Me and Doo in our new do's

We both went to be groomed on Tuesday. LOL I finally got my hair out of the ponytail I had worn all summer. I wore it in a ponytail trying to hide a bad mistake I had made back in Feb. I had went to get my hair done and got it dyed and it turned orange, we're talking Carrot Top kinda orange. I went to Wal-mart an bought the stuff to take that color out and then it turned blonde. But all is better now.

Doo he don't really care what his hair looks like, oh to have the dogs life. If he looks a little shell shocked in the picture it is because he was asleep and I swooped him up to snap this photo. I know he was probably thinking "hey I'm sleepin here".

Happy Fall !!!!!!

Yippee! Today is the start of the Fall season, I may have told you before that it is my favorite season. I love the fallen leaves, the beautiful colors, pumpkins, the cool temperatures and the long days.
I really wish we could have a little place out side of town where we have our own pumpkin farm. We could also offer hayrides, sell corn stalks, gourds and of course I would sell my primitive paintin's.
When my boys were young we would rake the leaves into a big pile and they would jump in them, throw them at each other or ride their bikes through them. I'm sure that these memories help spur my love of Fall. The boys no longer want to play in the leaves but Doo loves them he has to chase them all over the yard and this can make for a very long potty brake.

Auction goodies!

Beautiful weather this past weekend so what to do but got to an auction. Hubby bid on this clothes ringer for me and glad he did it goes just great with my back porch laundry.





I also got these great little coffee tins, coffee pot, a really old tin with something horrible smelling in it. Also in this box lot was this Wizard Dri-Cube: ice in a can, with a .39 cent price printed on it, I have never seen this stuff it says you can put it in the freezer and then in a cooler and then back in the freezer.








Also got this old enamelware kettle and this bow saw.

In remembrance of 9-11

I found this site this morning; My Good Deed. I love the concept of this site, posters post the good deed they will preform on 9-11. What better way to remember all those lost on that day than to preform a good deed in their remembrance.

Now some of you may say but we should be kind and do good deeds every day and yes I totally agree with you but I also know that when you are working or taking care of your family all day and live is hectic and stressful that we sometimes forget.

So this is just a little challenge to all my blogging buddies and forum friends to go post your good deed for today. Oh and don't forget to leave a comment and let me know if you posted a good deed I would love to read it.

Oh this is such an honor and a privledge!

What an honor!! I have received my 1st award!! This award was given to me by cyber buddy Cassie she is a sweetheart and has a wonderful blog. Oh Cassie thank you, I am so happy to have made you smile.

I'm passing this award on to one of my new pals (and fellow Crow) Michelle at The Primitive Pear, Michelle is such a sweety. I'm also awarding it to Steph at Sunshine and Ravioli because she makes me smile also and is very inspiring.

Tagged--For the Name Game

I've been tagged for the Middle Name Game by Cassie . I've also tagged 4 others, so if you've been tagged here is what you do.........

Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is

K - Keeping myself sane is a full time job.

A - Always love to paint!

Y - Yes, painting helps keep me sane.

E - Enough of this game I have to go paint. LOL

Oh man I have to tag 4 blogger now. Lets see I pick Robin, Laura, Mel and Steph who is one of the gals that got me hooked on blogging to begin with. Have fun ladies.

Woosh, I am finally done with the suitcase!

Lookie what I have listed on ebay, I bought this suitcase at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. Love those city wide yard sales.
I painted the scarecrow side first and any of my friends and family will tell you that once I paint one side I am usually finished. But I knew it would sell better if it could be used for 2 seasons, so I painted the awesome little snowman on the other side.
Click on my ebay link at the side if ya want to check it out. Love those Terrye French patterns.

Look who I got to see!

Ok so I didn't get to see him in person, but I was still just as excited. My son Kurt got pass and was able to use the USO internet and webcam. The USO is awesome.

