WOW!! It's HOT!!!

Do you see that???  I don't think I've ever seen that on my thermometer....EVER!  And we are actually in one of the cooler spots in the country!!

I went out at 8pm to water my garden again (it was 90), and found my kitty.....

She is so crazy -- she insists on going outside after dinner (around 4pm)....I TOLD you it was hot, Kitty!!!  Stay in the air conditioning for once!!!! :-P  She followed me in after I was done, at least.  I hate thinking of her sweating to death outside, but you simply can't make a cat do something that she doesn't want to do.....

Remember what I said about the wall paint???  WELL.....I wasn't brave enough to buy a whole gallon!  I have had my eye on a light goldish-camel color, but I'm so scared to paint it all on and hate it (it's happened before, believe it or not....)(LOL), so I got a sample of it today.  Here's the paint card, although it's hard to tell the color, on my monitor at least.....

It's the middle color.  Of course, as I was grabbing the sample, I HAD to grab another paint sample that was calling to me, it is called Lincoln Cottage Black!  I HAD to have it.......

There they both are!  So I guess I'll paint a board that wall color, and walk it around to see if I like it.....it's SO hard to know.  And I don't know why I'm so particular about it....what am I trying to accomplish by making it so impossible to be pleased with anything??  I guess we'll see!

Anyway, I love paint colors!  A few weeks ago, I found a paint card at Walmart, of all places, and I just loved all the shades it had -- they were perfect, all these grays and neutral shades together.....

 I don't know how well the colors are showing up, but they are all grays and gray/beiges and taupes - they are gorgeous!!  One of these is the stoneware color I got as a sample a few weeks ago, remember that?  LOVE IT!! :-D

Soooo, I guess I'm ready to do some painting.....but, ummm.....if only I could figure out WHAT!! ^-^

The Oven Is On....HIGH!!!

WOW, it's HOT!!  There is a heatwave that has been baking most of the country, and today it made it's way to us (in the Southeast)!  They said it was 104 degrees today!!!  That's the highest temperature recorded here, EVER, and it's only reached 104 a handful of times in the past 150 years.....and it's supposed to get to 105-106 tomorrow! 
Now, here it was around 102, probably because we are in the grass and trees instead of tar and concrete in the city....but tonight I went out at 8pm to water my poor tomatoes and peppers, and it was still 92 degrees out!  WOW!!!

So this is supposed to stick around for several more days, and then it's going to cool off into the mid 90's!! LOL

Needless to say, I may not be staining boards outside for a little while longer!  I think I'm going to buy paint for the walls tomorrow....I'm not sure!  I can't decided if I should, or which color I should pick!!!  One thing I do know, is that whatever I decide to do, which ever color I pick....I will regret it!  It's inevitable!!! :-(
*Sigh!*  Well, I still have time to figure it out (about 12 hours, to be exact).....

So, since it's too hot to think of any kind of real projects, I think I'll post some of my past projects!

Here are some houses that I copied almost exactly from The Country House catalog.....

 Aren't they cute?!!  I love them!  I'd really like to make more of them someday!!

Let's see.....Ok, here is a bucket bench that I designed from one I saw in one of my very favorite houses, in a Country Living magazine from December 1995.  The article is "Christmas In Ohio" - I love everything in that house!!  But this bucket bench was simple enough for me to tackle, and I really wanted one! :-D
My "aging" doesn't look as good as I wanted, but I guess it's good enough - here it is decorated for Christmas......

 It would look so much better without the hideous white plastic floor (:-P), but I like how it looks in the kitchen anyway!

And last but not least, here is a table I designed for the kitchen (and Brian helped me build it) - I stained it, but now I'm thinking I want to paint it, and I have no clue what color I want it to be! (what's new??).....

I really like the design, but the problem is, I'm not sure how to "distress" something that is stained - sanding only exposed really light-colored wood!  I'm thinking of posting a question about it to the ladies on A Primitive Place -- THEY would know what to do!!!

