Key Ring Collection

                      Come join in the fun at A diamond in the stuff
and link up, its time to shine.

A few years ago I decided that it was

easier to pick up a key ring when I

traveled somewhere then to bring home

bunch of other stuff.

My friend Nancy's husband

travels a bunch so he picked me

up a few, and when they took a cruise

they picked me up a few more.

I had them balanced in my printers

tray hanging on the wall but

I was running out of slots in that so

I wanted to make something that I

could display them on....

I found this great frame with a wooden

backing instead of cardboard.

Found it next to my daughters

trash can to go out with the trash....

I could not have that....

I had a plan.

It worked out perfect and I still have

room for more!

Thanks for stopping in,

Yesterday's Projects

First, I think I will start with the one

project that I did today...although

it was inspired yesterday, or

last night when my mind just

kept running..

The base part of the necklace

came from a broken lamp.

The center part from Ace

Hardware in the hardware

section and the top part

I am not really sure...It

must have fallen off something

I was taking apart cause I found

it on the craftroom floor.

Add a bit wire and a chain and

you have this.....

I must admit, I borrow ideas form

other blogs or now my new

found love

PINTEREST.

On Pinterest they had 3 baskets.

One with the wash clothes,

one with hand towels

and one larger one

for bath towels.

My space was limited

so I did not put up the

larger one for the bath towels.

I love this idea.

I also borrowed this from

Pinterest. Only I have seen them

done in spoons and forks. Several

hung together. I had to add my

own touch and stencil the ivy

on the side of mine.

I purchased these skateboard shelves

last weekend at a sale. I loved them and

thought my grandson Caleb would like

them in his room....

Problem, they are blue, his room

is camo.

So out came the brown spray paint.

Now it will fit really well in

his camo room.

Thanks for stopping in,

Lamp Turned Candle Holder

Last year after Christmas I ran

across a really pretty lamp

at Fred's. I walked away

a couple of times but I

kept going back. I had

plans for that lamp.

The socket part where you

put the bulb was broken so

it was marked down.

 Originally $24.99 and I

got it for $5.00. My friend

Gail and My Repurposed Life

http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/

would be proud of my $5.00 buy!

Now according to the price

tag I would have paid even

more then $24.99 for it some

where else.

I cut the cord!!

And decided I was not going

to try and fix the socket

instead I had a plan to make

it a beautiful candleholder

with my brother Ray's house

in mind.

But I had to look for a whole year

for the right globe to attach to it.

Last weekend I visited the

Rehab Store and found what

I thought would work great.

And here is the lamp.

Now it really glows.

Finished product.

Love the detail.

Hope my brother and sis in law

like it.

Just ignore the dust on it!

Thanks for stopping in,

Back to Hardware

Back sometime ago I played around

with making necklaces and earrings

using washers.

Thanks to PINTEREST I have

a renewed desire to

work with HARDWARE

again!

Check out this necklace using bolts...

And then these necklaces ...

Wonder what I will find to make next?

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

Cooked Frog

Years ago when my son was younger

(he is 24 now) my friends mother

had a pond in her yard, and this

pond had tadpoles in it.

Cory wanted to watch a tadpole

turn to a frog.

Sounded like a great idea.....

We caught a few and a couple

did not make it but we had one

left.

 Our tadpole changed into a frog nicely.
 But we figured we would let him get a bit bigger
and let him go in the creek that ran next to the house.

 Now mind you we raised this critter in a glass
 vase, you know the big ones that you put those
 fighting fish in......first it had just water, then we
added a rock for him and he seemed to enjoy
his home.....

 He stayed on the kitchen cabinet but one day
 while I was in a CLEANING mood, I decided that
he might want fresh air. So I put him in the shade on
the deck....only the sun moved.
When I went out, he had been cooked through
the glass......oops.....

And this is about how he looked.......legs thrown to the side and belly up.

Thanks for stopping in,
Pam

Ball Jar - Dish Washing Liquid

Today has been a long and tiring

day.

I met Theresa (friend) at the

fitness center at 6am

this morning.....my day off and

I was working out at 6am.

From there we grabbed some eggs

and coffee.

From there I went to Wally World

to pick up some paint

so I could go to my daughters

house to paint the baby boys

room.

But between Wally World and

the painting I had time

to drill a hold in the

top of a Ball Jar

that I picked up at Goodwill

for .49 cents.

And using a pump from a lotion

bottle that I had been holding

onto just for this purpose...

I love it.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

Winter Without the Blooms

Winter can be so boring for

a photographer....unless

you open your eyes and

look around.

The colors might be

a bit dull but there

is beauty in so many things.

