Leather and Lace

Good morning all.  Yes, I am on a roll here, blogging away.  So much is rattling around in my brain this morning.  I have just STUFF to do and I'm not getting around to doing any of it lately. 

First, I gave away our loveseat.  Yes I did!  Really, I gave it to B&B2 to match the couch we gave them when we moved some 7 years ago.  The Hubby hated it, of course sense I picked it out and he LOVES leather which this was fabric.  We've been having an on going battle about leather and fabric for some time now.  He has his beloved leather couch, actually, three of them.  We have one at the office and one at the cabin too.  I had a tiny fabric loveseat, which now I don't.  We also have two awesome large leather chairs that were perfect at our other house but just are a bit too large in this house.  The debate with The Hubby is that he wanted to replace the loveseat with yet another leather couch and I just had to put the brakes on and say "HECK NO!"  I love, love, love our decorating sense but it does tend to lean towards the guy kind of feel and I want, no NEED a bit of feminine in that house with his collections of lighters, flashlights and African head mounts on the wall (3 at the cabin too).  I had to make a stand for my lady side and insist that we not have an entire house of leather.  Then last weekend he had the bright idea of getting rid of the chairs too but I'm not so opposed to that idea.  With the help of brainstorming with Harri and B the chairs are moving to our new offices upstairs in the living area and I'm going shopping!!!!!  I am going to appease him by trying to find a leather loveseat to accompany his leather couch then I am going to get a couple of nice chairs with an ottoman in FABRIC!  Yup, and I told him it may have a bit of floral in it!!!!!  Yes I did and he was not opposed but we will see when I finally get around to shopping.  This brings me back to the stuff I need to do.  I need to shop and I hate to shop.  I have just got to hit the pavement and start the hunt with the help of the designer brother-in-law!  I have an idea of what I want but I HAVE TO SHOP! 

No Left Turn

I've written a few times before about pet peeves and apparantly I have yet another. 

Pet Peeve number 6,025: 

People who do not read road signs, specifically NO LEFT TURN!

 

The road I travel to the office and home is under a bit of construction but at one intersection there is no left turn going north-south, the direction I'm usually traveling.  There are signs everywhere that say NO LEFT TURN, yet these non-observant drivers back up traffic, usually only allowing one car through a light, themselves!  Do they not realize that the traffic is backed up and it would make sense that they should not turn left anyway.  Oh no, that would make too much sense.  Oh gosh it is infuriating that people just don't read signs.  There is another one the next mile north that has a No Left Turn, but it is between 7-9 and 4-6 only.  People do not pay attention there either and it is a permanent sign.  I had one guy lay on his horn when I was turning left at 2 in the afternoon there, when I was LEGAL to turn.  READ THE SIGNS!  Lord knows you have time while you wait for the light, I know I do when the idiot in front of me is TURNING LEFT ILLEGALILY! 

Happy Father's Day

Daddy

 

The Hubby 

Construction - AGAIN

Good Saturday morning to everyone!  Yes, I am trying to get into the habit of posting EVERYDAY!  I think I have forgotten how to use the writing muscles in my brain. 

The Hubby and I skittled off to the cabin fairly yesterday afternoon.  We both so needed to get away.  He has been working out in the field quite a bit and he is just not young anymore and although he is in terrific shape, it takes a toll.  You know you are old when you hit the bed at eight o'clock at night and doze off at nine, both of us.  Of course we are up at 4:45 every morning too.  I think I may have mentioned some good news for us, maybe.  Well, anyway we are about to undergo some more construction.  Not in the house but we are building some office warehouse space to rent, The Hubby calls it "mailbox money" for retirement.  We are also renovating the old stone building on the property for the move of our offices soon.  I'm so excited!  We've been in our current location when we built the building in 1984 and have sort of outgrown the space.  (Thought I had a picture but can't find it.)  It's a two story stone building build sometime in 1920-something and in great shape.  The first floor will be our offices with an open concept but the upstairs!  The upstairs will be like a living quarters.  We thought of being able to rent it out but I have talked The Hubby into...get this.........AN ART STUDIO!  We are still having a kitchen and great closets and bathroom with fold out couch bed but the front part of the floor will be my art studio that has a view of downtown Tulsa.  The first time I walked into that building I knew it would be a great studio and I am finally getting a space for ME.  Yes I know I have my "room" at home but that room is also filled with family history/pictures, books, financial stuff, etc.  Since I'm starting to sell some of my stuff I needed to get a place that more inspiration than what I have.  And since he has whole warehouses for his "stuff" it is my turn!  Besides the upstairs will be a place where Rio can nap while her momma is downstairs working.  We will have phone upstairs too so I can answer the office phone too.  We've been to several meetings with the architect on the plans and they've started framing!  We are still in the stages of getting building permits with the city for the new building and wow, is that a process.  So construction time is upon us yet again...oh boy!

