Welcome to my
Perfectly Imperfect Life..........

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Major Fall Garden Clean Up

Life has been just a little crazy lately, so this post is slightly late...
I started a MAJOR garden Clean and Prune the beginning of October. Thinking I'd be done by November 1st when the city comes around and starts to pick up piles of garden waste you've put in the street.

I started in the backyard,
hauling the debris to the street.

As you can see the pile grows

and grows!
And that's just the backyard!

I thought I'd never say this but I did a Dad Prune on the whole garden!  A Dad Prune is when there's maybe about a foot of the plant/Roses left afterwards.
I usually just shape the plant back to a desired size
but not make it naked! LOL
But after 20 years, it was due.
I removed a lot of dead wood, the plants I lost from the drought last Winter, and removed all fallen leaves on the ground that were left from the last 20 years.

I have to say, the soil underneath the leaves was BEAUTIFUL!! Loamy and full of worms.

Back Garden Before

I removed a few small trees,

Pruned the Cherry back into shape and
limbed the Podocarpus way up
so the Apple and Rose of Sharon could get more sun.

There's a water fall in there some where :/


A Tangle of Grapes, Heavenly Bamboo, Roses and Buddleia

The gazebo was swallowed by the Honeysuckle
and climbing Cecil Brunner

Really, it's in there somewhere!



 After
Clean as a whistle!


Tamed!


Moving all birdhouses and related items to side fence for a dry garden...darn drought.
Bunny Lane will be there too :)

The one thing we had left to do was trim the neighbors Weeping Willow, which we did the other day :)


Front Before

Lavender out of control!

Roses, Pomegranate and Rosemary taking over

Lambs Ears has gone wild!



Bike being engulfed by Rosemary


Front After
It's all cleaned up!
See what I mean by a Dad Prune?
But you can see my Spring Bulbs popping up,
nothing to get in their way.

All 20 years of leaves raked down to a
beautiful healthy soil with lots of Leaf Mold

Now I just need it to rain and all the trees drop their
leaves so my gardens can start it's next 20 years of compost.

 My pile is now double parked!
We still need to take down another tree and 
prune the big front Tree, then we'll be done.
The City finally showed up about the 15th to clear this pile.
But I have another started. he he! 





   

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Review ~#Ozeri #Curva Artisan Double Wall Glasses


Some people like to have a cocktail after work or on the weekend.
I say "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere"
Thank so much JB for that wonderful lyric!


Orange Cinnamon Cocktail

I was so excited to be chosen to try out this innovative glassware.
Not only are they unique and gorgeous in their own right,
they are so practical for any type of beverage.
Love their shape that proves easy to pick up and hold.

 

They are made of durable, heat resistant, mouth-blown borosilicate glass of the finest quality, the CURVA is the latest addition to the Ozeri Artisan Series of award-winning handcrafted drink ware.


  
Ok, just what is borosilicate glass?
An unfamiliar term to me -
Borosilicate glass is stronger than common glass, shatter-resistant, and with the CURVA's double-walled design, it offers the ultimate insulation to maintain drinks at their ideal temperature.

Stronger than common glass? COOL!
We go through a lot of glasses around here
(yes, we are one of those clumsy families) ;)
No more worries about making sure everyone has a coaster or finding unsightly water rings on your furniture.
The double wall with each glass keeps it free of condensation
with your chilled beverages! No more slippery glasses either.
Great for iced teas, cocktails, frozen beverages and much more.


Cubra Libra with ice

It also keeps your hands cool even with your hottest drinks!
  CURVA is great for coffee, cappuccinos, hot teas,
and other hot drinks.

Baileys Irish Cream and HOT Coffee

Such a pretty glass that does it all!
I'm impressed!
  
  The CURVA's unique double wall design suspends drinks within an inner wall for an attention-grabbing optical effect. Each of the 4 Glasses has a Unique Shaped Inside wall


I really like the look of the glasses. The dual wall makes the liquid almost look suspended in thin air! It adds a great effect and offers something really different to a standard glass.


My main concern was the fragility of the glass.
Firmly gripping the glassware indicated to me that the glasses were of a sturdy construction.  They  have a considerable weight to them. Not so weighty that I found them heavy, but enough to prove that one does not have to be dainty when enjoying these glasses.
That's a good 2 thumbs up in this home!

