Vacuum

Hey!  How are you?  I have been waiting for you!  Let's go see nature's pretties.   They soothe us and uplift us.










There is a vignette/table setting for us here.  I pulled some blue and green colors for this table.  All the roses are from the yard.  I tucked some loropetalum in as well.  Blue willow plates with three blue pitchers sitting on a Spring green tablecloth.





Did I tell you my granddog hates my vacuum cleaner?  Yes, it's the dreaded vacuum.  There is a commercial that shows an older cat explaining things to the kitten about the house he has come to live in.  One thing that is of upmost importance is the vacuum.  The older cat says vacuum with a heavy accent to show how sinister the vacuum really is.



I don't think Jacques has seen the commercial but when the vacuum is being used he runs from where he is to aggressively bark and scare off the vacuum from attacking our home.  Jacques has a very deep voice like singer Barry White.  He made me nervous when I just met him because he sounds so aggressive.  But he's a sweety!  However all his macho barking causes my female schnauzer, Layla, to get really outdone with him and she is nipping at him.  She has no problem with the vacuum but doesn't like his barking and isn't sure why he is.
Layla, is in serious need of a haircut.  She doesn't have smooth hair, it's rough and picks up every leaf in the yard.  She has Velcro hair.  It's not that it is so terribly long but she picks up everything from the yard.  So she keeps bringing in the little pieces of leaves and I keep vacuuming.  Then you can guess what happens all over again.
And you get to see the commercial here.





Wild flowers along side of the road.



Canadian Geese








We were riding down the road and happened to see hundreds, if not thousands, of irises growing down here.  They were on both sides of the road.  I imagine they have been here a long time.



Honeysuckle












Privet blooms










Do you remember me telling you about my gorillas in the mist?  Well I think these photos show what I am really living beside.  When it's foggy, I really start looking for somebody to be climbing up and swinging from those trees!













Afterwards, the roses came inside to sit on the coffee table.







Jan

Table of White

Hey!  How are ya'll?



I have some pretty blooming branches to you to see.  They smell so good and are so pretty in a big vase.  I had the table all set up and I thought oh boy!  this is going to be special!  Well...I didn't think about my beautiful branches blending in with the trees.  But that was okay!  So I brought the huge vase of flowers into the living room.  I tried them behind a sofa but that wasn't going to work.  Then I tried them on a table beside the other sofa.  That didn't work...








By now I was so hot.  It was really a humid today and oh goodness, do you feel gross when you get sweaty in your clothes and makeup?  My face was sweating so bad that all my makeup was running into my eyes.  I could have scared someone if they saw me!   So anyway, I had been hauling these flowers everywhere determined to come up with something.





So I just go back to the table outside.  Yep, right where I started!  But then I pulled the table over in front of the back double windows of the living room.  Then I started taking more photos and I think they came out pretty.  It's a different look.



These privets are blooming everywhere!








A vintage look for this table of white.



They said I had flowers in my hair.  I said it's proof I am a blooming idiot!  Just a joke!








Jan

Frenchie Chest

Hey!  How are ya'll?  Today I am so excited to share with you my daughter's work.  She has been painting some old furniture and this is her latest project.  It's an old french provencal chest of drawers and it was in desperate need of attention.  I got the pleasure of styling it and took a few photos.








I pulled out my vintage Ralph Lauren fabric left over from a project.  A mason jar holds roses from the yard.  Decorative fruit plates fill the top drawer.  Lemons cold from the refrigerator and little candleholders bring the look together.





I love to play with the pretties.












I thought some of you would be interested in how she refinished it.



The chest was originally an ivory that was yellow tinged with age. First, she sanded the paint off the top with a handheld sander and 60 grit sandpaper.  She smoothed it with 220 sandpaper and lightly sanded the rest of the chest with 220 paper until the finish was no longer shiny.



She covered the chest with two coats of Zinsser Bull's Eye Primer, and added an extra coat to the top to hide stains.



The white paint used for the body of the chest is Glidden Premium Paint and Primer in Muslin White in a Satin finish. It's a great white color that is reminiscent of cotton while it's still on the plant.  A great warm but not yellow white.  She used two coats.





Chalk paint is the craze these days, but the price of Annie Sloan can be hard to swallow.  She found Americana Décor Chalky Finish paint at Home Depot for less than 8 dollars, in the color 'vintage'.  A great  green-blue.  She painted the drawers this color and used three coats for extra coverage.  She still had half the jar left!  It goes a long way.





