Stitching in Texas

Let's try this again

2012-02-17T12:08:00.003-06:00

I tried to post both Wednesday and Thursday but my computer was so slow I ended up having to restart and by the time it restarted I had moved on to other things. Mr. computer is slated for an upgrade soon, just waiting on my computer guru (aka - middle son) to have time to come spend a few days transferring and updating stuffs. He helps me out - I cook for him. Pretty good trade! That probably won't happen until April so I'll just have to muddle my way through until then.

Anyway -

thought I would show you a little of what I got for Valentines Day. Hubby came home with flowers and a little bag 'o goodies. Ghiradelli (dark) chocolates and there is a gift card in there. I have something else to show you - next week. :) The flowers and candy were a bonus. :)

I also got this little surprise in the mail from my friend Terry (no blog). She sent me a package of MOP buttons! I love most anything MOP! I can't wait to find something to use these beautiful buttons on! Thanks Terry!

Okay - that's it for today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T11:17:00.001-06:00

Hope you have a wonderful day!

A couple of snowmen

2012-02-13T14:20:00.004-06:00

No, we aren't getting snow here (but we are getting rain and we had sleet yesterday).

I stitched ornaments for the girlfriends for Christmas, but since we didn't exchange gifts until last week I haven't posted pictures of them yet.

He's a Flake by Little House Needleworks

I stitched it twice (well, if you count frogging, I probably stitched it at least 3 times!) I just made pin-keep style ornaments and the backing fabric is what you see behind them in the picture. I had planned to make one for myself, but that didn't happen. (though I do have the fabric and thread still kitted up, so maybe. . .)

I wonder how many posts Goggle reader will save before it replaces the '1000+' with 'give it up, you are never gonna catch up!'?

Side-tracked

2012-02-10T11:47:00.005-06:00

Do you get side-tracked easily? I do.

I'm not sure exactly what my plan was for yesterday but it wasn't painting! For some reason I walked by the bench in the entry and decided it was time to paint it, so I plopped it on top of the table. The poor bench has been used and abused. Besides surviving the boys, it went to live with baby boy when he was in college. When he moved to an apartment that was too small the bench went to live with some of his friends. When we rescued the poor bench it had been living out on their balcony.

I didn't do any real 'prep-work' on it but I had stuck some wood filler in a deep gouge on the top (you can see it on the right side). Other than that, I wiped it down and grabbed the ASCP.

Now it matches the table! Of course it doesn't live with the table

Most of the time it lives in the entry. (unless we need it for company)

It is raining and dreary today. We do need the rain but the dogs don't like to go out in the rain. What do the dogs do on rainy days?

They hide. Yes, there are two dogs somewhere in there.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Old, but new!

2012-02-08T14:48:00.002-06:00

I have something that is old, but new.

See the doiley? My great-grandmother made it - no telling how many of those things she made but until recently I only had one (framed, hanging in my living room) My aunt sent this one several months ago. It came the week the girlfriends were here for the quilt festival but it had several places that needed repair. I don't crochet. I would have used it as is, but Sarah's mother crochets and she likes to repair old pieces like this, so Sarah took it to her to fix. I picked it up when I was in J'ville last week.

So, now it is 'new' to me! Don't you love it when you don't notice that something isn't straight until after you upload the picture? I haven't pressed it - couldn't wait to get it on the table and take a picture!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

A fun week!

2012-02-06T13:53:00.003-06:00

I didn't mean to just disappear! I had planned to post last Monday but I ran out of time.

I went to J'ville to spend the week with the girlfriends. We had a great time just hanging out together - shopping and visiting. It was the first time we had a chance to get together since before Christmas so we had our little 3-woman Christmas while I was there. (looked like I was moving - both going and coming!) Some of it has already been put away, but here a few pictures of some ornaments that were in the 'gifty bags'. (we always do bags 'o stuff!)

This one is all wood. The card that came with it says the colors are all natural, no stains, dyes or paint. (www.woodquilter.net) There were several Christmas things in the bag (there always are!) and I have put most of that up, but I'm keeping the ornaments out in my sewing room so I an enjoy them all year.

I hope you had a great week. Of course when you take a week away there is a load of stuff to catch up on when you get back so that is what I'll be working on this week!

A little up-do

2012-01-27T16:03:00.002-06:00

So, my phone had this plain, pink cover.

Sorry about the blurry pic - I didn't see the need to go back and take a better one, but you get the idea.

Anyway - HL has their scrapbook stuff on sale this week so I popped in and picked up a package of stickers

and gave it a little up-do!

I have no less than a half-dozen projects out at the moment. I think I have craft a.d.d.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Topped!

2012-01-26T10:54:00.000-06:00

I've got this quilt top ready to mark and quilt. Now I just need a little time!

Oddities

2012-01-25T16:25:00.002-06:00

Well, I totally missed yesterday - got caught up in 'stuff' and never made it to the old blog, then I had to turn the computer off this morning and I just now turned it back on (electric was flickering and kept restarting the 'puter so I thought it best to just turn it off). We got about two and a half inches of rain!

Anyway - I showed you pictures of my just re-painted table, now I want to show you where it is because I'm not sure if I have it sitting exactly where it should be or not.

I took this standing at my kitchen sink. You can see that the table isn't actually centered under the light (though it isn't off by far and it is centered side to side) but it is pretty close to centered with the short wall that divides the breakfast room from family room.

The bar/kitchen wall is longer than the wall between the breakfast room/family room. The choices I have are to leave it as is, (most likely) move the small table that is by the window and shove the table closer to the window (which would center it under the light fixture) but I'm afraid that would look like it is pushed too far over

or I could center the table with the kitchen wall, but that would make it stick out into the walkway.

Just thought I would throw the question out there and see what other opinions would be. I honestly can't remember how the previous owner had her table but there was only a can light there at the time (we put up the light fixture after we moved in) so it wouldn't have been as noticeable. I think I would like to put an area rug under the table but would that just bring more attention to the fact that the whole room is a little odd?

I've managed to get a little stitching done, a little sewing done and a piece of applique ready to start. The applique is purely a practice piece - when we went to Galveston the other day the lady at the shop where I bought the fabric and paint was working on a piece of needle-turn applique and she made it look so easy I thought I had to try it! She suggested starting with a heart so I cut one out and tacked it to a piece of background fabric while I was w/o the computer this morning.

Have soup in the crock pot so all I need to do is make a pan of cornbread and supper will be done! As always, I'm more than a little behind on blog reading!

Paint, sand, wax, buff - margarita!

2012-01-23T14:44:00.003-06:00

Whew - it took me a week but I finally finished the breakfast table and chairs.

This is a before picture with the old chairs.

And here is a now picture!

After all the painting, sanding, waxing and buffing she looks much better! And yep, after all that, it was time for a margarita!

I still have the bench to paint but since I tend to get a little 'tunnel vision' when I start projects I should probably take a little time and do a some cleaning up around the house before I start on the bench.

Hope you had a great weekend! (you see how I spent mine!)

This and that

2012-01-20T13:39:00.004-06:00

Been keeping busy with this and that. No progress pictures to show. I've done a little (very little) stitching and all four chairs are painted and waiting to be sanded - hopefully I'll get those finished this weekend, and with any luck I will get the table done too. This is one of those 'long time coming' projects so I'm ready to get it done! Supposed to be nice weather again this weekend. Last weekend was nice so we went to Galveston.

Went here - Robyn Pandolph Design Studio and picked up a few cuts of fabric

The whole line was on sale (Beach House) and I couldn't decide which one I liked best (I could have taken a cut off of each bolt) so I came home with 3 pieces - no idea what I will do with it, but ain't it purdy?

Also picked up a couple of cans of paint. The Old White is what I am using on the table and chairs - I have plans for the Paris Grey but one thing at a time. (stop laughing)

Can't go to Galveston without a stop at the Fiesta store (Yesterday's Best - I don't guess they have a website. If they have one, I can't find it)

Anywho - came home with 4 pasta bowls. Love me some Fiesta, but my cabinets are getting a little over full! (this stuff is great but it is heavy!)

No such plans for this weekend - I'll be covered in paint and sanding dust!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Painting chairs

2012-01-18T13:51:00.002-06:00

Is really slow!

Or maybe it is just me? I spent over two hours getting one coat of paint on two chairs. (minus all the time I spent walking back and forth to let the dogs in and out) I'm not sure I like painting chairs (which is not to be confused with liking painted chairs - I love painted chairs!)

I'm thinking I will be lucky to get the first coat on all four today. Bummer.

Keeping it short today - my computer is really slow today. (a theme perhaps?)

Hope you are having a great day!

ps - head over to Carolyn's blog - she is having a great give-away!

Decisions, decisions

2012-01-16T13:55:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of my new chairs (sorry about the terrible color) I love them! Just the change in shape makes a world of difference !

This is a better representation of the color. Anywho - back to decisions. I first thought I would paint them all white (ASCP - Old White) but then hubby wanted me to consider staining them, so I considered it. All weekend. Went to several different paint stores (one was somewhat helpful, one was totally useless and one was very helpful - guess where I will be going when I get ready to paint the kitchen cabinets) After thinking about it all weekend, I'm back to painting them all white. I'm going to repaint the table and the bench too (the bench is hanging out in the entry these days) since the white on both of them is 'whiter' than the Old White. The top of the table is actually laminate (which makes it a great space for crafts etc) so it won't be painted.

Now the bigger question is when will I actually get them painted?

Unexpectedly unplugged

2012-01-13T14:54:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I found myself unexpectedly unplugged - in other words, without power! That, in turn, had me way behind for the day and I'm still trying to catch up.

We did get my new chairs picked up yesterday afternoon and now I have to decide how to finish them. I had planned on painting them all white (with ASCP) but hubby likes the wood and wants me to stain them so I'm thinking about staining them each a different color (which is how they were at the restaurant when I first saw them - grey, pink, yellow and green but they are custom colors for that restaurant so I couldn't have mine finished like that at the place they were built)

Since I don't have anything new to show today (I stitched a little last night, but not enough to rate a new pic) I went back to see what I had posted on Jan 13 in the past. These pictures are from my first Jan 13 post (2008 - I started my blog in 2007 but I didn't start it until July)

Christmas gifts from a friend

and I still have all of them! The little felt houses are still hanging in my office/sewing room and the doxie magnets are on the fridge.

Have you stained anything lately? It has been years since I used stain on anything.

Maybe my Monday I will have decided what to do with the chairs - who knows, I might have even started on them!

Have a great weekend!

In pieces

2012-01-11T14:16:00.002-06:00

Cut some fabric up into little pieces and started sewing them back together.

Stitches

2012-01-10T16:16:00.002-06:00

In fabric!

I did manage a few stitches in fabric (which is better than in my thumb!) Kind of a late start but these are my first stitches of the new year. I decided to work on something that was already kitted up (still need to pull the DMC, but that is easy) instead of kitting something new and since I wasn't sure I would actually be able to stitch I picked something small. I didn't get much done since the needle kept sticking to my band-aid and pulling back out, but I enjoyed every stitch!

The thumb is getting better. Still can't leave it uncovered as it wants to pull open then it catches on stuff, but hopefully another day or two and I'll be good as new.

Spent a little of my non-stitching time reading. I used to read a lot but the last few years it seems if I wasn't stitching I was either reading magazines or blogs. When I got my iPad I downloaded the Kindle app. and I'm reading my second book on it. I'm enjoying it so far. Not sure how I would like it for magazines - I like looking at the pictures in magazines, and I like saving them (in theory, I would save just the pictures/articles I like and get rid of the magazines but in reality I have stacks of magazines everywhere!) If you have tried getting magazines on an e-reader I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. (also, if you have any good books to recommend)

Kinda chilly here today so guess what I am going to make for dinner? Chili!

The green knife

2012-01-09T13:39:00.004-06:00

First, I'll apologize for the picture being sideways - the computer and I are not in agreement today.

This is the green knife. The green knife is sharp. I'll spare you a picture of what happens when the green knife meets the thumb. We will just say I have not been too productive since Saturday evening. I did finally get a few stitches put in on a new project yesterday afternoon but it is slow going when the needle keeps getting stuck on a bandaid.

It is dark and dreary today. Lots of rain, lots of flooded roads. At least I don't have any reason to leave the house today!
When I moved the little garden house outside it already had lights in it - I had put them in the first Christmas we were here and left them after Christmas and I would plug them in on occasion. When we put all the Christmas decor away this time I left the lights in the garden house again and I left them on the daylight/dark timer. As you can see, they are on in this picture - that is how dreary our weather is! (they have been on and off several times today) We need the rain so I'm not complaining too much - just statin' the facts. I can't decide what to put in there with the angel. I don't want to put plants in there that I have to move inside when the weather gets cold (like it is supposed to do later this week) so it may just stay empty for now.

I'm rambling so I guess I should go do something productive.

Fabric Friday

2012-01-06T14:36:00.003-06:00

I really have nothing today.

