January 20th, 2018 Adventure

Yesterday we decided to go on a little adventure just to get out of town with no work insight... whether at a job or on a house. We just needed a goof off day away so Scott found out about an Antique tractor, motorcycle and car show and swap meet. So we drove to White Pine, TN to attend.

Enjoy the show. If you click on the pictures you can view them larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminded me of the little church in Smithville Center, NY

Good but nothing compared to The Smoking Pig in Easley, SC

WELCOME 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to this very new year!!!

Tippy LOVES to be tucked in and covered up...  he definitely thinks he is a "baby".

Scott had gone down to our house last Thursday to do some repairs and I stayed up here to make sure our cats could come in as it has turned horribly cold. It is currently 18*F here at 9:30 AM and Tippy is in our bed with Scott and Callie is on the couch on her pillow throne. Scott went back to bed as the cats got him up at 5 AM and he stayed up until a few minutes ago. Now I am listening to You Tube videos with ear phones on and writing here on my blog  to be quiet while they all sleep.

Callie has her own throne on the couch...
 pillows stacked up with a thermal blanket laid over the top.

Scott came back up here on the 31rst as it was just getting too cold for the projects he wanted to do down at the house and I was SO happy as I was not looking forward to the cold nights that were headed this way according to  the Weatherman.

Saturday I went to my brothers' house for his twins 2nd birthday. They are growing up so fast.

Aiden's sweet little feat crossed under his chair

Anastasia and Aiden

Aiden and Anastasia with their big sister, Kayla...
 jello is hilarious you know?

While Scott was away I began going through my craft supplies reorganizing, labeling and putting things together to donate to  make my supplies easier to access and use. I still have some things to go through but it is getting better.

I have cleared the table  and reorganized this mess since this photo was taken.

I reworked inside the large closet and the old table top record album stands are really coming in handy for my card stock. I moved four of my cubes to inside the closet for the papers and such that I don't need ready at hand. I am hoping that the units by the table will be only for embellishing projects. And for my supplies like glue, tape, tools and misc other stuff to create with while I am sitting at the table.

Yesterday Scott and I bundled up and walked 3 laps at the park in Travelers Rest ; 3/4 of a mile. Today is just too cold so we are hibernating in doors. Scott is "purring" in the bed as I type this. I may join him.

Let's Wrap up Christmas 2017

Scott and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve and day together... no driving... no crowd.... no stress... no anxiety. We just piddled around this little cottage and ate non-traditional foods... Shrimp and grits with asparagus on the side for one meal and another meal was a spinach and brussel sprout salad, corn on the cob and meatloaf. Christmas we stayed in our PJ's nearly all day and leisurely exchanged gifts between the two of us. He gave me some wonderful books and crafting supplies. He also bought us a new printer so I can print of photos and art work and it won't cost us a fortune in ink!

I was lucky and had a wish list of items he wanted from Harbor Freight.

Some additional gifts from Greg - a 10 pack of board canvases and a gardening book.
Greg is also glad I have a wish list on Amazon.

My brother, Charles, wife Alina and their twins - Aiden and Anastasia

On the 23rd we went over to my folks' for Christmas with them and some of my siblings and their families...

Madeline - not feeling well with a double ear infection... poor thing.

Aiden - one of the twins - soon to be 2 years old.

Anastasia and Aiden enjoying their chocolate from us.

My fellas - Scott and Greg ("Perhaps not the best shirt to wear to Grandma's for Christmas son")

Phoenix - counting his loot with his new bank

Abby talking with my sister, Ronda about the new banks.

Greg... a bit overwhelmed by so many kids.

Four Days til Christmas

Every year flies by faster and faster... I wish it would slow down just a little bit.

Greg's "BIG" Gift - his very own KitchenAid

 Scott and I went down to our house in Cayce last weekend and took Greg's gifts down there and let him open them as we weren't sure how this weekend was going to work out as Scott wasn't sure if he would have to go into work or not. This weekend we will go to my folks on Saturday for a dinner with them and Greg is going to try to go as well and then may come back to  the cottage here and spend the night with us so we can spend Christmas Eve together.

We went ahead and opened the gifts that Greg gave to us as well while we were down there and he gave us both a HUGE SILLY MUG!

Honestly I don't know where he gets it from!

Well we DID buy him two t-shirts as well and perhaps you will see exactly where he gets it from...

Of course Piper had to get right in the middle of everything!

I sure do miss seeing this kid daily but his job is down there and Scott's is up here. And life goes on.

I went in for a re-check and some blood work this morning and will get the results in a day or two. The Nurse Practitioner said we can go 6 months between labs now since I seem to be getting a handle on the diabetes. So I won't go back until June now and I am so hoping and planning to be about 30 to 50 pounds thinner by then.

I had found a couple potholder looms at thrift stores and just keep finding the loops in thrift shops as well and decided I would make potholders until I ran out of loops... so I did...

15 sets - 30 potholders

All I have left are a few orange loops and a bag of some weird nylon like loops that I hate the feel of and don't think they would make very good potholders at all.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

November Cats

Apparently our November was nearly all about CATS! 

TIPPY

CALLIE

HOWIE

 And the DEMON MOTHER CAT - Prissy that we attempted to catch and take to the shelter as she is quite vicious to our three. She lit into Scott so bad we ended up at the ER and Scott had to go through the rabies vaccination process just to be safe. The cat is not acting ill but DHEC insists on the shots. Scott had the last booster on the 12th of December. My Mom brought us a trap to catch the demon but so far she has managed to avoid closing it's door... I keep trying to add enough weight to the triggering mechanism so that when she steps on it the door closes. I really want her out of here.

 Handyman Scott before the cat fiasco building cabinet doors at our house in Cayce. Scott is so talented and can build just about anything. Here he was using some recycled paneling to create new doors for  the cabinets he made as well as for the cabinet over the refrigerator.

And of course we have been thrifting once again. Office supplies are always available at a deep discount in the thrift shops around here. And we enjoy just plundering through stuff and talking about memories items bring to mind. Not everything we see and talk about comes home with us.

Well I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Rough Month

It has been quite a rough month this month. The day after my Mother-in-Laws 90th birthday party (October 22) I started to get ill and it was really bad for about a week and a half then it seemed to clear up and then over this past weekend I developed a  headache that simply would not let up. So Monday I went to the Nurse Practioner and she put me on an antibiotic and I am now feeling so much better. This bug has really been awful and I am so hoping that it is the only illness I have this winter.

I have made a few things this month to "feed"  my creative side.

ATC's - Artist Trading Cards that I gave away during a live session on You Tube last week.

Some cards utilizing some of the leftover 1 inch tiles from the larger piece of mixed media work that I cut up. The above ATC's were also from that same sheet of mixed media work.

These cards were the larger parts of the original mixed media sheet. 

 Then I needed to create a couple things for a challenge I entered on You Tube with Chelle Ratcliffe at Little Acres Creations. So I made a box from scratch ( built the box and lid myself out of chip board) and then I decorated it with some papers. I also created an ATC and a card for her . I forgot to photograph the card and the ATC.

Friday Scott had a Colonoscopy and thankfully it was clear, no polyps or inflammation so now he is clear for 10 years... YEAH!