Sunday, December 14, 2014

A Plank Christmas Tree

The balance of our fence planks.
There aren't very many of them left at this point LOL - BUT it paid off big time buying just a little too many of them !

Let's see now -

1) A plank wall

2) A faux fireplace

3) Artwork

4) Built in bookcases

5) A CHRISTMAS TREE !!!!!!!!!!


This is a tall one - I made it for the mantel and it almost reaches the ceiling ( we have very high ceilings here )

I spray painted screws in red - to mimic berries - and to allow something for the ornaments to hang from at the same time


The long ones hold the planks onto the back post - the smaller ones are so that I could hang as many ornaments as possible


The hardest part of this project was screwing in 100 screws - the second hardest was threading the string through the minuscule holes because I couldn't find my glasses ( I thought that was spelled miniscule - thank God for spell check )

Wood Christmas Tree

The ornaments were purchased at Michael's a couple of years ago when I made my first pallet trees !


But I ended up stencilling on them instead

Wood Plank Christmas Tree

When I think of the chaos of last Christmas I don't know how we lived through it - seriously -
With a kitchen down to the studs and the filth and muck and mire............and pipes breaking on Christmas Eve so that we couldn't even bathe on our way out to my daughter's
O.M.G. - it was a living nightmare - and not one I think I'll ever be brave enough to face again
( but then again - who knows - I'm not all " there " )

DIY Wood Plank Christmas Tree

John won the war of the " Sled on the Mantel "

It's now in the den - I was going to put it outside ( but I was afraid someone would steal it - is that paranoid or what? )  You can see the post on my Black and White and Red all over Christmas HERE


Wood Plank Christmas Tree

Does anyone think I should stain it darker?   I'm so close to doing it

Soda says " Enough ! "


Oh my gosh I LOVE this little girl !
She came out of the den and asked to be picked up while I was taking photos - she loves to be in the room when the fire is going.................it feels good on her old bones ( and mine actually )

Christmas trees from wood planks


Have a wonderful day everyone -
Much love,
( & plankfully yours )
Me


Looking for inspiration?
Join me at these fabulous parties !

Uncommon Design                                                 Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm                                                       A Stroll Thu Life
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia                           Stone Gable
Kathe With an E                                                    The DIY Dreamer
Savvy Southern Style                                             Beyond the Picket Fence
DIY by Design                                                      Have a Daily Cupo of Mrs/ Olson
French Country Cottage                                        The Shabby Art Boutique
My Turn for Us                                                     My Romantic Home
Funky Junk Interiors                                              The 36th Ave
Life on Lakeshore Drive                                        Too Much Time on my Hands
Classy Clutter                                                        I Should be Mopping the Floor
Home Stories A to Z

Thursday, December 11, 2014

A Friday Chat ( about this & that )

John HAD to have a kindle....................
I mean he just HAD to ( even though I haven't seen him read a book in months and months and he STILL hasn't started the Ken Follet's triology )  If you haven't read them - you have to ask for them for Christmas An amazing read !!!

John got his kindle.

John says - This is going to be great for emails !

WTH?
Who buys a kindle for emails?

Last night I walked into the office and he was playing on-line poker - no money involved - just the game - but he gets very involved with it - smashing his fist on the table - calling the other players vile names -
I kept expecting Kenny Rogers to show up and tell him to fold 'em.

Anyway - he was playing poker on the computer - AND he had the kindle on with another poker game on at the same time!
He was playing 2 different games on 2 different devices!  Simultaneously !
This is someone who cannot multi task - absolutely cannot
If there's 2 bags at the door - one garbage and one recycling - he takes them out one at a time.
If he has to carry Soda upstairs - plus a bowl of water - he makes 2 trips
He puts things away one at a time ( I stuff pockets and basically put things on my head and under my chin and armpits to multi task )
But poker?
Bring it on - I bet he could play 5 games at once.
Bringing a towel AND a roll of toilet paper into the bathroom?
Not happening.

