How long should cabinets last anyway?

 After 19 years and much use....I had to replace my much loved and hated cabinets.  After Katrina we painted our old cabinets and prayed they'd last five more years.  Eight years later (and much fixing and shoring up) we finally said goodbye to them.

I know 18 years for cabinets doesn't seem long.  Really, I don't think that's so long.  Cabinets should really last a lot longer...but our cabinets were very thin press board....really funky cheap cabinets.  Considering the quality...I squeezed everything I could out of them.

Thanks to my dear friend Carla, I was able to get my new lovely cabinets.  Solid wood cabinets.  Yes, I am hoping to get many more years out of these.  Time will tell the tale.  I do think they are lovely.

 Oh yeah...granite counter tops too.  I'm so paranoid that my black iron pots are going to break it...eeep!!!

 Love my new buffalo check curtains.  Yep...that's a pineapple tomato I grew on the window sill.  I mean, I grew it in the garden it's just sitting on the window sill.   It weighs 1 pound  2 ounces...yep I weighed it....can't wait to eat it.  My fav heirloom tomato.

I really love the porcelain apron sinks, but I'm afraid I'm a little to rough for them.  I love to use black iron pots and I'm scared they my chip the porcelain.  So I got a new deep stainless steel sink instead.  I think it will last a long time.

 My lovely April Cornell table cloth.  I find them frequently at T.J. Maxx.  Seriously cheaper there....$16.99. I think the round ones are $50.00 on the website.  April Cornell table cloths are the best.  They wear well and wash well and look beautiful.

OK this may give you an idea of what my cabinets and stove used to look like.  I liked it then too....but my new cabinets are really snazzy.

Canning Grapefruit Juice and New Kitchen Cabinets

My Mom had a bumper crop of the sweetest most delicious grapefruit this year.  More than we could possibly eat.  She shared many of them, but still had bushels of them left.  For some reason most people think they don't like grapefruit and say "No thank you".  I'm convinced it's because they've never had Louisiana tree ripened grapefruit.

My Mom wasn't sure what to do with them and was scared they were going to spoil.  So....I decided to try and can grapefruit juice.  I do love grapefruit.  I also love grapefruit juice.....but this juice really surpasses any grapefruit juice I've ever drank from a commercial canner.

So if you live in a citrus area and can get your hands on a bunch of citrus you can jar it using the following recipe.  I've only canned grapefruit and lemon.  There's never too many oranges and you can always give those away.

Canned Citrus Juice

You need:  Citrus fruit, sugar, sterilized canning jars, canning lids, and bands.  Large pot for juice and canning pot

Juice your fruit

Strain fruit through cheese cloth or clean curtain sheers

Place strained juice in large pot

Add 1/2 cup of sugar to grapefruit juice (not lemon) for each 12 pints of juice

Bring juice to just under a boil and simmer for five minutes

Fill sterilized jars 1/2 inch from top.

Wipe rims

Place warmed lids (warm  in hot water) on top

Screw bands down snugly

Place jars in pot of hot water

Jars should be covered by 1 to 2 inches of water

Bring water to a boil

Once boiling time each batch for 10 minutes

Remove from water

Allow to cool

Listen for seals to pop closed

Keep any jars that do not seal properly in Fridge and drink right away.

This is what my kitchen looks like currently.  Getting new cabinets today!  Will post pic.

I Think My Mantle Won The Gaudy Award

I think my mantle could win the gaudy award if there were one! It has all my favorite colors...
aqua, pink, green...and lots of glitter.

These are all things I have collected over the years.

I just manage to make it a little gaudier each year.

The glitter snowflakes were an impulse buy from the dollar store. O.K. pink, green and aqua snowflakes...can't help myself...I love them.

...Most of the other glittery stuff I bought years ago for literally pennies after Christmas....

...Yes, I know...not very traditional...but delightful and Christmasy to me any way....

My nephew said he liked my Mardi Gras display....Thanks Gene...See if I invite you over again.

But all the birds!!! I love birds...I need to find a glittery owl to add to the mixture....

there is an owl who lives in my side yard. Each night we hear him hooting....

....it's a very lonesome sound...The cardinals are back for the winter and I ofter hear them calling in the morning...

The blue flocked birds are back as well. They don't say much.

Hope your Christmas decorating makes you smile.

Inviting A Closer Look

This wonderful 1950's tablecloth came from an antique store in Lucket, Virginia. I can't resist the bright happy prints from that era. Evidently 50's housewives were every thing they were touted to be because this baby didn't have a blemish on it's heavy surface. Mine aren't so fortunate! I'll protect this one a little better.
It seemed the 50's borrowed forms from the Earth or the sky always glow with an unearthly color. Nope I've never seen daisies with aqua button centers except in some 80's wedding photos or poppies (I think) either for that matter. Maybe the atomic fascinations of the era influenced designers to veer in this direction. Regardless...I love the whimsy it evokes in me now.

