HELLO, BLOG! IT'S BEEN SO LONG!

Hi Family and Friends,
I recently created a picture book and hopefully can share it on my blog. Jason and Stella visited us last March and I wanted to send Stella a book to remember their visit.  She is almost 3 and loves books! I'm posting it here:

Picture Book

Have a great weekend and thank you for letting me share my wonderful kids with you!

Love,
Lynda

From the Heart

Hello, it's me...posting on my blog again!  I've missed talking to you! Good thing is, I am still at the same place in my house redo as when I left, so the excitement of peeling off painted-over wallpaper is still there for you!

The past year has been the hardest one since a year in the 60's when I lost my Dad. When I think of it, how fortunate and blessed I have been for that much time to have passed with good years!!  In June of this year, I lost my best friend.  

She is actually the inspiration for my blog name 'Tomorrow at Tara'.  She was Scarlett; I was Melanie.  We loved all things Southern and considered ourselves such having grown up in Oklahoma.  We would sign off our texts and emails with "Tomorrow is anotha' day" or "Tomorrow......at Tara".  It meant for whatever our troubles were that we couldn't solve together, there was always tomorrow!  Tara represented a place of solace for us...a place of majesty, beauty and hope. 

That's what we need some of...every.single.day. :)  

So, I went to Louisiana.  It was the best thing I could have done.  Although every Live Oak and white column made my heart hurt, I have blessings beyond measure living there. They were full of healing, fun, laughter, exquisite memories and love. Life goes on without our loved ones that have passed onto Heaven.  I don't think I'll ever be over it, but our memories!!  I'm smiling now!! 

Happy Birthday, Sweetie.  I love you.

Tomorrow is anotha day...

It's Fall Eve!

Hello Great Friends!

It's the day before Fall, 2012, and a beauty of a morning in Colorado.  I've been up since 4:30, so I am running on a full tank of coffee ready to write!

Actually, I have been thinking about you in my head for days and just now have remained sitting long enough to put fingers to keys.

A short "catch-up" is in store on this blog.  I have been writing about my redecorating ideas but not making too much headway.  Do you ever do that?  My next project is my kitchen, but it is expensive!  Therefore, I make SURE it is what I want before I begin.  First I had to decide: Do I really need granite?  Wow!  Talk about precious stones!  Why can't formica be stylish? ha!  Oh, it is now so much prettier than the gold fleck of the 60's, but as I considered each surface...corian....butcher block....stone....granite IS so beautiful.  It feels cool to the touch, it's earthy, solid, and it can sell a house.  Not that I'm moving, but if I ever do, the buyer will love me more..hehe.

So, I have decided on a color design now for the countertops and the closest to my taste is called 'Giallo Veneziano'. http://www.marble.com/materials/granite/Giallo-Veneziano. I would insert a picture for you, but I'll explain my iphoto debacle later.  Whoo-boy...what a mess there...

The countertops being the biggest decision (I hope), there is the backsplash to consider, the sink, faucet, paint color and finally, the cabinets. The cabinet color I have saved for last because I KNOW I'm not replacing them, so they will either be painted, refinished or just cleaned up and renewed.  I am calling the same contractor that did my bathroom to coordinate all of this. Now, a true DIY'er would be her own contractor and schedule the granite man, plumber, electrician and painter.  Good for her. ha!  Hang with me, I'll document the progress whenever it gets started!

~Lately~

I just got back from a week visit in my hometown to stay with my mom and son and family.  My Magnificent Grandbaby (MMGB) will be one year old next month!  She is walking, saying Ma-Ma and Da-Da, dancing, laughing and struttin' her stuff!  Oh, what a personality!  To say "love her" is too tame.  I adore her. It usually takes me 24 solid hours to recoup from a 12 hour drive back home.  So, I'm off and running now!  Glad to be back at ~Tara~ !!

Later!  

Prior Post - What?

Hi folks,
It's been a wonderful summer in spite of my last post.  That one has been held in "draft" since June!  I wrote it late one night and the next day decided not to publish, but something made me keep it on hand for tweeking.  I sent it on just now, untweeked!  What can I say?  It was one of those days.

