Two Weekend Surprises

I got the best phone call on Friday, Bob, from Ridge Antiques called 

and said that a blogger friend had been shopping our booth and had insisted he call me.

 He said "It was Diane from Lavender Dreams." Yay.

Now Bob does not read blogs and likely thinks they are not real so for Diane to arrive and stand there and tell him to call me is about eight kinds of cool. Diane is the sweetest to stop into our booth and shop on her way to the mountains. Please visit her fun and energetic blog here.

Thanks bunches Diane and maybe one day we can go shopping together.

The second surprising blog related event that happened this weekend

 was I ran into an old friend "D" at church this morning. 

She's an R.N. {like me} who is now enjoying retirement. 

And she reads Olive Out.

She said she now had time to surf the net and had just came across Olive Out one day and had been reading it for a while. At first she did not realize I was the author of the blog. She said she loved the content and for me to keep writing and taking pictures. I remember when her child was small and she remembers CC when she was tiny. It was a big encouragement for me to see her. 

You just never know who is reading your blog.

I am thankful for these two wonderful friends that blessed me and encouraged me this weekend.

I am also thankful for those of you who are continually faithful to comment here even when I am not so faithful to post on any kind of regular schedule.

Come back on Tuesday when I am posting about one of Joe's best finds ever.

 It's five feet tall, weathered, and copper.

~all of these images are from my front yard~

joy and peace

Olive

Needlecraft Reboot

Hello friends and happy Friday.

I have not done embroidery in twenty years but have started again.

 I enjoyed this needlecraft from age fifteen until age thirty. 

Having a premature baby and working as an R.N. did not leave me creative time.

You can read about my outlandish embroidery, for my aunt, here 

in the Hold Everything Lightly Series.

This is the finished runner, blurry though it is, thanks to my assistant Gremmie. 

I found several embroidery kits for three dollars. 

The same kits sell for twenty dollars online.

Now I am working a white runner with a rose on each end. 

My stitching is improving with each piece (yay).

In Olive Out news I am doing embroidery again to relax because

 I seem unable to get myself together these days.

 I adore blogging and miss all of you. 

The connecting with you part of blogging is what I miss most. 

 I will blog when I can.

 Perhaps once to twice a week. 

I continue to have an issue with my ear.

 I had a minor surgical procedure on it about four weeks ago and it has not healed.

The bone is exposed which puts that area of the ear canal at risk for infection.

 If it does not heal I may require a surgical graft in the operating room. 

I am busy pricing Christmas items for our antiques booths.

 Christmas decor is bursting forth all over our dining room.

I'll photograph the open house for y'all. 

joy and peace

Olive

Crashing, Missed YOU, And Other Delights

Good morning my lovelies. I cannot tell you how much I have missed all of you. Visiting blogs is an integral part of my day. Like coffee. I love coffee. Thank you to those of you who checked on me. You are pretty and smart.

 I have been battling a crashed computer, a snake, and moving the CC from her apartment which is quite an undertaking (it took 12 hours).

See the snake? He was on the ornamental tree that is in the center of the flower garden on Wednesday morning.  I was in my pj's, half asleep, standing on the deck and heard the birds in the tree going kinda crazy. He is, a harmless to humans, approximately 36 inch long rat snake. He eats venomous snakes so he was allowed to stay despite the threat to the birds.

I am happy to be in possession of a brand new sparkly laptop which I must learn to use. Some of my photos are lost in a cloud somewhere over the ocean.  I brought that college kid home for a reason. I will be paying y'all a visit. Missed you and big hugs. Need a snake?

joy and peace

Olive

Two Warm&Fuzzies

Do you feel more accomplished some days than others? 

Yesterday was a wash out. 

Today is a great improvement.

The good news is my Blogroll is up and running 

at the top of the blog under Daily Blog Reading.

I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I manipulate HTML code

 and I do not crash the blog. 

If you do not find your site there let me 

know and I will add it. 

Two or three folks I know I follow are not appearing on the list.

I prefer a Blogroll to a Reader.

The second warm and fuzzy thing that happened today

 is that my house got a deep cleaning. 

 My little sister Terrible T (an old nickname) did it.

 She washes cabinets, cleans baseboards, and ceiling fans.

I paid her of course.

I cannot get the entire house clean at one time any more. 

Could it be because I am blogging?

No, that cannot be it.

Do you prefer a Blogroll or a Reader to find your favorite blogs?

