SCORE!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and a good beginning to the week. I had a good weekend. Went grocery shopping for most of us at Walmart, came home unloaded and then went to HyVee for the gluten free stuff for Abby. Came home unloaded and went shopping to Kohls for Dan's birthday. They were having a big sale and then there was the early bird sale and on top of that I had a coupon for 30% off so I scored big time. Pretty much got the man a new wardrobe since he says there is something wrong with our closet. According to him when the clothes go into the closet they fit but when he takes something out to wear they are too small. I don't have the heart to tell him it's not the closet. I also bought some things for Amy for college while I was there and I found something I wanted for our anniversary that is coming up. Got home from Kohls, told Dan about it and made him go back with me to look at it. He bought it but I don't get it until August 2nd. :( But here's a hint, it's sparkly and comes in a small box. After Kohl's we headed to Lumber Liquidators. We had to look at flooring for Dan's parents so while we were there we also looked for the family room. Found some I really liked but no way in hell heck can afford and found some that Dan liked but I didn't so finally we compromised on one but it's still slightly out of our current price range. Too many medical expenses coming up. It was fun to look though. After that it was off to the shop cuz I left my cell phone there on Friday. Then I was supposed to make Dan his birthday dinner: fried chicken, potatoes, cream gravy, corn on the cob, biscuits, fruit salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert (all his requests) but sweet man that he is he knew my hip and ankle were hurting so he said we could put off dinner till Sunday. Sunday came and we had a lazy morning while waiting for the thrift stores to open. We had a successful treasure hunt, found some frog vessels, here is one Dan picked out:

Found some red transferware to go with my already existing red transferware. Some are chipped but I don't mind.


Had to bring these poor tarnished silver pieces home. The patina is awesome on these so I'm not sure I want to polish them up.
This coffee carafe might seem like a strange choice for those that know me and know I don't drink coffee but again I just thought it was a cool piece and I loved the patina. I just need to find a home for it now. Since I moved the little dresser out of the dining room and into the family room I can't put it there. Would have been a good place for it though.

The ladies working at the thrift store were oohing and ahhing over this black and white cup and saucer. They had apparently overlooked it or they would have bought it themselves they said.

And finally, Dan thought this piece was cool so we brought it home too. It'll look great in the kitchen I think.


Dan has been watching American Pickers lately and he was all over a pair of vintage sprinklers. He was practically foaming at the mouth and going on about how he could turn around and sell them like the guys on AP. They wanted $4.00 for each sprinkler which I thought was a tad high so told him we'd go home and research them and if they were worth anything he could run back and get them. Research showed they sell for $4.00- $16.00. Mostly the $4.00 though so he opted not to go back for them. I didn't take my camera with me, or I would have taken a picture of them. We had a good time and are looking forward to going again.

Abby had strep throat again last week. By the time she thinks she might be sick she's really sick and this was no exception. The Dr. told her a couple more days and she would have had an abcess again. He's sending her to the ENT to have her tonsils out. Why they didn't do it when they removed her adnoids years ago is beyond me. I remember saying I would prefer it if they did but the Dr. at the time didn't think it was necessary.

Adam booked his flight home for Labor Day. He's still working long days but he was able to go bowling with the guys from work this weekend and then he went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls so at least he is getting a bit of relaxation in.

I've been stitching on three different projects so not a ton done on any of them but I'll share anyway. Last time I showed my progress on Golden Ice it looked like this:

Now it looks like this:
I started Plum Street Samplers Hare's Christmas cuz it's just so darn cute!

And I have had The Stitching Lady by Homespun Elegance in my stash for a while now so I started her too. Not sure I am crazy about the fabric or the floss on this one but I wanted to use what was available.


Thanks for all the wonderful comments on the family room. I appreciate the kind words more than you know. Meari, I'll hunt down the picture I have of the treadle in it's before state. When I do I'll post it for you. That's it for now. Need to go start some supper and then it's So You Think You Can Dance night.

Thanks for stopping in, leaving comments and just being who you are.

Take care and have a great week!

Julie

Family Room! WARNING: Picture heavy

As promised, here are the pictures of the family room but I need to point out a couple of things. First, excuse the dust, fingerprints, misc. dogs and other things that I didn't get taken care of before taking pictures. Second, my camera really doesn't like indoor pictures so excuse the grittiness of some pictures. Third, I do not like my carpet, I would like to put in a wood floor but I spent my wad on a crown for my tooth so we must live with the carpet for a while. Fourth, I am not thrilled with the fireplace , the brick and the wood color annoy me. We are in discussions as to what to do with it. And finally, I'm still tweaking things like what is on the top of the treadle sewing machine, haven't found what I am looking for, mostly because I don't know what I'm looking for! LOL!