So, that's all I have that's exciting to show you tonight.....hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to confidently post about my wall paint!! LOL
NOT LIKELY!!! ^-^

Gooey Butter Cake!!!!

Today, all I did was help my neighbor make some salsa (she had never made any before).....OH, and I made....THIS.......

Oh YUMMY!!! :-D

Emily helped me (of course!) -- this was surprisingly simple!  And very tasty!!  I want to make a chocolate version next....because that's all that this cake was missing --- CHOCOLATE!!!! ^-^

Glorious Wood.....and Biscuits!!

I've got all my wood ready now!!!!
I glued the split board and repainted the wood for the living room floor trim......

I got all my new wood boards ready for building the cabinet.....

  It looks so beautiful all sanded and smooth - I love the feel of it, with the grain and the knots!
And I think I'm going to make the cabinet from Country Sampler, the stained, one door cabinet....the wood is perfect for that one, and I think it will look the best in the spot I want it for.  I'm going to make it this weekend!! :-D

Today was a beautiful day - low 80s and low humidity....I'm sitting here with my windows open (it's 11pm) and the breeze feels wonderful!!  BUT.....oppressive heat is on it's way --  Friday, Saturday, Sunday and maybe even Monday will be in the UPPER 90s!! :-P
So, I'm enjoying this small respite....and part of that was making a yummy soup for supper tonight.....

It's Creamy Sausage Soup!!  Doesn't it look delicious??  My family loves it, and it's so simple:  mild breakfast sausage, chicken broth, potatoes, carrots, corn, garlic, onion, herbs, evaporated milk....that's it!!

I also made Cheddar Biscuits - SO YUMMY!!......

We had these at Red Lobster the one time we got to eat there, and they were my favorite part of the meal!!  I just HAD to find a way to make them myself!  And here they are!! :-D  The only problem is that everyone loves them so much, I always only get one!  One of these days, I'm going to double the recipe!! ^-^

Little Jobs....

I did a little of everything today! (except dishes!! LOL)
I painted the floor trim that we planed and sanded.....

That's only one coat - it dried in minutes in that sun!!  I am going to fix some cracks and knots that are on them tomorrow, then paint the second coat.  I'm running low on this paint!!!  I'm trying to make it last, because I only need a little bit more, and I don't want to buy a whole quart for just one piece!!  Let's see, I need one more coat on these, plus the little trim pieces to go with these boards (like quarter-round pieces), plus a few more strokes on the front door -- do I have enough.....???

Ummm......uh-oh!! LOL  I am determined to make this much work!!  Well, I can always use a sample container for the quarter-round pieces.  The only problem with the samples is that they are all satin finished paints....I prefer (and USE) flat or eggshell -- the finishes won't match!  I THINK it will be ok to use it just for the extra trim pieces, they might be too small to show the difference, but I can't use them for much else, SO....this has to last! :-P

I absolutely LOVE the smell of paint!  When I opened this can and stirred it up, the smell was such a happy smell....does that make any sense?? LOL  I think it's because I really love paint and painting.  Every time I've opened a can of paint, I've been in a happy, excited frame of mind -- fixing something and making it look better!  I also love paint colors, I can never decide on my favorite, I love them all too much!! :-D

After the painting (which actually only took about 10 minutes), I finally planted all my basil!  These are all from my seeds (except the purple - that's from the Farmer's Market)......

The smaller plants are my marjoram and oregano!  Those are from seeds, too, and they were soooo tiny when they first sprouted - I wasn't sure I could keep them alive....but now look at them.....

Marjoram is one of my favorite herbs for cooking.  I also use it in my canned tomatoes, for a special flavor!  It's so expensive as a fresh herb in stores, and I can't find the plants for sale, either.  Last year I bought a plant online and had it shipped here - that was about $8!!  So this year, I had to try seeds....and it worked!! ^-^

Another Weekend Over.....

