florida living - part three

welcome back everyone.  so happy you made it to my front side door! i'm glad you found time to visit.  come on in and sit a spell. this is my favorite place to sit.  i am crazy about this sofa.  it's all stuffed with feathers and is very comfortable.  the clock on the wall was a great find down here because it is just like one we had up north.  it brings back good memories.

    
the christmas cactus to the right belonged to my mother-in-law.  it is very special to me because we took ownership of it when she passed away.  i've had it for years and it survived the long trip down in the back of the suv.  i smile whenever i catch sight of that little frog sitting amongst the leaves.

you can see something hanging from the ceiling in the first photo of the lanai i posted.  it's a fish my friend made for me. she does lots of fused glass and made them for fan pulls.  i just love it and have 2 more hanging from fans inside of the house.  it adds just the touch of whimsy i love.

i had wanted to have a table in the lanai but there just wasn't enough room with the oversized furniture i ended up falling in love with, so when i found this drop leaf table at a local consignment shop my heart sang. it was the perfect fit to use as an end table. 

i love curling up on the sofa, drinking some tea and reading my books. that tiny little candle holder belonged to my gram.  it's old and i just love it.

the tile floor is new.  the original floor was painted gray in a block pattern which was functional but lacked any personality whatsoever.  what a time we had to find tile we both agreed upon. this is what was finally selected,  but i shamelessly admit, i had to use my "wear 'em down" skills.

i was really hoping to have true mexican tile but there just wasn't any to be found.  even though it isn't what i thought i wanted, i really do think it is warm and wonderful.

when i'm on the sofa i get to have this view.  it's so peaceful.  i love listening to the water feature outside of the window.  it's a really magical place to be.

you will often find todd sitting in this chair.  i made the rag quilt that hangs on the back of it.  one of my dear friends gave me those crow squares that i incorporated into the quilt.  it means a lot to me.
that little stand to the left i found on one of my outings to a thrift store.  it was the perfect fit and gives todd a place to put his coffee cup.  if you take a closer look at what's on the top of it you can see my

little zentangle bird i did.  i am quite fond of it.  the african violet is in remembrance of my gram.  she loved those flowers.  she has strict instructions to take care of it for me, and honestly, i think she is because it hasn't stopped blooming since i bought it.  the little yellow heart shaped stone was a gift from a friend.  it says "thankful" on it.  i am.  i have a truly blessed life.

i have other plants in the room as well just because i love them so much.  it's a little bit of the outdoors indoors.

there's always an angel watching over us

do you think i'm a collector of benches?

i had to have this angel fern.

see those tiles under the door to the right?  the same friend who made the little fish made these tiles for me.  i love the added pop of color they give to the room.  which one is your favorite?

this door takes you into my house.  would you like to come in and see what's next?  give me a moment to tidy up the place and i'll be back to show you more.

florida life - part two

welcome back.  i'm so happy to see you.  we're off to see the next installment of the little series i will share of my florida house.  so hurry up and come around that little white picket fence! on the very corner a little bird has been awaiting your visit. it made the trip from pennsylvania just for you.

here is the walkway that leads you to the lanai entrance.  see the little bend of concrete walkway?  that is new and was added this summer.  there was a front door on our screened in lanai when we bought the house.  the painted walkway ended at the front door,  but we took out that door to allow for more living space in the lanai.  it was a very good decicion.  the new concrete has to cure before it can be painted.  everyone keeps telling me - "all in due time" - but my patience level only speaks the language of "right now".

this fern was salvaged from my next door neighbor's yard when she was getting rid of plants.  it has been really thriving in that spot and that makes me so happy.  i had ferns at my house in pennsylvania and it is a beautiful memory for me. 

a little lantana love

that tree is called a bottle brush tree.  the fire orange-red blossoms on it look just like a brush you would use to clean bottles.  i love it, but so do the bees.  thank goodness they are more interested in the pollen than me!