Got to thinking last night that maybe a before pic would be nice.


After:

See that lovely green carpet? It really needs to go. Even an area rug would be better. We would also like a small coffee table but so far I haven't seen one I really like.

Starting on the left side of the room as you look at it, you'll see my Grandmother's Antique Rocker. It's a lovely shade of baby poop green but I haven't located an upholsterer that comes highly recommended here in town and I don't want just anybody touching it. I kind of snookered away from my aunt. She lived with the grandparents and when they passed it was supposed to come to my mom. It didn't. So one year shortly after Dan and I were married I called my aunt and told her we didn't have the money to get mom a Christmas present and would it be okay if we came to Sioux City and picked up the rocker as that is what G'ma wanted. She couldn't very well turn me down at that point and I wasn't lying. We didn't have any money for gifts that year. Mom was very happy to have the rocker but after several years passed she decided I should have it so it's been in my house for about 13 years. You can also see an antique dresser in the picture. Dan and I bought it years ago at a 2nd hand store and Dan refinished it as it was in terrible condition. It's been in the dining room for many years and prior to that it was in my bedroom. Quaker Diamonds likes her new home there. the amber colored plate and covered dish are courtesy of Goodwill about a year ago. The lamp is one of a set that we bought a couple of years ago. It's kinda big but somehow, I really like it there. The curtains and sheers are new, both from StuffMart. The sheers are really cool, almost like cheesecloth. Great texture. The sign above the windows says "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. A sentiment we should all learn from.

Here's another shot of the dresser and rocker.

Moving around the room, I'm still looking for pillows for the sofa. It needs some . Badly. The armoire was gift from Dan several years ago. On the top are some quilts and quilt tops. One of them is an antique quilt top that my great-grandmother was making. She never finished it. I have the template that she used for cutting out her pieces. The others are tops I have never finished and then there is a store bought quilt up there also. The cardboard stars were bought 7-8 years ago at a store called Gordmans. Used to be called the half price store. I liked it better then. They didn't think it was a classy enough name.

Moving on to the fireplace, I am really over the whole orangey oak wood and I have never liked the brick with the oak color. Dan doesn't really want to strip the wood and darken it which is what I would like to do so it will most likely remain the way it is.

On the mantle is an antique oval portrait. While I would like to say the 3 kids in the picture are relatives, I would be lying. I have no idea who the kids are. My neighbor across the street bought the picture at an auction and he didn't want it. I thought it was pretty cool so he gave it to me. The sconces and mirrors were shiny brass and relegated to a drawer in the little dresser I showed earlier. A little spray paint and some new candlesticks and they work great with the picture. The cream color plates were purchased at Stuffmart a year or so ago in the clearance aisle. The transferware plates were also purchased a year or so ago from TJMaxx. The little cream colored pitchers and silver dish were thrift store buys about a year ago.

Can you tell I like balance in my arrangements? I try and try not too but that's just the way I roll.

On the left side of the hearth is an old sewing machine purchased at an estate sale about 10 years ago. The framed quilt block came from a quilt my great-grandmother made. It was literally in shreds so I cut out 5 pieces that were still somewhat whole and framed 4 of them up. I kept one and gave the others to my siblings. I don't really think they cared one way or another but someday I thought they might. The 5th block is laying on the sewing machine. I realize it doesn't go color wise in the room but I like it anyway.

On the right side of the hearth we have a bunch of dried grasses? Sticks? I don't know what to call it. I bought it new a couple of weeks ago at a store here in Papillion called the Weathered and Worn Store. Pretty neat stuff they have there. I could do some serious damage if I had any money! Sitting in front of the sticks are some random books from our library and a black tin my sis-in-law gave me many years ago. In the tin are vintage threads and spools, needle threader, tape measure etc....I picked them up at a garage sale earlier this spring.


to the right of the fireplace is my stitching corner. You saw a picture of it a week or so ago I think. I've tweaked it a bit since then.

You can't see it very well in the picture but there is a little table on the side of my chair that Dan and I picked up at an antique store about 10 years ago. On top of the table is a book I'm reading, one of my flower frogs, and an antique wooden box that folds out and holds sewing machine bits and pieces. We bought it at a thrift store an number of years ago. Cool huh?



The lamp was shiny silver but spray paint took care of that. The shadow box was bought last week at the Weathered and Worn store. The cream pitcher was purchased at TJ Maxx a couple years ago, the picture, again of no one I know was an antique store buy and the 2 glass jars are from my cupboard and full of buttons from my button box.