I've got most of the house back together - with the exception of my sewing room/office and that may take awhile! I need to shovel out so I can get to my machine. I have pulled fabrics for a project (pictured above) but that is as far it goes. I will be starting said project next week. I need to pull fabric and floss for a cross stitch project too - I haven't stitched in weeks and I miss it. I'm ashamed to say I didn't finish a single ornament for our tree this year. (I did make two for gifts but that doesn't count)

Hope you have a great weekend.

Rounding out the holidays

2012-01-05T12:57:00.003-06:00

After our trips to see TSO and Mission Impossible, we spent Christmas Day at home. It was kinda nice.

We missed our New Yorkers but had a nice long (3 hour!) video chat with them. Isn't amazing how far technology has come?

During the video chat Ashley asked who found the pickle - which sent everyone to the tree since no one had found it yet. To let baby boy and his bride in on the fun, hubby took them to the tree (via the iPad) and they directed him around while looking for it. Ashely is pretty good and usually finds it when she is here but this time Brian found it. Autumn looks like she is trying to get in on the fun, but she is really just trying to get someone to throw the ball again.

Ashley made me this pin cushion - isn't it cute? I don't know where she found the little teacup, but I love it!

Of course, then there is the clean up. I didn't think to take any pictures until I was half way through (at one point you could not see the surface of the table)

Stuff is kinda stored all over, but the bulk of it goes in the attic so it that all has to be hauled upstairs and boxed. Thankfully we managed to get it all put back in the attic while hubby was off work on Monday. I've been spending this week trying to get everything back in place. I'm getting there - except for my office. I have a bit of a disaster in here at the moment. Hubby got me a new monitor for Christmas (if you have been here long, you know mine has been giving me fits for months) I'm loving being able to actually see what I am doing on the screen (instead of that smeared ink look I've been used to) but it meant pulling everything out of the cabinet to get to cords and such and since this one is wider than the old one, I'm having to re-think everything before it goes back in. Unfortunately it did nothing for the actual computer. She's old and she's slow. (but hey, so am I) I almost ordered a new one while Timothy was here (I'll need him to help me transfer everything over - I won't even pretend to know anything about that) but it wouldn't even ship before he left so I'm hoping to get one ordered in the next few months and have him come back. (I promised him an Italian Cream Cake if he comes!)

That pretty much sums it up for our holiday this year. (still have the girlfriends gifts to deliver but not sure when that will happen) I've got several projects in mind for the next few months and hopefully my new chairs will be ready to pick up next week and they will need to be painted - along with the table and bench. (I will have to make a ASCP purchase first - I might have enough but I don't want to get in the middle of it and find out I don't!).

Well, it isn't going to get done with me sitting here. (what a shame - I would much rather sit here and visit blogs than vacuum and dust!)

First time for everything

2012-01-04T13:23:00.003-06:00

There are some things you just don't expect to hear from your kids. Brian asking to go to the hardware store is one of those things. The only thing he has ever been interested in 'building' is computers. Computers he knows his way around - lumber and power tools, not so much. Never-the-less, he arrived for his Christmas visit with a plan to build a game table so off we went to buy lumber! I should have taken a picture of him shopping - bad mom/blogger.

Anywho - after shopping, we came home and his dad showed him the tools and set him up to work.

Never thought I would see him using power tools!

He was building a portable gaming table. There are two other sections sitting off to the side - I think it can extend to 8 feet but it comes apart in sections small enough to fit in his car and to store in his apartment. Not bad for a first try! He is planning to cover it with something so he didn't finish it out, just sanded the rough spots.

In between the TSO show, a trip to the IMAX to see Mission Impossible and other assorted 'Christmas fun' the guys gave it a test run with a game of Risk.

Still working on catching up around here!

Long time, no post

2012-01-03T14:33:00.004-06:00

I really didn't plan to take such a long break - just happened that way! Brian was here 4 days and Timothy 9 days so we had a nice long holiday. I will save some of the photos and stretch it out a bit.

The boys came in on Wednesday and Thursday - we didn't do much, just visited and made a trip to the hardware store (more on that later) The reason they came in that early is we had tickets for a concert on Friday afternoon. We went to see The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Hubby took well over a hundred pics - until the lady next to him asked him not to take so many!
(they should be click-able)

I picked out ten to show you. Note all the over-head equipment - they told us how many tons it weighs but I forget.

We had really good seats

Timothy has seen them several times (he goes every Christmas) but this was the first time for the rest of us.

Our seats were close enough that we could feel the heat from the flames on stage - I can only imagine how hot it must have been for them!

I included this one just to show you how close to the audience the equipment got when they went moving it around.

Then they ran out on it while playing

Again with the flames - it was really warm this time!

See the eyes and teeth? Hard to get pics of it actually 'opening and closling'
It was really a great show. If you ever get a chance to see them you really should go!

I'm now trying to tackle all the post-holiday clean-up. All the decor has been put away but there is still the cleaning and putting 'regular' stuff back out along with all the everyday things to get done.

I'll share more of our holiday next time!

Christmas on our street

2011-12-22T11:14:00.004-06:00

Here are the pictures of our street at night. I took these on a couple of different nights so if some look like they have more lights in them than others it is because they keep adding stuff!

First house on the street - across from the mailboxes. (I've been taking the camera when we walk to the mailbox at night) Can't quite get all the street in one shot with my camera - maybe I should have walked farther down but with the curve in the street it probably still wouldn't have worked. Who knows?

Anyway - now we are back on our side of the street looking back towards our house. (actually, I must have been standing in front of our house when I took this one)

The next three are the same house - it's hard to get it all in with just one.

I think he adds something every day.

They play music too!

To the left of us

and to the right.

And this is us. We are kinda boring compared to the rest of the block! We gave away most of our outdoor stuff when we moved - this yard is much smaller and we weren't sure what we could use, plus we already had three storage units full while waiting to move in. Don't you think we need that picket fence across the front?

On the front porch. Guess I didn't take a picture of the vintage shopping cart full of ornaments - you can just see the corner of it. I think I'll add some lights in in next year. You can see the dining room trees in the porch pictures too.

Santa will greet you at the front door. Also failed to get a picture of the wreath on the front door. It might get some lights next year too.

Since we always come in through the garage door, I thought it needed a little something too!

Timothy made it here last night and Brian will be here later today. Hubby is off tomorrow until Tuesday so we are going to be enjoying some family time. (and missing baby boy and his bride!) I'm not sure if I'll get another post in before Christmas so I want to thank those of you who visit (and comment!) on a regular basis - and those who just stop by on occasion, and if this is your first visit - welcome!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Love picket fences!

2011-12-21T15:48:00.002-06:00

I've always loved picket fences. Had one planned at the last house but we never got to it before we moved. :(

The houses on this street are calling for picket fences - but whoever wrote the deed restrictions apparently didn't see their charm and they aren't allowed. :(

Last night, hubby and I were driving around looking at Christmas lights and look what we found

Houses with picket fences!

Aren't they yummy? So, this is a circle and all the houses had these fences in front and they were all lit up - the center of the circle (grassy area) was even all decorated and had a little train riding around it. Anyway - several people were outside chatting with people as they drove by so I asked if they always had the fences up or if they just used them for Christmas. The lady said they only use them for Christmas - would probably get a letter if they left them up. Well, my head goes to spinning! I might not get to have a fence all year, but I'm totally putting this on the list for next year - at least I could get one for a month! Gotta measure and see how many sections it would take and watch for it to be on sale! Surely we can find space to store a few fence sections in the garage! I'm thinking we might have to go back for another look-see and more pictures! There was a bit of traffic - this neighborhood was shown on the news a few weeks back and we had already made several trips around the circle. :)

We just drove around that area (one we had never been to before) looking for streets that were pretty well lit up. This house had something in every window.

Santa was front and center!

Then we saw this HUGE magnolia tree all lit up. I'm not sure you can tell (maybe if you click and enlarge) but there is a two-story house behind it and the tree is twice as tall as the house! Lights all the way to the top of the tree. Awesome.

Timothy will be here this evening. I've got Chicken Tortilla Soup in the crock pot so dinner will be ready and waiting. I put sausage balls in the freezer (our traditional Christmas breakfast!) this afternoon too. I'm slowly making progress! (although I still have 1000+ feeds to get through!)

Tomorrow I'll show you the lights in our neighborhood.

Ready for their close-ups

2011-12-20T17:02:00.004-06:00

Thought I would show you a few close-ups of the snowman table

This one looks like he might have had a bit too much eggnog

This one is my favorite.

Still way behind - blog reader has hit 1000+, again!

Ho, ho, ho!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-19T11:42:00.010-06:00

I'm finishing up the 2011 Christmas tour inside the house. I still have some outside pictures to post later, but I'm going to attempt to link to a party or two and I'm not sure when some of them close so I thought I better get on the ball.

In the last post I showed the dining room but the lights (on the trees) weren't on so here is a pic with those on.

Now we can move on to the laundry room.

It is small, but I added a few touches - a Santa

Some ornaments in a bowl (love milk glass bowls!)

A little wooden tree and a 'Believe' sign.

Not a lot in the master bedroom

A little wreath on a mirror

My little wire tree

and a little light on the nightstand.

Wanna see the kitchen?

this little cabinet has some of my gingerbread 'stuffs' on it.

Oops - pictures got out of order - this is the breakfast room, looking back towards the stairs.

This is what I see standing at my kitchen sink

My little 'sweet tree'

Back to the breakfast room

the 'snowman' table. I used to have a snowman tree (at the old house) but I haven't used those ornaments since we moved here, this year I put some of them in my glass jars. (I have some close-ups - I may post those later)

The 'window' table

On the coffee table I just stuck some picks in my dough bowl with my glass door knobs.

And the main tree. It is a mix of all the ornaments we have collected over the years both store-bought and home-made. We are just simple folk. :) Love all the 'fancy, themed trees' you see all over but for me, this is my favorite!

Here it is all lit up at night. (and after I finished wrapping gifts)

Previous Christmas posts here, here, here and here.

Linked to:
The Nester
The Inspired Room
KellysKorner
Jennifer Rizzo

I'm getting there

2011-12-16T15:07:00.003-06:00

It is a slow process, but I'm getting there. (and I've just marked some things off 'cause there is just no way it is all getting done) I won't bore you with all the things that have been keeping me from getting things done around here, but I've missed three whole days this week. We are going to finish this tour before Christmas though, so let's move downstairs.

Mr. Snowman will greet you when you come in the front door.

Looking straight in from the front door.

A few touches mixed in with my Blue Willow dishes.

Looking back into the dining room. I would have turned the tree lights on for ya, but that would have meant crawling around on the floor - how about I just get one later. :) I keep having to fix the 'tree skirts' (felt) Seems they are attractive to doggies. Not sure if they have been napping there are just moving them around looking to see what is under them.

These trees are in the two front facing windows.

Doesn't everything look special when you put it under glass?

(almost everything in this room is pretty much like it was last year except the placemats on the table)

Looking back into the entry. I'm loving the stockings hanging here! I added a little basket to the bench to hold Christmas cards. I finally mailed my cards - no letter this year. I've been writing a 'newsletter' for Christmas cards since 1995 but it was one of those things that just got marked off as not happening this year. I should have taken a close up of the little gingerbread boy and girl - maybe I'll get that when I get the lighted tree shots. I've had them for years but they are still cute!

I'm off to wrap a few more packages!

Christmas upstairs

2011-12-13T21:01:00.003-06:00

Is it just me or is everyone falling behind? I never post this late in the day but I missed yesterday all together and the next couple of days are going to be so busy! I thought I would show you the rest of the upstairs decked out for Christmas tonight.

I can't really say 'ready' for Christmas because this is all you will see of my sewing room. I picked up this little tree (it is only 12" tall) after Christmas last year. You can't really tell in the picture but it reflects the colors that are around it so it looks pretty pink in here! That is all the Christmas decor I have in this room, unless you want to count the piles of boxes, bags, gift wrap, things to be wrapped, gift tags . . . part of that busy, busy stuff I'm talking about! Gotta get it done, time's a tickin!

Not too much going on in the game room (or hubby's room) I'm using the fireman Santa stuff in this room again. I thought I would keep it real and not close the tv cabinet (it is really never closed unless I'm taking pictures in here) and I'm not about to try moving stuff off hubby's desk for photos!

Just a few of the fireman Santas

I put my three crochet stockings on the bookcase wall. My great-grandmother made these and I use them (somewhere) every year.

I swapped the lamp that usually sits on this table for hubby's lighted fire station.

I put the fireman tree right next to the table (so you can see it from downstairs - I'll show you in a minute!) This is at the top of the stairs. The door on the right, just past the tree, is the red/white/blue room. The door just to the left of that room (dead ahead of the stairs) is my sewing room and the twin room is on the left side.

It is so hard to get a good picture of Christmas trees. (for me anyway - I see some great ones, mine are not!) I took this one with the overhead lights off.