this is the little water feature we just added.  it sits in front of the lanai enclosure windows.  the little water bubble lights up so you can see it even in the dark.  i really enjoy hearing the water trickle.  it reminds me of the sound of our koi pond back home.  i think it will be such a pretty part of our lanscaping when the plants get more mature.   i was really happy with the red grasses we planted and then the very next day the man who mows our lawn told me the snakes love to lay in those grasses so i should always poke them with a stick before i prune them.  i am pretty sure i would have been better off not knowing that because since then i have worried about the grass attracting snakes.  my husband says no need to worry, but i think it was easier for me to trust him on using the suv for a u-haul then on this issue. the beautiful deep-pink flower is coreopsis and is what we had planted at our pond up north - another fond remembrance.

as you round the bend on the concrete walkway you come to my side yard.  that little black, wrought iron fence made the trip from up north, too.  i just loved it and was a special gift from my aunt. 

we love this little patio and use it very often. the canopy is remote controlled and provides a gorgeous outdoor setting.  it also is extremely helpful in keeping the sun and heat from blaring in the glass sliding doors that are to the right of the yellow wicker chairs. 

we found this great metal structure at the cutest little town called micanopy.  you should have seen us trying to get it in the car.  what a fiasco that was.  we forced it in the trunk of the jetta and the trunk was open wider than it should have been.  on the way home we were in the worst rain storm you could think of.  it rained so hard you couldn't even see inches in front of you.  it took the car days to dry out.  what a mess.  but i love it so much and it looks wonderful in that spot.  the little round orb that hangs inside of it made the trip from pennsylvania, too.

this little mobile came along for the ride, too.  my husband gave me this for a gift.  it is made from silverware.  i just adore it and it hangs right outside the entrance to my lanai.

so you've made it to my front door.  i can see you! can you see me?  make sure you make it back for another installment.  behind that door is my newly enclosed lanai.  i can't wait for you to see it!

florida life

my husband and i were both born and raised in pennsylvania.  he taught at the same school we attended.  both of our boys had him as one of their teachers.  most of our families live there.  our world was a small world in so many ways. so it is quite amazing to me that we are now living in florida.

if you had ever told me that i would move to florida, even as little as 5 years ago,  i would have laughed, thinking surely you were mistaken.  but lo and behold, here i am, living proof that god works in mysterious ways.

in june of this year my husband officially retired ( a bit early) from school teaching.  we listed our house in pennsylvania and it was sold in 6 weeks.  we closed almost immediately and had only a week to clear it out.  it happened so quickly, and as i look back, in some respects that was good, because i didn't have time to "think" about things.  i just had too much to get done in such a short period of time.

my whole life was in that house, and while i did really well over all, i will confess i had literally an hour where i cried.  i did have overwhelming feelings hit me, mostly in the"letting go of stuff" that i had in storage.  my husband and his two friends were loading up the dumpster and just wanted me to make decisions faster then what i could process.

my husband was positive we didn't need a u-haul and that we could fit 30 years of our life into the back of our ford escape.  i trusted him and i thought if he thinks we can do it then we probably can. as i write that i ask myself, really?  what were you thinking woman?!  little did i know that the sentimental side of me would want to bring so much more then actually would fit into the back of that car.

we packed the truck (beverly hillbilly's style), attended the closing and headed out on our journey to florida.  we made it in 2 days time, much to the chagrin of my husband.  he had more of a 3 or 4 day trip in his mind.  the first day we stopped in virginia at our friend's house and spent the night.  the next day we drove from there to our house in florida.  it was a long, grueling day, but i knew we'd be so happy to wake up the next morning in our own bed.  we were.

so here we are.  enjoying our new life as floridians.  i love the sunshine, the warmth, and the ability to be outside nearly every day.  i'm making new friends and learning to be independent in so many ways.  it's all been a really terrific experience.  i am truly blessed.

since the move, i've been asked many times, by so many people, to share photos of my home in florida.  we've been busy working on it since my husband retired, and while there are things i'd still like to do to it, i'm not sure i've convinced him it should be done, so i will continue to work on fine tuning my "wearing-him-down skills".