The quilt holder in the corner behind my chair was bought on clearance at Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago. It's actually supposed to be folded in half and it has shelves on it but I unhooked the chain and straightened it out and voila! Instant quilt holder! The top quilt is a store bought quilt, the yellow quilt is antique purchased in Fremont Ne. at an antique store a couple three years ago and the bottom quilt is one my grandmother made.

See the butterfly? The whole quilt is covered with them. I can remember looking at all the different ones when I was a kid and picking out my favorites.

Coming over to the west wall is my treadle sewing machine. It was white when Dan and I bought it at a garage sale a few years back. Dan refinished it and it is beautiful! I'm not sure what I want to put on the top of it. Eventually something will trip my trigger but for now a bowl I have works for holding all the remotes. Everything on the wall above the sewing machine was bought at the Weathered and worn store. I started this whole room with that picture and now I am not sure it goes with the rest of the room. Maybe a bit too primitive. Some say yes and some say no. What are your thoughts? I can't hear you. Did you fall asleep?

Almost done now, the computer desk area is all that is left. The mirror is a few years old, like 8 I think. I added the wreath which was on clearance. The antique phone was bought in Wyoming when we lived there. It was painted white and again Dan refinished it. The guts aren't there but we hide a cordless phone inside.

The little chest on the desk was bought on clearance at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago. I dry brushed green on it and added labels on the drawers. The stone-look saying is one of my favorites purchased 2 years ago and the lamp base was bought at StuffMart. Shade courtesy of Weathered and Worn.

And that my friends finishes this tour of the family room. You probably know more than you ever wanted to know about my stuff! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm quite pleased with myself as I did not spend much money on the re-do. It was something of a surprise to me how much I was able to pull from other rooms in the house.

I've been stitching some but this is long enough for one post. I did want to answer Meari's question about whether Adam has recovered from his broken heart. Sadly he waited in vain for a call from the girl the entire time he was home. She had called him earlier in the week and begged him to still be her friend. He thought she would call and want to see him while he was home. I felt really bad for him. Do you think he will ever stop hoping?

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Take care!

Julie

Yipee!! It's Over!! A finish and cute pics!

Hello!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I for one am thrilled to death that the 4th of July is over. The fireworks went off continuously from around 6 p.m. until well after midnight. It looked like a war zone out there with all the smoke, the debris and then when you added in the fog that rolled in it was just plain eerie. I am going to have to find someplace to go next year where I can take the dogs and there are not a lot of people.

It rained pretty much the entire day, poor Dan had to grill outside in the rain. Being the handy guy he is, he managed to rig up the umbrella so he didn't get too wet.



My sister roped all the cousins into having a group shot taken. This was the best of the lot. That's Ben (my sister's oldest) down there in the bottom row with his arms going every which way. Silly boy! There is always one in every group!



I wasn't feeling the greatest that day, had a bad case of the dizzies last week and by Sunday I was pretty much sick of them. I'm feeling much less dizzy today so it's all good.

Adam arrived in Omaha safely on Thursday evening. His plane was about 40 minutes late getting in so it was pretty late, around midnight when we got home. Dan, Adam and I stayed up visiting for another hour or so before I called it a night and headed for bed. When I got up the next morning I found Adam asleep on the sofa. He must have dozed off and never made it downstairs to bed. I made him an egg McMuffin for breakfast and then he had to head in to his old office to finalize month end. Even on vacation the boy works hard! He's so used to working 16 hour days now that he had a hard time just chilling while at home.

Gracie was so happy to see him. Both dogs were but he and Grace adore each other. Adam was laying on the floor Friday evening working on the computer so Gracie had to get right down next to him. See how she positioned herself first? That's how you subtly tell your human you wish to be petted.

Then, when that doesn't work, you turn around and stick your nose in their face and give them a quick little lick.
That gets their attention so you can now start to lay down.....

and then rollover for optimal tummy rubbing.

Adam asked if he could take Gracie back to Utah with him. I told him he could but he would have to take her to work with him everyday as she is not used to being totally alone. She has always had other dogs to keep her company. Then I pointed out that it would be hard for him to come home on visits, he'd have to fly her home too. We decided she wouldn't like flying stuffed into his suitcase, so he reluctantly left her here.
He left yesterday to go back to Salt Lake. It wasn't any easier to see him go than it was the first time. He's talking about trying to come home for Labor Day weekend but I don't know that he will. We were hoping to drive out for a visit before Amy starts college in the fall but with him working 16 hour days there wouldn't be much point. He says it'll be that way until October or November. We don't really want to drive out there at that time of the year so I don't think we will be able to visit him this year.

