Empty Nest Syndrome + Nan Guilt

While convalescing from Empty Nest Syndrome I watched Valentine's Day last night.. Mary Bailey had recommended it and she was right; it was a great chick flick. Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Dempsey, Taylor Swift, Queen Latifa....practically anybody who is anybody is in this film.

Now why did I have ENS (Empty Nest Syndrome)? Son Todd and his family spent the week with us :) The kids and I went to VBS (Vacation Bible School) with me every morning and swimming every afternoon. In between we all worked on puzzles (three completed thank you) laughed, talked, watched some tv (Baseball for Todd and Dad....make that the Atlanta Braves who lost every game while they were here :( I really felt like a modern day version of the Waltons (my favorite show ever). So it felt really quiet and lonesome after they left yesterday. But as someone famous once said, "When you leave after a visit, it is better for people to wish you had stayed than to wish you had never come".

Here is Michael with the map he made during VBS. I saved some of his other crafts to put in his scrapbook. This is the last year he can go as a child to our VBS but he can come help with the younger children. He thinks that would be fun.

Actually, I do think it is good to include the preteens and teens as helpers. They are extra hands and the kids look up to them. Good to practice serving...eh Mary Bailey?

Here is Meagan. I can't remember the name of our theme this year.....maybe Adventure on the High Seas? I know it included a big ship which they constructed on the stage(?) at the front of the church. (Stage seems like the wrong word, platform?.....anyway where the choir and preacher and piano etc.. usually are). It was really amazing how real the ship looked. Then we had a funeral at the church one day this week and it all had to come down and be put back......Arg Matey!

Did you go to VBS as a child? What do you remember about it?

Aaar Matey!

This is another Post Card from the Past. My parents always stayed here when they came to bring me or pick me up from college. They had a certain room they liked over in that stand of pines nearest to the lake.

Occasionally, us Coker Girls would treat ourselves to dinner out at the Lakeshore Restaurant. It was very charming (fireplace going) and had good food. Of course, I thought our dining room food was delicious as well. But then I've never met any food I didn't like. :)

Well, I 'll be danged! Scout came in here while I was abed and put her picture on my blog wearing that Pirate Hat I brought her from Beaufort! (She must have heard me talking about that Pirate Dog Collar I saw and wouldn't fork out $19.99 for). The hat is much cuter don't you think!?!

For my three readers, one of whom I borrowed the book from, I found a "new" author, Jan Watson. Her Troublesome Creek series has three books and she has a new one coming out. I have ordered the two I don't have access to from Amazon.

My Brother and Sister-in-law both have Kindles. It is cool how they can order the book and in seconds it is in their Kindle.....tempting.....they say some books are just $.99.....really tempting for a cheapo like me. Really the hang up I have is no sharing books with friends or giving them to the library, the church, or Habitat. Everyone doesn't have a Kindle.

What do you think about the Kindle?

Just back from a visit to my brother's who lives in Emerald Isle, NC. Hubs wanted to go down to Morehead City because he had never been. Sister-in-law, Bubbette, said we had to see Beaufort, NC while down there. This is a pic from the dock in Beaufort. It is pronounced BOWfort, South Carolina's Beaufort is pronounced BEWfort. Just so you know :)

We checked out a few gift shops in Beaufort. I loved this mermaid. My friend, Lucy, loves mermaids. It was $65, Lucy, so I just took a picture for you. :)

This darling little napkin holder was purchased on my antique jaunt to Camden. $2.00 at the habitat store.

In the napkin holder are the "antique" or rather "vintage" post cards I purchased in Camden. The first one is from my husband's grandfather's Motor In that was located in Sumter. It had 19 cabins. I have always wanted to stay in a "cabin" motel.

Have you ever stayed in one? Do you want to?

A shout out to daughter, Gabby, who redid my blog when Cutest Blog on the Block closed my old design down.

Missing in action

Somehow today's blog got posted over at www.nearlyinsanequilts.blogspot.com
click on over for a look see.
I'm already nearly insane without trying to copy and paste it over here :)

Saturday Shopping

Yesterday I needed an antiquing fix. It had been months, maybe even a year since I'd been antiquing. There is just something about wandering around old things that does something for me. I don't have to buy much of anything; I really enjoy looking.

Above are two items that caught my eye. A heart shape pillow made from chenile. I love chenille! Some of my childhood bedspreads were made of it. I remember getting up from a nap with the dotted imprint on my skin. Has that ever happened to you.

