Thanksgiving Recap

 

Happy day after Thanksgiving.  Did you all fill up on turkey and fixins'? I gave all my food a grade yesterday – only the ice tea got an A.  Nothing tasted right to me. The turkey got a B- or high C – it was sort of tough even though it was cooked beautifully.

We forgot the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes so  a low C and my cranberry salad didn't taste right so…B on it.  Today however the all the leftovers get an A.  Everything tasted superb!  Oh yes – I forgot – I made a banana pudding for my son and it got an A+ both days.  Gosh – I have no pictures and therefore you are getting this fascinating recap of my food!

The best part of yesterday? The Longhorns won the last Thanksgiving Day game against the Aggies as a parting gift as they whine their way to the SEC.  It was so sweet – they have to live with the loss for the next hundred years with NO chance of a rematch! Crybabies.  Once again the University of Texas tower glows burnt orange!

Let's see – oh yes – my Black Friday shopping consisted of window shopping online and going to Black Friday garage sales. I bought two lamps, two pottery barn tables and two turquoise slipper chairs.  So I spent the afternoon shampooing upholstery. 

I was on a decorating strike this fall. Totally depressing but I refused to go upstairs because after the wildfires we had a rat – maybe it was a mouse.  In any case we put out 4966 traps and caught one and only one so it looks like that was it but my phobia took hold and I wouldn't go upstairs to the storeroom alone.  The upside of being a chicken phobic insane person is that I have NO fall undecorating to do. Yea! 

Since I am linking up to Beverly's Pink Saturday today, here's a picture of  a tag I made. It need's a little more work but hey – it's Christmasy and it's pink!

 

That's an oatmeal container next to it I use for a little waste basket for paper scraps so you can see it's pretty large. 

If I don't get over this not going upstairs business it just may be my only Christmas decoration.  Won't it be so sad on Christmas morning when we're all gathered around this singing Oh Christmas Tag, Oh Christmas Tag.  Aren't you glad I post pictures most of the time for Pink Saturday instead of this drivel? 

Happy Black Friday! Now go visit Beverly! xoxo Nancy

You Can Go Home Again

Once there was a way…to get back home again.

Last week I took a trip to my hometown and the town where I raised my kids.  It was a great girlfriend trip to a bed and breakfast, El Rocio,  and a workshop we did there getting in touch with our left brain, right brain.

We did an exercise where we smelled an unknown scent and then illustrated that on paper…no scissors…we had to tear the paper.  There were about 12 of us – all from the Valley and apparently we all identified it as a citrus smell which indicated a  collective memory.

This is my memory. (I know – such a masterpiece!)

An orange tree by my driveway. Parents out of town. Why not have a partaaaaaay? My yellow ford and someone jumping out of the car as someone else was backing out and a wrecked door that I somehow had to explain away. Obviously the truth never occurred to me so I said I was driving and didn't realize that the door was ajar. The big eye?  That was the neighbor who saw what happened and related the whole thing to the folks. Busted!   We got a little whiff of smell # 2 and this time we had to work with fabric and scissors.  At our lunch break we discussed the smell and the general consensus was it was an unpleasant smell – I didn't get the poop smell as some did but it did remind me of medicine from when I was little. Castoria – yuk.  Anyway it was fun and I was thrilled to learn that I had a brain. hahaha

The five of us who live up here in the hill country  had to go by our old houses.  I have two – the one where I grew up and the one where we lived raising our kids.  I didn't want to go by my childhood home – I thought it might be too run down and that would be depressing and my last few years there are lonely memories.  I did see my dad's old wrought iron shop or where it was – there's a What A Burger there now.  Barbara and Judy's house is also gone – the new Our Lady of Sorrows Church stands in its place.  Both of Patty's young and old houses looked fabulous, LaVerne's old neighborhood is being revitalized and I almost didn't go by my Wisteria house but the girls insisted and I'm glad they did.  The trees that we planted, oaks, mesquites and olive,  are enormous.

The red tile roof was torn off and a new metal roof being installed –

new windows going in and paint samples on the brick and oh my gosh the courtyard gone but my little churches I put there almost 30 years ago  were still on the wall all these years later.

 

Hanging askew under roof debris but still there.   On an impulse I went up to the open door and this is what I saw.

The doctor who bought our house for his parents still owned it and since then his dad had died and his mother moved into a nursing home so he was updating everything and moving in.  As I was getting all this info from the designer Judy came in and said "Can she have the churches?" What?!!! I would never have asked but the next thing I knew they were all loaded in the car and the lady give me a hug and said "God Bless".  And I cried.  I loved that house and the memories of our years there. I'm happy for it – happy it's being renewed. Happy the Amalguers had good times there and happy their son loves the house.

So my little churches that I left for Mrs. A are back with me – sort of my way of getting back home again. 

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault

xoxo Nancy

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound  for Pink Saturday. Ya'll have a great Thanksgiving – fill up on memories!

The Nutcracker 2011

It's Nutcracker time!  Here's a pic from last year of my niece

in her Waltz of the Flowers costume.

I was asked to decorate a point shoe for the silent auction fundraiser tea this year so used this costume for inspiration.

I covered the sole of the shoe with a vintage card image.

    

And sort of got the shape of the dress bodice..

I love the way the Martha Stewart glitter highlighted a few areas.

A tulle flower on the heel

And some vintage velvet curtain material for filling.

I didn't like the little petal held on with a vintage clip on earring so ultimately removed it and replace it with

a group picture from last year  as a flower center. It's subtle and at first not even noticeable as a pic. a couple of leaf pins to hold the silk ties in place and it's done.

I hope it brings a good amount this year – the tea is Sunday so I'll let you know.  Have a wonderful weekend. Stop by Beverly's How Sweet The Sound for a peek at all the Pink Saturday blogs.  xoxo Nancy

Happy Homemaker Tags

It's November and time to post my tags for the Happy Homemaker tagalong.  I'm not sure if anyone else is still doing this but for me it became a personal challenge just to complete 2 sets of tags for twelve months! Here's what I've done for November and my theme is "Giving Thanks".  I do thank Elizabeth at Bluebird Papercrafts for this fun idea that she came up with.  She is about the most talented person in blogland in my book. 

   I used the same background and two different elements.   

I still need to put words on this one.

and next month I'll have my entire set done!

xoxo Nancy

Pink Saturday - November

Do you all do Pinterest?  It's a completely constructive way to waste time.  For Pink Saturday you can go take a look at my "Pink Board".  This is one of my favorite artists on Etsy - The Wheatfield. This along with other fabulous pinks are on that board.

Did you guys get a whole bunch of candy on Halloween?  We gave every kid who came to the door $5!  Really – we did. Because we're sooo generous.   Okay – the only kids who came were the little cuties next door to us. hahaha Lillie Louise and Iris were all dressed up with no place to go!  They dressed up as Shetland Ponies so I have to show you a picture!

They were soooo cute!

Today is the last Raider football game and we're heading to West, Texas.  West, Texas…not west Texas.  We started the season at 115 sweltering degrees and Friday nights game should be about 75 degrees cooler. It's a couple hours away with lots of antique stores between here and there so I probably won't link up to Pink Saturday until…Saturday!

Go Cedar Ridge Raiders 7/1 – hope they make it 8/1!  The fabulous Raider Band.

#52 getting ready to make the tackle wearing pink shoelaces for October.

If any of my criminal readers are planning on robbing my house while I'm gone tonight…don't – I have a dog sitter.  Not that I'd need one with my two vicious dogs.

Good luck, Raiders

Have a wonderful and Pink Saturday and thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting.

xoxo Nancy