Flying Solo

Yesterday I spent the day having lunch with my dear friend Tracey and then heading to a photo shoot at the home of local artisan and craftsman Rob Seltzer of RNS Wood Works, Inc..  Rob, along with the help of his lovely wife Stacy, runs a thriving business where he is a jack of all trades doing everything from beautiful home additions to creating one of a kind pieces of furniture for sale.

I will be telling you a lot more about Rob's many talents, and taking you for a tour of their unique waterfront home (which he built), in an upcoming post, but I thought I would give you a sneak peek at some of his wonderful creations, like the tall cafe table pictured above!

Rob's passion lies in creating wonderful usable furnishings out of reclaimed lumber and old architectural finds.  Just look at the top of this table and the beautiful character of the wood!

But who wouldn't be inspired when the view from your workshop is this?!  Be sure to check back soon to see more of Rob Seltzer's great work!

When I came home yesterday I was supposed to be heading up the road with Mr. Tide and our son Bugs for his college orientation today at 8:00 am.  But when our kennel arrangements didn't pan out I elected to stay home while the two of them drove the 3+ hours to where he'll be attending school next fall.

By the time I got home, saw them off, and settled in the sun was getting low in the sky and it was time to start thinking about dinner.  Mr. Tide and Bugs were planning on getting something on the road so that left me to fend for myself for the evening.

I don't know about you all, but when it's just me having dinner alone, the idea of fixing a big meal just seems silly.  So after realizing that it is pretty much Mother Hubbard's Cupboard around here, I grabbed a plate filled with organic carrots with ranch dressing, Pepperidge Farm crackers, walnuts, and some left over cheese log and headed out to the back yard.

I had just recently moved the old table off of our small patio and out closer to the water's edge.  And I decided I would even have a glass of wine with my very grown up meal, something I rarely do!

And look, I even used this beautiful pewter fish spreader that my sister "M" gave me...I wish I could find more of them!

And I treated myself to a pretty little cocktail napkin to complete the whole relaxed, luxury theme I had going for myself as I took in the gorgeous surroundings.  Ok, it wasn't that luxurious, but for an impromptu dinner after a long day, and with slim pickins in the house, I was pretty pleased with myself!

It was the kind of evening where you just "have" to be outside.  A light breeze was blowing, not a cloud in the sky, and the thought of not taking advantage of an evening like that seemed almost criminal!

And of course the dogs are always happy to hang out and wander around making sure all is right with the world.  Yes this was perfection I thought...

Until these pesky little guys started showing up!  How can something so small cause some much aggravation?!

So after trying to eat and swat, I finally moved my wine glass to the arm of the folding chairs we have around the table.  Ok, back to relaxing...I've got this fly thing figured out!

When Mr. Quinn decided to come pay me a visit and investigate what was hanging in the netted thingie on the bottom side of the arm of the chair!  Yup, there goes my wine, all over the chair and all over me!

So now my peaceful relaxing evening is comprised of shooing flies and shooing curious dogs away from spilled wine!

Miss Kylee in the meantime came over to say "I didn't knock your wine over mom, I was a good girl just chewing on my favorite stick!"

After not crying over spilled wine, Mr. Quinn went back to doing what he does best...

After I cleaned up a little I decided that maybe eating inside really was the best option.  Meanwhile, Mr. Quinn stopped and looked toward the setting sun as if to say "Hey mom did you notice how pretty it is out here tonight?!..maybe you should think about having dinner out here!"

Thanks Quinnie, but I think I prefer eating inside tonight...oh and wait until your father gets home! ;-)