I am sitting here in my home office contemplating just why it is so darned hard for me to keep it straightened up and uncluttered. I am naturally disorganized as I have said before, but there has to be something for us that are organizationally challenged that will sort of point us in the right direction!
I was going through some of the DIY websites and saw this . Now this would be my ideal office. And if you click on the next slide, you will see the storage solutions as well. I have the start of this already, but my office is not all white. I do have a settee that has slide out storage underneath. I also have a counter top that runs part of the length of one wall that I use for my computer desk. It also has shelving above and at the end of the wall there is a bookcase. I have another computer desk that I partially dismantled because I didn't like the tower on it. I will probably completely dismantle it and use the hardware to make another desk that matches my new color scheme.
I really do like the white and especially the red. I will have to incorporate some rose motifs in there as well since that is on just about everything that I collect and use. I have roses on my leather wallet, on my dishes, towels, just about anything. I grow them, I propagate them, I photograph them. I am continually looking for something else with a rose motif to add to my collection.
So, added to my list is yet another decorating project. And no, I still haven't finished my daughter's room yet. Maybe I will before she graduates and leaves home...
L A Here I Come...No, not that LA, Louisiana!
Well, I went on my second trip to Louisiana a couple of weekends ago with one of my best friends. She is originally from Houma, LA and moved here about a year ago. I went with her to see her home there and to go to a rather unusual craft show. I say unusual because it is held at a prison of all things.
We started out on our road trip before 6 AM on Saturday morning. The first real cold snap of the year happened that weekend, but luckily for us it turned out to be about 20 degrees warmer there than at my house. While hubby was shivering and trying to stay warm, we were sleeping with the windows up in her house. It was very nice!!
So was the Jacuzzi tub that she had in the master bath that I availed myself of each night. I truly thought I had died and gone to heaven. As bad as my muscles hurt and the restless leg problems I have are at night, this was absolutely what the doctor ordered. One of those tubs is definitely on my list for the bathroom remodel I have planned - hopefully before I am too old to climb in and out of the tub!
It was so nice to get up in the morning and go out in the backyard, pick a few citrus fruit to nibble on...Oh yes, did I mention she has a lemon tree and a kumquat tree in her back yard? I just had to go out there and get a few of the kumquats. I love those things! Both trees were so full that the branches bowed by the weight. It was such a beautiful sight. She picked a few of the lemons for me, but they had not ripened fully yet. The kumquats weren't either but I loved the sweet/sour treat. Like eating organic Sweet Tarts! Yum! The best of natural candy. She did send me a bag full of lemons the next weekend. I am eternally grateful for those. They are just plain delicious!
On our way down, I told her that I wanted to stop by the new Cabela's store in Ganzales, LA. My husband is supervisor over the fabrication department of a heavy wood beam manufacturing company. The beams in that store came from where he worked and he and the men there did all the fabrication and finishing. It was something to behold. My husband hadn't been able to go out and see it so I told him that I would take some photos so that he could see what they looked like erected.
Gonzales, LA
Can't figure out why the person ahead has the tool box lid open. Maybe they are like me when I get gas and forget to close the tank door. Hmmm...
This place is huge! I was afraid to take photos when we first walked in. I asked a manager if it was okay to do it and he said it was. So we went up the escalator and took this one.
Did I mention that I REALLY HATE escalators?
A view of the smaller beams and the decking. I loved all the stonework as well.
This was a really cool building. Unfortunately, I think it is the last of the ones using wood framing.
I had to leave out with a keepsake, so I am now the proud owner of a powder pink Cabela's mini multi tool with case. It took me a while, but I finally figured out how to fold the darned thing up. Oh well, leave it to me to make things more difficult than they are.
After this and a quick lunch, we were on the road again!
I never realized there was as much sugar cane as there is in that area. There were miles and miles of cane fields all over the place. I think my friend thought I was a little nuts taking pictures of cane fields though. There were also so many old antebellum homes there as well. Some were even told to be haunted. I told my daughter about one of them called The Myrtles. She promptly told me that it was going on her list of honeymoon spots when she decided to get married. I gave her my 'you've got to be kidding' look and she promptly looked it up on the Internet. It was beautiful. Leave it to my child to want to honeymoon in a haunted house.
Cane fields taken through the window of the truck.
We rode over a good part of Houma before we left that Monday. It amazed me when I looked at the citrus trees in just about every other yard. I joked that every time I saw one I wanted to stop and pick a bunch. The canals were something else too. There was so much water there. I didn't put things together until we left going home and went through New Orleans. It is not that far from the city, so it made sense that the land was pretty much below sea level.
The main event for the trip was the prison craft show and rodeo at Angola Prison . It was a very different experience for me. I have never been in a prison in my life, not even on a field trip to the local jail. I have never seen so much law enforcement in one spot in my entire life. That aside, the wares of the prisoners were something to behold. I bought my rose embossed billfold there. There were all sorts of woodworking, jewelry, leather and other assorted crafts there. And if you wanted something to eat, there was no way that you would go away hungry. It seemed like miles of food stalls lined the property along with all the craft booths.
I couldn't help but wonder what some of these men did to get in this place. Most were polite and seemed to enjoy the company of the many people who showed up for the show. It seemed sad that there were such talented people there. We all wondered if they knew that they had their talent before they got there or if it had taken this for them to figure it out. Unfortunately, there were those there that were not allowed to mingle with the public and probably for good reason.
On the far side there was an area that housed a group that were behind chain link fencing and barbed wire. I assumed that these were the violent offenders. My friends and I walked gingerly down through the area that held their wares. Personally, I just wanted to hurry through. Especially when I got the feeling that one of them was looking at me. I didn't make eye contact, but it made the hair stand on the back of my neck. It was not a good feeling and I was glad when we moved away from that area. These men could pass the receipts for their merchandise to a purchaser through the fence, but that was as much contact as a person got. I was glad!
We left just before the rodeo was supposed to start. My friend said that if we waited until the rodeo ended that we would never get out of there because of the traffic. I have no idea how many people were there, but at one point it got extremely crowded. We were all tired when we got in the truck and headed out. It was about 2 hours back to her house from there. I dozed off a couple of times on the way back. It was a good tired though.
On our way back the next day, we decided to come through Biloxi, MS and see what the casinos looked like. We went to both the Beau Rivage and the Hard Rock. I lost 20 bucks or as we say donated the casinos 20 bucks. I am not a gambler - don't have the nerve or the money to do all that.
The Hard Rock Casino
All in all, this was a great trip. And I needed to get away for a few days, believe me. All I have left to say is - Hey, where are we going next time?
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