July 28, 2013

Laughin' and a runnin', hey hey...



Robin took this photo while Maggie and Bruce were at her house.
They have become inseparable.
So, so sweet to see them play and romp.
Maggie rings the gate bell when she wants to play.
Everybody say awwwwwwwwwww.

Hope you had a great weekend!

July 22, 2013

Buford T. Justice Takes Some Heat


Good old Buford.
He's had this tree to himself for so long, but we've had visitors of late.
Some he welcomes and some he doesn't.


He and J Bird have some lunch.



And what we thought were Buford's offspring...
 they turned out to be just another feathered couple who enjoyed lunch with the Justice family.
They are house finches.
I was informed by the premier bird authority, Tex from the Run Around Ranch.
She is all knowing.  Thanks, Tex!


They come and snack all thru the day. 


I love watching them.


Buford watches and waits.
There's trouble coming to town.


This loud mouthed Mama has her eyes on the Justice family tree.
I looked out two mornings ago and yelled "fight! fight!".
 She was doing a little grocery shopping and thought she'd have a look at Buford's kitchen.
He ran her off in a hurry, which shocked me, because mockingbirds are mean.
Today, the Blue Jays showed up and made a scene.


Buford T. Justice prevailed.


I think big blue's name should be The Bandit.

Sheriff Justice: Nobody... Nobody makes Sheriff Buford T. Justice 
look like a possum's pecker!



Wondering why we would name a bird after Jackie Gleason's character in Smokey and The Bandit?
We had originally named them Harry and Hermione due to our fascination with the Harry Potter books.

But after we installed sunblock film on our windows,
Buford began slamming himself into the windows thinking that his reflection was another male cardinal.
His dim witted wife started doing it, too.
It drove us crazy!
We loved to watch Smokey and The Bandit, so when on one of those occasions the slamming began
...the rest is history.
We named him after the sheriff and amused ourselves with lines from the movie.

The scene "Give me a Diablo sandwich and a Dr. Pepper"
...we laugh 'til we cry.
If you know the movie, then you know what I mean.
(Hush puppies, Daddy!)


Did you know that it was one of the highest grossing movies of 1977?
The top honors went to Star Wars.
Lots of Smokey fans out there, I guess.
We loved watching old movies with the boys.
There was just so much movie gold out there from that time.


And seriously, who didn't want to be The Bandit?


Can he see me?

No possum's pecker here, so I'm guessing he knows.

I think he might want to BBQ my ass.
In molasses.


(and Buford T.)

July 21, 2013

Lazy Weekend...for some of us.


Sometimes I really love a rainy summer day.
I headed up to have a little me time with needle and thread.
Bruce made himself comfortable while I spent time in the sewing room.
The shorties were hiding under the table due to the thunder.



I spent Saturday working on these designs for
a very special group of French ladies.


What do you think of this sweet and simple design?
I am loving these vintage, airy looking patterns.


I went to Target the other day and made a very bad decision.
Never go to Target when you are starving.

Anyone ever eat one of these tasty morsels 
and then choke on the powdered sugar hitting the back of your throat?
Perhaps from inhaling the powdered dust storm?
I was choking to death in my own kitchen.
Needless to say, I won't be doing that anymore.
These tiny donuts are so bad for you!
I'll be switching over to something less dangerous to my health.
Like these larger, safer ones.


The bigger the better, baby!

Raining again...and we aren't complaining.
Hope your weekend has been good.
If not...eat a donut.
Go on, it won't kill you. 
wink. wink.


July 2, 2013

Painting Upholstery w/ASCP- My Little Chair and Friends


Here she is...a sweet little chair soaked in ASCP from head to toe.


Painting the upholstery was easy- I used approximately 2/3 of a can since I did two of them.
I bought these chairs last summer for the sole purpose of experimenting.
Like I've told you before, I have ten projects going at once and none of them finished.
I'm trying to remedy that this summer!  Really.  Seriously.
This was finished enough to show you.
The trick to this is wetting down the fabric and thinning the paint with water.
Once you get a good first coat on, you can add less and less water.
You cannot make a mistake- it's seriously easy.
I used a brush and a Martha Stewart paint sponge, which I bought at Michael's.
I needed to brush in all directions to get into the nap of the fabric.


Ugh, this fabric.



After the AS Old White was applied.



She's a pretty little thing now.


I have plans to add embroidery to it as soon as my machine is repaired.
This chair got photographed because I was cleaning the floors and the furniture had to be moved out...
along with another work of artistic delight.
Bruce just can't seem to control his creative urges and distressed another rug.




Now don't give me any grief over those curtains that don't reach the floor.
A sofa hides that fact when the furniture is returned.
I heard you finger waggers and tongue cluckers.

In the photo above, I added HDR in editing to show you the different looks that can be achieved.
The entire chair, the small table and the urn are painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
I used Duck Egg Blue and Old White.
The pattern of the original fabric does show, but I only added two coats of paint.
I could have added another coat, but I like it and think that it adds character and age.
I posted about the Indian clubs a few years ago and you can see them in the link below.


Time to move the petite things out and get the room back in order.
I'll use the chairs in my office or the sewing room.
Anyone care to come over and help a girl out?
I'm realizing my mistake in only buying one of these pillows...
it's from Pottery Barn and no longer available.
If you have one that you no longer want, email me.
Let's make a deal.

Don't forget that Bliss at Bliss Ranch is co-hosting a linky party beginning on July 15.
Get those Christmas projects rolling!


Freak out, roll your eyes and make a mad dash to Hobby Lobby.
Go! Go! Go!

Joining these parties: