What I'll miss most about this house

Well, the time has finally arrived - packers were here all day today, putting all our belongings into boxes. It's been a long time since we've been through this process - over 10 years - but it's got an all-too-familiar feel to it!

It's bittersweet to have it FINALLY sink in that we are moving. 10 years in this house is a lifetime record for me. It's been great, but I'm ready to move on with our lives in Clearwater. However, there are several things I'll miss a lot about this house:

1) All the ROOM! It was more than we needed, but it sure was great to have it.

2) The layout of the house was perfect for us. We designed it, we built it, and it was a custom fit.

3) My grandma's tea roses - I have a huge bush growing on a trellis by our fence. I started mine from a clipping from my sister, who got HER bush from a clipping from grandma's house. Grandma and her homestead are long gone, but the tea roses are a lovely reminder. I'm going to try to get a clipping to take with us.

4) Our nice, fenced backyard. Leash-walking 4 hounds daily is definitely a lot more work than turning them out into the backyard!

It's been a lovely home, but I know that we will take the next one, and make it a lovely home, too. After all, I have with me my hubby and daughter, and that's what makes a place a lovely home to me.

Happy Birthday to Hubby

Holy smokes!! I had no idea it had been so long since I posted to my blog. It seems that my last post was around the time that DD and I came over to Largo to stay full-time. Guess it's been kinda busy since then :o)

Well, I really wanted to get back to it, and there' no time like the present - and speaking of present - it was DH's 57th birthday today. After almost 25 years of marriage, it can be a little tough to come up with gift ideas. Fortunately, he told me exactly what he wanted and even helped me look it up on the Internet - a Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X joystick (whew! that's a mouthful) for playing flight simulator games on the PC. UPS delivered it in the nick of time this morning and DH has already broken it in this evening - says he loves it!

I also gave him a photo for his office of our latest family addition, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel - here it is:







She's a sweetheart!















We went out to Olive Garden for dinner - had an excellent Caprese flatbread appetizer (that led later to a little research on "Caprese" - turned out to be a nice little geography and culinary lesson). We found the recipe online so now I think we'll try making it at home. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look: http://www.recipezaar.com/Olive-Garden-Caprese-Flatbread-319431

OK, the whole place is snoozing, so I'd better jump in bed, too. Good night!

{ { { F A V O R I T E S } } } Treasury

Well, FINALLY, I was able to get a treasury! I had had a poster sketch ready for ages, but always missed it.

I went back to the Etsy shops which I had marked as favorites since I opened my shop, and picked out my latest favorites.



(left to right)
1st row:
beadstylin
maiaart
ivylanedesigns
2nd row:
adustyframe
mompotter
dennisanderson
3rd row:
bathnbeads
emptynestegg
shadysidefarm
4th row:
maidofclay
ixela
unkamengifts





These guys all have lovely, unique items in their shops. If you're not already an Etsy shopper, get yourself a user name and go take a look - it's fabulous!

Things I Learned Last Week (2nd ed.)

Whose says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I learned some more things last week that I thought I would share:

1. Do not ever, under any circumstances, go to Wal-Mart the weekend before school starts. This goes double for you if you're sensitive to noise, or if you're the teeniest bit claustrophobic.

2. When you see a puppy at the pet store which has been marked down and is "on sale", it will break your heart, and you will be tempted to take it home, even though you already have 3 dogs, a cat, 3 roborovski hamsters, and a guinea pig.

3. You don't realize how much you depend on your credit and debit cards until the local convenience store only takes cash because they were struck by lightning right before you get there, and you're so desperate for a diet Coke, that you frantically dig through your wallet until you come up with enough change to buy one.

4. Never walk across a freshly sealed road or you will end up with tar all over the bottom of your waffle-soled shoes.

5. When you use a front-load washer, make sure you read the little sticker that tells you to ONLY use 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent, instead of the usual capful. (Take an extra 5 quarters just in case you forget, so that you can wash everything twice.)

Treasury x 5

I was thrilled to see that I'm in 5 treasuries today - I think that's a record for me! Four of them are curated by my lovely teammates on the Schooling at Home Etsian team (SHEteam), while one is curated by a new acquaintance from Paris.







"She is Lovely" is curated by my friend Mary, better known as EmptyNestEgg. She makes the most amazing, intricate designs out of teeny, tiny beads. She featured my latest design, "Unakite Delight" top row, center.

Thanks, Mary!
















"SHE is so soft!" is curated by Hamncheezr, another SHEteam member. I think she captured the "soft" mood perfectly with her selections! She was kind enought to include my pastel lavender and green
Swarovski phone charm, second row, right.


Thanks, Hamncheezr!












"Cup of Joe" is another treasury curated by EmptyNestEgg - lovely shades of coffee brown plus a wonderful mug by ellemardesigns to put it in! A wooden phone charm made from vintage beads is on the top row, right.

Thanks again, Mary!


















"rOunDed Beautifully" is curated by SHEteamer allthesethings, and features lots of round curves from the homeschoolers. My Mosaic black lip shell and mother of pearl charm in 3rd row, left.


Thanks, allthesethings!

















"RASPBERRY CREAM" is a great treasury by YannPendaries, an artisan from Paris. He featured my Girly Drama Phone Charm, 4th row, left. An interesting bit of trivia - top row, left, is by Yann's fiancee, Malam.


Thanks, Yann!

Ooooo so pretty!

I was very happy to see that I was included in this treasury by DESIGNbyHELEN. She included my purple charoite phone charm.

Thank you, DESIGNbyHELEN!

Golden Hearts

I was excited to be listed in this lovely treasury today. My item is the Lemon Meringue Phone Charm. This treasury, "Golden Hearts" was curated by Kanokwalee. I happened to feature a gorgeous aqua-colored cowl by her in my treasury a couple of days ago (see previous post).

Thanks for the feature, Kanokwalee!

Here's my latest phone charm - it's my SHEteam challenge item for August....our theme is "Back to School". In case you don't recognize them, they're purple pencil toppers!

To see all of the neat challenge items for August, go to Etsy and search for "sheteamschoolcha".