And this is what it looks like from the bottom of the stairs. That garland on the stairs needs help. I'm going to 'beef it up' next year. I would really like to add lights to it but I haven't figured out where to plug them in without having cords strung everywhere. Oh well, I'll worry about that tomorrow. (or next year)

Next up - downstairs decor!

Guest ready

2011-12-09T15:36:00.003-06:00

The guest rooms are both ready.

Here is the other guest room. Once again, it is mostly the same as last year but with better paint!

Another small tree and more Christmas magazines - told ya I couldn't part with them. Not sure my boys will be interested in them though. :)

I've been hanging these glass balls on the quilt rack for years - a different quilt this year.

I love this little tree with the glass ornaments.

A red,white and blue stocking.

This little Christmas tree was a gift from a friend a long time ago. It stays out on display in the r/w/b room all year.

and just a touch of Christmas in the guest bath. A couple of hand towels and a little tree in place of the pink roses.

My weekend to-do list is long - hope your list is short and you get in lots of fun stuff!

Christmas in the guest room

2011-12-08T14:59:00.003-06:00

I'm really not as slow as it seems (I'm not speedy but I can do better) - I just keep getting interrupted! (like spending an hour+ on the phone fixing insurance flubs, theirs, not mine - ugh)

Anyway - I have one of the guest room ready to show!

Not much different from last year as far as decor goes, but it sure looks better since we painted! The little white tree is the same one I used in here last year (with the same ornaments)

A little piece of stitchery on the side table. The picture is of my nieces - they are now a senior in high school and college!

Swapped out one of the pictures hanging on the wall for this winterish-looking one. (hard to photograph with the glass)

Replaced the flowers on the bed trays with some little trees

and some of my favorite Christmas magazines (I just can't make myself get rid of Christmas issues!)

A Christmas pillow for each bed

and call it done!

Hopefully I'll be able to show the other guest room tomorrow!

Out back

2011-12-07T14:48:00.002-06:00

When Timothy was here for Thanksgiving he helped hubby take my 'garden house' to the patio. I've been wanting her back outside for awhile now but I knew it would be a big job. (I love her but she really needs to live outside) We had to take the handles off to get her in the bedroom - she is heavy and when you take the handles off she is just plain hard to move around, plus since that time the DVD cabinet has been moved into the little hallway outside the bedroom so I knew that would have to be moved. I did not know we would have to take the back door off!

If you are new here you might not know about my garden house - you can go here to read about how she came to be. She lived on the front porch at the old house but has lived in the master bedroom since she was deemed unsuitable for the front porch at this house.

Since she is once again living outside, I decided to decorate her for Christmas again. (she was always decorated for the seasons before she was moved inside) Now I can see her from my stitching chair and from my kitchen sink! (just the top, but I can see her and that makes me happy!)

So far, that is it for pictures. I got a package in the mail for baby boy and his bride this morning and now I'm working on getting things back in order so I can take some more pictures of the inside. (and outside for that matter, but it has turned cold - and gets colder when it is dark enough for the outside lights to come on!) Not sure if any of those 'crafty' things are going to take place or not but getting things somewhat back in order is the first step! Here's hoping I have new pictures for tomorrow!

If only

2011-12-06T15:00:00.002-06:00

If only things went according to plans and I could actually cross things off my list on the day I intend to get them done, I would have a nice clean, completely decorated house by now and I would also have all my shopping done and wrapped so I could sit back and have fun crafting and baking for Christmas. Well, things never work that way - at least not for me!

All the decorations are out - I just can't crop enough crap out of the pictures to show much yet, so we will start with the coat rack I showed you here.

I used it to hang our stockings, but thought it looked a little bare with just the stockings so I added some lighted garland. Not a bad substitute for a mantle.

A close up of the snowmen that are twisted into the garland. I've had this for a long time - I used to use it over the window in my kitchen (at the last house) but hadn't found a place to use it here until now.

We won't even go into how far behind I am in reading blogs but I'm pretty sure it is going to get worse before it gets better.

I best get busy. Want to have a package ready to mail to baby boy and his bride tomorrow - I want to make sure it has plenty of time to make it to New York before Christmas!

My first Christmas

2011-12-02T14:43:00.003-06:00

Me with my great-grandfather.
Found this picture while looking for something else last night and thought I would share.

I'm trying to finish up with the Christmas decorations. Why does it take me so long? I know I'm not moving as fast today because it is HOT! (it wouldn't be so hot if I was just sitting around but running up and down the stairs - I'm sweating!)

Hope to be picture ready by Monday!

Have a great weekend.

A board, some paint and some hooks

2011-12-01T13:31:00.005-06:00

So, I missed yesterday. I was off getting a new crown for Christmas. Would be nice if it were a crown to wear on my head, but instead it is one where I can now chew on both sides of my mouth again. (not that I've missed any meals) Oh well - such is life.

Now, back to the project teaser I showed in the last post. Unfortunately, I wasn't on-the-ball with the picture taking. I was in more of a get-er-done mode at the time. I started with a plain 1x6x6 piece of wood. The picture from the last post was after I had put a coat of primer on. If I would have had a can of stain handy I would have skipped the primer and just slapped some stain on but we didn't move any and I haven't needed any since we have been here so I used the craft paint that was in the last pic. Burnt Umber - but it was old and way too thick so I just dumped it in a cup and added water until I got it where I wanted it, then slapped it on with a sponge brush (I hate washing brushes so when it comes to something like this, I will use a sponge brush and toss that baby in the trash)

Now I had a board that looked like this. I kinda liked the look and almost just stuck with that, but I forged on and pulled out the ASCP

This would be where the I didn't bother to get the camera out portion of the program would be.

I can't remember if I did one or two coats of the Old White, ASCP, I've slept since then. Whatever. Then I sanded back to where some of the craft paint could be seen. (this is why I did the dark paint - I didn't want to sand back to bare wood)
Again - no pictures of this stage. Oops.

But after I waxed and added coat hooks, here she is hanging in the entry! We don't have a fireplace so I needed someplace to hang stockings!

These pictures are all from before Thanksgiving so just ignore the fall decor - I'm still decking the halls and will post pictures of that later but I thought I would show you a few pictures to get your bearings since I've shown the hutch a couple of times. This picture was taken standing at the front door. The arched opening directly ahead leads into the kitchen (on the right) The laundry room and garage door are to the left (along with a little closet that is under the stairs).

Just past the kitchen is the breakfast room - you can see where the stairs are coming down and a little table against the stairway. The breakfast table is to the right, and beyond that is the family room, den, living room - whatever you want to call it. We don't have a formal living room - never have and considering how often we use the dining room. . . We do have a game room upstairs with another tv which comes in handy on Sundays. I hate football. 'nuff said.

This is standing on the far side of the dining room, looking back into the entry. (you can see the dog crate that I cropped out of the last pic, lovely isn't it?). The front door is to the left. Next time I will try to get a pic from a corner so you can see more of the dining room. Even though we have been here a little over two years, it is still a work in progress. Who am i kidding - we lived in the last house 24 years and it was still a work in progress!

Back to hall decking.

A little chilly

2011-11-29T16:05:00.003-06:00

Remember the teapot planter Sarah gave me for my birthday? Well, I found a geranium a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be cute.

And it was - until a couple of days ago. The weather turned cool (cold for here) a few nights ago. We actually turned our heat on Sunday night. Anyway - the cold got the better of the geranium. Found this picture so I thought I would show it. (I haven't taken a pic of what it looks like now - poor thing) I'll stick it in the garage and see if it makes a come-back. The vincas out front are still hanging in though!

I'm still decking the halls. The trees are all done but my house looks like a train wreck.

This is something I worked on before Thanksgiving. I'll show ya what I did with it next time.

Popping back in

2011-11-28T14:53:00.003-06:00

I'm back! This week might be 'hit and miss' since I'm decking the halls!

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a nice weekend with the boys. (although hubby and I both had colds all weekend - I still have that scratchy throat thing going on - very frustrating!)

I'm posting a few pics for Terry (no blog) today.

I ordered some vinyl from here the week before the girlfriends came for the quilt show. It arrived the day before the girlfriends did so I was able to get it applied before they got here. I ordered the sugar and flour set (it also comes with one for powdered sugar but I don't have a canister for that so I put it aside in case I want to use it later)

I also ordered one for the pantry door. I would love to replace this door with a pretty glass door but there is storage attached to the inside of the door and I use every inch of it so since that wouldn't be practical soI thought I would shoot for prettying it up a bit. (sorry for the crooked pic)

I read the information which said it should be applied to smooth surfaces - my doors are textured but I was willing to take the chance and it worked just fine. I think it adds 'just enough'.

In other news - could you keep my friend, Sarah, and her husband, Joe, in your prayers. (Sarah is one of 'the girlfriends'). Joe had a heart attack yesterday. Thankfully he was at home when it happened and they got him to the hospital quickly. I talked to Sarah this morning - he is doing well and should be released by Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T11:09:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to take a minute to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

The (two oldest) boys will be here later today so I have already been cooking. (don't want to feel so rushed in the morning) Got a pecan pie cooling and my broccoli/rice casserole in the fridge ready to bake in the morning. (and made an extra to put in the freezer so I'm one up on Christmas!) I've washed up all the dishes and I'll be heading back down in a minute to make a batch of cookies (oldest kidlet doesn't like pecan pie) It will just be the four of us so I don't want to over-do it with the desserts. (I would then be forced to eat whatever is left over)

As for 'black Friday' - we will be hanging around the house! Depending on the weather we might work on outside Christmas lights, then again, maybe not. We will not be out waiting in line for stores to open at midnight! Nothing about that appeals to me in the least. In fact, if I could manage to not have to go in any store between Thanksgiving and Christmas that would be fine with me.

Well - I'm off to make cookies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A birthday fly-by

2011-11-18T15:32:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to pop in and wish baby boy (and his bride) a happy birthday!
Missed posting on Ashley's birthday (two weeks ago today) because the girlfriends were here and we were at the quilt festival. I didn't want to let today slip by without wishing them both happy birthday! (fuzzy pic - had to crop out of a group shot as I didn't get one of just them together when they were here. Hate it when that happens!)

Back to my break.

2011-11-14T14:11:00.006-06:00

I really had a hard time deciding what to post today. I almost didn't make a post at all but I didn't want to just disappear. I'm going to take a blogging break. There is a lot of stuff going on (nothing to blog about and certainly nothing fun) and I just think I need a little break.

I was trying to juggle some appointments this morning and when I looked at the calendar I was shocked to see that Thanksgiving is next week! Seriously, I thought it was two weeks away. Yes, I think it is time for a break.

So, before I take off for a bit, I thought I would show you a little of my fall decor. (this is in the kitchen)

I put the Halloween stuff away.

Like I said before, I try to stick with 'fall' instead of Halloween or Thanksgiving for the most part.

This little table is in the bay window in the breakfast room. I'm debating leaving it there or moving it somewhere else - where is the biggest question!

In the dining room

We will actually eat in here on Thanksgiving - so far, we have only used this room for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since there are only the four of us we don't have to spread out and use both tables. (we will miss baby boy and his bride but hopefully we can share a little 'face time'!)

I need to take a picture of this hutch from the dining room so you can see where it is. It is actually in the entry, but across from the dining room.

I am sure I'll be reading (and hopefully commenting some) while I take my little break. You all keep me company in the mornings while I have my coffee, and in the afternoons if I take a break (like right now, I'm waiting for paint to dry) and just here and there when I sit for a few minutes. I'll be back after Thanksgiving - by then it will be time to decorate for Christmas! Ack!

Snowy stitching

2011-11-11T14:22:00.002-06:00

I have been getting a little stitching done.

It would go a lot faster if I didn't have to stitch it twice! (I've done parts of the tree twice)
I'm stitching over two on 30ct with one strand of floss - trying to decide if I like the way it is looking.

Turned cold (for here) last night. Dinner tonight - beef stew! (already in the crock pot!)

Have a great weekend!

Two for one

2011-11-10T15:43:00.005-06:00

Two 'reality shots' for today

#1 - How much paper does it take to fix one insurance goof? (which btw, was NOT MY goof) In addition to all the paper I had to use the iPad to look up the insurance agent's phone number (seriously - have you seen a Houston phone book?) You would think the least they could do when they send that much paper is include a phone number. Umm, no. Glasses because I can't see, two phones - because I can't ever remember my home phone number so I either have to give my cell as a call back number or look up the home number on the cell.

#2 - Notice anything here? No picture on the tv - why? Because I had to reset the dvr (second time this week) To reset the dvr I have to move the wooden box that hides all the cords - I just leave it on the floor until I'm sure it is going to 'take' (sometimes it takes more than one reboot) Pliers because the old HDMI cable broke on one of the many reboots that have taken place in the last year. So much fun. (I finally ordered a new HDMI cable - now I need to put the pliers away). I miss TiVo.

Pop over to Mockingbird Hill Cottage and see who else is posting reality shots to day.

Tomorrow, stitching pics!

