A Smile for This Sunday Morning

I just found a new blog
that makes me smile...

I love when that happens!

This post shows pictures of the  

cutest cottages in Southport, NC.

After reading through her blog,

Three Pixie Lane,

I just had to share her with the rest of you.

Thanks Christie for making me smile.


A smile is just what the doctor ordered,
at least for me. But for my son-in law,
a kidney is what the doctor has ordered!

Not much news about whether I can

donate a kidney to my dear son-in-law.

He will be starting his dialysis this week.

Thankfully, he will be doing this at home while he is sleeping. 

We still need your prayers.

I hope you enjoy your family

on this beautiful Sunday!

Spring Fever!

I have to admit that I have been in a total blogging slump. Not posting... and not even visiting my bloggy friends.

Besides dealing with my ongoing wisdom tooth/sinus problems...

 I've had Spring Fever!

I have taken advantage of the last six weeks of nice weather and have been working in my yard. We are still not sure if we are still moving to Palm Desert or staying in Texas.

Either way the yard will look nice.

I hope to get some more pictures up soon.

~~~

Anyway... while I have been neglecting my blog, and everyone else's, it was so nice to find that a blog friend hasn't forgotten about me.

A while back Mimi, from In The Middle Of No Where, posted a tablescape that showed blue goblets. I commented to her that I had found one at the GW, and would love to find more.

Well... that lovely lady went out and found two more, and sent them to me along with these lovely napkins!

How sweet was that?!

Bedding, Curtains, and Whine...

My Springy Laura Ashley Sheets.

~~~ 

Thank you to Sweet Chari for hosting Sunday Favorites. Please visit her over at

Happy to Design.

She has a list of all the other bloggers who are sharing some of their favorite posts.

So be sure to go and visit them too!

~~~



This post was originally written on
August 16th 2009.

At that time I was "late" in trying to
finish up with my Spring/Summer
bedroom project.





Well... it is still not completed.

In fact I never even bothered to put
on the Winter Bedding, even though
this was one of the coldest, snowiest
winters here in Texas in years!


Anyway... here I am setting myself up
once again. I will do my darnest to
finish this one project. Really.

Nevermind that I have three chairs
sitting in the garage waiting to get
beautiful new dresses.

Or the wonderful GW pedestal kitchen
table that will one day be painted black,
or white... or maybe by the time I get
around to it, another color will be
the must have color.


Yes, I love to get ahead of myself.
Starting new projects (in my mind)
before finishing what's on hand.

I wish I could be like "Martha",
and have a whole entourage to actually
do all my projects for me.


I sooo want to be like the rest of you.
Posting on a daily basis with the most
wonderful, fantastic "finished" projects.

(How do you do it???)


Hmmm... maybe if I didn't spend so much
time visiting all of you, I would be doing
my own projects!?

(Don't worry folks, I am addicted to you!)



Hope your weekend is a good one!

~~~

August 16, 2009

My Spring/Summer lamps.

As you may already know... I started a master bedroom bedding and window treatment redo two weeks ago. I have a perfectly fine Winter set, but I wanted a lighter feel for the warmer months.

So... here it is August already,

and I still haven't finished!!!

But... that's not the worst part...

Being the procrastinator that I am... I had not purchased all the panels that I needed. So of course Walmart decided to put the curtain panels on clearance ... and now they were all gone!!!

I had enough for the windows but I also wanted to make a bedskirt out of them. So I spent two days going to four different Walmarts before finding the necessary three panels.

~~~

Now I just have to decide what kind of skirt I want. {I just tucked the window panel in between the mattress to get an idea of how it will look}

This picture shows
a gathered skirt

with vertical stripes.

This picture shows the stripes

going horizontally.

~~~

I sure would appreciate any ideas or opinions from any of you talented ladies :)

I will make the skirt longer (20-23") so that it will come up higher and there will not be a gap where the coverlet and skirt meet. 

~~~

Okay now... back to the curtains.

Yes!  I am cutting them in half.

I will explain later.

I have two narrow windows on either side of my king size bed and of course they are not centered...

{Yet another "thank you" to the builders}

Although my bedroom is not enormous (15x14) it is not as small as it appears in this picture. Those are not night stands... but good sized chests. I have a large armoire and a Secretary desk on wall opposite the bed.

I have extended the rod to give

the appearance of a larger,

 centered window.

~~~

I had a pair of burgundy panels up already and just needed the  one panel for the middle. But... I still want it to have the look of two panels.

{or it would tend look look a shower curtain}

So I cut it down the middle and I may add a trim to the leading edge.

So this is what it looks like...so far.

I think the burgundy panels are

a bit too scrunched???

The bedskirt will finish the look.


I hope to get it done soon.
(before I change back to my Winter bedding...)

~~~

Edit April 18, 2010:

I am obviously afflicted
with decorating ADD.

Spring Pillows that are SEW Pretty!

These pretty Spring inspired pillow ideas 

are from Better Homes and Gardens.

Yes, I am still having camera issues,

but wanted to share something

with you anyway.

I hope they brighten your day.

Enjoy!

Aren't these colorful tulip pillows

just too darn cute?!

The next pillow is "slipcovered"

with linen napkins.

This stylish tweedy pillow reminds

me of a pink Chanel suit!

Is your name Madison?

These last two pillows reminded me

of one of my favorite blogs,

Cozy Little House.

I think this colorful little yoyo pillow

would look at home anywhere in

Brenda's "cozy little house!

Years ago, in the 70's, I had a box

full of old yoyos and cut circles

given to me my my mother.

She had just moved out of her

home and into a mobile home and

just didn't have room to store

extra boxes of "old stuff".

(She was in her mid 60's and

lived to be 97 years old.)

Anyway, they were made out of old

dresses in small prints and calicos.

They were from the 1920's and I

believe she and her sister made them.

Well since I was in my 20's I just

didn't understand their value...

and so after we moved a few times

I was "convinced" to give them up them.

I am not even sure what

really ever happened to them.

Were they tossed or given away?

Such remorse... and guilt!!!

Best Easter Wishes!

I just wanted to join in on some of the Easter fun that has been happening here in blogland.

Between not feeling well and camera issues, I just haven't posted much lately. Too bad, because I have oodles of Easter decor, dishes, and bunnies!

Of course I have BUNNIES...

I have a wisdom tooth that has been acting up. Yes, I am an almost 58 year old with all four wisdom teeth! That may explain my "sinus" problems this spring.  Maybe even this  darn migraine thats been hanging around for the last week! [edit: I got a dentist appointment for Tuesday morning]

My camera just froze up and Hubby's camera dosen't like me, so I haven't wanted to post any pictures lately. Please just play along and squint to focus on the "not so clear pictures".

