Apple Blossums

I was all excited when I got home tonight because a big rain cloud had just passed over my house and it was sunny. I knew my apple tree would be in bloom and I wanted to get out and take some pictures of it, but I was super excited that I'd have some rain drops and sun in there too!

And yes, yes I am a total nerd and get excited about taking pictures. Really excited.

Anywho, here's the tree with the barn and hitching post behind it.

These are some of my fave pics from my photo shoot with the tree...

Alrighty, that is all for now.

B&A - The Office!

Yay! I was finally able to get the after pictures of the office yesterday! WOHOO!

I know you guys have been waiting on the edges of your chairs for this, just biting your nails. Sorry for the wait! The nice weather was calling my name with outdoor projects aplenty. Luckily (for the office project) the weather this past week has been rather crappy and I had time to finish it up.


Unfortunately, when I went looking for before pictures I realized, yet again, that I'm totally fired because I don't really have any good ones. Doh!


This was the room when we first bought the house. It's not the greatest angle, but it's all I've got. The walls actually look white in these pictures, but I assure you they were not. My mom pointed out that they were a nice flesh tone. She pretty much nailed it. I'm sure everyone wants skin colored walls, but I just had to paint over it.

I did a B&A of the closet here. It looks just a tad bit different. The door on the left goes into the master bath. You can walk thru the bathroom to the master bedroom on the other side.

This is that corner now...

I still need to actually pot the palms in their pots instead of just setting their plastic pots in their permanent pots, but you get the idea.

Then you may remember this wall from the closet B&A. Sadly, minus the pile of crap in the middle of the floor that I had pulled out of the closet, that's the way the room looked on any given day. Messy desk, boxes piled along the wall, blobs of blankets...

This is that wall now...

Slight improvement, eh?

Want to see my favorite part of those shelves?

Let's take a look...

My hard back Twilight series, along with the Host (also by Stephenie Meyer) were the first things to go on the shelves, top left. In case you're new to FFLK, I'm a Twihard. I have OCD, Obsessive Cullen Disorder. I'm a Twilight addict. Luckily, I've been able to keep my obsession under control for a while now, but it does come back to visit every once in a while. Next to the books is a trophy from one of the most fun drill rides I've had. It was the first time riding our Jungle Girls quad of the year, we had only practiced our new drill a couple times, but went in, hauled booty and totally rocked it! I rememer running out of that arena with HUGE smiles on all of our faces. It was a blast! That's the kind of drilling I like to do! Next to that is my favorite frame that I found to decorate with. It's squares of shiny, iridescenty shell. Very pretty! And above that are some pretty green hurricane candle holder thingy majigers. I love them! Not sure what to put in them, but I love them.

Ok, back to B&A...

Next we have my craft table. It's a beautiful wood pub height table that I totally scored on at Macy's scratch and dent furniture store that I happened to end up at on a day that they had all their tables 50% off with an additional 15% off if you used your card. $100. SCORE! I love my craft table!

This is when I first got it. I had just tried out this little shelf and pictures on it. It was better then nothing!

Eventually I filled up all that empty space underneath it with boxes. Lots of boxes! Most of those boxes were unpacked to the super, duper organized closet or put on the book shelves. Yay!


Here is my craft table now...



I know, I know...still with the boxes underneath. But those are packed up, ready to go up to the barn loft for storage. They just haven't made it yet. Honest!


Now on the shelf is pictures of family and friends, a zen water fountain thingy, a lamp and a bromeliad plant. There is also a Citrus Cilantro reed diffuser that I found at Pier 1. Have you smelled the Citrus Cilantro reed diffuser from Pier 1?!? Oh. My. Goodness! It smells like limes and cilantro and makes me want a margarita, guacamole and pico de gallo all at the same time. On the beach. Not sure how exactly it manages all of that, but it smells positively delightful and I had to have it for my office.


I also found these throw pillows at Pier 1 and I think they very appropriately perked up the black recliner. Oh, they were on clearance too. I love clearance!