Happy Christmas

Olive

The Puppy Report

 Shelley Puppy

Eating one of our one million pine cones.

 Would You Believe...that...

Sheldon Cooper Shepherd

  assisted me with mopping the floors yesterday?

He bit and played with the mop.

 I have never in my life had a dog in the house whilst I mopped a floor. 

That is puppy love.

I am gone over him.

So is Joe. 

And CC.

 

 

I cannot get an image of him without amputating an ear, paw, or other body part. 

He is tough to photograph. 

He is 37.7 lbs now and was 8 lbs on April 14th when we brought him home.

♣♣♣

Chania from Razmataz helped me in her comment yesterday about moving my XL image to the left. 

It worked and now I can go back to XL images. I am so happy about that. Thanks Chania. The quick witted Pam who Joe and I adore from House of Hawthornes helped me with blog widths in an email. So many of you offered helpful suggestions.
I have the best friends and readers.

thanks bunches 
&

happy sweet puppies

Olive

Passion Flower

Passion Flowers grow wild in our lot next door.

I planted two in the flower garden last year and they were so invasive I had to rip them out.

 I visit them now. Much simpler.

On Olive Out news I appreciate all your honest comments about the new header. I have continued to fiddle with it today and gave the blog a new template in the process. My old Minima Stretch Template needed to go. This is a Simple Template. I am having to downsize all my images and I like large images. My head is aching as it does when I fiddle with the design of this blog. I also have some HTML code to edit but first I am taking a break and will visit with you my friends. Editing code is so over my head it makes me extremely anxious. I have decided I am in charge of this blog and I am learning all the ins and outs of it. Even if it gives me a migraine which it might. 

While the word for the day may be simple nothing I have done is.

Linking with Elaine for Sunny Simple Sundays

joy and peace

Olive

Making A Header and The Dining Room

Yesterday afternoon I spent an inordinate amount of time making headers for Olive Out.

 I made collages in PicMonkey until I had a headache. Finally I made the wine bottle filled image above. Do tell me what you think. Does it make the blog look like I am wine loving gal?  I have no problem with wine but I barely drink it. I do find vintage wine bottles interesting in their colors, textures and shapes.

The one above is a rum bottle (apparently new) and I did not notice that until I read the label on the photo. All were purchased at an estate sale including the runner.

I have gone a tad 1970's in the dining room with a high back chair, vintage runner, and orange tray.

 

Here is the header: let me have it.

 I was a Director of Nursing in a state prison. 

You cannot hurt my feelings. 

Blogging is all gravy for me.

happy friday

Olive

Thoughts on Thoughtful Blogging

I have been considering the manner in which I blog. 

Sometimes I plan. Sometimes I do not. I would like to tell you the majority of the time I am organized and methodical but I am not. Life, joyous life distracts me. Gardening distracts, photography distracts, reading distracts, Joe and  CC distract. Clovis and Shelley distract. Shelly Puppy is especially attention grabbing these days.  Sometimes I throw up a pretty image and write a diddle about it and I am done. Not a lot of thought involved in those posts. The Hold Everything Lightly Series posts are timed, planned and agonized over. I am not into recipes but the few I have posted make me quite anxious and I feel a huge responsibility if you my readers have issues with the recipe. Is that nuts or what ? The three tablescapes I have posted on the patio have been big hits. I suppose I should do more but lack space for dishes so tablescapes may only appear here monthly or bimonthly. Olive Out is a reflection of me. I am kind of wacky, fun, and not terribly organized. I have been accused of being too happy before.

 It happened when I was the Director of Nursing at the state prison and had to attend the Wardens meeting which was serious (boring) business and one of the Assistant Wardens told me I was too happy. He then proceeded to have my Jeep searched for drugs. A drug dog walked all inside it. I laughed about it and was sad that the leaders of the prison exhibited no joy in their life while at the prison. Later that Assistant Warden moved to another prison and asked me to organize his medical department. 

I think happy Olive grew on him.

DO YOU BLOG WITH GREAT THOUGHT AND METHOD OR NOT SO MUCH?

 DO TELL ME

happy thoughtful blogging

Olive

The Finest Sort Of Friends

Blogging friends are the finest sort of friends. 

The kind you call when you have issues.

 Big or small.

 Like losing most of your sidebar.

Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage blog has been an enormous help.

As you can see the sidebar is up and running again.

Thank you Claudia.

