RAZMATAZ

Tropical Garden

2013-05-16T08:49:00.000-04:00

The elusive night flowering cactus

Nothing better than napping in the palms

I think this is Jasmine. It's right by the pool and smells heavenly

Frangipani.....one of the most delicious smells ever in a flower

The bloom of a pygmy palm

We planted a hedge of hibiscus for privacy

Neighbors cactus

This one grows in the vacant house next door.

The Florida garden is a constant surprise and delight. Since most of the plantings were here when we bought the house, we have been lucky to just arrive and enjoy the gorgeous mix of native plants that are growing in abundance. We placed a hammock in a shady corner and can look up into the giant cactus that hovers over it. The cactus has many buds, but I never see the flowers open and often see the dead heads on the ground. The lawn guy told it it flowers at night and upon night time inspection I did notice it was in bloom. The blooms lasted into mid morning when they closed up again. It has the most gorgeous flower. The hibiscus continue to bloom, as well as jasmine and Frangipani-a flower I have only recently discovered. The garden is always full of birds and I've just hung a birdfeeder full of sunflower seeds. My neighbor has many wild parrots at his feeder, and I am trying to entice them over the fence.

Mexican Tiled Windows.

2013-04-22T16:55:00.003-04:00

Mexican Tile added to inside of windows.

Guests use the blackboard wall to record good meals out.

I split a trim piece to add a border to main tile

yes, it's wonky!

Counters changed to Carrera Marble....a good way to age your house quickly

Old science class stools.

I've had a little hiatus from blogging for the past few weeks. We've been away in Florida and I used that time to put my kitchen and house back together after the big leak. Now were are back home, I thought I would post some photos of our Florida kitchen now that the water damage and mold has been remedied. I only made subtle changes since the cabinets were rebuilt and the faces re-used. The counters were changed to Carrera after the granite got broken. The jury is still out on that one. Lots of etching despite being sealed and the good part is, I wanted it to more authentic to the age of the house and I should accomplish that in about 3 weeks.

The most noticeable change is the window tile.I decided to tile the inside of the windows because they are 5" deep and I wanted to add some Spanish touches to the house. The downstairs of this house has been all re-done and no original features remain. So I added some that are authentic to me. I bought authentic handmade Mexican tile that is literally set out in the sun to dry (the dog prints will prove that) and that means it is pretty wonky.....Tile Guy was patient and very accommodating and he dis a very nice job, given the wonkiness. We split a trim piece in half to edge the hand painted main tiles and we left the window sill in marble. TO me, it looks like it could have been original to the house and because we don't need a blind there, the whole window shows nicely.

We extended the counter on the island by 11" to made room for bar stools. These we bought at Paper Street Market on Central Ave in St. Petersburg. They are old science stools. One was orange and one was greenish. I sanded them down and sprayed them white.

While I was there, I visited a little beach side apartment my friend has just bought. I will post photos later this week.

2013-04-06T17:01:00.001-04:00

While the cat napped in a patch of early Spring sunshine, I popped a few pillow covers into a Rit bath to freshen them up. I think I preferred them before Oh Dear!

Catch up

2013-04-02T17:11:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a good Easter break and enjoyed the long weekend. Easter 2013 will be one to remember for the Razmataz family. Our first meeting with beautiful baby Emma was just wonderful. We just couldn't get enough of her. We spent a good deal of the weekend staring at her and cooing at her. DIL is a relaxed and intuitive mother and I just loved to watch her get to know her little one. We have many photos, but the would prefer not to have them on the blog, so I will have to resist. After 3 days of admiring how beautiful she is, we departed Montreal with a new sadness. Although we try to see each other frequently, just a few weeks is a long time to miss in the life of an infant. We will be skype-ing to keep up.

I visited my jewelry (Sno of Sweden) supplier today and stocked up on some Spring and Summer pieces. Lots of white this summer and a return to gold and rose gold. I stocked up with Mother's Day in mind. New items will be loaded this week. Thank you to those who have already supported the shop. I hope no one minds the product posts, but I really do need to optimize SEO and that means having mentions on the blog now and then. I won't be offended if you quickly hop to the next blog.