Abby went off to the lake for the weekend and thankfully came back in one piece. I'm not sure why a girl who is afraid of deep water does this to herself but she does. She is currently on an all guys are stupid d*cks kick. Wonder how long this will last. There is one guy she would be interested in if he didn't already have a girlfriend but he does and Abby keeps telling him to stop calling and texting her. But he won't stop. He keeps telling her he likes his girlfriend but he was really interested in Abby but didn't think she was interested so he started dating this other girl. Now Abby is available and he has this girl and is conflicted. She told him to suck it up, decide what he wants and let her know if he is available but she wasn't going to wait on him to make a decision. Oh to be young again. NOT! You couldn't pay me to be out in the dating arena now.

Amy is getting pretty good at being a slug. She's working off and on at a catering place, more off than on. Other than that though she pretty much is reading her way through the summer. She did order Jillian Michaels 30 day shred DVD and it is kicking her butt!! At least she is up off the couch for 30 minutes/day!

I finished my Winter ornament. I need to decide how I want to finish finish it though. It's a cute little stitch!

I was going to unveil the new family room in this post but it has gotten a bit long so I will save it for next time. For now I'll leave you with one last pic of Adam and Gracie.


Have a great evening everyone!!

Julie

Finished Finishes

Happy Tuesday!

Not much new around here. The weather finally calmed down which I am so thankful for. I really thought poor little Kallie was going to stroke out if we had one more night of storms! Now we just have the fireworks to deal with. Luckily, if I turn the TV up loud enough and turn the ceiling fan on high, then the floor fan on high, it mostly drowns out the sound of the little ones. Not much I can do with the big booms but thankfully there aren't a lot of those.

Not much new with the kids, Adam will be home on Thursday night. I am very excited about that. He can't wait either he says. I think I have my meals planned out and will go grocery shopping tomorrow on my day off.

So what are all of you doing for the 4th? Now that we no longer have the shack, we will be home for the 2nd time in all my 50 years. The only other time we stayed home everyone was miserable and it looks like this time will be no different. I have invited all the family over for the 4th but it's going to be a lot different than we are used to. In Stuart, where I have spent most of my 4ths, we would get up, get dressed and by the time we ate breakfast and did the dishes it was time to head up town for the parade at 10:30. You know, before the hottest part of the day. Then everyone (anywhere from 25-100 family members) would head to my aunts house and get lunch going, hot dogs, hamburgers, yada yada, yada. In the afternoon we'd play games or go to the park for volleyball, some to the rodeo and others would go golfing, or to the duck race. Everyone would meet back at the aunts around 5 for supper and then those that wanted to go would head for the stock car races followed by the fireworks put on by the town and finally back to the aunts for our own fireworks. It was a fun filled day! Around here, what passes for a parade starts at 1:00 in the afternoon. It lasts for a couple of hours. The hottest part of the day. How dumb is that?? It's mostly firetrucks, rescue squads and bands. No decorated floats. No horses. No polka dotted tractors that shoot water out at the crowd, no candy thrown from the floats and no scary smoking clown. It's a bit of a let down. My neices play in the band so my idea to have lunch at noon is not going to happen. My other sister puts her youngest down for a nap around 1. Guess we will eat around 4. No one will hang around for long after eating, they will all head on home. Kind of a let down. Like I said, it's going to be different. Abby is abandoning us to go to the lake with friends so even she won't be here to liven things up. Oh well, life is all about change and I hope we all learn to make it a fun time, just in a different way.

In stitchy news, we had Last Saturday Stitching this past Saturday. It was a smaller than normal group at first but people staggered in one by one and eventually it was it's usual rocking good time!! We did miss a few of our regulars though. Hope they can make it next time!

We took the Rosewood Manor trunk show down yesterday and shipped it off to the next stop and tomorrow Mary Ann will box up the charts and ship them back to Karen. I'm sad to see all the beautiful pieces leave. It was so nice to have such wonderful eye candy on the wall all this time.

I finished finished my ornament. I think it turned out pretty darn good and I can't wait for the second in the series. I hope it's as gorgeous as the first one is!

I also finished finished my pin cushion. I omitted the suggested rick rack and buttons as I really didn't think it needed them. What do you think?

Progress is also being made on Winter. Just have to fill in the snow at the bottom and then she will be done. So happy I changed the colors on this one. I love it!

Now, I should go back to Golden Ice. Really, that is what I should do. Amy will blow a gasket if I don't. But a little voice inside my head is calling calling calling out the name of a different chart. One I have had kitted up for years. I pray I am strong enough to ignore the voice, at least for a while so I can make some progress on G.I. but the dang voice gets louder the more I try to block it out!!!!!

