Starting to Decorate for Christmas

Cindy and I got out on the front porch today and  did just a little decorating. I want to do something around the windows as well but her boyfriend came over so we’ll do the rest later.

I haven’t decorated the front porch in a few years now so all the garlands were mashed into a large trash bag and put out in the shed from when we cleaned out her (Cindy’s) storage shed. So it was quite an undertaking to get them all fluffed out again! lol

This is what it looks like ON the porch.

Coming up the walkway.

From the side walking up the walkway.

Maybe we can work some more on it this week sometime. I’ve got to check out my icicle lights to see if they work or if some is blown. I might use some of those on the roof.

Buddy

Several folks have asked about Buddy here lately so I figured I would make a post about him. He is totally spoiled and is very hard to take pix of. Because when you sit down on the floor, he thinks it’s play time. lol But here are a few I snapped in-between pushing him back some since he was wayyyyyy too close. ;)

 

 

Hee hee see what I mean? I had several that were so blurry you couldn’t tell WHAT it was! lol

Can you see all his toys in the background? He keeps them all over the place. You can pick them up and put them back into the container we keep them in but he is NOT happy unless ALL of them are on the floor. ;)

He is a VERY GOOD dog though! Just very very very hard headed!!!!

I’ve GOT to get him to the vet and let them trim his toe nails. They do it so quickly he never knows what hit him.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I wanted to come on here and wish each and every one of you the best Thanksgiving you have ever had! I hope you have plenty of food and enjoy this day to it’s fullest!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

Lamp?

Is this shade too big for this lamp? What you think? Need your opinion please.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving even though it is a little early. As I was looking for some ideas on what to have for our lunch I got the idea to share some of what I found on my blog in case you all are looking for something else to add to your dinner or lunch. Maybe I can save you some time searching! I hope so!!!

Do you want something with pumpkin in it? Click on the underlined pumpkin. That is a recipe for a pumpkin cake roll.

Snappy Pumpkin Cheesecake? All you will have to do is click on the underlined words to get the recipes. That one looks soooooo good! I have GOT to try it!!! Read the comments at the bottom of that link because they say you can also use a graham cracker pie shell instead of the cookies. But do read the comments on each one and that way you’ll know if the recipe is a decent one or not and also some tips they give may help yours taste better as well.

 

Green Bean Casserole?

Thanksgiving Recipes?

Thanksgiving Appetizers?

Thanksgiving Side Dishes?

Turkey Recipes?

Thanksgiving Main Dishes?

Thanksgiving Desserts?  (Notice there are 76 pages of these!)

I’m Just Stuck

I want to do something to get this bedroom underway but am just stuck.

I decided to paint the floor instead of putting anything down at this point. Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up and I need the money for that now. So for now I am going to just paint the floor and call it a day. ;) My sister has said she will help me with this so it wont turn out to be a week long project of waiting until each coat dries. I’d have to move our bed into the living room until we get the floor done in the bedroom. I knew if I did it by myself it would take at least a week to get it all done and then the waiting for each coat to dry as I said.

I would put the bed in the office/sewing room but it is full of things that belong in the bedroom! I was just looking around in here just wondering IF I could move all these pieces of furniture out of here and put the bed in here for that time so it wouldn’t be in the living room. lol I’d rather have the other pieces of furniture in the living room than my bed. ;) Might have to try that! I have two very small rooms and one of them is this room and the other is our daughters bedroom which is small as well, but a little larger than this office/sewing room is. 

I want to clean out this office and get it back in order but I can’t until I get the bedroom floor done. UGHHHH so everything is depending on this bedroom getting done! My sister is sick with some kind of sinus crud and I’ve not been feeling very well either. So we’re waiting until we get to feeling better.

THEN comes the Christmas decorating. I wouldn’t ever in a million years thought I’D BE SAYING THIS BUT, I’m SOOOO CLOSE to not even decorating inside this year. It’s just too cluttered and I am trying so hard to un-clutter the place! I’m just not in a decorating mood and just don’t feel good.

