Today I noticed...We get junk mail for old people.

I know we are old. 

For goodness sakes, we are retired and have Medicare for insurance.

We are old.

Today we got junk mail that targets old people that I didn't even know such a thing was a thing.

The Mister got a letter about this and I got my own letter about this.

Below is a photo of the first paragraph of the letter:

I have to admit, I almost scanned the QR code and set us up for a test with the company. They are giving away a $20 Amazon card to those who participate!

Wheezy, Whistly, Squeaky, Craggy, and Crusty

Being sickly is not for the faint of heart. If you were unlucky enough to be sent into our household right now, the sounds you would hear would vary from that of a seal barking to noise of someone trying to start a very damaged chain saw to wheezes, squeaks, and whistly, craggy, crusty sounding breathing. 

Are we better?

Yes - some.

We are no longer coughing incessantly without a break. We are not moaning and groaning.

Instead we are puffing and blowing and making all manner of noises trying to breathe with an occasional coughing jag thrown in for good measure.

We went to the doctor a couple of days ago and were prescribed medications that will, hopefully, help us out.

Mike got an inhaler, a capsule, and some cough syrup. I got a cough syrup and a couple of antibiotics. We were told to get us a couple of those gizmos that the hospital hands out when somebody is recovering from surgery that has a ball in a chamber where you inhale deeply to push it to the top of the chamber. We have been puffing and inhaling into those on a regular basis and don't let surgery patients fool you into thinking it is easy to push that little ball to the top of the chamber. It is not. It takes a lot of force and powerful lungs. Mike is better at it than I am but it can be said that we sort of suck at sucking.

Spirometer

When we described our symptoms to the Physician's Assistant a couple of days ago, she sent us to get X-Rays to check for pneumonia. She said Mike's breathing sounded, "rattly," when she listened to us with her stethoscope. 

The X-Rays showed that we both had Atelectasis = small areas of lung collapse due to intense pressure on the air sacs from severe, sustained coughing. She thought I was in, "pre-pneumonia," and prescribed the anti-biotics. She also said the spirometer (that little gizmo with the ball in the chamber that we suck) use should help us to re-expand those areas in our lungs. She also suggested taking steamy showers, using a humidifier, and lots of rest.

So, here we are. Fifteen days into the new year and still sickly. Things may be looking up, though, because we do have periods where we are not coughing. Fingers are crossed - and so are my legs. Because coughing not only applies intense pressure to my lungs...

Old age ain't for sissies!

Morning Smiles

I've had the morning smiles here lately.

Well, that is, after I get up and get going and work out the old-age, out-of-shape soreness.

What has been making me smile in the mornings when I'm not really a morning person?  Breakfast!

Well, yes.  Maybe part of that morning smile is because I get to lie abed till later and eat a leisurely breakfast long after the sun comes up because I'm on my summer break, ya'll!

Those late breakfast dates have allowed me to munch on cereal and fruit at a slow pace while sitting out on the back porch.  I have stirred up some beautiful blueberries and yogurt and sometimes even added home-made granola.  Some days I enjoy a nice omelet and the company of my husband.  Some special days I even have the privilege of being served a breakfast cooked by my hubby!

A special treat was provided a few months ago by Mike's friend, Big Willie D.  He gifted us with some breakfast muffins he had stirred up and baked himself.  I was delighted.  I was inspired!

So, I decided to take Big Willie D's verbal recollection of the recipe and tweak it to make it my own. Because it was my nature to put things off, I just now got around to posting the recipe, though.  I highly recommend these muffins to nudge your morning into smiles as well!  Just hop over to my recipe blog for more information and create your own yummy-ness and smiles.

Afternoon Rambling (and a translation)

We've had a bit of mild weather round here of late.  It has proven delightful for some afternoon rambling.

Let me translate that for you:

The weather has been unseasonably cooler and less humid.  So, we have been doing some afternoon gardening.  When we are both pooped and don't feel like we can tromp through the soil or bend over to pull one more weed, we do some afternoon rambling in the ATV.