Wow!  Weeks really go by quickly, don't they?  Do you realize, this is the last week of June??  JUNE!  Wasn't it just Christmas??  It seems like only a few weeks ago I was visiting my family up in Mass!!!  Yikes!  It's kind of scary, right?!  It certainly unnerves me!!  And I hate it!  I want days and moments to last longer....not be over before I can fully be IN them!  I can't imagine how it is for other people -- my life is so quiet and small (for the most part), how fast is time going for people who rush around, have lots to do, have large blocks of time taken up by outside responsibilities, etc?? 

As much as it's speeding by, I really do love my little life!! :-)

Ok, so we planed the trim boards yesterday - they came out great!!  I sanded them after too, and now all they need is paint....

 I'll do that tomorrow!

 Here is a Before/After, the original finish is in front.....

....see how smooth they are now?

I also painted the last ceiling trim board, in the living room!  My neck and arm muscles were burning by the end of it (it's 10 feet long!), but I managed to paint it all with almost no "goofs"....you know, paint splotches on the ceiling or wall....LOL!  Good job, Lisa!!  I didn't want to bore anyone with a picture of "paint" (again), so I'll wait to show you guys when the wall is repainted and stenciled -- THAT will be something to see! :-D

I put up a curtain panel that I'm thinking of hanging in the living room, and I think I like it.....

It's not as pink as it looks in the picture - it's more rust-colored.  Obviously I need to hem them, but I'm not sure what to do.....should I make them 3 feet long, and pull back a shorter panel (I definitely want a "pulled back" style in here)??  I could just hem them to the sill, and pull back a long panel....?  Part of me wants to just BUY curtains that I like and hang them up, and be done with it!  But I simply can't do that while I have perfectly good, free curtains already!!  So, here I sit, stumped!  :-P

In the meantime, (as the curtain still hangs there!) today we were back at Lowe's, and I wasn't going to get wood, but THERE it was, just piled on the floor, with that oh-so tempting sign next to it ("$1.44 each") -- how can a girl resist, I ask you?! -- SOOOO....I grabbed 7 more of the rough cut wood boards!!  I want them for the cabinet I am going to build for the kitchen....now I have them!! :-D  It's funny, because I'm not really ready to build the cabinet, but I HAD to have the wood!
Anyway, I'm not even sure of the style I want for it -- here's the original picture that I wanted to duplicate.....

This is in the back of a Country Sampler magazine (I hope they forgive me for showing it here!).  I love this cabinet, and I can see exactly how to make it, too.  I'm still actually leaning toward this style the most, the rough wood would be perfect for it.

BUT.....never one to make a decision easily, I also saw THIS cabinet in A Primitive Place magazine, and now I wonder if I should make it this style......

Of course, this one on the bottom is painted, while the one in the top picture is stained.  And the boards I bought wouldn't work as well for this bottom one, either.  They could work, but it looks like 1x12s and 1x10s are what should be used.  I do love the double doors, and the contrasting paint colors inside and out.  But I love the simple design of the first cupboard, and the aged-stained finish.  I could also paint it instead (I was thinking about gray).  So here I sit, THINKING, and nothing else......I'm sure whichever one I decide on, I'll make it and then immediately regret it and wish I made the other one!  Hahaha!!  I am NOT kidding!! :-D

UGH!!!  (Exactly how many "ugh" posts do I have already?? LOL)

Well, anyway, the new week begins!  I hate when the weekend is over and Brian has to go back to work, but I love the feeling that I won't be going anywhere all week, that I'm STUCK here, in my home, until next weekend!!
And something great is that after this week, Brian has his vacation week!!!  I'm very excited about that!  Of course, he's already been warning me that he doesn't want to see any "wood projects" during his vacation!! LOL  We'll just see about that! (*cue evil cackle!*) ^-^

The First Crop.....