I did see something I am thinking about doing for the bedroom though and I am TRYING to make my mind up IF I want to do that or a roman blind! I was looking around my sister in law’s house the other day and they made something like shutters for on the inside of their windows and she covered them in cloth. They just built a 1x2” frame the length of the window and half the width. That’s one side and the other side would be the same. And it’s just made in a square and covered in cloth of the backside toward the outside. Then she stapled the cloth onto the 1x2” board square thing. They put them on  with hinges so they would be opened and closed. I really like the look and that look would be neat for our beachy bedroom. I just don’t want anything you can see through.

But anyway I am ready to move on with this bedroom and get my house back in order. Tired of all the clutter and disarray. Maybe by the time this year is over my sister and I will have this bedroom FINISHED! YES FINISHED! LOL And them maybe just maybe we can enjoy if for years and years to come!

Look For Me

A little while ago I was working around in the kitchen and decided I wanted to listen to another one of the Gathers videos I found awhile back at the thrift store. So I put one in the VCR and started working and listening. The song that Rusty Goodman wrote, Look for Me, came on. I had forgotten about that song and had to go in there and rewind it and listen to it again. I LOVE that song and I have just GOT to tell you why!!!

You see I was raised up in a religion called Jesus Name, then Church of God and some others. My sister and I lived with several family members most of our life, from Aunts and Uncles to Grandparents. Most of what I saw as a small child was inconsistency. The reason I say that is, some of these religions set their standards so high even they can’t live it for long periods of time. No TV, no make up, no short sleeve clothes, dresses to hide the knees, and on and on and on, all outward things mostly.

So as a child I had no part in their religions. I didn’t even want a part of it when I grew up either, no religion in fact. I was against any of them because I thought they were all the same. So years after I got married and had our little girl we started going to a Baptist church and I got saved. But was confused because of what all I had been taught in these other churches. You see when one doesn’t believe in TV or having a TV when one goes to others homes that has a TV they would sit and watch the TV that they didn’t believe in having or watching. I’m not trying to judge anyone here, just trying to let you see why I was so confused with it all. I don’t remember ever sharing this with anyone when I was a child or teen. There’s several reasons why but I wont go into all that because it’s beside the point now.

Anyway this religion thinks once you sin, you have to go back and get the Holy Ghost again. They think that’s getting saved and IF you don’t get the “Holy Ghost” you’re not saved. A lot of the folks I see in these religions are brain washed in my opinion. It’s sad to me because they are making themselves miserable trying to be something they can’t consistently be all the time because they’re not God, we’re human beings and we’re going to sin. But we have to ask for His forgiveness when we do sin.

Man I would be “praying through” as they call it, 24-7 because a wrong thought is a sin, talking about people is a sin, doing something you think is a sin and you do it anyway, (like watching TV) is a sin, looking down on others is a sin. I mean I could go on and on all day.

Anyway I chased a rabbit there…… So I was so confused when I did get saved. I thought I was suppose to keep walking the aisle to get saved again because I didn’t FEEL saved all the time. When I walked that aisle the first time, I meant it, I meant it to the bottom of my heart but was so confused on all I had been taught at these other churches. So one day I walked the aisle yet again in a revival and the preacher preaching the revival wanted to talk to me later.

So he talked to me and then he opened up his Bible, something no one else had ever done before. I wont ever forget his name, Bro. Royalty.  He opened up his Bible and he told me to read this verse in John out loud and I read it and when I did, I was crying before I even finished reading the verse. He could feel the Holy Spirit in me while I was reading and crying and he was laughing. From then on I KNEW I could not go by feelings I had to go by what the Bible told me because once I asked God to forgive me of my sins, and save me I had to believe He did just that because I ASKED! But I was doubting and confused.

I got to lead 3 teens to Jesus one night at a revival meeting we had in a coliseum. Our church was helping in it and they needed folks to help with the invitation. Every one of those young teens said they had walked the aisle before. As I sat here talking to them and later praying with them the sinners prayer, I couldn’t help but think, now IF I hadn’t went through this same thing myself I wouldn’t know what they were going through.

