Jeannie Marie & Company

So July 2012 was the month that was! We had five weekends, 3 sets of guests and gave two parties. Both my husband and I each had a trip away. A busy, wonderful, glorious month! Not without it's perils though for I had blogging issues that kept me silent for nearly two weeks!  But see?  Resolved....I'm adding photos! My last day at Disney with some very special characters at Animal World! I had to change from Firefox to Internet Explorer which was a simple fix considering all the hoops I jumped through trying to get my pictures to load using the server I've always used.  Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  Not I.  All I know is that I can't repair things, I must just find a different path.  My Disney time during Mid July was fabulous! Ginny, Rebecca and I at Epcot Ginny and Rebecca, my best friends from Dayton OH, were weekend guests and saw my new house for the first time!  Later we all traveled to Orland...

I'm unable to upload photos after my computer was fixed.  Is anyone else having issues?  Blogging without photos is like dining without silverware.  No fun! I have no idea what the problem is.  They upload as a broken link.  Hopefully I will be back soon!

Looking forward to a wonderful week at Disneyworld! I'm off in a few hours to Orlando for another vacation with my two best friends from Ohio, Ginny and Rebecca.  A "Just Us Girls" vaca is always so much fun!   I'm so excited!  

A blog I visited this evening,  Minerva's Garden  inspired me to remember my favorite drive by trash pick up item.   It was probably twenty or twenty five years ago and Bill and I were out driving when I spotted the column you see in the picture above, just lying on it's side next to someone's trash can.  Not only the column, but a big square base that it sat upon.  It was peeling paint badly and Bill was incredulous that I wanted it.  I convinced my husband this solid cement column was important for me to own to continue to live happily.  The home owner was approached and she was happy for us to take it, but not to help us load it.  I felt sorry for Bill as we struggled to get it into the trunk of the car.  It was half hanging out and the tires looked dangerously low.   The square solid cement base was equally, if not more heavy than the column.   He always blamed his hernia on this column. It happily lived next...

My new found hobby is now making unusual dishes from thrift store throwaways.  This is in combination with my other favorite hobby of poking through every shelf in any thrift store I can find!  I saw a few at a garden shop and they called them Whimsies.  Some for outside and some for table decorations.  Table whimsies are perfect for entertaining! Having that one unusual dish you can build your table around gives you confidence.  Anyway.....Here are several different types I put together.   This is a great tea party whimsy Or for a birthday party.  Hey, even an unbirthday party!  I would put cookies or candies on top and cake squares on the bottom to serve with tea.  The 3D look on this one is really striking!  It was actually designed by me as a garden whimsy, a plate flower.  As a table whimsy, it might be more fun.  The flower bowl can hold petals or a candle.  It will hold ...

My latest fun thing to do is to shop for cast off dishes to create fun whimsey's for the garden and table. Here are a couple of plate flowers I've made recently.  Hung on lattice Thinking about making flower plates makes thrift shopping even more fun. Learning to wield a calk gun..ummm not so fun.   Here is mine in the garden: It's firmly positioned on a pole that is hidden in the bush itself.  I like them to be seen when you turn a corner or in some unexpected way.  If you remember the colorful houses blog I did, and I've linked you to it, I am recreating this in a small way that will fit into any lifestyle.  You can have as many or few plate flowers as you like.  I've posted at  Flea Market Finds Debbiedoo's Whatcha Work Up Wednesday and at the links you'll find along the right side!

I was happy to find this basket for my shelves.  I'm storing everything loose in baskets that used to be in the drawers of furniture I no longer have.  Photos, cards, scarves, smalls and such, things I want to keep but have no room to display.   Of course I would rather fill my new shelves with books, but when I moved without any shelving hardly, I also had to leave hundreds of books behind with friends, family, yard sale customers and so forth.  Now I am very practical read mostly on my Kindle and from the library.  Needs must when you scale back!   I only brought along a few hundred of my very, very favorites.   But back to my basket When I took off the liner to wash it, behold!   A second liner was under it!   Perhaps this is the basket to store my Halloween small decorations in instead of mixed in with the bin marked Fall Decorations. Oh wait.  I didn't bring any Halloween decorations.  Zero, zip.  ...

It has been fun making totem's for the garden but before I sold any, I had to use one as a 4th of July centerpiece.  In the garden it catches rainwater for a cute birdbath In the garden, though, the plate will catch rainwater to make a lovely birdbath.  It features a stained glass mosaic base that looks fabulous in the sun.  This piece can also be hung as a feeder in a covered area.  Made easily with just thrift finds.  For the holiday meal, I fixed Kayem Old Tyme hot dogs. They were fabulous   and were thoroughly enjoyed by my brother in law Michael until he was interrupted by my camera wielding mother.   The menu for the 4th was very traditional, Hot Dogs, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon, chips, and pickled beets.  You heard me.  Pickled beets.  There was a bit of a discussion whether pickled beets belonged on the menu.... .....But I digress. While the family watched the Tampa Bay Rays lose, after our picnic supp...

  The family  July 4, 20010  Picnic at our house and celebrating our own firecracker's birthday, Kyle Born July 4th fifteen years ago today!