SSS Delivered - Part One

Priority Mail must be Santa's best friend! A box was dispatched from the southern U.S. and arrived promptly! It is just the Poster (me), not the Post Office that is a wee bit slow this year!

A beautiful stuffed, with surprises-not fiber fill, stocking was out of the box in a flash! Then quickly emptied to reveal a bunch of goodies!

Play a game of I Spy-Can you spy the red triangle and a red circle? They're on a kaleidoscope.
Next, do you see a yellow triangular box? It has the legendary Toblerone candy in it!

My SSS also included this divine angel with three hearts! Did she know that I sign my email notes to Sarah with three hearts? One for her daddy, one for me, and one for her. ♥♥♥

On the reverse side is this lovely thought.

You did notice that there are more packages, right? I'll share more another time.

♥♫

Merry Christmas

Now Christmas preparations will begin here at home. This was the night for the children to present their pageant at church and my heart is ready for Christmas to begin. At the piano I only have a side view of the beautiful children, but can feel their excitement and see all the family members and friends in the pews. After the program our Sunday School superintendent presented the director and me with poinsettias.

I've always loved reading The Legend of the Poinsettia to my students which shares the true meaning of gift giving and honoring the Christ child.

May you find  His Peace this Christmas.

♥♫

Door Prize

Our TPO, Tiger Parent Organization, is having their 7th Annual Holiday Craft Show this Saturday.

Sarah and I are going to have a table with a variety of things we've been making. We are also going to have a drawing for a Tea for Two basket. This is what is ready so far, with more things to be added when the two of us get together Friday afternoon. Then the cellophane and a pretty bow to finish it. Wally and I did a table many years ago so I know this will be a lot of work. I've been taking things to school each day to keep in my classroom which means setting up will be easy--walking down the hall to the gym. I'm sure most people would love that set-up! Have a wonderful week!

♥♫

Stuffed!!

Nothing else will fit! It's ready to close and take to the post office tomorrow.

The elves are ready to dance and play at the Secret Santa Soiree. Can you hear the music, too?

♥♫

Package Packing

It's time to wrap and pack the Secret Santa box and have it ready to send out on Wednesday!

This is a gift in a gift. Tied a pretty red tulle bow around this item so it looks a lot more festive. Where will the elves be dropping this box? I'm not telling. More to wrap, so this elf needs to return to the work bench.

♥♫

Folding Paper

Folding paper and making ornaments to sell has been keeping my fingers occupied.While jumping around visiting sites full of pretty Christmas things, I found something I could do quickly.

These need a tiny hole for an ornament hanger and then they will be ready for the TPO Craft Show on December 15. I know it's late in the season, but there will be many town activities going on as well as a basketball tournament at the High School Even Center. Sarah and I also glittered some heart ornaments and we plan on making a few other things to sell. I'm taking things to school as we finish them so there won't be a lot of carrying things in that Saturday morning to our Elementary gym. Lucky us!

♥♫

Mysterious

Nephews just have to have something to do after a delightful Thanksgiving meal. 

1. Find some balloons. 

2. Blow them up. 

3. Scare Olivia when the air escapes. 

4. Think.

 5. Put a balloon in a balloon.

 6. Blow the inside one up.

 7. Put a knot in it. 

8. Blow up the outer balloon. 

9. Knot it.

10. Try it again.

 11. Repeat with three balloons. 

12. Success!!

No video games for these guys!

 Just a lot of imagination and air!

 ♥♫

Tea Time

Going to the city is always entertaining. Shopping is one of those things that is more fun in Denver. Choices...and more choices. On the way to the Christmas section of Target we passed this sweet child's tea set.

Apparently it is a Target exclusive item. Love the colors and the polka dots!

We don't do big gifts in our families, so there is no need for me to go shopping on Black Friday, or whatever the day after Thanksgiving is called.  Crowds tend to make me very uncomfortable, so I'll be staying home enjoying my long weekend!