After they prayed I told them all to write down that verse in the front of their Bibles right then because I KNEW later on they would doubt. I told them if they really meant what they said in that prayer we prayed that God saved them and this verse WAS THEIR PROOF even though they might not “ FEEL” saved at one time or the other. And when they felt like that, to go and reread this verse aloud. I had found some certificates online earlier in the day and had printed them out and we also filled those out with their names on them the day they got saved and the time etc. And they put those in their Bibles. I have thought about these 3 teens many many times wondering where they are now, and what they have done with their lives, and if that helped them like it helped me.

So WHY am I going on and on about this? Today when I heard this song, Look for Me, it reminded me of this and I felt like I needed to share this on my blog. I want to share the words of that song with you.

 

LOOK FOR ME

When you finally make your entrance to that city…

Of jasper walls and bright golden avenues.

When you behold all its beauty and its splendor,

Remember there is one request I make of you.

 

Look for me, for I will be there too!!!!!

I realize when you arrive there’ll be so much to do.

After you’ve been there ten thousand years,

A million maybe two……

Look for me, for I will be there too!!!!!

As you go down your list of firsts, there’s no question,

You’ll want to see your loved ones waiting there for you.

And when you feel you’ve shared your story with the last one.

That wants to hear you tell just how you made it through.

 

Look for me, for I will be there too!!!!!

I realize when you arrive there’ll be so much to do

After you’ve been there ten thousand years

A million maybe two

Look for ME, for I will be there too!!!!!!!

YES I will! I WILL BE THERE TO!

Thank GOD I CAN KNOW that I WILL BE THERE TO…………down here because He said so in His word!!! It’s soooo exciting and I want to scream, I WILL BE THERE TO! Thank You Jesus for helping me get that all worked out in my head and in my heart!!! You are just awesome!!

Surprise B-Day Party For My Sister

My sisters hubby and sister in law gave her a surprise birthday party tonight and invited some friends and family.

For some reason my camera pix are blurry. I noticed this the other day and I don’t know what the problem is. I’ve got to mess with it and see what setting it’s on that’s making it all blurry like this! UGHHHH

I got her this balloon last night and by tonight it was lying on the floor. So I told her it had a hang over. lol I think when the lady blew it up for me she didn’t seal it right or something. :( Anyway I had it taped to her tall package there her hubby got for her to hold it up!

This is a few of the folks there. The others were doing stuff at the bar getting it all ready. I don’t know what the folks are doing to the ceiling there. So just excuse that.

Sorry so fuzzy! This is her 3 foot lava lamp her hubby got her.

Her VERY PRETTY b-day cake!!!!

Da food. There was more up there on the bar toward the left of the pic. That cheese dip Brenda made was FINE! I could have just gotten me a spoon and a bowl! ;)

And this is the little princess! Isn’t she a doll? She was playing the piano for us. I can’t remember just how she says it, but it’s as cute as she is.

 

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

SISTER!!!!

I LOVE YOU

VERY

MUCH!!!!!

 

Old Stuff

I don’t know about you but I just LOVE old stuff! I found this today for only $3.00 and I just could not pass it up. In fact I picked it up and checked it out and then decided, I don’t need this, I have a Tupperware one and where would I store this one? That is AFTER I figured out that it MUST BE an old aluminum cake taker. I put it back on the shelf and walked away and went through the whole store with THIS thing on my mind! I had to go back over there and get it. Hardly no one was in the store at the time thank goodness or it would have been gone. I thought it was so fun! Our daughter got home from work and I showed it to her and she said, just wait until our next eat out at work! I’ve got to take this with a cake in it! lol  I’ve never seen one like this before. I’ve seen the tops of them with red handles and the ladies would sit the cake on a plate and put the top over the cake but I’ve never seen the bottom and the top together like this. I just think it’s the coolest thing!

Hubby was like, it’s beat up and bent up and I was like, Y yeah, it’s been used! lol The top was bent in a little but I pushed it back out.

