Little Birdie Excitement

Today, I was sitting next to my window, and I heard alot of fluttering and chirping, which I barely noticed.  But then, there was a pretty hard thwap against the screen which startled me (and the cats!), and suddenly a little bird hopped up into the bush next to the window!  It was a little Cardinal fledgling!!  It was so cute - I think it was a "she" - and I could see her parents close by and flying down to the bush, chirping encouragement!  It was very exciting!!  I took a bunch of pictures....I couldn't help it!  She kept hoping around that bush, and twisting her little head, watching me....I wanted to pet her!! LOL

Isn't she cute!?  I couldn't get the parents, because they didn't stay in the bush for very long.  I keep thinking about her and I hope she's up in a tree safe now!!

AND....we DO have a real nest on our porch, which I wrote about in a previous post, it's not a decoy nest!  I hardly see those birds now, but this weekend one flew into the house for a little bit (I had the back door open).  And last night when my cat was sitting on the back porch, I heard this loud squawking from outside the porch.  I brought him in, and decided to step up onto a chair to see if anything was in the nest.  I had to use a mirror, because the hole is so close to the roof!  As I stepped up onto the chair, I heard a little scraping/scrambling sound in the hole, and then after moving the mirror around carefully, I saw three little eggs in the nest!!  WOW!  I don't have an actual picture, because I didn't want to frighten the mom any more once I realized she was in there, but here is one from a bird website, this is exactly what they looked like.....

Aren't they precious!?!  It's so exciting!  Now we are staying off the porch so they aren't disturbed.  I hope they hatch!! ^-^

Thank You, Baby!!

Look what my husband did for me today, just out of the blue!
Here is our hallway end, before.....

And here it is AFTER......

He put the door trim up finally -- YIPEE!!

Of course, now I have to paint it! LOL
I wonder if I should paint those doors the dark red, or would it be a mistake?  What other color should they be then, if not the red??  Ugh!  These decisions!!

Well, I'm just glad he finished trimming the doors!! ^-^

More Surprising Treasures!

We went to the thrift store today, and I spent some time looking around for the treasures that other people seem to keep finding....instead of simply glancing down the isles at the junk and moving on. Don't get me wrong, there were mountains of junk, it was almost depressing as I poked through it all.  But, I DID find some things!  Imagine that!! ^-^

This 6-inch tall, paper covered mache box was 40 cents!!  I am thinking of painting it and stenciling it, but the pattern is starting to grow on me....maybe I'll just stain and distress it??

Look at this strange basket....it's even taller than the picture!  There is a hanging loop on top of that wrapped end.  This was $1.20, and was in a group of ugly, random baskets piled high on a shelf....I wasn't sure about it, and truthfully, I'm still NOT!!  I wish the basket-bottom was more flat, that would make it look better to me.  But I figured I couldn't go wrong for that price!  I think I'm going to paint it!

This is my favorite purchase.....

 It's a twig wreath, made of real twigs, with lots of ugly plastic things glued to it!  So I clipped off the ugly stuff, and hung it on the front door!  It cost $2.42!!  Here are the ugly things, they don't look so ugly now, I might actually be able to use them for something....

 And here it is on the front door -- what an improvement!!

You can't see in the picture, but it has some tiny red balls scattered in the twigs, and they look great, really subtle!  I just can't believe I got all this for $4.00!!!  WOW, right?!!! ^-^

FUN, FUN, FUN!!!!!

Look what I got!!!

 This wonderful crock only cost me $20....it's SIX gallons, look how huge that is!  I NEVER thought I'd have a chance to buy a crock like this - huge and with handles (I love the handled crocks)!!  Of course, that makes me naturally question if I bought a piece of junk!  But I don't think it is AT ALL.....it's very heavy, it has a nice patina around the top edges, and the wooden handles look old -- but with all that, even if it's a reproduction, it's too nice to care!  I can't wait to find a place for it!!

And here is another find.....

This one has a funny story:  almost three years ago, we bought this wagon (in a box) for half-price (I think $30), but we were in that store to get things for our trip to Massachusetts in a few days....so we set this aside until we came back.  And I don't remember much about it since then! LOL 
So Brian was moving things around in the barn yesterday, and THERE it was!! 
We immediately decided to put it together.....

So, I'm very excited about these finds....now I'm looking for the PERFECT place for them!! ^-^

Here Is What You Get.....

Here is what you get when your 13 year old daughter asks if she can cut the watermelon and eat as much as she wants, and you leave her to do it alone because you are painting trim in another room......

WHAT A MESS!!!

So while that was going on, I was painting the trim in the living room (NOT where the wallpaper is) - this is trim that has been up for four years or more!  I guess it's time, right?!  Painting trim is SO tedious.....it's such a small area, but painting it seems to take forever!  As I sit here looking at it (right next to me), it looks so good finished - doesn't everything? - now I need to paint the wall!! LOL  Actually, I really do want to paint the wall, and then add that wonderful "aging" over it....if I can figure out HOW to create that look.

I took a picture of the tomato plants this weekend, look how they've grown.....

They are doing GREAT!!  They have lots of flowers on them, and even some little green tomatoes!  Oooooh, I can't wait!!!!


Yesterday, I read a blog post that summed me up exactly.....

"With all the busyness, my house is a disaster, we have been eating take out and bake pizzas and I forget a zillion things to do each day.  But my family is very patient with me.  I realize creative souls like myself are "special challenges" for those that love them.  We are disorganized and forgetful, messy and chaotic.  But, despite it all, my family still loves and supports me.  I worry every now and then that one of my son's may someday submit my name to the "Hoarders" show!  LOL!"

 http://pastblessings.blogspot.com/

I hope the link works, there at the bottom.  She put into words exactly what I am like!!  After reading that, I felt alot better about what I put people through around here -- constantly having half-finished projects cluttering up our living space, having to be reminded over and over to do the laundry ("Mom, are my jeans ready?", "OOPS!  I'll start them right now!"), having my poor husband knocking over one of my piles of "stuff" on the island while he's trying to make himself a sandwich, keeping random things that normal people would throw away (I have two large tin cans hidden in the back of my cooking pan cabinet, who could discard those??  I'm sure I can make something out of them!).....oh, I could go on and on!!  My husband is very patient with me, he NEVER criticizes or insults me - sometimes he will give me a little lecture about how I should "write things down", or "throw this away", or my favorite, "finish this project before starting a new one"; but he has never made me feel bad about being the way I am....I feel bad for him! LOL

But she put a name to WHY I do these things -- I am a Creative Soul.....I like that!!  It sounds so much better than what I call myself! LOL  A Creative Soul.....it sounds romantic and admirable, doesn't it?! 
Well, now that I know she's a kindred spirit, I am obviously following her blog!  I wonder if she's a Libra, too..... ^-^

It's Not FAIR!!

Oh, the unfairness of it all!!!!
Look at these......

They are all about $200 each!!!!  I LOVE THEM!!!  I can never have them....NEVER.....it's SO UNFAIR!! :-(

Now look at these gorgeous crocks.....

The first one is listed for $527 and this bottom one is $587!!!!  What are they made of....solid gold???  They are so beautiful - I WANT them too!!  Especially that first one -- WOW!  Oh how I would love to have that gorgeous pottery in my hands! 

*SIGH!!*  NO FAIR!!!! 

Of course, once I do get a treasured object (usually 1% of the cost of those!), I set it aside and don't display it until I find the "perfect" place for it.  Remember my stoneware pitchers?  They still aren't displayed! LOL
Yup, that's ME!  Hahaha -- kind of ridiculous, right?  I know, I know....I am working on ME all the time so that what I do makes sense, but it's a process! LOL

Today, Brian had a doctor's appointment and we spent the rest of the day afterwards waiting for the pharmacy to fill his prescription (I guess they were behind from the holiday) -- but actually, we enjoyed ourselves.  It was fun to sit together and walk around that store together, just us!  I love being with him, no matter where we are!!  He is funny, and I also love how I can make him laugh with my humor; plus, he loves to be physically close to me (hugging, holding hands, letting me hang on his arm!), which is something that is like food for my soul.....does anyone GET that?  I know Karen does, at least!!  Not my other weirdo sisters!  Hahaha!! 
Well, anyway, we had a fun day together!  And then, while I made supper, he did the dishes for me....!!  Ok, that's better than the food-for-my-soul thing, right?!!! LOL

Tomorrow, I need to get back to puttying and painting the trim! ^-^

Small Projects....

 FIRST ~~  I want to take a moment to say "Thank You!" to our brave soldiers and veterans - all of them - for what they have done and still do for my freedom and that of my loved ones, and my whole country.  Being World War II-obsessed since I was a girl, I watch shows all the time that point out to me what has been done for our country that I have benefited so much from, and I am so truly grateful, from the bottom of my heart!  And a special note to my brother-in-law Bob Johnson, thank YOU for your time serving in Iraq, and for being a loving husband and father to the sister and nieces and nephew that I love so much, and for all the wonderful things you have done for me and Brian and the kids!  I am proud to have you as part of my family!!  We love you!
********************************************************************

Today was fun.....we did very little actual work on the house!  We did clean off the back porch - well, Brian did most of that, but I stood there declaring what could get stored in the barn, and what would stay.  Oh, and also what should go where -- these are very important jobs!!

After that, he took me to Hobby Lobby, just like I wanted!  YAY!!  I looked at the dried naturals.....I love them all!  I wanted to buy a few bunches of them, but I remembered (with Brian's help) that I have at least three bunches here at home that I haven't displayed yet, so I decided to wait.  Then, I saw some terrific new baskets!!  Wow - they were great!  BUT, they weren't on sale, and they were alot of money - like $20!!  So I'll be sure to keep checking on them.....I really want two of those for sure!!

I stopped at fabric, and simply COULD NOT make a decision about what I had, what I wanted, what looked right, what I should get....it's very difficult for me!  I love so much.....so if I buy something every time I am moved by it, I regret it....and regretting spending money is awful!!  I want to stay primitive/colonial -- were those flower-patterned pumpkin colored fabrics right???  *SIGH*
So I put the bolt back and decided to wait.  I DID get a half-yard of osenberg?....osnaberg?....muslin.  It's SO raw and primitive looking!  Maybe I'll get started on a sampler?? ^-^

Next was my favorite place -- the mache boxes and unfinished wood!  I want all of it!! LOL   Well, what I ended up getting were two oval boxes to stack on top of eachother.  They are the perfect thing to put my new paint sample on that I got - Earthenware....who can resist a color called that??

I also got an unfinished chest of drawers, it matches another one I bought a couple of months ago.....

See, now I have two!!  After getting the first one, I was going to paint it, but a different idea seized me - I want to double them up!  I'm going to glue them together, and then cut the two top drawers in half and make four smaller drawers; THEN, I'm going add the little white knobs that are in the plastic bag there - they are ceramic and old!!  I got them from the Habitat For Humanity store years ago, waiting for the right thing to use them on -- now I think I have it!  So, we'll see how this goes....it's kind of ambitious!


Later in the day, we worked on the cheap TV cabinet that we moved a couple of weeks ago (did I post about that??), when we cleaned up the living room, and I started painting the unfinished trim in here (from 4 YEARS AGO!).....

Anyway, it needed "legs", because it used to have rollers, but those were obnoxious so they were taken off right away.  This cabinet is CRAP - I should just throw it away, but I can't.....I can't throw something away that I can USE....does that make any sense??  Haha!!  Maybe I'm just a hoarder!
So, Brian drilled holes, and we used dowels and glue, and now it has legs.....

I'm not sure they improved it!  I wanted them closer to the outer edge, but the screws for the doors were in the way....maybe I should have used square legs??  Ah well!  I am going to paint it and "distress" it, and see what I have then -- maybe I'll like it?  ^-^

A Dreamy Weekend!

I have basically spent this weekend dreaming -- looking at blogs, looking at favorite pictures I've saved on my computer....OH!  and looking at my NEW old magazines!! Haha!  On ebay last week, I bought 16 old Country Living magazines from 1990 and 1991 - you know, back when they were GOOD - and I've just started going through them.....*sigh!*

Oh, LOOK at those covers....!!  I have already found some very special pages in the first few I've looked through (see the post-its sticking out? lol)  I'm about to continue with my browsing, but I wanted to stop in and talk about me doing nothing....LOL!

Well, I've painted some of the wood trim I puttied, and I bought some better wood putty, my favorite actually.....

 This stuff is so much better, it's easier to use, sticks to the wood more than my finger (!!), and fills the holes the first time I apply it!  So maybe it won't take me as long to get this ceiling trim finished this time!!
 I haven't been feeling great the past couple of days, my head has a dull ache I can't get rid of, my throat feels scratchy and "coated", and my sinuses burn....maybe it's allergies.  Brian has been complaining of some of the same things, so probably we both have them!
Brian also rebuilt the pool pump of our neighbor, he's spent a few hours on it!  So we both kinda have a feeling of "we'll get to it next weekend" about the trim!!  I guess THIS is how it ends up taking so long to get projects/rooms finished! LOL

Tomorrow we are going to Hobby Lobby!  LOVE that store!!!  I want to get some dried flowers, fabric, mache boxes, maybe some unfinished wood, look at the baskets.....oh, the possibilities are endless!!  I'll take a picture of my "treasures" and post it tomorrow night!