Sarah and I went to the Sugar Plum Bazaar  and squeezed through the crowds to see some fine looking items for sale. People everywhere! And gigantic purses! Some of the women were totally oblivious where those huge bags were! I guess it was "out of sight, out of mind" for them.

Found a couple of skeleton keys,  an unusual strawberry fork, a baby fork, and some buttons covered in vintage textiles.  The oval platter was a thrift find at GW for 99 cents. It's Johnson Brothers and made in England!  I think I finally found one of those bargains people talk about.

Wishing you all a peaceful Thanksgiving! I will be thinking about the many blesssings I have and sharing food and fellowship with my family.

♥♫

Blocked

Checking the weather out the backdoor is something this farm girl does during a storm.

When I saw that the snow had blown up against the storm door and was blocking the view, I thought it was so pretty with the dark interior and the outside light shining.  Now about eight hours later, the snow has started falling off and I can see the drifts out the back door.

Parts of the high country (mountains) were to have deep snow. Out here on the plains, there isn't always a lot, and that which we do manage to get blows into drifts. I can find beauty in most things of nature, but shoveling snow diminishes my appreciation for it.

♥♫

Devotion

Yesterday we celebrated a 65th wedding anniversary! Sarah and her sweetie, Alex, are with Grandpa and Grandma. What can I say? All four of them are so special to me!

The only thing that would have made the day better was to have their son and Sarah's daddy celebrating with us. I still miss him.

♥♫

Secret Santa Soiree

I joined the fun last year and am participating again!

Our hostess is Suzanne at The Colorado Lady blog. I will participate in most anything with Colorado in it!! Click on the blog name to visit her and join the fun.

♥♫

Utter chaos

These KONG coleus pictures did not load in the order I wanted them. Just goes right along with the way life is right now. And they really have nothing in common with the title. They are just what I found on my phone and mailed to myself so I could go through the long process of fixing a read only file and changing it to one that the picture file will let me save, copy, rename and file.

Oh, did I mention this has been one L.O.N.G. week? School during the day and parent / teacher conferences in the evening. TWO snow storms with slippery, sloshy roads. Bell practice, the true highlight of the week, and performance this morning in church. I tend to be a little nervous, but when the page doesn't turn correctly, I lose my place. Not a pretty sound from my bells at that moment.

My dear SIL and Sarah gifted me with the latest Windows system. This means NEW. Details. Can't find my picture files. Didn't transfer my bookmarks. The house is a disaster...REALLY. No exaggeration. Sarah brings a new toy, a Cricut 2, that we MUST play with and learn. But it won't talk to MY computer...only Sarah's. So why am I sitting here posting?? It's because I've lost my mind.

Anyway, the lovely little coleus flowers got pinched off all summer so the lovely leaves would grow bigger and bigger on the KONG coleus. I brought the plant in before the frost and snow and am going to try to keep it alive over the winter. We shall see...

This week will be better. It will be better . . .

♥♫

Fall Rose Bouquet

 It's official now...

Indian Summer!!

Before we had our first killing frost last Friday, I went out to cut my mini roses for a bouquet.

My mom just loved them!

My plants come from the grocery store and I buy them when they are around $3--$5. They are very hardy and bloom well when I fertilize them. I'll be missing them during the drab days of winter.

Autumn Joy

Not to be confused with the plant with the bee-lovin' pink and red fall flowers.

This joy is GOLD.

First spotted one afternoon after school. 

Bright, almost blinding in the sun.

Out of place, 

as every other branch is still green.

Then a closer inspection. 

Inner leaves are losing their chlorophyll.

Now isn't that just another miracle in the garden? That yellow has been there all the time and is revealed to us only in the fall. I can relate this to my walk with God because He is with me all the time!

God is everywhere.

Look for Him!

♥♫

Mid September

It's the usual story...school keeps me busy. The cooler days mean that I actually want to go outside after school. Cool meaning it's about 82 degrees. I think I remember hearing that we had over 75 days of 90 degrees or higher temperatures during June, July, August, and now September. Out here on the plains many of those days were over 100. I can not imagine living where you have high humidity.