~~~

This is the dish shelf in my dining area.

I like to change it out for the holidays.

These dishes were purchased at

Cracker Barrel a few months ago.

I just couldn't wait until

they went on sale.

I love the texture.

See how the colors and shading

match the little bunny box?

Aren't those the cutest little

bunny salt and pepper shakers.

I picked up the bunny boxes

this year at Homegoods.

The little eggs cups match the dishes.

I wish I'd waited until they were on sale.

They always do right before the holiday,

 but I was afraid not all the pieces

would still be there.

I even got a matching coffee/tea set!

Each cup has wonderful detailing

just inside the rim.

I love my little Faux Goodies.

All 100% calorie free!

The sugar cube tongs were my

mother's. I didn't polish them

because I thought they accented

the little bird nest topiary...

and yes, I'm lazy.

The little sugar cube is also faux.

I got the bird nest topiary at the GW

for 2.00. I just needed to add some

moss and ribbon.

Wow... It appears that a rare lavender

feathered bird has layed some

pretty little eggs.

The wooden Easter sign is from Ross

and the egg garland is from TJ Maxx.

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter!

I Just Needed A Change

I just needed a change!

I have been quietly trying to improve my lifestyle. I have known for a long time that I needed to, but let's face it... I am a procrastinator and just plain lazy at times.

I had a health scare two years ago. At that time I had to make some changes to my diet. I even lost some of the weight that I had gained when I moved to Texas. Texans like  love to eat. It seems that every parking lot, of every restaurant, is full every hour of every day.

Something had to give besides my belt...

or by this time, my elastic waistband!

Then I got inspired.

I happended to find a great blog. Kelly's blog, Much To Do With Nothing is chock full of the prettiest slipcovers projects ever! You will want to visit her if you haven't already.

But there is more to her than meets the eye. She has another blog dedicated to the awareness of the mistreatment of animals. Thanks to her I am now living a better lifestyle... and doing a small part in helping animals to do so also.  Thanks Kelly!

I have been changing my eating habits.

This has been surprisingly easy to do. I look and feel better. (Hubby is doing the same... but of course he has lost more weight. Isn't that always the way it goes?!)

I am now following a mostly an all vegetarian diet. Here is a good website on becoming a vegetarian that you might want to check out.

Sometimes I do have eggs that are from free range chickens. Occasionally a bite or two of chicken, that is also free range and fed organic grains, and a little fish that is caught wild.  I might have these once every few weeks or so.

When I do, I want it to be good.

By that I mean a few things. Of course I want it to taste good, but also be environmentally friendly and not have hormones, antibiotics, PCBs or Mercury.

I found a website that is helpful.

Environmental Defence Fund. It as some good info on lots of different environmental subjects, but today I want to share their article about good and bad fish.

Since fish oil supplements are so good for you,  you might want to check out this list of the best fish oil supplements and the ones that contain PCBs.

We are what we eat.

It's true. What we eat shows up in the way we feel and look. If we eat unhealthy food products, we will be unhealthy. Processed foods may last almost forever... but it doesn't work that way for us! It will not only shorten our life, but reduce the quality. You might want to see the movies Food Inc., and Supersize Me.

It is also true for animals.

Most animals that are produced for human consumption are unhealthy. They are not only raised in an unhealthy (inhumane) manor, but they are given an unhealthy (unnatural) diet, drugs, and chemicals.

There are a small growing number of farmers who are trying to do it a better way. But most are "factory farms" run like big companies who just think about their "bottom line" and not about the treatment of the animals... or even our health. Kudos for the farmers who are trying to do it right.

I don't want to eat sick animals on drugs...

do you?

Are you a concerned adult?

If you want to understand more then take a look at the Farm Sanctuary website. It is not a gory TMI website, but it is sad and disturbing. It lets you learn as much or little as you want. It is you choice on how much you will view. It is not a shock site.



Then... if you can handle more, go to PETA. I won't give you that link. You will have to do it yourself. It is "hard core" and may be a bit radical at times.

I know...

It is easier to just look the other way,

but being unaware of a problem

dosen't make it go away.

Taking action will.

~~~

ALSO...

I have to work on SUGAR.

Sugar and bread (pasta is not so bad) enter you system quickly and raise your sugar levels. I have an addiction to it. After going "cold turkey" I actually lost my desire for it. But... one slip up and the craving are back. Remember that sugar is hiding everywhere!

Sugar is just plain bad for you.

Not only does it make you gain weight, it will contribute to your chances of developing diabetes. Once you get diabetes you really have to change your eating habits! If that doesn't worry you, then  maybe this will... sugar makes you age faster. It will age your body, brain, and your face!  Hello Mother!

Okay, now go have a nice day!