Friday, March 30, 2012

Your Momma's Cold Cream

I've always been a huge fan of Lancome facial care products.  Every year I ask my mother-in-law for a large bottle of the cleansing cream.  It's so smooth and creamy.  I always apply it sparingly, rather than liberally as I would like to do because it is so expensive.  I don't like to spend that much money on something to wash my face.  Even though I know that's one of the most important steps in good skin care.  

Last year while we were on vacation, I ran out of my travel size Lancome cleansing cream or "milk" as it's so affectionately and accurately, I might add, called.  On Tybee, there's no Wal-Mart or Target or even a chain drugstore.  There are these little convenient stores owned by the Chus.  

The convenient stores owned by the Chus didn't have anything like Lancome cleansing milk on their shelves.  But washing my face each and every night and sometimes more than once during the day required me to have some sort of gentle cleansing cream.  So enter this lovely blue jar.

 It got me through the rest of my vacation with a clean and refreshed face every night.  When I got home from vacation, I just put it in my drawer with all of the other makeup, face creams and hair products that aren't in my regular routine.

I'm not sure why, but the other day I came across the pretty blue jar of  Noxema.  Just for kicks and giggles, I washed my face with it that night.  Love.  It made my face feel so fresh and clean.  The scent alone sent me over the moon.  Of course, I still use my Lancome eye makeup remover (there is NO eye makeup remover better.  Of this I am sure).  Sticking my fingers in the jar of whipped, creamy Noxema is a fun thing to do in and of itself.  Massaging the cool and refreshing cream on my face cleans all trace of makeup and leaves my face feeling sparkly clean and fresh.  Heck, with the pollen and nasal issues I've had, the cooling fragrance even opens up my sinuses a little bit.  It's a win-win!

Now, I can't swear that I'm looking lovelier than I was 10 days ago, as this old ad for Noxema claims, but I am loving my less expensive face cleanser!  And I can use a good dollop of it without feeling guilty!


I'll take it on vacation with me this summer and if I get sunburned, well, I'll just bring out my little jar of Noxema.  Apparently, it's good for sunburns, too!


So yes, it's an old product.  Might even be considered an old lady product, but this young chick likes it!  If you haven't washed your face with it before, try it.  It's inexpensive and you'll like it.  I promise.

Till next time, loves, Live, Love, Laugh!  And wash that face every night before bed.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Sure is Ugly

This afternoon, I decided to take a stroll around my yard just to see what was blooming and just to get an idea of how much "spring cleaning" our yard is going to need. I found out that we've got a WHOLE lot of spring cleaning to do.  In fact, we've got more spring cleaning to do than we've got strong backs to do!

But it wasn't all a mess.  Look at this pretty little wildflower growing right in the middle of the leaves and vines along the edge of our woods.  It looks like a  purple wild vinca.


Purple vinca?

Along the edges of the woods, just growing wild.

Wonder what sleeps in here at night?

Or here!  Eeeeek!


This tree has blooms, but they're still locked up tight.  I think the bark looks cool.

Jeff and Cam transplanted my hydrangeas for me.  I'm so excited that they are surviving the transplant and have a good bit of new growth coming on.  Not sure they'll bloom this year or not, but I've sure got my fingers crossed.  These flowers are my pride and joy.  If they bloom in the front yard where I can see them all the time, my heart will be smiling for sure!

Hydrangeas after transplant.


This is where I put my scarecrows last fall.  They were up against the tree, sitting on hay bales.  Well, I guess that wasn't such a good idea.  Now, the area where the hay bales was is growing nice, new, green grass!  And lots of it!  It's not supposed to be growing here.

Pressure washer needed here.  And also need to get dirty and pull the weeds!


Leaves in the ditch!


OMGosh, my mailbox.  The biggest eyesore in my yard.  Needs a new post, weeds pulled and just some general landscaping.
  

And I could also use a new mailbox since the door won't stay shut on mine.  Please excuse Bandit's rear end.  She didn't know I was making a picture.


The house across the street is being foreclosed, so it's abandoned right now.  If Jeff or I don't go over and pick junk up out of the yard and driveway, it just stays there.  Like this garbage can lid that was blown over last week.
 

Pretty camellia!  Only one bloom, but hey, we're working on it.

Camellia March 2012
 These are azaleas I got from MaMa Kimball in South Georgia.  They look like they're going to bloom, but they also have an area that was nipped by the frost or something.  A section on each bush is dead.  :-(


Crepe Myrtles.  I have a definite love-hate relationship with these bushes.  They are still very much dormant.  And also very ugly!


Some jonquils that came up and didn't bloom.  A nice, healthy patch of weeds, and a driveway that needs pressure washed.


Where the hydrangeas were transplanted from.  Whoa, does this area need help!


Tulips peeking up.  These bulbs were probably set out 10 years ago.


A Zip-loc bag floating in the pool, which desperately needs sweeping and cleaned.


This and that coming up.


Sweet tea olive.  Smells so nice.


 Bulldog that needs pressure washed, along with the entire pool area!  I thought concrete was white!  Mine's sure not.


Japanese Maple tree that could've used pruning over the winter.  Oh, well, hang in there.  Maybe next year you will be groomed.


