It's the Unexpected

Do you see them?   They're hanging on the wall.  Do you know what they are?  Outside window shutters purchased from Home Depot.  I tried to come up with an inexpensive way to decorate this very long wall in my son's college house.  I already had these shutters that I had previously used in my own home so I brought them to  Tuscaloosa.  If you look really close you will see that they are plastic.  It's the unexpected!

This picture also includes the coffee table that was transformed from an old kitchen table.

It's Not a Kitchen Table Anymore!

My husband was given an old kitchen table that belonged to his great aunt.  We didn't really have a place for it so RD had a great idea to turn it into a coffee table.  He cut the legs off and painted it beige.  To protect the top from spills, he put several coats of polyurethane on it.  It turned out great.  My son has been using it in his house while he has been in college. I'm thinking of bringing it home and using it in my sunroom. 

You can still see all the scratches that were made over the years.

It has been a great conversation piece too!

I Have Been Too Busy!

I haven't posted in a whole month!  I have been just too busy.  Can you guess what I have been doing?  I'll give you a hint:

I have the most wonderful classroom.  One day I'll show you the little vignettes I created above the cabinets.  I take every opportunity to decorate.

Just some of my toys.  No more old overhead projectors! Notice my "to do" list on the side. I make lists for everything.

 

A Change of Seasons

I've been really busy this week getting my classroom ready for school to start back.  We go back so early now.  Long gone are the days when we didn't go back until September.  While taking a little stroll through my neighborhood at sunset I started thinking about how I am so ready for cooler temperatures.  I remembered that I have taken pictures of a maple tree in my front yard during the different seasons.  I love the transformation of this tree.

Summer

 

 

 

 

Fall

 

 

 

 

 

Winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring

 

Front Porch Rocking

It's hard to believe that my summer break is almost over and I must report back to school next week.  I have enjoyed having time to sit on my front porch, relax and enjoy the view. You sit back and enjoy the view too.

I love this rocking chair.

This is what I see each morning from my front porch.  It's a beautiful view.  

My Crepe Myrtles are filled with blooms.

I enjoy watching the birds take a little dip.

This is where I love to sit and watch the birds in the late afternoon.

View from my back deck.  There's a bird feeder next to the chair on the left and at different times of the day you will see cardinals feeding.

I love summer!

Yall come back now!

Pampered Chef Goes To The Beach

Don't you just love these drink holders? They are perfect for the beach.  Each one has a color coded tab so you can always find your drink.   The set comes with 6 drink holders and a larger one that will hold a large bottle.  I bought them from Pampered Chef and gave them to my daughter in law as a gift.  I want a set for myself now.   
Pampered Chef

It's a Teachable Moment

I am spending the week at New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  This morning I woke up to something that I am always teaching my students about but have never seen it myself before..... until today. I witnessed a sea turtle burying her eggs and then crawl back to the ocean. 

My daughter in law and I are both teachers so we both grabbed our cameras and ran straight to the beach.  She was pushing sand to cover the eggs and then turned around to head back to the ocean.  I noticed that she moved each flipper independently of each other like swimming.  After 10 strokes she would stop and rest and then move 10 more times.  It took about 10 minutes to get back into the water. 

As soon as she reached the water, I noticed that she lowered her head to submerge it.

Lesson plans are whirling through my head right now!!!

There are always postings around the beach condos to remove all tents and chairs at night because it might interfere with the turtles coming ashore.  I always kind of disregarded it but I understand now why they should be removed.  We left our tent out overnight and she made a path right under it to lay her eggs.

Fiddleheads Are Coming

I love shade gardens and perennials. I planted these ferns and hostas four years ago and they come back stronger each year.  Perennials are so easy.  The ferns have really surprised me. I thought they would die during the winter but since I planted them under the stairway of my deck, it helps to protect them from the cold in the winter.  Right now it is so hot and humid that I have to water them everyday to keep them from wilting.  The underside of the fronds are covered in spores right now so it won't be long before I have new little fiddleheads popping up.  Can you tell that I am a science teacher?

 

A Silhouette Giveaway

Blogging has introduced me to so many different things.  Southern Hospitality is a blog that I have been following and have found so many new creative decorating ideas.  Check out this giveaway.  I would love to have it and I know you would too.  Southern Hospitality: a Giveaway

Miss Huff, Your Blooms Are Showing!

Miss Huff  is my favorite variety of  lantana.  She will grow to about 3 feet tall and has the most beautiful orange flowers.  The butterflies love her too.  She has been to visit me for the last 4 years and each year she becomes more beautiful.  Notice the lamb's ear to the left of her.  It is blooming too.  You can't tell in the picture but the blooms are purple. Bees love it so you shouldn't plant it near a deck or porch.

My lavender is just now blooming.  I transplanted it this spring so it has taken some time for it to come back.

I was too tired to get my shovel out and dig holes in the ground so I did the next best thing.  I planted them in some clay pots that I already had in storage.  I then nestled them in the straw.  Here in the south we use pinestraw as mulch. I placed pine bark mulch on top of each pot to keep the moisture in because they will dry out a lot faster than they would in the ground.  The one on the left is purple fountain grass and on the right is a yellow hibiscus.  I think it looks pretty good considering I was lazy today.