Mildew & Elbow Grease

This post has been updated with new images.

The chair was waiting to be taken to the great landfill beyond in a neighborhood trash pile in Lake Park, Florida.

While driving by a huge pile of yard clippings, there it was upside down and half buried. I almost dared not touch it because of all the mold/mildew (and I had to wonder about its previous life), but after much hem-hawing about whether it was going to be worth the time I'd have to spend on it, I hauled it home.

I ended up getting very cozy with the mildew by the time I was done. It took days to scrub and peel off the coating that had been ruined by the exposure to all that grunge. I refinished the wood as well.

Not long after picking this up, I came across the old suitcase at a garage sale for $2.00.

One day I realized that the two were a color match. I wanted to make a footstool out of the suitcase, so the pairing was ideal. The suitcase redo was a lot of work and it's not quite sturdy enough for just any use. The legs didn't have enough of a rigid surface to bite into in order to hold really steady. If the user is careful, it works fine. Even so, for looks, it completes the chair and they make an attractive couple. The step stool is also useful as a side table for magazines or a hot cup of coffee. I tore out the dirty, stained and stinky fabric inside and lined it with burlap. It makes a good place to store some magazines or books. The result was worth the effort, and I enjoy having them adorn my old school Florida Room complete with terrazzo.

Side table or footstool, a nice little duo!

I'm sharing with

Tis the Season 2012 @ Bliss Ranch
Manic Monday @ Serendipity & Spice
Functional Friday at The Not So Functional Housewife
Redoux Interiors' Friday Features


The Charm of Home's Home Sweet Home
Ivy & Elephants What's It Wednesday
The Cure For the Common Monday
Cedar Hill Ranch's Cowgirl Up Party
Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

The Winthrop Chronicles Share It Link Party

God's Silent Fireworks

Bright, full moon contrasts deep, solid blue.

A brisk, breeze parades memories across the back yard, memories anchored to summer evenings on the water, boats swaying, clinking and clanking. Tonight that rowdy breeze rushes through surrounding trees with a gentle, almost comforting howl, the scent of the nearby ocean in tow.

Church bells toll the end of another day, and Casey and Cael wander in and out of the house in turn.

Lightning shows off in an intense game of charades, silent against a puffy backdrop of pink and white. The clouds create a drive-in movie screen setting against the dusk of an eastern South Florida sky.

As the blue sky settles itself into darkness, the lightning bolts heat up into a fever- pitch of competition. Back and forth, each in turn try to outdo the one before and set the standard high for the flash of light to follow. The show is free and it's fabulous and it is larger than life.

God's Silent Fireworks are ablaze for all with eyes to see.

I pull up a chair and a camera instead of a car and a microphone. My eyes are wide open this evening and I don't even have to leave home to enjoy the show. I don't believe I have ever seen such a sight.

Simply beautiful...what God can do with a moment.

(There are 4 videos below; are all short - 25 to 45 seconds long. The lightning seems to get more intense in each successive video as the sky grows darker.)

I'm sharing with

With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart



At the Picket Fence's Inspiration Friday

Conservative Hollywood, The Brave

During a time in 2003, our family watched the movie, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, on DVD after having seen it much earlier at the theater when it was released. I was at that time trying to live an impossible scenario, beyond my ability with which to cope or even to drag my feet through some days. I watched as Sam and Froto struggled through their mission. They looked like I felt, things seemed hopeless and they were sinking into despair. It had been a long haul with victories along the way that managed to keep them going. Theirs were discouraging and scary times, and it had become too much for them. They were doubting their strength to keep up the fight.

I realized as this scene unfolded that I must and could keep on, and that maybe God was trying, once again through the movies, to tell me something I would hear no other way. Yes, I'm tired, exhausted...weary, overwhelmed with a mission I don't always "get", and of which I rarely feel worthy. This scene marked a turning point for me, and I wrote about it at the time, watching the scene again and again so I could handwrite the words line by line (pre-youtube) to keep as a reminder.

I was intrigued this week to find THIS by Russ Dvonch at BigHollywood. It is time to get back to Heroic Hollywood. For all of the media and the industry's influence in a profoundly negative way, it is imperative that the messages of truth find their way to the big screen. There is a lot of work to do by those entrusted with the gift of storytelling. The scene comes to a close as Froto says, "Froto wouldn't have got far without Sam, the brave."

And we won't get far without conservative Hollywood, the brave.

"The Way We Get By"

Found this at bighollywood.breitbart.com... I hope I have the opportunity to see the full film.

Making up for lost time

Sheesh, I just discovered that I have been absent from my blog for nearly a year! Time just gets away from me...

