Grammy Camp 2010

What in the world is Grammy Camp, you ask? That's what we're calling the 4 days last week that I spent up at the "tin can cabin" with my two oldest grandkids. We really did have a ball and I will absolutely, positively recover from all the activity by Christmas, maybe sooner....just kidding. But I did go to sleep at 9pm when I tucked them into bed each night. We all needed the extra sleep. So, let's see, what exactly did we do at Grammy Camp? Jackson took full advantage of the paved roads in the camp to skateboard. We celebrated Sydney's birthday a few days early so she could open her present of skates and I don't think I saw her leave the cabin once without those things on her feet the entire 4 days.

I gained several more strands of grey hair while hanging on to the sides of the golf cart as "speed demon" Jackson learned to race....er, um.....as he learned to safely traverse the roads in the campground. We had several downpour thunderstorms which resulted in huge puddles. You can see where I'm going with this, can't you? Yes, he asked if he could "go fast" through a puddle and I said "of course". Holy cow! He floored it and water gushed up through the floorboard and flew out the sides of the cart spraying a good 6 feet on all sides as he gleefully aimed for another puddle. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I think we'll keep that information to ourselves, ok?

The kids visited several times a day with Roxie and Jessica, the beautiful resident parrot and cockatiel. Both of them speak and whistle and Sydney was convinced they spoke short sentences to her. Also, all our friends at the campground now know the kids and they had a great time visiting with everyone and their various pets, including a brand new puppy named Peaches that Sydney fell in love with. One of the women baked us chocolate chip cookies to celebrate Syd's birthday. Another buddy dropped off firewood for our campfire. Such good people.

We did a craft each day: first they painted flip flops as an unusual "letter home" and we mailed them to mom and dad like kids used to do when I went to summer camp(except we used to mail post cards); then we made bouncey balls from a kit; we put together an adorable puzzle entitled "100 elephants and a mouse"; we made roll out cookies in the shape of construction tools for Jackson and palm trees for Sydney; we made our own popsicles from strawberries; we made our own pizzas; and finally, as the temps soared to 102 we had a small campfire to roast marshmallows because I had promised them we'd make s'mores. Hey, a promise to grandkids is a promise.

I hope Grammy Camp can be repeated each year and that it will create lasting memories for these funny, energetic, well behaved, adorable,(should I stop now?) creative kids. Think I'll go take a nap.

Grey haired Grammy signing off,

Debbie

TA-DA!!

Yes, it's finally done....the "tin can cabin" officially has a new functioning bathroom. Yippee! Joel and I spent several weekends tiling and installing and tweaking, but it was worth it. We have a system when it comes to remodeling, we decide what "look" we're going for, then I research ideas and come up with a design concept and present them to Joel. He counters with his ideas and we compromise somewhere in the middle. It usually involves me showing him a lot of pictures of what I thought would work in our decorating scheme. He hesitates (mainly because he has a hard time visualizing what I'm describing), we compromise some more and then we purchase our materials.

Then when the project is complete, he says something along the lines of "Now I see what you were talking about. You were right, it does look better this way." Hmmmmmm.....and it only took us 24 years of marriage to work out this little dance we do.....each and every project.

I really wanted some log cabin feel in the bath so we found some smooth river rock and used it as an accent on the shower head wall and the shower floor. That did the trick. And, yes, we do our own tiling. Joel wants me to measure and install and he mans the wet saw and does all the cuts for me. Together we work pretty smoothly until it's time to grout. Can I just say it like I feel it? I hate to grout. No, really, I detest applying grout. After an hour of working on this project's grout, I called in recruits and drafted Billy, our helper dude, to take my place. I had just run out of steam.

Oh, yeah, and how do you like the fishy toilet paper holder? The original bathroom had the toilet paper holder, 2 matching towel bars, tissue holder and wastebasket all done in logs. Who knows how old these things are but I couldn't resist reusing them in our new bath. I think they add just the cabin-y feel we were going for.

Like I said at the beginning, ta-da! Whew! I think we're going to take a few months off now. Thank you, very much,

Debbie

Shell Art

Isn't this cool art? The shell is painted on an old ceiling tile from the early 1900's...right up my alley, a little bit shabby, a little bit chic. I fell in love with it this past weekend while having breakfast with the G.A.B.S. (girls at the beach scrapbooking) on Anna Maria Island. We got together to scrapbook for the weekend and they took us out for breakfast at an old IGA grocery store that has been converted to a bakery/restaurant filled with antiques, paintings and beach paraphernalia. What a great place...I'm definitely going back.

So, I bought the painting and this is what it looks in its new home on my kitchen wall. Happy, happy! Below the painting are some of my collection of dried herbs, veggies and things from my garden that I use to make my own teas. Peppermint, lemon balm and raspberry leaves are just a few of the things I've dried in the dehydrator for tea.