Those magazines are really calling my name..... ^-^

My New Tool....

Here it is....my new tool that I am working with.  The problem with this tool is that it doesn't actually make the work faster, in fact it takes FOREVER to use it!!  But use it I must, and all over the place!  YIKES!!  Why does Brian have to use so many stupid nails?? LOL

Well, I've worked for a few hours, and I have one room puttied (is that even a word???) -- got that....ONE ROOM.  *Sigh!  It's going to be a long weekend!!

OH!  And the weather is getting very hot - near 90 today, and the rest of the weekend will be the same - I've got to get the beans in the ground!  Also, I've lost two more newly planted tomato plants, but it's not from the heat, yet....  At least I have 10 more in reserve!! LOL

Brian is home!!  I love when he is with me!
I don't know how much wood-work I'm going to get out of him this weekend -- he is helping our neighbor who bought a new pool pump and can't hook it up herself.  It might take him the whole weekend.  But he does have FOUR days off, so I might get lucky.  And actually, I have enough to do already, he can take a weekend off! LOL

Now to pick up my new tool again..... ^-^

Planting Day!

I did fine today!  I felt mostly myself.....the frustrating thing that did happen was that while making my To Do list last night, I forgot that the kids had dentist appointments this morning -- OOPS!!  That put a bit of a dent in my agenda for the day.....we were gone until almost lunch!

Well, after lunch and dishes, I grabbed my tomato plants and headed up to the garden.  The little plants had been left in the rain last night, and all the potting soil was washed away in about half of them!  So when I saw that, there wasn't a question about my motivation -- I didn't want to lose any of those plants!  In the garden, I lost two more of the newly planted seedlings during last nights downpours.  We were supposed to get more rain and storms tonight, but we barely had any clouds (another MISS by the weathermen....), and I'm GLAD -- the little plants I put in the ground today looked pretty fragile when I was done, and I was worried I could lose them too, if we got lots of rain again tonight. 

So my tomato planting is finished!!  I still have to mulch (huge job!), and plant beans, but I'm saving both for the weekend.  I DID make cookies today too, after I was done planting (I told you I was mostly myself!).  There was no time for any kind of indoor work, but tomorrow I am blissfully stuck at home - YAY!! - so I'm planning on at least puttying the wood, hopefully more!

I wish I took some pictures while I was up there, but there just wasn't time.....tomorrow I will!! ^-^

A Little Better

I felt a little better once I got started on dinner, moving around and doing something.  I even started cutting and wrapping the caramels!  That was actually fun, like I am a candy-maker!! LOL.....

Do you see how much caramel is left in the pan?  I'm going to have LOTS of caramels!!  I'll have to think of something to do with them all.....

So right now (it's 11:30pm), it's raining pretty heavily.  That's good for the garden, so maybe I'll have a little motivation to work out there tomorrow....we'll see!  I get like this for several days most months, so it's probably not over yet.

So here is my list for this week:
1.  Plant the rest of the tomatoes and mulch
2.  Plant the beans
3.  Wood putty the nail holes in the trim, and PAINT
4.  Decorate my shelf (!!!)
5.  Make simple curtain panels
6.  PAINT the living room window trim
7.  Make a large cutting board (like I saw in Country Sampler)
8.  BAKE COOKIES!!!  **this one should be number 1, we are out of desserts!
Oh, and  9.  Cut and wrap the rest of the caramels

We'll see how much of these I can get done, hopefully at least two or three of them tomorrow!  I'm a little crampy right now, so I'll probably be "blah" again tomorrow, but I'll try to fight it.
Of course, there's always the Picture Trails again..... ^-^

Crash.... :-P

UGH!! 

Well, due to unfortunate hormonal fluctuations, there will be a suspension of our regularly scheduled activities.....BLEG!!!  I was ok, I even made a list last night, excitedly planning what I was going to do today/this week, and then.....this morning came.  I even felt slightly motivated first thing in the morning, but that faded quickly after I made breakfast.  I had to force myself to do the few dishes that there were.  Now I'm just sitting here, with NO desire to even THINK about my house, my garden, cooking, posting pictures, sewing curtains (that was on my list, too)....I can't even muster up a sentence that has an exclamation point at the end.....

