Sunset This Evening....

I just had to share our beautiful sunset this evening here in Sun City.

Is that beautiful or what!

Working On Our Home....

Well in between my work in the office at home and the work on the Kingdom Hall project, we have been working on our home here in Sun City.  This month is the anniversary of Uncle Ducky passing away and I can't tell you how much we truly miss him.  I can't believe it's been two years since he's been gone.  I have been thinking about him so much lately especially since we've been working a lot on our yard.  He loved to be in the yard fiddling with things and moving rocks around.  Everytime Kim moves a rock around for me and we use it in the new landscape we start to laugh out loud and think... "HOW DID UNCLE DUCKY MOVE THIS ROCK?".               

 I am incorporating most of his rocks in our landscape as planters and borders and I'm even going to make a vegetable garden with a rock border. A lot of progress has been done on the outside of the house.  Uncle Ducky would just love it!  We now have beautiful vinyl fencing which has made such a big difference in the feel of the yard.  It opened up the yard on the sides as well, which made it seem so much more roomy.  We have been planting more ground cover and we decided to put grass in (We have a lawn!!!).  Kim has been painting the exterior and keeping himself very busy while he has been home.  It's been very theraputic working on the house...... 

My New Mini Pool.....

Ok, you know how much I love the water.....Well, Sun City is not the place to be if you love the water!  I toughed it out this summer without a pool and I just can't do it!!!!  I NEED WATER!!!!  Have you seen the size of my backyard?  Or should I say patio?  Well the only way to get water back here is to put in a spa.  But there was no way of even getting it through our side yards since they are very narrow.  So it had to go up and over!!!!!  As Ducky would say "Retracka"!!!! (I have no idea what that means but somehow I know that it applies to this)  Anyway here are the images of our spa going in as I am across the street, having a heart attack!!!!  Great job, Darrel!!!!

Kingdom Hall Remodel 2011

 Ok, your all probably wondering where I've been?  I haven't blogged in quite a long time!!!  We are working on our Kingdom Hall here in Sun City!!!  Wooo Hoooo!!!  It has been in dire need of repair and it has taken many voluteers to complete the work in progress which we started approx. 5 weeks ago.  Here are some pictures of the early stages of our project and of all of the wonderful voluteers who have taken of their time faithfully to be here to help.  This has been a great experience for Kim and I both and we hope to be able to do more.  As you see it doesn't matter what age you are young or old, all it takes is the desire to help......It truly has been a lot of fun! 

 All of the work on our Kingdom Hall has been completed by voluteers.  Can you see my 74 year old mom out there removing nails from 2 x 2's (bottom left photo).  A lot of work goes into a Kingdom Hall build and remodel.  It is very organized and safety is a priority.  The weather has been very cold and rainy some days but that did not stop the work.  And even through it all everyone just keeps on smiling.......

Here are some more images of our Kingdom Hall in progress.  We are already done with drywall and the stage is now on the other side of the original room!  They are ready to stucco the entrance.  And are ready for decorating inside.  This has happened so quickly.  No matter what the weather, when Jehovah wants it done, it gets done!  We even were able to get a rainbow in the process......Hmmmm.

And we can't leave out our wonderful brothers and sisters who kept us fed and made sure we had enough goodies and food to go around!!!!  They have been here everyday, rain or shine with their smiling faces and all of the wonderful snacks and delicious meals.  They even had sugar-free snacks for those diabetics who didn't want to be left out (namely Kim).  We can't thank them enough for all of the wonderful meals and snacks.

My Latest Creation.....

Well I had a few girlfriends over this last week to show them how to make a purse and my friend Debbie is on a role now.  I got her creative juices going and she is already on her third purse!  I can't have that!  So you know me....I have to do something about that!  I made a purse.  I realized I didn't have a pink one so here it is.  I embellished it with vintage broaches and made the rest of the jewelry as usual to hang on it.  I can't wait to get Debbie and Tina together.  They are two very creative girls and I would love to see what they could come up with for our next girls night together.  So til the next time.....

Winter Time Creativity.....

Well it's been almost a years since I've moved into Uncle Ducky's house and I think he would be real pleased to see what I have done with his little house.  He use to love to come to my home and would always comment to me how much he loved the things that I would do with my house.  Although, each and everyday I think of Uncle Duck and how I can't believe that he is not here with us, I still can't help think that he will always be here.  Although many things have changed here in his home, there are still touches of the Duck's here.  Every time I move a rock in our yard or get on the hill to do weeding I think of him.  Although the yard looks a lot different with greenery now, we will always keep rocks as part of the landscape to remind us of the Ducks.  Everytime I cook in the kitchen on his old stove I think of how he cooked here.  When I rake the leaves in the backyard I think of how much he hated those eucalyptus trees out back.  There are so many memories of Uncle Duck's here and I've been very happy to make his house our home.  I finally hung up some curtains in the kitchen and put my glass crystals in the kitchen window and now they reflect the sunlight just right.  Things are starting to look cozy. And I think I'm ready to start those creative juices flowing and have the girls over now.....

