Masked Lives Matter!

 

I love wearing masks.

Like these, that cover my eyes or my face minus my mouth. 

But now that it’s the thing to wear them over our noses and mouths, I’m having a hard time finding a mask that doesn’t induce “mask meltdown!” Which for me is feeling panicked that I can’t breath, or see, because my glasses are so fogged! So fellow wearers of spectacles, what masks are you loving these days? 

Short of ordering one like this mesh net with high reviews which IS available on Amazon lol, what would you advise? I’ve tried wearing my cute quilter’s cotton one (sewn for me by my crafty sis Rhonda) high, pinched properly around my nose, wearing it low.... still lotsa fog. The surgical style works no better. 

Please help a girl avoid mask meltdown! 

Thank you in advance! 

😷 🤓 

19 for 2019 (original version)

Once upon a time, I penned a list titled 19 For 2019! Then as I read over it, I didn't think it lined up very well with my theme of the year which was "Rest Up and Dress Up." If you want more details on that, read this old post. So I wrote another list, leaving some items on, adding new ones, and taking others off! In the end, I completed some items off both lists! So this post will detail the the original list, with the restful, revised version coming on another day.

Original 2019

1. Establish Core Wardrobe. This is too vague to know if it should be marked off! I did make some strides, but have realized that it will always be a work in progress!

2. Pottytrain Danielle. Woohoo!!! Several weeks after she turned 3, I whipped out the big girl panties, an old shower curtain for her to play on, and proceeded to potty train! Danielle said, "Panties have holes and Pull-ups don't." Really?! Who would have known?! She already had it all figured out. It was a breeze and I wondered why I had prolonged the process so long with Pullups instead of going cold-turkey panties!

3. Get FLS t-shirts designed and printed. They turned out great! And I've since even gotten another batch done. I highly recommend our local "Boss Man Ink" out of Atmore.

4. Visit London! It's still almost beyond belief to me that Danielle and I really did this! It was amazing; a trip with friends that will never be forgotten and will still hopefully be blogged about some day.

5. Stain the roof of Danielle's playhouse. I have this lovely red stain that I purchased back in 2018 just patiently waiting under the bed to be used. I did go out once, and painted a strip but decided that it wasn't the right day, as a yellow pollen-speckled red was not what I had envisioned.

6. Frame all the things! I just have so many things that need framing! Original artwork, printed quotes, various uniquities. But alas, my perfectionism stands in the way once again. Because of course I need the perfect frame to compliment each piece. Preferably purchased at a bargain at a thrift store. 

7. Grow roses again. And I've only killed and replaced one! See this post to know which bushes I selected. "Malibu" was the one that was laid to rest.

8. Conquer C25K. Thanks to my exercise partner! #heidiharms

9. Bop off my bunion. I decided it wasn't painful or annoying enough to be on crutches for weeks!

10. Buy dog collars & tags. Wasn't this on 18 for 2018 too? Our poor homeless looking dogs...except they are fat, so they look well fed which counters the homeless look of no collars.

11. Go to the Pensacola Museum of Art. Just didn't prioritize this, and wham. The year was over. I still WANT TO DO THIS.

12. Make chandelier that I have envisioned and created for my office/dressing room. Does anyone want to apply for the job of making my ideas come to life?! Will pay with more ideas for anything you need ideas for!

13. Paint the living room and hallway. SCORE! At last I get to use the strikethrough key again! Rhonda and Danielle helped to transform more of our house to the lovely shade of Benjamin Moore's Cloud White.

14. Put a new lightbulb in the globe. I've almost forgotten how lovely it looks lit. But I need to research how to take it apart to see what kind of bulb it needs. Simple, but somehow major enough to not get done.

15. Make the meat thing Danl wants. He saw this most amazing huge meat pocket recipe, and sent it to me. But alas, I didn't save it well, and now can't find it! Hopefully he forgot all about it too.

16. Buy a planner in October. To go through not having a planner come January was definitely not something I wanted to repeat! And I found the loveliest "Eccolo" hello 2020 planner at tjmaxx for only $9.99. It has cool quotes and stickers, and tabs, and everything I wanted! 

17. Attempt to get invited to the SL test kitchens. Just kept on dreaming, but didn't give my dreams any wings. If anyone from SL is reading this, please invite me and my mom to come see y'all! We are huge SL fans and having been making your featured Christmas cover cakes for 4 years now...

18. Get new living room curtains. Down with the chocolate brown, in with the light airy white!

19. Can homemade dill pickles. PTL for Claussen brand dills. #likehomecanned

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful...

