Winter is Here!

How are my blogbuds? Hope everyone had a good weekend. Here in SE Pennsylvania, we had our first teensy weensy snowfall. Actually, it was delicious. It was cold, the snow (such as it was) was enough to cover the lawns and windshields, and I loved every second of it! I was out doing some errands when it started, but then when I got home, I curled up with a nice cup of hot coffee, a good book, and just enjoyed it!  Of course, now it’s  all gone, but the cold has remained, and I hope that winter has finally arrived.

I must admit, though, that I already miss the autumn! The trees  -- that were so beautiful and lit up in golds and reds only a week ago—are now bare. Oh my, what a fast season! It seems that it arrived slowly and ended quickly!

I’ve been busy with work, but still finishing up some decorating. I don’t know how I could have possibly lost my box of Santas, but then again, I’d need to be crazy to move every box around in my closets – I’d either end up with a concussion or a mess!!  I found some time on Sunday to even get to a redo.

In rummaging thru the closets (looking for my Santas), I came across this --

Since I’m not a summery kind of girl, it just wasn’t used because it didn’t fit into anything prim. I redid it with some paint, and now it’s this:

Filled with holiday decorations…

and the big hairy boy checking it out! (sorry for my sock getting in the way!)

Let’s see… what else have I been putting together?

(what a face, huh?!?!?)

Back to business…

I filled one of the goodies I brought back from my trip to Emmaus back in early November with some greens and candles..

Found a small string of tiny colored lights that I added to my mantle. Hard to see in this pic, but it looks sweet in the darkish living room. Here’s a view with darker light --

I did find my prim Santa who is watching things from my living room wall…

Oh – and I picked up this adorable pillow at a small craft barn near my office.

And this little bad boy stays out all winter.

And a favorite prim stocking hanging in the dining room…

And that’s it so far! Just little touches – nothing too big. I just love seeing your beautiful homes on your blogs!! Wow, they are just fabulous!

Well, my dear friends, I guess I better grab some dinner before it gets much later! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

~Terry

What a week!!!

There is another side of the flu epidemic – flu clinics!! Here is southeast PA, the vaccine has arrived and the agency where I work has been contracted to supply the nurses – like, 200 RNs!! As the manager, I have spent the entire week driving all over two huge counties checking in at every site. Very organized, but thousands of kids coming thru each school site in a  just a few hours. Very organized, very orderly, very crazy!! I was at 5 different sites just today, driving over 100 miles in the nor’easter – yesterday was the same. I haven’t been able to keep my eyes open after 9p this week – and my legs – OH MY!! Sore!!  (ok, so I am an old lady!!)But, the good news is that I was able to get my seasonal flu shot on Monday, and my H1N1 shot on Wednesday – what a relief. I’m lucky that as an RN, I was able to get my H1N1 vaccine – the counties may not be be able to do the adult general population until mid December. So, that’s why I haven’t even been able to check out all of your blogs this week – just exhausted! Even my laundry basket full of folded clean clothes has been sitting in my living room for 4 days. Maybe now I’ll be able to get things back in order, because next week… I start it all over again!!!

I wanted to show you some of the things I got when I went up to Emmaus last weekend. I mentioned some firkins…..

How much do I love this firkin??? What a bargain at $10.  Already primmed in mustard. And how about this one….

(before)

 

and after….

And, let’s see… what else… check these out holders for $10 a piece. Can you believe it??

The textiles were an Aunt Daisy purchase, but the 2 small holders (already primmed!) were at the antique mall  down the street from Aunt Daisy’s that was telling you about. The seller is moving to Virginia, so everything in her booth was 50% off. Great timing on my part, eh? Will show you them again once I get my decorating started…. and I’m thinking about what to do with the textiles.

This is what the old furrball does while I’m working my butt off… what a life. LOL.

Good luck to everyone doing craft shows this weekend… we’re having some awful weather here with wind and rain, but there is a flea market down the street tomorrow morning that I just may have to visit!

Hope  you’all have a great weekend. I just want to get some rest!

Ahh, November!!

"Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable, the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown
along the street or road by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese. 
Both are warnings of chill days ahead, fireside and topcoat weather."
-   Hal Borland

November is one of my favorite months. I know it gets dark earlier (the only element of November I’m not too fond of!) but there is something about November I just love. The leaves are now almost off the trees and are crisp underfoot, it’s frosty in the mornings, and there are a few special days coming in November that are special to me.

Most importantly, my mom’s 97th birthday is on Thanksgiving Day—what more can I say? I am so thankful that well into my 50’s, I have a mom who is elderly, yes – but fiercely independent, sharp as a tack, sometimes stubborn, and just plain fun. Anything I can do for her and with her is a true pleasure and honor. She still lives in the house I grew up in, does her own things (mostly, like laundry cooking, etc). I help her with the stuff she can’t do anymore, and she is an inspiration as I get older myself. I am so lucky to live close by and run over whenever she needs anything. I took this pic on Mother’s Day as we walked along the river.

