My creations | Peaches Prattlings

{January 11, 2025} Seriously? A big, giant, duh! HA HA HA

Ok, so…having a moment and I cannot stop laughing!!! Let’s just say take two from my post last night!

I came up to my office to get some stuff done and I thought about the tubs of t-shirts in the wall of the closet, so I decided to figure out a way to get the shirts out, hopefully without cutting the tubs. I thought that if I get them out, I’ll just leave the tubs there.

I pull, and twist, and turn, I take the lid off, then manage to flip the tub on its side and I just pulled the shirts out, chunk by chunk. Then, just to get to the next one, I threw the shirts on the floor in a pile, knowing I would get them up when I was done.

I get the shirts from the two tubs and one was full of race shirts, road races I have done and the other was full t-shirts and pieces of t-shirts that I had already prepped to be made into a blanket. I look past the two I just emptied and it looks like there’s another! What?! Seriously?!

Then…I see another and then I see one of the snow people I put out at the holidays, then I look a little further…it is not a hole in the closet…it is one of our attics! What?! HA HA HA. Let me explain…we have one attic that is above our bedroom, you know…normal attic above the house. This attic, however, is not…I can’t remember if I took you on a tour of the house when we moved, but it’s on the same level as the 2nd story of the house, it’s basically above the living room!

You access it through a door that you pull down in the hallway and when you pull it down, those you can see into the space. It’s not big enough to walk around, but it’s not a crawl space! The door has wooden rungs or steps you walk up to get into the attic.

And there you have it…this was not a case of tubs falling out of the attic, they are still sitting in the attic! Well…now…I don’t have to go looking for those two tubs for the t-shirt quilt pieces! O M G!

Even better…meanwhile…as I’m doing something, I turn around and what do I see, but Bee doing her circles to make herself comfortable in the new pile of t-shirts that she must think is another bed. She does that when she gets on the bed, circles it, I don’t know, 50 times, and then settles in for a nap. Just look at her!

She circled, settled in, but doesn’t she look so confused?!

And then we had to circle again!

I couldn’t not stop laughing when I was telling PSM what happened! Just proves what he always tells me…I’m not wrapped right! And who am I to argue with the man!? sigh… HA HA HA

{May 19, 2024} Another Project: Flowerbox Edition

So…the house in PA, as you know, we’ve been doing some renovations since we bought the house. The latest project I’ve been thinking about for a while and now that I found my flowers, I was ready to put it into action!

So…there is a flower box that is right outside the front door, it’s about hip high, well, my hips, I’m not that tall! And there was a metal box in it that, at some point, must have held some flowers, but when we bought the house, just dirt. Every so often, I would go out there and pick the weeds, and if I picked any weeds from the front yard, sometimes I would put them there as a holding place.

Well…I have these metal and ceramic flowers I got at different festivals and when I used to sell home decor and they have traveled house to house to house, state to state to state, and now… they have a home, outside of a jar on my desk!

First, I removed the metal flower box that was in the brick structure, the bottom was rotted out, so it wasn’t too difficult. I took out all the dirt, well, as much as I could, there were two concrete structures, like stacked cinderblocks inside, and some loose bricks. I removed as much dirt and put 2 of the loose bricks in between the cinderblocks. Then….I needed some filler.

So…love my husband…we stopped at Lowe’s, picked up some EZ Sand. This is the type of sand that is fast setting and gets into the cracks and crevices. We needed to ensure that nothing would work against the foundation and maybe crack one day. We also picked up some black recycled rubber tire mulch, I love this stuff! It’s a little more expensive than regular mulch or pine bark, but…it lasts about 10-12 years and all you have to do, if you’re using it as regular mulch in your flower beds, maybe fluff it up every few years.

Then we stopped at Michael’s to look for foam bricks. I found some and bought more than I needed, they were $2.50 for a set of 4, you cannot beat those prices at Michael’s! There are different types of foam bricks, there are the dry foam, for silk floral arrangements and more, then wet foam, that’s for live floral arrangements, what I got is hard Styrofoam, not as easily broken.

