Hoping your day is filled with all the magical gifts of the season! 🎄

I don’t handle cold weather and snow very well. Which is why I’m happy to be relaxing on the beach for the holidays. Wherever you are celebrating, I wish you peace, love, and joy.

CTTO for the first four images, I snapped the last three here in Treasure Island.

I came across this on the internet recently and became so enamored with the author’s creativity that I just had to share it.

Since I purchased my home the rotten exterior door in the laundry room has been on my list of things to dread (I mean, do). Instead of replacing the door I decided to fill it in (there is another exit to the backyard a mere fifteen feet away). I estimated it would take me day to complete my task, so of course, it took two.

As always, the demo part was easy (and fun). The block laying however was a bit less so. I had to install 20 8x8x16 blocks. Considering each one weighs roughly 35 pounds, I lifted 700 pounds yesterday – who needs to join a gym?!

Today I merely had to smear on the stucco. I’ll let it dry out for a few days before I paint it. Oh, and if anyone needs me for anything, I can be found at Back & Body Hurts!

Let the Gulf of Mexico provide you a moment of peace during this hectic season.

For someone who’s never mowed a lawn before, my little house came with an awful lot of grassy ground. I had a vision of transforming my front yard into a butterfly garden which would not only cut down on my “mowable” real estate but would be good for pollinators.

So, when my local Lowe’s had plants on sale for half price yesterday I loaded up! Excitedly, I crammed 20 plants and associated bags of soil amendments into my ever capable car.

The fun began this morning…I had to dig up the top 6″ of grassy soil in order to remove all the roots, loosen the remaining soil to a depth of 15″, mix in fertilizer, and then insert new plant. Thankfully, the weather was perfect for a day of yard work (sunny but cool, we barely topped 60 today).

Sadly, I ran out of daylight before I could plant them all. The last of this batch will go in tomorrow.

Standing back and admiring my work I realized my yard actually looks like a minefield (once the grass clumps dry out I will remove them). Which brought to mind that classic 80s movie, Caddyshack.

I took these photos almost a month ago on the Treasure Island beach. These are just a few of the amazing creations completed as part of the Sanding Ovations Sand Sculpture competition.

The artists certainly had fun with the Sandhenge theme as most of the pieces were quite humorous.

Though I didn’t capture it in the third photo, there was even a robed researcher ready to diligently record the results as the first crash test dummy took a ride on the wheel.

“There Goes Peatcasso, Showing Off in Art Class Again” was the title for the piece in the last photo.

The sand sculptures had held up remarkably well over the past month but I suspect that this afternoon’s thunderstorm will have disintegrated them back into beach.

As usual, my straightforward remodeling project took a myriad of twists and turns. To begin with, the boxes of cabinets that the old owner had left behind, were not, as I had hoped, the set of uppers for the south side of the kitchen (the north ones were previously installed and look quite nice). Instead, they were a mismatched jumble of doors and a few shelves.

A trip to IKEA (the purveyor of said cabinets) proved entirely pointless because they no longer carry that style. Not only that, they don’t make anything even remarkably similar. Grrr!

Back to the drawing board. As luck would have it, there were four shelves (and the remainder from when I cut the linen closet shelves was just the right size for the top display piece). Good thing open shelves are popular nowadays!

Of course, before I could install my latest inspiration I had to patch the wall and cover up the weird paint job. Annoyingly, three coats of paint weren’t enough. Frustrated, I took a break and worked on an electrical repair in hopes of being electrocuted so I wouldn’t have to do anymore painting. No such luck!

After yet another trip to the hardware store I was finally able to install the shelves. I think they turned out pretty well, considering.

Now all I have left to replace are the bottom cabinets, the sink, and the countertop. Piece of cake, right? 🙄