And, as I often mention, I am a Kennedy fanatic, and “the day” comes every November 22.  Any of us of a certain age remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on that day 46 years ago. It speaks to the event of the JFK assassination that nearly 1/2 century later, it still feels like a recent event to those of us old enough to remember those awful  four days in late November. Our lives changed after that day, and the reverberations still effect us all these decades later.

And, I adopted my long-whiskered fur ball in November just about 4 years ago.  I had originally thought to get a kitten right before my other sweet cat died suddenly the day before Halloween. Oh, man, I was shocked and heartbroken when Bad Boy (my other coonie) just walked into the bathroom, laid down, and just died. The vet believes he had a stroke.   When I got to visit the breeder about 3 weeks later, she was adopting out Ozzy, who was already an adult cat. We just bonded, and that day, my very large and furry friend came home with me, and he’s owned my heart ever since. I knew she’d place the kittens easily, but an adult cat – well, he had my name written all over him.

So I love November, for all the special days it brings.  How about you? Is November just the beginning of the colder months for you, or do you find special moments in it?

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I finally had a chance to do some thrifting yesterday, even though it was pouring rain all day. I had the itch, but, sad to say, not much there!  I picked up a few little things I’m worked on, but like a real dufus, I forgot to take the ‘before’ pics. I was trying to do about 10 things at a time, plus watch the Phillies game last night (oh –so –PAINFUL!) but I can show you the end result. I also picked up a really nice piece of wood (probably was a light-weight cutting board, but bigger) and I’m going to try to make a sign from it. I have to start by finding where to get the stencils – so if anyone can help on that score, leave me a comment!

No trick or treaters last night – it was pouring all day, and the ball game was postponed until 9:30 or so. So, the kids couldn’t go out on that weather – and I know they were disappointed. My mom has bowlfuls of candy…gee, wonder who will be eating all of those chocolate bars? (Not me!!!!)

 

This little wooden box was only 50 cents…

 

The candle holder is ok, nothing great…

And that was it! Nothing exciting. But – next weekend, I will make another visit to see Judy  in Hereford, PA and  make a stop at Aunt Daisy’s in Emmaus – so wooowooo—I’ll be bringing home lots of goodies then, I hope.

Well, it’s time for what I hope is a better Phillies game tonite than what we suffered through last night! Ok, we can do it, right?!?!?!

Have a great 1st week of November – and – thanks to several new friends who are following my blog!

Phillies are rockin tonite! (I hope!)

We are having a cool  rainy evening here in the big city, and how nice it is! I guess about 99.9% of the Philly-ites are patiently waiting for the first game to begin (like in the next hour in NYC, only 107 miles away). Yes, indeed, I think even a sports-dork like me who doesn't really appreciate a golf-ball from a hockey puck has Phillies-fever. Here’s an interesting sign of the times – everyone is worried that ‘if’ we win the series (which of course we will), there will be another crazy parade, and no one knows who will pay for it, cuz the city sure can’t afford it. You go, Phillies!!!

I don’t have too much to share with my blog buds this fine evening. It’s been a very busy few days—another sign of the times –short staffed and more work.  So, I was thinking that this time last year I was immersed in crafting goodies for the holidays, and now I don’t have the time to do any of that.  I am doing second hand crafting by enjoying all the great stuff the rest of you are doing! You guys are something! So talented!

Hope to have some tweaks and some goodies in my next post.  Grabbin some popcorn and off to watch the game!

 

Some redos...and Go Phillies!

 

 Hey Blogbuds!

I’m trying to learn how to use Live Writer (not as easy as I thought, but not too bad) so if this post looks like a mish-mash, forgive me. I had no idea that the Live programs were free downloads!

After a winter weekend, we are back in summer! It’s in the 70’s here (a little tooooo warm for my taste!) but I must admit these are beautiful Fall days. Gives me energy to do stuff in between some long hours at work.

Every October, I look forward to my favorite catalogue from my pals at Circa Home Living, and this year’s catalogue certainly didn’t disappoint! Some really fabulous stuff in here, and I love to just linger over it. I know what my next purchase will be, but I need to wait until I have the money to buy it!!

 

 

All I can say is YUM YUM!

 

We had a little “Night for Nurses’  the other evening that my company sponsored  and there were some fabulous vendors there. I saw this little candle holder pumpkin and I just had to have it, especially because it was 1/2 off the regular price!

 

 Speaking of candles, my order of McCall's tart warmers came in and they smell delicious.