One afternoon during our rambling time, we drove up the hill to visit a couple of the grandchildren.  Well, we also visited with their parents, but the grands were really our primary interest.  (Sorry, parents!)

Even though I only had my phone camera, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to snap a few photos of these cute little ginger-heads.

Let me translate that for you:

Both boys wanted to get up onto the ATV with Mike and I got such a chuckle at Mike trying to lift the littlest youngest grandson.  I rushed to try to capture Mike's struggles.

I think it was at about mid-lift that grandpa, Bay, realized he may need a little more lead in his pencil to hoist an eager Easton up onto his lap!

Meanwhile, Levi climbed in and settled onto the seat all on his own.  Being more mature and disciplined due to his advanced age, he was content to simply sit calmly and smile for the camera.

Younger brother, on the other hand, was ready to take charge and drive!

Mike settled Easton on the seat beside him so I could get a shot of the three of them together.  This pose didn't last for long, though!

Oh, no!  Mr. Busy could not sit still!

He had to check out all the knobs and levers and try to turn the key to operate the ATV.

My favorite age for littles is newborn till they start to crawl.

Let me translate that for you:
I just love the sweet snuggling and how they stay where you put them. 

This stage is also a fun one, though.  I love watching them explore and learn and investigate and show us the world.

While Mike and I don't have near the energy displayed in our afternoon ramblings as these two little fellows do, we do have enough energy to simply sit and watch them do their own rambling.

Let me translate that for you:

Life is good when you get to visit with any of the grands!

A Collector In The Family

One of our granddaughters has become a Numismatist.

Well, a couple of them are collectors, but one simply wants to collect so that she can take it to the book fair and buy books!

Lydia, on the other hand, has really taken an interest in collecting the different coins which represent our National Parks.  These quarters are not to be confused with the State Quarters which were issued several years back.  (Even though Mike and I did have the two intermingled at one time until we were corrected by our Family Numismatist.

We had a phone conversation with the Family Numismatist Lydia the other night.  She set us straight on what we should be looking at in regard to the quarters.  She asked us if we would look at any quarters we might have to see if we had some that she had not already collected.

I asked her for a list and this is what we got:

She also informed me that she had a few duplicates.  I laughed and asked her what she meant by that and she explained, "I have two or three quarters that are the same.  That is what duplicate means."

Mike and I are pleased that she is thorough and that she is so smart and that she has a broad vocabulary.  We chuckle at the fact that she feels she needs to explain things to us.  Well, for example...

I was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a new series of quarters - the National Park series.  I thought she was simply collecting the state quarters that were minted before she was even born.  So, she explained to me that there is a difference.

(Image from the site)

Please notice that there is wording engraved around the image at the center of each quarter.  Mike gathered together several dollars worth of quarters that he had collected during the past week or so and we sorted through them looking for Lydia's state quarters.

We noticed that only a handful of them had state information on them and the others had the traditional eagle on the obverse side of George Washington's head.  We also noticed that Mike had collected a few duplicates.

Bridgette says Lydia will get her quarters out and study them and comment on what is featured on each quarter.  Then, I recalled that Lydia had mentioned that she would hang on to her duplicates and might share them with her sisters.  So, Mike and I gave her a call to see if she wanted us to contribute to the duplicate stash as well as save for her own collection.

During our conversation, I mentioned that Mike and I were struggling to see what state each coin represented.  I told Lydia that we had both put on reading glasses.  I mentioned that Mike had tried out two different pairs of reading glasses.  I also mentioned that he moved a lamp and held the quarter right under the light to get the best view he could of the quarter.  It was a bit of a struggle for us.

Lydia explained that we needed to, "Look just to the left of the picture.  The name of the state is right there on the left," she said.  I told her that we knew where the state name could be found.  That was not the problem, the problem is the size of the word on the coin.  Our old eyes could not see such little print!

