Wednesdays With My Mom AND...I Dreamed a Dream

Love, love, love this photo of my mom. Love the darling dress, too!!

On this day, last week, I took my mom to a Corneal Specialist (as suggested by the regular Eye Dr. on her last visit there). The vision in her left eye has been compromised a bit because of some swelling on the cornea.
While we were there, they ended up having to dilate her eyes twice just to make sure they could get a good look at what was going on behind the eye. Good thing I brought the latest Coldwater Creek catalog to help pass the time. She loves to talk about fashion, as I've mentioned before. : )
Just being cute!!

This was the Tech who did the preliminary things with her. Once the Specialist came in, he told us that what he saw was directly linked to normal aging and a little bit of scar tissue from when my mom had cataract surgery a long time ago. There's not really anything they can do for her particular problem. I'm so happy that the vision in her right eye is still very good. So, we made an appointment to go back in 9 months just to make sure there isn't any big change in between.
Wondering about this picture of the clouds? Well, the day of this appt., it was very stormy outside and my mom was just so taken by all the blustery clouds. She talked and talked about them the whole way there and back. Then, we got a kick out of their screen saver in the room where we waited, so I told her I'd take a picture to help us remember our "crazy cloud day". : )
Have you ever wondered why I so often have TWO titles in my Title Box? It's because the best I can do is... two posts per week...one on Wednesday and one near the weekend somewhere. Which means I need to squeeze a lot of living into two posts per week.
So here goes the other half...the "Dream I Dreamed" is the "dream" of having an organized Studio again. Put your seatbelts on because it's about to get very rough... and ugly!!!



ARE YOU READY??? My daughters are going to be so proud of me!!! They double-dared me (kind of) to show these pictures.
And of course, I'm still holding back (on the whole ugly truth) so that I have a shred of pride left when this is all over!
Remember my motto after Christmas..."Divide and Conquer"? That's what those temporary green tags are all about. I had to start somewhere. : {
Here's the good news... we're expecting my adorable niece, Melanie, to come stay with us for a few days. So......that's all the motivation I needed to finally get my act together regarding my Studio/Guestroom. After all, I'm sure Melanie would like a place to sleep at night, right??? : )
Just a little something goofy to share. I turned this wire basket upside down (because who uses things for their intended purpose anyway)??? Not me!!!

Okay, I have to thank my inspiration for posting the "Oh My Word" shots of the Studio. A short while back, Joyce @ Scrap for Joy posted some "keeping it real" pics of her crafting table. I thanked her profusely and told her I would sleep better that night knowing I'm not the only one who makes a mess while crafting. There have been others of you too...and believe me...I was always thankful!!!
Speaking of Joyce, she sent me this darling handmade Valentine (above) last month. I'm the one who put the "made by" there. It didn't come that way. Hee-hee! Joyce, I admire your talent with papercrafting very much and appreciate your friendship too! : )

More beautiful work done by Joyce, below:
Tag to the right was made with an image
shared with all last month from Elizabeth, of 'Creative Breathing'.

Okay, so my next post will, of course, include "The After" since this one was "The Before". Wish me luck!! I appreciate the inspiration I continually receive from each of you when I swing by your "places".

A Restoration Project and Some Easter Fun

See this poor little piece of furniture below? I think it used to be called a "Highboy" before the legs were removed. Boy, it's seen a lot of living in it's day. It once had beautiful handles, drawer pulls, decorative appliques, etc.
This beautiful photo, below, was taken by Heather Bullard and represents something very similar to what my piece used to look like.
See this small latch, below? I have endless memories of squeezing it to unlatch the square doors.
They don't make cool furniture like this anymore.
Below, resin appliques I've ordered from Bella Cottage, online, for doors and drawers. I have another set of the long thin ones.
And then, I was thrilled when my sister, June, found the original pulls recently. I cleaned up the first two just a bit because I was so anxious to see how they would look.
These, below, are just some reproduction ones I hope will work after I play with them.
The reason I'm all jazzed about this project again, is because of my sweet brother, Steve. One night last week his flight arrived in town extremely late due to weather delays in Texas. So he stayed the night with us before heading home, up north. Because we don't own a router, he offered to go to Home Depot with me to pick out a piece of wood for the new top, take it home and get it all sized and routered for me. What an angel! It's a good thing you don't have to dress up for Home Depot...I look like a slob. : )
Uh Oh!!! How did this (below) get in there??? My dad took this just before we headed out to be in a Dance Festival (about two hundred years ago). I promise, we didn't dress alike any other time. Hee-hee! Looks like we were goin' for the 'Karen and Richard Carpenter look'. For you "youngins" out there......never mind. :-D Steve, you're not going to change your mind about helping, are you? I didn't think so. : )
Guess who's been playing with her scrapbooking supplies??? I'm making one for us and one for the Shoppe.




So much fun!! : ) Hope you're having a good weekend.
M.L.

Wednesdays With My Mom PLUS...a fun tip to share

Below, all the kiddos with my cute dad!!! This time my mom was behind the camera.
Look who's been having fun with the art project.
Diana...this one's for you. I had Mom read your card again (even though it's a couple weeks old) so I could take this pic for you.
My sister, June, came up with this great idea for our mom...a Wordsearch book! My mom has always loved the English language. Her favorite games in the past were Scrabble and Boggle. She always inhaled books and had an insatiable desire to learn. June has recently figured a way to play revised versions of these games with her (and also thought she would enjoy doing these word search pages). Great thinkin', June!

A+

The Virginian came on, on this day, last week...
WOW!!! They don't make 'em like they used to! The cowboys, that is. : )

The cute thing about my mom is that she still LOVES to discuss fashion. I knew as soon as this gal arrived on the scene, there would be talk of her dress, the fabric and design. How cute!

This is sweet Margaret, above. She came into my mom's room to enjoy the last half hour of the movie with us. : )
Okay, a couple of tips to share... I know there are several tutorials out there to do all kinds of fun things with zippers these days, but I took the lazy way out and just purchased these "flowers" already made up.
Clear as mud???
Of course I used a beautiful young hand for the "hand model". You didn't think I'd use mine, did you? Uhhhhhh.......NO!

Not bad for about $3.00. : )
And one last tip...this is how my "Bling-Bling Girl" stores all her rings. As you can see, this little gadget was originally meant for storing mens ties.
Have a good Wednesday.