I forgot one

2011-11-09T12:13:00.002-06:00

When I was showing my quilt show goodies yesterday I forgot one - I already had it hanging on the front door. I made this banner a year (or two - I forget) ago but I couldn't find a hanger for it so I painted a dowel rod and used a piece of ribbon to hang it on the door. Last year at the show I looked for a hanger but couldn't find one the right size.

This year I found one! The first day we went - in fact this was one of my first purchases. (naturally I found several after I bought this one - for less $$ but oh well!) Eventually I'll get around to making a couple of banners for other seasons but so far this one is pretty lonely. And yes, I need to find a smaller suction cup since this is not heavy but the last thing I had hanging there and my Christmas wreath need the larger one so. . .

This is the flower pot Sarah brought me (belated b'day) I was going to put a plant in it before I showed it but the weather didn't co-operate with me yesterday and today I'm dealing with the insurance company. I hate dealing with insurance companies - I don't care what kind it is, their main goal seems to be to keep you so confused you just give up. Argh.
My green Ikea table has faded over the summer - I'll be giving it a spray pick-me-up come spring time!
I have done a little stitching this week - I'll show pics on Friday (because tomorrow is reality Thursday!)
Have a great day!

Quilt show goodies

2011-11-08T12:16:00.002-06:00

I really didn't buy too much at the quilt show this year, or at least compared to previous years I didn't. :)

It sure did feel like more when I was toting it around. I won't go into specifics on all of it because some of it might just be gifts - or used in gifts. Won't say if it will be this Christmas or next, but anyway. The bundle of fabric at the top right was a gift from one of the girlfriends and not one of my purchases.

These babies are all mine! I'm going to put the fob with the rotary cutter on my rotary cutter (brilliant, I know) and the other two may go on these scissors or on some of the other 'nekkid' scissors I have hanging around.

Here is a pic of the gift fabric with another bundle I already had in my stash. Not bad, huh?

I picked up this cutie at a shop we went to on Saturday (yes, I know, we had just spent two days at the quilt festival and we hit up more shops!) This was the only purchase I made there and it was in the sale room - $2.00. I just couldn't leave it behind!

We have a 'cold front' moving in - not actually supposed to start raining until later today but it is looking pretty dark out there right now and I can hear thunder. Wonder if I will have to give up my crop pants and flip flops before the end of the day?

A great time!

2011-11-07T15:31:00.003-06:00

The girlfriends came Wednesday afternoon and stayed until late Saturday. We had such a great time. I really wish we could do it more often!

They brought me a pot of flowers - aren't they great? (ignore the neglected flower bed)

Of course they won't last long - which is why I didn't buy any this year but I'll enjoy them while they last. (cross my fingers and hope for Thanksgiving!) They also brought a small bundle of fabric and a flower pot (belated birthday) which I forgot to take a pic of - I'll try to get that tomorrow)

Anyway - Thursday and Friday we went to the quilt festival. Even after going for the past 6 years (I think that is how many times we have been) it always amazes me how big it is and how many people are there! We saw 'most' of it but I am sure if we went back another day we could have still seen things we missed the first two days. Sometimes the booths are just so jam-packed I just have to skip them. (it can get a bit claustrophobic!) Then on Saturday we did a bit of other shopping before they headed home. Hubby said it was really quiet here yesterday!

I also got to meet one of my blog readers. Terry doesn't have a blog, but she has been a faithful reader of my little blog since the beginning. It was so nice to finally meet her face-to-face! Of course, being the bad blogger that I am, I failed to get pictures.

I'm way behind on reading blogs and even farther behind on housework. I need to catch up on the housework before I catch up on blogs but I'll get there!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Ready and waiting!

2011-11-02T13:58:00.003-05:00

I'm all ready for the girlfriends to arrive for their visit!

Guest rooms are ready.

Soup is in the crock pot, baked a cake (which didn't rise to the occasion - I'm blaming it on the oven since it is the first time I've cooked this cake in this oven, hopefully it tastes okay)

Will put a pan of cornbread in the oven later so it will still be hot when they get here.

Picked up the living room. Magazines on the coffee table are all recent!

Vacuumed the dog hair off the sofa.

And this happened as soon as I took the picture! LOL I'll wait until just before they get here to wipe the dog snot off the glass doors, maybe they will stay clean long enough for the girls to get in the door!

I'm going to catch up on a little blog reading while I wait - then I'm going to spend the next few days hanging out with the girlfriends. Will be back next week - have a great weekend!

Better?

2011-11-01T11:16:00.002-05:00

I say that with a question mark because both the monitor and migraine are crap shoots.

To be fair, the migraine issue is always a crap shoot - sometimes daily, sometimes I get lucky for a few days. The daily ones are their own game - sometimes I can take a pill and keep on going, other days I just have to take a pill and a nap. I'm glad the hubby was home to greet trick-or-treaters since I really didn't feel up to it.

The monitor seems to come and go - I can auto-correct and sometimes might that helps, sometimes restarting helps. Have a message in to 'tech support' otherwise known as the middle kidlet so will see what he says. (right now some words look nice and crisp - others are fuzzy but the pictures seem fine)

In the meantime, I thought I could show you pics of the pumpkins by the front door.
The urns came from my grandmother's house. It is kinda hard to keep anything living in them since they are so small and need water daily (which I'm not good about) so I keep non-living decor in (or on) them.

I wanted two white pumpkins but real ones were just to pricey for me (nearly 10 bucks each!) so I got some faux ones at Micheal's when they were on sale, and I can use them again next year. They didn't have two white ones that day so I got one white and one green.

Can't see them from the street but that is okay. I have my old shopping cart on the porch too (filled with more faux pumpkins) - I'll show a pic of that later.

Time for me to get back to getting ready for company - they come tomorrow!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:43:00.002-05:00

Not much today - I can't take looking at the screen long. As if having a migraine isn't enough, there is something wrong with my monitor - everything looks like it is smeared to the right. Which means I really can't tell if this picture is as bad as I think it is or if it just looks that way on my screen. (it is a picture of the ghosts hanging across the road three houses down - it looked better on the camera screen)

Anyway - hope you have a great time 'trick or treating' tonight. I'm taking my head for a nap.

The state of my monitor (and my head) may determine if there is a post tomorrow.

Just a little 'boo'

2011-10-28T11:01:00.002-05:00

Thought I would pop in for a quick hello this morning.

This cabinet is in the entry, facing the dining room. I don't really have a lot of 'Halloween' decorations, I try to keep to 'fall' so I can leave them out until I pull out the Christmas decor. I tried to take a closer pic of the framed pieces but there was a glare and I never went back to try again. The framed pumpkin (Too Cute For Pie) stays out all year - so not my 'colors' but I love that piece!

I picked up this little gray and black pumpkin at Home Goods (I think) last year - after Halloween I'll turn it around since the other side is blank.

I've got a long list of things to do today and this weekend - I'm going to try and do the majority of the cleaning this weekend so I don't end up having to do it all Monday and Tuesday. How are you going to spend your weekend?

Just another day

2011-10-27T12:44:00.003-05:00

Yep - this is a typical day in the living room/family room/den - whatever you call it at your house.

I do actually clean up in here on occasion. Kinda like the bar - if I know you are coming . . . Most of the coffee table is my fault - magazines that need either need to be put away or tossed in the recycle bin, cross stitch project that I pile there because if I put it away I'm less likely to actually stitch if I sit down (my stitching chair is to the right in this picture). The sofa - well, that is another story. Wanna know who rules the sofa? That would be the dogs! There are two other pillows that are on the floor between the coffee table and the sofa - they push them off in the many circles around to find just the right spot to nap. Tennis balls - there are two you can see but I know there is another one in the right corner. Autumn is slacking - there are usually at least half a dozen on there.

Somewhere around Tuesday, I'll throw that blanket in the wash along with that pillow cover and give the sofa and pillows that aren't washable a good vacuum so it will be nice and fresh when the girlfriends come on Wednesday.

See, it cleans up well. (old pic, before I painted the end table - that coffee table is on the hit list as soon as the girlfriends leave!)

If I clean it before then, it will look like the first picture again before they get here and I'll just have to do it again.

Clouds are rolling in. We are supposed to have a cold front moving through this afternoon (hopefully it will take care of the killer skeeters!) and maybe a little rain.

For dinner tonight - 'tater soup!

Linking up with Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for Reality Shot Thursday. (Can't believe I'm actually posting these pictures)

We have been invaded

2011-10-26T14:06:00.002-05:00

By killer skeeters! Well, according to the tv, they are 'harmless', meaning they aren't bringing West Nile Virus with them, but the suckers can (and do) bite right through your clothes! Nothing comes free and this is how we are paying for the rain we had two weeks ago. The temps are supposed to start down tomorrow - hopefully enough to kill the killer skeeters. They don't usually bother hubby but they have even driven him indoors the last few days.

Since I don't have any skeeter pictures (if I get close enough to one to snap a picture you can bet I'll be killing that sucker, not snapping a pic!) I'm showing the other closet I painted Friday (instead of pictures of skeeters).

This picture was right after we moved in. This is under the stairs - I should have measured how far that shelf is off the ground but I didn't and I'm too lazy to go do it now. I don't know if they intended it to be some kind of coat closet or what, but the only coats that would hang there are kids coats - small kids. My 'baby' will be 25 in a few weeks. 'nuff said?

I got it painted and we added shelving. I considered taking that wire shelf out completely but it wasn't going anywhere w/o having to do some major wall repair - I have no idea how they got that sucker in there, so I just painted around it. Hubby seemed a little concerned that I tagged the shelf under the wire shelf 'the chalk paint shelf'. I only have the one can of paint and one can of wax at the moment, but I guess he got the hint that I won't be stopping there. (there is room to move the other stuff around)

This completes the (boring) closet tour for the week. The only things left to paint (inside) are the master closet but I want to rebuild the racks/shelves in there first, and the kitchen cabinets but I'm still debating chalk paint or hiring that out so both of those projects will be put off until after the holidays.

Tomorrow is reality Thursday - there is a lot of reality going on around here right now!

Making a casserole (King Ranch Chicken) to freeze for next week. I will make a small pan for dinner tonight and freeze a larger pan for next week. Don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen when the girlfriends are here! Off to check on my chicken!

Pink tools rock!

2011-10-25T15:24:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm a bit behind!

I got the pantry and closet painted on Friday. On Saturday we went out and picked up a few things, of course going anywhere here takes forever and we stayed out just long enough that I really didn't want to get back to the pantry so I planned on putting it back together on Sunday - I did NOT count on being sick all day Sunday! I tried a couple of times but I just couldn't do it. (I actually slept most of Sunday) I was somewhat better yesterday so I got the pantry loaded back up. (I had to work in short spurts, but I got it done)

Nothing exciting. It was just the fugly builder beige and I just changed it to white. I just put the shelving back in as it was - eventually I may try to re-build the shelving, I think I can make it better.

Anyway - I had bought some lighting to put up but hubby didn't get around to it on Sunday. I mentioned it to him last night but they were still not installed today (football, baseball, etc. . . lights)

So I broke out the pink tools and did it myself!

Kinda hard to tell the difference in the middle of the day, but this is with the lights off

and with them on. They definitely put out more light than the 'tap lights' we had in there before.

Well - I'm behind and I have company coming next week so I should get busy!

Painted pumpkins

2011-10-21T15:06:00.002-05:00

I picked up these two little pumpkins at Wally World a couple of weeks ago for (I think) .97 each.

They were both orange but I knew I was going to paint them white. The problem came with the one on the left. It had little green stripes in each crease and no matter how many coats of paint I put on, the green kept bleeding through. (I was doing this while I was painting furniture last week, but I just used craft paint on these) I finally gave up and found some khaki paint and that seemed to cover it. I waited to see if it was going to bleed through but thankfully that color worked. I'm still debating - should I paint the stems? If I paint them, should they be green or brown?

While I'm pondering stems, I put them on top of the cabinet in the kitchen.

I'm once again waiting for paint to dry. I seem to do that a lot. I've got one coat of paint on both the pantry and the small closet under the stairs. I did not take before pictures - seriously, just two small cubbbie holes with flat beige paint and wire shelves. I can't say that there will be much to see after I paint either. (I'm just painting white and going back with the same shelving)

I would love to have a pantry where I could use one of those pretty glass doors or even an old fashioned screen door, but I use the racks that are on the inside of the door. :( While I was in there painting I kept trying to figure out a way to make better use of the space so I haven't given up totally! There really has to be a better way. I am adding some lighting - I have no idea why they did not put a light in the pantry. Seriously, it is the only closet in the house without a light. I tried some of those 'tap lights' and they were better than nothing, but the other day I found some small, battery operated strip lights (LED) at Sam's and figured they had to give off more light. They were not expensive and since they are LED, shouldn't run through batteries too quickly, especially since they won't really be on much.

Well, I'm going to try to read a few blogs, then get back to painting. Small space + large, claustrophobic woman = it ain't pretty but it is getting done!

Have a great weekend!

Reality

2011-10-20T13:16:00.002-05:00

So, the other day I showed you one of the bar stools I painted with ASCP.

Wanna see the reality shot?