Here it is, the first pick of vegetables from the garden -- peppers!  There are three kinds here, as you can see, and actually the green bells are supposed to be yellow before they are picked, but this always happens with my bell pepper plants -- the first fruits are always too large for the smaller plants before they turn, so I have to pick them green.  They taste the same, whatever color they are, so I don't worry about it!  And the plants will be able to handle full size and color fruits pretty soon, so this only happens in the beginning of the season.  I HIGHLY recommend growing pepper plants, if you like peppers -- they are so easy to grow, they produce heavily (I always have a freezer full of peppers all winter long!), and all you have to do is buy the plants you want from Lowe's or Walmart or wherever!  Easy-peasy!! :-D  I have never had any problems with purchased pepper plants, I've always been very happy with them (unlike the tomato plants....).  This year, I planted one yellow and one orange bell, Cubanelle (LOVED those last year!), a Fajita bell (supposed to be mildly spicy), Poblano, and those skinny ones in the basket (can't remember the name), also spicy -- Brian loves the spicy peppers!!

I love having peppers all winter for my recipes!!!  And I use a bunch in my canning recipes too!  Last week, some frozen, chopped peppers from last year saved a supper that I threw together at the last moment -- it was chicken breast sprinkled with garlic and onion powder and Italian seasoning, and a can of crushed tomatoes on top, and I tossed in a few handfuls of chopped Cubanelle peppers that were in the freezer, and it was DELICIOUS!!!  It was even better the next day in sandwiches!  I was surprised how yummy it was!!  I'm definitely making that a regular meal for us!! :-D

SOOOOO.....today we finally got to Home Depot, and I looked at the tile I want for the kitchen floor....*SIGH!!*  I hate waiting for it!! :-(   Here is a picture of it on the rack.....

You can't tell from the picture, but it's a gorgeous red color!!  I want to get the size on the bottom right - it's 16 inches square!  I'm trying to talk Brian into buying one box each week (for $30 a box -- DO-ABLE! :-), but he doesn't think that's a good idea.  He's probably right.....we need 10-11 boxes, plus cement boards for underneath, plus mortar, PLUS grout!!!  So his thought is, why waste $30/week to have to wait for the rest of the money to get everything else....I suppose he's right....blah, blah! :-P   So it's going to definitely be when we get our tax money back next year, which is actually only 6 months from now (WHERE did all THAT time go???).....I guess I can wait until then!  I'll just have to get as much of the rest of the house done as possible by then!! :-D

We went to the thrift store today, too.  We had the kids with us....my boys are pretty annoying there, but my daughter loves it!  She picked out some clothes for herself, and I got myself a few sleeveless shirts for summer, too!!  Here's our booty.....(LOL)

Almost everything was one or two dollars!  Except there was one shirt that I LOVED, another woman had it, but left it on a rack at the register, and it was my absolute favorite style for a shirt, but.....it was $6!!!  Oh, I had a very hard time deciding if I wanted to pay that much for a shirt, when I usually won't even buy a $3 shirt for myself.....I really just cringed every time I started to put it on the counter at the register!  I DID get it, though.  I didn't want to lose it, I can never find this style of shirt for myself, and I love it so much!!  But I still feel a little sick and ashamed for spending that much on a used shirt....well, here it is......

I LOVE it!!!  I don't know if you can see them, but there are ties just below the bust line, and then the shirt flares out underneath -- that's my favorite style shirt!!  And I keep telling myself, this was probably a $15 shirt brand new, so I got a great deal....no need to be regretting it! ^-^

One Color Down.....

Well, I did it - I got the hallway ceiling trim completely painted today!!!  I filled the nail holes with wood putty, and painted two coats of paint on them, and they are DONE!!!!

Remember this picture?.....

Here it is now......

