Bekah's Book

All of my nieces are great readers. Bekah, the almost-eight-year-old, is no exception. So it wasn't a surprise when she started writing her own little story while enjoying some down time with us last week. It's blossomed into full-on book that her sister has helped type and edit and I have helped lay out. Using Photoshop, we designed a front and back cover, dedication, and text pages. I printed it out and showed Bekah how to stitch it together with upholstery thread. Now she's talking about e-publishing and writing two future novels to complete the trilogy!

Daily Doings

To all you bloggers with children, you have my admiration. I'm not sure how to juggle entertaining the kids, catching teachable moments, staying up on the housework, and photographing and posting about it all.

Jeff and I have had two of my nieces for the past week. We will have them only one more week before rendezvousing in Oklahoma to reunite them with their sisters and mother.

So far we have done the following:

Enjoyed a free lunch at Chik-fil-a courtesy of their "Cow Appreciation" day celebration (it required dressing like a cow).

The chicks have signs that read "Just one of the herd" and "No chickens here!"

Prepared a nice Friday night table setting and dinner.


Taken in a baseball game (and the requisite hot dogs, salty pretzels, popcorn, and cotton candy).

Enlisted our assistants in gardening and potting activities.

Arranged flowers.

Sculpted "found metal" (i.e., some yard scraps Bekah unearthed) with safety instructions and equipment provided by Uncle Jeff.

Invited some neighbors over for casual Mexican on the back porch

Eleven Wonderful Years

As Jeff told me this morning as he left for work, we are in our twelfth year of marriage! It's amazing how time has flown. Our eleventh anniversary was Sunday. We celebrated it simply but enjoyably. Neither of us felt the need to do anything over the top. It sounds sappy, but we both said that every day together is such a joy in and of itself that we didn't need much else. It's really the truth. I get hugs, cuddles, kisses, "I love yous", a helping hand around the house, and compliments every day of the year. We note our anniversary as a way to mark time together, but it needn't be a big show when it still feels like we're on our honeymoon! How true that statement was on the window of our get-away car as we departed the reception all those years ago:





To celebrate yesterday, we did do a light lunch out and go dancing. The local DanceSport chapter has a monthly Sunday dance, and it just happened to fall yesterday, right on our anniversary. We had already been dancing Tuesday, so twice in one week is pretty special, I suppose! One of the board members found out it was our 11th and asked us what our song or wedding dance was, so they could play it for us. We had to admit we didn't have dancing at our wedding (for several reasons), nor do we have "a song". I guess we could rectify that now, but it would be hard to pick just one!

In addition to a meal and dancing, we spent some time reflecting. Life hasn't exactly gone as we expected; but it's better! We did think we would have children, and neither of us thought we would be living in Alabama, but we view it all as blessings and opportunities rather than trials. In eleven years of marriage, we have traveled to ten foreign countries; lived in three states; worked abroad; completed two advanced degrees (Jeff); retired (Sarah); bought and fixed up three houses; raised a fairly decent dog; assembled a small flock of animals; grown spiritually, emotionally, and mentally; maintained a fabulous, fulfilling, and enriching relationship with each other; and only gained about five pounds in the process. So far, I would say it's been a successful marriage!

Drum roll, please

Make that a tentative drum roll, that is. Maybe just a little bongo instead of a snare drum. I have to give that disclaimer because I'm not sure I like the results myself, but here it is.

The guest bedroom is painted. It's not done, because I'm still planning the bedding, window treatments, lighting, accessories, etc., but I used what I have on hand to make it liveable. Since my nieces are arriving any day now, I just wanted to get some fresh paint on the walls of their guest room. But I didn't have time to take the doors down to properly paint them and strip the hardware, so just squint hard to ignore the minty green. So here it is, my unusual color choice of...SMURPLE (that is, Sarah's Murky Purple).

 Before:

After:


Before:

After:

This is a very new shade for me. In fact, it's a new shade for anyone, because it's a bit of our own concoction. It was intended to be Sherwin Williams Chinchilla, but due to some irregularities with their formulas, they couldn't get it to match their own sample. Jeff and I had to play with it until we got what we wanted (though I'm not sure now it's what I wanted, or maybe it was and I just don't want it anymore)!

I actually think the color looks better in the pictures than it does in real life. It can take on a very blah brown hue at times. This room has large west-facing windows and gets a lot of strong afternoon sunlight, so I know it can handle a dark, rich color, but I'm not sure this is the shade. I really wanted to make the lovely molding more prominent, and the contrast between the dark background and the creamy trim does certainly accentuate that.