It was a perfect backdrop to show off a centerpiece of pretty eggs in a nest of fabric scraps! The little aqua flower confetti embellishments invites you to look....

a little closer and notice all the different hues and textures of the eggs.

This front door urn that had been deprived of it's spring plantings became a perch for a small pot of succulents, a broken garden ornament and a dried sunflower head from the veggie garden. I like it so much I might forgo planting the fall flowers a little longer.

The potato vines, even though cut back severely, are making a vigorous comeback.

Color

A view of the garden from the pecan tree bench.

Color has fascinated me since the time at a young age I resisted the urge to squish all my big sister's acrylics from their tube prisons. Oh what a joy it would have been to watch all that luscious color squirm to freedom and smash and smear itself over every surface in the way. I had to content myself with perching as close as I could and watching my sister paint.
Colorful zinnias find their way to my garden every year. Either I plant them or they reseed. Fresh cut bundles of them allow me to enjoy their vibrant colors all the long summer long! Their color and other aspects of my garden provide the inspiration for most of my decor.

I love the way my house feels like an extension or just another part of my garden. I painted my coffee table myself several years ago and haven't tired of it yet. Nor do I ever expect to. Simply because it is inspired by those things I love.
Here's another view. As you can see, I am not afraid of, but embrace color. Love it!

This is my next project. My chair has little holes on the corners and is quite dingy. I've kept it covered with the green blanket draped across the back. So....I'm going to try my hand at something....(oh yeah, the painting behind the chair is by my sister Teri Borison, it's one of her senior thesis paintings, but still one of my favs. Glad I got it when I did. I can't afford her stuff anymore!)...I'm going to try...upholstry...yep upholstery. It doesn't look that difficult...we'll see!

I found this sturdy fabric in all the colors I love at the back of this wonderful fabric store called Fabrix. They sell a huge variety of home fabrics. It's just a delight to walk through the store and bask in all the textures and colors. It was only $5.00 a yard. Originally it was much more...I just don't remember exactly how much more, but a lot. So if everything works out I will have a "new" chair for under $30.00! Exciting....I'll let you know success or failure.

Decorating With What You Love

I never believed there were any hard fast rules to decorating. Trends come and go, but certainly if you decorate with what speaks to you you'll never be stuck with three dozen resin molded lamps and fifty million Fleur De Li's. Personally I shun tawdry trendy icons that mass producers stick on everything from kitchen towels to measuring spoons in hopes of getting on the bandwagon while they are hot. Decorating with only that which you love eliminates the need to refit your house with the latest. You never want to get rid of what you love.

Everyone's style is different from minimalist to ultra feminine and everything in between. There are certain things that are pleasing to me and create a happy peaceful vignette for me to look at. First you must identify what you love to look at. Personally I love nature, books (new and vintage), everyday items from the 40's to the 70's, vintage Pyrex, milkware, and magazines.

Decorating my home has been a fifteen year process. Byron and I slept on mattresses on a metal frame with old doors as a headboard for years until I found the perfect bedroom set. I still have the same sofa I bought the first year Byron and I were married, and I still love it. Simply because I will only buy that which I love. We made do with, less than what I wanted, hand me downs until we could afford some items.
Here is a vignette near my front door. I love the portrait propped there. It's interesting to do something unexpected here and there.
Items from nature have the most magnificent colors. I love to collect something from nature where ever I go. The large clam shell is from Newport, the small clam shell in the back is from Mississippi's Percey Quin state park lake, the other shell is from a Florida beach. The rock is from Colorado. I love the patina on the gourd in the back. It was the first puny little birdhouse gourd I had ever grown.
Dried burgundy and green okra have the richest color and look wonderful together. I love how the spines of dried okra split open to create cream stripes along the edges. I am going to make a fall wreath from dried okra pods my sister grew in her garden. The turtle shell was saved from one my brother in law gave to my mother in law to make a turtle soup.
This pickup truck and book were my husband's when he was little. It doesn't mind hauling a few votives for me.
Seleste discovered this needle packet and thread in a sewing kit my Mother In Law gave to her. I just love the looks of domestic bliss on the ladies faces as they sew.
I bought the bird cross stitch for cents at Goodwill. I love anything with animals on it. The little doggy was Byron's when he was small. The angel dreaming in the window reminds me of myself. I just get a kick out of the puppeteer puppy stone. These are Carruth Studios stones. I love them.
Sometimes living in a small house forces you to be creative with storage and decor. I like to sew, knit, cross stitch and crochet. Except, I do not have an extra room in my 1,680 square foot home to put all my supplies for my creative urges. These pretty boxes serve the purpose. When stacked, they are neat and orderly and hide a multitude of clutter.

