh. He still hasn't had any time to build a chicken hutch so we weren't able to get the chicks for Easter. We are getting them for the eggs, but we'll have to wait until he has time to do it. He's working every day but Sunday now so he only has a few hours Saturday afternoon to get everything done around here that are his jobs. ha
Yes, we are planting our garden again, but it doesn't warm up enough to start planting until the end of May first of June.

I think my company has deferred their visit until August (instead of June) so my frantic rush to childproof everything can slow down. ha I'm sorry I did not get a thing painted this week. Trying for Friday again this week.

Belle~ really sorry to hear about your foot. That must hurt. I've only ever cracked my ribs before and that was some bad pain. 2 of my kids have cracked the bones in their feet jumping off of stuff and they seemed to think it hurt pretty bad too. ha Take care of yourself....or let DH either way. ha I hope you saw my post over on Exchanges. =)

Punk~ sounds like you are prepping up to get painting. Your yard sounds like a lot of work. Ours isn't as big as yours and not established so we have to keep adding to it every year. When we moved here, the yard had been let go for so long that we had to take out a bunch of bushes and things that couldn't be saved and a huge wall of pyracantha that separated the garden area from the yard. Longest thorns you've ever seen. Couldn't have that in the yard with kids. Then we concentrated most of our efforts money-wise on the interior of the house. So it's like we are starting from scratch in the yard as far as plants and getting our patio area set up even though we've lived here for about 16 years. It's all about the money and the yard is usually the last priority. ha

Oops, time to go pick up children...

Great to come here tonight and have so much to read about all of you. I'm having issues with my computer again also.

Belle, we've been missing you while you were cooking up a storm. I think you deserve better than to come home and break a bone in your foot that required surgery. Hope you heal fast and let others take care of you for a change.

Luvs, slow down and don't sweat the small stuff. haha If you don't get as much painted as you want, there's a reason for it. Just think about how much fun your going to have and you'll fly through all that needs done. If not it'll be there waiting when you return.LOL

Anj, I don't believe in being cruel to animals but that little fart would be outside to if he belonged to me. One way to get a new floor maybe sooner huh? So sad.

We built our home in 95 and it was my parents hay field when we started so it might of been best to start from scratch from what your saying. I do know that our yard is way to much for the life style I lead now. When we built I was working for someone else and at the end of the day it was my time. Makes such a difference when your the owner. Sometimes one doesn't know until your there.

Hope you get your chickens hutch built but with DH working 6 days a week I can see why it hasn't happened yet. My neice has been bringing me fresh eggs and it's so nice. She gets 14 a day and there's just the three of them so I can have all I want.

I haven't gotten the garden planted but it does have to be warm enough to sprout so I planted some roses tonight and didn't bother with the garden.

Best go get something done so know that I enjoy all of your friendships on here and we'll talk tomorrow. Punk

It is 2:47 in the morning and I have been awake for 2 hours. This seems to happen a lot - waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep for 3-4 hours. So here I am checking to see what yall are doing.

Belle, so sorry to hear about your foot - I have broken mine twice and hated the cast thing. Even worse was when it was my right foot and I couldn't drive. The crutches hurt my underarm area but I realized I was putting too much pressure there when the pressure should be on my hands. I am surprised I didn't break my neck trying to manuever around with them. Hope you feel better soon.

Anj, I had a male cat my daughter brought home once. I didn't want any animals and especially cats. But this darn thing cuddled up to me and I didn't have the heart to make him leave. But then he peed in the corner of my dining room on the carpet and he sprayed my recliner - that was it!! His little butt went outside. Now, I hated the recliner so he did me a favor there but I had to spend a fortune getting the carpet cleaned and then removing it. Thank goodness I had hardwood floors underneath.
Good luck with the garden - I wish I could grow plants but the darn things require water - and I always seem to forget that.
Later
B

Good Morning,

I didn't come over here earlier and see you had posted so went over to the holiday forum and posted a few of my trays. I seen Luvs post on being slow so thought that might help. I just love to see pictures. I'll have to go check out the gardens and see what's growing next time.

Bebe you are so right! Those darn plants do require water! I have underground sprinklers but they don't water everything like it needs so I drag those hoses out to help them every now and then. haha It's raining here so I am thankful for that this morning. I transplanted all my strawberries and they don't look that good. Maybe I can fertilize this coming weekend and give them a boost.