He looked good even though he was very tired it was 2 a.m. there. Oh this brought me so much joy, I have never wanted to hug my laptop monitor so much. We were chatting on MSN and I couldn't seem to post much as I just kept staring at him, it really did do a lot for me just to see him. Oh how I wish I could just hold him.

I just keep chugging along, one day at a time, knowing that when one day passes that bring me one day closer to his return. We are expecting him home in Feb. of 2008.

Red & White enamelware collection.

Kelle at Two Dancing Crows challenged the bloggers at Primitive & Rustic 2 to post their collections. I'm a little behind all of the other girls but this seemed so fun I didn't want to miss out. So better late than never.
As you may have guessed by my banner one of my collections is red and white enamelware. I started collecting it for my kitchen and have so much of it that I have had to deposit some of it on the back porch and in the bathroom.
I was to happy when I won the bid on the canisters on eBay, I know they are not old but they fit in so well with the rest of my collection.
I have picked up my enamelware at antique shops, yard sales, eBay and my son bought me the bucket on year for Christmas. I paid a little too much for the strainer on eBay but it was one of those "I have to have it items".

I have joined A Gathering of Crows!

A Gathering of Crows is an awesome group of very talented primitive artist and I was so honored when Vanessa asked me to join them.



Click on the banner to visit all the wonderful, handmade primitives “AGOC” has to offer on Ebay!

I built a cat house!

Yes, that's right I built a cat house, when I was 7 or 8 years old. My Dad had been building something and had left some pieces of scrap 1x4's laying on the porch.
We didn't have any dogs at the time just our cat Tiger, a sweet affectionate tabby. So with hammer in hand I got to work, nail this board here and that one there, this was so cool I had found my calling I was creating something out of some discard junk.
Well my masterpiece was finally complete, I was so proud, I bound through the screen door and belted out proudly " I built a cat house!" to which my Dad exclaimed "You better not have built a cat house on my front porch." then gave a big ole chuckle.
Well how was I to know at my young and tender age that a cat house was another name for a "house of ill repute".
Well I no longer build cat houses, but I do think that is when I sparked my love of taking someones discarded items and making them into treasures.

Picket fence & purple coneflowers

This is my picket fence, doesn't every girl want a white house with a picket fence. Well my house isn't white but I did come up with an idea for the little picket fence. On day while at Lowe's I spotted this bundle of tomato stakes, well of course I was not going to use them for staking tomatoes, that's just not very crafty. I have always wanted a little fence or something for the back of my flower bed and this little job works great.

It is actually three pieces hinged together and braced on back, you have to add the brace because without it, it does not want to stand too well and the wind will keep knocking it down. One of the pickets is broken, I think it just adds to the primitive old look I love. We spray painted it with some white paint.

Looks like my grapevine and morning glories have found a home.

The purple coneflowers did wonderful this year. These flowers are great they are very hardy and grow in a nice big mass, plus they are just pretty. :-)

Feeling ready for Fall!

I do love summer, but it is almost a little too busy. Well with the exception of the time I spend laying out in the swimming pool and daydreaming. So that is why I am feeling ready for fall, fall is just a little less hectic and more structured for me. School will be starting in a few weeks and I will have to get up early and get my son on his way, instead of sleeping in like I have been doing most of the summer.
This is my first fall project for this year. I know it seemed a little early for fall items to me too, but after seeing all the wonderful primitive fall items on Ebay , I caught the bug. I also have a small show coming up at the end of September and I am trying to get some things ready for it.
This wood cut out is actually for a snowman pattern, I did a little tweaking on and through the magic of my sander and paint brush he became a scarecrow. I love these kind of projects that are all the same cut out but I can dress them 100's of ways. This is great for me because I have a real aversion to painting the same thing several times, that is why I don't do too many shows and prefer to do Ebay. I know that the painting on these will be the same but I could change the face up some if I would like, and the dressing them up is my favorite part.