Food Memories

I finally got my garden installed and lookie...I have tomatoes.  This little wonder plant is called "Juliette" and last year it produced tons of grape-like flavor filled tomatoes.  I also have tiny cucumbers, and potatoes that were left over from last year and popped up this year!  We'll see how that goes. 

Since we've done some landscaping in the backyard we also added some fruit options:  thornless blackberries, grapes and figs.  The fig trees are just loaded and the grapes seem to be doing fine too.  I don't care if I use the grapes, the birds can eat all they want, I am quite capable of making some tasty grape jelly.  We had grapevines at one of our other houses and they were wonderful.  The Hubby has an obsession for "vines" of any kind so to appease his desire we settled on grapevines.   That same house we had a neighbor who was of Lebanese decent and made grape-leaf rolls from our grape leaves of which she shared with us and her homemade yogurt...drooling!

Figs bring wonderful memories for me.  When the landscaper said she was going to plant them I smiled with the sweet memory of yet another neighbor when I was a child.  Next door to us growing up was an elderly couple named Mr. & Mr. Schumacher.  His name was Herman and her's Elsie.  The neighborhood kids thought they were mean and said she was a witch.  They didn't have children together but he had a daughter I never met.  When my brother, sister and I walked to school he would sit on his front porch or in his front picture window when cold and wave to us, every morning and every afternoon.  We drew pictures for them and gave them gifts for Christmas as they did us, inexpensive dime store gifts that we could afford with our small amount of savings.  Mrs. Schumacher was a heavy-set woman who was of the generation of wearing dresses everyday.  She had the most wonderful gray hair that she kept braided and wound around her head.  On the days she washed it she would take that braid down and her hair hung nearly to her knees.  She would walk up and down the sidewalk with it flowing behind her drying in the breeze.  It was a sight that made an impression on this young girl.  We all still thought she was kind of a shrew but we three children kind of mellowed her.  

Mr. Schumacher was a jewel.  He was a kind man who loved us.  When he wasn't in the window or on the porch we knew he would be sick and we would take him candy or cake or something to make him feel better.  I think I was his favorite because one day when I got home from school he called and told my mother he had a surprise for me and to meet him over the fence in the backyard.  I went out in the back to see him standing at the fence and he showed me a little tree that he was always fussing over.  There on that tree was a fruit, a fig.  It was a fig tree.  I had never seen anything like it.  He picked that fig, showed it too me then cut it open and let me have a taste.  I had never eaten anything like it.  It was the first one off of his new tree and he shared it with me.  So these fig trees make me smile with such a sweet memory of a gentle elderly friend.

After Mrs. Schumacher passed away, he sold the house and moved to Wagoner to be closer to his daughter.  I was married but continued to correspond with him and still have the wonderful letters he sent and signed in his shaky elderly fashion, Herman Schumacher.  It broke my heart when he died I heartbroken and attended his very strange funeral (they spoke in tongues and fell on the floor) for my friend.  I still have a little glass jar containing a pine-scented candle that he gave us kids for Christmas one year.  It is very special and I will never get rid of it.

Hacked Off

Hello, hello, hello...If you are on my email list I AM VERY SORRY!!!!!  After 14 years with the same email address I was HACKED today and SPAM emails went out to everyone in my email list and that, over 14 years has become quiet huge.  I can't possibly send and email out to everyone in my list as there are too many and if I did AOL would see that as SPAM and shut me down.  Trust me I've had it happen when I was sending out mass emails to my high school class for reunion.  I have to break it all up and that takes some time I can asure you.  Anyway, I am so very sorry and I have changed my password within the hour of it happening.  DO NOT click the link.  Dang this really makes me mad and HACKED OFF! 

I was going to write about something else but I'm a bit too angry to do that.  Hopefully tomorrow it will be better....deep breaths!