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I had some paint left over from the hutch project, and didn’t have the heart to toss it, so I re-painted the other make-do in my dining room. I really love this color!

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Finally, here in the big city everyone is going wacko because of the Phillies win last night! We’re back in the World Series for the 2nd year in a row!        

Go Phillies!

So, that’s my news---- nothing too exciting! I haven’t had the chance to get to a TS in ages. Maybe one day next week….

Have a great rest of the week, friends!

FALL REDO (pt.1)

Hi Blogbuds~
Before I get to the good stuff, I wanted to let you all know that my biopsies were fine and any and all 'suspicious' cells have been removed! So, I have a new incision to show off (!!) but all is well, Thank God, and I thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers. It was a little scary, and a reminder that we need to always be vigilant.


And then there was....another redo.....

Labor Day, huh? Well, yes indeedy, I certainly 'labored.' In fact, I've been 'off' all week and used the time to declutter-- sure, I would have rather spent the week in the Caribbean or something nice like that, but that will need to wait until I'm back to earning my full salary! Sometimes I need a few days to just do the fall cleaning, declutter all of the junk that accumulates, and get organized. So that's what I did. I repainted my home office (FINALLY!!!) and (I'm embarrassed to say) filled up 2 trash dumpsters with junk, PLUS took 6 boxes to the TS to donate!!! And that doesn't include the furniture and book cartons that I dumped in my mom's garage!!!! So, after, yes, count them...5 days of cleaning, painting, hauling boxes and furniture, redoing and rearranging, I'm done!!! Tomorrow is my trip to see Judy at Cinnamon Stick as well as my long-awaited trip to Aunt Daisy's!!!! So, once I bring home some new goodies, I'll post "part 2" of my rearranged living room as well as my new goodies!!! We are expecting a rainy day here tomorrow, but who cares?? We're off to Hereford!

So, first, after I removed an indescribable amount of junk, I emptied the room and repainted. I used a color this time -- a warm chestnut.

(hmm, need to do something with the electric cords, huh??Not sure what, tho!) Any ideas?

The room is small (as you might remember from past efforts!) -- this is the other side, and under the window. It's FALL!!! I need to get a better pic of this display!!

Here's the dining room display, with the furrball checking it out.

And I did this little pumpkin with some paint and candles. It was an old cutting board that came out of the 'junk' -- except that this had potential!

Isn't it great that Fall has finally arrived (more or less!) and that we can take all of our Fall goodies out of storage? I love this time of year!!!

I'll be back soon with Part 2 (a MUCH roomier living room) and all of my goodies from our trip tomorrow! Like my redo of my bench in front of my sofa!! I like it so much I'm using it as my blog pic!

How's everyone? I'm sitting here watching "Meet the Press" -- all this economic mess makes my tummy churn, so I'm balancing out the tension by showing you some fixin's I did yesterday. I was really busy with work this past week, and had my conference on Emotional Intelligence on Friday, so I didn't have much time to do anything fun. I hope to get out today to some TS -- I still haven't changed all of my clocks, so maybe I had better do that first!! My cable and my computer change automatically, so I know what time it is -- but, man, am I a lazybones today!

Ok, let's see what I did get to do. I painted my 4 drawer thingie I had in the bathroom last night after I took my mommy home. (such a cute little mom I have!). The drawer thingie was hunter green, and for some reason I just am not fond of that color any more. I don't want everything black, but green??....ech. So I painted it this color. It hold 4 rolls of toilet paper -- living alone, I CAN'T run out of toilet paper!!!! (I haven't trained the hairball to bring in a roll yet. LOL)

And I moved my box with washcloths...

In the bedroom, I'm so happy with the new bed cover.

I love what this cover does to change the tone of the room! I'm really getting into these fabrics, but they are expensive, so I have to be selective. Might get something for the dining room next, but will save my pennies first. I have a little project in the BR that I have to finish today. I'll show you tomorrow if I can get it done. Did some little things in the kitchen...and the breadboard... (btw, you know I made the 'breadboard' out of the top of an old cocktail table, right??)

I found this little piggie breadboard in the TS for 25 cents about 3 months ago... cute. Just did a little painting. And speaking of Hide and Seek (were we speaking of that??) I covered all of the wires in the kitchen... with this... I love old crates. They are great fpr cover-ups!

Finally, I brought some color into the dining room, based on that great penny rug I got last weekend. A few mustard accents...
Of course, I couldn't leave you today without a glimpse of a new furry rug. (well, he's big enough to be a rug, right?? LOL) Ewww, and he's just so soft on your toes! It's 70 degrees out there today, so I'm off to hit the TS. I'll see you tomorrow -- maybe I'll have some goodies to show you! Have a great Sunday! Enjoy the first taste of Spring! We still have some cold weather coming!