So…back to the house with our haul. Well, after a few other destinations, but home eventually. Since the flowerbox was empty, I filled in all the nooks and crannies with the sand. It’s so cool to watch the sand fill in, especially where there were little gaps and holes, swoop!

After the sand, then came the foam bricks. PSM and I cut the bricks down so they weren’t in too tight and could move around.

Then…the rubber mulch, it looks so much cleaner!

And finally… the flowers! Don’t they look fabulous?! I have one more ceramic flower…when I was testing them at first, of course, out of all the flowers I dropped, it had to be one of the breakable ones! These things have lived in more places than some people and I go to put it out and it breaks, ugh! Gotta love Gorilla Glue! Or something strong like that!

I’m considering putting some grass in there, but I think it looks good, clean, but who knows, I might change my mind if I find the right grass, I don’t want to overpower the flowers. Also…I am on the lookout for flowers to add, but they have to be special and just right, something hand made and makes you smile.

Another project done…Flowerbox Edition!

Enjoy and good night!

{June 23, 2016} Keeping their attention

As a Software Trainer, you’re also a bit of an entertainer.

I know you’re probably thinking sitting in a classfor 6.5 hours can be exhausting. Think about being in front of that class for 6.5 hours a day! I totally get the rump falling asleep, having trouble concentrating, but I have to look at you drooping, getting sleepy and yawning. Hmmm..how much fun is that for me? Big Fat zilch.

That being said, I need to keep your interest, keep you awake and paying attention, all while trying to help you learn something new.

That being said, I have to be creative. In make them laugh, sometimes I bring humor into the class, real world experience. When they start yawning in the afternoon, I implement a 7th inning stretch! I make the class get up and sing! Take Me Out to The Ball Game, I’m a Little Teapot, The Itsy Bitsy Spider. It’s awesome!

Today, during a lesson, at the end of a step…”If You’re Happy and You Know It”, that cracked me up! I threatened them with the Hokey Pokey tomorrow!

If we’re going to be together all day and maybe one to four days, gotta keep it moving. Come and check it out for yourself! I’ll save you a seat.

{April 4, 2016} More snow? A lost tooth. A lotta movies

They said more snow and they were right. Pook.

I went to sleep and the snow was mostly melted and I woke up to…you guessed it…more snow! And at 10pm it’s still snowing. There have been a lot of memes about Mother Nature being bipolar and off her needs, sounds about right, right? Hmmm…what does tomorrow hold?

I think I’ve told you I’m ripping my movie collection and it’s been great, remembering my babies and ice been watching them here and there, a nice break from Netflix. As I rip, I want to watch everything!

Then, I got a phone call, the kind that I love! -“Hi Auntie J!”
-Hi MGS!
– “Guess what! I lost my tooth!”
-Awesome!
-“Thank you for my tooth fairy pillow! I really like it!”
– I’m so glad, I loved making it.
-“When we go on vacation, will you bring things to teach me to sew?”
-I would love that! I’ll definitely bring sewing supplies with me.
-“Ok, I’m turning you back to mommy, bye”
-Bye, I love you
-I love you too
End of conversation.

Now I sit here, ripping and watching movies, cross stitching and loving on the furry beasts. Sounds good, who wants to join me?

{December 29, 2015} Another masterpiece!

Last night, CKM and I participated in one of our time honored traditions…painting class!

This time we chose Painting With a Twist. We weren’t crazy about the instructor and they’re was no down time to let the paint dry so it didn’t all run together, but we managed. In glad it wasn’t our first time, it may have been our last!

It’s almost like paint by numbers, just no numbers. The instructor gives you direction on each section, which is very helpful. I kept waiting for Bob Rossi…”now we’ll paint a tree, a happy tree”!

All in all, a great finished product, we realized this was our forth or fifth time. Can you guess which is mine? (See what the street names are?)