🍂 for October! So grateful to live in a world where there are Octobers even if it currently feels like Hotober. 

🍂for the ball of mistletoe hanging in the pine tree that I love gazing at during my walks on Garrett Road. 

🍂for my JP block schedule which gives purpose to my chaos! 

🍂 for my friends who are on the JP journey with me. 

🍂that Danielle loves to learn! Watching her studiously laboring over writing her letters just makes me happy/sad. She’s growing up way too fast! 

🍂 for phone-free time to just think while I work on household tasks. 

🍂for my jobs - being the queen of my home and being the VP of Faircloth Land Services! 

🍂 that I have the privilege of being a Registered Prayer Warrior! Every prayer counts! Let’s make a difference in the lives of those we love and in this great country we live in. 

Surviving Well #hurricanelist

Our power has at last been restored! I’m ready to put Hurricane Week in the past, and start Normal Life again in the morning! But, that being said, I feel like we more than barely survived; we survived WELL. Thanks to going through Hurricanes Erin, Opal, Ivan, and Dennis along with countless other tropical storms previously, it wasn’t a new experience to weather a hurricane, and to be without our beloved electricity. But boy, did it ever feel fantastic to go around tonight gleefully flipping switches and turning our home into a real-life Thomas Kinkade house! 

Below is my Hurricane List. 

I feel like being prepared is essential! 

Some things I’ve learned from my plucky mom, who showed us in attitude and action how to survive well; and some things are my own little quirks that I’ve added to this listicle. 

{Before Storm}

Buy lots of food. 

Think easy foods to grill, stuff for sandwiches, favorite snacks & drinks. Also, don’t forget food for the fur babies! 

Clean out fridge & freezer. 

(This is so you aren’t trying to keep old food cold, and in case your freezer does thaw some before you get the generator going, the ice won’t melt and make a big watery refrozen mess.) I didn’t get this one done this time, but mine actually weren’t too bad off amazingly!

Clean the house. 

You won’t be able to vacuum for awhile, so do it now! 

And it just feels good to go into a disaster with the house clean. 

Do ALL the laundry. 

This is pointless to explain. 

Batten down the hatches. 

Clear porches and put away all outside articles that could become flying missiles. 

Pick any and all flowers. 

Make as many bouquets as possible! They won’t survive and you will need to see beauty during and after the storm. The vase of gorgeous white roses and 2 jars of cheery zinnias sparked so much joy during this dark week! 

Make sure you have prescriptions to last at least a week. 

Check supply of OFF and replenish if necessary. 

If the door can’t quite seal around the extension cord, tree frogs might hop in and you need to be prepared to end life from a safe social distance of six feet. 

Check supply of paper goods. 

Ain’t nobody got time to hand wash dishes all day! And it’s not a good time to run out of tp!

Make sure you have plenty of propane for outdoor cooking. 

Have a good smelling candle to burn. 

All the humidity will soon make the house smell dank. 

Grind up some Griffin’s Wharf coffee beans. 

You’ll need the beans ready to go for the next morning’s propane-powered pour over! 

Purchase new craft supplies. 

It’s crucial to keep kids calm and occupied during disruptive times. The 12 little pots of Crayola washable paints I picked up with the groceries from Walmart saved the day! I tore off sheets of freezer paper, and Danielle painted away to her little artist’s heart's content!

Charge up all the Dewalt batteries. 

We have lots of these since Danl uses them for work. This fan is a lifesaver; also this power source adapter. 

Make a Plan B. 

For us, Plan A is always to stay home. But have a Plan B in case it’s not gonna be safe to stay home. 

{During Storm}

Sleep as much as possible! 

You’ll need it later, trust me. 

Remember that a little humor makes all things possible. 

Thanks, Mom! 😉

Don’t forget that this too shall pass. 

It always does. 

{After Storm}

Thank God that you have survived! 

Assess damages. 

At first, we thought that we pretty much lucked out on this one, but now just today as it rained away, we noticed some water damage from slight leakage along the edges of the ceiling. But still, very minor. 

Burn the good smelling candle. 

I loved burning the $3 little gem I got from Dollar Gen. 

Messy bun & gettin stuff done

 #momlife 🕯 

Cook good food. 

There’s nothing like sitting down to some good food to lift the spirits. 

Clean up the yard. 

But don’t rush or stress about it. Those branches aren’t going anywhere! 

Tidy and broom up daily to retain sanity and a sense of normality. 

Stargaze. 

