My 200th Post!

Hello friends,

I was just looking at my stats...not a big deal as I have 9 followers and perhaps on a very good day, 15 hits....this is just fun for me to do...no big deal.....but then I saw "Postings:199" and thought THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!! Wish I could give a car away or a cruise or a trip to Disney....but maybe when I hit 500????

Summer is here in NC with a vengence....90 degree temps and lots of sun....good beach weather!

We are bicycle shopping....I want a cruiser, maybe 7speed, Paul wants a no speed. Seen alot of nice ones for good prices especially at WMT. With his employee discount, they are even more attractive. I am no Lance Armstrong, but, I think it would be fun to tool around camp and get some exercise.

The photo above is of me and my grandson Woody. He is the best guy ever. I am so fortunate to have him in my life. We attended his orchestra concert last night and it was very very good. He will be a senior next year....where does the time go??? We had so many good times. I could make him happy just watching Thomas the Tank Engine. He has always been a good student and is very smart and talented (I am sure you have folks just like Woody in your life too!). Woody has a tender heart and I hope he keeps being the great young man he already is forever!

Thank you Woody for allowing us to be a part of your life, it means so much.

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cathy

Kitchen make over...or...Eat your heart out HGTV

First set of cabinets to get the "treatment". I emptied the cabinets, then removed the doors and all the hinges and hardware.

The stuff from inside the cabinet resides in the dining room for now.

Paul taped and painted the first coat of primer after we washed down the cabinets and doors really well to get rid of greese and grime. Did a bit of sanding, but not much.

Here's the cabinet after 2 coats of primer and two coats of paint.

Here's all the cabints on the sink side all painted and drying. We are waiting a full 5 days for them to cure and dry out before re-hanging the doors....

Hello friends,

I know I have told you this before, but it bears repeating: I am a gypsy. Never did I think I would live anywhere for 23 years, and yet....lo and behold...this July marks our 23rd year of owning this home on Arrowhead Way! I am more surprised than you are right now! When I look back, I think we have done a bunch of home improvements, but nothing major in quite a long while. Home maintanance was more our theme....but with the advent of my love of the internet and all those wonderful diy blogs of all sorts and google and youtube....well, I think, if I really wanted to...I could find a video and directions on self-open heart surgery!!! All kidding aside, I did find tons of info on painting kitchen cabinets, but I went with my brother, Alan's advice since he is a seasoned professional painter-and have been very happy with the results. Alan's best advice....patience.....boy, do I know what he means now! He also said start small, do it in parts rather than all at once. That has been good advice, but man am I weary of this endeavor! The good news is that it really is looking so very nice and bright and just the way I imagined and will update our kitchen to match the cottage look of the rest of the house and for very little money, but alot of labor....I have the time, it is just the two of us and

we deal pretty well with the chaos........

When we finish painting the upper cabinets, we will begin painting the lower ones in a very soft grey...........should be pretty. I promise to keep you posted. I have tons more photos, but blogger is fussy about too many photos. I am really hoping to get the painting all done very soon...but you cannot rush....patience....right!

We are going to get new countertops and a nice backsplash and then....I think that will be all for a while!

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cathy

Camp tour part one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXdpvbRaEw8
Hello again friends,


Have had fun with the Flip camera. I made a short...6 min. video of our camp, but, it takes Blogger forever to upload, so I am not sure it will work, but I will try. Gives you a real "feel" for camping with us!

Any questions?

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cathy

Scenes from Lake Woe-beGone

Hello friends,

Paul and I are very fortunate to share some "hobbies". We love Christmas celebrations and all that entails and we love to camp and travel, we love NYC and we love our family and we love the Lord! (not necessairily in that order.....) Camping for us has become a bit of an obcession....as in, let's have the coolest set-up in the entire park! Not really, but we do enjoy all the creature comforts that we can haul out here....and do we haul! Since we are tenting it, there are alot of extras we manage to bring....porta-john (a must), 2 room bath house, very large screen room with neat stuff(video coming soon....) cabin tent, lots of astro-turf carpet, and on and on....we work very hard to get set up, and you may ask yourself why?

#1 because we still can!!!

#2 because we really enjoy it

#3 because we can't afford a camper just yet

#4 because we don't want to just sit at home, this lake is soooo close and sooo lovely, well....we really can relax out here.

#5 because Paul would like to catch a fish he can gut, skin and bring to me to cook!

So, here are a couple of videos of Paul launching the canoe.....enjoy Oh, by the way, Blogger took forever to upload these very short videos....think I will try another venu next time around, but hope you get a kick out of seeing Paul in action!

Mr. Capote does not have a corner on memories

The summer I turned 8 my mom married Jonfre Airington. We kids got to move into what we have always called it, "The Green House" It was not green....but it did have a couple of actual glass greenhouses, one free standing and one attached to the side of the ancient...at least 80 years old back then in the mid 50s farmhouse -style house complete with a huge front porch and one bathroom...upstairs (another in the dark and a bit scarry basement). That dear old house is the home of my childhood and the holder of so many sweet memories that my heart aches at the thoughts of all the laughter, tears, fears and joys of those Elmwood days. We lived just one block from our elementary school, Milton Moore, and could walk home for lunch, which we did many days! Those greenhouses became our new grandmother, Beulah's business...EASTSIDE GARDENS.

We grew geraniums, petunias, salvia, tomatoes, and many more annuals along with a yard-full of wonderful perenials which we would dig out using a sharp-shooter shovel and wrap in newspaper and sell for whatever Beulah decided to price it. Pansies in the spring, petunias in the summer and lots of weeding inbetween. Now, I say, "we" grew, but the heart of EASTSIDE Gardens was Beulah and she knew everything there was to know about plants, soil, literature, history and people! The older I grow, the more I am aware of just what a treasure she was in my life. Oh, I wish you could have known her!

So, I have a love of plants and gardening that has a foundation deep in Missouri soil. I still dislike weeding tho, but it is a necessary evil. I was not a hard worker so don't get the idea I just loved working in the greenhouse, I didn't....but...here's the interesting thing, upon reflection, working in the garden was not so bad, in fact, I am so thankful for having the experiences I shared with my sister and brother and friends and family there
at the green house.

These photos are of our home and yard. I put this other window box together to hang in front of our dining room bay window. It already looks so pretty, just love the colors. We planted 3 knockout double roses in front of the bay to take the place of two very old and gnarley (is that how you spell it???) hedges that were super ugly and no color at all. The knockouts should bring lots of color to that part of the house....2 pink and one yellow in the middle! It will take about a year for them to really show, but I am patient, since we have decided to stay....I have plenty of time to wait and watch and smell the roses!

Happy Mothers Day...Mom, Grandma, Beulah, Grandma Graybeal....

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cathy