Lydia just giggled and told us we might need to get us a magnifying glass!  We figured out a work-around - take a picture of the coin and zoom in on it to more clearly see the wording.

We now have a couple of plastic bags which have quarters in them.  One is labeled: Lydia's and the other is: Duplicates.  We are glad to gather them for Lydia's collection but I don't think Mike and I will compete for the title of Family Numismatist!

Start Dancing!

Last year I discovered 24 Hours of Happy and shared it with everybody I could think of who really needed to have a little Happy.

I still go back and visit it when I need a little bit of Happy from time to time.

I've been known to sing off-key at the top of my lungs hum along and dance around in my kitchen numerous times.

Sometimes it will be grooving to Happy or showing homage to Trace Adkin's disgraceful song.

MoTown music is always a hit with me as I think there is NO BETTER MUSIC MADE than that.

Right after we married, Mike and I shocked his son, Stephen, as we sang and danced along with Elton John on a classic number.  (I guess I bring out the best in folks, huh?)

I think it might be sort of a tradition in my family to dance around in the kitchen.

I remember Mama teaching me to do the twist with Chubby Checker or Elvis right there in our farmhouse kitchen when I was a skinny girl growing up.

Bridgette has been caught in the act and even had her moves posted online for the world to share.  We are dancing vacuumers as a family, too, I guess.  I know that her skinny girls dance along in the kitchen, too.  Continue the family tradition, girl!  She sent me a link the other day to a wonderful blog post that encourages dancing in the kitchen.  Looking at the vinyl floor the author was heating up with her moves took me back to the days when my own children were skinny munchkins growing up.  We would dance around in our kitchen on a floor exactly like that one and share so much joy.

Then, my journey down memory lane took me to high school dances I used to chaperon when I was sponsoring student government in my early educator years.  Some kid would always dare another to ask me to dance and of course I would oblige.  They would buzz about it in the hallways the next week and giggle behind their hands as we passed in the hall.

One of my colleagues shared a post about a young lad dancing out his Happy at the recent NCAA basketball warm-up music this past week and I just smiled and admired his moves.  He reminded me of my middle school teaching days.  We would have school dances for those adolescents and at first nobody would dance.  Then, I would coerce some kid into being my partner and we would get out there and shake a leg.  They were never surprised at my crazy dancing because I always told them how I loved to dance when we were in class.  At first they were a little skeptical and there was some eye rolling.  Then, they might hear music playing in my classroom during my planning time.  I always claim my favorite music is LOUD.  Next, they might notice me swaying or barely containing a little jig while music was playing and they were taking a benchmark assessment or exam.  So, when I broke out and busted a move or two at a basketball game during warm-ups or half-time, they simply rolled their eyes and giggled.

Mike and I often will turn up our old-school stereo and put in CDs or just let the radio blare out and do a little dancing right in our den or kitchen.  It makes us laugh and gives us a good excuse to hold one another close and sway around, if nothing else.  (We call it belly-rubbing-music.)  But, just the other night Mike and I were crashed in the den watching TV when a healthcare commercial came on.  It featured a couple who are built a little bit like us and they were recreating the Dirty Dancing lift and had a bit of a mishap.  In unison, Mike and I looked at one another and said, "That could be us!"

I don't know why we don't just set aside a time to simply do some silly dancing at times.  It brings out the Happy in most everybody somehow.  Life is too short not to enjoy it.  So, come on, do it.  Dance like nobody is watching and just look at how your soul is lifted and so are your spirits!

I'm turning on a little Uptown Funk and cranking up the volume right this minute.  After that will come a little Aretha, wanna join me?

Summerizing

I haven't shared many pictures of our Master Bedroom here before...

...and for good reason.

Namely because I have always felt it was a work-in-progress.

I still feel this way but I have recently spent a little bit of time summerizing it.  You know, lightening and brightening things up after having things warm and cozy for the cold winter months?