I have really missed writing, but have been reading so many other totally talented writers!  Oh, they are funny and smart! Stay at home Moms, mostly, trying to make money blogging. The more readers you have, the more the ads pay off and sponsors you acquire.  They insert beautiful pictures taken with the greatest of cameras and lighting. (I use my cell phone) They blog every single day documenting every recipe they try, home decorating project, and provolking thought they might have.  I am totally engrossed in some of their lives!  One of them I actually "miss" when she doesn't blog! I wonder if she's sick or the baby is keeping her up!  She is the sweetest thing.....

So, yeah I'm feeling better.  I LOVE my older home and my view is so peaceful even without a Front Range overlook.  I'm truly blessed and I know it....

Oh! I'm redoing my kitchen!  Let me get my cellphone to snap some professional pics!

Tomorrow...

  

It's a Turn Down Day....

Happy Summer Day to You!  We here in Denver are not only "atmospherically challenged" (we're closer to the sun), but we are breaking heat records daily in the triple digits!  Digging out all our SPF-coated hats so our brains do not broil while we walk the trails!  Don't ever tell a Coloradan not to hike, with a hat, and a dog, on a trail.  Just fore-warnin' ya'.  You'll get smacked, then laughed at for being a Tourista.


Now that that is out of the way, I'm breaking with tradition in this blog.  Cardinal Sin One.  "Don't stray from point of blog".  My cue to break it!  Rebel that I am insures I go on. This has been a downer of a day, people. I can't even pick my fisted arm up in the air and say, "Tomorrow is anotha day!"  The day began by getting up too late for church...


Church and the message therein stimulate my soul and spirit.  Friends of mine that inspire me are there and reveal the personhood of Jesus to me.  Oh, I do know He's here, and I have real evidence of His existence, but church is filled with brothers and sisters who have the same "heart" as me.  Sparks fly when that happens!  Ideas flow, lightbulbs go off, kindness is abundant, patience shows.  Well, church is just where it happens, that's all.  So I missed that first off.

We chose to hang out with God in nature today.  Corwina Trail was the hikette of choice...a short uphill challenge and we had Mia with us, my beautiful 2 year old Border Collie. Shown here in her common pose....ready for departure.


We were gone about 1.5 hours tired and thirsty, but glad we went.  We ate our lunch of quiche and canteloupe, and found our way to the living room couch.  Such relaxation. 

My afternoon plans were to go house hunting with my Sis.  It would be fun!  I thought.  "....maybe I can find a one story with a view like we have wanted since we arrived here."  No one told me you had to have ~minimum~ a half million bucks to buy one of these suckers!  Even Tara would shutter her windows and door transomes at that!  My gosh, living shelters have to be attainable to at least more that a handful of lucky ducks!  Just sayin'....tryin' to be tolerant here, but I am taking up this space to ask: ....why can't we find pretty, new homes with 2500 feet, ranch style, patio facing the Front Range for sale on decently spaced lots for 2.5 to 3.5 hundred thousand anywhere?  Oh, and not under the DIA flight patterns.  That's a last minute request that I decided was as important as sinks and toilets.  

So these realizations gave this post it's title today.  And yes, it is late,  and I am in a mood, but ToMorrow IS anotha' day.....thank God!

Hello Everyone!


I must really apologize for the tardiness of this post.  I admit I let time get away from me.  I'm 'eva' so sorry!


I have been working, however.  After painting the stair risers, I did find an interesting runner for them and had it installed. It adds so much character already to this 50 years young home!  I'm excited about it!

 

I can't say I am completely finished with my stairs.  The banisters still  cause me anguish, and if you must laugh, I'm painting the risers *a.g.a.i.n.* with a slightly creamier color to match the new runner better.  I would never decorate for money.  The clients would shoot me dead!


...and... the walls of the staircase are screaming for pictures upon them. That part will be fun!  Can't wait.  I have some exciting ideas for that.