So sorry you have a tough time sleeping, that has to be hard on a person. When I hit the hay, the only thing that wakes me is if I need to pee. Thank goodness for that one!

Talk to all of you tonight. Punk

Good morning all! I'm checking on here real quick, then need to go get some errands run. I have been busy already this morning cutting off and hemming a few pairs of pants that I want to take on the trip with me. The problem with being short, is that I often have to hem things!

Not sure if I'll get anything painted today. Maybe if I just get the other stuff out of the way, I'll be able to concentrate on a couple more projects. We may have to resort to looking at websites or just chatting about things if we all get busy with summer activities. So nice that at least we can come here to chat a minute.

Bebe, so sorry you had trouble sleeping. I'm like Punk and usually sleep really well now--if only I had a larger bladder, I'm sure I'd sleep through until dawn! When I was still working at the bank, I'd often wake up if I had allot on my mind like finding a teller's cash difference so she wouldn't get fired or learning new computer stuff when we had a conversion. Stuff would just roll around and around in my mind, then I'd be even more tired the next day! Thank goodness, I don't have any of that to worry about any more! Isn't it nice to be able to get on here and check out forums or blogs to pass the time. Just watch out if you browse Ebay or some of the online stores--that can cause that ugly "I want that" disease to rear it's ugly head and cost you money! LOL

Anj, you hadn't been talking about how cute the chicks were, so I didn't think you had gotten them yet. It is hard to get those extras done, especially if he's working six days a week now. The chicks will be fun for you littlest DD, bet she will eagerly help feed and water them.

My little GD got in trouble. She put a jump rope around the spindles at the side of the stairs and then went down to the living room and proceeded to try to climb up the wall using the rope! I swear that girl loves to climb. They took her to one of those wall climbing things, and she went all the way to the top! And she's always trying to use my swing as monkey bars. Good thing we don't have any trees with low branches--we'd be having to call the fire dept. to rescue her! LOL

Better get moving, hope all of you have a great day!

Luvs

Luvs, my GD is the same way. She is only three but she started climbing before she could walk. And she can figure out how to get on top of something - she wanted on top of the pool table so at her second birthday she took the tricycle she received as a gift, pulled it into the pool room, climbed on it and then on to the pool table. We didn't even know she was up there until we heard the pool balls being thrown on the floor. She scares me so bad, I don't react as quickly as I use to when younger.

Yall are right about the bladder. Mine must have shrunk because I use to be able to sleep all night (younger age of course) but now I rarely go through the night without having to go potty at least once. I am a light sleeper and once I am awake, I am awake for hours. When I had kidney stones last year, I had a stint in for three weeks which makes you think you have to pee every 15 minutes. I did fall asleep on the toilet several times because I was so exhausted.

I got a little cleaning done today in my studio. I have so much stuff, I really need to purge but as soon as I do it I know I will need the things I got rid of. At the last painting class we each got 30 bottles of paint, not to mention the 15 bottles we received at another seminar. I do not need another bottle of paint - I have over 700 bottles already!!

Off to hear my niece sing in a concert, she has a beautiful voice.
Talk to yall later tonight.
B

Luvs and Bebe, Thanks for sharing your stories about GD. I laughed when I thought about your story that your glad she can't climb the trees or you'd be calling the Fire Dept. Little climbers can be hard to keep up with.

I have one of those right now and she scares me with wanting to jump off of things like her trampoline and swing set. She is 3 and can do back flips very well. I don't want to be there if she breaks something and yet I know my kids did those things and I didn't worry to this degree. This age is why they learn so much because they have no fear and love a challange. I'm hoping DGD can start gymnasics soon. I love to see those little squirts perform.

I don't have as much paint as you Bebe and I hope you never think of mixing your own colors with that many. haha

Luvs, I went back to the holiday forum and lmbo tonight. No wonder you like that forum too. GTG, Punk

Hey gals....my parents took my little one to the park so I'm home alone. Just stopped to eat my lunch. I'm having a super busy week around here. Been switching out winter clothes today since it's starting to warm up a few days a week now. Loving it!! Well, not the switching out clothes. ha That's boring and onerous work. Sigh. Things are looking really good for my being able to paint on Friday! Yay!