The first thing I did (besides washing linens and swishing dust off surfaces) is do some repairs on a coverlet that Mike's grandmother had given him years ago.  It is king-sized.  So, it covers everything and has a pretty drape off the edge of the bed.  It is matelasse and gives the look of an old white quilt that I like.  There were a few threadbare spots and a couple of holes worn through.  I struggled with how to patch this but retain the original beauty of it.  I wound up adding a flower-shaped patch to three or four spots.  I used the same linen fabric that was used to make the bay window seat cushion.  In retrospect, I wish I had bought a creamy white linen instead.  I guess I can always go back and do that someday.  

Antique Treasures

We have two antique oak beds that are much alike.  We are using the one that came to us via Mike's ancestors in our bedroom.  It has a high, ornately carved headboard.  The footboard has some carving and is topped off with a round piece of wood.  The bed rails are wooden and were much shorter as antique beds from days gone by were made.  Somewhere along the way, somebody cut the wooden bedrail and pegged in an extension to make it longer for more modern box springs and mattresses.

At the foot of the bed is a camel-back trunk that was given to me long, many years ago by my Great Aunt Mae.  There is a hilarious story by my Granny which describes her trip to get Aunt Mae and some furniture that was given to me but that is another story for another day...

On either side of the bed are antique oak tables.  One is a bit larger than the other but both have a shelf.  I have to keep the one on Mike's side simply decorated because he tends to fight something in his sleep I guess and will knock things off the bedside table.  The one on my side of the bed is always laden with a stack of books in readiness for my reading habit.  I have photos of my grandchildren and a humorous one of Mike wearing a Cinderella crown to be the first thing I see when I wake each morning.

My bedside table

As you can see, there is no styling for photos here!  I bought the cobalt blue antique lamp base years ago.  I made a parchment shade for it that was all the rage at the time.  Over the years, the shade became sad and dated looking.  So, I replaced it with the white glass one.  (I think it was on a green wooden lamp base and had fringe glued around the edge when I got it at a thrift store!)  

Above each of the tables is an old watercolor print of some flowers.  They are dated 1948.  The frames were originally a dingy creamy color.  The matting was also cream with a lime green under mat.  I got a wild hair and painted the frames one day.  Then, I painted the cream mats as well a with navy craft paint.  They seam to fit much better like that.  The prints were originally Mike's paternal grandmother's.  

Bed Linens

I love the mix on the bed right now.  First, there is the coverlet and the hand-made quilt my mother made us for Christmas a couple of years ago.  It is thick and warm and usually covers the bed during the winter months.  Because it is so colorful and we treasure Mama's handiwork, I just drape it across the foot of the bed to be handy if we get a chill.  The blue matelasse shams are treasure that I picked up at Goodwill for a couple of dollars each.  When I saw them, I knew that blue color would work well with the quilt and the bay window seat cushion color.  One of the white pillow shams had some stains on it.  So, I cut it down to make a cover for a throw pillow in the bay window.  The other sham centers up the bed nicely.  I think I must need a king-sized pillow to fill it out properly, though.  

Luxurious Pillows

Recently I gave Bridgette a couple of scrap rectangles of fabric and asked her to embroider mine and Mike's monogram on them.  Then, I took them and made them into a couple of throw pillows.  It turned out to be a project of headaches when I was constructing them but I still like the look of the tan initials on the cream and blue paisley linen fabric.  I think the textures and colors on our bed are wonderful and restful.  

Reading Corner

Standing just in front of my bedside table and looking across the room at the opposite corner, you can see my reading corner.  I bought the chair years ago at the Nashville Flea Market for $35.  I love the size and shape of it.  I want to make a slipcover for it or have it reupholstered but I cannot decide with what fabric I want to cover it.  I first thought I wanted to use the damask print I used on the Bargain Ottoman.  However, I don't really like how that fabric is wearing - it must have enough polyester in it that makes it look worn in a way I don't like.  I am leaning toward using a canvas drop-cloth or a linen fabric I've been saving back for some special project.  I've just got to decide if I want lots of pattern or simple and basic.  Dilemmas!  