Thanks for stopping in,
Pam

Taking It to a New Level

I have been messing with beads making

necklaces and earrings for a long

time, but I decided that I

needed to take it up a level.

A friend, Starla showed me some

of her work with beads and wire.

That just added the taste to my

mouth!

But before I show you that, I want to share

this......

The earrings are over 50 years old.

My Dad brought them back from Japan

for my Mom. She recently gave them

to me but I have piereced ears and these

had the screw on type. I just removed

them and added the wires for pierced

ears.

I wore them to work the other day

and everyone loved them, but I

felt that there was something not

right....

I needed a necklace! Off to Hobby

Lobby. I got the chain and the bronzed

color beads, and to work I went.

I had the black beads. But the above

necklace is what I turned out,

pretty good match I think.

Now to the NEW level!

First trys.

Then I looked on the internet for

ideas...and I found some

really neat things....

so I made this....

I love it!

So many ideas out there to

find on the internet....

I joined Pinterest back

during the holidays and I found

this cute idea for a necklace.

I borrowed the idea using

different charms.

I made this one for me.

The upper part is a ring with

keys on it...then of

course the heart. The Keys

to My Heart!

So loving that idea that I made

one for my friend Debbie for

her birthday.

The upper ring has the words

FRIENDS

written around it.

And since I had already had made

her some pearl earrings, I thought

the pearl was a great touch.

Now.....what shall be next?

You will have to come back to see

at a later date.

Thanks for stopping in,

Pam

House Sitting part 3

I have been house sitting for my brother for years esp. during the years that my nephew was traveling all over racing. But I have to say my adventures of house sitting this time for my brother was a bit more then I could really handle.

                                                           The KING messing with Lola

I think part of that has to do with the fact that I am becoming a “home body”! I like being home, I like my company….and of course, The KING’s company (my dog, Dakota).


I love to go out with friends but I also like coming home to my place. So I was stressing just a bit about just being at his house and away from my comfort zone. But the other fact is that nothing seemed to go right. If you want to really understand part of the “FUN” time I had, go to http://pam-lifethroughmyeyes.blogspot.com/2012/01/house-sitting-with-tj-bird.html and read this post. Should have titled it the battle with the bird!

So if you are back from reading that post about the bird then let me continue now….

I arrived on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 11:00 at my brother’s house. My brother and nephew drove to Memphis for the Liberty Bowl the day or so before. My sis in law left out around 3 am that Sunday. So I was wondering what I would face with the big dogs in the house when I got there. But there were no piles or puddles, big or small…..dodged that bullet! I would have 6 dogs that I would be caring for. There is Moose, the chocolate lab, Chole the black lab mix, two outside boarder collies that in the winter time are inside dogs, and my niece’s dog, Maddie (she is the only small one of their bunch) and my dog, Dakota. On top of that, two birds, one being TJ (the one in the other post) and Lola. Now TJ is my brothers and Lola belongs to my sis in law, Lori. With that said, TJ is a one person bird, he don’t like, I am not crazy about him and he loves to rule the house. Then there was 3 horses, which I found to be the easiest to care for.

Sunday and Monday went well. TJ behaved those days cause I was there all day. The dogs went in and out and did their things. But being that the weather had turned off cold I was not going to be able to leave the dogs out to run during the day on Tuesday, so that meant they would be in the house from 6 till 4. So I closed off the rooms and they had the run of the kitchen, dinning room and great room since it is all open to each other.

Oh, the mess to face when I get home. Was I so worry about that, the dogs almost knocked me down getting out to the house when I got home but there were NO messes to deal with. They were great. There only problems I had with the dogs was keeping me up all night. I guess being away from my home and in a different spot I heard every move, drink, bite, snore and etc. that happened….not to mention the times they wanted to go out and none of them would come back in at the same time. Of course this is the day the battle with the bird started.

Then on Wednesday morning I woke to know water. It had gotten really cold out and a pipe outside broke and water was running down the drive. Luck would have it that I took a gallon jug of water with me, so I took a wash down bath and washed my hair with that. To top it off the cable was out when I turned on the TV to hear weather and traffic. Great…what a way to start the day. As I left the house, still dark, and my lights hit the water running down the drive I had to call my sis in law in Florida and she got the neighbor to come cut the water off. On my way to the end of the drive, there was skunk

out in the road, my luck I was sure he would spray and my car, and me would stink.
But seems like things were looking a bit better, he ran in a hole. So I continue my drive down the rode when a rabbit runs out and I had to dodge him. What a morning, I was so glad to get to work, which was my second day after a two week vacation.