July 14th auction finds

Not too many auction items this week, but some great ones. I have already found new homes for all the goodies I hauled home Saturday. My favorite is the blue crock bowl.
The ironstone pitcher may be going on ebay, there seems to be a market for them there and I got it and the other pitcher in a lot.
The auctioneers helper told me the small lite yellow bowl could be McCoy, he said some of them where not marked and this has no markings on it.
Things were a little nuts at this auction, people where bidding like crazy and paying way too much for things. I got crazy myself and bid a little too much for a barn shaped cookie jar & salt and pepper shakers, then got home and found out they where from Wal-Mart. Live and learn.

My weekend auction finds!

This is what I found at the other end of the county and actually in another county on my "Traded laptop for blacktop this weekend" post. Went to a great auction in Ste. Genevieve, what bargains I got the whole table full of items plus the wooden ironing board and little child's rocker for $14.00.
These vintage linens are so pretty, I just love the towel with the basket and flowers. Most of the linens have been hand sewn. I love auctions!

A slide show of this weekend auction finds.

Traded the laptop for the blacktop this weekend.

Wow! I actually traveled from one end of the county to the other this weekend. Okay so I spend way too much time on the laptop especially the internet, with forums, blog and Ebay. It was time to get out in the real world for awhile, trade the laptop for the blacktop, hit the open road. Saturday evening we went to one of my all time favorite places: Maramec Springs Park this is just such a peaceful and beautiful place, it is a trout fish hatchery feed by a spring. The park is also a wildlife sanctuary so it is full of whitetail deer. While there we saw a Momma deer with her two
babies, they were still trying to nurse although I guess Momma was trying to ween them because she kept walking away every time they tried.
I love the sound of the rushing waters it is so calming, we saw a couple setting in lawn chairs beside the bridge falls reading, now I could do that all day long. If I lived closer I would go there every day, I don't think that it would loose it's charm, I could watch those little twin fawns grow up.
I have to remember to go there this fall and take more pictures, those will be beautiful with all the fall colors.
This is a great place to take the kids, we use to take the boys there when they where smaller and went places with us. The kids loved to feed the trout, they have food you can buy there, the chubby squirrels must pick up all the leftovers that fall on the ground, because they were some of the chubbiest squirrels I have ever seen.
If you ever get a chance to visit the
springs you will not regret it.

Drew

I already introduced you to oldest son, and this is my baby: Drew. Not too much of a baby at 17 yrs. old.
What can I say about Drew, he is funny, makes me smile, he talks too much and I have a lot of work put into him (which is my way of saying he was my problem child, all those attributes I mentioned earlier don't set too well with teachers) but as he has grown he has turned into a great kid, and we are really proud of him.

Ebay item!!

Oh, I love how my little thrift shop find turned out. It's listed on Ebay now, go check it out.

Happy 4th of July!!

Thanking a soldier.

Laura made a comment to my post titled "My Soldier" and it got me thinking about something I want to share with all of you.
The day we took my son Kurt to the airport to catch a fight back to Iraq, it was a Saturday morning at Lambert Airport it was very busy with lots of folks hustling and bustling about.
I was amazed at all the families with young children preparing to board the airplane, with bags upon bags of luggage, car seats and toys to keep the kids busy while on the plane. There were also men in business suits, a group of teens possible going to do mission work and people from foreign lands probably returning home.
Everyone was in a hurry trying to make sure they were where they needed to be, had what they needed to have, and did not miss their flight. Kurt had made a few trips himself first in this line, then in another, finally asking an airport clerk if he could use the self-check in. Then while standing in one of the lines a gentleman walked up to Kurt and put out his hand and while shaking hands he said "Thank you for your service."
I tell you at that moment I thought my heart was going to explode from all the pride I felt for my son. I know we see this sentiment on signs, bumper stickers, web sites, etc..., but when someone takes the time out of their busy day to say an honest heart felt "Thank You" it means so much more.
So if you are like the gentleman in the airport, or like Laura, and take the time out of your day to say thank you a soldier and his family please know that I say "Thank you" to you from the bottom of my hear. It is your kindness that helps make this time in our lives a little more bearable.