I gave mine to PSM tonight when I got home, something he can put up in the new place, only snow he’ll see there!

{October 6, 2015} A dining masterpiece!

First…I’m back in Buffalo on my next project.

Technically, this is the next wave of the project in Buffalo and I am back on it! I really like the team I’m working with and I met some new people, love it!

Tonight, we are staying in Niagara Falls and we’ve to a restaurant, AG Cuisine, absolutely fabukous! It started out with a hard boiled quails egg.

Someone had soup, the one pictured was very cool, it had actual popcorn in the dish. My salad was very thin veggies, lettuce and baby carrots.

The main dishes were fantastic! Beautiful, good ingredients, fresh, some farm to table. It was a little tricky for me, as you can imagine, or tricky for the kitchen!

But they came through! A fabulous vegetable plate, how fabulously lucky I know I am! I got to play with the big Kids.

What’s next?

A True Farm to Table Experience in Niagara Falls

{October 2, 2015} Maybe I should leave you another voice mail?

You have a business, built on customer service, right?

So why wouldn’t you call me back? How many times should I call and leave a voice mail before I give up?

I want to do business with you, do you want to do business with me?

I guess not…moving on.

{August 6, 2015} 1000 Posts – OMG!!!

I have written 1000 posts! Can you believe it!

It’s amazing! I have done one thing 1000 times! And you’ve been reading it all along! Wow!

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, and baby, it’s a hard habit to break! I mean it! When I decided January 6, 2013 that I was going to blog every day, I was really hoping I would keep that promise to myself. When I started my blog in 2009, it was just a way for me to express myself, a little bit of therapy, but then in 2013, it was something different and became something more.

Then it was one day, then two, then twenty one, then all of a sudden, it’s one hundred, then two and now it’s ONE THOUSAND! Who knew I could do it! Well, I’m sure my dad would say he did, thanks daddy!

There have been a few days I was too tired, so my posts might say “I’m sorry, I’m too tired, but here’s your post”! I’ve woken up in the middle of the night realizing “Oh No! I didn’t blog!” And proceed to write a post. Then there are other days I’m so sorry I have fallen asleep in the middle of blogging, wake up and finish. Then there have been 3 times [i am pretty sure it’s only been 3] that I have fallen asleep or forgotten altogether, mostly fallen asleep and missed it, but I’m pleased to say only 3 times! That;s not too shabby.

My friends and family have fallen under it’s spell and follow my blog every day and you know you’re in that group, thank you!

I can’t always think of what to write, I know you find that impossible to believe, but some of my posts that come very late at night, that’s because I can’t always think of something, but on the other hand, I blog late because that’s when I started and it feels wrong to blog before the sun goes down or 10pm. There’s that 21 days to form a habit thing again.

August 4, 2015, I had 1000 posts, go me! And go you for reading it. There is a part of me that thinks if you weren’t reading it I would still write, because, after all, it started out just for me, but on the other hand, well, who are we kidding, I’d keep writing, I like it and I like thinking of new and goofy things to talk about.

Wow, 1000 posts, here’s to the next 1000, stick around, it’s bound to be a fun ride!

{June 18, 2014} Day 4…Fun in Chicago and back to A2

Tee hee hee, if you didn’t know, A2 is how people from Ann Arbor refer to it and since I’ve been there for a few months and will be there a while longer, I’m jumping on the bandwagon!

Today I was awakened way too early, 7:30am, by some texted pictures, not naming names, very happy to have them, but too early and my fault that I didn’t have the phone on silent. But…it was a good thing and I’ll tell you why soon.

I stretched and tried to go back to sleep but we both know me and that wasn’t happening, so I got up, showered, dressed, started packing, had some breakfast, chatted with Ernest, the nice gentleman that works the breakfast area at the hotel, saw pictures of his grandkids, talked about Father’s Day, back to the room to finish packing and headed out.