If you just show up at my house, this is what you would likely see. Maybe not the exact same stuff, but as most flat surfaces in my house, this spot attracts clutter. You can see the corner of the table - it is covered with a sheet because that is where I was painting. It isn't often that I don't have some kind of project spread out there.

But - if I know you are coming, I can clean it up! Now, by this time tomorrow you probably won't be able to see either surface because I plan to paint the pantry and the closet under the stairs this weekend and that stuff has to go somewhere!

I'm linking up with Claudia for Reality Shot Thursday.

Trunk is finished!

2011-10-19T11:56:00.002-05:00

We finally got the army trunk hauled upstairs last night. (I posted a before pic earlier)

This is what happened to my poly when I was coating the black parts of the trunk. The can on the right is the one I was using on the trunk, the one on the left is one I bought to go over the white parts after the other can turned gray. You can see why I needed to coat it with something before bringing it inside!

While it seemed to not transfer color after the first coat, I was still a little scared of putting the trunk directly on the carpet so we added some casters to the bottom.

Also makes it easier to move around! I'm waiting another day or so before putting anything on top even though it seems completely dry. The chairs are on the 'to be replaced' list. I'm hoping for a small sofa to go there (the hubby wants a recliner - we will see) I can't remember if I showed this room after I got all the stuff back on the walls, but you can see most of baby boy's play posters are on the wall behind the chairs.

I ended up putting his senior play poster and his 'movie' poster (he spent one day as an extra on the set of 'Mr. Brooks' so I framed a movie poster along with his pay stub, cost me more to frame it than he got paid!) in the corner along with some other stuff I couldn't figure out where to hang. This room is done except for replacing those chairs. (and eventually replacing the carpet with wood floors but that is way down the list since there is nothing wrong with the carpet!) Well, done until I think something needs to be changed and you never know when that will happen!

We are having some wonderful fall weather - love it!

The side table

2011-10-18T14:19:00.002-05:00

I've had this side table for years (ignore the dust)

and I've wanted to paint it almost since I got it!

I finally got around to getting it painted when I had the ASCP out last week. Got her all waxed up and ready to put back in service!

So much better.

I still have more pieces I want to get painted but I've put the ASCP away for now. I might get the pantry painted (not with chalk paint! the can says you an use it on walls but my, my, that would be expensive! I'll stick to the white latex for the pantry.) but other than that, I need to get some other things done before I get back to furniture painting.

The weather is changing - a cold front is blowing in! Finally some actual fall weather. I've got chili on the menu for dinner tonight!

Hope to get the hubby to help me bring the trunk in tonight and I'll show it tomorrow.

Chalk paint

2011-10-17T15:33:00.004-05:00

With all the posts about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint going around blog land I knew that eventually I would get around to giving it a try.

I held out until I could buy it close enough to me to not have to pay shipping, plus I just wanted to see it in person before I put out the $$ for it. So, weekend before last I found The Restored Home in an antique mall in Alvin and asked the hubby if we could drive over. (my 'Houston' driving is limited to right here around the house, which for the most part is just fine) I lucked out that Rhonda happened to be there when we stopped in so it was nice to actually talk to her. She has some really beautiful pieces in her booth. (she also has a blog where she shares tips)

So, I had my paint and my wax, I just needed to pick my first victim(s).

I decided I would paint the bar stools

and this plant stand.

One of the things that really caught my attention is that you don't have to sand before you paint and yes, it does work. The three pieces I started with were all dark and it took me three coats to get decent coverage. I've seen people say they don't have brush marks but I will have to say I had lots of brush marks. That said, it is super easy to sand to a smooth finish, and the paint dries really fast so you don't have to wait long to paint another coat or to sand. I don't know how to explain the 'it sticks but it is easy to sand/distress' part, I just know it works!

At the last minute I decided I would take my projects outside to sand them. Good decision.

As you can see, the sanding makes a huge mess! (think banging erasers together at school, if you are old enough that there were actually chalk boards in the classroom!) I did read later that you could wax before sanding so I tried that with the next project (which is almost done!) but I couldn't tell it was really any less messy. :( I was really hoping to use the chalk paint on a big project that I didn't want to have to take out side and was (still am) considering it for my kitchen cabinets, but the sanding dust might be an issue. Time will tell.

Anywho - here is what my projects look like painted, sanded and waxed.

The plant stand is right as you come in the front door.

And the bar stools are at the breakfast bar. Okay - only one in this picture because if I back up far enough to take a picture of both, you see the bar too - that might be my 'reality Thursday' pic.

Close-up of the distressing on the bar stool. You can't really see in the pic, but the seat is extremely smooth!

I have another project almost finished and I still have about half the quart of paint and well over half the wax. Next I want to try layering different colors but that means a trip back to The Restored Home.

So, just like most things, there are pros and cons to the chalk paint. I love the finish and will absolutely use it again (I only have another half-dozen, more or less, projects in mind) but I'm sure I'll also use latex paint too. It all depends on the project and the look you are going for.

I was hoping to be finished with the trunk but we had to make an unexpected trip out of town yesterday so I've still got a coat of poly to finish up and then will give it time to dry before we bring it in. (I'll have to have the hubby's help with that since it is coming upstairs!)

So many projects

2011-10-14T13:58:00.002-05:00

So little time!

I'm still working on the projects I showed yesterday. I hope to finish those and the one in the garage over the weekend. Will I have started another before I get back here on Monday?

Here are a couple of pics of the 'garage project'

I have no idea where this trunk spent the last 60+ years. (it belonged to hubby's dad, we found it when cleaning out the garage after his mother sold her house) We have had it for the past 3 and it has been in our garage since we moved here. In the past it was likely stored in a basement or barn.

I'm not sure if I took this pic of the inside before or after I started sanding - you really can't tell much difference just by looking anyway, but you can feel the difference! I would have sanded it more but I was out of sandpaper so I called it good enough. It was pretty smelly (musty?) too so I sprayed it with some odor removing stuff I found at Lowe's before and after I sanded then coated the inside with 3 coats of Polycrylic. Hopefully that keep it from starting to smell again when it comes inside and is closed. I'm working on getting the poly on the outside - I'm really glad I did the inside first since the black is coming off when I put the first coat on and my once 'milky white' poly is now a nasty gray color. (doesn't matter on the black part but might not have looked so good on the inside!)

What will go in it remains in debate, but it will be going in the game room to be used as a coffee table. (I just hope it doesn't 'grow' between the garage and game room. You know how things look so much larger when you get them inside and that room is about full now)

Well, now you know what I will be up to for the weekend, what will you be up to? We are supposed to have nice weather so that's a good thing!

Told ya

2011-10-13T13:44:00.002-05:00

Remember the pic of my breakfast room table (from the last post)? I told ya it wouldn't stay that way long!

This is also why I never got around to posting yesterday (I never even made it upstairs!) I also have a project going in the garage. I think I have project A.D.D.

I'm linking up with Claudia @ Mockingbird Hill Cottage for her Reality Shot Thursday, then I'm off to play with sandpaper.

On the table

2011-10-11T14:50:00.002-05:00

Last week I made a little table topper for fall.

Thought I would show it to you while it is actually on the table - this table is usually over-run with projects or sometimes just with crap that has made into the house, sometimes both.

It won't stay this way - I have projects to get too!
(those are Honey Crisp apples - yumm!)

Super Sunday!

2011-10-10T14:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was great! It rained most of the day - can't even remember the last time we had this much rain!

Hopefully some of it actually soaked into the ground instead of just running off - the ground is so hard right now!

So, what did you do this weekend? Saturday we were out and about - I picked up a little something for some projects - I can't wait to use it but I have a few things I need to do first. :(

I did finish my rocker project.
This little rocker was mine - I think I got it for my first birthday so it ain't young. It is, however, a bit dusty!

It has been recovered once before, (not by me) I think it was originally orange. (I have a picture somewhere, but since it is a black and white photo it wouldn't be a lot of help) The vinyl had become sticky for some reason - no idea why, but no matter what I cleaned it with, the sticky always came back. It also had a tear in the back so I thought it was time for a make-over.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about the fabric I used but I just couldn't find anything I really liked that didn't look totally girly - this was on sale so I don't have a lot of $$ in it. I almost used drop cloth but was afraid it would show dirt too quickly. Not sure why it matters since there are no little kids around to sit in it! (I don't know why the back looks crooked in the photo - it isn't in real life. Camera angle I guess) It will stay this way for awhile anyway - I have decided you need eight arms to upholster!

I've spent most of the day outside working on one of those projects that I have been putting off - working on FIL's Army trunk. Sanded and cleaned on the outside and was pretty optimistic, then I opened it. Smelly - yuck. I sanded on it a bit (no telling what I was inhaling) then wiped it down and left it open to air out. (suggestions welcome!) I'm going to wash the whole thing down with some bleach/water but I'm out of bleach so that will have to wait for another day. Once I get it cleaned well (and not smelly) I will seal it with some poly and it will be used in the game room as a coffee table. I'm not planning to paint it since it has his name painted on it.

I was asked to share info on the cross stitch pieces in the post from Friday, I have edited that post to include that info.

A little here

2011-10-07T13:42:00.003-05:00

Been putting out a little Halloween/Fall decor here and there. Had a couple of nice 'closer to fall' days but it is warm and muggy again. :(

Hope to get my little rocker back together this weekend (hope I can remember how it goes together!)

Have a great weekend!

edited to add project info:
Left - Pumpkin Time Heart, The Sweetheart Tree
Center (back) - Grins of Delight, Shepherd's Bush
Center (front) - Eek, Lizzie Kate, limited edition kit
Right - My Other Car is a Broom, Lizzie Kate

On the left

2011-10-06T13:30:00.004-05:00

I"m going to try linking to Claudia's Reality Shot Thursday party. I've never participated in a linky party so who knows if I can figure it out or not!

This is the left side of my stitching chair. The big 'book' is where all my junk is supposed to be put away - it rarely happens. Lets see what we have - a ring of floss (for the stocking I showed the other day) my phone, chapstick, hand lotion, needles, thread (I sewed binding on a table topper this morning) a gum container I have been using as a snippet jar, glasses case, nail file, highlighter, scissors (only one pair - interesting) letter opener (it is a little clear plastic jobbie hiding under the scissors and highlighter), Romantic Homes magazine, more needles and 3 (yes, count 'em, three) remotes.

And yes - the project from yesterday is a small rocker. Other side has been painted and I am not-so-patiently waiting for the paint to dry before I take the sanding block to it!

Now let me see if I can figure out this linky party stuff.

Pieces, parts and waiting for paint to dry

2011-10-05T13:39:00.003-05:00

The mornings here are still really nice (though the weather man warns tomorrow won't be as nice) so I spent a bit of time outside working on this.

Some of the parts of my current project. Finally got them sanded this morning. Know what it is?

Didn't have any primer (how did that happen?) and wasn't really in the mood to change out of my painting clothes and go to the store, so I just went ahead with the (spray) paint. I plan on distressing anyway so I figured skipping the primer step couldn't hurt too much. :) Now I am waiting on paint to dry so I can turn them over and paint the other side (patience is not really something I'm good at) I would really like to get back out there today but I am going to wait. Can you hear my toes tapping while I wait? Not like I don't have anything else to do.

Hope your week is going well!

Boo

2011-10-04T15:49:00.002-05:00

Looked out my sewing room window a little while ago and saw this

The neighbors down the street really like decorating for Halloween.

Zoomed in a bit. Sometime before the end of the month I will walk down and take pics of their yard (this is across the street from their house - we don't have any houses on the other side of the street)

A great weekend!

2011-10-03T14:41:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend, I hope you did too! Our weather was really nice (still is, though it is sure not to last).

We got out on Friday and did some running around - which included a trip to 3 Stitches so I could pick up some thread I needed to work on a (long-time WIP) stocking. I have 6 of these things to do and this is number 2. I started them at least 10+ years ago.

I snapped a pic so I would have one to post. It's not a great pic since I didn't take it off the scrolls - just unrolled enough to get the pic.

I have another 'project' going - it will take me awhile to finish since it includes sanding and painting. Not a lot of painting or sanding, but I haven't started that part yet!

Lots of catching up to do since I kinda ignored laundry and all other house stuff while Brian was here. We won't even get into how far behind I am in all things bloggy. :)

Have a great day!

A birthday to celebrate!

2011-09-29T10:52:00.002-05:00

Brian is coming down for the weekend so we get to celebrate his birthday with him. He will be here sometime this afternoon. I've already got a roast w/veggies in the crock pot and a cake waiting to be frosted.

Have a great weekend! (and hope for some cooler temps - upper 90s is getting old around here!)

Nameless

2011-09-28T14:44:00.004-05:00

What's in a name?

When baby boy was in high school he was in a 'garage band' - they were going to perform in a talent show and when the time came to print the program they still didn't have a name so they became 'Nameless' and it stuck.