Auction finds!! Bean crocks

Got these bean crocks at an auction a couple of weeks ago. They are in excellent condition. I can't make up my mind if I want to sell them on ebay or keep em. I may keep the larger one, I can just picture it with some of those great primitive hand made sunflowers and some coffee stained flags sticking out of it. Oh so prim.

Yummy chocolate chip cookies!!

Okay, I have decided to share my highly guarded top secret recipe for the Chocolate Chip. These cookies have earned me the nickname "Cookie Queen".

Cookie Queen Chocolate Chip cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 stick of Blue Bonnet spread
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups real semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 365 degrees. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine shortening, spread, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat until creamy. Beat in the egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes until edges are golden brown.

My soldier!!

Here is our son Sgt. Kurt, I snapped this picture on the morning we had to take him to the airport to fly back to Iraq, hence the sad look on his face.
He was home for his two week leave, he came home to enjoy his 21st birthday at the end of May.
We are so proud of him, he is so brave, smart and hard working.
We really miss him, but we are am so glad that we can email, message and call each other often. Keeping in touch helps me not to worry so much. I try to remind myself that each day he is away makes it one less day until he comes home and that is how I do this one day at a time.

My new jelly cabinet!

Look what Steve made for me! It's a jelly cabinet.
After I picked out the paint, he told me he wouldn't have made it for me if he would have known what color I was going to paint it, but I have always loved this warm mustard yellow color, so my thinking is paint it the color I love and to heck with what others think. The color is called Dark Amber and I have used a Antique Walnut stain over top of the paint.
Wouldn't you know after I finished it Steve said "well it looks pretty good after you did all that to it." When will he learn, he builds and I paint, I know what I'm doing (sometimes).
This was actually a trade off job for Steve and I No not that kinda trade, get your minds out of the gutter. LOL See I had this old have door setting around here for a year or more that I was suppose to paint and take to the shop to sell, Steve was tired of seeing it and told me if I would paint it, he would make me this cabinet. So I painted the door up and on the three panels stenciled "Faith, Family and Friends", it turned out nice, sorry I took it to the shop before taking any pick of it. Anywho I think I came out pretty good on this trade. He He I just realized my cabinet matches my blog background.

Home Sweet Helmet

This is what happens when you don't use your helmet for a while, the birds move in. Hubby found this in our garage this morning, the birds have moved in and built a nest in my son's helmet.
Kurt didn't like his brother using his helmet, I don't know what he will have to say about this. Hubby says these birdies are quick builders because they must have built in a day or so.

Neat oh!

Had to get one of these after seeing Steph's at Sunshine and Ravioli
You can get your own at blyberg.net

My ebay items.

Summertime

Good ole Summertime!!!

Found this cute graphic and others at:
Sheryl's Original Primitive Graphics

Doo baby!

This is my little Doo baby, he is such a sweet heart. He is my constant companion, laying at my feet as I type this.
He is the first small house dog we have ever had and he has just stolen our hearts.
His registered name is Sir Doolittle of Nothington, hubby and I thought it a cleaver name, our boys thought it was dumb.
He just fits into our family perfectly, he is laid back most often, but does enjoy a little game of fetch usually every evening, and he is so easy going, he is just happy and content doing whatever, just as long as he is with us. Although he is not too much on going for long walks, he tires to easy and prefers the comfort of the air-conditioning.
Of course none of my friends or family will believe that he is all laid back and easy going, because he goes nuts when we have company. He loves visitors and believes in his mind that they love him too.
My boys say that I treat Doo better than I do them, I tell them it is because he listens and behaves better than they do. LOL

Gotta give blogging a try!!

Okay, I just had to try my hand at this, as if I don't have enough to keep me busy. I have read some great blogs and this just looks like to much fun to pass up.
So now I am setting here wondering what in the world am I going to post about. Well hopefully I will share my auction finds with you all and some of my primitive paintin's.