All in due time!  I have been focusing my attention on two more things ~ is this what they mean by ADD?  I like it!! ~ anyway:


1) I want to carpet the entire upstairs now!  We have wood floors and it is "clop, clop, clop" constantly.  My husband prefers to just carpet the landing and stop at the 4 doorways instead.  All I can say is...we are working on this :}  Here are samples of 3 colors of carpeting I am considering, looking downstairs, lightest to darkest, and that's Mia in the middle of it all:

 lightest

middle

darkest

All opinions and greatly appreciated!  I know it's hard judging from an iphone pic...even tho I DID choose this phone for picture quality...


2) The kitchen. I have new stainless appliances but the dishwasher is still out in the garage awaiting new countertops before it's installed.  Before new countertops, I must decide if I am changing the color of my cabinets.  

Some very good options have been posted on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/LyndaReppert/kitchens/.  It's just the deciding part...white/cream...darker like walnut....lighter like a fruitwood...the only thing I'm not crazy about is the yellow/orangey oak that's up there now.  I know they look  pretty tame from here, but take this picture I shot up close:

I see you nodding your heads at me, "She's right, Pansy, that door be orangey yella!"


Will this house ever be completed?


I experienced kind of a lull in my enthusiasm on all of this remodeling with the events detailed in a previous blog.  I got content just looking at things the way they were for awhile. Then last week, the house across the street, similar to our house, sold for a ridiculously high price!  Seriously!  We were stunned!  I fired up the Zillow site and studied the pictures - 20 of them! - and although they had taken down a wall and added a new bedroom, it was basically our house!  They had updated and remodeled and spruced everything up and POW~sold it big!  That's what bolted me back into action!   


OK, it's late~ See you Tomorrow at Tara! 

ATTACK OF THE HEART!....read on...

Hello My Wonderful Friends!


Many days have passed since I asked you to help me decide about my wallpaper dilemma!  Thank you for all of your helpful replies and we have a winner!  I was directed to a YouTube tutorial showing how to sand, spackle, sand again, then paint OVER my wallpaper once more to achieve a flawless, smooth wall.  Oh....so~much~easier than stripping already painted paper off and dealing with what lies behind it.  I want to thank you all for your help!  I'll post and picture the whole experience for you in a future blog.  Here is the link to the great tutorial on YouTube that I am going to use when I begin my kitchen makeover: *Prepping to paint over wallpaper*.  Just in case you have the same problem and want to tackle this with me!!


......February was "heart month" for me and my family.  My stepdad, Glen, passed away from a heart attack on February 7.  He lived 85 wonderful years and brought joy, laughter, love...and pizza into our lives.  He loved Tuesday Pizza Nights at Pizza Hut and if you were at my parents' house on that day....you had pizza too.  I can't tell you the moans and groans we used to give when we all piled into the cars and caravanned to 'the Hut' on those nights. ~~ But today, we smile about it and the word "pizza buffet" brings a tug to our hearts. We will always miss and love you dear Glen.......


.....so about mid month, while staying with my mother, 658 miles from my home where my husband had returned....I got a call from the Emergency Room saying my sweetheart of 35 years had also just suffered a heart attack!  I flew quickly to back to Denver as did our son, leaving his wife and our Magnificent Baby Granddaughter at home.  For 5 days we stayed at his bedside in ICU.  I am so thankful and thrilled to say that now, three weeks later, he is recovering nicely and even going back to work on Monday.  We thank God for giving him a longer life and our friends for their concern and diligent prayers.  Life is definitely fragile....and very precious.


OK, so now we are beginning our Heart Healthy Phase!  I checked out several books from the library:

I know you are laughing at me, but I'm jumping into this!  The first thing we did was decide to eat FOF and FOT.....Fish on Friday, and Fish on Tuesday.  Tonight was Tilapia, breaded in Panko crumbs and Mrs. Dash, then baked, Annie's Organic, Low Salt Macc and Cheese and steamed veggies.  It was a 'hit' with the patient and with me!  I have found out some really good foods to buy, substitutes for the salty taste, and a ton of tasty low fat recipes!  I'll be blogging them as I try them to give you a heads up on having a happy heart!


