Orchids, Orchids Everywhere. . .

 I'm taking you to an Orchid Show  I walked through at our local Botanical Gardens.

There were thousands of these beautiful plants for sale and I was so very good, and only bought one.

The plant was sitting on the ground in a plastic bag, no pot  or soil. Just lots of roots. It was about 5 lbs in weight, and oh so beautiful.

As soon as our weather warms a bit it will grace the old oak tree in my front yard, along with my other 6 Orchids. These Orchids are simply tied to the tree and survive on only the bark, sun and rain. 

There were both indoor and outdoor rooms set up with the most beautiful   

Orchids.  

I was in Heaven.

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to not  buy all of them.

 The colors were simply delicious.

 

Of all the plants and flowers on the Earth, I think the Orchid just might be my favorite.

Stay warm everyone!

"Have a great weekend"

I'm linking up to

Fertilizer Friday 

Bedazzle Me Monday 

I Just Can't Bring Myself to Wear Shoes This Tall...

 I,  like most women, love shoes and have many  in my closet.

 

 Heels are my favorite but I don't get many opportunities to wear them anymore. Besides my back hates tall heels.

I was shopping the other day and just had to snap some photos of the shoes I saw.  I did not laugh because I know how the style changes with each year but some of these just had me wondering, 

"Who wears them"?

  Most of my friends prefer the classics and I really don't see anyone wearing the new style of heels.

This pair would be for when I go to the "Ball"

I joined the "Red Hat Society" this past month and this pair would be great for their annual "Fashion Show"  I'll be attending at "Ruth Eckerd Hall" next month.

The pink floral on this pair would be great for a 

"Brides Maid"

I'm afraid I just don't know where I'd wear these. Or what I'd wear with them?

These would be perfect with my black leather pants.

Now I might just wear these with a nice business suit.

A black cocktail dress would be perfect with this shiny pair, except I just can't wear open toes.  

But I really like this shoe.

I'm still trying to figure out what to wear with this pair, and am afraid  I might just hurt myself walking in them?

Of all the shoes I found, this pair is my favorite.  They would be perfect to work in the garden.   Their water proof and look  like they might just keep me from sliding down the slope of my yard.

What do you think of the new trend in shoes and do you have any girlfriends who wear this new style of high heels?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Garage Sale Finds for January

 Look what I found this past weekend.

I've been wanting a comfee chair to put in my bedroom.  Somewhere I could sit and do my needle work.  The chair is sturdy and very comfortable.  I'm  refinishing the wood white, and recovering with a new quilted fabric. (I'm hand quilting the fabric in the evenings while watching TV) 

Here is a sneak peak.

The best part, the chair was only $5.00

Funny part of this,  the fabric is costing me so much more than the chair. But then I  love refinishing furniture so this is not a chore for me.  It's fun! 

 

I started the work this week by taking the old denim fabric that was used to cover it.  The chair was hand painted a dull off brown/cream color of sorts.  It was sticky with age. Then I started removing the side panel that was once rattan. 

I used the electric sander on the wood, as there was much to sand.   I had to removed as much of the paint as possible because as I said, it was sticky and I'm finding I could just peel it off the existing wood.

Another of my finds,  a really nice heavy wicker basket with a lid.

This will be painted white and used in the upstairs bathroom as my new trash can.

I love the idea of a lid. Who wants to see the trash!

  Today I started painting the chair.  I used a primer then  the first coat of spray paint.

Lookin good!

Once I get more work done on both of my finds, I'll be sure to share the finished product.

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 Now that the Holidays are behind us the towns around me, here in the Tampa Bay area, are back in garage sale mode and there are plenty to choose from.

I know winter is upon everyone up North but we are in the chilly 50's and 60's.  Perfect weather for yard and garage sales. I'll be back out on Saturday looking for a new (new to me)  floor lamp and foot stool for my new sitting area in my bedroom.

Hope your all having a warm January.

Happy Friday the 13th 

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I'm linking up to

Potpourri Friday

Furniture Feature Friday 

Saturday Night Special 

(((huggss)))

New Crochet Bath Carpets.

.
I went shopping thinking I'd find three new bath carpets, but I found that most carpets in the stores were not what I liked and they were limited in the sizes  to fit the spaces in my bathroom, so I made my own.
It's been 2 years now and the old ones I crochet were getting ready to fall apart. 
 

Besides, I changed the color of the bath and wanted blue.

The crochet pattern is something in my mind. I used just a simple double crochet and went back-and-forth.

I do love the colors of blue but then realized how much yellow was in the floor tiles. Oh Well, not too bad?

I painted the cabinets last year and had great intentions of changing the counter top and adding a second sink. Well, that never happened. I might just go ahead and paint the counter top. I did a post on how I painted the kitchen counters and after a year now it's still going strong without a scratch or peel. Very durable and great paint made especially for counter tops.

More on that another time.