John says - I won 60,000 dollars last night
Suzan says nothing
John says - Did you hear me?  I won 60,000 dollars last night
Suzan says - It's monopoly money for crying out loud
Suzan says - I really don't care if you win a million fake dollars either
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It's winter officially - we have snow out there and it hasn't melted yet - soooooo
I decided to make pancakes - and tried really hard to make a snow flake as the " topper "

It came out looking like a flower as you can see ( if I'd actually tried to make a flower it probably would have looked like a snowflake )


John says - Why is there an amoeba on the top of my pancakes ?
Suzan says - It was supposed to be a snowflake - but it looks like a flower
John says - No it looks like an amoeba
John says - Do you know what an amoeba is?
Suzan says - OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT AN AMOEBA IS !!!!!!!!!!
Suzan says - Bet you can't spell it
John says - A M E B A

Then I ran to wikipedia to find out what an AMOEBA was]

An amoeba (also amebaamÅ“ba or amoeboid) is a type of cell or organism which has the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopods.[

Oh yeah - I sort of, kind of, vaguely remember that from elementary school - never thought of that word again and honestly?  Never thought I'd need to.
( oh the folks are dumb - where I come from - they never got much learnin'  ♪♫ )

BUT - O.M.G. - he's right - it IS an amoeba - it altered it's state from a snowflake to a flower.....................

Does he get points for getting it right just by coincidence?
( I'm not giving them to him - just wondering about the rules of the game )
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I've decided that instead of quitting the blog or going on an hiatus - I'm simply going to blog less in the New Year - why didn't I think of that before?
Why is everything always ALL or NOTHING in my world?
Probably Monday - Wednesday and Friday -
At least until this house is further along -

I HATE the term " followers " so I try to avoid it as much as I can ................I prefer to use Blog Friends or Readers or such................
But this week it slipped out.
I was sitting at the computer reading out all of the comments ( on my stressed out lack of blogging skills )
( they were unbelievably heart warming )
I sighed and
Suzan says - I have the most incredible followers
John says - WHAT?
John says - Did you just call them your followers?
Suzan says - Well that's the terminol-
John interrupts - It sounds like a cult for God's sakes..................
Suzan says - Don't be ridiculous John - it's just terminol-
John interrupts - and in a squeaky voice - says
" Oh my followers - come gather round -  look what I did this week - come lavish praise on your leader "

John says - You'd better not be writing down what I just said
Suzan says - I'm making a grocery list - you're getting very paranoid.
_________________________________________________________________________________

I did a long post on ISIS - one of my rants - and then I worried that they could trace me so I quickly deleted it -
I could just imagine one of their representatives showing up at my door with a scimitar.
If there's one thing I don't need in the midst of a house renovation.........................

( just leaving this little commentary makes me a nervous wreck - the ugly bastards )
Do you think they have wives?
How can anyone on this earth be attracted to such garbage?
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I reinstated an accidently deleted blog post.
One of my readers ( not a blogger ) Beth - sent me an email showing me how to find a cached post
( so keep in mind that nothing is ever deleted really - once you hit publish it's out there forever whether you want it to be or not )
Which led me to doing a little more research until I found this site !
The post is reinstated completely ( minus the comments - I couldn't quite figure that out but apparently it's supposed to include them too ) I'm just thrilled I got the post back to be honest with you.
Beth thanks again - you're my hero!

The Original Blogger Tips & Tricks
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I love old movies - so it was no surprise when I noticed Black Beauty was on that I plunked myself down in front of the t.v. ( a very rare thing in and of itself )
I wasn't expecting the overwhelming flow of emotions that over took me.
Life was hard and cruel back in the day - for humans AND for animals.............
Apparently the lady who wrote the book ( in 1877 and passed away 6 months after writing it ) wanted to tell the story from a horse's point of view to gain empathy for them ( I suspect it was also so that humans could see what horse's asses we can be )
Laws were changed shortly after.
A woman with a pen and paper can move mountains......................we must remember that when we think
" I'm only ONE "
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Which brings me to a quote I've kept in a frame for many years now

I am only one, but still I am one
I cannot do everything but still I can do something
And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do

Edmond Everett Hale

I framed that for inspiration when I walked 60 kilometers for breast cancer......................our little team of 10 women raised over 30,000 dollars !
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I promised myself that I was going to volunteer at an Assisted Elderly Home in the Fall - and it didn't happen.
One more item of guilt to add to my growing collection.
I'm going to hell.
Period.
Good intentions make a pretty sturdy highway and the pavement on mine is 10 feet deep.
________________________________________________________________________________

There's a chocolate bar sitting in the pantry with my name on it -
I open the door a few times a day and fight the urge to eat it - just to test my will power
Then I eat a loaf of bread.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Let's see now - have I covered everything?

Oh there's that small issue with the fireplace, isn't there?  I keep promising to show it to you BUT we took a little break because the perfect thick chunk of wood I had put aside for the mantel is warped and we need to pick something up!
I've stuck a fence plank on top and decorated it for you though LOL


It's upstairs in the bedroom and I'm sort of pretending it's finished ...............
I have all the pics ready for a tutorial - but it should be finished before I show you how we did it, don't you think?

You all have a wonderful weekend - make a batch of amoeba's !
big hugs
Me