Baskets from the Junk Pile

We have bulk pickup here once a month, where you can put out almost anything. Sometimes you can find some good things. Our neighbor is moving and after having a garage sale, put many items out for bulk pickup. I hate to have items going to landfills when they could be re-purposed.  I find it difficult to pass up good items. I found three planters, a picture frame, she gave me a hutch (needs a lot of work - will see it later), a bed frame(at another house), and a hugh clock face at another house. Great finds - what a week!

First to be finished were the three planters. I have pictures of the two wicker types, but I don't know what happened to the third original picture. 

South Beach Dachshund Winterfest

11th Annual South Beach Dachshund Winterfest took place yesterday in South Beach Miami in support of Dachshund Rescue of South Florida. Our doxie, Marina (almost 11 years old)  is a rescue from this organization. She is the best!  We also took our daughter's doxie, Roddy (who is around 7 1/2 months) with us. As you can see, they were ready to go. Sitting in the car, waiting to leave.

Sunshine = Beautiful Pink Roses

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you my variegated roses and mentioned I had two other roses beside my barn. Well, today, I want to share with you my pink roses by the barn.

A Cup of Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't you just hate it when you try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and they are too flat or too crisp and you want them to be chewy?  Well, I have a recipe that will give you those soft chewy cookies that you are looking for. 

Most chocolate chip cookie recipes that I have seen use all butter. 

Dollar Chair Make Over

 
Sometimes you find a piece of furniture that's a great price but you don't really need it. Then sometimes you find a piece of furniture that's a great price and you do NEED it. That's what happened to me. 

Our other house north of Orlando, came with a dining room set. Nothing fancy but since I did 't want to buy a new one, we would make it work for now. Only problem was that it only had four chairs. 

I wanted to find two chairs that would work with the  set. They are rather simple, dark wood with black leather covered seats. Shouldn't be too hard to find something that works right? 

Snowing in the North - Flowers Blooming in the South

As another winter snow storm hits the north, flowers are blooming here in the southern Florida. Lovely warm days with lots of sunshine comprise the right recipe for many flowers, including the Ground Orchid.

A Cake Stand as a Vase?

Here is the story of how a pedestal cake stand became a vase.

Delicate Purple Flowers

Is it a creature moving gently under the water, or is it small bugs on the tips of a plant?

For the first time since I moved here, one of my tropical plants, which I think might be a Ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa "Sherbert"), is blooming. It has these delicate purple flowers with white stamens with yellow tips. I was so excited to see it bloom and with such lovely flowers. 

Corner Night Stand

Refinished Corner Night Stand

Loved the cut out design of this corner stand. As usual I was not sure where it would go, but I knew that I would find a spot for it.

It was white when I found it at a consignment store, but the white paint was peeling off in large chunks. The color under it was somewhere between Kelly green and Christmas green.

Again, I loved the piece, but not the green showing through and I didn't want to sand it and let the green show through. It looked like someone had used latex paint over oil based paint the way it peeled. 

Blooming Pink in Florida!

This week I was so excited to see that my roses are beginning to bloom. Roses seem to love this Florida weather.(This time of year it is just perfect!) 

I have roses most of the year which is great. I have three planted on the side of my barn and they like it there. The colors include a variegated pink rose, a lavender rose and a red one.

Happy New Year Everyone !

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. It has gone by so fast, but the time spent with family and friends was great. 

 

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. They say as you get older, time seems to fly by faster, I think they are right. 

 

I only began my blog in late August, and I was so exciting hooking up with other bloggers and linking up to many wonderful link parties and so much inspiration from all of you. 

 

Hopefully this new year will bring even greater growth in my blog and in myself. I have new projects planned and  many projects that need to be finished.

 

I look forward to visiting with all of you and hope you will spend some time with me as well as I continue with my journey. 

 

Best Wishes for a Happy New year!