The color matches alot better in regular lighting!
Oh, PHEW!!  Haha - now all I have to do is the red doors and trim, then the wood floor.....THEN I'll be finished!  The great thing is I'm still feeling pretty motivated to do all this stuff.  I really do want to get started on the wood floor - it has many steps, so I could go along bit by bit, and it wouldn't be hard, or time-consuming, or expensive (which is the only real thought I have about it - the MONEY! lol).  We'll see!  I'm sure I'm just one neat crochet pattern/picture away from making a complete stop on the house and starting a new project!! LOL  That's ME!!! :-D

And when I got up around 8:00 this morning, all the little birdies were gone, off the porch.....they weren't even around the yard!  I could hear the parents chirping in the woods behind our barn, but that's the closest I came to seeing them.  Good luck sweet birdies!!!!! :-)  I'm a little sorry to see them gone so fast, but that's how they have to do it, I'm sure -- little flightless birds are easy prey for anything, so I guess nature had to make it quick or we wouldn't have any birds, right?!  As a little farewell to them, here are a few more pictures I took of them last night......

What fun that was!!!

So this weekend, I am going to try and work on the floor trim in the living room, and like I said, try to get the first boards for the wood floor in the family room.  I have to repaint the living room walls - they are all smudged and marked (why wouldn't they be, with these crazy kids I live with!)(it's still better than if they didn't live here anymore! :-), and they aren't painted the right color either.  Of course, I can't decide what color I should use (of course!)....I'm trying to decide if I should use a creamy color, or a darker tan color....hmmm!!  I want to "age" the walls too, so I don't know which would be a better base for that, either.  I found a picture of my perfect "look" I want for my walls, it's from a house in an Early American Life magazine......

 Isn't that so cozy looking??  I LOVE it, but I'm a little scared to do that in here....will it be too much?  Her house is 200+ years old, mine is a 12 year old manufactured ranch... :-(....am I going to far out there with that look??  I might start in the library room, and see what it looks like -- that room can handle walls like that!  *Sigh!*  It looks like old parchment!!  SO gorgeous!!! ^-^

Little Birdies!!!!

There has been some major excitement around here today.....the baby birds are out of their nest and fluttering and hopping around the back porch!!!!!  They are SO cute, they have feathers sticking up and when they itch themselves with their feet, they lose their balance! :-D  I can't stop watching them through the back door windows.....of course, I have to stand back a bit, because the parents are still bringing them food and they can see me in those windows.

I took a bunch of pictures, I couldn't stop! LOL  Puppy could see them through the doors too, and she was barking to be let out there -- a flying, moving toy....what fun for her!  Sorry, Pups, NO WAY!!

This is what I first saw when I looked outside the back door.....

 There are four of them there, if you can see them -- two are hiding in Puppy's toy on the shelf here (one is behind the stringy rope).....

This little guy kept wobbling on this too-thin perch - those squares are 1 inch wide (so you can see he's TINY!) :-D.....

 So tiny and fluffy and cute!!!.....

 I decided to try and sneak out and grab the dog food bowls (because we obviously won't be feeding the dogs out there today!), and they started fluttering around for real (as I got the bowls and left quickly)....they were good at it!......

 

Then, they were just doing it for fun - this little guy made it all the way up here!.....

 
Exploring, exploring......

This one is just on the other side of the window I was looking through.....we were looking at eachother! :-D.....

After all that, it was time to fluff up and relax....

.....and wait for a snack.....

(right after I took this picture, one of the parents came and popped a little bug or something right into his mouth!)

.....and stretch and clean up....

.....and look around some more.....

.....and finally take a much-needed nap!!....

OH, they are TOO CUTE, aren't they?!!!!  I have this urge to hold them in my hand and pet them!!  But I know that would probably give them a heart attack :-( , so I would never.....I guess I have to be satisfied with watching and picture taking -- SORRY if there are too many!!  Hahaha!  I won't post anymore (unless they are cuter!) -- they won't be here much longer anyway, I don't think....maybe just a couple of days.  I'll keep the cat inside, too, just to be safe, and keep the dogs on leashes.  This has been so fun!!  I'll miss them! ^-^