Anyway I just had to share it with you all that love old stuff like I do.

Isn’t it the coolest thing?

A Good Day

Hubby and I had to go take care of some business today in town. When we got finished he asked me did I want to go to my favorite place and what do you think I said? ;) Y yeah! I had went to Wal-Mart, and my favorite place AND to Hancock Fabrics looking for some chocolate fabric to match the throw pillow I had found last week. I want to make us a quilt for our bedspread. I thought a chocolate, beige, and the blue would be pretty together. I’m thinking about going with navy blue. Got to ask the dear daughter (DD)  because I’m just not good at matching things like this.  Anyway I told hubby that I might just find my chocolate fabric there at my favorite store. I walked in there and saw a chocolate brown something and just KNEW it was the fabric I had been looking for. I walked over and checked it out and it was a shower curtain! LOL a plastic one at that! So oh well, didn’t find it there either.

Anyway I did find some really pretty things and just had to share them with you. I’ve got them in the washer now washing them all.

First I had to show you some gorgeous lamps my sister gave to me last night! I was telling her about my wanting to make a quilt and do me some old quilting frames like they used to have many many years ago. The kind you pull up out of your way in the ceiling of the living room and then pull them back down when you want to quilt some more on your quilt. I just don’t know HOW to attach the cords to be able to do it like that. I know the sides are shorter 1x2’s than the width area where you sit to quilt but don’t know how to do the cords to pull it up with. :( Anyway she told me I was born in the wrong era and I totally agreed with her.

Now to find me some lamp shades for them. I have one with fringe on it in the attic and I want to see if that one will be good with one of them. I will use them in our green living room. Thank you again sistah! :)

I found some more old linens and there is TWO table clothes I could not pass up! I think I ALSO have a problem with linens and table cloths! lol See the little Old Moss Rose sugar dish I also found? You’re going to flip out when I tell you, ALL of this was $2.14! There is 5 round crocheted doilies, the sugar dish, (no lid) small magnified mirror, several more doilies, some pretty pillowcases with eyelet edges, a beige dust ruffle which I thought was a flat sheet. It has crochet on it’s edge.

One of the table cloths,(white Battenberg) and the twin dust ruffle.

Round white embroidered table cloth. There is not one spot on this one! This thing is soooo pretty! I LOVE the colors!!

Close up of some of the crochet doilies, the Old Moss Rose sugar dish, and the mirror.

In The Pines

As you can see, I had company in the pines today. I guess he followed me up there. This is Neb our very old cat. He is 13 years old now. He’s an honoree old thing! lol Notice where he is walking, where I mowed. He didn’t stay with me long though. He went off hunting I’m sure. The white cat was also up there with me later on and she was also hunting. I guess they thought, hmmmm Mom’s mowing lets go get us a mouse. ;)

As I promised I would get some pics of our over grown woods. The pine limbs have fallen all over the place. I start mowing in one area and then there is a big limb so I have to back up and mow some where else. So I’ve been doing that for 3 days now. When I get tired of mowing I stop and pick up sticks and limbs so I can mow more. That way I can see where I am stepping to. ;) Sure don’t want to get on a rattlesnake!

See those two large dead pines there at the bottom of the pic? I couldn’t budge them they were so heavy. Those were some Katrina blew over. You can see more in the pic. Anyway I went back to the house and got me a rope and tied it to the pines and hooked the rope to the mower and it wouldn’t budge them either.  So I broke all the limbs off them that were in the high grass and then rolled them over with a fork thing and then the mower would pull them, one at a time or course. I did one more large one and got them all piled up in a pile to burn.

You can see my pile of limbs from yesterday in this pic. See all that really pretty grassy stuff? That is cogan grass. Not sure how that’s spelled. Anyway that stuff will take over and it spreads by underground roots and it will kill anything that’s trying to grow in it, pines included. We’ve got some stuff to poison it with. I sure hope it kills it on the first try!!!