Do you name 'objects'? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Bertha

and her friend Olivia (though to be fair, she had a name before I adopted her)
Hubby calls them 'the girls'

Lola - sadly, Lola is no longer with me. (well, technically, she is but she no longer works)

I had been thinking about getting an e-reader - hubby has a Kindle and loves it, so I figured if I got one we could share books. But then Lola bit the dust. After thinking about it for a bit I decided to go with this

Of course I had to have the pink cover

I've already downloaded the Kindle app and I'm reading 'The Help'. I got a non-glare screen protector and I'm not sure that was the right decision though if I had gone with the regular I'm sure there would have been times when I wished I had gone with the n/g.

Now back to the name - she doesn't have one. :( I think she needs one but it just hasn't come to me yet. My van doesn't have a name either - it hasn't come to me and I've had it 15 years. So, does your computer have a name? Your car? Your phone?

How is your week going? Today is better for me than yesterday - so far no migraine today so that alone makes it a better day. So far.

Little things

2011-09-27T14:58:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it is the little things that are special.

See the little white shirt on the left? I wanted something to hang on that peg, but I didn't want to buy anything - then I remembered I had this shirt in the cedar chest.

It was hubby's as a baby

Back

and the tag on the inside.

I will say this - it was a bugger to iron! Glad my babies had no-iron clothes (for the most part)!

Now, if you are a fabric junkie, head over to Carolyn's blog - she is having a give-away!

Texas must have missed the memo

2011-09-26T12:11:00.002-05:00

The calendar says it is fall, but Texas (or at least this part) seems to have missed the memo! It is still hot and humid here.

Our plan for the weekend was to clean out the garage - well, at least get stuff back on shelves and out of the middle of the floor. First we had to go to Sam's and get another shelf unit (and put it together) which meant we didn't get started until Saturday afternoon. It was pretty hot Saturday but not as bad as Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn't finish on Saturday so we were back out there yesterday. Too bad you can't really 'sweat your a** off'.

Anywho - one of the things out there still waiting to be worked on is FIL's Army trunk. We got it empty so I can work on it (when it cools off a bit!) - it needs a good cleaning. It has been stored in a non-climate controlled environment for years and it has some kind of mildewy looking stuff in a couple of places on the outside. I haven't figured out how to clean it - any ideas? It is made of some kind of rough wood and the outside is painted black. (I should have taken a pic, my bad) I don't want to sand and paint it because it still has his name etc. painted on it and I don't want to cover that up. I'm hoping to get it cleaned up enough to bring inside and use for a coffee table in the game room.

We didn't go through everything as we were moving stuff to another container but we did find a couple of cool things I brought into the house.

an old wooden hanger. Looks like those metal clips might have been used to hang pants? They are on both sides and one on each side is snug while the other is not. I assume they got bent with use?

Also found this catalog from 1927. It was kinda wadded up in there so right now I have it resting under a stack of books.

And an old school (?) picture. It is a 5x7 print. No writing of any kind on the back. We ''think' FIL might be the second from the left in the middle row. Hubby will have to ask his mother or aunt to find out for sure.

No crafty stuff. I did put a few stitches in a stocking but no pic yet. Ran out of one of the threads so I've got to order more.

Hope you are having more fall-like weather where you are. It is still flip-flop weather here!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2011-09-23T15:05:00.002-05:00

First day of fall. I suppose in some places that means cooler temps, leaves changing colors - all those things you think of when fall arrives. Here, it means we hope we don't get to 100 again, but the weather man makes no promises.

I did find these yummies at the grocery store yesterday - Honey Crisp Apples. I found them in the early spring and got hooked - then they disappeared. I'm happy to see their return. They are pricey, but worth it! Yumm.

Hoping to get something crafty done over the weekend, but we are also planning to clean out the garage so it all depends on how long that takes.

Hope you have a weekend full of fun!

Not a lot going on

2011-09-22T16:38:00.003-05:00

Just not a lot going on around here lately.
I guess I just haven't felt like I had anything blog-worthy.
Haven't spent as much time on the computer lately - which means I should be getting lots of other stuff done, right? Not.

Lola (my netbook) has been replaced, but not with another netbook. I'll show you her (yet unnamed) replacement soon. There has been a bit of a learning curve - I'm so not tech savvy.

The dogs are barking their fool heads off. Someone taped a flyer (probably a take-out menu) to the front door and the wind must have blown it. Guess I should have pulled it off when I saw it a little while ago. I'm quite sure they would have found something else to bark at - they are good at that. (finding something to bark at) Guess I should go remove the 'stranger' from the front door so they can take a breath!

Hope you are having a great week.

Ahhhh

2011-09-19T15:22:00.002-05:00

I woke up to the sounds of thunder around 3:00am this morning. Went right back to sleep! I wasn't sure if there was any rain to go with it (we have been teased by thunder the past few days, with areas all around us getting rain and not getting any here)
When daylight finally dawned I looked out the window and saw this.

When I walked out to get the picture the grass crunched. The ground is still so dry. This is barely a drop in the bucket compared to how far behind we are but I'm sure the ground said 'ahhhh' as the rain was falling.
Hubby and I had a nice few days. Usually when he takes off it is because we have something on the calendar but this time we just did whatever, whenever. Not the norm for us, but it was nice! The cake tasted great (even if it looked a little whop-sided). We had cake for breakfast a few times. :)
I've managed to get my reader feed from 1000+, down to 932 but I'm sure I won't get caught up any time soon! Oh well.

If it ain't broke. . .

2011-09-14T12:52:00.003-05:00

Keep it away from me. I'll spare you the long list of things I've managed to break or screw up in the past two days, but trust me, it ain't pretty.

I was asked if I made the quilt and dolls in the guest room

No, I didn't. The middle doll was a gift from a friend (she also gave me a blue and yellow quilt that is in the master bedroom - I'll show it sometime soon), the two dolls on the outsides were made by my grandmother, from pillowcases made by my great-grandmother.

The quilt top was found in a hamper full of scraps at my grandmother's house. I assume she made it, but don't know for sure. (found it after she passed away) This was before I ever even thought I might make one myself someday so I had it quilted and had it hanging in my office/sewing room at the old house. (I've always loved quilts but never thought I would actually try making one!) Had I thought I might actually take up quilting someday, I might have kept the scraps too. :(

I may never catch up on my blog reading. I usually read blogs in the morning and evenings, downstairs on my netbook. Unfortunately my lovely friend Lola bit the dust yesterday so I'm sure I'll get even farther behind. (my reader is approaching 1000 at the moment - how many will it count before it stops?)

Hubby's b'day is tomorrow and he is treating himself to a long weekend (he took a couple of vacation days). We don't have plans to go anywhere - just hang out around here. I have some furniture that could be painted but I'll give him a break. Personally - I'm pretty much afraid to touch anything at the moment - I would probably have paint spilled everywhere. I've got a b'day cake baking so cross your fingers it comes out decent!

I'll be back next week - hopefully my dark cloud will be gone by then!

Stick a fork in it

2011-09-09T14:59:00.004-05:00

And call it done!

I'm calling the guest room done - at least for now! No room is ever 'done' since I'm known to change things around on a whim.

First a couple of before pictures.

Obviously, these were taken at Christmas.

It's amazing what just changing the wall color can do for a room!

Most everything that is in here was already in the room but it looks so much different with blue walls compared to the boring builder beige! I painted the day bed - the black just wasn't doing it for me - I like it much better now!

I tried to work with what I already had and not buy anything new, but I did buy two dust ruffles (on sale!) I had to re-work the one for the day bed since there is no box spring to put it on. I took it apart and sewed on velcro - took a whole day, but it worked! (fyi - the sticky back side, that I put on the bed frame, is super sticky - nearly pulls the skin off your fingers!)

I pulled in a few things that had either been in other rooms or still boxed up from the move.

I painted the quilt rack and the small shelves white - much better.

Still working in plates that I had in the plate collage at the other house! Hubby keeps asking me if I bought more plates - nope, just using up what I already have! I have used them in most of the rooms inside the house, outside on the fence and in the front flower bed but I still have a few more! (sorry for the glare)

Okay - that's it for me today. I'm going to try straighten the rest of the house. Do you 'trash' the rest of the house while working on one room? I seem to - need to get things back together so I can start dragging out fall stuff - not that it feels the least bit like fall here!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Staring at a blank wall

2011-09-08T14:04:00.002-05:00

A blank, blue wall.

I've been staring at this blank wall for two days. Well, yesterday I was (re) making a dust ruffle for the day bed but every time I went in the room to measure (or whatever) that blank wall was staring back at me. I'm still undecided as to what I want to hang there. Hard to believe that even though this house is bigger than the last one, I still have stuff that I don't have a place to hang. Even when I finish this room, I'll still have a stack of stuff I won't know what to do with and after this the stairway is pretty much the only thing left blank (except over the tv and I don't want to hang anything there until I am sure of what I am going to do with the tv) Some of what I will have left are shop models from when I was working in the frame shop (stitched pieces, I would stitch them then we would use them for framing models) although I do have a few other things as well.

Anyway - that was a lot of 'typing' just to say I'm stumped with this wall!

Since I really don't have anything interesting I went looking back through pictures to see if I could find something to post. I was almost through the first folder when I came to this

This is me at 18 months, wearing the red velvet dress that is hanging in the r/w/b guest room. Was I cute or what? Time is so not kind. :(
This was my grandmother's picture and now my mother has it, along with 18 mo. pictures of my brother and sister. I had 18 mo. pictures made of my boys too and framed a set of each for myself and my grandmother. I have mine hanging in the master bedroom and the ones my grandmother had are put away for the boys. (my mother already had 18 mo. pics of my kids) Hopefully someday the boys will want them - I'm saving them just in case.

Guess I'll get back to staring at that blank wall and the pile 'o crap I have spread out trying to decide what to hang.

Sorry for the lame post. Maybe next time I'll have something interesting.

A little relief

2011-09-06T13:32:00.002-05:00

We are finally getting a little relief from the heat around here. We are by no means through with summer but at least it isn't 105! It was really, really windy over the weekend and there are so many fires here in Texas. Thankfully they are not near us but there are some large ones in the Houston area.

How did you spend your holiday weekend? We spent ours waiting for paint to dry. We did finally get the last guest room painted - that means all the upstairs is painted! Yeah! I'm still putting the room back together - hopefully by the end of the week I can call it done. In the mean time, here are some final pictures of the bathroom. It is finished, all the way down to fresh, clean white towels just waiting for guests! All the 'pretty stuff' is stuff I already owned. Some of it was already in the bathroom and some I moved from other rooms (or from where it was stuffed in a closet)

The picture on the left is 4 old postcards from J'ville. The smaller pic is one that was in my sewing room.

The two cross stitch pieces were hanging in here before but on the wall beside the sink. The metal 'Z' was a half-price HL find months ago but had been sitting in a closet waiting for a place to land.

And the shelves with the fresh white towels, a mulberry candle, a pink glass container (from my sewing room) with travel size soaps in case you don't want to use the shower gel that is in the shower, and a small plate (from the plate collage at the old house) with bathroom cups.

Yes, I'm digging deep for blog fodder. These slow moving projects don't make for a lot of blog content!

Hope you have a great week!

And then this happens

2011-09-01T11:36:00.002-05:00

As soon as I got the picture of the quilt, I got started on getting the other guest room ready to paint. The closet in that room is where all the 'stuff' ends up. You know - out of season clothes, clothes that are too small but you hope to 'someday' get into them again (stop laughing), holiday decor that doesn't get put in the attic, just stuff. Well in order to paint said closet it had to be cleaned out and the newly finished guest room is the only place for it to go! This is just the closet stuff!

Doesn't look like I will get to paint the day bed unless I can make room in the garage (again, stop laughing) but I will get the room done! It makes me really happy to know that it is the last 'room' to paint! Still have 3 closets downstairs and the kitchen cabinets to go, but this is the last room! Yippie!

No crafty projects going on since I'm spending all my time either getting rooms ready to paint, painting or putting rooms back together but I'll get there. (and letting dogs out, letting dogs in, letting dogs back out . . .) I did get stuff on the walls in the bathroom and the game room this week so I still have those pics to share.

Hope you are having a good week. We are looking forward to some 'cooler' temps and by that I mean we might not make 100 today!

Finished quilt

2011-08-31T10:59:00.002-05:00

Finished the quilt for the guest room and got it up on the wall!

I used a red print for the binding. This is the first time I have used a different fabric for the binding, I usually use the same fabric as the backing (I say this like I have done so many - NOT)

Anyway - here it is hanging on the wall. That pretty much finishes this room off for now. I may or may not remove the corner cabinet and the round wicker table. Somewhere down the line - like way down the line, I hope to put up crown molding in the rooms that don't have it. (the master bedroom and dining room had it when we moved in and we added it to the laundry room when we did that room)

Well - that is it for today. Now I'm getting ready to paint the last bedroom. (won't start until the weekend but I'm getting the room ready!) When I went to get paint the guy at the paint counter asked if I was ever going to finish painting! Think that means I might have bought more than a little paint?

