These rains have helped our garden grow noticeably over the past few days. I took some photos to document what we will soon be feasting on.

what’s growin’ on?

I was blessed with endless patience and I believe good things truly happen to those who wait. Andy and I have been searching for a claw foot tub since December of 2006. Today we went to pick it up. After my dad and I returned from an antique store in Priceville empty handed, I went on Craigslist and searched. I ended up posting a simple ad in the wanted section. A woman from Decatur contacted me about having a genuine claw footed tub that she wanted to sell for ONLY $100. The porcelain on the interior of the tub is pristine. It needs a good rinse out, but that’s about it. There are a couple of places along the rim of the tub that need minor attention…nothing the porcelain touch-up stuff can’t handle. The outside just needs a good sanding and re-painting. She gave us step-by-step instructions on how to restore it ourselves (she used to do it for a living). Last week, I had called around to some places to get an estimate, and all of the quotes were well over $500 and one place couldn’t get to it for a month. Usually, there’s no need to have it professionally done unless the porcelain is cracked. So basically, we got a great deal and it just needs a bit of TLC. Aside from saving money, we’ll be able to take great pride in our tub once we restore it.

Andy already sanded off the layer of chipped paint. Next step is to strip the remaining paint. Sand. Use a rust reversal (oxidizes it and is available at auto stores). Sand. And the final step is painting it with a metal paint. We are planning on replacing the fixtures, so hopefully we can get those and the plumbing parts we need by the time we are finishing up the restoration.

A baby tomato! Our rabbit foot fern loves it on the porch, but we’ll probably have to move him inside when the heat of the summer hits. There was a ‘rubber plant’ in the pot next to the fern, but he went into shock when we transplanted him to a larger home. Luckily there’s green poking through, so hopefully he’ll be back soon. The afternoon rain was a blessing. We had the doors and windows open to welcome the nice cross breeze.

Once the rain slowed a bit, we walked over to the Dead Children’s Playground to meet some folks for a Memorial Day BBQ. It was a very pleasant walk and a wonderful dinner among friends. Complete with Disney sing-alongs towards the end…haha.

And the busy weekend continued last night with Purgatory Lounge. It was awesome and we had a great turnout.

Lynsie and I covered a cover of “Toxic”. We were killed by a hot cereal (serial) killer. We mixed grits and water to make fake vomit and we got to ‘throw up’ all over ourselves backstage, and we even put some in bottles to carry on stage with us. So, in between performers, we’d ‘throw up’ on ourselves. Lynsie added watermelon and it made for a nice touch. Apparently, there were several people in the audience that thought we were really getting sick. In fact, I almost made myself sick because I took in more than I intended to once, and my gag reflex kicked in, so I quickly “puked” on the floor, but it took everything I had not to really get sick. Ok, enough of the gross stuff.

Corey now shoots with an infrared camera, so it makes for a very neat effect and goes well with the whole Purgatory theme.

Lynsie and me. The infrared didn’t pick up the vomit so well, but it sure made the under eye “death circles” pop.

Anna sang an original song and she has an amazing voice.

Dan and JoJo both sang original tunes as well.

Not pictured are:
Joanna’s original hummingbird song
Sasha’s cover of a song that some Belgian band does
Jane/Angela’s duet of Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward’s cover of “You Really Got a Hold On Me”
Michelle/Katlyn’s cover of some crazy country song about waitressing and bills and such…oh, and fried eggs!

And here’s a video of Lynsie and I rehearsing before the show…sans vomit.

And finally, a video of the first half of the show:

Well, another play down. This one was fantastic. We were all part of a UFO Club in Stephenville, Texas (where recently there have been actual sightings of UFOs). Although our backs were to the audience more than 50% of the time, we had a camera that was projected in front on the audience that helped focus attention on who was talking. It was awesome, and the audience seemed to love it!

Last night’s performance was absolutely flawless.

Again, thanks to Corey Lee Smith for being such a fantastic photographer with his neat infrared setting.

My character carried her camera to the UFO Club Meeting, and took some candids!

And here’s a couple of Chris…cause he’s just awesome.

