Normal Night.....I Think Not!

                                                                                                                                                 1-18-2012
     Happy Birthday to my Granddaughter Linda, Love you girl! Wow!  Can't hardly hear myself think in here! So if I ramble, blame it in my hubby! LOL! :) He is doing a bit of alterations to the doll house. So here it is 5:50 pm, dark out and he decides he'll cut some openings for a few doorways to the additions. The house is on it's side in the middle of the living room floor and he's using a drill and a jigsaw! Good grief! What a racket!
     Son-in-law came over... He  grinned and playfully said. "you just gotta hold down the racket over here!" Oh did I forget to mention they live right next door to us. Our apartments share a common wall between our living rooms. The walls are paper thin.
      I sure wish my husband would have done this earlier! Hubby doesn't have a work shop, so he has to use our living room as a substitute, since we've really been having an unusual cold snap lately. The consequences are, that we are sneezing our heads off from all the sawdust that has been floating about like a million invisible fairies, that mischievously tickle our noses for a week. He's been doing a lot of sanding with the rotary tool too.
      Daughter  Joni, the artist and writer, came over to show me some pointers on putting links in my blog. Well...that went through my head like a whirlwind through Texas! Can't concentrate when its this noisy.
     I want to try to link my other daughter's site called  "Glow from Within": from my blog site also. She is sharing her pet on going project and her deep feelings about it. Last year she started, Hats from the Heart and Journey Journals for Cancer patients. Its such a worthy project. I am sure there is no one out there who does not know someone, either themselves, someone they know or a loved one who has not felt the sting of this deadly disease.
       On a lighter side all of us have boards on  Pinterest.  This link is mine! We have a blast. Warning,,, Its really additive! But come check us out. You'll find Rita's  here and Joni's at this  one.
Oh! No! Now he has the vacuum going. Gee, why dose everything sound so much louder at night!
     Ahhhhh! It is now peaceful and quiet once more. And on that cheerful note. I will not post this until tomorrow when I can add the pictures of the latest additions. From my own "Jr. Frank Loyd Wright". The Skylight on the roof of the Conservatory and the sweetest little fireplace made out of wood. No, It really is wood!
                                                                                                                                               1-19-2012
     Well here they are...

The side view of the Conservatory, you can barely see the skylight

 

 

Skylight made with a leftover window. I think it's neat that you can look down and see the door that goes into the living room

 

 

Front view. Double French doors still have to be painted

 

 

The fireplace, not finished yet but he is still working on it

 

 

Top view, Can't hardly wait. I want to start decorating sooo bad!

 

 

Doll House Update

                                                                                                                                                  1-15-2012
    First of all Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter. She's 31 today. Visit her blog here: Realm of Nevermoore. Its a cold day here in Arizona, Up here in our little valley, that is snuggled up in a mountain area, it was 10 degrees this morning, and now only 35 and it's almost 11:00am. With the wind gusting from time to time. I even feel cold in the house! So I am sitting here with a hot cup of herb tea, covered in my warm serape trying to get warm, while hubby is working on the Conservatory addition for the doll house. As usual my head is buzzing with new ideas for it already. Since it is a conservatory (rich people's green house.) I plan on filling it full of plants. Shelves made from left over lumber from the house kit, brackets that were left over, a work bench from left over pieces, The walls are going to be white inside, with a wood stained design paneled ceiling. The trim, shelves, brackets, and work bench painted in "Pelican Bay" Blue to match the house's outside wall paint. All the planters will be that red terracotta color and the floor, oh the floor. I can see it in my mind's eye. It is a pale gray marble looking stone. Hopefully anyway! I am hoping to talk my son-in-law in to making the tiles for it. His hobby is making medieval castle models. He makes tiny bricks and blocks and designs his own pieces. His flooring looks like marble tiles and are fantastic! Maybe I can also talk him into designing a wall sculptured fountain for me too. When this house is finished I want to make a sign with the house's name on it and that it was a family project and place it in it's the front yard.

 

House front so far 1-15-2013

attic front - hubby added the window, there wasn't one in the kit

 

 

different shutters than the ones that came in the kit

 detail of porches with gingerbread trim. The porch braces are also did

not come in the kit

 

      Since this is our first attempt at doll house making we have a few hints to share. Learned unfortunately by trial and error. One of the things we found out is, be sure to paint all the house parts first before gluing. Saves a lot of headaches and a lot of grumbling and a few nasty words directed at the house by hubby! You should have seen him trying to get his hand and paint brush between railings and trim and the house front to paint the back of them. Also BE SURE to paint all window trim before putting the glass/plastic panes in. You should have seen me trying very carefully to paint the first three window frames with the panes in place, my hubby finally said, "well, you should have known to just gently pushed the panes out, I didn't glue them in that much!' Thanks honey! Next time just TELL ME! Instead of, "be careful, the window panes aren't glued that tight." After I fussed and squinted, and used my thumb nail and a toothpick to make sure there was no paint on the panes.