The upstairs bath took on a whole new look with the darker blue coloring and it's nice to step on the soft carpets. I used 100% cotton yarn and doubled up and used two strands of yarn to give the carpets more texture.  These also can be put into the washer with no fear of shrinking or changing color. The ones I made 2 years ago are still in good shape but I needed a change.

Cool, cool, cotton!

I'm linking this post to

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Create and Share 

Wow Us Wednesday 

Show Off Your Stuff 

Thriving on Thursday 

Potpourri Friday 

Saturday Night Special 

Saving the herb plants from the cold. . .

As I said in my previous post the weather turned very chilly here on the South Gulf Coast. 

The temps dipped into the 20's over night and I would surly have lost my potted herbs and tomatoes.  They all came inside for the past two days, lined up along the front hallway.

It was time to harvest some of the Sage, Basel and Parsley.

I love to cook with fresh herbs and dry mine all year.  I cut the stems and hang them upside down in the window mostly but there is not much space, so some get cut and placed in pie tins for a few days.  It really does not take long to dry when snipped with scissors into tiny pieces. I just leave them to air dry for a few days, then store in jars.

Sage

Basel

Once the potted plants were thinned they went back in the hallway and will stay until the temperatures rise above 50' during the night.

The aroma in the kitchen is wonderful.  I love the look of the drying herb plants also. Wish I had more room to hang them.  How about up in the rafters?  But then I don't have rafters and besides, they would get greasy from all the cooking, don't you think?

One day, I will have a green house!

"One day"

* * *

I'm linking up to

Fertilizer Friday 

Outdoor Wednesday 

Alphabet Thursday, the letter H 

Critters need to be warm too, but they gnawed through my....

All the cold weather from the Northern States came down to Florida this past two nights.  We went down to 27' and it was cold enough for me to put on the central heat in our house.

My sister and I thought this might be a good day to warm up in front of the slot machines at the Hard Rock Casino.

 We got in the car only to be greeted by the "Check Engine" light and I thought better of driving the hour to get to the casino and instead took my car to the mechanic.

 Well once I got there and they looked into my hood,  all the guys started  laughing and told me that a critter did some damage.

 Seems Squirrels needed some refuge from the cold we were having and they climbed under the hood of my car to get warm. They then began to gnaw the censer wires.  The wires were no longer connected and this caused the "Check Engine" light to come on.

 They then started gnawing on  anything they could get their little buck teeth on. 

Like my 'air filter'.

They then started gnawing the panel that is closing off the engine from the inside of the car cabin. The mechanic told me, they chewed into my glove box and started nesting.  He also found the feminine napkin that I kept stored in the box, chewed to bits inside the engine.

I was amazed at how much damage the little critters did in just a few hours during the night!

 

 I took the advice from my mechanic and went to the Home Depot and got a bottle of pest spray that will last 30 days against critters.  I sprayed the entire engine area and am sure I used much too much spray.  

They will not do that again!  

Now I'm a Squirrel lover and every day I toss peanuts out on the back deck for my many critters.  

If their little escapade did not cost me so much money, to repair the damage, it might have been funny!

What kind of problems has the first winter weather caused you all this past week?

'Stay Warm" 

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I'm joining Jenny @

Alphabet Thursday

Making a Chochet Hook User Friendly. . . .

Now that the Holidays are behind us we will all be getting back to our daily lives.  Today all the outside Christmas lights came down and the storage boxes filled with ornaments went back into the store room.

My sister picked up her crochet again and has had enough of her teeny crochet hook that has been bothering her fingers.  The small sizes are really hard to hold when your not used to one. We both sat down and tried to find a way to make it more 

"User Friendly"

  In other words, thicker so holding it would be more comfortable.

We thought of wrapping something around it.  Tape would get sticky with time.  Something like a straw. long with a hole that we could slip the hook into?  The only Crochet Hook she brought with her,  is thicker and the wrong size. I told her to use it anyway. 

Ha, what do I know about Fillet Crochet?

We then went to the Home Depot thinking we could find something to enlarge the handle..  The guys at the store were no help really.  A woman coming in with a crochet hook really turned their minds to mush. It was rather funny really.

We did find a long pipe, tube of sorts, that one would use under a sink for the water to flow.  It was more like a straw and we thought if we filled it with glue.. no, that's not going to work? 

Then I went out in my store room and there is was.  A rather used bottle of "Round Up" a weed and grass killer.  The tube was perfect!

I cut a length and soaked it in Dawn and hot water. 

The water tube was much too large.

The plastic tube from the spray bottle fit perfectly.

All we needed to do was push it into place and there it was.  Just what was needed to make the Crochet Hook comfortable to hold.

No more sore fingers.

Using your imagination and searching around your home will always find the solution to a problem.

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I hope everyone is happy and recovering from all the hustle and bustle of the Holidays.

Time to get back to life as you know it or life as you would dream it to be.

I'm linking up to

Tuesdays To Do List

Creative Bloggers Party Hop  

Tip Me Tuesday 

Wow us Wednesday 

Saturday Night Special