Clay Tag Tutorial

2013-03-28T06:01:00.000-04:00

Custom name tags

The Easter Bunny doesn't get any cuter

Custom for a salon called Evolve....

Festive tags

My days work.....

I love to craft, and clay tags are one of my favorite things to make. I made 100 for my son's wedding. We tied them onto pots of homemade jam for wedding favors. They make a great craft project for older children too. There are a few tutorials on the internet. Some you pay for like this one HERE and some are free HERE. If you want to buy tags there are many on Etsy. You can hang them on wine bottles and gifts and also hang as decorations. See below for photos of my tags on gifts over the years.

Today I made some Easter Bunny ones, some for a hair salon called Evolve, as they are having a special event, and some for Baby Emma to give her aunts and grandmother(s). For Emma's, I hung ribbons and pompoms from the bottom as well because I was feeling very FESTIVE today.

You need. 1 tub of Crayola white modelling clay (kids clay) About $9.00. A rolling pin. cookie cutter, Rubber stamp and ink, parchment paper, a skewer to make the hole and doiley, fabric or anything that can leave an imprint.

roll the clay out onto parchment paper about 1/3- 1/2 cm thick...any thinner and they wil crack and be very difficult to handle
cut your shape with cookie cutter
stamp your design, or press whatever you wish to imprint into the clay gently
poke a hole for the string or ribbon in the top
leave to dry overnight on cookie sheet
you can put them on a cookie sheet in a 200 F oven for a couple of hours to speed things along.
tie on a pretty ribbon

THAT's IT...Easy and fun. HAPPY EASTER.

Wedding jam

100 heart tags for the wedding.

Bridal shower tags.

Hand dipped marshmallow treats.

Cookbook wrapped in a tea towel for birthday gift

A Celtic cross for my Irish friend's birthday

A pack of handmade cards embellished with a clay tag

Robins..my favourite

Wine tags

For your love......

Rumpled.

2013-03-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

My flowers are looking a bit rumpled.

Bits by my bed

I wanted to thank everyone for the lovely best wishes on the birth of our Grand daughter Emma. It's very touching to receive so many heartfelt congratulations from the people that read my blog. Over the years it does seem that we all get to "know" each other, and share the ups and downs and daily grind with each other. I really do appreciate the friendship. Working for myself and primarily by myself, can be lonely at times. Although when shopping for clients I have come to know the Decorating Center staff, the upholsterer and drapery work room etc, most of my day is spent alone. Calculation quotes, sourcing stuff, paperwork and of course the online shop. I have no co-workers to socialize with and chat with at lunch because I work at home. So, I take breaks and when I do, I visit my favorite blogs. Over the years, the people i have met and chatted with have become friends. They email if I am missing for a while, they confide things, they share and give advice. I've cried with some of their news and been elated at others and had good belly laughs with several. I couldn't live without my blog friends. They are my coffee break pals.Thank you for that.

I'm am having my website redesigned. I am being asked by the designer my preference for fonts, graphics, layout and overall feel. One designer that I interviewed got the impression that I was very Art Deco and 1940's which surprised me. Not the look I want at all. When I had to finally put on paper the overall feel of my new site as a reflection of me, I told her I was part Shabby Chic, part vintage, ethnic,bohemian, with a bit of a colorful rumpled feel. We shall see how she interprets that.

First Gifts.

2013-03-26T13:54:00.004-04:00

I'm think I'm going to be indulgent and post a lot of baby related posts in the future. Please forgive me! BABY now has a name. Emma. As much as I would love to post photos, the parents aren't so keen on photos on a public forum, so I am not going to post any yet without approval. She does have a shock of black hair which comes from the Raz Man's family and, I can assure you, she is a cute as can be. I won't see her in person until Thursday, but I have been putting a few things together for her. Instead of cut flowers, I sent the new parents a basket of potted pink and white tulips and hyacinth. Once the bulbs are finished they can plant them in the garden and each March a cluster of bulbs will pop up to celebrate Emma's birthday each year.

