Country Living

I guess I do live a tad out in the country if this is the view I saw while running today - just around the corner from the house. Beautiful.

Re-Planting

I went to a craft festival on Saturday morning and while there were a ton of "artisans" there, I was generally unimpressed. A lot of stone jewelry (yawn), handbags made outta fabric (you want me to pay what for that?), metal sculptures (ho hum & over priced), etc. etc. Well, after wandering around for about an hour, I came upon a booth that made hand carved wooden flowers. I haven't seen them in years. On a trip to Vegas with my Handy HotNESS friend Pattey, I bought a vase and a bunch of wooden flowers to go in it. That was like 10 years ago and the arrangement was starting to look a HotMESS. Some of the flowers were were broken, the dust unbelieveable, and it was no longer "arranged.

The Before HotMESS

I decided to buy a bunch of new flowers from this booth and redo my arrangement.

The new flowers

I think I did a pretty good job of redo-ing the vase & arrangement. It certainly look a whole lot better now that they are cleaned, dusted, fixed and arranged properly vs. hodge podge like.

New HotNESS

Yep, I think I've got my "A" game back.

Ikea Addict

I am an Ikea Junkie. I admit. I love that stuff. I've build an entire walk in closet including the flooring (myself - yes I have my own toolbelt), my mother's entire kitchen (well, I didn't mount the cabinets myself), shelving, Cara's bedroom, and all kinds of little things here and there...all from Ikea.

I can roam through that place for HOURS getting ideas and finding little things to add to the collection (I had ludded the Marketplace). Anyway, I stumbled upon this blog called the Ikea Hacker. Ya gotta check it out. Some interesting recreations, some complete junk but it's fun. Check it out.

Toolbelt Diva Strikes Again

I must admit that among many Diva-like qualities that I posses, I am also a TOOLBELT Diva. Yes, I have my own leather toolbelt. Yes, I have the tools to go with it (my favorites being Rybol or DeWalt stuff). Yes, I own a table saw, miter box, tile cutter (the for real kind with a blade and stuff). Yes, I can cut and lay tile (wall, floor...wherever), hang wallpaper like a pro, paint, saw, nail, repair drywall (hang if necessary but I'd rather watch some strapping handy guy do it)...and assemble like a IKEA disciple.

We built an addition onto our house and it was finally "finished" August of 2006. What was supposed to take 18 months took 3 years to complete and the drama (#1 - our Architect turned out not to be one and not even licensed to do home improvement) that lead to us commissioning a sign for the house (True Blessings Estate) is fodder for another blog. In fact, it was the all the drama, tears, heartache and fear of losing our home that led me to start blogging (and the insistence of my country girlfriend - now suburban soccer mom - Terri). If you would like to see a video slide show of the drama and blessings, check out "The Building of a True Blessing." . All the tile, appliances, cabinets, drywall, showers and more - I bought at auction. All of the decoration, wallpaper, paint, etc - I did - cause after cause overruns in an amount that I don't care to discuss - we had to do a lot of the finishing ourselves.

Anyhoo - I finished the family room today by finally hanging the valance and putting the curtains up. Whew. I sanded the fireplace (it was originally fuchsia) & painted it white. Added the bronze tiles to the mantle piece, painted the back wall in a rust "sand textured paint", hung the textured wallpaper, picked all the art, Ron selected the carpet in Turkey, and wha la! we be finished. I love it. It is warm and inviting and leads right into the home theater which is behind the french doors. Here are some pictures of the finished project...

Oh, and P.S. I don't care if you don't like it...we do. Everybody has their own decorating tastes so if you don't care for it...keep it to your dang self or Uniqua is going to make an appearance.

True Blessings Estate

We have finally finished most of the construction on the addition we built to our home. What started out to be a 8 month project turned into 3 years of hell. I can't even start to describe the nightmare we went through. Suffice it to say we went to hell with a short stay in pergatory and made it back to earth with the help of a great contractor and family friend - who is out in the hall right now (10pm) finishing the hallway marble in time for my party tomorrow - as well as the support of close family and friends. Without them, Ron and I surley would have been a basket case. We still have several odds and ends (finishing) work to do, but my mother moved into the in-law suite and out of the basement. We are back at peace. I thought for sure she was going to go Psycho on us any minute if I didn't get her out of the dungeon.
If you would like to view a video slide show of "The Building of a True Blessing" point your mouse to : http://salesdiva.neptune.com/index.html?selectedalbum=salesdiva284962
The completion of this addition is a True Blessing and that is why we named it so.
Well, I have to get back to getting ready for tomorrows Army-Navy Party & Open House.