A mini Kitchen makeover

I think by now you all know what my favorite color is. (Hint: it's red!) My kitchen walls have been red for 5 or 6 years now, a testament to how much I love the color, because most rooms in my house get a fresh coat of paint more often than that.  I loved the red, it was cozy and homey and well, gee, it was red. Nuff said:>) But lately I have been craving a lighter brighter look and I decided it was time for something new.

You would think with only a week off between semesters I would be on a beach somewhere relaxing.  Ha! no.  Instead I painted the kitchen. It was going to be white, but youngest daughter staged an intervention. The girls think I have lost my mind with all this white. They still aren't over the dining room being white. So here is the before of the kitchen. Gee it looks kind of dismal doesn't it?

And here it is in it's new color. Salt glaze by Martha Stewart.  Since I couldn't go with white I chose the palest blue I could find and I have to admit that as I put it on the walls I had major second thoughts. Color withdrawal don't you know.  But once I started putting the room back together I loved it. It is so fresh and bright and I plan to throw a few cherry red accents in here because a room without red somewhere in it, well, that would be in someone elses house. 

I like the color so much that I hate my grungy cabinets a teeny bit less. My goal is to paint them white this summer, I admit to a deep fear of how much work that will be. Will it turn into the project that ate my summer? Will I have the guts/time/gumption to actually do it?  I'll let you know. Until then, I'm sitting at the counter staring at my new color and dreaming of more ways to primp this space.

Have a great weekend:>)

Happy Fathers Day

I don't know if I have told you this, but this man is my life.  He loves his girls and they adore him.

They took us to the park today with a delicious picnic they put together to celebrate Fathers Day. Mr. serious pants doesn't like to have his picture taken though.

It is sometimes all he can do to hold it together and not smile, but with his iron will he forces his face into submission. No smile here.

But wait...what is this? Is the iron will crumbling? Can he hold it together or will his girls coax a little smile from their stoic and serious dad?

Ahh yes. There is the sweet smile we all love.  The iron will crumbles:>) We love you to the moon and back sweetheart!  My own father was not around, I had a stepdad who was, at best, abusive, so the love that my sweet man shows his girls (and me), is priceless. It means the world to me and to them. I sometimes think that God gave me Earl to show me what real love looks like.  It looks like this.

I thank God for this man every. single. day.

Oh happy day! Last day of school , which means this Lunch Lady gets a couple months off. Not great to go without the paycheck, but since I have to, I am going to admit that I am so glad to have the summer off. I will still be taking college courses (guess who made the Deans List last semester?) but having the morning to get things done will be such a blessing.

So I spent the last 3 hours cleaning the school kitchen and came home to.....you guessed it, a messy kitchen of my own. I don't think I can deal with it right now. Maybe after a nap, or bright and early tomorrow morning. I know, I'm such a slacker.

I also came home to the cutest package in the mail.  A little somethin, somethin, from my friend Sherry at Bella Rennie.  A wonderful artist who makes gorgeous cards and tags and other things. You can find her shop here and on my sidebar.  Look how cute she made the envelope! The tag has the prettiest graphics and ribbon and it is postcard size so if I wanted to send it to a friend I could write something lovely on the back and send it right out. I think I'll keep it. If I need one for a friend I know where to get another.

Love the nest. And speaking of nesting, I have a summers worth of cleaning and decorating and organizing to do. Projects to finish, projects to start and just the general list of housework to do. The very thought of it all is so exhausting that that nap is sounding better and better. What do you have planned for the summer?

The bird whisperer

We seem to have a "thing" for birds around here. Last year Earl found a baby Flicker in the woods.  Once I was doing some painting in the basement with the window open and a baby chickadee flew in and landed on my knee. No lie. And now, this baby Robin was hopping around the yard. We have cats so we don't like to leave the poor things on the ground. He really couldn't fly yet, much too young to be out of the nest.  Poor baby.  Isn't he just the cutest? So Earl decided to try to feed him a worm. Baby Robin seemed willing but once his mouth was open and the tasty worm presented he really didn't know what to do with it.  I said, "I think he needs it chewed up for him."  Neither one of us was dedicated enough to baby Robins survival to actually do that.  Go figure. 

We decided the best we could do was to take him back to our apple trees and put him up where he would be safe.

He kept jumping out.  *Sigh* this rescue business isn't as easy as it should be.  I suppose his mama was as exasperated as we were!  We ended up putting him in the mock orange that has thicker foliage and smaller branches so he could (hopefully) hold on better.

I love baby birds, don't you?

Since writing this, I haven't seen the little robin in our yard again. I prefer to think he finally figured out how to use his wings and is seeing the world:>)

Spring

Wait....

I hear talk of summer, and beaches, and hot sticky days filled with picnics and pools.

But I haven't finished with Spring. The soft green after the bitter cold. The tender buds unfolding. The joy of the first flower.

Summer is fine, but I think I will linger in spring just a few more weeks.  Can it really be June already?

Friends are like flowers

Why? Because when you least expect it they delight you with the beautiful things they do.  I came home last week to a sweet surprise in the mail from my friend Trish. A pretty bracelet and a card with well wishes and love. It made me smile. I love this beautiful surprise and I love that Trish thought of me and made me something special. Just because.

With my favorite colors no less. Thank you Trish!

On the home front, I have one more week of this semester and then a two week break. Best of all (kind of) my school job ends for the summer a couple days later so I will get a real break for most of that time. I have a dress pattern I want to sew and a purse and gardening to do. I might try to fit in painting the kitchen. You have no idea how badly I have wanted time for these projects! It may not sound like a break to you, but I would be so excited to get some of these things done!

It is beautiful weather here so far (rain forecast for later) I am heading out to school to finish some projects that are due this week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you soon:>)