It was lovely working with you. 

I found I have much to learn about ads, codes and layout of blogs. 

I need to change this template but baby steps...

If you are not familiar with Claudia's blog please go visit her.

happy happy blogging

Olive

I Broke My Blog , Please Help

I was fiddling with Olive Out yesterday afternoon and most of my sidebar disappeared.

It is gone, gone, gone.

Whilst I rant here is a gardenia from our hedge after a rain.

If you have not noticed I have been accepted to the BlogHer publishing network and now have an ad on my blog. It is absolutely true they accept blogs big and small as I am very small. I am honored they accepted this blog. Why did I go this way? I have a daughter in an extremely expensive college and I can use the money. It would have been ideal if I could have returned to work part time as an RN but my health has prevented that. So now I do what I can where I can and this is another avenue of revenue that I can essentially do from home. I also buy and resell vintage and more modern objects. 

It was while I was moving an ad around on the blog yesterday that my sidebar went bye bye. If any of you have any suggestions please let me know. I have sent an email to Blogher asking for help. When I go into the layout part of the blog it appears as if the sidebar is still there. 

That means I cannot add my gadgets back.

This week has heated up here at the yellow house suddenly. Joe's brother Bob and his wife Sue had a flood at their house and are having their hardwood floors replaced. They will arrive here this afternoon and are always welcome. Sue and I are thrifting buddies. On Friday night we are hosting our small group from True North Church for supper on the deck. That could be as many as fourteen people. I have not decided on the menu yet. It is getting crazy but Psalm 23 in The Message Bible

 reminded me this morning that my cup brims with blessing.

If you have any ideas about the sidebar please leave me a comment.

 I would really appreciate the help.

joy and peace

Olive 

 

What I Know For Sure About Bloggers

I know for sure that we are kindred spirits. 

You "get" me when my non-blogging friends do not. 

You taught me what the word vignette means.

 I had been doing them for years just never knew what to call them.

 Tablescape is another term I had no familiarity with and still don't. 

Your tablescapes are splendid.
I thought cloches were Victorian garden tools.
Turns out they are for vignettes too.

You take immaculate care of your homes.
And....

You know how to paint, stain, wax, glaze and do innumerable treatments to furniture.

I seldom paint furniture.

  I did paint two large pieces of furniture last year (all inspired by you).  

You have beautiful gardens. 

That one I am working on.

You are wonderful photographers. 

I hope to take photographs like you one day.

I know for sure you solve problems.

I ask a question and in a few minutes I receive a response. 

You write and bare your souls and hurts and concerns. 

I hurt with you and pray with you.

I know for sure that you care for me and lift me up. 

I know for sure that blogging is not a singular journey. 

Not for me.

I know for sure that blogging has it's levels of competition 

but I am not competing with anyone but myself.

You, my blogging buddies are the brightest, and most talented people I have ever known. 

That I know that for sure.

Linking with:

Table Top Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday's

Hold Everything Lightly #5 posts on Tuesday and praise be it is not grim and hardly anyone dies.
Join me for that won't you?

joy and peace 

Olive

Still Blogging At The Goodwill Cafe

Sitting here at the Goodwill Cafe eating a BLT sandwich

 and wishing my internet device to arrive this week.

What was stated to be "overnight" delivery is actually "priority mail" which can be three days.

I should have stayed in my dark cave of a room and slept all day yesterday.

But facing the day is always what I must do. 

Yesterday I hurt my right shoulder working in the garden. 

My doctor would not call in a medicine I use routinely because my labs were not in my file.

 I had them drawn in February. It was one of those let's bang our head against a wall moments.

By 5pm it was sorted out but I was exhausted from phone calls and waiting on the "overnight" package that was not to arrive.

I cannot sit here for long because of the shoulder pain and maybe if I am home the package might arrive. If I hold my breath and the planets align.

♥♥♥

Thanks to all of you for your comments about my hastily arranged cloches despite my inability to comment.

joy and peace

Olive

Dried Roses and Monday Challenges

Monday challenged I have been.

My Yahoo mail will not open. Period. It insists I change the resolution which I have done and it still will not open my e-mail. I am going to stab myself in the eye.

I have been trying various photo editing programs and that was elevating my blood pressure several mm of mercury. Photoscape has some cool features but I find it difficult to use. Stabbing the other other eye.

Picnik closing is very very bad.