Frogs that need either A.  Painting or B. Replacing.  I'm leaning towards replacement.  And the outside pool light fixture needs some sprucing up, too!


Hydrangea that wasn't moved.  This one has quite a bit more new growth than the ones that were transplanted.  This one is getting moved next winter.


 Pool plumbing!  What to do, what to do!  So ugly.


 Oak leaf hydrangeas nearly choked out from the ivy.  And the dead leaves.


 Every time I look out my bathroom windows, I see these nice people.  I can't tell you how many times I've looked out and thought, who is that in my yard!  They live in the shed.  With a lot of firewood and other junk.


 Moss.  Feels like carpet on your feet.  I like it.


 Poor, empty flower pot.  Only thing in it right now are a few empty acorns where the pesky squirrels have been hanging out.


Gross!  Air-conditioner area.  Right beside the stairs to the deck.  See the little daylillies coming up.  Need massive landscape here!


 Deck needs stained.


 Rosebush that I cut down to the ground about a year ago.  And weeds.


When's Easter?  What a perfect pile of weeds to hide eggs in.


 The garden.  Heaven help us!  This one's gonna take a while!



 Dirt pile.  Personally, I don't think this is good dirt, especially since it's FULL of weeds!

 I'm not sure why we have this piece of equipment, because we don't have a tractor.  But we could sure use one right about now!


We need a new lawnmower and a new pressure washer.  Y'all know that I totally have a love affair with pressure washers.  That's my OCD for sure! Love that white concrete!

Okay, girls, how does your yard look?  Does it have a lot of work to be done?  Do you need a yard boy or ten, also?

Till next time.

Monday, March 5, 2012

The D Word

After church yesterday, I came home and got my cold weather gear on and went to Dacula to watch Reid play in a single-elimination tournament.  After the very mild winter we've had, 46 degrees with 16 mile per hour wind felt frigid! 


I'm at a strange juncture in my life these days.  My kids aren't kids anymore, so they rarely need me for anything, other than my debit card and maybe to pick up a few groceries, and I don't have any grandkids to consume my time.    It's an odd place to be.  Kind of an empty nest feeling, even though my next ain't empty.

Hence, the reason that I bundled up and drove 45 minutes to watch Reid play one baseball game.  I got to spend time with Suz and I enjoyed watching the game, even if my teeth were chattering.

I have started dieting again.  I did a boot camp at the gym back in the fall and over the course of six weeks of hard dieting and hard workouts, I only managed to lose THREE pounds.  I was so disappointed.  But I kept on with my workouts and I exercise about 7-8 hours a week.  Spin class, strength training, yoga, etc.  My weight will NOT budge.  I've had my hormones checked, and of course, they're all out of whack, but what woman's isn't really?  My thyroid is fine.  I just don't get it.  It's frustrating.

In 2010 Cam lost 78 pounds completely on his own and he's kept every pound of it off!  He worked out like a fiend and ate fruits, veggies, and lean meat and fish.  Any carbs he ate came from the natural stuff.  Now, I know he's 20, he's a guy, and his metabolism isn't screwed up like mine is, but still.  So I'm trying his diet out.  Starting it today.  He's very, very encouraging.  He reached a plateau and couldn't lose anything for about two weeks.  He was frustrated, but stuck with it, and then he started losing again.  He says he doesn't understand why people hate diets.  He liked it.  He said he loved seeing the positive changes each week.  I gotta start thinking like him.  Assuming, of course, that there will be positive changes each week.  Ha!  We shall see!

So till next time, peeps, if you've got a diet secret that hasn't made its way into mainstream media, pass it along.  I'm all ears!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Beauty and the Beast

 Several years ago, my dad and I got a little, tiny clipping from a beautiful camellia bush from my grandparents' old homeplace.  It was a bush that my dad had planted in front of the house when he was a young fella.

I like to root clippings from other people's flowers.  My MaMa Kimball taught me how to do it, and I've been very successful.  I've rooted azaleas, hydrangeas, roses, and yes, now, even a camellia.

The problem with the camellia was that for years, all it was was a healthy, green bush.  It was growing, but never had any blooms.  But this year, I'VE GOT A BLOOM.  Only one, but still.  I was so excited.  So excited, in fact, that I felt it was blogworthy!



For Christmas, Jeff bought me a pretty bird feeder that holds sunflower seeds.  I have loved watching all the different birds that come by my feeder.  What I have not enjoyed, however, is this pest!


We have tried the stuff that you put on the pole that makes it slippery, but the squirrels around here are too smart for that.  They seem to be able to jump 10 feet and hang upside down from the feeder.  They've gotten harder and harder to scare off, too.  Anyone have any suggestions how to keep these pesky varmints off my bird feeder?  I wouldn't mind so much if they just stopped by and got a snack and moved on.  But they sit there are pig out and scare the birds away.

I would like to blog more often, but so far this morning, my experience has caused me to tear a couple of handfuls of my hair out.  Any tips?

Till next time, blogging peeps, have a lovely weekend.  Hope the sun's shining in your neck of the woods, 'cause it sure ain't in mine!