We have had the freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze thing going on here for several weeks. We have a cover over the deck that collects these ice cycles because it is an unheated fiberglass cover. I think they are beautiful and I keep plucking them down. Every time I do though, I want to poke someone with it. Maybe I did that as a child, I don't remember, but maybe it is some latent urge I have never gotten to satisfy. When I pick them up I feel like a Star Wars character with a light sabre or one of the three musketeers. The problem... there is never anyone around here to poke. My dog just won't cooperate. SO...if you ever come over and I say to you ""En Gard and run to my freezer, watch out!

This Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of my Mom and Dad. That is a big deal and quite an achievement in this world today. I love these two people so much that it makes me cry if I think about it too much. I can't imagine not ever having them in my life. They are the salt of the earth. They are so service oriented, and such a good example to me of the way a person should live their lives. They are spiritual, talented, fun loving, generous, and stalwarts in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

This is what they looked like at their high school prom.....yes they were high school sweethearts.

This is a picture of young parents with the world in front of them. Little did they know then of the trials that awaited them in this life. ( Mostly problems brought on by us children.)

This was 10 years ago at their 50th anniversary celebration, sitting in the same building in the same place and using the same pose as the prom picture in the first photo.

This is a picture of how they look today. Don't they look great for being 80? Besides their anniversary, it is also Mom's 80th birthday the same day. Happy Birthday Mom. Dad actually won't be 80 until June and he always teases Mom about being an older woman. Older but wiser, I say. Wink! "Because of You" is their song....so enjoy.

Week 2

After we painted the focal wall in the living room, we had paint left and so we decided to paint two walls in the dining room. I actually climbed up the big ladder and taped around the ceiling and walls so Wayne could begin painting. I used to get a little apprehensive about climbing after my fall a few years ago, but I think I have conquered my fear. The paint was a little dark so I added a quart of white to it. The colors looked good next to the original color so I was happy. Because of the morning light coming through the big window here you can't really see the color all that well, but if you look at the focal wall from the previous post, it's just a bit lighter.

The color sometimes look green and sometimes looks tan.

The original entry light was a brown chandelier. The dining room did not have any kind of light at all. Wayne climbed up into the attic, wired for a chandelier and cut a hole through the ceiling. into the dining room. I changed out the entry light to this one because I didn't want two chandeliers hanging side by side. It is charcoal and bronze with silver detail. I then repainted the original chandelier metallic charcoal so we could hang it in the dining room.

I bought a white ceiling medallion and painted it to match the colors of the entry light and attached the chandelier to it.

I didn't realize the small light bulbs I bought had a purple tinge to them but for the first time in 6 years, I can see my music when I play the piano. Some day I may replace it with a more substantial fixture, but for now I am set. Ah.... teamwork.

Focal Wall

Wayne, aka my slave man, is usually pretty good about indulging me and doing every

project that I dream up. My whole house (including the ceilings) was painted a peachy tan color when we bought it. It's a nice color but it is just over-kill. The 2nd thing that makes it even more of a problem is that the whole house was painted with oil based paint. If we want to repaint, we have to prime everything or the water based paint won't stick. It is a real pain to say the least. I wanted the fireplace area to be a focal wall. I needed to break up the color to give my eyes a rest from the tan color. I picked out a paint that is somewhere between green and brown, and that looks OK with the other walls. Amy and I taped it off and Wayne painted it. Ah, my eyes are so happy. Don't you just love teamwork?

This is the result.

And this was the process. He primed, and painted with long strokes to makes sure there were no roller marks.

The ceilings are high so the big ladder had to come out.

It is hard for Wayne at times because he has a rotator cuff that needs surgery. What a trooper.

It's done and I love it. Next project..... the piano room. No time for surgery yet Wayne.

From Hair to Here

I was showing my daughter Amy all of my of curlers and rollers last week. I don't even know why I have kept them all these years. I'm not a big collector of things, but hair is a woman's crowning glory and I spent a lot of time with these things. I was either a little sentimental or just never got around to throwing them out, I'm not sure which. This is my graduation picture. It took so much time to achieve this look. You had to curl, tease, spray, tease again, hold it with a clip until it dried and spray again. Then you had to tease the underside and brush up for that perfect flip.... and both sides had to match. It was a feat in itself.So, how do you get from this hairdo....

to this one? Let's take the journey.

These are the tools I use now. A hair blower and round brush and I touch up with a large barreled curling iron. You blow, wrap the hair around the brush and you are done in 20 minutes.

Back in the 80's, I couldn't get ready without my hot rollers. You put a little water and maybe some conditioner in the base and when the whole inside was steamy, the rollers (filled with hot wax) were ready to use. They worked quickly but the heat was not particularly good for your hair.

In high school, we wrapped our tresses around fruit juice cans to get a big enough curl. We looked rather odd walking around. And we did walk around in them. (What were we thinking?)We would even go shopping in them sometimes. We used the big hood hairdryers or the ones with a hose going into the cap and it took a long time to dry. Well if you didn't have time to sit under the dryer, you just went and did your errands until it was dry. We didn't have the tools we use now. We've come a long way baby. And, no, we couldn't pick up the radio signal from KOMA in Oklahoma.

Before the juice cans, I used these "magnetic rollers". I don't know why they called them that because there was nothing magnetic about them. They were smooth like the juice cans. It was hard to keep them in your hair. We used clippies to hold them in.

Before the magnetic rollers, I used these. They really held the hair in place, but the spikes were very hard, you had a head ache before your hair was dry. I didn't use these for long.

These were the rollers I used for many years. They were a mesh plastic with a metal coil and a brush inside. They held well, they came in lots of sizes and we actually slept in them. I don't know how we did it. Anything for beauty I guess. The open design let the air circulate and by morning your "DO" was done.

Remember these? They have been around forever. I used these when I wanted curls, and even used them on my daughters when they were little. They were soft so you could sleep in them and they were gentle on your hair. The problem was, you didn't have much control how your hair looked when they came out. They were good for little girl ringlets.

I told Amy that my hot rollers still worked if she wanted to give them a try. She is in the process of growing out her hair and it's at that mid length that's hard to do anything with. She gave it a "go" and this is the result. We had a good laugh. She just needs to learn the tricks. You can't just curl the upper level and leave the bottom hanging out.

Just a little wild!

Now what does she do?

Oops! This did not work out the way she had hoped.

Well, it may be time to try the mesh rollers or the juice cans.