Sewing machine, threads, tools, material and patterns are all hidden inside. The old yellow salesman sample bag hides my cross stitches. My yarns are pretty enough to be seen and I like them to be close at hand for when I feel like doing a few stitches. (By the way, the green dresser in the back has served as a console and storage for years. I bought is for a few dollars at Goodwill.)
Matisse is one of my favorite artists. I love the colors he uses and the fact that everything he does feels happy and optimistic. My sister bought me this print when she went to New York. The glittered feathers in milkware lamp bases make a grand fanfare for the print. The little bird is perched in a place fit for a Pharaoh.
I've had this classical lady bust for what seems like forever and I still love to look at her. She is forever beautiful, and deserving of the thick wreath of dried oak leaves. I wore the oak leaves in my hair when I went to a masquerade party as a woodland fairy. The framed postcards are a tribute to National Parks of which I am a huge fan. Again there's a bird.
Here is my cookbook nook. It also houses the majority of my vintage pyrex bowl collection. They serve double duty. I use them daily and also they are beautiful. The cross stitch in the back is my first one.
Here's a little snatch of my large bookshelves. My books are interspersed with photos of my lovely family and figures of animals.

Making expensive stuff the cheap way!

I've learned to sew a straight line. So, I'll just hop into about a billion huge projects now---that's what my husband is most likely thinking. I've been accused of having way too many irons in the fire, but never of being bored or boring!!!

Hannah Anderson and Oilily have two of my most favorite children's clothing lines. When in D.C. visiting my sister we went to Tyson's Corner and peeked into these shops. I did buy Seleste a dress from Hannah Anderson's that was on sale and had to summon up every bit of self control to resist buying two other dresses at full price for Seleste and Talia. Way too expensive. A tiny little skirt from Oilily costs $100.00 or more. Eeeeek! You really need a Hollywood salary to afford that.

So what's the alternative? Make-em yerself honey! And that's what I am going to attempt to do. For the first project, I let Seleste and Talia pick out their own fabric (Talia - Left, Seleste - Right). As you can see they like pink!! Good thing, so do I. I've never been afraid of color and adore tons of it around. If I succeed with the basic skirt then I'll try adding all the tulle, fluff and stuff.
This next pic is of the fabric I bought from the scrap section. Just enough to make a table cloth. Sweet little bright print.
I've also been crocheting dish rags again lately. Hours in the car contributed to this! I used a smaller thread and had fun with the colors. As you can see I have been experimenting with some new stitches. Don't you just love the lacy flouncy look the shell pattern gives the purple cloth. The table is one I painted quite a few years ago. It started life as a cheap unfinished coffee table. Now look how it has moved up in the world. I'm painting the living room ceiling with a sky to match it. That's another one of my unfinished projects (about 2/3rds done) that will be finished this summer. You don't have to spend a bundle to have beautiful handcrafted things about. You just have to have the courage to tackle it yourself and try again if you must. My first really terrible piece of furniture I painted (the painting was terrible not the furniture) is serving humble duty in a dusty corner of the sound room at our church.

Bedroom Decorating Project

Finally my bedroom is beginning to come together. I figured out how to use my sewing machine I bought several years ago. Wow, it is so easy! Look out unfinished projects here I come. Here are the curtains and pillow I made. Monkeys, butterflies and fish are the main themes on the fabric and it has seventies look to it. I fell in love with the fabric and bought it before anything else.

See the little bear table peeking out beside the chair? That's a tribute to Byron. He loves bears and moose. The table brings in the bears without looking rocky mountain cabinish. I simply adore the framed embroidered corals from Tuesday morning. I also bought the rug there. The pink boxes underneath the dresser contain photos. I love to use boxes and baskets underneath things for storage and to disguise clutter. We have five people living in a 1650 square foot house so we must make each inch count.

Here are the baskets where I store books, lantern, heating pad, sketchbook and colored pencils etc... On the table is a lamp I bought at Goodwill when I first was married. I still love it. The small boxes on the table hide lip gloss, lotion, glasses, remotes, tiger balm and a small flash light. I love pretty boxes...functional and lovely. This is sorta like my immediate business station. The baskets contain CDs, crochet stuff, diaries, projects and mail. The box and suitcase hide misc stuff and photos. Then of course stacked on either side are books and magazines I am currently reading. The painting is one of the primitive paintings I like to collect from Goodwill.
I need a few more pictures and a beautiful pot to hold a tropical plant in the corner and I think I'll be done with the bedroom. When visiting Monticello we were told Thomas Jefferson died before all of his projects for his home were completed. I feel like this sometimes....on to the next project.....!