Spray Painted Live Flowers

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Metamorphosis Monday. Click on the link to see other changes.

I mentioned about spray painting growing flowers in my garden in an earlier post. A lot of folks were interested in how I did that.

The problem with perennials is that they don't bloom for a very long time. They turned all brown and brittle.

This is a can of Design Master florist spray. Remember those prom flowers that were sprayed a color to match your gown? This spray is translucent enough for fresh flowers or layer it on flower pots or urns for a more opaque look. You can get the floral spray at florists or craft stores. Here is a link to Design Master web site. I've had a can of white for a number of years.

I held a piece of cardboard behind the bloom to prevent overspray.

Here is the after. Granted, it's not as lush and full as the live blossoms, but it's not brown. It will withstands rain and will stay on until I cut it down in the fall.

Tech Support - Installing a Husband

Chari at Happy to Design is hosting Sunday Favorites". It is a meme designed to give bloggers a chance to share a favorite post from the past. Click the link to check out some other oldie posts. This was first published January 29, 2009.

I received this email a couple of times, and I though it was cute, so I am sharing.

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance -- particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5. It then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, Golf Clubs 4.1, and NASCAR 500.0. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. Signed, Desperate



Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'I Thought You Loved
Me.exe' and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

Rooster Party

Barb at Bella Vista is hosting a Rooster Party. I thought this was a wonderful idea, and may even have done it, if she hadn't.



This is a Technique casserole I purchased from QVC. I think it looks more like a chicken than a rooster.

I got the little black rooster lamp at Cracker Barrel for about $15. The ceramic candy dish rooster on the right was purchased at Ross. I got my daughter one just like it only bigger which is a cookie jar.

I keep this spoon rest on my stove.

A small ceramic rooster, I got at the thrift store for a few cents.

This is a little rooster with real feathers, I keep outside on my porch.

Red Squirrel Garden

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is hosting Outdoor Wednesday click on the link to view other outdoor posts.

This is my one of my neighbors gardens in our development. We have many neighbors with spectacular gardens which have been featured on garden tours. How about this for a tiki hut/bar?

There are many hosta beds and garden sculptures.

Everywhere you look is something to see. Here is a lovely water feature.

Ah oh, we caught this little guy peeing in the pond.

A fountain in the side yard.

Succulent garden:

A home made water feature made from flower pots:

Follow the path to the more formal section of the garden.

This is the largest fountain and pond.

Another pond and sculpture:

Around every corner is something else to see.

The elephant fountain is spraying water on the turtle. The fish are real. I'm not sure if they are koi or gold fish.

Like the sign says, Grandma's Secret Garden. This adjoins the rose garden, however, the roses were done blooming buy the time I took these photos, so I did not include that. In June, they are certainly lovely.

These are the newest sculptures. These children depict baseball, basketball, football and soccer.


I hope you have enjoyed the garden tour. Whenever we have out of town guests visit, I always take them to visit this garden. It's just half a block from where I live. The bar sure is raised in our development as far as gardens are concerned. I'll have to post another garden in a later post.

Dining Room - Lessons Learned

Thanks to Jen of Sanctuary Arts at Home for hosting this monthly meme, Make Over Open House. Click here to check out other make over open house posts. This month, I'm showing sharing my dining room make over.



I took this picture to post on Craig's List. No takers. I ended up selling my table and chairs it at a yard sale for $25. There was 6 chairs. The table had two leaves which extended it to seat six nicely. The chairs were beginning to fall apart. The table top was Formica which took a lot of abuse.

Here is a before photo showing the whole room, which open up into the kitchen and living room.

Since we remodeled the kitchen (click here to see that post) I wanted to go with off white French Country ladder back chairs. After looking in every furniture store and online, I finally found the perfect set.

The price was right. Then, the saleslady asked if we wanted it delivered for $40.00. Well, we had to have it delivered. Then she asked us if we wanted the seats sprayed with a stain protection for $65.00. I though, wow, that’s a lot of money and for around $5.00. I could buy a can of Scotchguard and spray the upholstery myself. Did I want the top of the table protected from water marks, etc. for $135.00? Again, I though that I could buy a quart of polyurethane and put it on the table top myself.

The table was delivered and they set it up. I think it looks gorgeous. I took the chairs out on the porch. I protected the wooden backs and legs and sprayed the seats with Scotchguard. Perfect.

I purchased a quart of polyurethane and a brush. I was careful not to over stir the poly as to get air bubbles in it. I brushed the poly on in the direction of the wood . Oh, oh, this wasn’t going on even. It was puddling up. There were blotches and splotches, and brush marks and brush bristles in the poly.

The directions in the poly said to give it a light sanding and to apply another coat. I took a sandpaper sponge and went over it. It hardly did a thing, so I took our electric sander and sanded the top. Then gave it another coat of poly. It still looked awful. I ruined my brand new table.

I called my daughter on the phone and was crying to her about my plight. Should I sand it again and give it another coat? NO! she said. “Don’t touch it. Call an expert and get them to fix it.” I realized that was good advice.

Our pastor does wood refinishing as a hobby, and I called him. I told him what I did and he said not to sand it, but to use a paint/stain remover. He even gave me a gallon of the stuff he uses. The one thing that was in my favor was that everything except the top was painted a creamy off white color. I only had to deal with the top.

I worked all evening until past midnight getting it off. Even the original stain was off. Here it is now down to the bare wood. I already had the china cupboard and the top didn’t exactly match the cupboard. Now, that I need to restain it, I can get a better match to the cupboard. So, that part is lucky. However, I’m scared to death to touch it. I’ve have a vinyl tablecloth on it for months.

Moral of the story: If you are offered the option of having the store protect your furniture, go for it.

Spedie Fest, Binghamton, NY

The first weekend of every August, the town of Binghamton, New York hosts the Spedie Fest. This is a festival named after their famous sandwich, the spedie. I already posted about this sandwich and the marinade. Click here to go to that post.

The main feature, is the hot air balloon launches which, weather permitting, take place every morning and evening of the festival. Seeing the whole sky filled with colorful balloon is an awesome site. You can purchase a ride. Perhaps someday I will.

There is food, crafts and music. The Marshall Tucker Band performed on Friday.

In the evening there was fireworks.

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is hosting Outdoor Wednesday. Click the link to see other outdoor posts.

Cape May, New Jersey Shore Mosaic

Mary at Little Red House is hosting Mosaic Monday. Click the link to go to here site and look at all the other mosaics. Thanks for hosting, Mary.

These photos were taken at the shore at Cape May, New Jersey. Some were at sunrise and some were at Sunset Beach at sunset.

I switched from using Picasa to Photoscape. I like how the pictures are bigger. Thanks for all you bloggers who gave me tips on how to do this.