Back to School Tablescape - Give It OWL You Got

We are having a light lunch on the deck to celebrate the start of school. Our grandsons are eager for school to start, and of course, we are encouraging them to "Give It OWL You Got."

I'm using a new settee I purchased half-price 

and paying tribute to the wise old owl with some owl salad plates. 

I am a retired educator (retired twice) and happy that I'm not starting back to school. 

My husband is a Superintendent of Schools (retired once from Missouri and this will be his last year in another state). 

Our grandsons are eager to return to school; one is in 3rd grade and the other in kindergarten. 

We hope they use this old poem and listen to their teachers:

A wise old owl sat in an oak;

The more he saw the less he spoke;

The less he spoke the more he heard;

Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

I recently took this pic of the Screech Owl while visiting 

The Nature Center at Land Between the Lakes. 

For our light lunch, we are having Sauteed Zucchini (recipe at the end). It's very easy and super fast to make. 

and fresh tomatoes from the local farmer's market.

The black-eyes susans are blooming in many yards around Murray. They are so colorful!

Sauteed Zucchini

Heating 2 tsps of extra-virgin oil and 1 clove of smashed garlic and 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes in a skillet, stir constantly for about 30 seconds then remove the garlic.

Add 1 lb of zucchini that has been cut into 2-by-1/4-inch matchsticks, cook undisturbed for about a minute on each side until golden brown.

Sprinkle some breadcrumbs and stir lightly.

Remove from the heat, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Transfer to a serving dish and top with 2 lbs. finely ground Parmesan Cheese. 

I didn't use garlic but it's optional. I also tried a little dill weed to vary the flavor.

Thanks for stopping by for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life on Sunday evening

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Celebrate Your Story @ Sweet Sensations

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Sizzle into Summer@ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style on Tuesday evening

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Essence of Home on Thursday evening

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wed. evenings 

Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday

Inspiration Thursday @ In The New House

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday

DIY Sunday Showcase @ The Interior Frugalista - Saturday

Sundays at Home @ Love of Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda

Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home 

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Barns, Blooms and Birds - Wk 7

I'm continuing my series on barns, blooms, & birds.

Today I'm featuring another local tobacco barn around the Murray, KY, area. Take a look:

The barns hosts another beautiful quilt pattern on the side.

Another small window on the top front of the tobacco barn can be seen as in other tobacco barns. The doors are closed so not sure what's inside this time of the year. 

Tobacco is growing in the fields around Murray and you can see it has a flowering bloom on the top. 

I didn't realize tobacco plants bloomed but thought it would be appropriate to show the flower for my blooms section of this post. I read, as the tobacco plant reaches maturity, it produces a long spike of flower buds at the top of the plant. These plants are growing in a field down the road from me.

Last weekend we visited The Nature Station at Land Between the Lakes, we were happy to see the live wildlife in their Backyard area. The animals in this area could not survive in the wild because of either injury, being orphaned, or having lost their natural fear of humans. They are spectacular to see! 

I thought the barn owl would be a perfect one to feature in my barns, blooms and birds series. He looks pretty amazing.

Love his coloring! It looks like he only has one leg. This must be why he is at The Nature Station. Take a look, what do you think?

Yes, barn owls really do nest and roost in abandoned barns. They also nest and roost in cavities, other buildings, and dense trees. They roost during the day and hunt at night. 

I'm going to feature all the owls and a few other birds at The Nature Station in another post very soon. Thanks for stopping by for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life on Sunday evening

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday

ABC Wednesday on Monday

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Wednesday Around the World @ Photographing New Zealand

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern on Tuesday evening

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention Gallery

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Floyd Family Homestead on Wednesday

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme on Wednesday evening

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday evening

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings

Skywatch Friday @ Skyley

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Camera Critters on Saturday

I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Seasons @ St. Germain's Blog on Sunday

Tom's Barn Collective @ The Backroad Traveler on Sunday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda

Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home 

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Hummingbird Festival - Land Between the Lakes

The 20th Annual Hummingbird Festival at Land Between the Lakes was over the weekend. My husband and I took our grandsons to enjoy the festival (really it was me who wanted to go). 

I was so excited to see the hummers. 

Since I haven't been able to attract many to my feeders, I was hoping to get a few good pics and pick up some hints or ideas for attracting them to my feeders. 