Then the diamond shaped "yoyo" pillow. If I had to make something of yoyos that pillow would be about the size I could make.

I was tempted by these two books. I love the two dogs sitting in the rocking chair....all of them really look like they are posing. I skimmed the book....it didn't snag my interest enough for me to lay out the money. Now Southern Dogs looked like a really good book to put by my guest bed (after I'd read it). It had pieces by southern writers of note and great pictures BUT it was $24.95 pretty pricey for a small used book.

When I was leaving the Antique District of Camden I saw the storefront of this great looking store and it said Habitat for Humanity Store. Wow; you could have fooled me. It looks like an antique store. I did buy something so cute there I will show you on a future post. If you are hollding your tongue right, I may even show you the other things I bought :)

Do you like antique stores? What kinds of things catch your eye?

What Happened Yesterday?

In case you are brain dead and can't tell....these are some oh so delicious SC peaches I got at McLeod's Farm in McBee last Saturday. Today I am putting most of them in the freezer. Not a one rotted (miraculous!)

What happened to the text on yesterday's blog?

Beats me. I loaded my pics. Wrote my text and published.....no text. I am sure you are dying to know what the captions were.....right?? right!

Guess which captions go to which pictures.....

One is a fish pond with 50 geese.

One is a cow ant; that can kill a cow with one bite!

One is the horsebarn at Gov. David Beasley's house. Not to be confused with the chicken house :)

My original post was much more creative BUT things deteriorate (condense) the second time around. The edited version is I wanted to go fishing yesterday and hubs agreed to go with me since it was the first time in a 45 year relationship I had ASKED to go fishing. Son, Wayne, had told us Gov. Beasley, (a close friend of his brother-in-law) pond had lots of fish, even crappie. So I called the wife, Mary Wood Beasley, and she said sure come on so we did. No fish, not even a nibble.....but a good blog story!? Right? Right!

Have you ever been fishing? For what? Where? Did you catch anything?Did you eat your catch? Inquiring minds want to know!

A Play Date for Ethel

This is Ethel's American Girl Doll and her Toni doll having a chat before the AG goes to work on her latest book.

Don't you love the doll sized roll top desk and tiny typewriter!

This is her collection of McDonalds dolls. The photos are of two of her four grand daughters who like to play with them when they come.

This is Lucy and her Vogue bride doll. She is lovely! All the vintage dolls wear girdles. ( For younger readers a girdle is what all females wore to hold their stomachs in in lieu of underpants.)

Yesterday, I had a play date with Lucy (aka Rita). You would have thought we were ten something instead of sixty something as we looked over her newly purchased vintage dolls and doll clothes. She has been an avid Ebay customer for the last few months.

The dolls above are Ginny dolls. I especially love the one in the turquoise dress. That dress is so fifties. I am sure my Mother had it in a slightly larger size :)

This is the Ginny bride doll. Again the dress style is so 1950's. I think my sister-in-law, Diane, wore this in a slightly larger size :)

I did have Ginny dolls myself.....but alas I don't know where they went. I have all my other significant dolls. I guess I need to do a post about them! But where o where did my Ginny doll go?

Rita has just finished making these awesome placemats to match her china and silverware. It is hard to tell but the silver has fish handles; how cool is that.

If there are any sewers reading this....Ethel and I have formed a company called "Galloping Horse, Ltd." We are selling the templates you need to make these way cool placemats. ($8 plus shipping)

Ethel made Frogmore Stew for me! Yummo! For the uninitiated there are no frogs in it (Maybe it should be called Frogless Stew!) It does have shrimp, sausage and corn on the cob! There was also delicious fruit salad shown in the placesetting picture.

You never get too old for playdates or lunch at a friends :)

Had any playdates lately?

The Crafty GIrl is At it Again

This pillow is a housewarming gift for my friend who lives in Maryland right across from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. She has numerous egret statues in her home. Hopefully this pillow will be a hit!

This is my first attempt at a star block with Y seams. All around the star with calico looking fabric has to be joined to the star in what is called a Y seam. I was pleased at how this Nearly Insane block (Number 28 of 98) turned out.

I am getting discouraged with blogging since I am not getting any comments. It makes me think I have no readers :( If you are reading please comment at least occasionally.....it is truly not that hard.

Friendship

Lucy fixed this necklace for me which was a REAL LABOR OF LOVE....I bought it at the wonderful Art Store in Asheville, NC, and wore it quite a bit until it broke. Rita had to crochet the wire with the tiniest crochet hook you ever saw to fix it. She also put a magnetic clasp on it so "no more fumbling with a tiny clasp."

