As long as you live, keep learning how to live: She's so crafty

I'm in Michigan for a few days visiting my sister, Karen. This is my first time to be here when it isn't winter. It's so green. It's so unhot.

I really enjoy visiting other states that are in different growing zones. Oklahoma is in zone 7. The Detroit part of Michigan is in zone 6. Only one growing zone away, but the differences are vast. Everywhere I look I see these huge, mutant, alien hostas from outer space. I've never seen anything like it. And they just grow right out in what seems to be full sun. Obviously full sun in Michigan doesn't mean the same thing as full in sun in Oklahoma. My hostas back home are hidden back in the darkest parts of my garden and they complain rather loudly during the hour or two in the afternoon when the sunlight touches their delicate leaves.

Karen and her husband live in this area called Grosse Pointe in a charming little house.

Isn't it just the cutest? And the whole neighborhood is full of old houses like it.

I went for a walk around Grosse Pointe Farms yesterday morning - by myself. I wanted to put my INS (internal navigation system) to the test. I love doing that because I have a strong skill set in the not getting lost department. As long as everything's pretty square I always can find my way back. Here's my tip: stay away from roads that are called Circle, Court, Place, Lane, or Drive. Stick the the roads that are called Street, Avenue, Road, or Boulevard.

Visiting my sister's place always renews my appreciation for how absolutely creative she is. Every room, every cubby hole, every nook, every cranny serves as a testimony to her imagination. She decorates a house like no one else. She's mastered the art of turning junky into amazing. If I tried it, my house would look like Fred Sanford's front yard.

Hey Karen. I've got this old fork lift crate that obviously needs to be thrown away

NO! Don't throw it out. Just paint it and put some legs on it to make a cute patio table.

Hey Karen. There's this old door just taking up space in my garage. Can I still use it for something?

Well, make a neat headboard out of it, of course. (No kidding. That's a door!)

Hey Karen, what can I do with this old ladder thing?

Oh, just lean it up in a corner to make a cute display shelf.

Ummm Karen? I have all these ancient pottery pieces I collected from a fun trip to New Mexico and I have no idea what to do with them.

Why don't you arrange them in a neat pattern and then frame them dramatically with black.

Karen, I found this rusty piece of an old garden gate. Give me an idea.

Oh, that one's easy. Make a table with it. Duh.

OK. That's getting tedious, but I still want to share more of her work.

She has this room she calls her heritage room. She decorated it completely with old family things. It's really neat and all in pink.

She took all these old pieces of jewelry she got from Mike's aunt and grandmother who had passed away and came up with pretty ways to display them.

She's so good at taking any old, broken, busted piece of furniture and, as she calls it, "gussying it up" with a bit of paint, decoupage, fabric, or even just leaving it a little shabby looking.