We have 2 weddings coming up in the next few weeks. Any ideas on gifts you like to give? I'm horrible at trying to pick out things like that even when they are registered. Just looks like they go around the store randomly pointing the little gun at things. ha I usually end up giving pyrex baking dishes or mixing bowls. Those are the things I still use the most from my wedding gifts. ha Please pass on your wedding gift giving savvy to me!! =)

Ok, well, I'm making this short to see if it's gonna go. Just have to say Wow to Bebe on her paint. WoW! That's a alot. ha I'm sure there was more I wanted to comment on, but I'll be back tomorrow. Ya'll have a good one. ~Anj

OMG - how do you get the smell of burned food out of your house?? Yall probably remember me telling you I am not a cook - I am absent minded especially when it comes to painting. Today I put on the chicken and dumplings to reheat, turned the heat to high (I know, but I thought it would be quicker) walked away to check a painting I was working on, got totally engrossed and the smoke alarms went off. I didn't even remember I put the chicken on the stove until I got in the kitchen and smelled the burnt food. I took it off the stove and then began fanning the smoke alarms until they stopped screaming. Let me tell you those dumplings were burnt to pieces. I have a hard annodized non stick pot but it took a while soaking and using a spatula to get those things out of the pot. Now I am stuck with the smell. When my hubby came home, he walked through the door and said, "been painting again I see". He knows me too well.
B

Bebe, I love Febreze for that kind of thing. It sure stops pet odor at my house. There's also one out called Odor Eliminator that may help. Be careful of some of the fragranced ones, they just make it worse.

You sound so much like me, I can get sidetracked so easily. That's too funny that your hubby made that comment! LOL

Anj, my last wedding gift was for my niece. We researched their registry and ended up ordering the indoor/outdoor vacuum they had listed! Thought it was a rather strange wedding gift, but my DH said it would get us off on the right foot with our new nephew in law. I usually like to do mixing bowls or casserole dishes too--know that is something they will use.

Punk, I'm glad you are enjoying the Holiday forum. The gals there are great and very talented. We just started sharing pics of dishes and tablesettings to have something to do between holidays and it has been so much fun. I don't have the dishes or skill at it that they do, but I do enjoy trying my hand at it now and again.

Bebe, I am amazed that they give all of you so many free paints at those classes! Maybe you should start your own paint store and we could just order from you! LOL Or an even better idea would be to make up a few bags of "extras" and pass them on to new painters who come to your meetings. If they are young and new to painting, money is probably tight and they would be so thankful for your gift.

Luvs

Luvs, thanks for the info. I used Febrez and it helps.

Usually when you take a class from a national travel teacher, the paint manufacturer will provide paint for them. Normally we have to share but this time there were quite a few painters who did not show up for the class so we got to divide their paints.

I have so much that after I purge my paint supplies, I make up baskets for new painters in our club. I also purchase the soft grip brushes when they are on sale at Michaels and add those to the basket. Along with a piece of graphite and a list of tips for beginners. We have so few new painters these days and money is tight so this helps out.

Luvs, I don't know if I ever told you but I am a dishaholic also. I have probably 8 or 9 sets now. Some are not full sets but I mix and match when we have dinner parties. I love dishes that have roses on them so I am always looking for those.

Talk to yall later

Hey Girls...Hope you all have a good weekend planned. Belle~ hope you are taking care of that foot. I ended up having to run something over to DH's work around lunchtime so I only got a little bit of painting in this afternoon. Got my Uncle Sam man almost done. I found his legs, but lost his arm so just have to go cut one out tomorrow and get it painted and then drill some holes for his legs. He is supposed to be holding a little cloth flag, but I'll need to run over to Joanns for some muslin or else see if I have anything else I can use for it. I don't think I do though. I'll post a pic of him without it. I don't think DH will have time to drill the holes for me so I may try my hand at it. Hate to mess it up after I went to the trouble of painting it though. ha Anyway, at least I got a little bit done. I am going to try to get some painting in tomorrow as well. DD is having a sleepover tonight so I'll be busy at least the first part of the day and then we have one wedding reception tomorrow night. I ended up getting her a crockpot that has 3 interchangeable sm, med, large bowls. She wasn't registered so didn't really know what they needed, but me and all my friends use our crockpots a lot. I never know what to give people. ha

Ok, well, I need to go do a few more loads of laundry before bed and get DH's supper made. Ya'll have a good night. ~Anj

Hi Everyone,

What started out as a slow week ended up crazy and it's not going to slow down. We're helping DS finish his home.

