Lighting up

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! Hubby took a couple of days off so he had a long weekend so he could spend some time with the boys while they were here and get some things done around the house - like getting the outside lights up!

He started Wednesday afternoon - notice the cloudy sky. It might have looked cold, but trust me, it wasn't! I was out helping (put hooks on the lights - I'm not going up that ladder!) and I'm still scratching skeeter bites. Apparently the skeeters don't know it is November.

Thursday morning the 'menfolk' got outside to finish up the lights while I was in the kitchen cooking.

Last year we used the lights we had been using at the old house. We had been using them for quite a while and some of them were getting to the point they didn't work well so we decided that this year we would get all new lights and switch to LED - which is fine but since I'm an all white light kinda girl and I have learned from experience that the all white ones are the first to go, so when they first started putting out lights we went shopping (looked at my receipt - Oct. 9) We looked at several places hunting for the best price.


Some brands only had one 'white' while others had three. I really prefer the look of the warm white, but we ended up getting the cool white. I'm not totally happy with it, but they are up and we aren't changing them. You can see the difference between the ones on the house and the ones inside and on the porch. (the dining room light is not on - that is the glow from the two trees in front of the windows - at least you can't see that they aren't decorated or that the lights on the bottom half of the tree on the right aren't working).


Maybe it is okay that the ones on the house are different - they do look more like 'ice' than the warm white ones do.

You can't see the Santa in the flowerbed at night - maybe he needs a spotlight?

I'm working on the inside this week- I think it is going to take awhile!

The boys are back in town

Well, not yet, but they are coming! My two 'Texas boys' will be here for a few days. Baby boy and his bride aren't able to come from New York and we will miss them. (We sent them a turkey from Texas so they could have a little 'home' for the holidays.

Here are a few shots from around the house.








I'm off to take a cake out of the oven and put a pecan pie in to bake

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Chance of rain - 30%

Really?

Right after I took this, it really started pouring!

Does this look fallish to you? Maybe a little - but then you have to figure in the temp which is 75 degrees at 10:00am! Not so fallish, huh? (Obviously we have not done any landscaping in the back yard)

I think a nice fallish candle is in order while I clean. (baking will take place tomorrow!)

Just FYI - spell check doesn't know 'fallish'.

Have a great Tuesday!

Up on the roof-top

Hubby got out this weekend and gave the outside of the house a little 'spit shine' with the pressure washer.


one of those jobs that you can't really appreciate unless you see it before or in progress - nothing like watching all that dirt wash away (like cleaning inside - no one notices when you do it, but they sure notice if you haven't)


Now she is all ready for Christmas lights to go up -hopefully this weekend, depending on the weather - it is supposed to turn cold - it is in the 80's right now but we have a freeze warning for Saturday morning. That's Texas weather for ya. I've noticed some houses in the neighborhood have already put the lights up - they haven't turned them on, but they put them up while the weather was good. Oh well - as long as it isn't raining they will go up. (although I think it was raining and snowing when they went up last year!)
I'll 'spit shine' the inside a little today and tomorrow, then give it a good cleaning while I'm putting out Christmas decor next week.

Hope you are having a great week!

A birthday post

Today is baby boy's birthday - his bride's birthday was a couple of weeks ago (when the girlfriends were here) and I missed writing a post for her so I'm going to wish both of them a happy birthday today!


This picture is from several years ago and I know I have posted it before but it is still one of my favorites.


This was taken when they were here in August


And this was the last time we saw them - heading off to pursue their dream. I'm proud of them for going after what they want, but it doesn't make me miss them any less. New York seems so far away.

Happy birthday Jason and Ashley!

Love you both and miss you every day.

Spoke too soon

Yesterday I thought the cough was getting better - and I guess it is still better than it was over the weekend, but I woke up hacking at 4:00am so I've been been back in these again


Figured I might as well put them in a pretty dish since I'm into them so often - and a pretty Fiesta dish beats a plastic bag any day.

Three Blox

Finished up a little stitching the past few days.






Three Blox by Lizzie Kate. Stitched on the fabric included in the kit with Anchor floss.