in the meantime, consider this blog post the first installment of photos to show you the little slice of paradise i live in and the place i now call home.

here we are at the front of my house.  i love the little white picket fence because it feels so quaint and charming.  that is jasmine growing on it and when it is blooming it smells divine.  here are some of the other beautiful flowers i get to see and smell by that little white fence:

a deep peach hibiscus

a brilliant fuschia daisy

a fragrant yellowish pink rose

in the first photo, if you notice the burgundy awning,  that is something new we did to the house this summer.  we decided that when we enclosed the front lanai we would put it up to help with the heat of the sun.  it's been a most welcomed addition.  not to mention, it also adds character to the front of the house.

i hand painted this sign a few years ago when we first bought the house.  it was so bright and colorful initially, and despite the multitude of coats of varnish i put on it, the florida sun has managed to strip the color.  one of these days i will get around to repainting it.  so for the moment, you'll have to imagine the sign in bright shades of yellow, pink, teal and blue with red hearts.

i hope you'll be intrigued to come back and see what is behind that little white picket fence.  there is so much more to see at nicholas place.

stampotique challenge time

this week at stampotique, jenn, has asked us to create a card with more than one fold. i like making cards like this because it is something out of the ordinary.  i used the sentiment chair up stamp, the love you heart, the velvet chair (one of my personal favorite stamps) and jasmine to create this card.

if you would like to join in on the fun you can find all about the details by clicking the above link.  If you play you will have a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate towards Stampotique stamps, and really, who couldn't use more stamps?!

i'm a winner

look what i won!  turns out i am a winner on violette's blog anniversary giveaway.  what exciting news this was today.

rubberstampmadness

Submit artwork to RubberStampMadness!

MUSIC is one of the themes for the Summer 2014 issue of RSM. We'd love to see what you stamp on this topic. Perhaps include your favorite song or musical instrument, singer, band or orchestra in your artwork. JEWELRY is the second theme. We will publish a variety of stamped jewelry. Click here for details: http://www.rsmadness.com/submissions.html. Note: If it's easier to send in a jpg of the jewelry, rather than the original piece, send that to images@rsmadness.com.  Dec.10 is the final postmark date or e-mail date for artwork submissions.

shades of yellow

over at deviant scrap, tumble fish studio has put out a new digital kit called shades of yellow.  i did an altered envelope - a cut and paste sample - for the release.

my new grandson

meet my new grandson, jackson joseph nicholas.  he wanted to be born early but still pretty big at 6 lbs-5 oz and 19-1/2 inches long.  his older brother benny looks like he loves him already!

stampotique challenge time

it's stampotique challenge time once again.  carol has asked to create something that is spooky for halloween. i used my stamp blessed skellie to create the main focal image.  it's all paper layered and then watercolors to create shadows.  i used my stamp squiggle arms to create the breeze in the sky. the moon is from stampotique, too, as well as the owls, the fence, the pumpkins and the swirl weeds behind the fence. i used a lot of stampotique stamps to create this journal page.

if you would like to join in on the fun you can find all about the details by clicking the above link.  If you play you will have a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate towards Stampotique stamps, and really, who couldn't use more stamps?!

stampotique challenge time

It's stampotique challenge time once again. sam has asked to create an atc.  i used my brand new stamp stacked love for the focal image, but to create the background i used design cube,  in stitches,  and the sentiment from the stamp tall word collage.

to create the background i used  ranger tissue scrap and then used gesso and ranger distress paint to paint over it, except for the bird.  i used stampotique stamps in soft brown to add another layer of interest.  i embossed my love stamp in black and used markers to color it in.  i stamped creative on a scrap piece of paper.  i added fringe to the bottom of the atc and secured it on the background with machine stitching.

if you would like to join in on the fun you can find all about the details by clicking the above link.  If you play you will have a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate towards Stampotique stamps, and really, who couldn't use more stamps?!