Do you have any tips or tricks to cooking for a healthier heart?  Write and let me know!!  Thank you and may you and your families have a happy, healthy Spring!....XO

My Colonial Home Tour - Part One

Hey there, welcome back!!  Talk about home redo's, oh my!  Maybe you can help me with mine!  I'll give you a quick tour and show you what I mean:


My Colonial style home was built in 1963. 

John F. Kennedy was president!! The Beatles released "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" in 1963, and the cost of a new car was $3000!  Alot of updating has been done to my home and by the time we bought it, it was a grand older matron.  That was 7 years ago.  I love the charm of this house but it keeps me busy!  Home redecorating blogs have replaced TV for me. Since we moved in, we have redone the master bathroom,

refinished the hard wood floors, 

tiled the kitchen and entry.... 




and repainted almost the whole interior. There is still so much more I want to do!  And I need help!!  


So here is what I am thinking....as I have been reading many of the blogs and comments over the last few months, I have come to realize just how talented YOU are!  Your ideas have inspired so many of my projects! You all are GUUUD!  






I am stumped in one major, important space, though - my kitchen. 

My first huge faux pas was painting over the existing wallpaper when we moved in.  I could not look at those periwinkle ducks one more day :} ~ I was too busy unpacking to strip the paper, so on went the paint.  Now....I must find a way to not only strip the paper, but the paint over it......help.....I.have.no.idea.how.to.do.this.!!  And what will the condition of the walls be afterwards?  ...sigh...


So, has anyone ever tried to strip painted, wallpapered walls before?  Maybe I should just paper OVER them again?  Like with beadboard wallpaper maybe?  That would sure play into the "colonial" theme here!  Let me know what you think.


By the way...here are some of my fav bloggers.  Read some of these and see if you don't get super inspired to redo a few rooms in your home too!


ThriftyDecorChick.com


cleverlyinspired.com


infarrantlycreative.net

Till Tomorrow....at my Tara!~~~

Exhaustion~~

....It hit me about 1:30 today.  I think it was the 2 days of driving, pre-Christmas, then the actual Christmas Day that caught up to me.  Most of my loved ones gathered all day into my mother's smallish house, then food preparation, fussy baby, food clean up....any of this sound familiar? The stress of just so many personalities in one room?  I think I lost 3 pounds just stressing.  We had 4 generations in one house.  So blessed.  Ever notice "blessed" rhymes with "stressed"?  Just askin'...


Well, our Grand Baby is 2 months and 3 weeks old now.  She is the most beautiful baby ever.....according to her doting Grammy and Grampa. She is laughing and doing some mimmick work now and then.  She is a loyal daughter, too.  So many loving relatives trying to soothe her unhappiness, but at the voice of either Momma or Daddy and she came to silent attention.  This was momentary, but loyal all the same.  It's only fair.  Only he and she who have suffered from sleep depravation deserve that attention....  


I wrote all of the above the day after Christmas.  I am now 4 days out from that, after an 11 hour drive home, I am reminiscing over the past week.  We left our home in Colorado 2 days earlier than planned due to an incoming snow storm, so all of the last minute buying, wrapping, planning was condensed into a 3 hour time span.  Believe me, that was a total record for me.  I am a two-day packer and at that, I leave my toothbrush behind....

I have so many loved ones, friends and memories in my home town.  My wonderful mother and step-dad, my son and his wife and Baby Grand, a sister, life long friends and old neighbors.  Every corner of this town holds a memory of my younger life.  I was born and grew up in the same place and only moved ONCE!  I guess I've made my point about what holidays and visits do to my heart while I'm there. I want everything to be perfect when it comes to our get togethers.  That's unrealistic!  We had a few typical glitches in ours, but it was memorable and nice.  The grandsons had their traditional football toss and we wives and moms laughed and remembered when these were tiny little boys playing this game together.  I always have one missing man in mind while watching these games who never saw even one grandchild.  My father is still very dear to my heart and I see him as I walk through my mother's house.  I see him proudly watching his three big, strapping grandboys play their game for him.  They are good young men....and he is proud.