Bebe, sorry you burned the chicken and dumplings (one of my favorite meals) but it was great to see your painted projects.

Luvs, glad you got your pants ready for the trip and hope you've had time to paint more if you need more. Your St Paddy's table was wonderful and so was your Christmas decotations. If all of you keep going for years, I may join in but until then, I'll just have to enjoy others. I don't think I could come up with all the neat things I've seen except for maybe fall and winter cuz I have way more than I need of them. haha

Anj, I think a crock pot is always a great gift for newlyweds. I have 6 and use alot of them for our big meals for the gravy, mashed potatoes and stuffing for sure. This way I can have all the dishes done before company arrives. I like to give casserole dishes and towels if I know what colors they like. I paint something for part of my gifts if I know they like painted items.

Will be going back to DS's home the next two days to help work on it. Tomorrow night is a Mezican feed and acution for a benefit and then Sunday afternoon is a big Crab Feast, $25 for all you can eat, and a silent auction for the Polson kids trip to somewhere. I hope to make it to these and help out so I have a busy weekend ahead.

Hope you all have a beautiful Mothers Day if I don't make it back here. Punk

Good morning all, quick check in here, then I've got to get moving. Little GD is coming over today to play with Gma, and then we are going over there for dinner tomorrow evening for Mother's Day.

Our weather warmed up again this week, but is only hot for a few hours. Mornings and evenings are still cool, so we haven't even had to use the air conditioner yet in spite of the 90 degree temps.

Bebe, I remember you saying that you like dishes too. You really have allot to work with, but are you like me and don't bother since it is mostly just the two of you? My DH prefers to eat in front of the tv, so I mostly decorate the table when we have company coming. Once in awhile, I'll set the dining room table just to "play" then leave it a couple days just to enjoy how pretty it looks! ;o) If I had the storage, I'd love to have all kinds of dishes and accessories because I think they are so pretty--but we downsized a few years back to get ready for retirement so not much extra space now. I sure enjoy seeing what the gals on Holidays put together, and love checking out Tablescape Thursdays on the blogs. ;o) I also keep trying to find things to paint that can be used in tablescapes too. Guess I really need to try painting on glass to be able to do more of that. Have hesitated to do it because I need to buy special paints for that. More money and more storage issues! ;o)

Punk, hope you get lots done at your son's house. Have they moved in to it already? Nice that you are close enough to be able to go help. Sure sounds like you will be eating well this weekend with those two events going on. Hope you have lots of fun too.

Anj, you are right, a crockpot is a really good idea. I only have two, one small and one large oval one and love using them. Used to be so nice when I would come home from work and dinner was already cooked and the house smelled so good. I like to watch that Semi Homemade show on tv and she has done several shows with crockpot meals. I think those countertop grills make good gifts too and most everyone likes them too. I always hate trying to think of gifts for people, always want it to be something they will like and use, but never sure what they like. LOL

Okay, gotta run. Have a good weekend.

Luvs

As you can see from above, I am not a cook. I have a beautiful crock pot my hubby bought me about 5 years ago and I don't know how to use it. I guess I should buy a cookbook, huh? I just learned how to make 2 casseroles - can you believe it? They turned out pretty good. I think it is a great present for a new bride. My niece got married 6 weeks ago and she asked for a rice pot. Since we have rice going all the time, I got one for her shower. I purchased a counter top type of oven for her at first but she had one, so I decided to give it to a friend at her shower but she needed pots. I purchased a set of pots for them and I am going to keep the oven - gotta find out what to do with it first.

My GD's just left and I am exhausted. I need to clean up the sunflower seeds she emptied on the floor and all the toys. They were so cute though, they painted a gift for their mother. With the 3 year old it is hand over hand painting (and she picked out the brightest yellow I had), but the 8 year old painted a wood shaped t-shirt with ladybugs (made with their fingers) on it and. I wrote "Happy Mother's Day" in chalk and she used a gold pen to write over it. Then they wrapped it and put bows on it. Of course their mom is going to hang it in her office. So sweet - I still have some of the things my kids made me.

Yall have a good weekend and a great Mother's Day.
B