Not sure exactly how I'll finish them off, but probably as ornaments for the tree. (they are made into blocks and stacked on the front of the chart pack)

Cough is somewhat better - not gone, but I'm starting to think it might actually go away . . . maybe.

Hope you are having a great week!

Still blooming

My flowerbed is still blooming - I don't know why I thought I could skip the allergy meds!


There used to be a gnome in here


Oh - there he is! Seems he has been pushed aside.


And there has been something digging out here. Since it is in the front yard, I know it wasn't either of our dogs (they aren't allowed in the front unleashed or unsupervised)

Still have the scratchy throat - at least I don't feel like I'm going to choke to death every time I swallow, but I think I might cough myself to death. Not doing much for getting a good nights sleep.

I have finished one of the projects from the pile in the last post and have fabrics cut for 3 more. I'll get there - eventually!

Hope you have a great weekend. We are supposed to have rain - might be a good time to stay in and get some projects finished!

How you doin'?

Me? I've been better.

Monday I woke up with a stuffy nose - wrote it off to allergies since I ran out of allergy pills last week. Teach me to think it is late enough in the year to not take them - there is no season in Texas without pollen. Anyway - by the end of the day I could barely swallow w/o thinking I was going to choke to death. Sucked on lozenges all day Tuesday which helped the throat a bit, but made everything I tried to eat or drink taste awful. Yesterday morning I thought I might be getting better but then the sore throat turned to a scratchy throat and now the cough has moved down to my chest. Lovely. Ok - enough of that.

I was asked to show some of my office/sewing room. It's not much to see. I've hung curtains but that is about it. Oh, there is stuff hanging on the walls, but it is just kinda up there for now. Eventually I will get to painting in here and trying to organize better. Hard to believe it was easier to find stuff in that tiny room I had before than it is now.

So - I did some 'creative cropping' and I'll show one part of the room.


This is my sewing table. It is the same one I was using in the old house. Just to give you an idea how small that room was, this table went wall-to-wall in there. My computer is just to the right of the door (closet) you see. Like I said, pay no attention to where things are hanging on the walls.
That pile of stuff on the left side of the table - that is stuff that has to be finished before Christmas. If that was the only pile, I would be in good shape. It is so not the only pile.


The stuff in the white cabinet was just kinda stuffed in there too - this is on the bottom shelf


Middle shelf


top shelf.


and this is the view I have out the window. I love being able to see out the window - in the old house there was a window, but it was up too high for me to see out while sitting.

Guess I should get busy. Hope all of you are having a good week!

Stitching pics!

The stitching pics are at the bottom of the post - if you want to skip the weekend review, scroll down. :)

The girlfriends and I had a great time! We went to the quilt show on Friday - got there around 10:30 (because we were chatting and didn't leave as early as intended, there was more traffic than anticipated and miss GPS told us to take an exit that was closed and then couldn't figure out how to get us back where we were supposed to be. We finally had to stop and let her figure out where we were so she could get back on the right track! Anyway - we finally got there. The line to park was LONG and SLOW but we finally got inside. It is always so overwhelming to walk into the convention center with all those booths to look/shop at. You just never quite know where to start! We walked out of the building at 6:45 - just as they were announcing that the show closed in 15 minutes. We have been trying for years to work it out where we can go more than one day, but circumstances always prevent that - maybe next year.
I'm sure we missed as much as we saw, but none of us came home empty handed! I had my camera out to take with me, but forgot to stick it in my bag, so no pictures.

Saturday, we got up and went to Home Goods. I'm trying to get them as addicted as I am. There isn't one at home so they had never been in one. Sandra said she would be back before Christmas! Anyway - we spent a couple of hours there, then they had to leave. They had to be back home by 4:00 and it is a three hour drive. It is so much more fun to shop with friends than it is to shop alone (unless you are trying to buy something for said friends, then it becomes complicated!)

The French Toast (link in last post) was a hit - they both went home with a copy of the recipe.

Now, as promised, stitching pics!


