Another Saturday

We slept with the windows open last night! The early mornings have suddenly turned decent. Saby can now take a pleasant 8 a.m. stroll as opposed to a hurry up and get her out there stifling 6 a.m. fast walk. No more blazing asphalt for her tootsies! The daytime highs are still in the low 100's, but we can see that light at the end of the tunnel now that the overnight temps are dropping into the high 60's and low-70's.

I decided to have a little blog Picnik after our Saturday chore of whacking the backyard jungle. I wish I could insert one of the scenes below as my view! If only we had an ocean out our backdoor. In fact, I told Craig we should get one of those sound recordings of ocean waves and play it on the stereo when we're in the pool. Maybe we could convince ourselves! But I guess we'll have to settle for Eddie Vedder and a few palm trees for now. Love this song!

Using the Holga button on Picnik seems a lot easier than using a Holga and sending off the film! I'm not sure what processes I used on these other photos, but I think it was various forms of cinematography with a little bit of somethin somethin.

Docks at sunset.

Fancy focus on the malecon.

Playa del Sol dock at last light.

And Bally Hoo pangas.

The Ottoman Project

Remember when Craig and I went to buy a new chair and ottoman for the family room in May and the store ticked us off because they refused to throw in the pillow that matched the chair and ottoman supposedly on clearance at $1300? In fact, the cost went up to over $1500 once we wanted that pillow. Silly people! When we came home that day, I suddenly came to my senses and realized I could take the leather chair from the den that no one ever sits in, recover an older ottoman to coordinate with the existing furniture, and save a lot of money. So that's what I did.

I found the fabric for the ottoman and pillows on sale at JoAnn in late May. I think the sum total of the fabric came to $75. When we returned from Isla in July, the upholsterer had finished the ottoman -- labor, $150. After procrastinating,I finally got around to making the coordinating pillows on Friday. Actually, I made three pillows and found the rest of them at World Market. Here's the finished product.

I found the striped brown pillow to coordinate with the ottoman and leather chair at World Market.

I made the two brown faux leather pillows and striped pillow from the ottoman fabric for the sage green sofa to coordinate with the ottoman.

When I was browsing at World Market, I bought three other pillows to dress up the older leather sofa. I'm amazed that I was able to find the pillows to finish off the room at one store. That's a first for me. I usually look far and wide and never find what I'm looking for. Evidently, the colors in the ottoman are hot this year!


In the process of redoing upholstery, I also decided to paint some of the antique furniture. I picked out some paints from the Martha Stewart line at Home Depot and bought them in sample sizes for $2.99 apiece. I know I'm probably the last person in the world to realize that I can use the samples instead of buying a bigger can of paint. Martha has some great colors! I used okra on the old churn that sits by the leather sofa and still have over half of the sample size leftover.

I used October leaves on the bottom of this old trunk and wiped some of the okra over the lighter green top. I also bought a small sample of the color sealing wax that I used on a small bench and tray.

While I was shopping at World Market, I noticed a rag rug that ties all the colors together. I needed a new one for the kitchen! Sold!


After I finished putting everything together, I noticed that my shells and seaglass in the wooden bowl also coordinated.

All in all, I'm so glad I didn't go new. My sincere thanks to Norwood Furniture for being so stingy with your silly pillows! It made me think and allowed me to get creative and use what I already had. Craig and I have decided we don't want to add any more furniture to the heap when we'll probably be downsizing in a few years when he retires. Who knows! We could sell it all and end up singing the Mexican Hat Dance! The lesson is recycle!

Saturday Staycation

Instead of taking a long daytrip on Saturday, we decided to stay right here in the valley. Craig wanted to eat at a Taco Time on the way to my favorite antique mall up in Mesa. I decided I could lunch at the Taco Time (it was our favorite Mexican fast food restaurant in Seattle) in exchange for a few hours of antiquing.

Long story short -- when we got there, the Taco Time was out of business, and my favorite antique mall had just opened as a Goodwill Store. Two typical signs of our thriving Phoenix economy.


We saw this cute little Mexican taco stand in old downtown Mesa, but didn't stop. We opted instead for a Serrano's restaurant where we both had the Saturday special -- chicken tamales in tomatillo sauce. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much, but they were fantastic! So great that I didn't even think about taking photos of my meal. They were gone in about 60 seconds! Serrano's is a Mexican chain with locations all over the Phoenix area, so we may have to try them again on Saturday for those tamales!