Ball jars and a label maker......voila! Instant kitchen art and function all rolled into one.

I just love the way the dried pineapple rings turned out. They can be broken into smaller pieces and added to my own concoction of dried herbs to create a unique blend of tea. It's official, I'm having way too much fun.

Have a happy day,

Debbie

A Passing

The picture above is of my always-smiling mother-in-law and her husband of 10 years, Ken. Ken has been in a nursing home for the last 2 months and his body began a deterioration in earnest this last week. His heart was tired and he was called Home to be with the Lord he loved so much at 4:30pm June 29th.

Ken and Madalen married when they were 84 and 76 respectively. Quite a feat, wouldn't you say? They had giggled that maybe they'd have "five good years" together, but the Lord blessed them and doubled that time and gave them 10 years instead. Quite remarkable, indeed. They have both devoted their lives to the Lord's work and now heaven is that much the richer for having Ken as its newest resident.

Well done, you good and faithful servant. Well done, Ken.
Debbie

Now You Know Why We're Remodeling the Bathroom

Ok, so, check this out. This is an example of the plumbing that was pulled from the underside of our Tin Can Cabin. Joel says it has 5 different kinds of pipe including PVC, CPVC, galvanized & gray pipe......all in a 16" span! Kinda like a Tinkertoy, wouldn't you say? No wonder there were leaks. Now he wants to frame it in a shadowbox to hang on the wall. I'll have to think about that for a while.

When we arrived at the Tin Can Friday night, the holes in the floor were covered with plastic that was tacked in place, but how long had it been tacked that way? Joel went to bed and was almost asleep when I decided to join him. Big surprise! There in the "tucked under the pillow" portion of the new quilt I just made were acorns. Some were eaten, some were whole but the point is that some little critter had decided that this would be a cozy spot to put some food. Yikes! Needless to say, Joel jumped up and we cleaned up the mess.

Then we couldn't sleep because we had no idea if the perpetrator was still in the Tin Can with us. Several times over the next hours I jumped up and thought I heard something moving around. I finally went to sleep with a MagLite flashlight in my right hand. Early the next morning I found Billy, our handyman guy who is doing the lion's share of our remodeling and explained once again that "Mama don't do no critters.". The remaining plumbing was completed and the holes completely covered up with plywood by dinner time that night. Whew!

By the time we left Sunday, we had installed flooring and made all the final decisions regarding getting the bathroom put back together again. So tomorrow I'm going back up there to prime and paint the drywall that was installed today so the toilet can be installed. Peeing in a cup at 3am was funny once, but I don't need to repeat that process ever again and I'm ready for some fixtures to be installed. Here's one last look at the old bathroom elements ready to be hauled off to the dump. Bye-bye bathroom.

Critter leary,

Debbie

Flippies

I just wanted to wish all of you Happy National Flip Flop Day. Flip flops, or as I like to call them, flippies, are my footwear of choice about 90% of the time. And who can resist all the gorgeous bright colors they come in? Some have "high heels", some are as thin as a pancake. Some are made of gooshie foam that is so soft to walk on, and some are more rubbery. I've hardly met a flippie I don't like!

Hard core south Florida beachheads wear Havaianas. Well heeled (no pun intended) upper crust girls wear SwitchFlops with the changeable ribbon strap made possible with Velcro. Flippies pair well with jeans, long pants, capris, skirts, casual dresses and bathing suits. And, they're cool. No, not hip.....well, I guess they could be called "hip". What I mean by cool is that they keep your feet cool.......and for hot-flash women that's essential for keeping the rest of you cool.

The only thing flippies are not good for is snow, but I don't think I'll have to worry about that here. So, pick up a cute new pair for the summer and start your own flippies tan lines on your feet.

Don't forget to get a pretty pedicure,

Debbie

Bye-Bye Bathroom

I have to admit that the walls in our shower up at the river are most definitely unique, but that doesn't mean we have to keep them that way. So, bye-bye bathroom. Bye-bye to the fiberglass tub that has a crack in it and has a "squishy" feeling underneath when you're in it(probably because the floor under it is rotted away! Yikes!). Bye-bye to the ugly, itty bitty commode. Bye-bye to the tiniest cabinet and sink I've ever seen and the hot water side of the faucet that doesn't work.

The floor will require new plywood and more support underneath to make certain everything is level, secure and will bear the weight of the new shower. Everything has been chosen at our favorite home improvement store and sits in the living room waiting to be installed. Joel and I are anxious to get up there in a week and put down the flooring, install the toilet and cabinet. Then it'll be time to hook up the sink plumbing and build the base for the shower. The following weekend we can start putting tile in the shower and we'll be in the home stretch.

Will I miss the old bathroom? Not on your life! But I will remember the roofing material shower walls with some fondness. You've got to admit that was a pretty creative use of materials.

Deb