The Rest of April

The plants in the planters at the Cottage in Greenville are always a welcoming sight when we return.

A Birthday Card for a You Tube Friend.

 I went to the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens with Greg one day when we were in Cayce. We got there late so had to rush through and nearly missed the "train" back up to the parking area by the gardens. Greg had not been in quite awhile so he was amazed by all the changes and said he barely recognized it as the zoo he went to as a little boy. We had fun toget.her and thats what was important.

I love all the meatl sculptures throughout the Zoo and Gardens.

The Aquarium is always my favorite place... so claming and relaxing.

He's a BIG BOY now!

A Delicious Paleo Vegetable Soup!!!

Making the flowers for the bow card below.

Another Birthday Card for a little Crafter.

My "Handy Hubby" got the Air Conditioner in the window so I would be comfortable during my recovery (more info coming in a future post)... little did we know that we would be turning the HEAT on the very next week.

HANDY HUBBY... AKA Scott

Up Til Now

HELLO! A LOT and I mean a LOT has happened since my last post thats for sure and I will do my best to catch you all up... may take longer than one post as I don't want the page to take FOREVER to load for you all. It is always easiest for me to review my camera photos to remind me of what Scott and I have been up to so lets start there shall we?

April 8th I took these photos of a Pen Pal Flip Book that I created and will be mailing to someone filled with a letter and some crafting goodies. These are a lot of fun to create and fill to surprise a friend. I need to add quotes and stickers too.

I love the red, white and black color scheme of this flip book as well.

On April 15th I took the dogs to a Groomer for a Spa day after they both retested heart worm free!

Bernadette's BEFORE picture

Bernadette AFTER pictures

Amelia's BEFORE Picture

Amelia AFTER

Both dogs looked so happy after their pampering. I wish I could take them once a month to get bath and groomed. Perhaps when I cna get them up here at the cottage with us I will be able to do that for them. They are both getting up in years and deserve the extra lovin.

We have started eating more of a Paleo Diet and I made this yummy chicken and strawberry salad one day while we were down at the house in Cayce. When I make it again I will need to halve the recipe of 1/3 it as it made a LOT and we got sick of eating it everyday.

 Changing our diet has really helped us maintain our sugar levels so much better and Scott is even off Metformin now. I am still taking Metformin twice a day plus Zantac twice a day, a BP med at night and a Thyroid med in the early mornings. We both go back to the Family Dr in July and will have blood work done again to see how we are doing. I would love it if I could get off some of these meds by changing our diet and exercise.

This happens EVERY time we go back down to Cayce - Piper tries to trap Scott in the recliner so that he can't take me away again. She is growing up so fast and loves and loves on us while we are there and then pines horribly when we leave. Greg says she looks and looks for us for several days. Poor kitty.

Next up are a couple of the Bearded Iris that were blooming at the house in Cayce.

OK... I will share more in another post. Don't want to overload you all on this one. I hope everyone has been doing well and having happy days!

Hello Again

Hey folks... sorry I have been missing in action once again. I so wish that I could be more diligent and write everyday again but I don't seem to take the time to do it anymore. Since starting my You Tube channel and working on projects and videos for it I have found it more difficult to take the time to sit down and type a post here. But I will continue to stop in here and post a catch up video from time to time - I will aim for biweekly for now and perhaps weekly. So now lets catch up!

Scott and I have taken a couple walks at Furman University; a GORGEOUS campus with beautiful gardens. I would have loved going to that College. Here are a few of my favorite photos that I took as we were walking around.

SEE.... isn't it GORGEOUS?

Of course I have made a "few" things since my last post as well.

A Bow card I made from a template I bought online for a girl battling bone cancer

An "ATB" = Artist Trading Block I made this block for a swap on Facebook. What was even more special is it went to a gal that also received one of the Winter ATB's that I made in December so she has the start to a collection of my work. GRIN! The little gnome had the CREEPIEST black orbed eyes and I repainted them so he looked like he had REAL eyes. He looks a LOT more friendly now. I really love how this ATB turned out. Very much SPRING themed and she loved it!

"Mixed Media Mash Up" cards I created by covering some playing cards I found at the Goodwill Clearance Center in West Columbia a few years ago and then I laminated them so they would last forever. I learned about this "game" from Stacy at Pinkpoodlecrafts on You Tube; it's a card game to help you with your Art journaling when you get stuck on what to do. You can also "play" with a friend or two if you want. If you click on the link it will take you to her video explaining Mixed Media Mash Up card game/challenge.

I created this box to hold my cards out of a Honey Nut Cherrios box. I love how it turned out.

I am in a group on Face Book called Studio AB See and the organizer put up a challenge in March to do something inspired by Piet Mondrian, a Dutch Painter born on March 7th. So I created this little canvas and made it into a magnet to put on the refrigerator here at the Cottage. This month she has put up 4 different Artists and I am hoping to do 4 little canvases... but we will see if I am successful later as one worked with Neon lights and I am struggling with how to incorporate that into a tiny canvas... these canvases are only 2" square that I am making into magnets. Talk about a challenge!

More to come in my next post as Blogspot is giving me ISSUES.

March's Beginning

My cousin's daughter asked if I would make a flower girl basket and crown for her daughter who is to be the flower girl in a wedding in April and I said sure. Got the colors and the measurement of her head and went to work and in less than two days I got the materials and wahla! I shipped it down to Florida and they were thrilled with my work. I really liked how they turned out too.

Scott and I finally found a place to park off the road so that we could take pictures of the Saluda Lake Dam and  the train tresel over the Saluda River below the dam. Scott drives this way to work everyday. Hopefully by this time next year we will be living closer to his job in Liberty. The picture of the dam is not very good as there are a lot of trees there but you can kinda get an idea.

I'm going to see if these will still bake up all right and if they do I will hang them in a window here.

 We spent last weekend cleaning out the basement; lots of trash but also finding some interesting treasures. Scott also found a can that was sealed and rattled so of course he had to see what was in it. We were shocked to find that it was filled with 32 pounds of cherry and lemon flavored hard candies! 

 In this picture you can see how much we got out of the basement around  the old furnace... it's over 50 years old and still runs and kept us warm this year. It is a real workhorse!

Yesterday was my 52nd birthday. Scott took me out to eat to Olive Garden and then we came home and got the washing machine set up in the basement. Which was a MAJOR accomplishment for us. YEAH!

Then this morning I went to the Walmart in Travelers Rest and bought a couple clothes drying racks and went to work and got two loads completed. YEAH clean clothes are AWESOME!Now when we are in Cayce our attention can be focused solely on home repairs! Hopefully we will have that house ready to sell by November... thats the plan at least.

That about gets you all caught up. Scott has an appointment with an Orthopedic Dr on the 18th as it has been determined by his new DR here that he has Arthritis in his ankles.

Piper kitty gets spayed on Monday and I will be staying down  there to care for her while Greg is at school and work for a few days. While I am down there I also plan to do some sorting through of stuff and perhaps get a load carted off to Goodwill and out of our way.