Some things I miss

2011-08-30T13:56:00.003-05:00

There are a lot of things I miss from our old house.

Painted bead board paneling

White cabinets

Stained glass windows and hardwood floors

My front porch

But some days the thing I miss the most

Is in the wall on the left in this picture. Can you see it? This was as we were leaving on the last day and it is closed but if you look closely you will see the doggie door. Some days I really, really miss that doggie door. Unfortunately, there just isn't a good place to put one in this house - but some days I think about it, all day long, trying to figure out where we could possibly install one!

I finished the binding on the quilt for the guest room and it is hanging on the wall! I'll show pics tomorrow.

Tied at 109

2011-08-29T14:21:00.004-05:00

Saturday our temp hit 109 to tie the record - not the record for the day, the all time record! Sunday we only got to 107. Still breaking daily records but we are supposed to gradually make it down to under 100 by the end of the week and hopefully that will be all of the 100+ temps!

Obviously I didn't do a lot of outside activity this weekend! I did get some pictures back on the walls.

Wanna take a tour through the r/w/b guest room?

This is a before picture

I had a really hard time deciding on a color. All these paint chips were taped to the wall for weeks. There were a few more that I discarded before making my final decision. I guess my biggest problem is that this 'room' was pure white painted paneling in the other house. I really miss the bead board paneling! I had a hard time picturing the room not painted white.

This is what I decided on. Faded Burlap. The Sailcloth is what I used inside the closet (I'm using it in all the closets as I get to them) It is hard to really see the difference in pictures but it is quite a bit darker than what was in there before (and way darker than the previous white!) At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it but after a few days I'm getting used to it. It is kinda cozy in there. Wish I had room for a small chair.

From the door - the wall on the left will have a quilt hanging there (the one that is folded at the foot of the bed) The one on the chest in front of the old gate (from our first house) is the one that was hanging there. It is an old quilt and it is fairly heavy. It isn't in great shape and I decided it had been hanging way too long and needed to come down. The bed belonged to my grandparents.
The picture above the gate is hubby's grandmother's high school diploma (from 1913) It is in the frame we found it in - I just cleaned it up and put acid free foam board behind it.

I'm undecided about the cabinet in the corner. As sure as I get rid of it I will need it for something. If I decide to keep it, I might paint it.

The dress is red velvet. It was made by my great-grandmother. (for me, my second Christmas)

The smoking table on the right side of the bed belonged to hubby's grandfather.

Wish the dresser had some really great history behind it, but I bought it at a consignment shop a few years ago. (We didn't paint the ceiling so you can kinda see the difference in color in this picture though the lighting makes it seem more yellow than it really is. Think coffee with cream)

We now have one room and a few closets left to paint. (plus the kitchen cabinets but I'm undecided if I am going to try doing those myself or hire someone) Here are the paint samples I carry in my purse (which is why they are kinda beat up) - the colors we have used in the house so far.

The other guest room is on the schedule to be painted this coming weekend and it will be painted Dockside Haze (the same color as the master bedroom) My plan is to paint one of the beds too but they are saying we have the best chance for rain that we have had in a long time so if it rains, I will get the room painted and paint the bed later.

Now I suppose I should go move some laundry. The fun never ends! :)

Don't ya just love technology?

2011-08-26T13:44:00.004-05:00

I guess I should use a picture of my phone for this post but that would mean taking one and uploading it and I already had these pictures ready for today.

My cell phone has been out of service all day. I had been trying to send a text all morning and it wouldn't go through. I could send an email and get online but no text.

(Look how big this potato vine is getting!)

I finally tried making a call. Nothing. So I call my cell from the home phone - it says my number has been disconnected or no longer in service. Grrrr.

(it started out as just a little twig)

Can't remember the password for the account but I finally got a real person (I hate phone trees) on the (home) phone and she got it reset and finally got my phone working again. Good thing we have a home phone!

(look at the size of the leaves! That is a dinner plate in the pot with it and some of the leaves are almost as big as the plate!)

Hope you have a great weekend. We are suppose to have temps around 104. Yuck. Sounds like a good weekend to do something inside but I promised the hubby no painting this weekend. Maybe some stitching? Or maybe blog reading - my reader has 784 posts waiting to be read!

New Dress

2011-08-25T16:04:00.002-05:00

Bertha has a new dress. It was almost a mini-dress since I trimmed a side I shouldn't have! Good thing she has that insert thingie there. I might eventually make another one that is longer to use if I leave her on top of the table, but this is how she sits most of the time.

Now off to make binding for the guest room quilt!

A little Bliss

2011-08-24T13:13:00.003-05:00

Instead of doing all the things I 'should' be doing I've been working on a new 'dress' for Bertha.

I had part of a charm pack of Bliss left from another project - I had to add a few extras from my stash but I managed to find some that blended well. I'm hoping to finish it up this afternoon but I've got other things to do first - and I have a headache. Dang it.

I'm pretty far behind on blog reading again and when I do sit down to read it usually either early in the morning or late in the evening and I read from my netbook instead of the desktop and sometimes it is just down right stubborn about letting me comment.

Back to some of those 'must do' things.

Progress pictures

2011-08-23T14:00:00.004-05:00

I'm not totally through with the bathroom but I thought I would go ahead and show pictures. Grab something to drink - this ended up being kinda long! (sorry)

First a few befores. This is a pretty small room - big enough for it's intended purpose but small when you are trying to take pictures! Walls are the same builder beige as the rest of the house was.

These are before we started 2 weeks ago, I had added the cabinet knobs awhile back. There wasn't a cabinet knob or curtain/rod in the house when we moved in. There was a shower curtain rod but you can see how low it was hanging - it was a tension rod and I couldn't get it to stay up any higher (it is resting on the shower surround!)
See the cabinet hanging on the wall? Look at the top - I can't believe it didn't fall off the wall! When we went to take it down the toggle bolts (or whatever you call those things) were just stuck in the sheetrock. They had not even been pushed through enough to spring open! Accident waiting to happen. This is the last of these cabinets - we have removed all of them and re-purposed them in the garage.

Moving on. Builder faucet. Spout too short and plastic handles - I hate those. (nothing against you if you have/like them, just not my cuppa)

'Hollywood light' - our first obstacle. I wanted to replace it. Should be simple, find a new one, cut the power, swap fixtures, turn power back on.

Nope. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
Yep - the box for the light is way off center! After looking at who-knows-how-many fixtures I finally picked one only to find out it would not work. I am grateful the wiring was done correctly but I swear the guy that was cutting holes for some of this stuff must have been drinking - not the only odd fixture/switch placement. It was easier to pick another fixture than move the box and patch the wall!

You really can't tell the colors in these pictures but the new paint color is green (pebble - the same lighter green color we have used in other rooms of the house) No window so no natural light. It doesn't look like much of a change, but it is a huge change in person!

Changed out the shower rod for one that is curved to give a little more elbow room in the shower and this one actually screws into the wall so it won't slip back down! (also raised it up several inches so the curtain isn't dragging the floor)

Put up shelving where the cabinet was removed. I'm not through with the 'pretty parts' yet so the stuff on the bottom shelf will change. Need to get some more white towels too.

Painted the cabinet white - much better! Also replaced the faucet. (problem #2. weird plumbing - nothing 'wrong' with it, just wouldn't work with the new fixture so hubby called a plumber which pretty much doubled the cost of this makeover!) Anyway - it is done, and it is much better! (and would be easy to replace again - not that that is likely to happen!)

New light fixture (finally!) Added a towel ring since there wasn't one in here.

Framed the mirror. There was another issue here. Took some thinking but problem solved and mirror is framed.

here is one with the light off so you can see the fixture - I had to find one that was wide enough to center over the mirror and still cover the hole. Wasn't my first choice but still better than the old one! Don't look too close - you will be able to see where I just filled the corners on the frame - it is still pink and I see I need to clean the smudges off the mirror.

So there ya have it. Between dry time for paint and minor 'issues' this took nearly two weeks! I still haven't put anything on the walls yet (because I haven't decided what to put up!)

Working on getting the bedroom back together but not sure about what I am going to hang in there either. ( still haven't put the play posters back up in the game room either! I need to do some picture hangin!)

Have I bored ya to sleep yet? If not, thanks for hangin in there!

Enough already!

2011-08-22T15:56:00.003-05:00

Enough with the extra hot, dry weather already! I feel like this poor hosta. (this is one that is supposed to take the sun and it did fine last summer - was doing fine this summer until the last couple of weeks) Geez. It is too hot to do much of anything. Frozen stuff is already thawing before you can get it home from the grocery store. (less than 2 miles, in the car with a/c going but that isn't even far enough for the car to start cooling off!)

Anyway - I was hoping to have an update ready for today. Not. We worked on both the bathroom and the guest room this weekend. (why did I start one before finishing the other?) Just couldn't get it all done. Had to do some cutting (shelving and mirror trim) outside yesterday and we did it early but it was still hot. Felt like it took forever when it really didn't take that long - you couldn't tell it by the sweat dripping off us.

I'm not even going to pretend any of it will be finished by tomorrow- heck, I'm not sure it will be finished by the end of the week. If you are still hanging around, I will eventually get back to stitching and sewing!

Time for a diet DP.

Farming

2011-08-19T15:39:00.002-05:00

Our front yard looks like we are starting a mushroom farm! These things keep popping up overnight. Hubby picks them almost daily. He mowed yesterday (he pulls them before mowing, he doesn't mow over them) We will see how many pop up over the weekend.

The guest bathroom is moving along. All I have left to do is put up some shelves (I don't have the materials for this yet) and frame the mirror (have this, just need to get it done) then I can decide what pictures/decor I want to hang in there and it will be done. If I can find the shelving supplies maybe I can finish this weekend. I seem to be having a problem finding what I want.

The other weekend project is to paint one of the guest rooms. Bought paint today - Faded Burlap. If we can knock out that room this weekend we will just have one more room to paint upstairs, a couple of closets downstairs and the kitchen cabinets! I'm hoping to hire someone to do the kitchen cabinets but will see when that time comes. (it's kinda last on the list)

I'm off to take stuff off walls and get the room ready to paint. Shhh - it is a surprise, I haven't told the hubby that I made plans! :)

Have a great weekend!

Paint can war

2011-08-18T13:16:00.003-05:00

Have you ever done battle with a paint can? After I posted yesterday I took on a paint can. Apparently the last time this paint was used it got put away without cleaning the rim before sealing. (this was when we did the master bath - many months ago) Since I'm the one that painted the cabinets, I guess I am the idjut that didn't clean the lid off.

Anywho - when I tried to open the can, the lid wouldn't budge. The rim of the lid just kept bending - the harder I tried, the more it resisted. Well, I was determined to get that paint on before hubby got home from work - here is the result of my efforts

Take that paint can. You would be surprised what you can do with a big ole screwdriver and a rubber mallet!

Of course I fully expected the lid to fly across the room when it finally let loose so I kept my fat self perched over the top and avoided that mess. Since it was nearly a full can of paint I wasn't about to let the whole thing go to waste so I sent the hubby to get a new paint can.

And I made sure to clean the rim before I closed it this time! I'm waiting on coat of paint to dry at the moment - hopefully it is the last one, but I won't really know until it dries. (it started getting kinda draggy and I may have to sand a bit and do one more)

I'm working on the upstairs (guest) bathroom. I had hoped to have pictures to show by now but there were a few snags along the way so hopefully by next week I'll have something besides an old paint can to show for my efforts!

What are you working on this week? Something fun? I hope it is something indoors! Our temp is supposed to reach 103 today - painting indoors beats anything outside!

My Three Sons

2011-08-17T13:14:00.002-05:00

Got busy yesterday and never got around to posting the rest of the pics from when the boys were here.

A typical scene - Timothy has a stick trying to see how deep the water is. The boy is always curious about something!

L-R. Jason (aka - baby boy), Brian (the oldest) and Timothy.

One with baby boy's bride, Ashley

Another one of all four.

Can't believe I'm putting my mug on here twice in one year, but Ashley took one of us with the boys.

Don't get scared away - I won't be putting myself back up for a long time!

Guess I should go see if my paint is dry so I can paint some more.

I'm back!

2011-08-15T14:02:00.003-05:00

Did ya miss me?

We had a great week. Hubby had the whole week off - I can't remember the last time he has taken a whole week that didn't involve a u-haul truck! We had a few (not nearly enough) days with the kids, met friends for dinner one night and did some stuff around the house. I didn't get a lot of photos - we were busy visiting and time just passes so quickly when we only get them all together once a year.

The kids wanted to take the dogs to the dog park. Middle of a work day and no other dogs around. I can tell ya, I didn't think it was a good idea being as it was blistering hot! We didn't stay long and the dogs were just as happy it was time to go as I was!

Squeaky was visiting too - she has now moved to the big city with the baby boy and his bride.

Nicholas was tuckered out - he thought he had to see as much of the place as he could - it's not like he hasn't been there before!

