Watch My Food Grow ~ A South Florida Raised Vegetable Garden

Florida Backyard Raised Vegetable Garden

Talent and Imagination = Anything You Want

March 23rd, 2013 by Lila Steinhoff

My Siblings Are the BEST

Meet my brother and sister.

Lila, John, MatyLila Steinhoff, John Perry, Marty Riley

My brother, John, and sister, Marty, were born with a gene for exceptional talent and creativity and a spirit to get any job done in the best way possible.

Brother, John

My brother can build you a house or fix just about anything else that exists… wooden things, things with motors, electrical things, plumbed things, and way many other things. Just this past month, he came back to Florida with me and finished siding my house… by himself. He knows stuff!

If that isn’t awe-inspiring enough, he is a fisherman right down to his socks.

John and his wahooJohn and Wahoo

John and a buddy went out one morning and returned before noon with seven mahi and three wahoo. We fired up the grill and ate really fresh fish. There really is a difference.

Sister, Marty

Marty has been an artist all her life. When she was in elementary school… maybe 2nd grade… she was drawing the rosy red sunsets we saw growing up in New Mexico. Her teachers, having never seen a sunset that red, questioned her grasp of art. What they didn’t grasp was her eye for the beauty around her. She is particularly good at painting moving water – be it ocean, river or stream.

Marty at Coral CoveMarty at Coral Cove

She visits me regularly and spends a great deal of time taking pictures of the ocean and reef at Ocean Reef Park on Singer Island. It is her favorite piece of the ocean, and she paints it often.

Creativity Abounds

Marty is unrelenting when she wants to do something grand.  She has a talent for turning the proverbial sow’s ear into a silk purse…  in spades! Just this month, she turned an old chest of drawers into a captain’s bed and a youth bed for her two great grandsons.

dresser that became two bedsOld Chest of Drawers

This is the dresser that she started with.

Sow’s Ear to Silk Purse

Marty separated the bottom two drawers and the rest of the chest of drawers from each other. She then had two pieces and the beginning of two beds.

top three rows of chest of drawersTop of Chest of Drawers

bottom fourth of chest of drawersBottom of Chest of Drawers

I visited Marty in Missouri this month and was put to work sanding the bad places on the dresser and dusting everything so she could paint the dresser and all the drawers.

Marty painting parts of bedsMarty Painting Parts of the Two Beds

She built side cabinets so the bed was long enough to support a twin bed mattress on one and a crib mattress on the other. Then, she painted every piece and assembled the beds… by herself.

Marty Made Magic

I am so impressed with what Marty did. Just look at the beds.

captain's bed for great grandsonCaptain’s Bed for Older Great Grandson

youth bed for great grandsonYouth Bed for Younger Great Grandson

Totally A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

 

 

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