Andy and I went to a few (plant) nurseries around town to search for a rose bush. He told me (for our anniversary) that he wanted to get me rose bush because I “deserve a million” (awwww). So, a-hunting we went. Of course we got a bit side tracked and got a few other plants while we were there. In the end, I never found the perfect rose bush, but I know I will. I want an heirloom variety, and preferably one that smells like pink lemonade mmmm. A couple of weeks ago, I had a home inspection on a house that closes in June and the woman had several rose bushes that were over 30 years old! She actually had one that smelled like pink lemonade, so I’ve been obsessed ever since.

Orchids are the most interesting flowers.

That second picture reminds me of the mermaids that Ursula turned into seaweed creatures.

This is another building in Huntsville I’m obsessed with, however, I’m not crazy about the location :/

Two years ago you and I became a “we” officially.

Five years ago when you first walked into that room you made my heart skip a beat. I had never blushed so much when I asked you that simple question. And today, I have never felt so compelled to be with someone like I do you. Andy, you are truly my soul mate. I can’t imagine my life anywhere else but here. I can’t imagine life with anyone else but you. I’m so glad we found each other when we did and now we are able to live the rest of our lives exactly where we should be: together.

I love you so much Andy and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for us.

We stopped and smelled all of the roses we passed.

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I went ahead and planted my foxgloves because the soil it was sitting in was no longer holding water, and it was beginning to droop. We also just acquired a truckload of real pine mulch from a tree stump that was shredded. We topped off all of our raised beds, and everything planted in the ground…and we still have 3+ bags. Also, I clipped some of the catnip I’m growing to try to make catnip tea…and of course, homemade toys for Sadie and Maple. It’s drying in the window, and every time the cats jump up on the counter, they try to take it down.

Today we cleaned the upstairs. More than half of a room is stuff to sell. We are getting so good at not hoarding. I think there are less than 5 small boxes of stuff that will eventually go in our office. Also, Andy cleaned the bathroom up there, and it’s so much better! And we finally got the bathroom window to open for ventilation. Mold was starting to grow around the shower, and that’s never good. Since we don’t have electricity upstairs, we can’t use a vent fan. So hopefully having the window open will help stop the mold from growing.

Albeit late, I love spring cleaning.

The first picture is of my pretty Foxgloves that I got for being a “mom” to two kitties. I love it so much! I’m leaving it in the container and making sure it likes where it is before I put it in the ground.

Andy and I have been busy with our garden every weekend and we haven’t had time to sort through our stuff in ‘storage’ (upstairs) and the Five Points Neighborhood Yard Sale is fast approaching. Hopefully, we’ll be able to tackle that project this weekend…cause we have a ton of stuff to sell.

Today I drove to Somerville to look at a few clawfoot tubs. They had a beautiful replica, but it was $1895. I know it we wait we’ll find one within our budget that looks nice. There were a few that could work if we had them re-glazed, but I have no idea who does that around here and how much it costs. Ah well, our crummy shower with leaning walls will still have to do for now.

Our camera is still missing 🙁 I have no idea what happened to it. In addition to the hours spent searching before Radiohead, we’ve looked everywhere. It must have vanished into thin air. The good news from all of this is we might get a DSLR before we had originally planned. woo! At least we still have the one we used before upgrading to the one that’s now lost…

Last night when we came home there were 2 kitties on the front porch! We had never seen either of these, and one looks EXACTLY like Maple, only black where she is gray. Of course Sadie and Maple were not happy they were out there, and created quite the commotion. One took off immediately when we walked up, but the semi-twin to Maple almost came to me. Later, we (and our cats) spotted it right next to the back door. Of course that led to more hissing and growling. Thankfully, the kitty eventually retreated for the night so we didn’t have to wake up to what sounds like war between cats…like we have before.

Crash Boom Bang Theatre Presents: Take Me With You

Have aliens traveled across the Universe to bring excitement and recognition to the rural Texas town of Stephenville? Is the Air Force hiding something? Or are the folks there just really, really bored? A small group of local teens aim to find out.

Performances on May 23rd and 24th at 9pm at the Flying Monkey

(Buy your tickets in advance here)