I have collected vintage baby cups for years and selected one for baby from my collection. The vintage ones are usually very inexpensive and I think much prettier than some new ones. Plus it's a reflection of me-her Nani-to give her a treasure from a dusty market and not Tiffany. This is a very feminine one, made by Rogers and has a lovely band around the middle and a barley twist handle. I added a wee fork and spoon and tucked them into a little Peter Rabbit bag that I made. And of course a pink bow. You can't go overboard on pink bows!

BABY

2013-03-24T16:35:00.003-04:00

We are celebrating tonight with Grand Granny, Great Aunty Bee, Auntie Ky, and us...Nani and Babu (pronounced Na-Nee, (she will be bilingual French/English), and Ba-Boo). The Raz Grand Baby has arrived (on her great grandmother's birthday), at dawn this morning. She is un-named as of yet, but parents and baby are doing really well. I didn't sleep a wink last night waiting for the news and sat here in the dark this morning with tears rolling down my face as the first photos of her came over the phone. We even had a little Skype face to face. She's beautiful and we are all blessed.

New stock of jewelery

2013-03-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

I have new stock of Sno of Sweden Jewelry this week. I must say, I have a lot of fun photographing the new pieces and trying it all on. So far, I've been very good, only keeping one bracelet for myself. If you are interested in seeing some of the Sno line, you can go HERE. I am offering Free Shipping in Canada and the USA.

Easter Craft

2013-03-22T08:09:00.002-04:00

No, the baby isn't here yet. It's OVERDUE. LATE.....come on baby..... I am getting more excited by the day waiting. The baby scale is something I dug our from my Vintage Shop days. It's still very accurate and I am using it to weigh my cat. HannahKat has gone from 9.5 lbs to 7.2 lbs and despite a clean bill of health form the vet, she has warned me that any more weight loss will mean further testing which really means a TON of money. Just like everyone else these days, I taken her off carbs. She's on a grain free dry food and supplemented with fresh ground turkey which I fry up and which makes me gag. Does anyone else have an old cat that needs special food? Canned food does not agree with her. If you have any suggestions I would most appreciate them.

If you are looking for a little Easter craft for a child or bags for Easter chocolate eggs, these are really simple to make. I bought plain white bags from Michael's and stamped them with a bunny stamp. A pom pom tail and a glittered ear finish it off. I also changed the string closure to a pink or blue ribbon. (tie one end of the string to a new piece of ribbon and pull the other end until the ribbon is all the way through the bag, then remove the string). Ready to fill with chocolate eggs or your gold coins.

Form vs. Function

2013-03-21T10:31:00.002-04:00

Always a pile of reading material. An old stump works well as a table.

In our neighborhood there are several houses that the same style as mine. The master bedroom had a powder room and a walk in closet. Some people have removed half the closet and expanded the bathroom, others have bumped the bathroom out into the bedroom a little to make room for a shower. My neighbors recently toured all the variations on the street and liked mine the best. And then they hired me to make it happen at their house. I must ask if I can take photos of theirs to show you. They opted for one large shower stall instead of the bath.

I decided to remove the closet altogether and use the entire space as one large bathroom. Where there were once 2 doors, I closed them off and made a door in the center of the room. New closets were added to either side of the new bathroom pocket door. The was perfectly centered on the far wall making the site line very symmetrical, further balanced by the 2 wall fixtures. The tub with a Cararra marble subway tile surround has a shower curtain hoop hung from the ceiling. It's a great room for a bath, but I must admit the shower is very impractical. The curtains cling to your wet legs and you have to sneak your arms out of the curtain to get the shampoo on the ledge.

Sometimes form wins over function.