   

Five More Days Til Christmas!

Good Morning!


Are you finished shopping, wrapping and planning?  I didn't think so and neither am I!  Short blog today!


I am up at 6, having a little quiet time, and when I checked in on my blog, I noticed that the advertisements in the margins had finally arrived!  I did subscribe to general advertising.  I have no idea what will be listed, but I hope they are interesting and of good taste!  Let me know if not.  So far, there have been ads for some local Colorado businesses and WalMart. They should be similar to the advertising you see next to emails and on other blogging sites.  At least they will add more color! :)


That's all for now! Can't wait to get out and about early today for some stocking stuffers and crossing off the LAST items on my list!


Have a Wonderful Christmasy Day!~  

PARTY TIME!

And that means FOOD!


Although the Bronco game ended badly, we still had a marvelous time at a friend's house this afternoon.  I wanted to share some of the recipes I used that turned out very tasty.  I found 2 of them on Allrecipes and 1 on Pinterest.


Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels


Bacon Wrapped Smokies


Cream Cheese Lemon Bars


I microwaved the little Smokies for about 2 minutes on paper towels to get the bacon almost done, then broiled them in the oven at the end to get a little "crispy" going on them.  Only one left at party departure time!  


The Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels were really addicting!  Somehow, I am really loving the sweet~salty thing this year.  I would like to find time to make the New York Times Chocolate Chip cookies.  They have a sprinkle of sea salt on top!  In fact, I'll just see if I can find a link up on that one too.  Hang on....


NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

I guess you could use the Toll House recipe and just add the sea salt. Hey!... slice and bake.....OR, even better, the ones in little squares already cut....place on cookie sheet....Bam! the sea salt on top and done!!  


til Tomorrow!~

A Swedish Shopping Day!

Absolutely fabulous day!  Today was our IKEA trek!  And that's exactly what you had better be prepared for...a trek.  Lace up some Nikes before you embark on it and you'll be fine, though.  My friend and I only had to travel a few miles from my house...IKEA, the new mega store from Sweden, is dangerously close to me...and as we crested the hill, the big blue shopping day awaited us.

Because I had been lost in this place on my last visit, we decided to grab a map...

Oh that looks easy enough, but they don't give you a legend.  Each dot stands for a city block!  Not really, but believe me, it's miles of shopping heaven.  As you enter you can get a cart that looks similar to a Home Depot pallet mover on a slightly smaller scale.  They also have big yellow shopping bags, but the idea is to write down the item number of the big stuff for the warehouse area at the end, and load it right before check out.  There are also many smaller items that you can collect as you go, though.  


As you first walk in, there are little showrooms featuring living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, dining rooms.  For $6000, you can have this kitchen:

Like I said, you just take the number to the warehouse and pick up everything in BIG, FLAT boxes.  Serious assembly required.


You follow the gray, cement road...following arrows painted on the floors.  Heaven forbid you backtrack!  Actually, the arrows and the signage are very good.  If you can read, you can do IKEA.

The two sections that impressed me the most were the kitchen and the lighting areas.  I fell in LOVE with a butcher block kitchen cart that would fit purrrfect in a nook of my ever-evolving kitchen. 

This is a beautiful, heavy, solid wood island that I cherished, also.  If I had the room, this would be my favorite!

Try making that for $199!  I'd spend that in ibuprofen and Aspercreme alone!


I think we spent the most time in the Lights.  Here are just some of the creative lamps, pendant lights and chandeliers we saw:

The lights pictured above baffled us.  There is a dial on them to gradually change their colors from green, to blue, to red then white.  HOW would you use these?  Are these the 21st century "stobe" lights?  Then to the right of these are some flat screen TVs, and positioned behind them are more of these lights!  Ohhhhhh, THAT explains them!  You light up the back of your flat screen!!!!  What? 