These are the two ornaments I have finished this year. The Sock Monkey is out of the JXS ornie issue for this year. I would tell you the designer but I can't seem to lay my hands on the magazine at the moment (meaning I put it up and I don't know where) I left off the mitten buttons and the snowflakes - just because I liked him better that way. The other ornament is Peppermint Twist by Little House Needleworks.


The backing fabric. Don't you love that sock monkey fabric?






For now they are hanging on my little white tree in my sewing room/office.

I've got two more ornaments stitched but not finished. Got a lot of just stuff to catch up on before I can get to that - not to mention the stack of projects that need to be finished for Christmas!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

I know they are coming

So I baked a cake!

The girlfriends are coming to visit so I baked a Buttermilk Pound Cake. I have taco soup in the crock pot and I'll make a pan of cornbread later. I'm also going to put together a pan of Rhoda's Baked French Toast for breakfast in the morning. Before you go thinking I'm super organized or anything crazy like that, once we pass breakfast in the morning I have no idea what we will eat!

Yesterday I showed you the two twin beds in one of the guest rooms and asked for wall color ideas. Here is a picture of the big green cabinet I said has to stay. This was the only thing the movers were unsure about when we said it needed to go upstairs. (he suggested I find a place downstairs, just in case) It was an interesting process but they got it up, so when I say it has to stay, I mean it ain't going back down those stairs until it is going out the front door! (which means if I ever decide to paint it, it will have to be painted in place)



Timothy designed and built this when he was in jr. high. (I think) He basically did it by himself except for when he needed help wrangling big sheets of wood or using the table saw. It was in his bedroom until we moved. He didn't want to move it to his apartment - I can't imagine why, he only lives on the third floor (no elevator). It is 48" W x 74" H x 25.5" D - told you it is big!

The little green rocker between the cabinet and the door was mine. I have plans to recover it sometime but haven't even looked for fabric yet. (it is vinyl right now, I think I would like some kind of chenille - and maybe paint the wood parts white) I probably won't get to that until after I paint the room.

You can also see the lovely beige carpet I have to deal with. Nothing wrong with it as far as condition, it is like new, it is just beige and it is carpet. 'Nuff said? Much as I would like wood floors, the carpet has to stay for now.

Okay - I'm off to make Baked French Toast. (it sits in the fridge overnight) I'll be back next week with some stitching pics. I have two ornaments finished (as in ready to hang on the tree), another one stitched, but not finished and yet another started!

Have a great weekend!

Repurposed

One thing I can mark off the list.
I have a long list of things to paint. :)

This tray was one of them. It was dark brown and packed away in a box. I finally dug it out awhile back and gave it a coat of paint and a little scrub with some sandpaper, some glaze, and now I have a free bed tray. (forgot to take before pics)


One of the beds in the 'twin' room. The other guest room is the red/white & blue room.


Well, I had a bed tray for one bed, so I needed one for the other. I actually thought I had gotten rid of this one, but I found it in a box (while looking for something else, naturally). It was part of a Christmas gift way too many years ago to remember. It was green, but it was a 'Christmas green' so I gave it a shot of spray paint.

Now I have two free bed trays! I didn't have to buy anything for either one of them.

The black daybed is on the list of things to be painted. It was in baby boy's room at the old house and the black was perfect in there, but I think I want to paint it white to match the other bed.

This room is in need of paint too. All of the upstairs is still the fugly builders beige. I'm hoping to finish painting after the first of the year. (no sense in getting into that during the holidays - well except for maybe the unfinished part of the master bath)

Anywho - I'm thinking I want to paint this room blue. Maybe the same shade as the master bedroom, maybe not. Hubby thinks it should be green. There is a big green armoire in this room that has to stay there - it ain't going anywhere and I doubt I'll paint it anytime soon (it isn't on the list) but I don't rule it out completely. Any thoughts? Blue? Green? Some other color?

I get that spell check doesn't know 'fugly' and 'anywho' but 'armoire'? Seriously? I even got out the dictionary to make sure I had it right!

Got candy?

We do!


I don't know if it was because it was Sunday or because of the ball game (maybe both) but we only had half as many trick-or-treaters this year as we did last year, and I bought twice as much candy. Good thing I don't like most of it!