Spring Chicken

2013-03-20T11:10:00.001-04:00

You ARE a Spring Chicken

New scarf....old scarf

Spring must haves

You must smell this soap.....divine

A Couple of years ago I was in St. Marten on a Mother/Daughter (3 mums + 5 daughters) holiday. One evening the resort staff were setting up for a beach wedding. Given all the daughters were in their early 20's, weddings were a fascination with them, and face it, who can resist seeing a bride. So we all gathered near the little beach pavilion for a discrete, but good view of the bride. The bride was to make her entrance from the top stairs of the resort, and make her way, on her father's arm, to the beach. It was a bit of a distance. When she finally made her appearance way, way, wayyyyy back, we saw a slim, very tanned, platinum blonde woman, in a very form fitting and elaborate concoction of a dress, with great pillows of cleavage bulging from the top of her dress. As she drew closer, we could see she was no Spring chicken. In fact, we were surprised to see she was actually likely in her early 50's, her skin aged and wrinkled by the sun like a well worn baseball glove.

I am sure in her husband's eyes she was perfection, but I must admit I was a little amused, and very surprised. Don't get me wrong. I was thrilled that she had found love and was being married in her 50's and all that. But I've seen it many times. The proverbial Mutton dressed as Lamb (horrible expression) and heard uttered from my own lips...."she's no Spring Chicken". And it intrigues me. Do we lose our sense of appropriateness, or do we start to just not care what anyone else thinks at this point in life? Are we confident enough to just dress as we please and if it makes us feel younger, all the better for it? Now in my (early) 50's, I question my clothes more than ever before. Are ripped jeans OK for middle aged women? Red lipstick? Bold patterns? How about leopard print?

Each Spring and Fall I buy a new scarf to brighten my last year's coat. This Spring I'm wearing this bright light wool scarf that doubles as a shawl on chilly nights, and adds a pop of colour to a jeans and white T-shirt outfit. I pass my scarves on to a charity shop frequently, but one that has stayed with me for at least 10 years is this animal print scarf. Just as I love a little animal print in the house on a pillow or stool, I love to wear bit of cheetah, leopard or zebra. I do wonder if one day, I will throw caution to the wind and be one of those older Florida ladies in shiny pants and a leopard jacket with hot pink accessories. With my kids scolding me and saying "Mum, you're no Spring Chicken!"

Flowers in the House.

2013-03-18T07:33:00.002-04:00

Never one to turn down an INVITE, I made the Raz Man pull over outside a little flower merchant yesterday as we were driving by. I had to pop in to get flowers for Jane's blog (Small but Charming) get together today. FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE is a fun way to pop over to visit great blogs and see bunches of lovely flowers. Given the cold weather still here in Ontario, I for one, am ready to see bunches and bunches of Spring flowers.

My flowers today are one of my favorites-pink hyacinth. The scent is absolutely heavenly and fragrances the whole living room. I set them in an old tarnished silver jug on the coffee table so I see them as I sit here reading and now typing.

And speaking of charming, see that interesting little 3 legged coffee cup? I purchased that from Anthropologie the other day, and it takes second place for the worst technical design for a pretty teacup EVER. The first place goes to this one (below), also from Anthro. The green one below has a very low handle which makes it difficult to lift a full cup of hot tea without your hand sliding down the handle to the base and making the whole thing totally unbalanced. Other Anthro cup lovers have the same complaint about this mug. The newest cup reaffirms to me why chairs, tables, dogs (and cups if they have them, are much off with 4 legs or feet. This cup has already fallen off the Nespresso Machine cup stand (2 times), spilling coffee all over the floor for Frenchie to lick up as fast as he could. He's had a lovely brunch. First an errant chocolate croissant rolled on the floor and the mad dash between Girl Child and dog resulted in a win win for the dog, followed shortly after by a nice, piping hot espresso to wash it down with. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday with coffee and croissants and pets on the sofa and FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE. Go HERE to visit the rest of us.

Wildlife Spotter

2013-03-17T10:50:00.002-04:00

Click on photo to enlarge

I had to share this photo that my sister took yesterday of a gorgeous owl. My sister is not only a great photographer, she is the best spotter of wildlife and, unlike me, she usually has her camera with her when she does. Look at the way the feathers form a ring around his face. It almost looks braided. And that beak......the detail is quite lovely in this photo...I love the ruffle around his neck.