We ended up finding two new antique malls way out in east Mesa that were great! They were located about a block apart, so I spent a few hours of blissful browsing. Craig made a quick swing through both of them and then I'm not sure what he did? I was too busy having fun to notice!

Look what the carnival dropped off!

Attention Judy! Another globe. I think you need to plan a fall trip to Phoenix!


Tex is ready for the rodeo!

I remember the Howdy Doody song from childhood, but I can't actually remember watching the show. Maybe I was scared of Howdy! I'm sorry -- he's creepy!

Where's the beach? Where's the beach?

I should have bought the album just for this cover!

Ick. The things they sell at antique malls!


And here's another Howdy. Paging Mr. Doody. We need help!

This is supposed to be a cat? I think it's a Scaredy Cat!

Now that's debatable! But I guess my mother thought Jello was healthy in the 60's?

Early multi-cultural family.

I loved this painting so much, I bought it! The color's are so soft!

Loved this shabby chic booth. Their main shop's in Phoenix, so guess I'll be visiting!

Perfect gift for Saby, but she's not wading through many puddles.
She might enjoy dressing up in rubber booties!

Attention! Three open positions in the Red Hat Society! (Do they REALLY wear these hats to meetings?)

Okay. That's just too much information!

And as always, more seaglass fodder!

P. S. Don't tell Craig, but I think I may head back out that way today. Actually, I doubt he cares if he doesn't have to suffer through it again! : )

Salmon vs. Chicken Tamales

I just noticed a photo of The Family (close friends back in Washington State) sitting on a waterfront stoop at a home in Anacortes this weekend gazing at this view of the San Juan Islands. I don't have to tell you that it's KILLING me since it was blaring hot here.

I can just imagine the cool crisp sea air and that view as I'm sitting here scraping the dry skin from my hooves. Oh well, they may be sipping wine with their grilled salmon, but we had chicken tamales in tomatillo sauce for lunch and it was fantastic! I can rationalize that they did have on jackets and sweaters in that photo, so they were probably freezing their arses off! But I still almost cried thinking about that Northwest summer weather as I was dripping sweat on my morning bike ride round and round the circle here in desert suburbia. So I guess it's time to convince myself it's a good day here in Arizona!

After all, sometime in the next month or so, the daytime highs will drop into the 90's and then it's all icing on the cake until late next May! And there are so many other things to like about Arizona in addition to the idyllic fall, winter, and spring weather!

Just yesterday, we were in an antique mall where they ask customers to leave their guns outside. So that could be number one on my list of likes -- safe semi-automatic free zones in antique malls! Not to mention that antiques are really good around here because, after all, old people move here and die!

In addition to gun-free antique malls, there are also some bars that have bucked the new law that allows firearms in bars. If a bar has the no firearms symbol on the door, you can get drunk with no fear of armed borrachos shooting up the place! And speaking of the Wild Wild West, we also have Sheriff Joe! I mean what's not to like about an angry old coot with a bad rug who dresses prisoners in pink underwear and chases down people for DWH (driving while Hispanic). Everybody loves Sheriff Joe. I get the emails from his admirers all the time!

And then there's our governor, Jan Brewer. Ya gotta love her! The Republican governor was appointed when Janet Napolitano went to Washington, D.C. and is making national news for her 10-second brain fart heard round the world. She also spends a lot of time talking about her claims of all the headless bodies they're finding in the Arizona desert. Nothing like a bunch of headless bodies to attract business and tourism to our fine state! That gal's pretty dang smart and sure knows how to represent! I predict she will be elected again in November just because . . . she's Republican and has jumped on the far hardcore right bandwagon. She may be at a loss for words, but at least she's got her teeth! I say all that in jest, but really, I see quite a few Arizonans lacking teeth (even in my workplace)!

If you're adverse to Keith Oberman, you might want to skip the video. Sorry.

While I jest about the politics here in Arizona, there IS a lot to love about the beauty of the desert and the idyllic snow-free 70 degree days in January! I'll be feelin' the love in another month or so!

A Money Tree!

So far it's been a great Labor Day weekend. Yesterday, we did the big antique tour through Mesa. More about that later! But I can't wait to post about our discovery today.

