A PROJECT and A PUNCH!

ello!

I hope everyone had a good week last week......

I would like to THANK Peggy over at PJH Designs for featuring my post about my
Sewing Machine Drawer transformations as the most viewed at last week's Blog party ,
Totally Transformed Tuesdays!

I am so very flattered and honored!

Please consider joining Peggy for her new party, every Tuesday!

Thanks again, Peggy!

We did have some rain in the form of a few downpours but for the most part, the garden is starting to show signs of wear.......

By that I mean that the heat of the summer with lack of rain is starting to take a toll and the plants are looking "tired"....

As I am too.....

We are almost into August ( can you believe it) and I am looking forward to Fall. I am no lover of heat and usually do not like the Summer because of it and this summer has been one of the hottest here and everywhere else in the Country so I am dreaming of Fall and cooler temps.....

Well, enough chit chat.......

Not long ago, I mentioned to Joe that I was going to do a fairy garden. I guess I should have explained myself a bit better......

Shortly afterward, Joe brought this home for me for my Fairy Garden........

She was on Clearance in Wegman's Grocery Store.....

She is a beauty and I do love her but I did have to explain to Joe that a Fairy Garden was in miniature.....

I did share my little attempt at a Fairy Garden with you in a previous post......

I am on the look out though for a larger container and some Fairy Houses to create another Fairy Garden..

I do Love the beautiful Fairy that Joe bought for me too!

Speaking of the garden....

Finally ,the impatiens that I had to replace twice are doing well.....

But now the petunias , which were loaded with blooms a week or so ago, are bare!

See the 3 pots in the stands....

You can also see that we added a higher piece of lattice to this side of the patio for more privacy.....

My Black Eyed Susans are doing well though.....

And now my latest project.....

You may remember this little piece that I picked up at Salvation Army for $12.99...

After being so inspired by all of your lovely Creative Spaces shared at the
Where Bloggers Create party, I thought this would be the perfect piece for my Craft Room....

But where would I put it....

Again, being inspired by all the glorious Craft/Sewing Rooms and Studios out there in Blog Land, I realized that my work desk was really a bit too small.....

It is just an old computer desk picked up at a Flea Market.....

I remembered that we had some extra pieces of wood stored down our storage shed so I measured the desk and sent Joe down to our shed to see if there was a piece larger than the desk......

There was......

So I gave Joe the dimensions of how I wanted it cut.....

You can see in our small little Cottage Garden that we do not have much room to work on things like this......

While Joe was working on cutting the board, I was working on my shelf....

I have saved lots of calendars that I have had over the years because I love the pictures.

I decided to pull out my stash and take a look at what I have....

And this is what I came up with. I wanted to do the least amount of work on this shelf so I decoupaged these pictures from a calendar from several years back that was $2.00 at Michaels!

It took me less than an hour.....

I adore these sweet little faces....

And where the finish was scraped off in the top , I decoupaged right over it...

No fuss, no muss...

I placed the board on top of the desk and centered it. I used the plastic piece that looks like lace that I had over the computer desk, on top of the board and added another piece to it to cover it completely.

Then I placed a piece of a clear plastic tablecloth over the top to protect everything from the glue that I use a lot of ....

Again, no fuss, no muss....

And then I placed my little shelf on top of my new , larger , workspace.....

Even with the shelf on it, I now have a much larger surface to work....

I put some things on to the shelf just to take some pictures but I do need to "Dabble" with it all a bit more...

I placed some pictures and other things underneath the plastic as I had done before.....

And I am quite happy with how this all turned out.....

By the way, those tea cups that are on top of the shelf are waiting to be made into pin cushions....

I need to start working on things for my Craft Fairs that I will be doing in November.....

And now ,something that I do NOT talk about too often......

My Job and the hazards of it......

Many of you know that I am an R.N. who works Night Shift in a Hospital based Rehab Unit.

The majority of our patients are elderly and along with their physical deficits, many have mental issues like Alzheimer's and what we call Sun Downer's Syndrome.

These patients may be perfectly alert and oriented during the day light hours but once it gets dark, they become confused and disoriented and can become violent and combative.

Usually, we do not accept patients like that in our unit because they must be able to do 3 hours of Physical Therapy a day for insurances to pay for their stay in our Unit.

However, in the hospital's haste to discharge patients from Acute Care, we may get a patient that requires sedation and One on One supervision.

Such was the case last Saturday night when I was trying to calm down an elderly gentleman of 92 y/o that had had Knee Replacement surgery who insisted upon going home at Midnight....

When he clocked me....

I didn't duck fast enough and he got me with an open handed fist in the right chin.....

I carry my second camera in my purse and took these in the employee bathroom after we subdued the patient and I cleaned up the blood from my face....

Sedation was ordered but to no avail and he punched the nurse's aide in the face who was doing one on one with him the following evening. He then grabbed our nurse's aide on Night shift by the shirt that next night and it took all 3 of us on staff that night and a security guard to calm him.

Needless to say, when I called the Dr. again for the second night in a row, much to his dismay, the patient was transferred back to the acute care hospital in the middle of the night.....

I am fine and I do know many people say that I am paid quite well and have excellent benefits , so it is part of my job. Yes, I am paid extremely well and do have excellent benefits.....

But it is things like this that are the reason why I sometimes say that my job is very stressful and I SO can not wait until I retire or have to leave because of my health issues.....

Several other reasons why I can not wait for Retirement are working every other holiday, working every other weekend, and having to drive through all kinds of snow , ice and sleet because you can not call off because of weather. when you work in a hospital.....

I only hope I live long enough to see the day that I can wake up one morning and

Not "have" to be anywhere.....