Why the fuss?

2013-03-15T13:27:00.001-04:00

I must be the only blogger around who isn't smitten with the Macaron. The colorful treats have had a LOT of blog play in the past few years, and I must say they photograph very well. All those pretty colors and shiny disks with delicious fillings....what's not to love? Living in the suburbs, trends take a little longer to arrive, and Macarons have only just been available in local bakeries where I live. (not to be confused with the coconut Macaroon). So finally....I spotted them at my local grocery and purchased 4 which weigh about 5 grams and cost...get this $1.99 each....I figured they had had to be fabulous for that price right? Subconsciously, I ended up with pink and blue (chocolate and vanilla) and sat down for coffee this morning (while still waiting for baby news) and treated myself to a blue one.......no drum rolls..no OH MY GOODNESS.....It was HO HUM and I was totally let down by the soft-ish meringue and completely flavorless concoction. Maybe it's a Laduree Macaron I need to be trying. I'm going to try making my own and using some natural colors from fruit juice...in the meantime, I can play the He Loves me, He Loves me not game with the rest of them pink-it's a girl, blue-it's a boy, pink-it's a girl....

Are you a Macaron fan? Have made them yourself?

News of No News

2013-03-13T15:24:00.000-04:00

Yes, we have no baby yet. Every time the phone rings, I leap from wherever I am and whatever I am doing to grab it. After all....it could be THE CALL. I've decided to give the new parents a day or two before I make my arrival. Given that we live near Toronto and they in Montreal, it means they would have a new baby and a house guest. I think it is nice to take your baby home, just the two of you and have a couple of days alone. After all, it is life changing. Two days, maybe three max, and I'm there with all my Nannie advice...

The parents to be have just moved house, so there will be lots to see and lots to talk about. I do know the nursery is pale grey and with white furnishings. I did buy bubbie this bassinet because I do think it is nice to have a newborn beside you at night. I got the ruffle too, because baby stuff cant' be too cute.

While I wait for the phone to ring, I've been busy photographing product for my SHOP. I've tried on every piece with various outfits and I'm truly smitten with it. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on my photos and backgrounds. It was unanimous that the simple white or barn board was the favorite for the back ground. I'm trying hard NOT to purchase my own products, but the Isak Bracelet below caught my fancy. I like the "horse bit" styling and the tan leather.

I shall bring the news when it arrives...............

Countdown

2013-03-06T21:23:00.001-05:00

13 days and counting down......Grandmother-hood is just around the corner. Is this not a gorgeous Baby Bump?

Posing.

2013-03-05T20:25:00.002-05:00

I have such respect for photographers. I often think something will be easy to get good pics of, then fail miserably. For my new jewelry line, I've been snapping pieces all over the house. On old red barn wood, white plank flooring, white linen, and even on the pages of books. I love the way the pieces look on the photographic images, (they pose beautifully don't they?) however I'm not sure that is proper with respects to the original photographer. Thought? This bottom photo shows the bracelet that got me started on the whole line of Sno of Sweden. I bought it for a gift and then decided I should see about being a retailer. A bit of an investment in inventory, but at least I'll have lots of samples to parade around in. The book with the gorgeous images is called Spirit of India by Parragon Books Ltd.

Sno Bound

2013-03-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

I've been totally consumed with photographing my new line of jewelry that will soon be added to the Razmataz online shop. I am thrilled that Razmataz will be selling the gorgeous Sno of Sweden jewelry and I'm having a ton of fun with my new stock. To get the word around, I'll be having a giveaway shortly so check back to that.

I'm heading to a girls dinner tonight to celebrate our husbands leaving us here, while they play golf, eat tacos and laze around the pool in Florida. While it's minus 5C here with a crust of icy snow all over just to make going outside really nasty. I'm bringing a bottle of white and a slightly too pink, girly girl cake! It almost didn;t make it. I came into the kitchen to find Frenchie up on his hind legs, feet on the kitchen table about to have his first taste of pink butter cream. Oh, that dog! Have a good weekend.