What To Do????? About My Hair?????

I have been thinking for sometime now about what to do about this hair!!!!  As you can see I have been through some pretty not so good stages with this hair so I am very nervous about what to do.  I have been wearing my hair like this for so long and I'm getting older now so I thought it might be time to do something about this and come into the next century.  I thought of going drastic and cutting it all off and doing something sassy, but Kim thinks it will make me look to old.  I also am a no maintenance kind of girl so I don't want something that will take a lot of work.  And then there is what to do about this gray hair that I have to dye each week and oh yeah not to mention that my hair is super curly!!!!!   So what should I do???? I need some ideas!!!!  Help!!!!!

Cherish Your Family & Friends

I can truly say that my life has been blessed with such wonderful friends and family.  With the recent loss of a friend of ours and with the loss of family members this past few years, we were reminded that we don't say "I love you" enough.  Or at least we don't tell our loved ones or friends that we love them enough and how much they mean to us.  We just assume that they know that. This collage represents just a fraction of the family and friends that have touched our lives.  But I just thought that all of you (and you know who you are if you have been any part of our life) should know that we love you and thank you for being part of our life....... 

Camping In San Elijo....

Ok, I finally make it for my camping trip in San Elijo for the end of the summer and it definately was an interesting adventure!  It was raining on our way down there and we got to the campground and set up very quickly.  As we finished we decided to go inside the trailer to stay dry and warm up (so we thought) and my mom sat on the bed and it started leaking right above the bed!  We were exhausted and cold and wanted to just kick back and relax but of course we couldn't do that YET!!!  We had to go to Homedepot and buy a tarp to put over my trailer so that I wouldn't have a completely soaked bed that night!  But Kim came to the rescue and secured us until the rain clouds were gone.

The next day we were able to experience this beautiful rainbow right outside the trailer!  I knew that it was going to be ok after that!  The clouds cleared and it turned out to be a pretty good day.

Of course as soon as Tina arrives our campsite comes alive!  Tina really knows how to decorate a campsite.  You have to experience it......Really, you just sit there and watch Tina do her thing.  Isn't it pretty!  We have the cutest campsite in San Elijo! 

She even brings flowers from her yard and embellishes our site with beautiful flowers!  I love it!

Mom is enjoying the rest and relaxation just reading her book.

And then night time comes......That's when the atmosphere really gets enchanting......Look at Tina's cute Burro lit up! And we have candles everywhere!  Too cute!

Even inside my trailer we had candles and wine and it was just enchanting....

Here's a glimse of our bohemian retreat!  Mom and I got our beds ready for the night after a long day of reading and playing cards with Tina. 

The next day we woke up and looked up and we couldn't help laughing because there was a wedding party at the beach the night before and they decided to decorate the statue in the middle of the night.  Too cute!

Too Funny!

And of course our camping trip is not complete unless we do some shopping at Cedros Street.  It is so fun window shopping and getting ideas for our craft nights.  I will look forward to May or June of next year when it will be that time again to camp here at San Elijo.  So until the next camping trip........I will hold on to these memories and look back with a smile of what an adventure it was getting here.

It's Starting To Come Together......

Ok, this is my logo so far.  She is taking a break from this hot weather.  Poor Pam has been doing this in that heat!  She has to complete the lettering of the logo and some minor touch ups.

Kim decided to paint the windows black.  I like it.

This is how detailed my friend Marti got with the inside of my cabinets.  Isn't that cool!

All of the cabinets are different colors and they all have different knobs on them to give them more character.

See all the different knobs......

I finished the cushions...yeah!!!! I must admit, I have had a complete melt-down now and I am almost at the point of giving up hope of my camping trip but my friend Marti came over again this morning and started helping Kim paint the outside (she loves to paint) while it was cool outside (at 6:30 a.m.) What a friend! 

Then not only did she help do that...but she was so anxious to see the inside come together so she went inside and started finishing my kitchen floor so that we could put the cushions on the table! 

But that wasn't enough....I totally gave up on making my curtains at this point because I am completely exhausted and anyone who knows me knows that I am not a morning person (Marti woke us up to paint at 6:00 a.m.) and she helped me drape some lace curtains for privacy and they look great!  Although I am completely out of energy and I just want to cry, I am so glad that Marti pushed me through this process because it really is coming together now. I really owe her big time!!!! Thank You Marti!!!

Notice the new floor?

I painted the bathroom floor because I wasn't about to go around that toilet with tile. 

And look how beautiful my clothes closet looks!  Thank you Ms. Marti!!!!!

The range hood was painted pink and I wallpapered and antiqued the paper.

Needless to say, I have a very colorful trailer now!  I can't wait to go camping! I NEED A VACATION!!!!!

The outside is still a work in progress.....To be continued.....