That’s a large area I mowed. I went back and mowed some more after I picked up some large limbs. Then toward the right of the pic is another large area I mowed and raked pine straw. Well actually I raked and THEN mowed. I had to mow me a path from the house to this area since it was all grown up.

More spots I mowed and picked up limbs. You can see our other mower toward the top of the pic. I’ve been mowing with that one since the deck goes up higher on it than it does on the other one. That way in case I can’t see a huge limb hopefully the blades will miss it since the decks up sooooo high. I’ve got the wagon hooked to the orange mower.

See my zip lock in the seat of the mower? I put my camera in that to keep the dust out of it. ;)You can see one of the paths I mowed at the right side of the pic in the pines. They have gotten SOOOO THICK in areas I’ve got to wait for hubby to thin them before I can do anything in those areas. He has a blade for his weed eater so I’m HOPING that will work to cut those small ones down with.

There are several of the little pines that are dead. They are toward the left of the pic. I guess they are just wayyyyy too thick and it’s killed them.

I was telling my daughter how peaceful and nice it is up here in the pines. It’s so quite you can hear the wind blowing up there. Just soooo peaceful that I am thinking about putting a table or something up there so I can sit and enjoy the peace and quite! Wouldn’t that be a neat place to do my daily devotions? hmmmmmmmmmm reacon I could put a sofa up there? ;) Jus jokin’

I’ve got to chill out for a couple days now and let my back rest because it is really hurting tonight.

I really really NEED me a tractor!!!!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my tour!

Workin’ in the Woods

Yep that’s just what I have been doing for the past two days. We have a section of our property that has just plain got out of hand. I used to keep it cut but then the mower tore up that could handle that large piece of property so it’s been basically let go for a few years now. Now I am trying to reclaim it! ;) I have bruises and sticker marks all over me. I was mowing today and a rather large sticker reached out and grabbed my leg. I had to stop and get the thorns out of my leg. Man it hurt and I just knew from the way it snatched my leg I’d also have bruises where the thorns went in, but so  far I don’t. My legs and arms are sooooo sore it feels just like I’ve been to the gym. I picked up a load of limbs and sticks and I do mean a load. Then I cut the high grass in those areas I picked up and also I even got a little pine straw for the flower beds from one area. That’s another reason why I am trying to clean it up, I want to be able to rake the straw and you can’t rake it when the grass is neck deep. I need about 10 people to help me get it back under control!!!! I’ll just have to hack away at it a little at a time until I get it I guess.

So that’s what I am been up to today and yesterday. It’s been a pretty week so far and I hope it holds out so I can get some more done on it.

I might even get you all a couple pix from up there. I’ll have to bag the camera up in a zip-lock though or it will get FULL and I do mean FULL of dust! It looked like smoke up there today when I was mowing!!!

I hope you all had a good week and have a wonderful weekend to boot!

Rose

Beach Theme

I wanted to show you all my throw pillow I found a few minutes ago for 1.00. I LOVE the sea oats, the sand, the house and the lighthouse AND the sailboat in the background. Wouldn’t this be a GORGEOUS picture? Without the edge of course so it would LOOK like a pic. Oh and I also LOVE the seagull in there. I just could not pass this up. It might wind up as a pic, who knows. Also found this label maker. Wasn’t sure what it was but thought that might be what it was. Anyway it didn’t have any batteries in it to check to see if it even worked so she let me have it for 1.00 as well. I’m looking now on the internet trying to find some directions for it because I have NO CLUE how to operate it.

 

Out and About in My Yard

Was browsing around my yard this evening when it dawned on me these would be the last blooms I’d see until next spring. So I decided I’d take a few pix to share. Also I had promised to take a pic of that verbena that has engulfed the whole flower bed and everything around it. lol It has completely taken over the butterfly bush behind it. It just peeks out here and there out of the verbena. One thing about this verbena though, there’s NO WEEDS around it!!! Maybe I need to plant more of these in the whole  flower bed. ;)

I don’t know if you can tell just how big it is or not but the flower bed is a good 12-14’ wide and it’s at the edge on this side and hanging out in the grass on the other side. Oh and can you see my flamingos sticking up in there? They’re hid from it.