The Baby Shower

2013-02-19T11:03:00.001-05:00

Lindt chocolate bears dressed in pink or blue satin ribbons, Italian sodas in pretty colours.

Party favors....pink or blue nail polish by Joe

Wrapped in a little cello bag with pink or blue truffles

Blue or pink?

I stamped the tags with Peter Rabbit and glittered the ears either pink or blue and added a pom pom tail.

The beautiful mother to be.

TROUBLE

Our theme was white, with hints of pink or blue.

I love streamers and we hung them from all corners. This shot is before we noticed that the chandelier bulbs were burning the streamers.

The baby shower was a breeze. Usually I would stress for days with food prep and trying to get the house ready, but with a total of 5 overnight guests plus another dog, I decided to order trays of sandwich's, cheese, fruit and cheese from the grocery store and also served a crock pot of bought meatballs in Diana's sauce and sausage rolls. Desert was store bought squares and cupcakes from a nearby shop. A couple of hours before the shower, everyone did a quick pick up and tidy of the house and we set up a table for drinks and food.

The day before I had made up the party favor bags with either a pink or blue nail polish and chocolates tied up with ribbon and a Peter Rabbit tag.

Not knowing the sex of the baby, our colour scheme was white. Which was good because my furniture is white and so are my dishes and napkins. We threw in a hint of pink and a hint of blue and it all looked very pretty.

Our guests were very generous with their lovely gifts and support for our mum-to-be and baby.
They left for home (Montreal) with the car stuffed to the max with lovely baby bits and happy hearts after visiting with lots of family and friends well into the evening.

Boy Child and DIL are moving this weekend just to spice things up a little. Why not move in your 9th month.I moved 5 days before he was born and I know that's a difficult thing when heavily pregnant.

It's not my story to tell, but my Daughter in Law and her family have been through the wringer for the past 6 months. You can read about things in their words HERE, but to sum things up, their mother has been having treatment in the USA. She and their father have been gone for 6 whole months, an eternity to this extremely close family who get together several times a week, and for most of the duration on DIL's pregnancy. It has been so hard on everyone going though the excitement of a pregnancy, first grand child, niece/nephew etc and the stress of the family going through losing a grandparent as well as an illness.

BUT...I am so happy for them because today her mum and dad are coming home for a week. They will all be together under their home roof and celebrating all the going's on around them (baby, engagement etc). They have made some special preparations for today and I am just so excited for them all that they will be reunited today.

I think they have an angel on their shoulder and his name begins with G.

Baby Shower Help

2013-02-13T10:38:00.000-05:00

I'm a month away from being a Grand Mamma....I still don't have any idea what I want the baby to call me, but I think GRUMPY may be the word for Granny me. Have you heard the expression "Tea Cup Kids?" It's a name teachers have for today's generation that have grown up being told how smart, beautiful, talented etc they are. ALL THE TIME. Kids who win trophies because both teams get one, kids who play soccer games with no score, kids whose teachers can only select positive comments on report cards, when both kid and parent needs a firmer truth. It's a fine line between boosting a child's confidence and fixing his/her life to avoid all things that can cause distress, no matter how mild. I may have been a tough mum. If I didn't want my kid to touch a snappy dog, I would say "don't touch the dog, he'll bite your face" If they didn't behave in a restaurant, I didn't count to 10 (I hear parents counting 5 rounds of 10 these days) I gave them one chance to sort themselves out, or we left. I never had TIME OUT on a little chair in the corner with books and toys, I sent them upstairs to spend 15 minutes in their room. I didn't negotiate and discuss things when they were young. My parenting style was based on YES and NO. Maybe I scarred them or traumatized them with my old fashioned parenting....they seem ok.....they seem to love me and respect me still.....