Let's see, what can I post... here's a little clip from an incredible time spent welcoming home Cael and just a portion of the Marines of the 2nd Battalion/2nd Marines from Iraq, where they had just spent 7 months of their lives in service to our country. The quality of this clip is sadly lacking (sorry), but I hope the respect for all that these men have given and continue to give for us is evident.



These guys are our heroes!

Almost five months have gone by without posting...nor writing much more than anything other than emails everyday. Sad state of affairs. Thought I ought to at least stop by and post a photo or say something random, give a recap of some days, but my mind's all cluttered with Cael's upcoming deployment and the preparations still to be made for it.

Here we are all together in December at a wedding


I got older

Days Go BY

So do the years... 21 in fact. I miss this guy.

Sunrise Waves

Mary,

This is a very short version of when we went to watch the sunrise back many months ago when you were here to visit

Big Thrills and Free Slurpees

Well, you might not gather what big a thrill it is to get a free slurpee on what we like to call "National 7-11 day", because the girls wouldn't let me take a picture despite the event we make of it. It's become a tradition here ever since Cael let us in on the exciting news that 7-11 gives out free sample-sized slurpees on their "birthday". Unfortunatly, the girls were being a pain all morning, so due to a lack of anything better, I am forced to enclose the dorky proof our endeavor below.

Summer Fun and Summer Sunburn

Happy 4th of July! Each year when this holiday rolls around, it still conjures up images of my childhood when 4th of July was a much anticipated event. We'd take off to Plant Drive Park early to play games and eat snowcones and be a part of the community fun. At dusk we'd head over and sit on the station wagon overlooking the water at Lake Catherine watching fireworks. Oh, the good ole days. Dad's birthday fell on the fourth and he'd take part in the pie eating contest at Plant Drive since he was on the city council. My friend Julie and I had the good fortune of winning $5 playing bingo there (we were THAT good)... and back then being patriotic was our duty and our honor, not a political faux pas. I miss those days. Despite the 4th of July incident of 1994 when the handful of sparklers blew up in my hand and caused so much pain and misery, I still love the holiday and the am ever thankful for the country and freedom it celebrates.

Our pre 4th fun


This 4th, we will be hiding out in the house I'm afraid...no sunny 4th of July events for us! No way! We had the good fortune of being invited to go wakeboarding on Monday on the intracoastal. BEAUTIFUL day and no one on the water but us. We had a really great time, but my pastey white-gray skin got more than it bargained for... Casey (the new wakeboard queen) scorched her back and shoulders. Before we knew it we had been out there for about 5 hours. We are two days into our recovery now and still in pain. Yesterday was just torture. We resorted to taking Advil last night as we lay on the couch groaning still. My skin is a deep, deep red on my knees and thighs, the pain of the burn seeping into my muscles and feeling like blood pressure cuffs on my legs when I stand up or walk. My shoulders look like someone painted stark white stripes across burgundy red skin where my bathing suit straps were. You think we would know better... You would think wrong. Here are some photos of Casey the wakeboard queen and the friends we spent the day getting burned to a crisp with. No photos available of Chris and I on the beach in our bathing suits... awwww... I know... too bad!

Saturday Morning at Dunkin Donuts

It was Lynn's birthday today, so what better way to start a birthday than to hang out at Dunkin Donuts? Apparently we did the same thing last year, as one of the regular guys there (who took a couple of pictures for us, by the way) remembered us being there for a birthday last year. Lynn said, yes, he was right, we did go there last year as well. We used to go there all the time, so it all tends to blend together for me. Nice to know we are THAT memorable... or is it?

Memories of 8th Grade Graduation

It's all over but the celbration dinner! The crying? Well that's over and done with too... for this event anyway. Despite the drama and trauma of the past week (and two months), videos are finally done and shown. Disaster swooped in at the last moment, caused tears, upheaval and plenty of drama, but it was averted in the end. The events of the past week alone could make for good reality tv... and they have definitely added a touch of extra and unwanted age to my features. But above all of that, Casey has graduated 8th grade. She leaves behind beloved teachers (one of whom she has had off and on since first grade, and whom she ended with as her homeroom teacher again this year in 8th grade. Mrs. Koenig and Miss Denney (her other favorite) will be missed. It will be a big change in the coming year. She is moving on to another school while her friends, many of whom she's been with every school day since K5 and first grade, will move on to different schools.