These are the gifts I received from my friend Lucy (aka Rita) when she returned from West Virginia!

On the left is a beautiful handmade necklace she got at an art fair. It is so gorgeous and the picture doesn't do it justice. Then my Q is for Queen necklace...made from a Scrabble tile. Lucy knows I am in a Scrabble Club and I like to be Queen of it.

Then she brought me Five Fat Quarters.....actually they may be Fat Halves.....that is Quilt Speak for a quarter or half a yard of fabric. I will put them in my Stash (what quilters call their cache of fabric).

Saturday we were invited to our neighbors, Mac and Pam's, for a Braves game.

Pam and hubs are huge Braves fans. They went to Atlanta in May for a series of 3 games against the Mets. So for her birthday, Pam had Granny and Hubs and me, and her husband's Aunt Bessie to watch the game. Her son John declined to join us because the average age in our room was 83! LOL.

Pam cooked supper for all of us on HER birthday!

Friendship takes many forms and I am thankful for all of them.

Any friends you want to tell us about?

A Shot in the Eye!

My 94 year old Mother in Law has been having shots in her eye over the last year to stop the progression of her wet macular degeneration.

Here is nurse Debbie getting her prepped. They do numb the eye before injecting it with an anti cancer drug that turns out to be beneficial for wet macular degeneration patients. Enjoy your youth every one.....no telling what you will be enduring when you get older :)

Legally Almost Insane

Well, I saw I am officially listed on the Nearly Insane Website so I figure I am now "Legally Insane" and I'd better get on with posting my blocks to prove it.

I am so insane I made up the above block myself!

GD Caitin decided my dressmaker pincushion was woefully underdressed so she designed the above outfit for it. I especially like the scarf....this girl knows scarves are in.

Good Any Time Reads

Before I hike off to the library tomorrow to return these two last books I read....

I want to recommend them to you.

First off, Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey. When the main character's father dies she is left with his house and copies of poems he wants her to read because she is The Perfect Reader. Flora leaves her job in the city to return to her small college town roots to confront her past there and what to do about the poems.

I loved it!

The Lost Summer of Louisa Mae Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees.

Ms. McNees was an English Major with considerable study of Ms. Alcott when she comes up with the idea of inventing a romantic interlude for her (LMA) during the year she lived in Walpole, NH. Again, I loved it and hope McNees will invent further adventures for LMA....one of my favorite authors.

Hope you are having a Star Spangled Fourth. Gabby and family left a little while ago after a weekend visit. Caitlin joined me in embroidery and created a darling pillow.....:( Now Why Didn't I photograph it for the blog? Dog Ask Me, as hubs would say.

I always look forward to watching "A Capitol Fourth" broadcast from Washington every Fourth of July.

Our local fireworks display was Friday night at the church across the woods from our house. We all sat in my garden an viewed the display without parking problems. Cool! As the GK's would say.

"New" Bathroom Counter ???

My Oh My.....what have we here? The AFTER picture of a DIY project?

Before
Well, somehow, the black counters in s guestroom bathroom, (formerly known as the boys' bathroom) have gotten terribly scratched as you can see. I finally went on line to see if I could discover a remedy other than replacing it.

Of course, I do not know what the material is.....1970 solid surface something??

The DYI people suggested polishing it with wet sandpaper. Hubs said he knew car restorers polished old cars by this method so he went to Auto Parts Store for advice and materials. They sold him two sheets of wet sandpaper and off we went to try it out.

Hubs insisted I come along as a witness......maybe he was thinking of witness protection? As you can see......

This DID NOT WORK! The counter is now DULL and scratched even more.

We are now thinking of putting ceramic tile over the counter. Any ideas? Suggestions? Remember we are frugal fixers (aka cheap) no granite for us.

Nearly Insane With Pretty Feet

Three more Nearly Insane Blocks.

I rewarded myself with a pedicure at Wendy's Pamper Place. It had been five years since I'd been and I had enough of my allowance left to fund it.

Here are a few pictures of the entry and stairway. Once I got in the nail salon I forgot all about taking pictures :( so you won't get to see Wendy's swanky place unless I save up for a return visit. :)

Nowadays (using that word is a sure sign of old age) girls my granddaughters ages (11 and 9) have manicures and pedicures on a fairly regular basis. I had my first ones when I was fifty; my son gave me one for my birthday. Times they have changed.

Do you have manicures and pedicures regularly, sporadically, never?