It started out as an ordinary day. On our way to drop off some clothing donations and return some items to Target and Home Depot, Craig twisted my arm into stopping at Joe's Farm Grill. We haven't been there in awhile because I've been trying to stay away from big juicy burgers and fries in my attempt to get back on the turnpike to Wellsville.

Craig ordered the blue cheese burger on whole wheat with fries. I tasted it and it was truly fabulous. (Or maybe I just hadn't tasted a good burger in awhile.)

I ordered the curried chicken salad with coleslaw. It tasted a lot better than it looks in this photo.


On the way out, I stopped to admire their summer flowers. Their zinnias are just beautiful! I guess zinnias must LOVE extreme heat!

I love the colors. Almost autumn-ish!

After Joe's and our errands at Target and Home Depot, we stopped at the dreaded Walmart to stock up on everything from pool shock to Blue Bunny frozen yogurt. Our first stop was the garden center to look for a cover for the outdoor grill.

As I was browsing through what few plants they had, lo and behold, I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a MONEY TREE! I know I'm always joking about how my money tree has died, but it was our lucky day. There actually IS a money tree! And go figure! They sell it at Walmart!




I could really use some spare change right now to support all my expensive habits (antiques, travel, end of summer sales, etc...). So here's my dilemma. I need to go back to Home Depot before they close tonight to pick up some paint. Should I stop by Walmart and try my luck with the money tree?!! I think my ship may have come into port!

Life could certainly BE a beach with a money tree on the patio!

The Houses of Merida

I love this Yucatan Living series. It's almost as good as watching HGTV's Househunters International. Here's the first episode in the series. They're all posted on YouTube. As they say in the local Mexican restaurant -- enyoy!





Something about Merida fascinates me! Can't wait until Craig retires so we can spend some time exploring more of the Yucatan.

We planned on taking a daytrip today to Globe or Prescott, but I changed my mind. Might as well save the gas and spend it on antiques! We're going to explore the antique stores in Mesa and have lunch at (this is sick) Taco Time. That was our favorite fast food Mexican restaurant in the Seattle area and the only one I know of here in Phoenix metro is down the street from one of my favorite antique haunts. The weather outside is delightful (but hot!), so I think I'll take a dip in the pool before we leave. I love long weekends! : )

Labor Day Picnik!

I decided to have a little Picnik with some photos that I thought were irretrievable for one reason or another. I don't know if we'll have a real picnic to celebrate the holiday or not, but have a Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Ouch!

Flora

El Potro!

Coco Loco Por Favor?

Got Sol?

Playa del Sol Summer

My Spot

Beach Wares

Craig and the Whalesharks

The long awaited photos finally came back from the processing lab (and I finally got around to seeing what I could do with them). Craig was really disappointed because there were only two or three decent photos in the entire batch, but I can't say I'd do much better if someone threw me off a boat in front of the world's largest fish and I tried to take photos with a cheap disposable water camera.

Craig thought it was an awesome experience and I hope he'll do it again if we go to Isla next July. The boats that day had to go further out into the channel to locate the whalesharks, so that's why the water is a deeper color of blue. He took a tour booked through Regi and Rebe at the Hotel Kinich because he wanted to be on a larger boat since another storm was coming up the pike. We also rented the golf cart through El Sol which is located at Kinich and didn't have a single problem with it the entire week. Marcela from Isla Beckons got us a discounted rate of $44 a day, and I think the whaleshark tour was $100. Some of the smaller boats on Isla were discounting the whaleshark trip to $80 while we were there, so you could definitely do better than the standard quoted $125 rate I see posted on message boards.

After he got out there and saw the way the smaller boats were being bounced around, Craig was glad he chose the bigger boat. The only downside was that the tour went to the Cancun side first to pick up some Italian daytrippers from an A.I. down by Playa del Carmen, but they did drop Craig off on Isla on the way back so he wouldn't have to make the trek back to Cancun with them.

Uhhhh -- can you guess which photo Craig didn't take? But this borrowed photo illustrates an important fact -- humans aren't the preferred meal of whalesharks! (It's phytoplankton.)

Here we have Craig and a fin.


And a whaleshark head!

Craig took a pretty decent self-portrait! : )

It'd be fun to go with him next time and take the photos, but that's not happening since I'd be hurling over the side the entire trip. And yes, Craig said a lot of the Italians on the boat were doing just that. At one point, he actually thought he was going to join them, but was able to tough it out. : )