Redecorating

I spoke about our redecorating in an earlier post and thought I would show you some before and after pictures. I know, I know -- what took me so long to get rid of that wallpaper! First of all, it is a large room and a lot of work to strip the wallpaper and paint, second of all, what did I want the finished product to look like, and third, laziness!

This is the before:

This is the after:

We also redid our entryway and this is what it looks like:

I'm happy with the red color and the new border around the doorways. The entryway also had the wallpaper previously. My hubby is still finishing up on the molding and we need to find switchplates and outlet plates. I'm debating on whether to buy white outlets or painting the outlets the same color as the wall. Any thoughts?

Lake Fun

Some of our rivers in the Midwest are overflowing. This picture shows this dam with all its gates open, which is a rare occurence. Makes for a beautiful picture.

The lake that is formed behind this dam is the next picture. It is very high recreation -- resorts, skiing, parasailing, outlet mall, etc. It is fun to visit and a good location to take visiting family and friends. This time of year, it is a very busy place. I took this picture at a wonderful overlook that had picnic tables. We need to go back with a picnic basket and enjoy food and scenery. I love the summer. I could live somewhere where it is warm year round. Maybe after I retire!

Tagged - A Little About Me

JenMarie702 tagged me. My first tag (that I know of). Here goes. I am tagging the following - hoping they have not already been tagged!
1. Kimba at All Things Kimba
2. Corrie at Musings of a Not So Desperate Housewife
3. Elizabeth at Suburban Cupcake
4. Mrs. P at Preppy Chic
5. SavvyCity Farmer
6. Home Daisy at Cottage Bethy
7. Sarah at the Seven Spot
8. Lisagh at Grosgrain Garage

The rules:

One: Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
Two: You need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names/pseudonyms/blogs.

1. I must clear my throat more than I realize because my daughter tells me she can find me in a store by just listening for me.
2. I have auburn hair and didn't like having it as a child because it was something that I was teased about (Red is Dead, etc.). Now that it is popular, and I'm old enough to appreciate it, the color is fading. Argggh
3. I'm going to be a grandma for the first time. My daughter is expecting in January. We're very excited.
4. I am the youngest of three and the only girl. I always wonder what it would be like to have a sister. My brothers seem to think I was spoiled growing up. Maybe compared to them but definitely not compared to my friends.
5. I'm fairly scared of heights. Don't like to get to the edge and look over. Grand Canyon just doesn't look the same from the parking lot! LOL
6. I volunteer at a local hospital in the OB Unit. I answer their phones, let people in to visit patients and other random things. I enjoy helping out the nurses who work so hard and being in the health community.
7. I have read 4 books from the list of "1001 books to read before you die" this year. I guess I need to read about 25 books per year if I live until 86. Maybe I'll read 50 books when I'm 75 and older!
8. I've been in every state but two (Alaska and Delaware). My family camped for three weeks in the summer as I was growing up and we did a lot of traveling. I did a lot of camping with my children too so they have been to quite a few states as well. Don't know how we missed Delaware!

This was fun! Your turn ladies!

Home Decorating

We have been redecorating our living room and are getting closer to the end. We've taken down the wallpaper, repaired wall dents and scratches, taken down the ceiling fans and put in new lights, painted (you would not believe how many different hues and shades of green there are), and now working on putting on the crown and base molding, and the window molding which includes rosettes. My hubby does all the work himself after a full day of work, so we have taken our time to complete the project. The living room looks pretty much back to normal now, but for a while it was a lot of sheets over furniture and dust everywhere.

Of course, when you change the wall color, you must look at new furniture options and window curtains. I'm currently on the lookout for a couple bookcases and a chaise. When we started the decorating project, I took my curtains down from my large picture window and realized that the sun shown into the room beautifully and would be great to have a nice chaise sitting beside the window where I could read from. I'm also trying to figure out what curtains I need so that the molding and the rosettes won't be covered up. The room is green, the molding white, furniture is cherry and lamps and mirror are black wrought iron. When we get closer to being finished, I will post a picture.

Some furniture that I am looking at:

This from Target -

and this from IKEA:

Don't Forget the Lyrics

I watched for the first time tonight the show "Don't Forget the Lyrics". Wayne Brady is fun and a good singer. The contestant tonight won $350,000. He actually had a really good voice. Not sure I would enjoy this show if the contestant couldn't carry a tune in a bucket!

I would never be able to remember the lyrics to songs especially under stress! This show reminds me of the show years ago called "Name that Tune". I can name that tune in 7 notes!

My brother really enjoys karaoke and probably would do well in this show. A part of this show is that you have to remember 8 missing words or 10 missing words, so that takes karaoke to a different level! The words are not up on the screen anymore and you have to fill in the blanks. My mind would go blank! Has anyone else tuned into this show? Do you find yourself singing along?

Baseball Season

We went to my nephew's All Star baseball game tonight. The team is made up of 9 and 10 year olds. His team won one and lost one, so Wednesday evening will be the playoff. It is so nice to just sit back, relax and watch a game without worrying about how your child is playing or whether they will get in the game, etc. like parents sometimes do about their own children. Being an aunt is a lot easier!

One exciting play tonight was a triple play. The pitcher caught the ball, threw to first base and caught that runner off the bag and then to second base where that runner had not returned. That got the team and the crowd revved up!

It was definitely a warm evening tonight at the ballfield. Never did cool down much even after the sun went down. Very humid. Glad I was watching and not playing!

Growing

Everything is growing fast. Ready to pick, ready to eat, not enough hands, not enough mouths! My mother-in-law came over last night and picked a big basket of green beans. She and my hubby put in the garden and enjoy working on it together. The blackberries are growing faster than I can pick and the flowers look beautiful and are fun to photograph. Here are a few of the pictures I took.

Button, Button, Whose Got the Button?

As I was looking at my collection of buttons, I remembered the game "Button, Button, Whose Got the Button?" Have you played this game? It has been a long time since I've played. It can be a fun game with your children and their friends.

How about some of these games? Red Light, Green Light; Mother May I; Hide and Seek; Blindman’s Bluff; Red Rover, Red Rover; Duck Duck Goose; London Bridge is Falling Down; Statues; Leap Frog; Farmer In The Dell, Tag; Hopscotch.

It has been a really long time since I have played these games. Fun times. Many times these games are played at VBS and the schoolyard. Hopefully children are still learning these fun games.

Celebrate

Hope you had a great Holiday! God Bless America.

Blackberries

Tis the season for blackberries. We have wild blackberry bushes everywhere at our place. The bushes have spread this year, so we have many, many blackberries preparing to ripen. I picked a couple cups tonight. They look great. Belle and Luke (our labs) go out with me and eat the low lying blackberries! In a couple of weeks, we may not be able to keep up with the picking and need to have a blackberry picking party!

I'll try to take a picture of the bushes the next time I go pick. They look great and there are a lot of wildflowers also around the bushes. Anyone have a special recipe they love using blackberries?

Rain and Then More Rain

We have had rain for several days. It has also been fairly cool for the end of June. I'm ready for a little sun. We have been dry, so the rain has been good for that ... it just doesn't seem to end.

Our garden is drenched and the lawn is really high. Everything is really green though and that is really nice. My flowers are really growing and look beautiful. The good and the bad of rainy weather! Maybe this week will be a little drier and allow for fantastic fireworks on Wednesday.

We've been invited to a BBQ on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to visiting with friends and homemade icecream! Always a great holiday for food and friends. Everyone have a wonderful 4th of July!