Baby boy and his bride got the shrimp and fish ready

and hubby fired up the grill. It isn't a big grill since it is usually just the two of us so it took awhile, but they grilled steak, sausage, veggies, fish and shrimp! We had enough meat for two days and just added some more veggies the next day.

We did manage to get the kids all in one spot at the same time for a few pics - I'll show those next time.

Not a single needle picked up all week but I did get together with 'the girls' for awhile yesterday afternoon. Nothing ready to show yet - maybe soon. :)

Waiting on a plumber at the moment - more about that later. It's always something!

Not quite straight

2011-08-03T14:13:00.003-05:00

I finished up the quilting on the quilt to hang in the guest room. I went with (not quite) straight line stitching. I was hoping to get the binding done but with the kids coming I've been working on getting things ready. I don't think they really want to sleep with all my quilting stuff I tend to scatter all over the upstairs when I get in the middle of a project! I'll get the binding made and attached after they leave.

Just thought I would show you the quilt (so far) before I take a little break. I'll be back after the kids have all gone home. I may or may not find time to read a post here and there, but I won't post again myself until sometime next week.

Have a great week/weekend and try to stay cool! All I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning!

A new friend

2011-08-01T15:16:00.002-05:00

My birthday present came in this weekend. Bertha has a new friend - her name is Olivia.

Isn't she just too cute? We got her all put together Saturday afternoon and I spent time with 'the girls' (as hubby now calls them) yesterday. I need to find a chair mat that will fit better but that one will do until I can find another - beats trying to roll that chair on the carpet! (oh, but I do miss my wood floors!)

I changed out the green knobs that came with it for some pink ones I picked up at Lowe's and added some pink and green boxes to the cubbies on each side. It's hard to get a good pic since she sits right in front of the window.

Now I need to make a new cover for Bertha and a cover for my chair. I'll get to those but not until after the kids have all gone home. Too much to do before they get here this weekend!

Hope you have a great week!

Sewing and waiting

2011-07-29T14:34:00.002-05:00

I've been sewing today while waiting for Don. Looks like Don is a big tease for us though. We could still get a little rain (like 1/2") but the chances of getting a good rain are looking less and less likely. It is good for the people south of Houston but not so much for those of us north of Houston.
Oh well.
These pictures are totally unrelated to the title of this post but it's all I have!
Remember back when I was spying the neighbor?
Well, she gave the neighbor on the other side of us some seeds or pods or whatever you call those things and he gave me one. (it was in a cup full of dirt so I didn't see it - just planted the whole thing)

I pulled out the trellis from the old house (I had morning glories on it there) and an odd plastic planter and planted my little vine.

Not much on it. This was about two weeks ago.

Now look!

It is growing!
The vine on the left doesn't look like it has anything on it until you get up close,

but it does have some small leaves at the base.
Since it seems to be 'taking' I may do something to the plastic pot - paint maybe? Since it is such an aggressive plant I may keep it in a pot even after I get flower beds built back here.
BTW - this is in the corner opposite my bottle tree.

Hope you all have a fun weekend!

What to do?

2011-07-27T15:38:00.002-05:00

What do you do when you have nothing to post? I dug out a pic from last week - or was it the week before? Anyway - I finished the month 6 blocks for the Thimbleberries quilt (from 2009 - I'm a little slow) but once again Blogger is messing with my photo!

Whatever.

I can't seem to get my rear in gear this week. I know there are lists of stuff that need to be done, not to mention the lists of things I want to get done. Problem is, I'm not doing anything off of either list. I seem to dabble a bit here and there and not really accomplish anything. I'm feeling kinda useless I guess.

I guess there is always tomorrow - doesn't mean it will be any more productive than today but it will be here sooner or later anyway.

We actually have a chance of rain for Friday. We are getting so desperate for rain that we are watching the tropics hoping something develops instead of the other way around! (no hurricanes, thank-you-very-much, but a depression that pushes some rain inland would be nice)

Well - back to doing whatever it is that I'm not doing.

Still hot in Texas

2011-07-25T12:08:00.003-05:00

Since it is so hot these days, we took in some indoor entertainment this weekend! We went back to Kilgore to the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Saturday we saw the children's show - Aesop's Fables and Sunday we saw The Taming of the Shrew.

Of course you can't take pics during the shows, but after the children's show the actors came out and signed autographs for the kids. (the kids were lovin that!)

Here is baby boy signing autographs after the show.

I seriously don't know what is wrong with blogger and pictures. I cropped this pic to just show baby boy's head shot but it loaded the un-edited picture. Since it is showing all the interns - the guy right under Jason was playing his twin brother which is why Jason is sporting that fine black wig.

This is something you won't see much - I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to take my pic with baby boy. I usually stay as far away from the front of the camera as I possibly can. Anyway - it was kinda rushed because they had to change the set for the next show but hubby snapped this one. Again - I cropped this pic but it loaded the unedited version and I don't think it is worth the headache to try and figure it out at the moment.

This is the last week for TSF so if you haven't been there is still time!

After the festival closes the kids are going to spend a few days visiting friends and family before making their way here then we will have all four of them here for a couple of days before J&A head back for NY. It has been a year since they were all here at the same time so I'm really looking forward to it!

Guess I should get back to catching up on those things that don't get done when you spend the weekend out and about!

Happy Friday!

2011-07-22T11:50:00.002-05:00

'Whipped up' a little doggie placemat this week. I was tired of looking at the one that we have been using!

I have no idea why blogger is doing this to my pictures. I swear I had rotated it and when I pull the picture up it is correct, but when it loads here it is wrong. Anyone else having this problem?

I think we have managed to work out a time when all the kiddos can be here at the same time for a few days in August! Wasn't sure it was going to happen this year (and still waiting on one to get time off approved but it shouldn't be a problem) Wish it could happen more than just once a year, but I'll take what I can get!

Have a great weekend!

Name Change

2011-07-21T14:58:00.004-05:00

My great-grandmother.

As soon as I hit publish on my last post I realized I had made a mistake. Sally is not the right name for my Singer sewing machine. Her name is Sister Singer! Why? Well, because my great-grandmother always called my grandmother 'sister' and her brother (my Uncle JB) 'brother' and that is what they always called each other too. It was just the two of them and my great-grandfather was JB too so I guess instead of calling him 'junior' they called him brother. Need to ask my mother if she knows for sure. BTW - she always called my mother 'Angel'.

I worked on Sister Singer again yesterday and I have decided that the best course of action is to take her to someone who knows what the heck they are doing. I plugged her in and wonder of wonders the light worked - who would've thunk it? The motor - well, that is a different story. I got it to 'move' but it didn't sound like it was too happy about it. (or smell like it either) After giving it several tries yesterday I gave up for the day and after sleeping on it, I'm going take it to a shop before I end up burning up the motor! I'll wait until it cools off a bit - she is pretty dang heavy (as am I) and it is just too hot for heavy lifting! So, instead of taking another picture of non-working sister, I thought I would show you a picture of my great-grandmother (above) since she is the one who sewed so many miles on it! I also thought I would show you a picture of my grandmother (below)

My grandmother.

I was going to show you a picture of my grandmother and her brother (together) but for some reason when I upload it the unedited version (sideways!) shows up! I don't want to publish a side-ways picture! If I go back and open the picture outside of blogger it comes up right. I'm not smart enough to figure that one out so we will just leave that picture off for now and I'll try another time.

We actually got a little rain on Tuesday (inch and a half!) which was nice while it lasted. Making up for it today though - it is just HOT. That is all there is to say about that!

Well, now that I have made the decision to let someone else work on Sister Singer, I guess I should go clean up the mess I've left in my dining room all week.

One fine mess

2011-07-19T16:06:00.002-05:00

In between doing other things, I've been cleaning up my great-grandmother's sewing machine.

And making a big mess of my dining room.

I decided I wanted to figure out when the machine was made. (I had no idea - until recently - that you can go to Singer.com and look up when a machine was made, you just need the serial number!) I figured out she was made in 1934. As you can see it is missing the pedal. It was converted to an electric machine way back before my time, but I have no idea when the conversion took place. As far as I know, this was the only machine my great-grandmother ever owned and it has sewn many a mile.

I think she needs a name. How about Sally? Sally Singer - has a rather nice ring to it!

Anyway - I dust the cabinet whenever I clean but I can't remember when the last time the machine was pulled up. Can you say dusty?
So, I've used the vac, q-tips and a small paint brush so far in my efforts to clean her up. I even managed to put a new belt on (by myself, thank-you-very-much) I still haven't plugged her in to see if she will actually work. Since it was moved to storage then moved again to this house, I'm betting I will need to replace the light bulb (which you can't see - it is behind the body of the machine - you can see the cord coming off it along with electric motor that is also attached to the back). This picture was taken before I got the q-tips and brush to it - I'll take another one when I get her working!

I've thought about bringing the machine up here to my sewing room but she is a heavy sucker!

So - what have you been spending your time on?

Hopscotch

2011-07-18T13:18:00.003-05:00

The flimsy. Pattern from the Thimbleberries book 'Beginners Luck'

Close up of the fabrics - the one on the bottom will be the backing. Haven't decided how I want to quilt it yet.

I decided I need to take down an old quilt that has been hanging in the guest room for way too long. (it was hanging at the other house too) I've rotated it several times but I think it really just needs to come down. Problem is, I don't have another quilt to hang there - this is the only room with these colors, so I decided I would make one.

This is a (old) picture of the room. (the quilt is hanging on the wall in the left of the picture) Anyway - now I have to decide what color to paint the room. At the old house the walls were pure white, but they were bead-board paneling (which I loved). I'm not sure I would 'love' pure white on sheet rock walls. The room isn't at the top of the list to paint but I am still thinking about what I want to do in here. I would love to put up paneling (painted white, of course) but it isn't in the budget, plus it would be the only room in the house with paneling. (bead-board paneling is just one of the things I miss from my old house!) The trim is the same off-white as the rest of the house and I don't plan to paint the trim.

I'm open to suggestions!

Time flies when you are having fun!

2011-07-15T14:29:00.002-05:00

Bertha came home last weekend and we have been spending time together! The past two days I never even got on my computer! (I read email and check blogs on my netbook downstairs while watching tv, but I post from my desktop upstairs since that is where all my pictures are)

Anyway - as I was saying, Bertha and I kept busy! I put a quilt top together and even though I was upstairs time just kept getting away from me and next thing I knew it was time to go down and start dinner! (pictures next week)

I didn't want to let today pass by without making a post because this weekend (Sunday) is my dad's birthday!

I know I've shown these two pics of him before but they are some of my favorites

Not sure of the dates on either picture

Nice looking, huh? I really need to see if I can find a newer picture - he isn't much on having his picture made (neither am I, so there ya go)

And now for a little comic relief - here is one of me with my parents.

I can only assume this was taken in the morning since that is my usual morning face. :)

Happy birthday, Daddy!
Love you!

A little paint

2011-07-12T13:51:00.004-05:00

A couple of posts back I told you I had been painting some small stuff - this is what I painted.

On top of the cabinet (right, on the front) is an old sewing machine drawer I picked up in a thrift store several years ago. At that time I painted it and lined the inside (this was the best pic I could find - I know there is a better one somewhere)

Anywho - I didn't want to re-do the inside so I taped it off and painted the outside white.

Added this little medallion to cover the hole where the knob was. A little sanding, a little glaze and it was ready to go.

The box on the back left is the next victim

Painted and finished it the same way and changed out the fabric. (maybe I will someday actually stitch something to go there)

Then I had this little bread basket - I'm sure there is a before pic somewhere - but it was all brown. Kinda beat-up looking so once again, I used the same paint/finish.

Side view

And put some stitching smalls in for display.

That is it for today - unless someone wants to come find the snake that I saw slither into my flowerbed yesterday. I have no idea what kind of snake it is - doesn't matter, a snake is a snake, is a snake. Either way I won't be weeding the flower bed anytime soon!

Weekend fun

2011-07-11T10:44:00.004-05:00

Did ya miss me? Hubby took a couple of days off and we headed to East Texas on Thursday. We went to Kilgore to see baby boy and his bride. Time is slipping by so quickly - in a month they will be back in New York.

They are in Kilgore working at the Texas Shakespeare Festival. If you are nearby, check it out! With shows daily (except Monday) there are plenty of times and a variety of shows to choose from. We saw The Beaux' Stratagem this time and hope to get back and see a couple more shows before the end of the season. This was the first time in over two years we have been able to see baby boy on stage. I really miss being able to see him perform.

While we were waiting on them to finish the afternoon show we did a little shopping downtown and I picked up a couple of things.

Pink Fiesta dinner plates! I have a few pieces of pink but I didn't have any dinner plates. I only got two - they had more and ya never know, if we go back to see another show I could come home with more. :)

I'm in love with this find! Flower frogs aren't that hard to find but they are usually either chipped and/or over-priced. This is the first one I've found with the vase (or whatever you call that thing) that I was willing to pay for. (there was another one that was priced $10.00 more than this one and I had already passed it up before I found this one - fortunately I liked this vase better anyway!)

So, how did you spend your weekend?