The neighbor was unable to fix the pipe that day, so I stopped at my mom’s to pick up my dog (no I did not leave him at the house), she had a couple of gallon jugs of water for me. I stopped at my house to shower. Drove 25 minutes to my brothers, stopped at the barn to fed the horses then made my way to the house only to get out and reach in my pocket for the key

and discovered that they were in the pants I had worn that day, and they were at my house. Back in the car and headed down the long drive and the road to my house 25 minutes away. Got home, ran in and got the key and headed back 25 minutes to my brothers house. By this time I am getting nervous thinking about the dogs, they had been locked up in the house for 12 hours. Once again I was pleased and surprised, no messes.

I called about the cable only to find that they needed authorization to use the credit card on file to turn the cable back on. Little did I know until I texted Lori that this is suppose to be paid by that card every month without fail. Great……what’s going on here?

Anyway, there was another battle with the bird so I left and met a friend down the road about 10 minutes for dinner. I was not a happy camper and although I had not let the morning bother me, and I laughed about it all day, the evening with the bird and cable did not set well, I think I had enough.

After dinner, I drove back, it was dark and I barely missed that deer

that ran out in front of me! Crap, I went to the house, changed clothes and climbed in bed thinking that would be the safest place for me! Another doggie sleepless night.
Woke the next morning (Thursday), washed my hair in the sink again with bottled water and went to work, no mishaps. After I got home my brother called and asked about the cable, he then called and within 5 minutes, it was back on.

The rest of the week was not anything like Wednesday but come Saturday morning with lack of sleep and still being stressed, I left when Lori’s cousin came to clean. I showed here where to hide the key and later that evening I went back and fed the animals. Then I went home again only to return Sunday morning and take care of all. That evening the family returned, and all the animals were alive and well…..even the TJ.

Thanks for stopping in,
Pam

THE PROMISE

Blogging…..

It seems I have taken on more and more and as

                                         I have done that I realize that I am blogging less
                                         and less.

I try not to make New Years Resolutions but instead
I find if I call them PROMISES to myself I try harder
to stick to them. Soooooo, with that said, I have made
a PROMISE to work on my blogging!

Along with painting more.

I have dubbed this the year of change and with the

                       year of change I joined a gym. Yikes, what was I
                                    thinking? LOL…..I plan on working out every other
                       day, upper body one day and walk some, then the next
                                  time I go in, lower body and walk. On Tuesday and
                     Thursday nights they have Water Aerobics that I hope
                                                   to work in also.

Now, why would I go and do something like this? One….
so out of shape due to health issues like sleep apnea and
fibromyalgia. Two….weight, I need to lose…and with
that, we will not say how much. Actually, I have to get
a gripe on this health. On reading I found that exercise is
great for the fibro, just have to take it slow and not push it.
And I know there will be those days where it is flared up and
it will make it really hard to go, but I have to judge that and
not let it stop me unless its really bad.
Wish me luck.

And one more PROMISE I have made to myself is to get

                                 my house in order. I have way to much stuff that could go,
                                 things I don’t need and I need to organize better. That one, my
                                 friends will probably be harder then working out!

Okay, this is my story and I am STICKING to it…..
The Year of Change!

Thanks for stopping,
Pam

House Sitting Part 2

This past week I have been away from my home

and I have been house/dog/bird and horse sitting

for my brother Ray.

Ray only lives about 25 minutes from me

but he is out in the country where I love

to take my camera and enjoy the sights.

The first day out, last Sunday, Jan.,1, 2012

I headed to my brothers home. After turning

on his road and heading to his house, I had

to stop and let a group of

Wild Turkey cross the road.

Yes, you heard me correctly...

WILD TURKEY.

This is just some of them, there were about 15 or so.

You see the curve up the road from the turkey?

When I made it to that spot I had to stop once

again to let four deer cross in

front of me.

These two animals were two of the

ones I was caring for.

The white one is Jack and the brown is

Misfire. Beautiful aren't they?

Meet Peanut. So sweet. Peanut is

known by my younger brother, Mark as

"My Little Pony with the Tina Turner Hair".

I was also in charge of watching 6 dogs. Only one

belonging to me and he stayed at his granny's

for a couple of those days.

This is Chole (black one) and my Dakota (AKA

THE KING) running and playing

out in the yard.

The nice warmer outside weather and the running

and playing wore these babies out.

Moses~

Moose~

Chole~

RC~

Maggie (AKA Scrappy)

And THE KING!

Not featured in this post was TJ (in the last

post) and Ms. Lola who was so good that

I forgot to even take a pic of her.

Thanks for stopping in,