Saturday, September 22, 2007

I Do Try...

truly I do...

my Linen Closet is freshly organized, laundered and smellin' sweet...my Pantries are also organized and filling up nicely...my Seasonal Decorating Plunder in the garage has been edited, organized and re-stored...and my clothes in my closets hang organized by type, colour and on the same colour hangers...

but keeping my bedside table lookin' nice and neat eludes me on all but the best of days...


Here at #17 life and projects are rollin' along...against his better judgment, DH agreed to paint the casing around the Newly Removed Wall Opening black...upon completion, the grudging comment "it looks better than I thought it would" brought a smile to my face :) ...if he only knew the Thoughts of Other Black Casements dancing through head...and, yes, that is Fred's big butt parked in my chair...I have lost that battle...a moment of Brotherly and Sisterly Love this evening...Henri Henri and Cynthia snuggled in our bedroom window...and would ya'll look at that mess too...DH getting ready to watch Kelly's Heroes...I'm not much on war movies...life is too tough anyway and pretty much you know how they all end...but I'll admit Kelly's Heroes has some funny moments...Don Rickles has a part and just his facial expressions are funny...like watchin' Jonathan Winters...or any other truly funny person...

plus...Carroll O'Connor plays Maj. General Colt...and I love Carroll O' Connor...the spittin' image of my grandaddy...

the new pound cake recipe I took out for a trial run...not overly impressed...but then again...I did "tweak" the recipe...and I know I shouldn't do that the first time out with a new recipe...but I absolutely could not find the box of brown sugar DH put away...so I subbed half of the brown sugar called for with white granulated and added a little molasses...and I think the big can of Crisco might have been a tiny bit, um, old (should I even tell that?)...and I cooked it 20 minutes longer than supposed to because I was uncomfortable with the silicone form I used for the first time...and I added extra vanilla...and probably should have used the Big Batter spindle...instead of the Whip spindle...

Hmmmm...guess I should be glad it was even edible...this morning I came across this large pressed tin for $5 at the thrift shop...some patient person painstakingly hand painted each little stylized flower, the little leaves and the fleurs-de-lis...unfortunately, in pretty pastels suited to a little girl's room...all for me to happen along with a can of white spray paint...

Since I'll probably be waitin' a while on that custom forged firescreen (unless I find some serious change buried in the backyard), this'll work...

DH cut out those little feet for me...and I'm planning to rub a copper glaze alllll over the white paint to highlight all of those beautiful little details...I guess ya'll can tell I haven't painted the little feet just yet...

I know...I'm the Queen of Showing Photos of Half-Done Projects...but that is just the way things work around here*...

and speakin' of Half Done...a test patch of black paint on the mantel...I'm feelin' it...

GSU's Botanical Garden held a plant sale this week...DH & I went on over...lots of people, sipping wine by lantern light, nibbling on free hor-derbies...but more importantly a nice big selection of native plants and some old pass-alongs in addition to some more easily picked up at chain stores...

We have yet another banana plant (we'll talk about DH's growing obsession with these crazy plants another day), another Century Plant (my answer to the Barren Zone out front) and our first Paw Paw...exciting stuff...

Sweet Autumn Clematis and a Beauty Bush were on my Want List but no go this time 'round...maybe the fall sale in late October...

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Thanks for everybody droppin' and sayin' "Hi"....makes a body feel loved :) ...

*I'm a Big Believer in not tryin' to Always Present a Perfect Facade...just makes everybody feel inadequate and unhappy with their lives...I know...been there, got the t-shirt and will probably visit again...so I'm willin' to do my part in Keepin' It Real :)

13 comments:

Darla said...

Your cake looks pretty even it you didn't find it all that special.

I have one of those silicone bundt cake forms but have yet to use it. You give me faith! In fact I have a whole set of silicone stuff.(One of those Christmas presents you'd never buy yourself.) All I ever use is the cookie sheet liner.

I really like the black trim!

Darla

kari and kijsa said...

Love your trim that you painted black! Clever twist! We will be checking back!

blessings, kari and kijsa

jayedee said...

just bought some silicone cupcake forms for autumn...now to work up the courage to actually use it LOL

i didn't even know crisco could get...er.....old? so i went into the pantry, took the lid of mine (gee when WAS the last time i used this?) took a whiff and into the trash it went LOL you prolly saved my family's lives today!

public service announcement blog style......"how old is YOUR crisco?"

Debra from Bungalow said...

The cake does look good ....Warn everyone, Have you checked your crisco lately? The stuff does go bad & gets nasty. I had some in my panrty over 2 yrs.!!!
Never tried those silicon forms but they sure are pretty colors :)

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

Keeping it real! I love that. Thank you. Your beside table looks like mine :-)
Penny

Janet said...

Your Crisco must not be too bad or no one would eat the cake. Take my word for it...long story!! Looks great though and makes me want just a bite of something sweet before bed.

Jodie said...

I love yur hor-derbies. We called the horses-doovers which sounds a bit rude.
I get all mixed up sometimes with just showing the good stuff, all finished and perfect and yet the blogs i like most are just like yours - with all the life bits added in. Thankyou
jodie

Sophie Honeysuckle said...

Love the pet photos-so cute!!

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I've never tried one of those silicone cake forms. I guess it works cause your cake looks good.I don't use crisco!

Your trim painted black looks great. My bedside table is just as bad - piled high with books and mags and torn out pages and notebooks to jot things down in.

Manuela

sheila from life @ #17 said...

hi, ya'll :)

thanks for the positive feedback on the black trim...I figured it was only paint if it ended up lookin' just horrible...

and I remembered later that I forgot to tell ya'll about the can of evaporated or condensed (can't recall which ) milk I opened up for the recipe...and when I turned it upside down because nothing came out of the little holes I punched into the can...two years past expiration date...that can had been with me longer than some of our FBs...actually, most of the doggs...

so I had to use half n' half in the recipe...

anyhoo...what a cake fiasco that was...

Lucy Stern said...

You are just too organizned for me...I wish I could get myself organized but I have too much "stuff"....Ha Ha.....

I am a little leary of those silicone pans, I just wonder how safe they are for your health....Sorry I can't give you any faith on that one.

Michelle said...

LOL...I read through and misread "my Pantries are also organized and filling up nicely" and thought you wrote "my panties are also organized and filling up nicely"...I just thought you were on a much different train of thought!

Cathy said...

Bellah, LOL!!!

Sheila, thanks for keeping it real!

it's all about the journey...