OK....on to things I understand.  Nine dollar lamps that sit by your bed to light up a book!

Before you get to the end of your trek, the cafeteria aromas begin to attract you.  The food is a superior value!  If you get to IKEA before 11, breakfast of eggs, bacon and coffee is free!  Wish we had know THAT!  By this time it was way after our lunchtime!  Each day presents a "special" ranging from 99 cents to $2.99.  In Denver, this usually buys you bottled water :}  We opted for a veggie wrap, chips and a drink, however, and it was $5.  We tried Lingonberry for our beverage.  I guess there are alot of Lingons in Sweden because it was right up there alongside the Pepsi and Tea!  It was very good!


So, because my crockpot chili was probably properly cooked and my friend needed to get to her side of town before the rush hour - oh and did I mention we were dog tired?...we opted to call it a day. Do you believe we got out of there for a $5 meal and that's IT?  Oh, but the ideas I have!  Like that kitchen cart....I can hear it softly calling "lynda....lynda...."

Merry CHRISTMAS to All!!

Greetings and Salutations!!


I haven't written for awhile, and I've missed my little blog!  I'm so sorry I have neglected you!  Christmas Season has had the best of me. However, I have been out and about on the internet and have found some fun websites that I want to share with you!  I'm so excited!!  Read on...


The first one is Pinterest.  It is a bulletin board of ideas that you "pin" to this site under your name.  Sort of an "inspiration" site.  I find crafts, recipes, pictures and other things that interest me and instead of bookmarking the whole site, I "pin" it!  Take a look at the board I have started, and then create one for yourself!  Just click: www.pinterest.com/TomorrowAtTara : Caution! You'll spend hours if you are not careful looking at other boards and all the great inspirational ideas out there! When you find that recipe or craft idea that inspires you, just "repin" to your board!  Oh the joy!!


Another fun place to explore is www.etsy.com.  It's a marketplace of handmade and vintage items. You can even sell your own handmade things if you want!  Etsy is actually an online craft show without the rain, or in my case, the snow!  I found some really cute purses for a very reasonable price there.  The first one was a beautiful shade of blue with a big bow on the front.  However, I saw that it was being shipped from Thailand.  Now... nothing against the Thai, but I'm shopping American Made if at all possible! A few pages more and I found close to the same style made by a girl in St. Louis....now that's American Made, hunny!  Just write me up some Missouri handmade purses!  Again, before you embark on an Etsy journey, you must just march yourself into the kitchen first thing and set your timer or you will be on that site for hours.  Just warnin'.....  


Well, that's all I have for today, just inspiration and art.  What could be better???  Only a snuggle from my most wonderful baby granddaughter, who now has a curly crop of hair right on the top of her little head.  Oh I miss her warm little self all cuddly under my chin.  She smells so sweet and she "squeaks" when she sleeps...like a little kitten. 


How.much.love.can.you.have.for.a.baby?  I haven't found the end yet! ~~or ever, I hope!


Oh, next week, I do have an IKEA excursion planned.  This will be my 2nd time. The first one didn't count because I went by myself "just to do a quick pass through" and got LOST!  Truth!  I had a map, too!  Well, if  you've been to an IKEA you are nodding your head in an understanding way.  It's the Dane's way of messing with us Americans! "Get them lost so as to BUY their way out!!!" In my quest for purchasing only USA goods, I may relent on a few things once I get there.  Well you should SEE the prices!  And for trendy, well made stuff! I promise I won't hurt America too bad.  I have a budget, ya know!


I will post pictures of our trek down the IKEA Lane and let you in on some prices and items that you'll love....but that's for Tomorrow~~~


Good night my sweet friends.  Thanks for reading my blogs and giving me feedback.  I love writing it and I love you!~

Hearty Italian Soup with Parmesan-Pepper Cornbread Biscotti

Happy Fall Days To Ya!


I know we are enjoying every single minute before the Winter Blast. It kind of gets me into the cooking mood and even soup sounds good!