I dropped my bags at bag storage, headed out, took a right and began walking down South Michigan Avenue. The past three days, I had been staying primarily on North Michigan Avenue and South Michigan Avenue has so much to offer. Good thing I’m going to come back some time, more exploring!

It was about a mile and a half from the hotel to Shedd Aquarium. Someone told me I needed to be there by about 9:30am or the line would be ridiculous and when I left about 2:15, the line for tickets was probably about a 1.5-2 hours wait, no thanks!

The website said the best days to go, Wednesday and Thursday, well, now it know why. Teenagers and wee tots, class and camp trips and there were a lot of them, not to mention families, good thing crowds don’t bother me much.

When I talked to people from Chicago, they said that so many class trips every year were to Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum of Natural History and Adler Planetarium. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Campus

For my entry fee, I got entrance into the aquarium and all the sections including Oceanarium, Wild Reef, Jellies, Stingray Touch Experience, Aquatic Show and Sea Monsters, oh my!

I got to see the different sections including Caribbean Reef, River, Ocean, all great with frogs, snakes, fish, spiders, you name it, they had it. The Jellies were amazing, such beautiful creatures that can be so deadly. I got to pet stingrays, so soft and sleek, watch the aquatic show with dolphins, seals, a dog and some beluga whales, fascinating and touching, hang with some penguins and watch a 4D movie about sea monsters. That was fun! You sit in the seat and watch things come at you, get sprayed with mist and feel things touch your back, the audience reaction is the best.

I really enjoyed myself and could see myself possibly going back again, if I had people with me. I saw some beautiful creatures that I might never see on my own and learned a lot about them and how I could help, how we could all help.

I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.

http://www.sheddaquarium.org

{December 20, 2013} The birth of a sock monkey

I don’t know if you know that I am a “crafter”: I cross stitch, needlepoint, knit, crochet, stamp, paint, you name it, I’ve probably tried it. I love making things and giving them away and one of these days I’m going to show you some of the cross stitches I have made in the last year.

Right now, I want to talk about the sock monkey I made for my little monkey, Miss A. Her mom calls her monkey and pickle and I found this Christmas Sock Monkey kit, so you know I had to get it and make it. I’ve always wanted to make a sock monkey and here he is. [And I know that her mom is so crazy busy getting ready for Christmas, her parents visiting, that she’s probably not going to see this post – so, no telling! They’ll both get to see it on Christmas!]

This sock monkey’s name is Rudy.

So…you start with two socks that have the red heel trimmed in white, so you can use one for the body and one for the other parts. You take the first sock and cut the bottom to make legs and then sew and stuff the entire thing.

Next, stuff the to the top, sew the legs, stuffing as you go.

Stuffed! We have legs!

Tie off the top to make the head, cut material from the other sock, sew, stuff and add the tail to the body.

We have a head and tail!

Next, from the other sock, we cut out the fabric for the mouth, ears and arms. Now s/he has a smile, makes a difference! I have to tell you, the monkey was a little creepy without eyes, but we’re good now! S/he even has eyelashes! Can you see the antlers???

Arms, ears, mouth, eyes

Rudy needs clothes, we’re getting there!

Red…my favorite color!

We have to decorate the adorable red shirt [no Star Trek references, please!] “I Believe”, do you? Add some holly leaves and red buttons for umpf.

Do you believe?

And Rudy is done! S/he came with an Adoption Decree “To whom it may concern: Be it hereby known, near and far, that the person named below has agreed to be the adopted guardian of a precious wee sock monkey, and to love, cherish, and cuddle this monkey forevermore.” There is a place for her to name her “Beloved Monkey”, “Devoted Guardian” that would be Miss A, “Kindly Maker”, her Auntie G, that’s me! and the “Date of Adoption”. Is that terrific or what?

Hello Rudy!

So…in conclusion here is Rudy with the original kit packaging.

The original packaging and the finished product Think Miss A will love it? I hope so!

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