Welcome June!

I'm not much of a gardener, but in spite of this there are many nice blooms popping up around Boston Manor.

Don't believe those faces, they had nothing to do with the success I've had this year with this daisy plant.  If anything it survived in spite of them.

June in Florida always means Crape Myrtle blooms to me.  I have two lovely trees in our front yard.

My Hydrangea has seen better days about two weeks ago when we had a little more rain.  The heat and dry conditions are difficult for this beautiful plant, but it remains my favorite and I love to cut the blooms and bring them into the house.

My pretty Rose bush has been happy so far this year and has rewarded me with many sweet blooms to either enjoy on the bush or to bring into the house.

So, I hope your Memorial weekend was restful and enjoyable, just as ours was.  A great way to usher in the first month of summer, June.

Darcy and The Bostons are ready!

Darcy, Panda and Sadie, Memorial Day 2011

(Bumby absent by protest)

Pretty, But More Important, Rememberance and Respect....

How appropriate that I would pick up this wedding picture of Orlando Grandma and her husband, Grandpa Courtney today.  I told her I wanted to see how it would look in one of the frames I "shabbied".  My FDIL would like to display old family pictures, particularily wedding pictures, in some of these frames at her wedding reception.

I think this picture looks beautiful in this frame.

A young bride with her new husband in his Air Force dress uniform.

Appropriate it so many ways, but especially so since we have the Memorial Weekend almost upon us.  We remember and honor all those who gave their lives for their country and in our family we, in particular, remember Courtney Weissmueller.

Please read this special poem that was my father-in-law's favorite.  It was presented to him by his crew and captures his beliefs and the essence of what it meant to him to be a pilot and to serve his country.

Orlando Grandma told me about this being her childrens' father's favorite poem. It's more than a fitting tribute to the man he was and to all the men and women who serve to preserve and protect our country and beyond.

Re-purposed Frames Bring New Life to Favorite Photos

Yes, I've still been busy painting and "shabbying" picture frames for THE wedding (that Royal little ceremony was nothing in comparison).  It's been a lot of fun and I am soon going to turn what I've learned about painting and distressing these frames to some furniture I have in my house that could use some sprucing up.

Until I get started on that I decided to put some of the frames I've painted to practical use and see how some of our favorite family pictures look in them.

The Maven and her dad, Mr. Tennis in October 2006.  It's hard to take pictures of pictures, especially to avoid the glare on the glass.

Not to mention background clutter - hey, it's my house!  Here is a picture of my mother and me and the doll she made me.  About 1963.

I think the re-worked frames work well with both older pictures and contemporary ones as well.  However, I really liked the way they showed off this large picture of my dad (about 1943?) and the smaller one of he and my mother when they were dating.  Extra points if you know the story behind the plastic bear beside the pictures.

(My dad brought that bear to the hospital for me when I was born - about 100 years ago)

I'm going to work on making some matting for the bigger frames. Today I just relied on whatever the color of the backing of the frame happened to be. 

I have always loved this picture of my dad and The Writer feeding the seagulls at Honeymoon Island, Dunedin, Florida 1986.

My family (the Hughes clan) the last time we were all together.  Largo, Florida 1999. My parents, my two brothers and me!

As I said, it's hard to take a picture of a picture, at least with my camera and I don't feel that I do my husband's father's picture a lot of justice, but compared to the frame this picture has been in for many years, I feel this is a big improvement for this picture of his handsome father in uniform.

He is so young in this picture.  I never had the honor of meeting him as he gave his life to his country during the Vietnam war when Mr. Tennis and his brothers were quite young.  His beautiful wife, Orlando Grandma surely knows the date of this picture.

Here's The Boston Lady herself and her handsome husband, Mr. Tennis.  Backyard in Orlando about two years ago.  Not much has changed except the swing is gone due to mold overload - I still have the frame and am looking for one of those wooden swing seats to hang from it.  Anyone know where I can find one?? Suebee?

Here's The Maven's senior picture and a sweet picture Mr. Tennis took of her when she was about seven months old.  It's one of my favorites.

He's not going to like it, but I just love this picture of the groom-to-be, The Writer, at about 8 months old at our old house on Briercliff in Orlando.  (I don't think he reads the blog much so I'm probably safe)

Here's a picture of "Tita" my husband's Panamanian grandmother.  "Tita" is what she wanted all her great-grandchildren to call her - and everyone else ended up calling her that too! Such a sweet and inspiring person.



An older picture of the engaged couple themselves when they first headed West in fall of 2007.  This picture was taken in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Well, that was my experiment for the day.  Just wanted to see how the "shabbied" frames would handle various pictures and I think they will work out very well. 

My next experiment appears below.  A hutch I bought when we were first married 30 years ago.  It's been a bookcase, it's been in storage, it's held knick-knacks and pictures, lately it's been a hodge-podge - what do I have in store for it??? Hopefully I will get to it this summer and have a make-over reveal.

Oh yes, this one needs some TLC to bring it back to life!  Hope you had a good weekend!

Did She? Or Didn't She?

Only Mr. Tennis and 20,000 other people know for sure....

She did!!!

It was so spur of the moment, the perfect way to pull off something like getting into a concert. And scoring good seats! Behind the stage, but we were close!! Not obstructed.

It was a great show - over two hours nonstop.  When I first saw where we would be sitting I thought "oh good, we won't have to stand".  Hah!  Band walked on stage, everyone jumped to their feet and there we all stood for over two hours!