     Also an update on my nerve situation. Still nerve pill free! Yeah me!

     

 

Gettin' Jiggy With It

                                                                                                                                                  1-12-2013
      Here it is another cold end, to a not so warm day; I didn't sleep too well, had indigestion. I know not to eat bananas, I like them, they just don't like me, but they are sooo good! Anyway, This is the first day back at trying to get some kind of exercise. So hubby and I went back to our "Tiger Woods Wii Golf Game" I get a lot of up and downs doing that. Lots of deep knee-bends, as I get up and down off the couch for my turn. Decided to break out and try my goal of "Something New." This time I chose to try Tai Chi. Ive had 4 or 5 DVDs on it, for about 10 years. Never even watch them, but I have always admired the graceful movements. So fluid, and it looked pretty easy. So I popped in the first DVD.
     "Beginning Tai Chi." Surprise! Surprise! Not as easy as it looks! The bent knees are hard for me to get use to, also hard to try to do the movements if your looking at the screen and the movement calls for a slow, almost slow motion turn. I got off balance more than once. You also learn to change the way you breath. Changing the way you breathe, was almost as bad as trying to learn how to bend down and pick up something, using your legs instead of your back to lift it, when all your life you've used your back. Wasn't long, even though the movements are slow and controlled, that I was breathing hard and sweating. I sat through most of the rest of the DVD after about 15 or 30 minutes. But I am determined to do this. I told myself it was like ballet, and I did that for 14 years when I was younger.
      Anyhow, spent the rest of the day painting a window frame for the dollhouse, working on re-knitting ear warmers for a granddaughter. The one I made her, a sparkly pink one with a big girly bow, ended up too big and when her mom washed and dried it, it stretched even bigger. Then I had the pleasure of laundry to do. most people don't like to do that chore. I love it. I have fond memories of my own mother doing the laundry, then hanging it out on the clothes line to dry. I loved it when the wind caught the snowy white sheets and they bellowed and snapped in the playful breeze.
     I have a very active imitation and always pretended they were the sails of some sailing vessel, maybe a pirate ship, off to sail the seven seas. There they go into the sunset. Slowly disappearing over the horizon. Which is where I am headed. Suppers over, dishes done. Hubby's favorite DVD on the TV, "M.A.S.H" I'm tired, so nite-nite ya'all!

Childhood Fantasy

                                                                                                                                                    1-8-2012

     Christmas morning 1950, Santa came while I was fast asleep, and when I awoke and stumbled into the living room I found much to my childish delight and glee, that he had tucked up under the fragrant pine branches of our Christmas tree a dollhouse just for me! I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever received. Well...  with the exception of a bride doll... but that's for another story. This particular dollhouse was made of tin. It had plastic furniture and tiny jointed baby dolls, and my grandma Smith had made all of them tiny crocheted doll clothes, complete with bonnets and underwear from colorful crochet thread. I spent many an hour in my make-believe world with that dollhouse. Recently I found a couple of pictures on the Internet that looked similar to the one I had. back then. The first one looks like mine, but mine had a green roof. the second one has the little flat-topped garage that was attached to mine.

 

     Fast forward to the present time, December 15, 2012. My youngest daughter decided that it had been far too long for me not to have had a birthday party. She planned very carefully for a surprise one for me, but alas and alack! Like the saying goes... "The best layed plans of mice and men go astray. "Very few of us in our family can keep a secert... so I found out, even though I tried very hard not too!

     The night came and we all loaded up in the car to go the 20 some odd miles to my granddaughter's house. I was a little sad, I had wanted my husband to come with us, but was told "I have things I want to do!" So regretfully I got into the car without him.

     We had so much fun that night! It was a real old fashioned get-together spent with 2 of my daughters, 4 granddaughters, a son-in-law, a grandson-in-law, a great-granddaughter and 3 great-grandsons.  We all ranged in ages, from 2 years to 68. We baked cookies, made corn starch ornaments as well as cinnamon ones. hot spiced apple cider and hot cocoa. laughter, love, and the memories made as we watched the little ones opening family gifts. There was also pizza and my birthday cake.

      When the evening was over there was the ride home in the dark, snug and cosy, with carols on the radio while we enjoyed the beautiful Christmas lights twinkling from the various homes scattered out upon the hills as we passed by. When we pulled into our driveway and parked, the lights from our own decorations greeted us back home with a welcoming glow. But, the surprises wasn't over yet. When I opened the door, My husband's present to me was, that he'd started working on a dollhouse that he had bought for me for our 20th anniversary. The dollhouse kit had been in the craft room closet for about 4 years.  It was a beautiful gift of love!