This room is still in store for lots of changes. We haven't even decided if this is the furniture we will use in here. We have an antique iron bed that I would prefer to see, but placement gets tricky because of all the doors and windows. I also have an antique mantle stored in the shop, and one of these days we'll see about opening up the old firebox in this room. The hearthplate and chimney are hidden in the bumpout behind the dresser, but I can just imagine the white mantle centered on that wall, under the pastoral painting. So stay tuned for future developments in the Smurple (or maybe not) bedroom!

Fantastic Fourth

We had a lovely Fourth of July celebration. The house was already festooned with flags, so we enjoyed a relaxing morning around the house, packed a picnic lunch, and headed out to the point for the Spirit of America celebration. It's held on the banks of the Tennessee River at Point Mallard Park and locals and guests alike turn out for picnics, boating, golf cart parades, live bands, a local pageant, and fireworks. We saw Miss Alabama, viewed dancing exhibitions of all sorts (ballet, tap, jazz, impromptu kids, etc.), heard instrumental and vocal music, and feasted our eyes on a rousing  fireworks display.

Woodland Creatures

We really enjoy the antics of the squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and other wildlife around the house. Now that DaVinci has run of the whole yard, I'm a little concerned for their peace of mind. But so far they haven't gone into the hiding and we have capture a few charming photos.

Thirsty squirrel sipping from birdbath

Don't you just want to rub that little white belly?

Squirrel hunkering down as blue jay divebombs

Caulk Talk

I have been itching to paint the downstairs guest room, but it is a daunting job. Painting walls is rather simple; almost fun, when you realize how much of a dramatic change you can achieve with just a gallon or two of paint. Painting the ceiling is not so pleasant, but it goes pretty quickly since it's just one expanse (although you have to keep drips and spatters from furnishings and floors). Painting trim is probably my least favorite job; it's meticulous work, the high sheen paint shows every flaw, and this house has miles of molding (an attractive problem to have, but there it is nonetheless).

But this particular job doesn't just require painting three surfaces three different colors and sheens. It requires a thorough, deep cleaning of years of accumulated debris. And sanding and caulking off years of abuse. Then there are holes to fill, dents to flush out, gaps to hide, cracks to smooth, wood and wall boogers to scrape, etc., etc,. etc. And not just on the moldings, but in the plaster, on the paneled doors, at every juncture and join and seam.

I've been prepping for the past two days, and all I see is a maze of messy caulk. But I have finally arrived at the painting stage, so progress is in sight. I just hope my unusual wall color choice is a success, because I doubt I'll be up to redoing it anytime soon!

Several rooms in the house were painted this identical minty green color in flat paint. Walls, trim, doors, all surfaces in an unflattering, unwashable finish. Now that I have to cut in everything, I'm starting to see why they took the easy route!  

Shockingly Well Behaved

I can't believe this is DaVinci. In the front yard. No leash. No real supervision. And no fence. Well, not a physical barrier, anyhow.

As obedient and well trained as our dog is (never jumps on guests, waits to be invited on the sofa, never ever has "accidents" in the house, wouldn't dream of chewing our furniture or woodwork, takes treats gently from fingertips, responds to basic commands, etc.), his one major vice has been his escape mentality. It's like another dog takes over if a door or fence gate is accidentally left open. Off he tears to tour the neighborhood despite commands, threats, pleas, treats, and anything else we can think of. He doesn't TRY to escape, but if someone presents an opportunity, he's no dummy. We failed miserably in our early training of him by neglecting this one area. We rarely had the chance to work him off leash in a safe environment, so by the time we realized our mistake, the habit was ingrained.

No more! Habit broken! At least on this particular property. DaVinci now respects a very invisible boundary about five feet in from our property line. In fact, he gives it more like a generous ten foot berth in most places. The in-ground invisible fence from Innotek/PetSafe is a smashing success.

I chose this brand because of some great feature. It has a very slim collar with long-lasting charge; a battery backup on the transmitter; multiple control levels for shock strength, variable correction field size to prevent run-through; and some nice add-ons like zones if you want your dog to avoid certain small areas (trash can, antique furniture, etc.).

They say old dogs can't learn new tricks, and DaVinci is ten. But he is either the exception to the rule, or the adage is outdated. I started the training conscientiously and consistently, and here we are. DaVinci easily resists cars, other dogs, people, us, and even baby chickens tempting him from the other side of the (non) fence. He doesn't even get close enough to the boundary to get the warning beep, which makes me hope that if he ever got out of the house accidentally without the collar, he wouldn't be aware of it and would still stay contained. We're not taking any chances, since an escape early on could set up a temptation to test the system, but DaVinci has taken to it like a champ. Now he has more freedom, and I don't have to be a nervous wreck anytime someone opens the door!