**sigh**

I AM enjoying going through picture trails again.  The only problem with that is that I keep finding more - every one picture trail leads me to two or three more....lol.....so now I have MORE pages open on my computer, not less.....I just hate this feeling....! (I had to squeak that one out)

So, blah, I have to start supper soon.  Good thing I got all the laundry done last week, THAT would be difficult.  OH, I hope this feeling goes away, it's just awful.  I have all these things I want to get to, all these plans I made (excitedly) over the weekend, I hate to just waste a whole day....

I'll post again tonight (my usual posting time), hopefully with the good news that I've shaken this off....:-P

Happy Day, Happy Day!!!!

He did it, my dearest husband did it.....he put up the rest of the 1x3 trim boards in the hallway!!!  Hooray!!

As you can see, he also put the side trim on the doors, so he could then put on the last of the little trim tops....

Remember that in the older pictures??  DONE NOW!! (it's a little dusty in this picture)

We had trim pieces left, so he started some in the living room entry.....

THANK YOU, Darling!! :-D
He was saying that although it's the last thing he wanted to do today, it DID feel great to see things getting finished.  He's right, and I'm so glad to hear him say that.  I want to see it finished, too, and I'm willing to get everything prepared so all he has to do is the heavy work....it isn't simply "just" putting trim up, though!  There are always things that go wrong, adjustments that have to be made, wrong measurements, etc; it can take hours to trim out one room, so I know why he resists....I don't blame him!  I'd rather be outside in the garden too!!  But we've waited SO LONG, it's time to get it done.  And we are!!  YAY!

The wood that we used for the door trim was some of the same cheap 1x3s I got before at Home Depot, only I got this at Lowe's yesterday.  It was great wood!!  I was so happy with it, and it was only $1.35 per 8ft piece - that's terrific!  It's about the same as the Home Depot pieces, and in much better condition - no planing needed on these pieces, just a quick sanding and ready to hang.  I'll definitely be buying those for my wood trim needs from now on!

YESSSSS!!!!!

Can you see what this is???  It's my TRIM, going UP!!  I love seeing, even with this first wall being trimmed out, how much of a difference those boards make -- it is truly being done.  Well, we have the hallway left to do, but we'll do that tomorrow!  Then of course, there is the right side hallway trim, which isn't 1x3, and the FLOOR (can't forget that!), but so what!??  I am SO happy, what a difference....

 And I'm really happy about how the paint color turned out, it really matches as well as it could.

Here is my view from my night time seat on the couch....AAHHHH!!  How nice that looks finally! (except the door that still needs another coat of paint! LOL)

I love it!!! ^-^

WOO-HOO!!!!

Oh, my goodness, I got to go to a PRIMITIVE shop today!!!!  WOW, just WOW!!!  It was so exciting, because I've never found one so close to me before!  They are always hours away from me -- this one was in Shelby, about 30 minutes away.....it was WONDERFUL!!!  I wish I took a picture of it, but (as usual) I forgot to bring my camera.....

Anyway, we spent almost an hour walking around there, looking at all the delightful things....!!!  So many things on my ebay watch list were there - hahaha!!  I bought a very neat wreath.....

Puppy is checking it out, too!  I'm not sure where I want to put it, yet, but I had to have it!!

But the BEST part is that I found the Spring issue of A Primitive Place magazine!!!  HOORAY!!  I was so excited - they had tons of great magazines, too, that I can only get online.  I got to look at quite a few 2011 Early American Life mags too, and now I'm glad I didn't waste money buying them - they have great articles, but not very many pictures....I've GOT to have pictures!! ^-^
Here is THE BEST magazine of it's kind.....

Now I have a collection.....!!

Oh that place was wonderful!!  I have many plans for future purchases!!  I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep from going there every week! LOL 

After we got home, I felt really inspired to get my house ready for all those treasures (!!!), so I got started on the living room, and Brian joined it and we cleaned up our TV area, and set up the cabinet that I've had ready in here (for months!).....

I was too embarrassed to take "Before" pictures!!
I also wanted to change the curtains, so Brian put up the blinds that I bought months ago (again!)....

If you look closely, you can see that I still have to finish painting.....  Yup, that's right....remember I said I have trouble finishing things???  *Sigh!
I got the shelf put in the spot it was made for....

Now I need to decide what to put on it.  My pitchers, and mache boxes, of course.  Hmm...what else?

What a super-fun day!!! ^-^