The dresser is one that was handed down to Mike from some dead relative.  The little table to hold my iced tea, coffee, or ice water (and lotions and creams) is a Longaberger stand.  Above the chair is a cross-stitched sampler that my Mama made for me in my favorite shades of blues.  The painting above the dresser is one I got several years ago at a starving artist sale (and paid about the same for the frame as for the original painting).  The old oil lamp was converted to electric and it was given to Mike by one of his ancestors.  I bought the silver frames, jewelry box, and blue and white jar at a thrift store and gave a whopping $14 for all of it!  Yes, we have a ceiling fan in the room instead of an elegant chandelier.  Don't judge.  You will be old and have hot flashes one day, too!

Across the Room

Sitting in the chair and looking across the room you will see a cheap little pine chest.  I don't think it is old.  I just think I liked it and it was inexpensive when I picked it up at an antique consignment store.  I used it as an entry table at my last house but this little space between the east, front-facing windows seemed to be the perfect spot for it.  It holds a thrift store vase and lamp an a cute little pitcher and bowl that was gifted to me by my son's mother-in-law.  Above it are a couple of scherenschnitte pieces that I made years ago.  I liked the pattern because it reminded me of my children.  The sheers filter out the morning sun and make the bedroom a bright space in the daytime.

Adjacent Corner

On the opposite side of the bay window seat is another oak piece.  I bought it from a friend years ago to hold clothes for one of the kids.  I liked it because it had a mirror mounted on top and provided a mirror and lots of storage.  Mike set up this room and I haven't moved any of the furniture since he placed it.  I love it just as it is!

Opposite Direction

Standing in front of the chest and looking at the opposite corner, you can see the entry to the bedroom and my plate display.  What started this was that there were a couple of nails hanging there when I moved in to join Mike here.  So, I hung a plate that had come from my paternal grandmother and one from my great-grandmother.  I wound up leaving them hanging there and just added a few to it.

Plates

The heirloom plate from my great-grandmother Noland is the gold-rimmed one on the bottom.  The china dinner plate on the right with the floral border is the one that was my grandmother's.  The rectangular dish is one of a set that I bought when I was in college because I liked the colors.  All the others are thrift store or Goodwill finds.

We have tried to create a restful haven for our bedroom and I feel like we are getting to a more finished state...for now.

Remnants, Scraps, and a sore toe

If you see me hobbling a little bit, it isn't all because I'm old and decrepit.  It might be because I was hanging my new project.

I researched and studied and thought and planned.  Then, I sketched and pondered.  Finally, I jumped in and tackled it.

I had a remnant of fabric that I'd picked up a couple of years while back and was hoarding it had it tucked away till I decided upon just the right project.  It is a beautiful linen piece with soft greys, tans, and blues - my favorite combination.

One day when my daughter-in-law, Jessica, and I were on a quest to find fabric for their nursery, I saw the same print is shades of brown and cream.  I was inspired to finally use this tucked away fabric to create a Roman Shade for our guest bathroom window.

As soon as I got home, I dug out my treasure and set to work.  It was almost too short for the project I envisioned but I made it work out.  I think the price tag said I'd paid almost four dollars for it!

While in the midst of crafting the shade using a couple of the tutorials I'd found online, I stumbled across discovered a unique shade which looked like it had a contrasting valence incorporated.  Again, I was inspired and took a scrap of fabric I had left over from a pillow project.

Using my serger, I roll-hemmed the edges of the scrap and stitched it to the remnant.  Then, I used a piece of the Goodwill-purchased bargain time-softened, inexpensive, second-hand sheet I had left over from crafting curtains for my grandson's new bedroom to line my shade.