Not "have " to do anything.....

And can spend my time however I chose......

And be able to sleep at night each and every night like normal people do....

Please God, just let me live long enough to see that day when I no longer "HAVE" to go to work......

I am linking up to these parties......

Cowgirl Up! Creative Linky Party
Knick of Time Tuesday
Tabletop Tuesday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Totally Transformed Tuesdays

All Star Blogger Block Party
Bunny Hop Party Every Wednesday
What's It Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Outdoor Wednesday
Home is Where the Heart Is Wednesdays
Sizzle into Summer Party

Treasure Hunt Thursdays
Show Off Your Stuff Party on Thursdays
Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share your Creations Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Vintage Thingie Thursday
Cottage Flora Thursday
Open House Party Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Time Travel Thursday

Fertilizer Friday
Home Sweet Home Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Potpourri Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Thrifty Things Friday
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Tickled Pink Party

Pink Saturday
Say G' Day Saturday Link party

Seasonal Sunday
Sunday's Best
Sunny Simple Sundays

Masterpiece Monday

Mod Vintage Mix Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Mop It Up Mondays

Tweak It Tuesdays

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to visit with me!

Hugs,
Debbie

Visit from a little Critter!!

I look out the window while sitting at the computer in the den and this is what I see......

Sorry , the pics were taken through the window.....

A young Ground Hog!!

I think he is looking in at me........

Yes, he IS standing!!!

I am sure this is what he was thinking...

" Now how the heck do I get out of here..."

Can you believe that he actually jumped up on this old metal container that was once used for milk bottles ( I have it filled with garden tools) to get a better look around... ...
.

"Maybe over that way I can get out....."

" Is that someone looking at me through that window?"

" What is that in there?"

When I tried to open the window, he ran......

For what he thought was his life, I am sure....

" Now how the heck did I ever get in here?"

" HELP!"
Then he ran over by the shed where we store our 16 foot ladder behind it.....

" Maybe if I stay still and try to blend in , she won't see me..."

" Is it working?'

" Can I try to get out over here?"

" Well, that didn't work , now did it!"

" Yikes! What is she holding that keeps flashing?"

On the other side of the shed......

" Maybe over here in this corner, I can get out...."

" She is still watching me!

If I just hang here, maybe she won't see me...."

" Let's see..... can I get through here...if I dig a little bit...???"

" She is STILL watching me!"

" Okay, I am digging through.... almost there...."

" Made it.... Freedom!"

And he finally dug through into my neighbor's yard!!

How he got into the back yard, I have no idea. The reason why we put up the lattice was to keep critters out when we had our sweet Savanna....

Never in a million years did I expect to see that small little face looking in at me while I sat at the computer!!!

I am so glad that I caught it on camera!!

Now I have to tell you a rather funny story that happened the same night ...

When I sleep in the evening before going into work, I pull down the room darkening shades on the windows. After I get dressed when I get up to get ready for work, I usually pull up the shade on one window half way for a little light in the room so Joe doesn't kill himself at night on his way to the bathroom.

I open the shade and I am thinking to myself, "now what is that dangling outside the window.... a rope.... no..... I think it is a ......"

"Joe, there is a SNAKE outside our window!!!!!

Joe yelled " A WHAT??????? "

I said " A SNAKE!!!!!"

Now remember , we do have a 2 story house with our bedroom being upstairs!

There was a garter snake dangling from my second story bedroom window!!!

LOOKING in at ME!!!!

Joe opened the window and was hitting the screen with a ruler. The snake was STUCK!!!

He had to open the window from the top and slide the ruler down and dislodge the snake which was caught in the groove between the top and bottom half of the window until it fell down in the flower bed below!!

I was half way to work by then!!!!!

I was not hanging around to see him play with trying to get that snake off my bedroom window!!

2 Critters looking in the window at me twice in one day??????

No , I do not have any pictures of the snake hanging from the window!! Would have been a good one to get though....

It was too dark and I was too afraid!!

When I come home in the morning, Joe was sitting on the front porch and I asked him if he looked for the snake.

He said it was surely long gone....

I looked in the flower bed and I said " I think you killed it"

I run inside to get my camera.........

As I am taking this picture of the snake, I am looking at it........

See it on the bush????

I am thinking " I don't think that is a snake....."

So I take a better look, start to LAUGH and pick it up and put it on the sidewalk.....

Joe killed the WEATHER STRIPPING from the screen on the window!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

We were hysterical with laughter!

Thank God it was dark and the neighbors weren't watching Joe, the Snake Slayer in action!!

LOL!!!

I am linking up to these great parties:

Fertilizer Friday
Home Sweet Home Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Potpourri Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Thrifty Things Friday
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Tickled Pink Party

Hot Fun in the Summer Time Blog Party

Pink Saturday
Say G' Day Saturday Link party

Seasonal Sunday
Sunday's Best
Sunny Simple Sundays

Masterpiece Monday
Mod Vintage Mix Monday
Metamorphosis Monday

Make It Pretty Monday
Mop It Up Mondays

Cowgirl Up! Creative Linky Party
Knick of Time Tuesday

Tabletop Tuesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Totally Transformed Tuesdays

All Star Blogger Block Party
Bunny Hop Party Every Wednesday
What's It Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Outdoor Wednesday
Home is Where the Heart Is Wednesdays
Sizzle into Summer Party

Treasure Hunt Thursdays
Show Off Your Stuff Party on Thursdays
Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share your Creations Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Vintage Thingie Thursday
Cottage Flora Thursday
Open House Party Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Inspired Creations Linky Party
Time Travel Thursday

Tweak It Tuesdays

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to visit with me!

Hugs,
Debbie