I made this for dinner a couple of nights ago and it was easy and most delicious!  The recipe is from the October issue of Southern Living. I know this may jinx me, but I have never had a recipe fail from this magazine.  I've had a few near misses, though, including this one, but it turned out really fine.  I won't print the recipe here because you can just google the recipe title and it comes right up.  I will, however, post a few pictures just to whet your appetite!

I used regular Eckrich Smoked Sausage and began browning them in long links as the recipe suggested. Then thought, Hey! I'll blog this!...and started fooling around, trying to take some "stunning" pictures from all angles to give you an idea of my cooking expertise....

...and burned 'em!  

Dang!  Did I say "cooking expertise?" Anyway, so I cut off the burniness and tried the browning process once again...

I diced the onion, added garlic, broth, spinach leaves, diced tomatoes and Cannellini beans...

...then let it simmer while I made the cornbread.


About 40 minutes later: Voila!  It was very good!  I was lucky :)

Our weekend with MMBG (My Magnificent Baby Granddaughter) was excellent.  My husband is an irritatingly natural "Baby Whisperer".  Everytime my little sweetheart cried with horrible gas pains, he picked her up and she cooed with relief.  It was disgusting!  Not that she was relieved, but that Grampa was so efficient!  Naw...I'm not jealous...well....really not alot. :}  He was so good with her. There IS a spiritual connection.  It's evident.  He will play a big part in her life of love.  So will I!  I am sure!  I'm laughing at myself.  My husband is a wonder, he really is.  I'm glad MMBG has realized it so early.  She's s.m.a.r.t.  Here I am being all grandparenty again.


Incidentally, I'm actually not the only one cooking some of Southern Living's recipes.  Here is the delicious looking Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake from the November cover that a good friend of mine made.  If she wasn't 658 miles away, I would have lobbied for a slice!  I'll give you a moment to salivate over this one....

Well, that's about all I have for ya' today, kiddies.  Lots of food. Think I'll go downstairs and see if Mammy is cooking up something right now!  Dreaming again....
   

Six Hundred and Fifty-eight Miles...I need a 'copter!

Hello My Wonderful Friends and Random Readers!


I hope you are having an enchanting Fall with lots of Pumpkin Spiced Lattes (lowfat milk, no whip, please), sweater days, beautiful trees and completed projects!  I've had all of the above but the last one!  Oh how I wish I was finished with those blasted stairs!  I love reading lots of decorating websites with all of their inspiring ideas, but toward the end of a project, it becomes just that~a project!  


But I have a good excuse!  I know, I'm using the grandbaby as my excuse, but it's true!  I got to hold her and rock her every day for 10 days!  My projects at home were taking a serious back seat to staring at MMGB's (My Magnificent Grand Baby's) sweet little face!  Now I'm home and puullleeezze!  Somebody push my "reset" button!  Back to reality!  Get that sandpaper and paintbrush and finish this thing!  I've been home two weeks now!!


I really did have all good intentions.  I cleaned the house and went through all the mail.  I got all of the laundry caught up and filled the fridge again.  My sweet daughter-in-law was sending me the cutest little pictures almost every other day. Yes, every~other~day.  Ask my friends who get no text messages from me anymore, just a baby picture.  I decided to just count the days leading up to Christmas and stay busy with my many projects. She won't change that much... 


Then, my husband called. 


I didn't hear anything he said after the part about his upcoming 4 day weekend and good driving weather between here and Oklahoma.


This "Tara" is definitely waiting until "Tomorrow"!  I'm packin'! :)

Big Snow Day!

So far we have around 7 inches, give or take 5 depending on where you are in Denver. The higher mountains are measuring in feet! It is cold, but not a "January" cold.  I can take this!  My pansies were covered and my aspens droopy, but I knocked off as much of the heavy, wet stuff as I could and they all still looked happy underneath!  They were saying, "Naw...this ain't cold, this is just Colorado's white rain."

 After the flowers all go away and the leaves fall off, God sends winter sunsets over the snow-covered peaks that you pull off the side of the road for.  I've about burnt out my hazard lights with these pull-offs!  My camera has it's own slot in my purse for quick draws! All part of soaking in the daily beauty of this majestic place.