CURVA is completely dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe.
Although dishwasher safe, I believe elegant glasses like these deserve to be hand washed, so that is what I have been doing. 


Each set contains four unique, handmade glasses designed for lifetime use and are available at Amazon.
Final opinion:
Love the glasses - the shape, weight, and insulating properties.
Great gift too!
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving to All of You on MY Train!




I received this and it is so touching I needed to share
 
~♥~♥~♥~♥
 
THIS IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND I AM HONORED TO HAVE RECEIVED IT.  I'm SENDING IT ON TO YOU, MY FRIENDS!
 
At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel on our side. However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone. As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of your life. Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize they vacated their seats. This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells. Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers requiring that we give the best of ourselves.
The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.
I wish you a joyful journey on the train of life. Reap success and give lots of love. More importantly, thank God for the journey.
Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train.
 
 
         Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Wintery Cold Season Readiness



A New Blend just in time for Winter!
Whether doing a Fall Clean Up in the garden, raking leaves, shoveling snow or just those aches and pains that come with the Season, Amend+ is ready for to help you through it.


Amend+ is a high-strength, clear-colored warming blend with Birch and other essential oils to support muscle and joint pain relief.  With no added carrier oil, Amend+ is incredibly potent, allowing you to dilute it for your skin needs and preference.  It is designed for topical use and is not recommended for children, pregnant women or anyone who is allergic to aspirin products.
This week Amend+ was launched with an introductory low price for the Item of the Week deal!
You can check it out and order here
I know it sure helped me out. I did a major , and I mean MAJOR yard clean up and pruning this year. I discovered muscles I forgot I had! I'd come in from working, shower and add a few drops to my fingers and work it into the muscles and joints that were aching. A soothing warmth came over the area and I was able to relax and sleep at night.
My daughter has been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, with the change of Seasons and cooler weather, the pain is starting in her back and joints. She used to use another product but it has since for some reason, quit easing the pain.  Amend+ is helping her greatly. So greatly in fact she has reduced her pain pills. A BIG + !
Remember to use this link and enter DragonflyTreasure at check out for an added 10% discount. Every penny helps these days!Wishing you a warm and safe Winter Season


USS NEW YORK!


IN GOD WE TRUST
 
USS 
New York 




 
Here SHE is,  
the USS New York, 
made from the
World
Trade 
Center! 

 
USS 
New York 

It was built with 24 tons of
scrap steel from the 
World
Trade 
Center

It is the 
fifth in a new class of warship -
designed for missions that include 
special operations against terrorists. 
It will carry a crew of 360 sailors 
and 700 combat-ready Marines
to be delivered ashore 
by helicopters and assault craft.
 
Steel from the
World
Trade
Center 
was melted down in a foundry 
in Amite, LA,
to cast the ship's bow section. 
 
When it was poured
into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 
'those big rough steelworkers 
treated it with total reverence,'
recalled Navy Capt.Kevin Wensing, 
who was there.
'It  was a  spiritual moment 
for everybody there.' 
Junior Chavers, 
foundry operations manager, 
said that when the trade center steel 
first arrived, 
he touched it with his hand 
and the 'hair on my neck stood up.'
 'It had a big meaning to it for  
all of us,' he said. 
'They knocked us down. 
They can't keep us down. 
We're going to be back.' 


The ship's motto? 

'Never Forget'
 
 

 


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Printed Image Transfer to Wood and the Old Fix It List

Have you ever noticed things have cycles when it comes to repair? You go along minding your own business then wham! Things start breaking, then it's one right after another! Hate those cycles.

Bella decided that the corner of the footstool Melissa made in High School looked yummy. So she chewed off the corner.


I remolded it using wood putty. Since I didn't have any pink stain left, and it probably would have stood out due to the putty, I decided to paint the top white and add some coordinating decals I had.

Not bad :)

While working on Melissa's, Tora thought  the footstool Ty made in High School had a tasty corner too. What is it about the corners?? They have plenty of chew toys they play and chew up. Why they go after the stool corners is beyond me. Grr. 

Time to turn my attention to Ty's.
 But before I could Tora thought another corner
 looked yummy on Melissa's!