Tomorrow we celebrate with her friends and their familes by sharing dinner together at a restaurant on the ocean. No doubt pictures will follow since the girls are dressing up again and we are planning a photo shoot on the beach... well, that is if the weather cooperates. It's raining. This is big news. It's been raining for hours, it seems it's going to rain for days. We can't complain. We want it and need it. We are desperate for it. But we do have beach plans tomorrow evening, and my roof is leaking in two places... I would like the rain in moderation. it's a love/hate thing, you know?

Sarah came and did Casey's hair for graduation and is coming again tomorrow with plans for another gorgeous "do". It was really fun having her come and help. Her stylings were much admired by all. Me? I am now trying to adjust to life unattached to my videos. Today for a while, I was completely lost as to how to go about the day without a demanding vdieo and the stress of the whole process harrassing me. The chair in front of the computer didn't need me and that was odd. That is where I have lived for two months pretty much non-stop. A very odd feeling. But after a very brief sort of floundering around this morning, I recovered and remembered how to obsess about photos and grocery shopping, vacuuming and doing dishes and errands and running kids around. I do obsess so well.

I have roof leaks to check, so carry on and enjoy the photos!

The Birds of my own

The pages of the book are open, the pen's ink ready, my hand a willing accomplice, but insightful words aren't forming.

Now, Back to Parris Island

I know... I'm not in chronological order - again! Agh! But I thought it was time to get some of Cael's USMC graduation shots up for you. I have been stuck because all of my photos are in the other computer and it has no internet right now. So tonight I worked on transferring pics from webshots to photobucket. Blech! Big pain. For now, here is a sampling of the sights (also not in chronological order... help... what's happening to me?) from Parris Island Recruit Depot.

Cael, the United States Marine Corps bootcamp graduate and Casey

The Traditional Pre-Easter Egg Hunt

Okay, I got a little out of order, I put the Easter morning sunrise photos before these... oh well... I should get some stills off of my video to show you some of the action during the hunt, but no time for now. Maybe later...


As it is, our numbers dwindled significantly this year with Cael in the Marines, Cally away at college, Joel in Tennessee and Daniel in New York, Ben in Atlanta and Katie just plain MIA. Oh... and Tommy was in Mexico...


Zach cooked some great burgers and hotdogs for us

and Casey was the egg stuffer. Shannan hosted us and

she and I were the lone egg hiders this year. She and I

along with Casey, spectated the furniture refinishing.

Mom was very tired and laid low. I'm rambling on and on,

and adding space here in order to push the picture below

down past the white side bar that is covering it up on my aol

browser. The archive sidebar doesn't show up on safari,

go figure...just in case the archive sidebar is blocking your view,

I am rambling. You're welcome.


But anyway, the rest of the cast; David, Bethany, Sarah,

Paul, Zach and Casey carried on the Kiedis egg

hunting tradition with style and had lots of fun.


Our time began with some furniture refinishing

by Bethany and Sarah. They found this coffee table

for $30 at Goodwill and spent much of the time sanding

and staining it. We were their audience and Paul helped

them with the staining. Everyone was impressed by the outcome.






The Easter basketheads have grown up, but old habits die hard...





The cousins with their spoils... and their dirty feet...


Fun with eggs...


David and Casey...


The ladies lounge awhile after all the excitement...

A New Day, A New Life... New Hope

It's Easter... and Casey and I went to the Sunrise service at Currie Park overlooking Palm Beach this morning. We enjoyed the beauty of a cool South Florida morning at sunrise on the intracoastal. Nothing quite like it, especially with donuts and coffee at hand. I wanted to share the photographs because the scene was so beautiful, so evident of God's presence. These pictures make me feel like I felt very early this morning as I sat thinking about what God has done for me through the resurrection...

He descended upon my life... filled it up with His comfort... peace... joy... forgiveness... and His hope... He envelopes my life with His goodness, wrapping me up in the warm light His presence brings into my life each day, available for any and every moment.

Happy Easter! Happy day of HOPE!

My Cuties

One day soon I will post something really new. For now, here is the Christmas photo. I love it because it was the last good shot we got before Cael went into the Marines. I won't see him with so much hair for a long, long time. Plus, who knows when all the kids will be home at once again... times are certainly changing... (sigh) Won't be long and Cally will head back to school and I will be without the errand runner she has been for me while she was here. Gotta love a girl who doesn't mind getting in the car to make food runs for you. She even said she would go and get the oil changed in my car this week. I know! It's my lucky moment, and I am enjoying it fully while it lasts. I think she was appalled when she saw the little oil change sticker they put in the window eons ago. The mileage on it was some number so many digits away from what the odometer reads now that she probably felt she just had to intervene. Works for me!