The festival was at the Woodlands Nature Station of Land Between the Lakes. The hummers were flying all around the area and so enjoyable to watch. 

We did go inside the station to view a slideshow "Simple Steps to Start A Hummingbird Garden".  I did take some notes on my iphone of flowers I could add to my gardens to attract the hummers. The cardinal flower seem to be their most recommended one and it was growing in the viewing area. It blooms July - September and grows in sun or part shade.

Another plant they highly recommended is the Indian Pink. This is not my image, it came from here. It blooms from March to June in my area. The blooms are red even though the plant is named Indian Pink (my grandson questioned this).

I did talk to a lady about my issue of not getting many hummers to visit by feeders and she asked if I was making my own sugar water or buying a commercial one. 

I must admit that this year I purchased hummingbird liquid locally. 

She thought this was my problem and suggested I make my own. 

Tomorrow, I'm cleaning my feeders and making my own sugar water. 

I'll post an update on the success of changing my food from purchased to homemade. 

Thanks for stopping in for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life on Sunday evening

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday

ABC Wednesday on Monday

Our World @ Our World Tuesday Meme

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Wednesday Around the World @ Photographing New Zealand

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention Gallery

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme on Wednesday evening

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday evening

Photo Friday @ Pierced Wonderings

Skywatch Friday @ Skyley

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Camera Critters on Saturday

I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Seasons @ St. Germain's Blog on Sunday

Whitewashing A Brick Fireplace

When we bought our house in October, 2015, the red brick fireplace looked like this:

and the kitchen looked like this:

We tore out the kitchen and now it looks like this:

There have been ongoing projects that I will post as they are finished but for right now, I have been working on my goal to whitewash the fireplace.

I did Google "whitewashing the fireplace" and watched several videos. I wanted to start the project at the beginning of the week while my husband was gone. That would give me several days to perfect it before he returned. 

My first step was to clean the fireplace brick thoroughly with a mixture of blue Dawn and water. I simply sprayed it on and wiped it off with a clean rag. 

In the videos I watched, they were using a paint wash of 5 parts water to 1 part paint. At Sherwin Williams, the owner suggested a use 6:1 just to make sure it wasn't too white. I liked that idea, I figured I could easily give it multiple coats. But knew I couldn't take it off. 

I used a two inch brush to apply the whitewash. The brush was about the width of the bricks. I did not paint the grout. I wanted to see how it looked without painting the grout. Keep a rag handy in case the paint runs. It is very fluid since mixing it with water. The brick really absorbs the paint mixture. I also used drop cloths over the mantel, the hearth and the floor. 

Here's how it looked as I applied Coat 1:

You can see the red paint bucket below that I used. It was perfect because it had a handle I could easily hold plus it had a magnet so the brush would snap to it when I needed it to (all from Sherwin Williams).

Coat 1 took a little longer because I had the large hearth to paint (about 5-6 hours).

Here's a closeup of Coat 1. I think I could have used a mixture of 5:1 for better coverage. I let it dry overnight to see the look after drying. The red brick had more of a pinky look and needed more plaint. I also wanted the dark brick lighter.

For Coat 2, I used the same 6:1 ratio and started painting again. I started at the top of the fireplace and took the picture below so you can see the difference between Coat 2 (at the top of the image) and Coat 1 (at the bottom of the image).

When I was applying Coat 2, I did paint some bricks 3-4 times as I was going along. It was just a judgment call for the look I was wanting. You kind of get braver by the second day. I bought way too much paint. I think I could have gotten by with a quart of white paint. Can you see the difference between Coat 1 and Coat 2?

Now it is all dry and I am happy with the look. Don't think I will paint the grout at this time.

I do have a little more to do; I need to paint the trim piece around the fireplace and I am considering painting the mantel. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House
Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life on Sunday evening
Show and Share @ Coastal Charm
Celebrate Your Story @ Sweet Sensations

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday
The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Talk of the Town Link Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence on Tuesday
Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House
Sizzle Into Summer@ DIY by Design

Creative Ways Link Party @ Posed Perfection on Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style on Tuesday evening
Share Your Style Link Party @ The Essence of Home on Thursday evening
Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wed. evenings
Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner
Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday
Inspiration Thursday @ In The New House

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage
Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Sundays at Home @ Love of Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda

Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home 

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays