8 Days

There is no photo to go with this post. That is because photos and graphics take time ....time that I don't have. In 6 days my youngest daughter graduates from high school. In 8 days we are having her open house. I have been pretty calm until now. We did this 2 years ago with Oldest daughter and looking back it seemed like a piece of cake. But right now, I'm panicked. What is it about having 150+ people over that makes you think the front door can't go another minute without paint, the gardens need work, the windows haven't been washed yet! The kitchen grout should be redone! I have 8 days to whip this house into the shape it should be in anyways. But you know how it goes, you see the little imperfections but there is no rush. It will get done, someday. Oh, and did I mention the long term forecast for her open house day predicts rain? Oh no, not just rain, thunderstorms. Hubby says, "Don't worry, when have we ever been to an open house that was on a rainy day?" I could hear Murphy (and his darn law) laughing in the background. We were going to grill out for the food. My house is 1100 sq. feet. I think I might run away from home.

Back from Sunny Florida

I'm back! I had a wonderful time in sunny Florida with my friend. We had lunch on the pier at cocoa beach, walked and picked up shells, dinner at Universal Studios city walk, Shopping, pedicures, and just hung out by the pool. I didnt realize how few pictures I took until I got home, and then most of them seemed to have something wrong with them. I think my camera had too much sun, the photos had black bars across them and major problems so were useless. No matter. I had a great time and got to relax. It's good to be back though and now I need to catch up with all of you! See you soon:>)

Dream Kitchen

BJ at Sweet Nothings is asking for pictures of our dream kitchens. Well, of course I'll share! You are about to find out just how scattered I am when it comes to decorating. I am not one of those people who loves a narrow palette of colors and can stick to it. Oh, no, I love it all! If it is beautiful it goes in the file. So here they are, my top four kitchens (this week) that I love.
Number one would be this beautiful bright white kitchen from Traditional Home magazine. It's all about the light, and this kitchen is so full of sunlight you could get a tan. And how gorgeous is all that dark wood? The custom islands? Beams? Huge windows....I love it all. I would have to have some ivy or something growing around the window, that's just me, but oh my goodness, this kitchen is the bomb!
And look at kitchen number two. Dont you love the gothic details on the cabinets? One of my favorite shapes, the gothic arch. And more sunlight, and (gulp) stained glass! Not quite as grand as the top kitchen but I would take this in a heartbeat! Photo from Cottage living

And lest you think that white kitchens are all I dream of, get a load at this cottage beauty! The red checks! The dark wood cabinets! The rug and dishes and color, color, color! Ahhhh. Notice the big window, I do see one constant here. Light!

Photo from Romantic Homes

And now for something completely different! I love these colors too! My sweetie does a LOT of the cooking so I know this is too feminine for him. But I love all the details, the checkerboard floor, the reeded glass in the cabinets, the little butlers pantry between the kitchen and dining room! What's not to love? It's just plain sweet. Maybe in a little vacation cottage by a lake?

Photo from Cottage Style

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed my choices, I'll be checking on yours soon. But first, I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning for Florida! I'll be gone til Tuesday and then I will be making the rounds and sharing the fun. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial day weekend. I will be taking a moment to remember all the brave men and women who make this freedom we enjoy possible. See you all next week!

Weekend getaway

My darling husband surprised me with a day away this weekend. Kind of a birthday get-away for us. The girls were in various parts of the country with friends so we took off and did some sight seeing and shopping in a nearby town. Our first stop was the farmers market where I found a gorgeous, huge, fuschia for the front porch. I love having them there and the hummingbirds always come for a drink. Then we checked into a sweet little B&B called the "Cozy Koi". It was named for the lovely Koi pond in the backyard, filled with the prettiest fish. Some of them were 2 feet long! Very tame, they came to nibble on Earl's fingers. The Koi pond was next to a trickling waterfall that was beautifully planted with flowers and ferns.


It was a peaceful place to sit with a cup of coffee in the morning and listen to the sound of the water and watch the fish. So relaxing! I forgot to take a picture of our room until it was kind of messed up from us sleeping and being in it, but I got a pic of this cute room in the next house. The owner of the B&B owns both houses and gave us a tour of them. Isn't this yellow room adorable!? It is actually a little efficiency apt. and has a sitting area and a tiny vintage kitchen that was so cute. Of course I forget to get a picture of that!
This was the dining room where we had our breakfast. Diane, the owner, was so friendly and nice. She made us fresh fruit cups, tropical fruit muffins, and apricot and cream cheese stuffed french toast topped with apricot sauce. Hot coffee and blueberry-pomegranate juice. Oh, it was all so good!

The rest of the weekend was spent at an art and craft festival, we had dinner and saw Prince Caspian at the cinema. I loved those books, and although this one wasn't done as faithfully accurate as the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, it was still a really good movie. The next morning we found a local flea market and picked up some fun deals, and then spent some time in a "mega mall" of antique booths, with a little bit of junk, garage sale stuff and retail mixed in. Because it wasnt a real "chi chi" antiques mall there were some good deals to be had. I got some great items to incorporate into projects for my etsy shop. Then we headed home to relax. It was a nice surprise and so good to get away with my sweetheart. We find that we need a little time away like that every once in a while to just concentrate on each other and it really is wonderful to be able to focus on each other and not the broken dishwasher, laundry and lawn!
Tomorrow is my 50th birthday and will be spent with my family. This weekend, I will be joining my best friend in Florida for a little "girls vacation". It is going to be a really great week! I am fighting an upper respiratory thing, sore throat, coughing, I can't really tell if it's allergies, a cold or something worse. I went to the Dr. and got some antibiotics just in case. Keep me in your prayers that I'll get over this! Nothing is keeping me from this trip! I hope you all have a great week too:>)

A little get-away this weekend. I'll see you all Monday! Have a great day!

A walk in the woods

This afternoon was so beautiful out, I decided to take a little walk. I haven't been back in the woods yet this spring. Silly me. Now is really the only time to go. Before the mosquitoes make their appearance. On the way back, I wanted to stop and show you a violet that dear husband bought me a few years ago. He knows I love violets and bought me these. They are called "Freckles". If you want a really good look, click on the picture. They are my absolute favorites!
There is a little bit of a path cleared, we (meaning sweet husband) clear a little bit more each year but still haven't gotten very far. The mosquito thing and all...

I found some wild honeysuckle getting ready to bloom....

And a wild apple tree in bloom! I had no idea this was here. It has all grown so dense in the last few years. I am going to admit I don't come back here much. Besides the mosquitoes, I have a terrible allergy to poison ivy. I mean terrible. I buried a pet parakeet in the woods at home when I was 15 and apparently wasn't too savvy about where I planted the little guy. I got poison ivy from head to toe. In my throat and nasal passages. Lets just say it was ugly. Real ugly. My parents weren't big on doctors and I suffered on the couch most of the summer unable to eat much or drink more than a little ginger ale. I lost a fair amount of weight, but I don't recommend the method. Anyway, I am a little leary of the woods ever since. But I'm braving them. For you.

And finally, the little stream that runs through our property at the back of the woods. I scared up a little rabbit and watched its snowy tail bounce away. How cute. I didn't see any poison ivy or mosquitoes, maybe I'll come back here again.

And now, for something completely different....

We still don't have a lot blooming yet here in Michigan, at least not on our little 5 acres. I see apple trees and lilacs blooming on other peoples places but ours seem to be having an off year. So, rather than show you flowers I will show you some of the bounty we have been getting from the chickens. I love the creamy brown eggs. They have absolutely no difference in nutrition or anything else except the color, but I think they are so much prettier than the white eggs. I remember when the girls were younger and I had been raising our own eggs for quite some time already. I went to the store one year for white eggs to dye for Easter and my oldest daughter took them out of the refridgerator, opened the carton, and exclaimed "What are these!?" The white color was such a surprise to her:>) Something has been trying to get into the hen house lately, part of the siding was torn off the barn around the door! Hubby covered the torn area with metal flashing to keep whatever it was from making any more progress. We have all kinds of wild animals in the woods. Will have to put a live trap out there and see what it is.

And here is some bounty of another kind. I went to an old Estate sale this weekend, the kind where you drive up and the place is some little old shack but you figure, what the heck, I'm here already! Well, this man had collected watches and clocks. Tables and tables full of bins with every kind of watch imaginable in it. You could fill a box with watches for a fixed price and I almost walked away. Then inspiration struck. I filled my little box, for what I deemed a very good price indeed, and came home and had fun deconstructing some of them. Some of the faces are in my etsy shop right now waiting for someone to use in their altered art projects, ATC's or charms. They have such interesting faces. I am sure there are a million uses for these little charmers and I have some ideas myself. You can find them here. I can see that you all had a great Mothers Day. Now have a great week! I am still working on projects for the open house. I got almost all of the bedroom painted. I just have to move the computer and desk and all the stuff in that corner. Ugh...I'll just have to bite the bullet and do it. I have so little left to do. Wish me luck with all my preparations. The clock is ticking down and I have less than 4 weeks til the big event!

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

These are some of my favorite pictures of my mother. She is holding my older sister and she had ducked into a photo booth to have these pictures taken. She looks so young and happy. I love you Mom :>)

I found this cute dress form pin cushion on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics last night. Now I have a good way to display a little bit of my vintage bling. This weekend, I am going to finish painting my bedroom. Four weeks exactly to Victorias graduation open house and a long list of to do's. Better get crackin. How are you spending your weekend?

And speaking of birthdays....

I did mention that my daughter and I share a birth month. I was 29 when she was born and 2 weeks later I had a birthday. Which means that in two weeks I will be 50. Ugh! I know, I know, I have written posts on how age is just a number and we shouldn't let that stop us from continuing to grow and learn new things ....blah, blah, blah. But... I'm turning 50 here people! 50. And it comes with a bill and a membership. Today I got an email reminding me of the churches "keenagers luncheon", I think you can guess what group that is. I have never gotten that email before. Must speak to church secretary about removing me from that list! Anyway, I'm just not sure I'm ready for this. My sweet sis-in-law has been claiming age 29 since, well, since she was 29. Now, she isn't as old as I am, but the point is that she has been 29 for so long that nobody really knows how old she is without figuring out how old her siblings are and doing a lot of complicated higher math, which means most people just give up and say she's 29. Why didn't I do that? My siblings aren't even around where anyone can do the math. I would still be 29 if I had done that!
Karla says I should make this my month and celebrate the whole time. (Happy Birthday to Karla too, she just turned 50 this week!)I'm pulling myself up by my granny bootstraps and celebrating! But I'm not going to the Keenagers luncheon.

Happy 20th Birthday Lauren!

My baby is 20 today. We share a birth month and so many other things. She is like me, and not like me. People always say "Oh, you must be Lauren's mom!" I guess we kind of look alike too. But she is her own girl, no doubt about that!

Her sister made this gorgeous cake for her today while I was at work. it is small because we had our big family party last night with all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandma. We don't need two big cakes, but it just seemed wrong to not have one on her actual birthday.Lauren shares a birthday with her Uncle! So here they are blowing out as many candles as we could get on one cake without burning down the house. Some for her and some for him. He is back in the shadows a bit so he's hard to see, but he is there:>)

Lauren has been a ray of sunshine and love ever since she was born. I don't have any baby pictures on this post because her father packed them away somewhere so he could build my bookshelf and he is at work right now, so I will just show a few pictures of her as a little girl. My little dancer.

And my little garden angel. Shortly after she was born I was at the plant nursery picking out flowers and a woman came up and said "she is the prettiest thing you will ever grow!" Well, I have two daughters and they are the prettiest things I've ever grown!

As a high school senior ...

And now in college, a young lady that her dad and I are so proud of. Happy birthday darling daughter! We love you with all our hearts:>)

Is there a more pleasant task than weeding the lavender? Each touch releases the lemony lavender scent until it surrounds you in fragrance. What a beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon:)

It's a rainy lazy Saturday. I've done some garage saleing, some much needed cleaning and I may actually take a little nap. I just popped a few more hearts into etsy, and will probably work on a few more things tonight, we'll see.I didn't have much luck with the garage sales, today all I could think about as I looked at the stuff was, " I really dont have a place to put that!" I guess it's time to do some shopping in my own home and basement and see what I can come up with to freshen things up, or else get rid of some stuff before I buy more! My one purchase was a little wicker settee for the back porch for $8! (Ok, so maybe I had a little luck!) I told my husband that if it only lasted this summer I would have gotten my moneys worth. I can see myself sitting among the flowers on it sipping coffee in the mornings:>) Ahhh, can't wait.

I am contemplating some job changes. I will be putting in for a full time job at the school. I was so looking forward to summer off but it would be a good opportunity and with 2 kids in school and the uncertainty of Earl's job, well, I feel like I need to give it a try. Of course, someone with more seniority could get it, so I may not have to worry about it. I guess I'll pray about it and leave it in God's hands. That has worked for me before. I trust that what is best for us will come to be. I'll keep you posted. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend (is there any other kind?)

Flea Market Friday

Well, here it is, my first, and possibly only flea market Friday. I haven't decided how often I want to do this yet. Most certainly not every week. But in the course of my bargain hunting I occasionally pick up something that I think is cool only to realize later that, it may be cool but I don't really have a use for it. I know someone is bound to want these though so here goes..

Stork bingo, copyright 1957, the box and everything in it is in great shape. I got these last week and didn't even realize there were two of them tied together. I am super observant, not. I am throwing a baby shower this summer and thought that even if we don't play this great game it would look so cute as a table decoration.

The bingo cards have neat-o words like, pablum, and rubber pants, and toidy chair (really) and nipples. They might even be useful for altered art projects. 18 cards, a call card, and all the little bingo markers are included. $10 postage included. SOLD

I thought these tea towels were the bees knees. I still do, so if nobody buys them it wont break my heart, but I have a drawer overflowing with towels, so for $7 postage included, they can be yours. There are three matching towels, these pictures aren't great but the towels are in excellent condition, a little yellowed from sitting in a drawer for what must have been years, but only the glasses towel has a couple teeny spots that would probably come out.

These really old hand crochet potholders can be yours for $6 postage included.
And last but not least, this beautiful vase. if you cant click on this picture you can click on yesterdays post to get a close up. I think it may have had a handle at one time but the holes make a pretty place to tie a ribbon like I did. The bottom says, Copr. Marietta Pottery Co. Marietta, Ohio.

There is a teeny chip on the inside front lip. I don't know why I took a close up because it makes it look huge but it is really only about 1" across at the widest point. It doesn't show at all with some pretty flowers and it doesn't show much without them. There is another really teeny chip on the bottom. I mean minuscule.You can actually see it if you click on the picture and make it bigger. It is on the front left hand side of the vase. See that teeny little chip? No? Yes? Clearly this isn't perfect but I think it is gorgeous. $18.00 anybody? That includes shipping.
First comment to tell me they want something gets it. Have a great weekend, I'll be posting more hearts tomorrow:>)

Happy May Day!

I would like to say thank you to everyone for the positive response to my Mothers Day offerings:>) I am working on more tonight and will have them in the shop by Saturday afternoon. I also plan on my first Flea Market Friday offering tomorrow. The vase above will be one of the items offered. Really beautiful and so pretty for a bouquet for mom. I have been hitting the garage sales today, not a lot to show for it but hubby and I had fun. This is one of his weeks off. We might as well enjoy ourselves on the weeks he isnt working, right? The lawn needs mowing and there is a long list of spring clean-up things that need to be done. I'll be working on those this weekend too. Spring has sprung and, while it is very cool here (50's) the tiny green leaves are popping out on the trees and our peach, pear and apple trees are beginning to flower. I think May is my absolute favorite month. The gardens come back to life and by mid-May you can usually count on the days being warm and sunny. Just like the kids, I can't wait to get out of school for the summer:>) I am so greateful that I work for the school system and can have time off in the summer! Well, the long list of things to do is still waiting for me, so I must go. I'll see you tomorrow with a few Flea Market goodies.