Well, it's that time again.

Have a Great Holiday everyone, stay safe!

Julie

Thank you, finishes and a scare!

Thanks everyone for weighing in on the chart arrangement. We will be grouping them by designer, alphabetically, with some designers pulled out on their own displays and rotated around a bit every now and again. I've got it started but am waiting on an order of hookers. Hookers are notoriously unpredictable you know. You pay good money for them and then they never quite deliver the way they are supposed to. But eventually they will come and I'll get the job finished and everyone will be happy!

Not much has happened in the last week. I did finish The Three Wisemen though. Well, the stitching anyway. I still need to go get my cording and finish the finish.

Then in spite of the fact that Amy has been bugging me about Golden Ice, I decided to start something small and quick and somewhat easy on the old eyes. BBD's Bluebird. Very quick and fun stitch. Still need to finish the finish though. I stitched it on 30 ct R& R Creek Bed Brown linen using GA's Blackboard floss.

At this point, I should have picked up Golden Ice but once again I procrastinated and instead, I started The Prairie Schooler's Winter ornament from the 2006 JCS ornament issue.

I started stitching it using the DMC colors called for. Part of what drew me to this piece was the colors so I was a bit disappointed when I started stitching and it looked nothing like the picture on the cover. So I ripped it out and started over using colors that more closely resembled those in the picture, which if anyone is interested are Sullivans(on the right) 45339 or DMC 3328 and Sullivans 45072 or DMC 347. The DMC colors called for (on the left) are not showing as rust as what they really are.

Here's what I have done so far:

I'm liking it much better now.

I'm still tweaking the family room. I have the new curtain rods hung and the curtains steamed and hung. I found the neatest sheers at Walmart, almost a cheesecloth type fabric and I love them. I went shopping last week and picked up some accessories for the wall using the money I got back from the pricey lamp I told you about. Bought a shade for the Walmart lamp that I really like and I'm still digging through closets and boxes for other items I know I have but can't quite remember where I put em. So since you all have been so patient, I thought I would give you a sneak peek at my stitching corner. Keep in mind I am still tweaking but so far I am liking it. What do you think?

We have had 4 days of rain now, most of them with thunderstorms at night and I have to admit I am tired. I am not afraid of storms but one of my bed mates is and once panic sets in there is no calming her down or sleeping. Tonight we have another round of severe storms predicted. I so cannot wait.

Have you ever received a phone call after midnight that you weren't expecting? Gets the old adrenaline pumping at the first ring doesn't it. Well we got one of those calls Saturday night. Abby went downtown to the College World Series that night. She was wearing her brand spanking new Cowboy boots and a cute little dress.

When the phone rang, I knew it had to be her. Perhaps she needed a ride because their DD decided to drink, or she was ready to come home and the rest of her group wasn't. I did not expect to hear.......

Do you know where Abby is?? Is Abby okay? Is she there??? That's all this person kept saying. I'd ask who it was and they would just repeat themselves. I had a suspicion it was her friend Kim which did not make me feel any better because I thought they were supposed to be at the CWS together. I couldn't get the girl to confirm or deny being Kim, I couldn't get her to say anything other than those 3 questions. Finally she disconnected. By this time I'm thinking, okay, Abby must have gotten separated from the group, or someone dragged her off....you know, all the things that go through your head at 1:00 in the morning. I quickly dialed Abby's number praying she would answer and after 5 very looooong rings she did. I cannot tell you the relief I felt at that moment. I asked her if she was okay, she said yes, they were waiting for the DD to show up and then they were going to one of her friends apt. to sleep, that she would be home in the morning for Sunday breakfast and why was I calling(all said in one long sentence/breath cuz she talks very fast when she's a bit tipsy)? I explained the phone call and read off the number that had made the call, (thank the lord for caller ID), Abby confirmed that was Kim's number but she said they hadn't been together all evening as Kim did not wait for them and had been at the CWS since 2 that afternoon, most likely drinking the entire time. I thanked Abs for answering her phone, told her to be careful and hung up. But by then it was too late. The adrenaline was flowing and I was wide awake. Which as it turns out was okay since shortly after another round of storms rolled through. I think Kim and I will be having us a little chat next time I see her though. I'm too old for this s**t and I have enough gray hair already thank you very much!

I think I've rattled on enough for one post so I'm gonna close the computer down and go stitch or maybe read. I'm in the middle of a great book and I want to see what's going to happen.

Have a great rest of the week everyone and thanks for stopping in and double thanks for commenting!

Take care!

Julie