Ya-Ya Sisterhood!

 
My sisters and I have so much fun when we are together.  I wish we could all get together more often, but life keeps us all busy.  We got to spend a couple of days together at Thanksgiving and had a blast.  Here's a photo of the three of us.

I've been off all week, but we had lots of company for Thanksgiving so I've been a little busy.  No time to blog.  I should be back to my normal routine next week.  Enjoy the holiday!

 

 

 

 

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

We're having a Thanksgiving EVE dinner instead of the traditional Thanksgiving DAY lunch because of family schedules.  I decided to create a new look for my dining room table in preparation. 

I ran to the fabric store a few days ago and bought some really cheap Fall-looking fabric, some ribbon, thread, and yards of really inexpensive felt.  With no real direction or idea of what I wanted to create,  I knew something would come to me.

My first creation was to cut the patterned fabric in to 18" squares.  I got out my ancient serging machine and stitched a rolled edging and made some dinner napkins.  I love that machine.  The edges turned out so professional looking with the contrasting thread.

Next I laid out the yards of felt across my dining room table, took a salad plate and drew some scallops along the edge of the fabric. I took a pair of scissors and cut along the line.  The nice thing about using felt is that there was no stitching involved.  I only had to do a little measuring and then some cutting. (warning: don't use permanent marker to draw if you decide to do this.  My 40 year old plate is marked for life I'm afraid)

 

I did a little practice run with the total look to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I had a wreath of Fall Flowers that I used as a table runner. You've seen my early marriage dishes in previous posts.  The pattern is Noritake 'Homecoming'.  It is perfect for Thanksgiving.  I love my dishes!

I love how the table cloth turned out.  It cost around $12 total to make it so if something spills on it, I'm not going to fret about it.  I'll just toss it or cut it up and make something else. 

I have some little foil leaves I found in my craft box so I just tossed them randomly across the table.

Here's a closeup of the finished napkin.  I just used some old napking rings I had stored away.

 

I love this wine bottle 'cozy' that I got as a gift several years ago.  It goes perfectly with the motif.

I think we're set now.  I love Thanksgiving.  It's absolutely my favorite holiday.  I look so forward to having everyone over. I'm hoping the weather will be nice so we can have the chiminea burning pinion wood outside.  I plan to leave some leaves on the ground so my Floridian sister can experience a true Fall. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

 

Wine, Wine, Wine.....

 
 Wine is a staple at our home, and at our lake house.  Over the years, we've collected quite an assortment of wine bottles and corks to commemorate special occasions, or just to remember the names of our favorite wines.  Although it might be deemed a little 'tacky', we have the wine bottles playfully displayed along the molding edging of the island at the lake house.  Originally I had a wine motif wall paper border along the furdown above the kitchen island, and eventually the empty bottles ended up there.  I rather like the display because it reminds me of some really fun times.

 

I found this beautiful old wine crock at an antique store a while ago.  It actually came from a vineyard. 

At some point, we started tossing the corks inside the old crock and now it is almost full.  I'll have to think of something creative to do with the corks.  If you think of something, please let me know.  I'm in a creative mood!

 
 
 

 

I purchased some 4 x 4 tiles from the hardware store and made some wine glass coasters.  I had to carefully soak off the labels from the wine bottles, and then cut them to fit on the tile.  I then used plain glue to stick them to the tiles.  After the glue dried, I just put a coat of varnish over the top.  I purchased some cork backing and cut out a piece to fit the back of the tile, and just glued it on.  Such an easy project and they look great. 

 

 

I also started a collection of wine carafes to serve wine.  Generally we just pour straight from the bottle, but for a special occasion or a nice dinner, we pour the wine in to the carafes.  I love the color of red wine and these carafs really enhance the flavor and the color.  You can find these at most antique stores for a very nominal fee.

 

I'm so happy it's Friday.  I'm hoping to work on some neglected projects in my little room this weekend since it's going to be rather chilly and wet outside.  Who knows what I'll come up with.  I'll be sure to share with you.  Have a nice weekend!

~Diana

(I changed the format of the blog page a little to make the photos larger.  I'd like your input.)

Lions and Tigers and Bears....OH MY!!

Another day at the zoo.  This time I took myself to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler Texas.  After last week's adventure, I just wanted to experience the Tyler zoo I've heard so much about.  I have to tell you that this is one of the prettiest zoos I've ever been to.  The animals were so lively and the grounds were absolutely breath-taking.  Here are some of the hundreds of photos I took while I was there.  Again, the weather was beautiful and there were no crowds at all. 