Mr. Tennis shot some video on his iphone, but for some reason it will only upload sideways.  So skip, if you want, but if you want a very small taste of what we saw, heard and where we sat, click away.

Sorry, if your neck hurts....

I Wasn't Always The Boston Lady

My first cat, Socks.  I am about 3 years old in this picture which was taken in my father's den in our home in Toronto.

Socks arrived before I was born and my mother used to tell me how she would weave her way through my playpen bars to stop me from crying - also, I would feed her my Arrowroots (remember those?).

Linking to Angela's Tuesday Show & Tail - I hope!

Wish Me Luck!

Mr Tennis and I will be hanging around outside our new City Arena this evening.  After not seeing Bon Jovi the last three times (or ever in my life) they were in town, I figure it's now or never..... 

So, we are going to take our chances that the scalpers will get desperate at some point and be willing to sell their overpriced tickets at a discount.

I don't have to be front row or in the special "pit", but I also don't want to be stuck up in the top row and watching a bunch of ants dancing around on stage.

What happened to concert ticket prices?? Why are they so high?!?!? Why must I do a song and dance on Ticketmaster to beat the scalpers who buy in bulk and then set even higher prices?

Think back to your first concert.  What did you pay and who did you see? And where did you see them?

For me, 1975. At the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, FL. Saw Chicago for $6.

1976, paid $12 to see Gary Wright and Aerosmith somewhere in Tampa. I didn't even know who they were at the time. You will understand when you read my next concert experience.

1976 saw Barry Manilow (Don't laugh at me please) for $7 at the Lakeland Civic Center.

Met Mr. Tennis and musical tastes improved a bit. 

1979 paid $9 to see Billy Joel in Jacksonville, FL.

1979, paid $10 to see Linda Ronstadt open for The Eagles in Gainesville at the Gator's Stadium.

1980, Dave Mason and Kenny (squeal!) Loggins in University of Florida gym for $12.  A two-fer!

1981 Paid $12 to see Hall & Oates back at Orlando Convention Center.

1981-ish paid about $15 to see The Who at what is now the Orlando Citrus Bowl, general admission. (remember those days? Getting there early. The crush at the gates or the door and then running for the best spot on the floor or grass and standing for 6 hours until you were ready to collapse, if you didn't get trampled in the stampede - glad those are gone).

There are many more concerts, lots of fun, progressively lots of money.  Now, I don't expect to get in for $10-20 tonight, but I sure won't be paying $100 a ticket - special "pit" seats are going for $1200.  Who has this kind of money???  Besides the performers...

So, again, wish me luck!  I may be back sooner than I think and watching The Survivor Finale, which okay by me.  But please ticket-gods, smile on me tonight so Mr. Tennis doesn't have to go through this again next year when they come...

Beautiful Bee, Beautiful Flower

One of my favorite pictures from my friend, CG's, backyard garden.

Hope things are blooming wherever you are.

The Blur is Back!

I've had the pleasure of having my daughter, The Maven, home for a few days surrounding Mother's Day and yes...... she brought HER with her.

Darcy!!!!

She sauntered in with great confidence and not a blink of the eye at her BT aunts.  I've never seen a cat who travels so easily.  But of course she's puuuuurrrrrrrfect, she's my grandkitty!

She scattered her toys about and gave Bumby the cat stare-down.  Bumby was actually quite non-plussed this visit although she did spend a lot of Saturday in my room sulking on the bed.

And how Miss Darcy has grown!  She is just about as big as Bumby.

Nothing phases her except.......

The little elderly, blind and deaf Chihuahua from across the street who stayed with us Mother's Day while his "mom" was out. 

 Darcy did not know what to make of him and riveted her eyes on him - he, of course, had no idea she was even there.  Hmmmmph!

Come again soon, Darcy!  And bring your mom!

Linking to Angela's Tuesday Show and Tail!

Happy Birthday Sammy, The *BTB!!

Today is our *FDIL's birthday and we wish her nothing but the best for the day and for the upcoming, exciting year that lies ahead of her!  She's been a part of our family almost from the moment we first met her - or at least that's how it always has seemed to us. Now, we get to claim her in an official manner when she and The Writer marry in September.  Can't wait for that!

Happy Birthday Sammy. 

 Next year we will be able to say Happy Birthday Mrs. W!

Now, Stanley, please make sure she is properly celebrated in your household this weekend!

(*BTB = Bride to Be)

(*FDIL = Future Daughter-in-law)

Click here to read last year's bday post for Sammy and learn how she became part of this crazy Boston Lady family!

 

Framed

Ball mason jars are not the only thing on my list to collect for Sammy and the The Writer's wedding in September.  I have also been looking for old frames that will be part of the wedding reception decor.

They will be used for various reasons, pictures, labels, menu, directions....whatever Sammy wants them for - I ask no questions!  Except...."do you want them "shabbied"?" , as my friend Suebee calls what she's so good at doing.  The answer was yes, so I set about this week trying to "shabby" up some of the frames I've found.

I tried to find frames with interesting textures or designs, painted them a shade of white, let them dry and then took some sand paper to them to give them that "shabby chic" look and make the textures and designs on them pop a bit.

I think they turned out pretty well, for an amatuer "shabbier".

I hung a few on my wall for the moment, for picture purposes and for a place to store them while we wait for September.

We will have to see what Sammy thinks of them.

But, what do you think?  How did I do?

No, not you Panda! I know what you think...