As you can see, the butterflies have it wrapped up. They were like ants on it this evening. Everywhere I looked there were butterflies. Some I’ve never even seen before.

And Mexican Heather…..

Red Salvia….. This stuff has bloomed it’s heart out this summer! I had caladiums in there as well but they’ve died back.

Last but not least the show stopper in the fall! As you can see this thing puts on some blooms every fall and when the leaves fall off it looks like it has snowed! Everyone that sees it flips out over it when it’s in bloom. I have 2 twigs that have came up beside the trunk I have been watching like a hawk so I can transplant them when they get big enough. As you can see from the pic below the blooms are snow white. It’s just now starting to bloom.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my yard tour. :)

Painted Dresser

  Well I got the dresser finished. I do need to put one more 1x2 on each one of the mirrors though. I don’t think one will be enough for each one of them. I took a pic of it at each angle so you could see it from both angles. I’ve got the other two 1x2 strips painted and now I am waiting for them to dry so I can stick them on each mirror. You will be able to see them when you walk in my bedroom so I wanted to paint them to match so it would look better.

Please ignore all my gallons of paint sitting on the hearth. I was using those to set the legs of the dresser on so I could paint and varnish the bottom of the legs.

I am very happy with the way it turned out. I am seriously thinking about getting me a piece of glass cut for the top of the dresser and the top of the chest to protect it.

Please do let me know what you think. I love comments! Thank you all for your advise on which mirror or mirrors to use! :) I LOVE this piece!!!!

Oh and one more thing, I know I will be asked so those things under the dresser, they are picture frames. ;) My cousin makes them and she wanted my sister and I to pick us out one and my sister gave me hers because she didn’t have a place to put it and this wasn’t her style of decorating either. I wanted them painted to match the bedroom and bathroom so I had to put one more coat of paint on them, which was done since I took the pic. Our dog would be trampling on them if they were out where he could. ;)

And the floor covering is coming hopefully next week some time. YESSSSS

 

Here is a before shot of the dresser AND the mirrors.

 

Beach Bedroom Redo

Well hubby and I went today and decided on which floor covering we wanted for the bedroom. It looks a little like ceramic tile and it’s like 6” square ones. I had picked out a smaller square like 2” but when we looked again at it, it was very thin so we went with a thicker one and it’s the 6” square one. It’s still light in color like I wanted though and I really like it better than the other one to. I can’t wait to get it put down and get everything in  order in that room! I will get a pic of the floor covering when I get it down in there. I had my camera in my purse and didn’t even think about taking a pic of it. ughhhhh They don’t deliver so I’ve got to find someone to help get it here.

We went over there since we were in town to check and see just how long the rolls of vinyl flooring was so we’d know if it would fit in the SUV or not. It’s 12’ and haven’t measured yet but don’t think it’s going to fit into the SUV. :( I HATE to bother people! UGHHHHH

Anyway that’s all the news today on the bedroom.

 

We worked a little out in the yard today. We cut down all the elephant ears, banana trees, verbena etc. All the stuff that dies back when we have frost. We still have lots to go yet. I have one verbena that I will HAVE to take a pic of for you! The thing is hanging out of the bed it is sooooo big! It’s NEVER gotten THIS BIG before! It’s much wider than a car. It sure is pretty to!!!

Then I got the sweeper and got the leaves from the yard for the flower beds. I got a bunch to but it got too dark on me and I had to quit. I had trouble seeing how to park the mower and sweeper it was sooo dark.

Well after I made this post I decided to get in there and get the coat of varnish on my dresser and mirrors. It is nice and shiny now. ;) So that is also done now. Got my larger glass lamp and sea shells out as well so I can get those put in the lamp some time tomorrow hopefully.

So it was a good successful day here today. Just soooooo happy to get some more of the to do’s done! We have soooooo many of those. lol

I hope you had a great day to!