Take advantage of the the complete velvet blackness! With no annoying yard lights, the gazing is gorgeous! Danielle suggested snacks during the one session we got in, which was an excellent addition. 

Take up friends’ and family’s offers of hot showers, AC, and other luxurious accommodations if they get power back before you do. 

This isn’t a survival contest. There are no awards being given out to the Most Miserable. 

And that’s it, my friends! 

Here’s to SURVIVING WELL. 

And praying that Beta behaves. 

The Symphony of the Sad Frogs

We survived Hurricane Sally! 

After sending us stir-crazy as she languished in the Gulf, she finally blustered inland stronger than expected! Danielle and I had gone to bed around 11; I was exhausted from having done every speck of laundry I could find, and having cleaned the house throughout, in addition to cooking and eating and cleaning up! #hurricaneparty #prepared

Gotta make hay while the sun shines; aka do electrical activities while you have power! Anyway, I had our “go bag” packed as Plan B was to take the dogs and head to Wade and Rhonda’s steel frame house if the gusts were supposed to higher than 85 mph. But I seriously didn’t think it would exceed that. I secretly hoped we somehow wouldn’t even lose power! But of course we did! Already around 9:30 pm! I was devastated as I hadn’t run the dishwasher yet. Grrr. But thankfully it came back on around midnight. I stumbled out, started the DW, and went back to bed with a smile! Danl said the power had gone off again around 3 am. He had been out helping his friends at Atmore PD since they already had power lines down, streets flooded, and people acting crazy. He was up most the night, pondering if we should head for a safer shelter or just weather it out. Which is what we ended up doing! I was glad that we could just stay home with Diesel and Leroy. A few times we wondered if the roof or porches would surely fly away as the wind shuddered and shrieked; I even lined up our boots and had our raincoats and backpacks by the door, but this old trailer and everything around us just stayed solidly put, PTL! We didn’t even lose a tree! 

But the frogs. 

When I woke up around 6:30 to a basically white, watery, wind-whipped world, I heard the strangest almost eerie sound. Danl told me it was the tree frogs. They were croaking the saddest croaks I had ever heard. Like water-logged frogs on their very last croak. Even though having “OFF 40% Deet” to end the lives of tree frogs that happen to hop inside our home from the crack of the cord going to the generator is on my Hurricane List, I felt sorry for them during this hurricane. Once the worst was over, Danl catnapped and I dozed and Danielle played and the wind blew and the frogs sang the symphony of their sad song. 

“Uuuuuhhhh,” one would wail, then another would answer, “Huuuuuuhhhh.” 

“Uuuhhh, huhhhh. Uuuuuhhh, huuuhhh.” 

“Thisss tooo,”

“Shalllll passss.”

And it did. At last. 

And the frogs were once again silent. 

And my OFF is ready. 

Hurricane Weather

Today has the somewhat eerie feel of hurricane weather; a touch of the ominous broken by patches of rain, overcast skies, odd bits of sunlight and blue sky, and an almost cooler breeze overtaken by gusts of familiar humidity. It’s like our weather just can’t decide what to do with itself while Hurricane Laura continues to hurtle northward leaving a swath of sadness and devastation in her path. Looking at pictures of the damage gives me flashbacks to Hurricane Ivan. 

So as this day continues to unfold, I pray for courage for my friends in DeRidder, LA, and all those experiencing sadness from this storm. 

Creativity in Color

Does color inspire you? Awaken your emotions? I adore color! And the mosaic contests put on Rachel over at https://www.stitchedincolor.com/blog/2020/8/12/gilded-age-a-mosaic-contest are just such a fun way to get the creatives juices flowing! You can only submit 2 entries, but I made 5 because I love to see how closely I can choose fabrics and craft mosaics that match the inspiration pictures she posts. If you are inspired, cast your vote for the one that speaks to you! You may notice several familiar names amongst the finalists! 😉 https://www.stitchedincolor.com/blog/2020/8/19/voting-gilded-age

So we shall see who wins! Voting ends tonight at 12 midnight PST. 

Happy Birthday, America!

We celebrated our freedom and the founding of this amazing country by having a couple friends over to eat grilled ribeye and chuckeye steaks, 

a Solomon watermelon, 

Steve’s Farm sweet corn, homemade pickles, fresh-baked pillowy rolls with local mayhaw jelly, and cheesecake with blueberry sauce. Then we had some redneck fun with a lighthearted throwing knife competition before riding our UTVs all over the countryside. It was a good day, with the best ending. 