Stephen was persuaded to cut the ends off some quarter-inch dowel rods I'd picked up at Hobby Lobby.  So, I slid them into the channels I created in the lining fabric.  Because I wasn't able to find any white cording to use for raising and lowering the Roman shade and because I am impatient and wanted to get done, I found a pair of white shoe-strings that would work.  Voila!

I hinted and waited and asked and waited until finally I decided to tackle hanging the curtain rod and the shade myself.  So, with my little step-ladder perched in the tub, screws, anchors, and a drill set on the window sill, I climbed and grunted and stretched to get it hung.

At one point I decided that I needed a hammer to bang gently tap the anchor into the hole I'd drilled.  So, off to my supply closet I trekked.  (Why is it that I seem to think I need a hammer for most every project I take on?)  I whacked and banged gently tapped the plastic anchor till it was wedged into the hole and attached the bracket with the screw.

Yes, there was some mumbling involved as well.

Then, I carefully leaned the hammer onto the window sill and scooted my ladder just a wee bit...

...just enough to bump the hammer and send it crashing down to land right in the middle of my shiny, red-lacquered, left big toe.

Yes, there was a shout, some loud mumbling, and a couple of tears shed.

It will take a bit of tweaking and I'm still in search of some white cording to replace the shoe strings but all-in-all, I'm satisfied with my creation from a remnant and a scrap.

Before:

Cheap tension rod and a vintage Battenburg trimmed valence

After:

Roman shade crafted from linen with love

So, don't judge when you see me wearing flip-flops in October and hobbling along like a little old granny-woman.  There is more to that vision than appears at first glance.

Aunt Mae's Dresser

Years ago, when I was a young woman and striking out on my own, my great aunt Mae gave me several wonderful pieces of furniture, linens, trunks, and treasures.  My Granny drove to Mobile, Alabama and hauled her and the gift treasures back to me - but that is a story for another day (and a fabulous one it is when you hear it rolling off Granny's lips).

Part of the furniture collection was a bed, bedside table, rocker, and dresser that was hers when she first married years, and years, and years ago.  She told me that it had a maple finish when she got it but she had paid 'good money' to have it sprayed the lovely antique green finish that I first encountered.  A lovely sight it was, I might add.  Seriously.  Furniture was not something I had in abundance and it mattered not one whit how it looked to me at the time.

Over time, however, the green-ness of it sort of got to me.  For a while the entire set was stored in the barn at one of our former houses.  We had furniture that was a more pleasing color and which worked better in the rooms we had.  Then, when the children were in high school, they needed a project for their cabinet making class.  So, this set became practice pieces for refinishing.  They did a pretty nice job considering what they had to work with - after all, this wasn't finely crafted antique furniture.  The dresser wasn't a piece that featured storage room, so it was again stored out in the barn for a time where the moisture and elements caused some cracking and releasing of glue on the laminate top.

When I moved to my previous home, it became the TV stand in the bonus room.  So, it was covered with TV and the top didn't matter.  Then, when I moved here, it became an extra piece in the junk clutter sewing/craft room.  Recently, however, we are doing some shifting and moving things around and I also had a bit of an itch to do a little painting.  I must admit that I was really inspired by Lake Girl Paints because I found a table just like the little bedside table in the downstairs bedroom and made a note to make that a future project.  Then, I got a flicker of an idea with this dresser...

Here is the BEFORE:

in all her glory...

The bones are good.  The finish is okay.  Simple and sweet.  But the top is yucky.  See...

pretty battered

You can also see that my first tool of destruction is also perched and ready for action there.  I spent a bit of time scraping and wedging the corner underneath the laminate and lifting and prying and scraping some more.  When it was all removed, the boards underneath were a bit rough but sturdy.  So, I decided to sand off the glue and rough bits and when my hands had cramped to the point of numbness and my arms were aching, the top looked like this:

lots of knot-holes and wood variation

I decided I would just give her a coat of paint.  Mike and Stephen suggested that I get some wood filler and fill the knot-holes and the biggest gouges.  So, having a coupon for a free eight-ounce tub of paint from the Spring Color Palette, off I trekked to Home Depot.  What a venture it turned out to be.