Baby Girl~BG~is 2 weeks old today.  She resides 658 miles away from Denver and I need not tell you how F.A.R. that is in Granddaughter Miles. The heart can't calculate it!  But pictures are getting us by for awhile and the way she smelled and the felt when I held her is still fresh. I'm wondering just how long I can go before desperately needing my next fix!

OK, my stairs are painted and the next step is to choose the stair runner and have it installed.  After spending several days looking at decorating sites featuring stairwells, I have decided on a general color and border similar to these:

Tan Runner with Border   or
Dark Runner with Design  or
Solid Tan Plush

Below are my bare nekked stairs right now:

I also have seen a few options re: the banisters.  I do not love these handrails as they are! No, never have, never will!  After I get the runner installed I will decide on either painting them black, leaving the spindles white - or - painting them white, with the spindles black. Some of the links above have some of these options.  What do you think? I think I will like them better either way!

Although my home is far from a "Tara", the more I plan, scheme, paint and stain, it becomes more and more MY HAVEN...and a place for my husband to come home to at night and exhale...


til Tomorrow!!

Six Hundred and Fifty-eight Miles to Grammy's House

I'm writing on my notepad while on treadmill.  I'm only going 2.5 mph with 5 incline.  Just wanted to get the thrusters fired this morning!  Oh, and there was that morning hotel bfast...could have had lowfat yogurt and granola, but why? Baby Girl's arrival is scheduled for noon tomorrow. Family is all aflitter, and daddy and mommy are just READY.  How do you capitalize a capital?  RREEAADDYY!

Found the above entry on my phone this evening.  I had no idea how the next few days would dizzily spin by me.  BG changes daily.  Twenty-four hours is a huge amount of time for a newborn.  She's going to be completing algorithms by Thursday.  Well they do change remarkably fast. ....

.....I hope grandparenting from a distance is actually possible.

Our granddaughter said hello to the world at 12:29 in the afternoon on Wednesday the 12th! A "grander" day has never been had, I'm sure of it. I have been told I would be in love at first sight....it was true!  I have new respect for the word ~doting~.  I am now a doter.  In one day, I have become an intense doter!  I have also seen how God equips new parents.  I have witnessed our wonderful son and daughter-in-law fall in love and become instantly attuned to what makes our little wonderment happy and content.  How did they know? The tucking of the rolled up receiving blanket under her ears, letting her pull her left arm out of her swaddle, the whispers that quiet her to a slumber.  All in one 24 hour day?  Are they Genius?  As their mother and MIL, I would have to say "yes", but as an observer...God is in the Room...His love is complete and consuming, intelligent and tender.  I can "see" Him.  He flows through a brand new family. 

Primer Day for my Stair Painting Project!

Hello Boys and Girls,


I was on a mission today.  Writing this blog has spurred me on to  hopes....dreams....PRIMER!  I not only accomplished that but was able to get one coat of actual paint on the stairs too.  However, not without some stumbling blocks.


The prep taping and Kilz2 primer paint went really quick.  I hopped out to the garage with glee to retrieve my gallon of Ben Moore paint I have glanced over at for 2 years....opened it to find a can of weird, oily stuff. Yyyek..

  
No problem!! I'll just stir :))...

The stick is STUCK. Dang! And things were going so well~~

So one new gallon of paint later....and the first coat of White Dove semi-gloss is applied. Here we are!

A few tips about painting stair risers that I have learned so far:
~make sure the painter's tape is really stuck tight on the stained steps
~start at the top of the stairs and work down
~load the brush lightly and use more coats to cover
~use a low VOC paint - it doesn't smell
~and hammer the heck around the lid of your can to prevent air from ruining your paint!


~oh yes......ibuprofen :}


Tomorrow, the final coat goes on and I'll be ready to attack the banisters.  Hang on, baby granddaughter!  Your due date is not until Wednesday.  Grammy needs to sand and paint her banisters! ;)