King Kong coleus was fun to watch this summer on the shady side of the house. I kept the buds pinched off so it just grew taller and bushier.

The licorice plant grew even when I had to remove the dead petunias. I love the gray-green soft leaves. This just shows what is growing over the side of one part of the pot.

After a horrible hail storm most of my mom's garden recovered and gave her a colorful view out the dining room window. The cosmos in the top left corner grew and grew but didn't flower much at all. Last weekend they looked almost as big as the mugo pine that my brother removed.

Still having a few issues with a different camera! I'll work on a solution some weekend when I get caught up around here! Oh...that might be next spring.

♥♫

Palisade Peaches

This was my final peach from the western slope.

Ripe. 

Red velvet skin. 

Washed.

Thought I was joking about it being a peach?

 Skin too dark?

It slides right off with the knife blade.

That's because it's RIPE and ready to eat. 

The first two slices went down my throat so fast I didn't get a picture~oh so YUMMY!!

They came from the Rocky Mountain Peach Company via the local 4-H clubs. Thank you, Daisy!! Please come get my order next summer!!

♥♫

Enchantment

It was a total surprise! The pink flowers were only the decoration on a sweet gift bag I received.

Look closer...there's a tea infuser with some VERY pretty beads attached!

It was made especially for me!! Why? My name was selected by  

Sheri at Prim Rose Hill.

The beads are exquisite and I am loving this pretty gift!! The lamp work bead has my very most favorite colors and the sparkle in the Swarovski crystals is brilliant. The pearls and spacers add to its beauty, too.

Thank you, thank you, Sheri!! I'm getting out my Darjeeling, the champagne of tea, and my favorite cup to enjoy some quiet time. Bliss...

♥♫

Roadside Emergency

Technically it wasn't a REAL emergency, but I did stop on the way home from church on Sunday to take a picture of this prairie flower.

I've been watching it bloom everyday on the way to and from school and wanted to stop, but not wanting to get sideswiped. Not much truck traffic on Sundays, so I pulled over.  It was in the bright noon time sun, so it looks washed out.

Beyond the fence post is the crunchy pasture that is so dry. I'll need to do some research on this plant. There's this large one and one other smaller one down the road. { update: I've been searching wildflower data bases and found what I think may be a match: Cleome serrulata.}They are not like the sand lilies that are everywhere earlier in the summer. It  must have a deep tap root to survive like my bush morning glory.

Fairy Lamps

A cooler day meant that I was happy to be outside playing. I put out some of my glass fairy 'art', AKA junque glass and glue! If you missed seeing them, look here.

After I pulled out the dying petunia plant, I dug a hole for the bottom of the piece, hoping that will help it to stay upright and unbroken with my unruly outside kitties. I also tried to anchor it with by sticking some bamboo skewers around the sides. Then I added one of my pink rocks from South Dakota (yep, even some of my rocks are pink!). Maybe still room for a pansy or two.

After a morning of 'inservice' in Fort Morgan, I stopped at the paint shop to get more primer and went around the corner to a small thrift shop. [I had to do something before noon so my morning would not be a total waste! That inservice was the worst I've ever been to in 39 years of education!] I found all these glass pieces for $2.68! As it must have been half off day as the smaller three were only 5 cents each. The bowl was only 75 cents. I like the goblets so may actually use them as intended instead of for my craft projects.  This was a small local shop---GW, SA or ARC do not have anything this cheap. They all seem to believe they are upscale shops these days even though things are donated.

Donna wanted to know what kind of glue I used and Deanna thought I might do one for inside the house. I bought several kinds of glue, all saying they worked on glass. The one I used this time was
Quick Grip, all-purpose permanent adhesive. I have no idea where I found it--Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn Fabrics would be my best guesses! When it's gone, I'll use the next one in my craft supplies. No loyalty to any brand, yet. As for a fairy tower in the house--not as long as I have Wally's cat. Yuna is a terror and would knock it over in one of her races around the house. She is not one of those fat, lazy inside cats!