Sitting in the parking lot, I dug out my coupon and realized I needed to be at Lowe's instead!  So, off I trekked across town.  (Don't judge.  You will be old and forgetful one day, too.)  The lady at the paint counter encouraged me to select any color I desired from one particular wall.  Wow!  The choices!  The decisions!  Finally, I picked Cream in my Coffee and decided to splurge on Moose Mousse by Valspar.  While the nice lady mixed, I located the wood filler.  Then, I went in search of some furniture wax and found some good old Johnson's.  Next, I remembered that Stephen's birthday was upon me and he had mentioned wishing for an electric sander.  So, over to the tools I marched.  Of course, with a sander, one is going to need sand paper as well.  All this to say, a trip to the store for a free tub of paint and a six dollar tub of wood filler wound up totaling over seventy-five dollars.  How does that happen?

My next step with the Aunt Mae dresser was to fill the knot-holes and gouges.

Looks like a big old mess doesn't it?

After a couple of doses of putty, and plenty of time for it to dry out a bit, it was time to do a bit of smooth-off sanding.

Even after the sanding and a wipe down to remove the dust, there were some dips and uneven places.  I decided I liked the look of some rustic-ness and wanted to move on to painting.  I taped off the stained edges which still looked pretty good using some Frog Tape.  Then, the entire top got a couple of coats of the lighter color (Cream in my Coffee).  I let this dry overnight.  The next afternoon I took a deep breath and plunged into the creative aspect.  First, I found a piece of lightweight cardboard and measured off a diamond in the size I wanted - about three inches across and four inches tall.  Then, I measured the top of the dresser and marked the center point.  I centered up my cardboard diamond and traced the edges.  Then, I taped it off.  Following the line marking the center-most point, I laid my cardboard template out and marked dots to indicate where each successive diamond would go across the center and taped them off.

the first row

I carefully painted a couple of coats onto this row of diamonds.  As soon as the second coat had been applied and sort of began to set, I removed the tape.  I told myself this was a good idea because many of the blogs I'd read and pinned on Pinterest suggested this but actually, I was just too eager to see how it was beginning to look!

Dappled with afternoon sunlight makes her look so cheerful doesn't it?

I continued to add diamonds going up and down using this same process of laying out the cardboard template and making little dots.  Then, I would tape off the area stretching pieces from one corner to one dot, etc.

lining the diamonds up row-by-row

Soon it was time to start adding the connecting diamonds and adding the partial ones to the edges.

starting the connecting rows

Here is my purdy cardboard template in action preparing to line up one diamond after another.

Sort of looks like a chaotic mess, huh?

With each row, I grew more and more excited.  I liked each step progressively and would pause to ask myself if I should just leave it as it was because it looked pretty good like that!

Kind of has an argyle look going on here.

The photo above shows how I used little strips to create diamonds and connect the corners of the previously painted ones.  The process went pretty quickly and I got all of them painted between the time I came home from work and before I went to bed...and I didn't even stay up late!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

If you look closely, you can tell that all my diamonds are not precisely the same.  If I had it to do again On my next piece that I embellish with a diamond pattern, I will probably trace off the first diamond and use a yardstick to draw out straight, even lines from top to bottom and across from side to side.

The glow from the over-head light is almost as strong as the one on my face!

I left her to dry overnight.  Then, I dragged her back out onto the deck and gave her a little sanding with a fine-grit sanding block.  I just wanted to knock down the edges of the painted diamonds and distress the corners and edges a wee bit.  Then, I rubbed on a couple of coats of paste wax and buffed it to a soft buttery sheen before moving her into the bedroom with the bed, bedside table, and rocker.

Ready for a tea party!

A closer look at the front which required no attention...

Here is a full shot with the mirror above it.

I think Aunt Mae would be pleased.

I know I am!