Anyone For A Swim

Anyone for a swim.  I finished this one in art class yesterday.  I think I love it.  It is from a photo that a friend gave me and I hope she may want to buy it but, if not, well...I posted on Facebook and almost immediately had a buyer for it.  COOL!

Life in General

Stuff is a happening in my life lately.  No big stuff, well, maybe it is.  I've been very quiet here and I'm not sure why.  It is coming up on my 7 year anniversary of blogging here and I've toyed with the idea of closing this down but after 7 years I just can't quite give it up but I feel guilty for not sharing.  I haven't even written in my handwritten journal either but twice since the fall and that is truly not like me.  

The painting thing is really hopping and that is great fun.  I’ve been selling and creating which is a huge high.  I’m gearing up for the show at The Canebrake in October and that takes a bit of my thought process too. 

I am SOOOo very glad that summer is finally here.  I know this spring has been horrible for a lot of people with the tornados here in Oklahoma and I know we have needed the rain immensely because of the drought but I’m done for now.  I’m ready for sunshine and warm temperatures.  The warm temps also help my knee.  You can’t imagine how much better my knee is with just warm sunshine to make it move better. 

On that note I had my yearly physical last Monday and was a bit nervous because of course the weight.  Even though I am overweight I do eat well and exercise and my blood pressure and cholesterol thing has been awesome but I always live in the fear that the BP could be an issue.  Especially since last fall when I was dealing with the intense pain from the knee and my BP was not good, but it was from the pain.  Well, Monday it was up and so he put me on blood pressure meds.  I don’t like that and then I thought about the fact that I have been eating a bit of Aleve to help with the other pain I’ve been dealing with in the knee when the cold temperatures were affecting it.  Do you think that could have made my BP higher?  I do question that, but I will do this medicine for a couple of weeks and go back and ask more questions and see if I’m better.  Dang it, I’ve always been able to keep everything A-Okay up until now but this gives The Hubby cause to give me the evil eye about the weight.  I don’t know why it just doesn’t budge, even though I was down 4 pounds.  I really eat very well and pretty much the same and even if I cut down a bit the scale doesn’t seem to move much.  My body seems to like this weight, the knees not so much, so hopefully, with the summer warming my joints up I can move better with the exercise

Family Reunion

Yes we hosted an impromptu family reunion at the cabin this weekend.  Daddy's nephew and his wife were in town so we quickly put it together.  After the storms on Friday night in Oklahoma City I was afraid it would not be possible but the turned out great for us.  

We gathered.  We chatted.  We ate.  We

 laughed.  We took tons of pictures. 

My sis and her lovely family. 

Daddy's nephew Dennis and The Hubby touring the grounds. 

Nephew (my cousin) Dennis and Vickie!  When Daddy went to Arizona a few years ago, this is who he stayed with.  Dennis's mother Aunt Dee is Daddy's sis and still living with them.  Her health doesn't let her travel so the siblings often visit her.  

Daddy and his sister GiGi and sweet Rio!

Siblings minus two.  

They were lucky enough to catch sight of a deer.

it 

The rains have caused the area to begin the spring floods.  By then end of the weekend the dam was almost completely under water.

We also celebrated a semi-birthday for little Rio.  She was 8 months old on Saturday.  Can't believe how time flies. 

More chit-chatting with cousins, aunts and uncles. 

Awwwww, we let had to get in on the picture thing! 

This kiddo is just so photogenic...

Mondo was racing around her he was so excited to be in the meadow. 

Whew, a breather. 

There's that little beauty!

Poppy (The Hubby) and Rio 

May Showers

May Showers!

Good morning!  Yes, good morning, even though the skies are grey and stormy outside.  Good grief, I'm so tired of the rain and stormies.  Although what is going on weather-wise here in Oklahoma right now reminds me of summer about 1969 here in Oklahoma.  I remember it being quite rainy that summer, so much so that through June we could hardly even swim because of the storms.  I know that it will pass but I'm getting quite tired of it.  We've had some pretty awesome days lately but I so need more.  I'm home this morning and want to paint but it's hard to get inspired when it is dreary outside. 

I've had some successful luck in creating lately and want to continue.  This past weekend I took this photo (previous post) and so have started painting it.  So far, I like.  I also invested in some watercolor paints to continue that avenue of experience.  Just haven't gotten them out of the store bag yet, need inspiration. 

(Yesterday I got to keep the little princess again and boy what fun did we have.  She is so AWESOME!)