Thad turns 21!!!

Wow! It seems to happen more often these days, I find myself saying:

Where has the time gone?

The days seem to fly by faster & faster.

My eldest son just turned 21! He is a MAN now.

7 days old.

Here he is with the same teddy bear 21 years later.

He's still my baby.

The men.  : )

Snow & Ice

We have had the most snow we have had in years!

We have had to shovel several times, which has

been rare in the past few years. Of course it is the

first year we have had nobody home to do all the shovelling.

The boys both being away at school!

The front yard

The back yard

New meaning for the term "White caps".

The bird feeder is stacked with snow.

Notice the squirrel highway on top of the fence!

These icicles on the south side of the house

are outside my bedroom window.

The long one in the middle was longer than the window!

I took a picture of them because afterwards I had fun

knocking them down! : )

Happy Chocolate Heart Day!

Made some heart shaped brownies for my

sweetheart & me.

Mocha looks a little sad that he can't have any.

Happy Valentine's Day. : )

Front Hall Decor

I got this bucket some time ago. It has a really neat patina but, 

I didn't quite know what to put in it.

Then I found this pot pourri at Home Sense & voila.

Not only looks good, but smells good too.  : )

Recycled China Cabinet

I bought 3 old windows at yard sale this summer for $15.

I wanted to make some kind of display cabinet out of them, 

so I took two of them & bought some plywood & designed,

cut (with my son & a table saw), sanded & screwed, then painted & waxed.

I didn't touch the windows themselves, leaving them as is.

Bought all antique brass hardware from Lee Valley.

 It is pretty heavy & originally I put castors on the bottom, but the windows are so wide

that when they were open the whole cabinet tipped! YIKES!

 So we went to plan B & managed it get it hung on the wall

by screwing it right into the studs through the back of the cabinet.

Now it holds all my vintage tea pots & cups.

Also displays some Bunny Kins china that has been in

a box for the last 20 years!

I used Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Florence for the back of the cabinet.

Not the best construction, but for a first attempt it's OK. 

It sure frees up shelf space & emptied some boxes in the basement. : )

Jamaica Swag.

No trip to Jamaica would be complete without some swag.

Jamaican Rum Cream, Rum, Coffee Liquor, Hand made bag,

Hand carved dog (of course), T-shirt, wedding commemorative

flip flops & Blue Mountain Coffee!! YUM.  : )

Jamaica January 2014

When we went to Jamaica for a family wedding in January, 

we stayed in a beautiful resort, west of Montego Bay.

It was a picture perfect setting for the wedding. 

We went on a couple of excursions & were able to see some of the country side

& learn about the Jamaican people & their culture.

The gym & spa, just outside our room.

Bamboo.

This little shack played tunes for all the beach events.

Our room was on the ground floor of this building.

The hotel lobby.

Just outside the buffet restaurant. 

On the balcony was a beautiful bar.

Lobby flowers.

Huge fan palm in front of the hotel entry.

They had lit tennis courts, a basketball court & mini put.

They call Hibiscus, paper flowers.

Hotel lobby top floor, looking down.

Rougher coral beach.

Tiny fiddler crab.

The courtyard of our building. Our room is just on the left.

Cliff diving at Rick's Cafe, near Negril.

It was a long way down.

Jamaica was a great trip, Yeah mon!! : )