Here is the tutorial for how I made the photo wall in my house.  I started by laying my design out on the floor of how I wanted to hang the pictures.

 Well actually I started by collecting the picture frames and painting them all the same color white, used spray paint for this step.

 I then cut templates out of craft paper and put them on the wall, also marked where the holes needed to be, I did measure between the spaces to get the placement I wanted, but you could also eyeball it.(which I did with later ones I added). I used the sheet rock screws to hang the frames so they would be secure

You can see the laser I used for leveling in this picture, and the frames going up

I broke the M in family and had to go to hobby lobby to buy a new one

I collected all the pictures I wanted and printed them on my computer in black and white, at one point I had more pictures then frames so I had to add more.  This is the way it looks right now, I do have room to add to it if I want, but right now I am finished. 

The last picture went up today, from this past labor day weekend when all the kids were here

JASPER

Here are some pictures of the new puppy we got, His name is Jasper. He is an austrailan shepherd. These pictures are between 6 and 8 weeks old.  I got him from the Jasper Lakes Area Humane Society, his first owners were moving to Kentucky and couldn't keep all the puppies so turned him and his brothers and sisters in (7 in all), Jasper was the only tricolor blue merle and I just could not resist his beautiful face.  So far he has been a joy. Okay, getting up with him in the middle of the night isn't any fun, but he has slept the last two nights without crying. Doing good on housebreaking. And he is already sitting and working on laying down. He and Callie are getting along pretty good., She is very patient with him, but does get too carried away sometimes and I have to watch her. She is not good about sharing treats and toys but we are working on that. Thinking I might get into some agility training when Jasper is old enough, have some classes in Houston. Think it would be fun, and good exercise for both of us.

 first day home

 they like to play tug of war with the toys, Callie will get them the wave them in Jaspers face til he grabs hold

 someday he will be bigger then her

sweetBirthday pic

hello

Well I guess I am not a very good blogger. Keep saying I am going to keep this up and then I don't. So
 I'll guess have to do what I can.   I'll try to catch everybody up on what has been going on in our lives.

We have been busy enjoying all the fruits from our garden, but now since its been so so hot and dry here, our garden is just about burned out.  We are now starting to think about a fall garden.  We were able to can some tomatoes and beans, and i think I had a tomato sandwich everyday for awhile. I know me,  I love them.





Don't know if everyone knows this, but  I joined Weight Watchers back in January. So far I have lost 40 lbs. Tommy is doing it with me and he has lost about 50 lbs. He is done with the weight loss, just wants to maintain.  I still have some more to lose.  We are mostly trying to eat healthier and doing it so we feel better( which we can already feel the difference) Tommy has been hiking again in the  Big Thicket aand even did two hike in the Smoky Mountains.

The chalet

Yes, we went to Gatlinburg to pick up his Mom.  She had been there with Joleen for a couple of weeks. Don't know why it took us 28 years to go back to Gatlinburg, but it will not be that long ago, can't wait to go back in the fall to see all the colors of autumn. Thank you to Joleen for having us, really enjoyed being with family.  Clay's son Robert was there also and we liked getting to know him, loved all the magic tricks.  Gatlinburg was fun to walk around downtown, we even went up the ski lift and get to see the beautiful mountains. Thought I was going to freak out on the ski lift but it wasn't too bad.  We even got to see a couple of bears coming down the mountain road (which I was to scared to drive).  And we got to do some shopping, brought  a handmade braided rug(made by a 75 year old man, its beautiful, looks good in front of my sink) some baskets, soap, and two pottery mugs, one says Nana and the other Pawpaw. Everything I brought was handmade from the area. It was nice to be able to talk to and see the artists at work.

Stopped in Baton Rouge on the way back for July 4th.  They had a big firework show over the Mississippi River. We got a room in the Hilton Capital Hotel which is right on the levee and were able to watch the fireworks from our room. It was the best show I have ever seen. We will being going back and doing that again. All in all it was a great trip(not enough time, but there never is).

I saved the biggest update for the last, (although I gave you a hint with the Nana and Pawpaw mugs). We have a new granddaughter. She is a joy and we are happy for Matthew and Lindsay. AnnMarie is a little darling.  Its nice to be able to see your kids and see what kind of parents they are going to be.  Think she is going to have her daddy wrapped around her finger.
 Well, this seems to be a good update,  have a few projects that I am working on and I will post about them soon(really).
til then love ya.
kate

sunday morning

Hey all,
Just hanging out this morning.  Weather is beautiful, may get rain later today or tomorrow, we are still in drought conditions so any rain is welcome, need it for the garden.  The garden is still looking good, still eating lettuce and now also getting some radishes, beans, and sugar peas.  Have some green tomatoes, can't wait for them to get ripe. Went to the farmers market the last two weeks, and we are enjoying the fresh produce.;I wish we had as much stuff as Darius and Nicole get every week, but what we have been able to get is good.  Cooked some longhorn beef hamburgers the other day, they were really good, low fat, no additives or hormones. Still have some steaks to cook so they should be good. Got some fresh carrots this week and you can really tell the difference, they even smell good. Gonna cook them tonight with some turnips, small red pototoes and onions, leeks and turkey sausgage in a oven bake, Should be good. Heres the pics of what we got the last two weeks.

