A. Russ Original

Just a quick post today… I was working with the Cricut this week after work to make a birthday card and gift (that I will post later… after the gift is given!) and had an idea that I needed to let my second shift hubby know that I love him when he leaves for work… It’s been on my mind for a while now… I’m rarely home when he leaves for work… Who am I kidding… I’m hardly EVER home when he leaves in the afternoon! I get to talk to him on the phone (if he’s not to busy) and we text when we can… So except for the occasional lunch/dinner ‘dates’ while one of us is at work or on the weekends, we don’t get to spend a lot of time together. After a career in the Navy, we got used to prioritizing what we talked about WHEN we did get to talk… After 20 years of marriage… it seems to be working!! So, I cut this out of a few scraps of vinyl I had in the craft room and installed it on the  back door, so he can see it every time he heads out to work, even if I’m not there… He’ll know that I love

The summers here in the eastern part of TN can be kinda hot… and steamy. And while I can’t do anything about either, I do try to make the best of it! Our front porch is AWESOME! Truth be told, it is one of the biggest reasons we bought the house (that and the fact it has a pot rack hanging in the kitchen!) I like to spend time on the front porch in our rockers, I eat my dinners out there when I can. I like to take a book or magazine out there and enjoy the space… BUT… there was an issue with the late day sun, not just on the porch, but it would beam into the living room and make sitting inside (in the air conditioning) blinding! So needed to find a solution. I have played with the idea of hanging a drop cloth type curtain on the end of the porch. Maybe I could grow some vines, wait, scratch that… I needed something that looked like it belonged, but still blocked the sun. Something to let the breeze through but not the rays… THEN, my friend bought a little ranch house with shutters on i