Using a sealant is important to protect the finish of the paint from scuffs.  A lot of people like to use wax and my daughter has used that before, but for this project she used Polycrylic protective finish in clear satin.  She used two coats on the body and 3 on the top.





Here's a little secret: these drawer pulls were covered with gold Sharpies!  That's right!  They were badly tarnished and dull from age, and a gold metallic sharpie brought them back to life!  She sealed them with a spray sealant to protect the finish.













Jan


http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/2015/04/mod-mix-monday-189.html

Grits From A Box

Hey!  Come on in!  I have the table set in the living room.  I have furniture on the back porch drying so there’s no room for our table out there.  But we have a good view through the windows.  I brought some more fresh clippings from the yard for the table.

 

All roses this time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been craving a brunch.  This brunch will have yummy breakfast food.  So today we will have bacon, biscuits, eggs and grits.  Orange juice, sweet tea and coffee if you so desire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love grits with butter.  I know the butter isn’t the healthiest but it tastes so good.  I have to admit I just make them from a box.  I never learned the “real way” of making them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorting it out, putting away books before you arrive.  I love the early mornings, seeing the sun come up.  That’s the prettiest time of the day.  The day is so fresh and it’s full of possibilities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mister is really wanting me to paint a chest of drawers we have.  I like the color, it’s a dark green and still looks fine with me.  I don’t know what other color I would want it.  It lives in the living room and has gotten along with everything I bring in there.  I think he just likes to rattle me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is sentimental to me because it was my grandparents.  When we got married I painted it turquoise and white.  It was a disaster!  Oh my goodness!  It was such a bright and loud turquoise, it was hideous!  My poor grandmother saw it too and didn’t say a word.  She must have been horrified.  I think it stayed ugly a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan

 

 

 

 

http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/2015/04/mod-mix-monday-189.html

 

 

Iced Tea

Hey!  How are ya'll?  There's a table set up for us outside.  Ya'll come on out.  Would you like to try some green tea?   I'm sorry, I bet you thought I was about to offer some fried green tomatoes.  Not today.  You know they say green tea is healthier but I have to drink my sweet tea.  Oh goodness, did you hear about that man from Arkansas that had kidney failure from drinking too much iced tea?  Black tea has a chemical called oxalate that is known to cause kidney problems.   It's also in chocolate.  Are you screaming "NO" silently like I am?!  Just how in the world do I live without tea and chocolate?!


We do have a cold pasta salad with jumbo shrimp along with kale chips. Yum!  We also get to enjoy minted fruit salad.  For dessert, we will have a choice between lemon squares and strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries from Louisiana.

It's a filling meal without being too heavy.   The flower arrangement was grown in my backyard!  These are fresh clippings from the yard right before I set the table.  There are two different fabrics on the table.  The bottom is my blue and white toile and a sheer on top with blue flowers here and there.  It photographed almost white though.

I just don't know if I believe that a person could get so sick from drinking a lot of tea.  The news said he drank a gallon of tea a day.  But down here we all drink a lot of tea in the summer.  Well, I drink it year round.  But I don't smoke or drink booze.  So maybe it's not so bad.

I am hearing another Southern female narrator in my head.  It's Sissy Spacek from the movie "Crimes of The Heart".  Can't you just hear her all up in the air about the tea?  I agree with her, it's a sad day when your tea is poison.  It's hot and humid and you just got to have some sweet tea in the morning to wake up.  Then a couple of glasses before noon.  Well then if I go to town and do much running around I will be so thirsty I might as well just pick up the whole pitcher and guzzle it.  She was called Babe in the movie.  Do you remember?

It's about three sisters that come together when their granddaddy is very sick and Babe has shot her husband.  Diane Keaton and Jessica Lange play her sisters in Copiah County, Mississippi.  I wrote about the house that reminds me of the one that was used in the movie here.

She drank a lot of lemonade in the movie with lots of sugar.  She was also in The Coal Miner's Daughter and played the part of Loretta Lynn.  In the movie, Loretta (Sissy) always called her husband Doo.  I guess it was a nickname.

My sweet mother-in-law's pitcher.

Our peach tree has more fruit than ever before!  Let's see how many we get to eat versus the birds eating them all.

Doo ~ Let's go to town and get some tea bags.  I am running low and let's get some sugar and lemons while we are at the Piggly Wiggly.



Jan