Then while attempting to get these images into a new post here on Blogger my task bar for Olive Out stops working.  Okay, GAME OVER, I said to myself and shut down the computer and went outside and cut grass with my push mower and potted some variegated ivy. Outside work clears my head and helps me solve problems and prevents self stabbing.

I returned to the computer and restored it to six days ago thereby deleting any programs I had installed and any virus that tagged along.

It worked. 

Woot.

The dried roses above were given to me by my hairstylist, friend, and owner of the shop featured on the last post. She was given the roses from a client and I said I would love to dry them and here they are. I strip all the leaves and secure the roses in a bundle with a rubber band then use string to hang them upside down in a cool dry room, Joe's shop in this case.

Thanks bunches Judy.

Linking with: Table Top Tuesday

may joy and peace surround you

Olive

Font Installation Stopped For Sun

I have been attempting, in vain, to install a new font to Olive Out.

It was causing me to get anxious and I was getting a headache.

Then lo and behold the sun peaked out at 9:30AM and I had to grab the camera and take pictures.

 

 

I tell you I was about two days shy of needing Celexa and I am not kidding. 

For those of you who do not know my last nursing job was a psych nurse for the Department of Corrections.

I know mental health medications after that. 

The weather greatly effects my mood and the many days of grey, grey, and grey were a step too far.

These tall southern pine trees desperately needed the rain we received so I must stop my whining and be thankful for that rain and the grey skies.

We leave this feeder empty but feed the birds elsewhere.

Nandina berries are in abundance in the yard.

Lavender lantana is still blooming.

Quince, which is supposed to bloom in winter has enormous thorns and I tend not to want to prune it.

 ♥♥♥

I tried to comment on many blogs late last evening but Blogger was not being pretty or nice.

Just know I did try to visit many of you and FireFox is my browser.

I will get the man behind the blog, Joe, to assist with the font and I will continue with the artsy part.

I put my images back in X-Large format.

I think I like them better this way.

Let me know if they are too big please.

may joy and peace surround you

Olive

Reply/Delete Tutorial and My Blog Makeover

Olive Out has had a makeover this week.

Diane Cayton-Hakey from The Blue Ridge Gal blog made my new header which is so pretty and very me don't you think?

She blogs every day and has wonderful wit and her own view of the world that I like very much. 

Thanks bunches Diane.

I have added a  Subscription and Search features to the side bar should you like to use those.

I also researched how to add Threaded comments and added those.

That gets you the Reply and Delete after each comment which I wanted to have.

Go to the Dashboard then:

1. Click on  Settings then under Site Feed make sure it is set to Full. 

Be sure to Save that change.

2. While you are still in Settings go to Comments and choose Embedded and not full page and you will have the reply delete feature.

Be sure to hit Save after making making any changes on these pages.

Now you can reply to each comment if a question occurs or if want to carry on a conversation.

It is a very good feature to have.

may good blogging surround you

Olive

Swell Time

My laptop was needed by our daughter CC for online college classes.

 It was an emergency as her computer crashed. That was an automatic blog break for me.

Joe and I have been having a swell time.

Only we would start a bonfire {with tree limbs and trimmings from our property} when it's 95 degrees outside and sit outside with it, and a hose, for hours. Thankfully the temperature drops at sunset.

 It was enormously fun.

CC made S'mores and coffee.

By the way we were growing pumpkins, pansies, and a turtle in the middle of the brush pile. We rescued the turtle.

We also visited Joe's brother Bob and his wife Sue. This beautiful arrangement of spirea is Sue's.

We are having difficulty keeping the flowers watered in the current heat wave.

Our gardenia hedge is in full bloom and smells beyond heavenly. When we first bought the yellow house we almost tore out this hedge because we were ignorant of what it was. We are so glad we did not tear it out now.

These images were taken right after the last rain we had about eight days ago. We desperately need more rain.

I have missed all of you and I will be returning to my regular irregular schedule.

I am linking to Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Spring Break With...

Just where have I been?

With my daughter CC.

It is Spring break and she has plans.

She is a darling for including her mother.

Therefore I have not posted in days nor checked e-mails.

Or commented on your posts.

{I adore this terra cotta pot of pansie and hope to fill it with mounds of petunias very,very soon.}

I do hope you understand, children before blogging.

I do miss you and will be back, maybe tonight.

The large dogwood trees are blooming and I will post images by the weekend. Crossing fingers here.

XOXO

grace surrounds us

Olive