New Face-Lift for our Front Entry & Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I'm so excited. I finally found the "perfect" shrubs/urns to grace the sides of our entry door to welcome guests! They are not real, but man they sure look it! They came complete all potted in the lovely urns and ready to go. I've been looking for really, really tall topiary shrubs because we have a really, really tall entry porch. So many people make the mistake of putting little tiny shrubs out in front of their tall houses and I just think it doesn't look right. I've also seen huge urns with tiny little shrubs planted in them. Just doesn't look right to me either. I believe things should be balanced. Oh yes, and if you look to the right of our sidewalk you'll see our snow. . . still. . . hanging. . . around. . . on. . . the. . . ground!!! Dang nab it!!


Our old urns were just not working for us any more. They will be moved to the back of the house and placed on our patio this Spring/Summer/Fall. I loved them, yes, very much. . . however, so did the birds. Birds, birds and more birds. They swarmed my front door all Spring long removing pieces of the topiary arrangement for their nesting. You see, it was perfect for them. Grapevine balls surrounded with silk ivy. They loved to disassemble my arrangement every year for their nests! Not to mention that they could scare the tar out of you if you walked up to the door, or heaven forbid, open the front door from the inside. I was always afraid that they would fly into my house! So, I'm creating, in my mind at this point, something different to try with the topiary arrangement on the back porch. I'll let you know if I finally revamp this project as I am thinking. Oh, not to worry, I will have the remains all around my yard from my old urn topiary arrangement. . . the birds have the most beautiful silk ivy woven into ALL of their nests. . . and have for several years now!!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY friends!!

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

And if you're the St. Patrick's Day partying kind, please be responsible and don't drink and drive. Please have someone take you home, or be the designated driver (don't drink) and take your friends home. And. . . have FUN!!

Irish Blessings. . . until next time,

The "Man Cave" Basement Tour. . . Part 3

Welcome, please join me . . . for the next part of our tour. . . Part 3.

We saw my husband's office in Part 2. That was down the stairs and turning left. If we turn right instead of left we come to my storage area (to the right of the chair). It's not too exciting, but necessary. . . and I'm glad to have it.

My hubs so brilliantly designed our basement that each basement support pole is hidden and enclosed in something. This is how my storage area here came about. There were some mechanical items and a support pole or two (I can't remember), that needed to be hidden.

We store larger, mostly kitchen items, in here that I don't need to keep upstairs. Mostly things used for entertaining. Also stored are such things as the ping-pong table, vacuum, and behind the door are stored many folding chairs.

The wall projecting out towards us is the backside of my storage/pantry area.

If we turn to the left, this is a little corner I created to resemble a little cafe bistro. Sigh. . . I love to sit here with a cup of coffee and look around at all of our hard work.

Next time, Part 4. . . you'll see another part of our basement.

Blessings. . . until next time,

Ever Have This Happen?

War. I've declared War at my house.

These beautiful flowers, given to my oldest daughter at a bridal shower this past weekend, were infested with these little "no see-um" bugs. . . or the actual official name is. . . "fungus gnats!" Yuck!! I think a generation or so came in the house with these flowers. By the time we figured out where the buggers were coming from, it was too late. . . they were already in the house! Uninvited house guests, not welcomed, not asked to enter. Now how to get them to leave? The flowers "went out of the house," but the little buggers are still in it.

I'm using the old remedy I got from a friend. It works every time. . . place a little apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. . . cover the bowl with plastic wrap. . . rubberband to secure the plastic wrap to the top of the bowl. . . puncture a few little holes on top of the plastic wrap. The cider vinegar attracts the little buggers and they dive in, but they can't get out (that why the wrap is rubbberbanded on tightly so they can't sneak out the sides). . . so they drown!!! Better than letting off those bombs where you have to seal off your kitchen cupboards or wash EVERYTHING in the kitchen after letting them off. Yuck. I think maybe one more day of this "trap" and they will be gone.

These fungus gnats are on mums especially this time of year. I purchased a spray from The Home Depot that you supposedly spray on the flowers to kill the bugs, but not the flowers. . . maybe we'll use that next time BEFORE the flowers make it into the house (and the bugs).

Next time you see mums at my house, they will not be inside my home. . . only outside to greet welcomed guests.

Blessings!

Simply Sher

Hello to all of you out there in "Blog-Land!" I decided it was time I got on board and started sharing my "Creative Expressions" too. I'm a creative sort of person. Always have been, always hope to be.

. . . A little about me. I'm married (26 years), my husband and I have two beautiful daughters, I'm a stay-at-home mom with many, many hobbies. I love to knit, crochet, read, a little sewing, decorating, and serving the Lord. I'm not the biggest fan of cooking or baking, but I do it, of course. I mean - I'm not hooked on the Food Network or anything. I am hooked on HGTV and DIY network. My passion is to decorate and create, to take items and transform them into something beautiful. I love garage sales, yard sales, thrift shops, estate sales and "dumpster diving!" The last one does not sit too well with my husband. It's what would actually be called "trash picking." So far, I have not dove into any dumpsters. . . not to say I wouldn't if I saw something really neat that I thought I could use . . . (ssshhh, just don't tell my husband!!) Hey, if I'm driving down a road and see something sitting out for the trash and I think it's something that I could use, it's mine baby. The car stops and we retrieve it. (We meaning ME, my husband and family will have no part of my "fun!")

I feel very, very blessed to be able to live the life I do and I thank the Lord Jesus Christ daily for the life He has blessed me and my family with.

I will post pictures of my nest (home) and cottage/cabin (little place up-north), flower gardens at both places, crafting and furniture projects and little exciting things along the way that I feel I just need to share (or "Sher", like my name).

At times I wish I even had a third house just so I could decorate it. As I stated earlier - it's my passion!! I'm sure before long my oldest will get married and I will be thrilled to help her create her own nest (only if I'm asked, of course!) She does compliment me all the time and is amazed at what I can do with a piece of junk or trashy furniture. She has hinted to me that when she finally does get her own place, or gets married, would I help her fix it up. What do you think I said? "Of course, I will help you honey."