There is also this computer desk in the corner to the left of the door...




And I have a whole little project planned out for the wall between the door and the desk that involves some little shelves and lots of picture frames. But that'll have to wait for another day.



So this is my office. I am totally in love with it!





It's definately got a nice tropical, airy feel to it. The color on the walls is Teal Ice, the ceiling is Waterfall Mist and the closet is Tropical Dream. The tie breakers on all those colors was their names. The walls really are a lot more teal then they look in the pictures too.

It turned out beautifully! I still have some little things to get, like floor pillows (I still like being able to stretch out on the floor for scrapbooking) and some larger investments, like an area rug, but those things will just have to wait. I love the way it came together! I couldn't be happier with it!

Pictures, Pictures Everywhere!

I've been noticing something lately. Ever since I have become rather obsessed with picture taking, I feel like a little kid again. I notice things I don't remember noticing before, things that I took for granted before. I notice lots of things. Lots!

I notice the sliver of a moon.

I notice the birds in the brush behind me.

I notice the leaves springing to life on the trees.

I notice how the snow piles on the hitchin' post.

I notice how the frost edges a leaf.

I notice how only one little weed is covered in frost while everything around it is only edged.

I notice raindrops on grass.

I notice the sun shining through the trees.

I notice bees sunning themselves on a rock.

I notice individual droplets of water in what appears to be a solid stream to my naked eye.

I notice Sugar's eye.

I notice my reflection in Midori's eye.

I notice Chey.

Actually I notice Chey a lot.

I mean, like, really a lot.

I notice the centers of flowers.

I notice the hairy stems and leaves of flowers.

I notice red planes flying over my head while I'm trying to eat.

I notice so many intricate details and little things that I never paid attention to before. More importantly I take the time to appreciate all the little things that I don't remember noticing before. And you know what? I love it! I love feeling like a little kid again. I love finding interesting or new things. Things that I may have walked past a hundred times and then suddenly notice it for the first time and go wow, that would make a great picture! It makes everything so much more interesting!

Rays of Golden Sun!

This just happened to catch my attention this morning as I was leaving for work. I was running late, as usual, but I absolutely could not pull out without atleast snapping a couple pictures. I really could have stayed out there for hours getting different angles and shots!

It was just a touch foggy and the sun was shining bright through the trees at the bottom of our property creating the rays. It was absolutely amazing!

Side note: This last picture is a bit of a preview of a future B&A. I'm posting it regardless because it's shadowy and dark and certainly not the focus. Can you guess which project it might be?

Sunday Stills Challenge - Inside A Barn

This was definately a fun challenge!

My barn isn't so much a barn yet as it is just a storage and hay shed. It's a work in progress! The front section of it houses our hay and some split wood along with the few horsie supplies that are handy to have close to the hitching post and aren't residing in the trailer. These are some shots I got in there.

This is the wall of split wood that is next to the hay.

And of course in every barn is a little bit of baling twine.

And hay hooks.



And a pitch fork and empty grain bag for a garbage can.

Then we have the halter rack.

And the fly spray, Micro-Tek spray, Horseshoer's Secret hoof goop, and a whole bunch of other crap piled on every inch of that shelf that didn't make the final edit.

That and the grain and supplement tubs are about all that is in the front room of the barn.

The bigger back part is going to be the actual barn part, if we ever get stalls in there. We've got big, big plans for it, some day. 4 stalls, wash rack, tack room...someday. This is pretty much what it looks like right now...

The wheel barrow with a flat tire is ours, along with the riding lawn mower we got for free and the quad that we lost the key for. The barn came with the roll of flooring, all that junk and a mini fridge, an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax machine (assuming neither of those work), a tire and a bunch of other random crap that we've been meaning to take to the dump, but just haven't gotten to yet.

This was pretty much the only picture I came up with in that part of the barn that was worth posting. It was the sun shining in under and thru the sliding door. Someday it will be all beautified and horsie. Someday.