Hiding The Ugly

This is a darling cabinet

I got from my friend. Kim, 

of

SweetSageVintage

( I am trying to get her to post about

some very exciting things she is up to! )

It sits on our side deck.

Looking at it here it

doesn't look so cute,

does it?

That's because it is filled with Stuff...

peanuts for the birds and squirrls

garden tools

mosaic products

and various and asundra other things.

You see we don't have enough storage at this cottage.

So

I 

went

to

my

stash

of

vintage

fabric.

I should say

one of my stashes of vintage fabric!

I pulled out a European twin coverlet

( Purchased in Round Top, Texas, of course! )

and turned it into a curtain to hide

all the ugly...

I

seem

to

be

into

hiding

the

ugly

lately!

There...

Now isn't that better?!

Sort of Supper

Just look at that...

YUM

That is what we had for supper tonight!

When my 14 year old grandson was here last,

I made a Peach cobbler.

He texted me asking for the recipe.

I felt like when I asked my grandmother for her biscuit recipe...

A sifter of flour

A fistful of lard

baking powder...regular teaspoons..maybe 2

A pinch of soda

A pinch of salt

A glass full of buttermilk

You see...I had just combined some old recipes in my head and I am not sure I measured very carefully.

But, when a grandson asks for a recipe,

A grandmother does her best to deliver..

The following is what I sent him:  

Buy a package of pastry crust in the dairy department. I used the Walmart brand....

I lined a throw away Lasagna pan with the crust.... I sprayed the pan with Pam first.... You will also need to cut the crust into pieces in order to line the bottom and sides of pan...

Next:  Peaches.... peel and cut and slice from pit in a bowl.... Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups Packed Brown sugar mixed with 1 Tablespoon flour, 1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Mix thoroughly....

I am not sure of the proportions if one uses canned peaches that are in heavy syrup. I would guess to half the brown sugar and use 2 large cans of peach slices....????     I sort of made this recipe up and I did not do a lot of measuring. I am guessing the best that I can.....

Topping Crust:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 to 2 cups regular white sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons baking powder,1/2 teaspoon salt... Cut in 1 and 1/4 cups butter... I softened the butter and used 2 knives cutting back and forth as I could not find a pastry blender... I would suggest buying a pastry blender at the dollar store... cut the butter in to the flour/sugar mixture. Add 1and 1/2 cups milk to the mixture. 

Place dough lined pan in 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Pour peach mixture over crust.... Pour top crust mixture over top of peaches ( the top mixture will be sort of thin ) and bake for about 45 minutes.

He made it and it turned out great.

Peaches are particularly good right now,

but once my husband and I eat supper,

we are usually too full to eat dessert,

so, tonight, we did what the saying says,

Eat Dessert First!

By the way, I did halve the recipe and it was yummy..

That Texas Blue Bell Ice Cream was the perfect topping!

Our Mailbox Makeover

Our first mailbox looked very similar

to this one,

only ours was white and did not 

have a reflector,

so, to me, it was sort of cute...

Until...

Winter came,

and one of these

took my mailbox

down the road.

This is a very common

occurrence in Pinetop, AZ

So..

My hubbie said we had to get 

one of these:

It swivels at the bottom,

so, when we leave for the winter,

we can turn it to the side to keep

the mean ole snow plow

from taking it out.

There was just one problem..

It was UGLY!

We tried to get Ivy to grow up the 

posts, but the Ivy just didn't grow.

When I was doing the mosaic on the 

table and stepping stone, ( if you missed that 
post you can see it here )

I looked out at the mailbox

and that was the end of the ugly,

in my head.

I started to cut more china and I started gluing..

I used silicone to glue so it would withstand the cold.

Here is a picture closer up..

I was just getting started.

Now I have the post glued..

Another close up..

This took a lot of time, folks!

And the grouting... Oh My!

The china was not all the same

thickness and I didn't care since

 it being level was not an issue,

But

I 

ended

up 

using

my 

fingers

to 

grout.

My

poor

hands

but it was worth it!

One side of my finished mailbox

The other side of my finished mailbox

Up Close and Personal

The other side up close and personal

And the front with a large flat button

from Round Top, TX

to finish it off!

I am trying to decide if I should paint the flag a lighter

shade of pink.

My husband had me look up the regulations for the color

of mailbox flags...

Pink appears to be O.K.

It was not listed like most other colors as a no, no....

So

What

Do

Ya

Think?