Thankfully, Poarch did not cancel their fireworks show due to the mounting local Covid cases! If everyone did like us and took social distancing to the extreme, no shows anywhere would have needed to be canceled! Lol. We left the house at 8, drove north, quickly got tucked away in an extremely secluded private spot, and settled in to wait for 9 o’clock. Just us, hungry mosquitoes, endless rows of cotton, and silhouettes of trees black against the Wind Creek Casino skyline. At last, the sky lit up and and Danielle’s mouth fell open! Hearing her commentary was almost as good as the show!

 “A’credible! Just a’credble!” 

God bless us, and God bless the USA! 

Fly High, JULY!

Fly high, July! 

Don’t let us down. 

Not too wet or too dry

Give us no reason to frown! 

Fly high, July!

Send the ‘rona away!

Make Covid cry

And not come back another day! 

Fly high, July! 

Keep America Strong. 

Don’t ask why, 

Just sing freedom’s song! 

Fly high, July! 

We’re in this together. 

God, and you, and I

Anything can weather. 

sFm

07.01.20

Weekly Recap • June 1-7

JUNE already?!

June 1 was the first day of swim class at Ms. Kerra’s pool for Danielle! She was ecstatic to be back for her 4th year! This is the 2nd year that I get (or have) to sit poolside and watch from 8:30-9:30. So I tried to make the most of that hour; by chatting with the other out-of-the-water mom, sipping iced coffee, reading Harry Potter, and enjoying the fact that my daughter who once screamed for almost the entire session every session, now happily torpedos from side to side, jumping off the diving board and swimming in the deep end with no floatation. It never ceases to amaze me how much progress Ms. Kerra can pull out of them in only 5 days, one hour per day! 

On Tuesday, I joined Anthony and Dad in the Schneider Farm Fence office to further work on “the transition” as we as a family have taken to calling it, as Dad is able to do less and less with his rapidly declining vision. It was a very productive day and we got to get in on one of mom’s fabulous keto meals! 

Wednesday afternoon we girls who are putting on Vanessa’s bridal shower gathered to get our ideas synced. I can’t wait! It’s gonna be good! 

Thursday after swim class, Danielle and I headed down to Nana’s. I spent the majority of the time at her home office desk, working on FLS stuff. Then took a quick dip in the pool before we had to go back home! 

Friday, since Danl was away for the weekend to help with a shooting class in GA, I decided it was the day to pressure wash the back porch! I always get really inspired to embark upon all sorts of projects when hubs isn’t home. The porch ended up super clean and I ended up super filthy! Then since it was full moon aka “Pie Night”, I whipped up a new pie, created from hearing Danielle talk about making a “Blueberry Muffin Pie.” I want to tweak the recipe a bit, then I’ll post it here! We had a fun impromptu family evening at my folks, enjoying cherry, butterscotch, and chocolate pies in addition to my muffin pie. The conversation of us women mainly centered on JP and her productivity boot camp! I bought the program, so let me know if any of y’all want to purchase it; I’ll send you my referral code! 

Saturday, I did more pressure washing, this time the entire back of the house was scoured within an inch of its grimy green life. Then even though the outer bands of Cristobal were sending skittering showers and whipping up a bit of wind, Danielle and I lit our “new to us” propane fire pit table from Nana, and had a jolly s’mores party on the now (somewhat) posh back porch! 

After our mini party, I felt like I was like the mysterious “other people” and whipped out a new dress for Danielle to wear to Titus & Kayla’s next day nuptials. She outgrew most of her dressy clothes and shoes during quarantine! 

Sunday felt like the wedding we’ve all been waiting for! Finally an event where life felt almost “back to normal!” It was a lovely wedding, and since Kayla had asked me to write impressions, I was privileged to sit up on the side bench area and witness firsthand the happiness of the day while Danielle sat with Aunt Rhonda. I still need to edit and type my copious harried notes. 

So how’s that for a week’s worth of mini posts all in one big one?!

The Bluebird Family

Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird

6350 Garrett Road

Front Porch Apt 1

Walnut Hill, FL 32568

Let me give you the backstory first. Several months ago, my mom gave me this decrepit old birdhouse that she had found when she was going through stuff out in their shed. It was a birdhouse that Daniel had made back in the school days for Rhonda as a “sorry” gift for breaking a rubber snake that she had taken to school for some reason! Never one to throw anything away, and since it looked quite vintage at this point, I plopped it on the end table on the front porch for decor; not thinking much more about it. Fast forward to the end of April when I noticed an animated bluebird couple perched on the roof of our Gator that was parked near the front porch. Suddenly, one of them would fly to the birdhouse, flutter about peering inside it, wing back to the Gator and chirp away to its other half. Then the same process would repeat itself but with the other bird! You could practically see the thought bubbles above their heads!

