pasta healthy

 

 

Simplicity at it’s best!

pasta of choice. i usually choose whole grain

olive oil – extra virgin – cold pressed

sea salt – just need a little for a big taste

the good fat - avocado

tomatoes 

add a little grated parmesan!

 

~Bon Appétit~

Have a beautiful weekend

xo Cheryl

kooky chicken

For a kooky dog!!!

Ms. Bella (my sweet grandpup) playing solo soccer…… for hours on end ….. chicken in mouth

A true source of entertainment!

Happy Easter.

Have a beautiful week ~ Cheryl

spring has finally sprung………

Weed or Wildflower ?

 

It doesn’t matter to me….. pretty just the same! 

The photo below is what we woke up to last weekend, amazing what a week can do !

No more snow, no more cold, please!  

Have a beautiful springtime week ~ xo Cheryl

Little Ms. Bella

Bella!

What does she see? The “bad man” with the ball cap on and shovel in hand! At 12 weeks old, you forget you were just sleeping on that man’s chest.

Too Sweet!

Have a beautiful week ~ xo Cheryl

“S” stands for……

 SNOW !!!!

First of all, I wanted to thank all of my blogging peeps for your warm wishes for my return from my terrible funk. I’m telling you, rain and gray skies for weeks on end is the one thing that can obviously send me spiraling downward. I truly feel it is due to the lack of sunshine. Long cold days is one of the reasons I moved  from Michigan to California. I always said, Sunny Southern California is where I was meant to be. Endless sunshine!

This year’s Texas winter has been very unusual because there should be a break between the rain storms with a day or two of sunshine ….. but there was not. Now, instead of the “S” word I was waiting for …. “SUN” …..we got SNOW. But it did the trick! Each snow flake yesterday was like a little ray of sunshine falling from heaven !!

when i woke in the morning … it had been snowing for about 3 hours

(keep this tree in mind throughout this post)

Now, I know all you northerners and easterners are thinking, big deal - snow! Well, it is a big deal for us because ~ it doesn’t snow like this in Texas!

so, off to work I go……

this is no, pretend snow storm ….

I had to mail bills, and you can tell my spirits are back up ….. since I photographed the snowflake that fell on my pants when I opened the window!

Still driving to work ….and I am sure you will get a bit bored with my snow photos, but, this is also my journal so I am going to load them all. Plus we made a new snowfall record in north Texas ……

My morning journey over the lake !

This is where I work at the nursing home. The grounds are pretty! The snow is still falling. Hours: 12. Not really sticking ~ but the flakes are huge.


time to go home……..

End of the day and I am back home on my street…..snow is finally sticking. Hours: 16

It is suppose to keep on snowing for another 6-9 hours !!!! Can’t wait for morning!

The tree is getting heavier with snow……

It’s midnight and our tree is looking a bit scary….. it is so heavy now….and still snowing! Hours: 22

and then……..

….. good morning Tree!

good morning snow!

Hello Mr. Hawk!

SNOW DAY!!!!

Baby, it’s cold outside!

As my son brilliantly pointed out to me, this is his mom's version of a snowman!

I think he knows me better than anyone!

Until next time! Have a beautiful week!

~Cheryl

zero, zilch, nothing

dreary:
1.
causing sadness or gloom.
2.
dull; boring.
3.
sorrowful; sad.
I just wanted you all to know that I am still here, but I have nothing to give.
NOTHING!!!!
It has been cold, raining and dreary for so long now ~ that life is just ……. gray.
No color…………. what-so-ever.
I hate it.
If the sun ever comes out again, I will be back.
If it doesn’t,
well,
then,
goodbye. (sniffle, sniffle, sniffle)

barkcloth project

this is my mudroom, not very muddy. i found the idea in a magazine. i asked my architect to incorporate it in this area of the house. the stairway you see, leads to the media room….. which has no media, it is just an empty room … but i have dreams. but the main reason for this post is to show you the cart insert that i made from some vintage barkcloth drapes i bought years ago when i had my space in an antique mall in Agoura, California!

once i learned of these draperies that i believe were popular in the 40’s & 50’s (correct me if i am wrong) … i couldn’t stop searching for them on eBay~! i did a lot of eBay shopping back in those days. a lot.

(below: see the drapes hanging on the hanger on the right side of the doorway!)

that was my little space “Cheryl’s Cottage” (est..2003-2005)

and here was my other space

i stayed busy….painting, and sanding, and sewing.   buying, selling, and thinking, and pondering ….. and then all of a sudden i decided i wanted to leave California and move to Texas and build a house. 

that’s how i roll………. always looking for what i want to do next ……

crazy – but i have been that way forever – wanting to learn and do something different. life is short.

so, back to the project

how this came to be is that i was shopping at Canton Flea Market, in Canton Texas and needed a cart. so i bought one to carry my findings. well, it was UNATTRACTIVE to say the least (below, plastic checked), 

and a girl like me needed something CUTE!

i didn’t want to pay for something cute so i thought about those adorable barkcloth drapes that i now had sitting in my pile of fabrics in the linen closet. 

now, i am no super sewer or anything, but i can sew straight lines and can try to figure things out, thanks to my mother’s genes and home economics in the 7th grade! 

so i measured the sides of this plastic insert and cut my fabric pieces, put the “right sides” of the fabric together and sewed my straight lines.

there you have it.

sewing room

my girlfriend Susan made the bulletin board, which i took off her hands!

close-up of the bulletin fabric - below

more of the mudroom …..

chalkboard – from Ventura flea market – i think the creator of this was Doug for any of you who still go to Ventura

close-up of the chalkboard detail below….

and this next special piece …. my brother Andy made this for me from a building that they tore down in Newbury Park, California - i don’t really think he knows what this piece means to me – i don’t really think he knows how much i truly love him

  

 this horseshoe has been above a door of every home that hubby and i have owned. that is 4 (four) homes to be exact. 

and along with the horseshoe, there is always a quarter in the corner of a cabinet in the kitchen too......   for a rainy day.  not sure what a quarter will buy.

Have a beautiful week ~ Cheryl