The red is sort of faded, so because of the severe winters,

I am leaning towards leaving it alone.

Oh, and something very important,

I did not do the very bottom

so the post can be turned so all 

my hard work will not be

taken out by the snow plow!


I am linking up with Made By You Mondays, 
Met Monday, and frenchcountrycottage, Stuff and Nonsense, Redoux

Just The Three Of Us

Only Now It Is Just One....

The One On The Right....

Me

The one in the middle,

Hazel Madeline Neill,

My Mom,

Amber's Grandmother...

The one on the left....

My Daughter,

My Mom's Granddaughter...

The one on the right

The last of the girls...

Two years ago tonight,

my daughter was killed.

Two years ago tonight, 

I did not know...

Two years ago tomorrow,

I got the call...

The coroner did not pronounce death

until tomorrow, June 8, 2010..

but in all reality,

the death certificate should have read

June 7, 2010.....

Either way,

she is gone,

I am here...

and time heals...

but even after

two years...

my heart is broken...

not broken just because

she is gone...

but broken because

even when she was here

she was gone......

and no one knew how to make

her be Here and Whole...

She is whole now

while I am still 

here. 

Even though

my heart

aches,

it 

rejoices,

that

now

she

is 

whole.

I love you, Mom,

I love you, Amber.

 Huge Pink Hydrangeas 

on both sides of steps

 White, Blue, Lavendar Hydrangeas

 in baskets 

all along the fence.

 Basket on railing of top deck

 The other side of the porch

 White Begonias planted 

in and old tea kettle

 Front View of the Cottage

 Dalias planted in the large front bed

 Side View

 New lattice work for climbing roses

 Close up of hanging baskets on fence

holding pink geraniums

 So tiny now they are hard to see

White Begonias planted down

 the side of the porch 

that the brick patio is laid

 Close up of basket with Hydrangeas

 Close up of some

 of the dalias and begonias

 planted in pots.

 I love, yes, love Hydrangeas

 Another view of the Dalia bed

Sweet Peas are planted beneath the trellis

Pink Geraniums in baskets along fence.

There is more planting done...

more rose bushes,

vegetable garden,

Blackberry and Raspberry plants..

So, as you can see, 

in between mosaicing 

there has been some gardening going on!

Today I am cutting more china for the mail box post..

I got the white paint stripped off of it yesterday.

I think there will just be a random mosaic, with no particular design on the post since it is so large and round. I am not really worried either about it being so even. After all, a wine glass will not be resting on it!

I will see how it looks and decide if I will put a focal on the mailbox. 

I hope you are having as nice a day as I am in the beautiful Arizona Pines!

Grouted Mosaics And Ugly Mailbox

 Yesterday I grouted the table and the stepping stone below.

They are far from perfect but I love them.

I still want to distress the table more and I need to give it a coat of wax....

BuT...

Scroll on down and you will see my latest obsession.....

 I am linking up with 

Made By You Monday

 The Ugly Mailbox

When it snows in the winter and the nice plow men plow the roads, sometimes these nice plow men remove more than snow. Our mailbox, along with several others, over the years, have been taken out and dragged here and there.

When this happened the last time, my husband insisted we put up a box that would not be taken away.... thus the Ugly Mailbox.

I tried growing Ivy in hopes the Ivy would cover up the ugliness of the metal post. It has been over two years and it is pretty obvious...not working!

Yesterday, as I was grouting the table and stepping stone

( by the way, I have 33 more stepping stones which are crying out...make me pretty! ) I looked out at the mailbox and it hit me..... I need to mosaic it!

Sooooooooo, off to town I went to get stripper and advice on what the best adhesive, grout, etc. would be to survive the snowy winters here in Pinetop, AZ.

Today my goal is to get the paint stripped off and cut more tile. 

Wish me luck..

I don't want an UgLy mailbox!

Somehow, even bills are easier to handle when removed from a pretty mailbox!

This Could Be The Start Of Something

Cutting Pieces of Vintage China for Mosaic Table

 Table Top For Mosaic

Table Base

Painting it white with chalk paint

The Focal Points Completed

Today I added the background pieces and also did a stepping stone. Tomorrow I hope to grout. I have never grouted anything before so I am a little nervous......

then again, I had never cut and glued vintage china to anything before either. I am hoping it will be wonderful

But

If

Not

I

Tried

Something

New!

I will take pictures and post the results when completed.

Have you tried anything new lately?