 

Mr. Bluebird, “It’s perfect! This is a good neighborhood! So kid-friendly! Didn’t you notice the bubble wand and popsicle wrapper in the flowerbed?!”

Mrs. Bluebird, “But it’s way too cramped! Even smaller than our house last year, and the paint is peeling! And besides, I’m so over barn red! I just want it to be modern and fresh! I’ll consider it if you give it a coat of Benjamin Moore Cloud White! Inside and out!” 

Mr. Bluebird, “You know we don’t have time to paint! Those eggs aren’t going to wait around while you get it Pinterest-pretty! We’ve got to get a move on!”

Mrs. Bluebird, “OK, OK, I know you’re right. Sigh.” 

Next, call it lazy or efficient, they proceeded to build a nest using the material from the coco liner in the nearby hanging basket! A tidy little nest was compiled in short order! Once that was done, Mrs. Bluebird added a gorgeously speckled blue egg to the nest every day for four days! Danielle and I would check the progress daily or multiple times a day; sometimes at night with a flashlight. Mrs. Bluebird would patiently endure the bright light in her eyes while she kept her eggs warm. I was dubious if they would even hatch! We had several storms where I would gently set the house in a safer place since it wasn’t attached to anything secure! Human scent abounded. Danielle delighted in perching nearby with her binoculars. It couldn’t have been a restful experience for them by any stretch of the word. I think Mr. Bluebird even regretted his cheerful words of recommendation some days! And then one day we saw an ugly scrawny baby bird inside! And then three more! The Bluebird parents were even more on edge, scolding us for interfering and bounding back and forth with worms dangling from their beaks! They both took an active role in parenting as near as I could tell. This is 2020 even for the birds! But they also got so used to us, that we could sit on the porch bench and they would fly into the birdhouse while we watched only a foot or so away! We loved our Bluebird family and I think they loved us. Danielle would even reach inside and pet them. And then, one morning last week when she did her daily peek, she discovered that the little red paint-peeling abode was empty! We hadn’t even gotten to watch their first fluttering flights! Oh well, it was an intriguing experience while it lasted! Maybe next year one of the babies will be back all grown up and ready to lay eggs of her own in the old home place! 

Sunday Funday Birthday Memorial Day Redhead Day

Sunday was Daniel’s 36th birthday! It’s kinda cool because in our little family, we all turn even or odd numbers the same year! This year Danielle turned 4, Daniel 36, and I’ll soon be 34! Back to Sunday, we slept in as long as Danielle would let us, which was around 6:30. Then I whipped up some copycat Hardee’s biscuits and fried some Realtree sausage.

(Huge recipe, make half.)

 Bass Pro Shops was next on the agenda! Danielle and I were grieved that due to this continued Covid-19, the shooting arcade was CLOSED. That’s our favorite thing to do there, other than eat fudge, which we also couldn’t do because the candy store was not in operation either. But regardless, we had a good time looking at the fish and shopping for shirts. Danl spent some time in the boring (to me) aisles, and eventually we found ourselves at Longhorn Steakhouse! INSIDE! SITTING DOWN BEING SERVED BY A WAITRESS. This was our first time eating out together in a restaurant since our anniversary way back on February 20! It felt spectacular. Other than Danielle seemed to have forgotten how to sit still and use her restaurant voice. Or maybe she never really knew how. 

Yesterday was Memorial Day. I thought of Uncle Kale, my grandparents who have passed, my dear friend’s mom...so many memories of so many amazing people who have gone before us; and all the soldiers who have sacrificed for our freedom. We are so blessed. I always love the official photograph from the White House of Our President & The First Lady. 

♥️

We celebrated in true redneck style by eating wild female pig also known as a “gilt!” (Thanks, Dad! I learn something new every day!) Jace and Erica, and Curtis and Janelle enjoyed it with us. It was a very laidback, fun evening of good pork, runny Jello, late rolls, and soupy ice cream. I’m really embracing this anti-perfectionism thing! 

Today, I learned something else I did not previously know! We redheads are so special that we get TWO holidays per year! “World Redhead Day” which is today, and “National Redhead Day” which is November 5. Might as well celebrate as many things in life as we can, that’s my philosophy! 

So Happy World Redhead Day, fellow gingers!