Anyway, Grandparenting will be a whole new cup of tea and one I am really excited about. I am hosting a baby shower on Sunday for my Daughter in Law. I've nothing planned yet, although invites are sent out. We have no theme because we don't know the sex of bubbie. I hate shower games where you pass diapers around and guess which has the chocolate poop in it, or the ones where you sample baby food. Does anyone have any good ideas for shower games or little take home favors for my guests? I would love your input. So far, all I have is this ribbon bunting I made to decorate the room.

Gifted

2013-02-09T14:31:00.002-05:00

We're attending a 60th Birthday Bash tonight for a fairly new friend. Women get more and more interesting as they age, shedding any self consciousness, expectations, roles and duties for a boldness, confidence, and Joie de Vive that truly becomes them. The Birthday Girl is no exception. She's fashionable, curious, interesting and a bit edgy. She just got married last year to a fellow with 3 kids to join up with her 3 in Brady Bunch fashion. A delightful mix.

I love buying gifts for people whose style I admire and like myself. So this one was easy. I packaged it in a brown paper bag, stamped with her name and a chandelier dripping in glittery jewels. 60 is her time time to sparkle.

What's in the bag you ask? A Swedish clipped hide cuff with a gleaming polished half that looks like it was dipped in silver. I like the juxtaposition. Rather like being 60.

Mexican Tile Work

2013-02-06T18:07:00.000-05:00

The tiler has left for the day, and tomorrow we are leaving, so it will be a while before I see my kitchen wall tiles all grouted and polished, but I thought I would give you all a look at it. The wall tile is a crackle finish subway tile that I took all the way up to the ceiling. We have low ceiling on this level and I thought it would give it some height. For the windows, I used a handmade (and quite wonky) Mexican tile in a vivid blue, turquoise and yellow to give a hint of Spanish to this old Monterey style home.

And, the best news of all is that the Insurance Company has approved the claim for the damage.

Rare Breeds.

2013-02-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

See that? That's a rare Florida breed of workman. Goes by the name of Ruben. Rare in the sense that he is the first one on our flooded kitchen scene who is careful, conscientious, and a good craftsman. He's here right now tiling the walls and window sills. I'm impressed with his work. Kitchen still not usable, but hopefully soon. But we leave tomorrow, so I won't see the finished product for a while.

I once went to a psychic who told me I attract negative energy and to be careful in public places such as grocery stores and malls in case I absorbed some of it. Not sure I believed her but I had a little incident on Saturday while out walking that made me think of that warning. I was strolling back towards my house a few blocks away when a lady (and I use this term lightly) coming on the opposite side and direction started waving and calling out to me to say hello. She was pretty gaunt with no bra and her boobs hanging pretty low to her pant waist line. She told me she lived in the neighborhood, although she couldn't really pinpoint where, and so I did the same. In fact I pointed to the vacant house. She actually leaned forward and touched my necklace, asking me if it was a real diamond. I told her I got it at Walmart and it was fake. She told me my name sounded like a black persons name. I said thank you. And sensing she was jonesing for a fix and about to rob me, I set off quickly towards home. Over drinks with neighbors, I asked them if they knew of P. They did not.

The next morning, MLK Blvd was closed down due to a fire in an apartment complex. Turns out it was arson. A woman had a fight with her boyfriend then torched his apartment forcing the evacuation of the entire building. The next day the accused had her mug shot on the news. It was P. The chick who I met the day before.

We went to a nice restaurant called Tryst downtown St. Pete. It was warm enough to sit outside. As soon as dinner arrived, so did the local stray cat. Known to live in the vicinity of Tryst, he dines nightly on fine food tossed below the tables from cat loving diners. His name is Trystopher.

Early Valentine

2013-02-05T07:57:00.000-05:00

I spotted this beauty at Paper Street Market here in St. Pete while out and about with The Raz Man. He hated it. Declared he would never have something so pink in the house. So, you can imagine my surprise when he went off to run some errands and came home with this as an early Valentines Day present for me. The colour is more like Rhubarb than pink, which makes it much less girly.