I bought a few plastic zoo animals to keep as souvenirs. Proceeds help feed the animals.

The parakeets are so fun to interact with.  They are so tame and friendly.  Especially if you have a seed stick to offer.

 

 

This creepy alligator surfaced just as I approached. He is HUGE!

 

Peaceful looking lions.  I'm still glad I was on the other side of the fence.

I love African Elephants.  This guy was slurping water out of the moat and spraying it everywhere.  Very entertaining.

Isn't this a cute shot of the Giraffes?

 

More flamingos

A huge rhino. He paced all over the area. 

 

 

It was fun to see a buffalo at the zoo. You don't see them very often.

This white tiger was absolutely gorgeous.  She was a little shy, unlike her mate that was at the front of the cage the whole time.

This guy was mesmerizing.  He had the most beautiful blue eyes and just fixed his gaze on me.  So huge and powerful looking. 

My least favorite, but fascinating just the same.  I made myself check out the snake area.  ICK!!  They are just creepy.

 

I had never seen a blue frog before.  He was so shiny, he looked like porcelain.  Beautiful.

 

Right next to the blue frog was this unusual bright orange frog.

This zoo even has an aquarium.  Lots of interesting fish.

As much as snakes disgust me, I have to admit this one appealed to me because of the color. 

This bobcat paced back and forth.  He was beautiful.

GO HORNS!!

Pretty pelican.

My little zoo animals again.

The best thing about the Tyler zoo is that the animals have such a nice place to roam.  The cages are more like open pastures and there are lots of waterfalls and trees that add to the natural landscaping.  If you're ever in the area, be sure to check it out.  They are open year round.

It's an hour past my bedtime because of the time change, but I'm forcing myself to stay up the extra hour.

Have a nice week!

~Diana

 

 

 

 

Trip to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Fall is the best time in the world to get outdoors in this area.  I played hookie one day last week and hubby and I trekked over to the Fort Worth Zoo and Botanical/Japanese Gardens.  What a perfect day!

Turns out that Wednesdays are half price day at the zoo so we unknowingly timed it perfectly. We had so much fun.  There were no crowds at all and the temperature was in the mid 70's.

The colorful Flamingos were right at the entrance.  I love these birds and have no issue with putting one of the fake ones in my front flower bed.  They are really very interesting.  Imagine sleeping while standing on one skinny leg.

I love to watch Gorillas.  Their antics are so human-like.  I watched a mommy gorilla interract with her little baby.  The moment the baby started wandering away, she went right after him, took his hand and led him back to her side.  So cute to watch.

This guy just plopped down on the rock and stared out.  Wonder what he was thinking?

Elephants are entertaining as well.  There was an old spare tire in the cage and they were tossing it around.  One elephant was eating the straw off another elephant's back.

 

This baby giraffe reminded me of the children's book called 'Are You My Mother'.  Do you remember that book?

Tigers are such beautiful cats.

Look how this lion blends in so nicely with the rocks in the background.  All the animals were pretty mellow while we were there, but I was there once when the lion started roaring.  I had to cover my ears it was so loud.  The ground actually vibrates and you can literally hear it for miles.

There were lots of interesting birds to see.  They practically posed for me.

We got to go inside the parakeet cage and feed these parakeets.  They are so tame and always ready for a treat.  You had to watch your step because they were everywhere.

This guy was strange.  I think his head twists all the way around.  He was huge.

Pretty tropical colors. I thnk I have a dress somewhere in my closet that looks a lot like this.  :)

 

This guy was a chatterbox.  Everytime I'd talk to him, he'd respond.  He probably thought the same thing about me.

As you can tell, I love the birds best.  They are so unique and colorful.  I think this was my favorite though. I had to take this photo through a glass wall so he was really more colorful than the photo shows.

This is the biggest turtle I've ever seen.  I wonder how old he is.  It took him forever to walk 3 feet.  He kept coming towards me so I guess he wanted his picture taken.

We went to the snake exhibit too but I didn't take any photos of them.  I'm fascinated by snakes but want to stay as far away as possible.  They are so creepy!

Moving on to the gardens a couple of blocks away, we found a little park bench and had a little picnic of pasta salad and wine.

The flowers and landscaping in this garden are so beautiful.  Such a pleasant place to be.

The Japanese gardens are so peaceful. I could have stayed here for hours.

 

Look at the beautiful Coi.  I think they get fed a lot, because they would swarm over to anyone standing near the pond.

I'm a little behind on all my photos, but will try to update my latest craft project in my next post.

Have a great weekend!

~Diana