Yep, I now needed to fix that corner.
 

 I puttied it up, you can tell I was frustrated...this corner didn't get fixed as nicely as the first :/


Since I was out of decals I decided to just give it another coat of white and then searched for something I could paint on the top.



Once I found "it", out came Dad's stack of carbon paper again!

I love the meaning behind this quote,

 so I used the same procedure as I did on my floor.


I love the way it turned out
I had some paint that was an OK match.
I tweaked it with some other colors
to get it to the shade I wanted.
Once dry I sealed it with ''diamond glaze''.


OK, back to Ty's. 


I puttied up the corner, sorry no photo's,
getting a little perturbed at these dogs,
and painted it white again.

I had decided I wanted to bring in some blues to the living room and thought this was the perfect opportunity to get started.

Been kind of obsessing over Peacocks lately,
so searched for images.
I came across one I really liked. I didn't want anything to detailed because I wasn't sure how I was going to add it to the top.


I really liked this watercolor, but how to get it on top of the stool? Decoupage? didn't think that was the way to go, so I headed for Pinterest, where else?

Thought I'd try to transfer the image to the wood.
I had never done anything like this before and was hesitant but after reading several tutorials I decided to dive in and be done with these darn foot stools (and whoever took the next bite out of either were getting their teeth pulled! J/K I'd never actually do that, but .....).

So I printed out the image on regular printer paper
with my LaserJet printer.
I then coated the top of the stool with Mod Podge and glued it on.
I left it there a couple of days, life interrupted, but by then I knew it was defiantly dry at least!


The reason you see so many pieces of paper is because I decided to add 2 peacocks. I did not want the un-imaged areas to be left white, so I added pieces of the ''background'' from the original image.

I wet a sponge and started soaking the paper. As the paper got wet I could start to see the image through it. That's when I began to carefully roll the paper off with my fingers, bits started rolling up and off. I was really afraid that the image was going to come off too, but it didn't.

Sorry no photo's. By this time between being nervous about this procedure and fed up on working on stools, photo's were the last thing on my mind :/

Once ALL the paper bits were off, I sanded it just a bit so it didn't look so ''new''. I also got my paints out, watered them down and tried to blend the ''seams''. In my concentration I forgot to trim the white edges off the peacock images, so there were white "stripes" between the background pieces and the peacock images.



After working on it on and off for several days I realized it was as good as it was going to get. I sanded it lightly so that where I painted coordinated with the rest of the sanding I did earlier.

 
So here it is, finished and sealed with diamond glaze. Whew, glad to be done...so far, knock on wood, no bites have been taken out of either one!



 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I turned my ceiling fan in my bedroom on the other day
and a blade fell off! 

Now granted this poor fan has been through many moves and is about 24 years old. We picked it up for a song when stationed in Miami. Jefferson Ward (east coast Montgomery Ward) was going out of business, I remember going thorough all the boxes trying to find shades that weren't broken ;)
Eventually I did find enough intact.
 Anyway, the blade broke at the bracket.


Not wanting to go through the hassle of finding another
and putting it up, let alone spending money I didn't have,
 I decided to do what my Dad would do.
JB weld the sucker!  

Mixed a dollop of the 2 tubes together


and I was ready to go!
Slathered on the mixture,
propped it in positioned to dry.

Waiting an extra allotted amount of time
to be sure it was well cured.
After all I don't want it to fly off!

Painted it gold to match the rest of the bracket



And voila! Fixed and still spinning.

Since I started this post M's fan blade did the same thing!!
What is it with these ceiling fans!!

Did the same with hers and it's back on and going strong!
Gotta love JB Weld!!



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Next the dogs knocked over a birdbath ornament
and it snapped in half.
Yep, JB weld to the rescue again!



Slathered it on


 propped it in place




Again waited an extra amount of time to
be sure it was cured.


Painted it to match



distressed a tad,
all fixed!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Then my favorite hair comb broke



I once again used JB Weld


Once cured I painted it to match the best I could.



Works perfectly!



JB Weld has not endorsed this post. It is just my opinion of the greatest product out there for metal. Dad used it for everything! The best thing he ever taught me!

So next time one of your fave's gets knocked over or
breaks try JB Weld. Love this stuff! 

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