♥♫

Volunteers

It seems Johnny One Note is here. Another pink flower. This one is a  volunteer. A soothing color that is softer than the original plant whose name I don't remember. It is not as memorable as David, my white phlox. The other volunteer is darker. Of the three pink plants I like this the most. It will be fun to see what happens next year as the volunteers are not exact copies of the mother plant.

 Do I grow anything else besides pink flowers?

Yes, I do.

But it's what is pretty right now.

So Darol, when you read this you are seeing ANOTHER pink one from my garden!!

♥♫

Fairy Towers

When my patience with painting was about gone, I stopped and played with some glue and glass.

I had been buying CHEAP glass things while thrifting and saving them to make "art" for my garden. I think I'll call these my fairy towers and hope we don't get any hail to break them.

♥♫

Lighter and Brighter

As I'm enjoying the painted cabinets I realized that I really did NOT like the backsplash. At all. Never have. But paying off doctor and hospital bills will leave one with NO $$$. So no chance of anything new.

But having a can of primer and some glossy enamel paint made me think I could transform that laminate into something I could tolerate until my ship comes in.

More light! Much brighter. I'm not a splish splashy dish washer so it should be just fine.  On the opposite wall from the window I coated the cabinets with a coat of shellac after reading that on a blogger's page that sells Annie Sloan paint. Wish I'd seen that before I started the whole process.  I'll see if that will keep the tannins in the wood from showing through the paint. The first coat of primer on them is drying and will do another before I paint. Now it doesn' t seem like I cook in a cave. Actually I don't cook much anymore, but I'll enjoy being in the kitchen much more!

♥♫

Pink Profusion

In the soft light at the end of the day I saw how perfect these pink petunias were looking.

This color is Apple Blossom, one of the varieties that the FFA students plant each spring for their green house.

But, as wonderful as these look, I have been pulling out others that have dried up and just died. I don't know if it's the heat cooking them to a crisp or what. I'll enjoy what looks good and throw the dead ones in the dumpster in case they have some sort of disease.

♥♫

Bush Morning Glory

Out in my crunchy brown pasture I have a summer UP. (Unidentified plant). It appeared several years ago and I mow around it each summer. Now I know it really isn't a weed and may try to gather some seeds!

This morning I found an old garden section from The Denver Post that had a piece about Colorado native landscape plants and there was a picture accompanying the article that helped me identify my plant. 

Bush Morning Glory

aka Man Root

Until I know what something is I don't touch it as I don't want to have any reaction to it, as in poison ivy. Here's a link with some interesting information: http://www.gpnc.org/bush.htm

Ipomoea leptophylla

One more week of summer break...it's not really a vacation as there is a lot of work to do around here. As in yard & garden, cleaning, and finishing the kitchen cabinets on the other wall.

♥♫

Constant Care

Rubber hoses are a good thing! If I had to fill these watering cans every day to water my flowers, I might finish about ten o'clock. As it is, I can haul my hose around and be done rather quickly with my 50 + pots.

I can even fill my bird baths super quickly, too. Can you see it below? It is right behind my David Phlox and in front of the red flowers with a reflection of the bricks.

If I can talk Alex into finding the cords to his camera that he promised I can have, I will be able to take clearer pictures. Still wanting a new camera, however, his will be the right price!

♥♫

Undone

Problem: The paint can is empty. Maybe I should have thinned it a bit more for the first coat on the doors.

But I wanted good coverage! I did thin it to finish the two doors on the left and it was easier to brush on. When I get around to the other side of the kitchen I think I'll be priming the doors first, then painting. Too much tannin came through the paint. At least that is what I think it's called. I did go back and seal some edges and then put on a third coat of paint and liked that so much better as those edges didn't turn yellow.

Now for sanding and sealing this set of doors. I'm going to skip the wax and use the sealer. I know that will be easier on my wrists. They need to work for playing the piano, too.

Between coats I just might sneak in a bit of  reading. I have two more Miss Julia books in her series to enjoy and the latest Donna Andrews. Read the Laura Childs book last night. All 'fluffy' reading for summer pleasure.

♥♫