Oh, forgot to tell you about the strawberries, there are to die for, they are so ripe and sweet, cut them up for shortcake and do not even need to put any sugar on the berries they are that good.

Thats all for now, well talk later
kate

Well, back again.  know its been awhile but I have been busy becoming a new NANA.  Have a beautiful new granddaughter.  She is a little doll.  She waited til we could get to Fort Worth so we could be there when she was born.  Will being going back in a couple of weeks to see her and help out.

On the home front , we are still waiting on the plumbers to fix the hot water heater. (I know, its been two weeks), Between lousy plumbing company and  home warranty company this has been hell.  Does no one care about customer service anymore.  They are suppose to be here tomorrow morning to replace the heater. Hopefully everything goes alright, Tommy wanted to hold out and make them come when he was home in the afternoon, but I was afraid it would never get done, and I am tired of heating water, I want my shower back!!!  We will be writing a complaint to both places and the better business bureau when they get finished(don't want to do it before they finish, might never get it) at this time we do not plan on renewing our contract with the warranty company, we will be calling them and getting all of our appliances that need fixing fixed before we are done.

Will talk again soon.
kate

Sunday afternoon

Its a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the Boondocks. Sitting on the deck having lunch. Tommy is out on the bayou in the boat looking for fish.  Had a big old snapper turtle on his line yesterday.  Luckily it got away. Good thing Callie (our dog) wasn't in the boat she would have gone crazy.  Fish would be better. Maybe he'll have better luck today.

Still without hot water. It will be this next week sometime before the plumbers get one in and then they will come install it. We will be in Fort Worth the first part of the week, so it will be at least Thursday before they can come, hopefully they can get it done then.  Hate washing dishes in the sink(miss my dishwater but I guess it doesn't work without hot water coming into it.). Its not too bad to heat water for washing, Can handle that for a couple of days, it reminds me of heating water on Nannie's stove and taking baths in the hotel in Kinderhook (was there a boiler that heated water there?)  But I will be glad to have the shower back nice and hot. Heated water today and give Callie a bath, I know she probably wouldn't mind cold water, but I have to get in the bath tub with her to wash her, so I wanted it at least warm.. Shes now laying in the sun enjoying the warmth.
Tommy just got back with a fish, and some wild blackberrys from along the bayou. Have to go find a recipe for cobbler.  Talk later
kate

New computer

Okay, we are going to try this again and see if I can keep this updated. Got a new computer so it should be easier, the other died a slow death. Went to Best Buy and liked this dell so got it. Still have to do something about getting better internet service, right now we have verizon wireless which gets about 2 bars worth of coverage.  Will probability look into getting satellite in the future(when our verizon contract is over).  That what happens when you live in the Boondocks.
Still waiting on AnnMarie to make an appearance. She was due on the 12th, so she is already a typical girl by being late.  Figure she will come this weekend while I am working so we won't be able to go til next week.  Can 't wait to spoil her as only a Nana can.
Have a lot a pictures to share. I am going to put the new garden pictures under the squarefoot gardening page The second page is this years garden --2011, so check them out there, the garden is looking really good this year. Hopefully we will get a  lot of goodies from it. Already eating fresh lettuce and loving it.Started a lot of it from seeds we got with the gift certificate Darius and Nicole gave us for Christmas. It was hard not to buy everything from the catalog. We had to add another 2 boxes to plant everything we had. Now we just need to get some rain. (we have a rain barrel that we use for watering, its getting pretty low). May have to dig an irrigation ditch from the bayou.  Just can't wait to eat a salad with everything in it fresh from the garden.
The orange and lemon trees are coming along alright, may be another couple of years before we see any fruit. The grapefruit tree bloomed this year and it full of little grapefruit balls. We will still have to wait til next year to be able to tell if its the kind that blooms every other year.(didn't have any last year, but don't know if that was because of the storm.)
I am working on getting some house interior pictures up, have to get them from the other computer and copy over here. Will have them up soon, so go check out the garden photos for now
Talk to you soon
Love,
Kate