       I was thinking about that this morning, and as every one seems to be sharing their crafts on their blogs, I got the idea that this dollhouse would be what I could share. The on going progress of this dollhouse. These two pictures will show you the progress on it so far. The first one was taken about two days after my birthday. 12-17-2012. The second was taken today. I will keep posting pictures of it as my husband and myself continue to work on it.

 

 

    

 

 

Dreams

                                                                                                                                                    1-7-2013
     It's been one of those days! One goof-up after another. My Cityiville 2 froze up and when it came back on, much to my dismay all the hard work  trying to raise bears... yes, I said bears! Chinatown, with the shops that were built or fixing to be, Other stores and a piece of newly bought property and one property I had ready to buy, and less than half the money I had saved up were gone. All gone! I almost cried. Then hubby had a phone call from the lawyers working on his SS disability, they lost some medical papers. Good grief!....
    Then I saw this picture on the screen of my computer....














      Isn't  it beautiful? So peaceful....... mmmmmmmmm! I can see myself walking down this road. Frozen mud scrunches under my boots. My big Irish Setter "Red" pads softly alongside me, his breath coming out small white puffs. The icy bite of cold turning my cheeks a rosy pink and the winter wind tugging wisps of my hair out from under my cap. I pull the collar of my coat higher up around the scarf at my neck and smile a secret smile to myself, My thoughts are of my log cabin home nestled in a small sheltered glen by a frozen creek. My husband is waiting there by a warm cosy fire in the fireplace. He has my a cup of hot cocoa ready and he's toasting cheese sandwiches to a golden brown on the hearth.
      We have no worries. We have plenty of firewood, plenty of water, plenty of groceries. No bills. Soon I will round the bend, stop long enough at the barn to give my two horses and a couple of cows, some hay, a hug and then on to the house. I slip inside, quiet as a mouse. I watch my husband carefully turning the sandwiches. Still smiling, I hang up my coat and put up my winter gear. Red has already flopped down by the fireplace. I walk over, kiss my husband on the back of his neck and sink down in my comfortable chair. Home at last.
     Hay... I write poetry, not stories! :)

 

Musings from Pipedreamer

                                                                                                                                                1-5-2013
   Welcome to my Island! My own little corner of the Internet if you will. This is my first attempt at a blog. We are five days into the new year and this is part of my "out of the box, try something new," this year.No, it's not a New Years resolution. I've never made any that I can remember, that ever in my 68 years, didn't get broken before the first month was over.
    I am learning as I go, under the instruction of my youngest daughter. She has a hard task ahead of her; I am a slow learner. But she's helping me with this while I help her with knitting and crochet.
   I am hoping this will also be a good therapy for me, maybe I can help someone, somewhere, somehow by my experiences. Help them to have faith in themselves, and know that they can dig deep within and find strength to over come and keep going.
    Several months ago, I became sick. I thought I was going to die! I didn't know what was wrong, but I knew something was terribly wrong! I didn't want to eat anything, nor drink anything. The butterflies were doing a stomp dance constantly in my stomach, and I couldn't sleep. I was doing sleep deprivation big time! After almost a month of this I finally went to the doctor. (Oops did I forget to mention I really won't go to a doctor unless I absolutely have to!)
     Anyhow, I found out I wasn't going to die. I was suffering from severe anxiety. My mind was causing all my problems. So the doctor put me on pills. Once a day, 1 milligram to be taken in the evening. (Did I also forget to tell you I don't like to take any kinds of meds.)
    That evening I took my first pill. In less than 15 minutes I was slightly dizzy. Another 10, and I was sound asleep on the couch. When I did wake up It was like I was drunk and I don't drink at all. I slept all night and was spacey all the next day. I called the doctor and ask him if I could cut the pill in half. Take half in the morning and half at night. So with his okee-dokee. I got better. What he didn't tell me, until two weeks later on a follow up visit, was that these tiny pills were one of the worst habit forming drugs and really tough to get off of.
     Three weeks ago, I decided  I wanted to get off them. The doctor told me that I couldn't quit cold turkey, so I started to taper them off. I took only one 1/2 pill in the evenings. Two weeks of that and I had planed on phasing it out to one 1/2 pill every other night, but I forgot to take them. It's been a week. I've been okay, just a slight flutter in my stomach once in awhile. Well last night... at 2:00am  I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Iv been suffering from the flutters, nightmares,  etc. who knew that even after a week these little buggers are still chugging around in my body. Good news is that I haven't taken any more of them despite last night.