Happy Birthday!!!

Hey everyone, today is my wonderful mom (Amy’s) birthday!
SO... (You might want to mute the cool blog music at the bottom to here this.)

  I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing day doing whatever you will do. I love you VERY MUCH. Thanks for always being there for me…
Your T-Ball,
Keith

Happy Birthday!!!

Hey everyone, today is my wonderful mom (Amy’s) birthday!
SO... (You might want to mute the cool blog music at the bottom to hear this.)

  I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing day doing whatever you will do. I love you VERY MUCH. Thanks for always being there for me…
Your T-Ball,
Keith

A Little Bit of My Heart

The kids and I came up to the beautiful Smoky Mountains for a few days of rest and will be joined by my sweet hubby tomorrow night.  I can’t wait for him to arrive.  I need him to be here because, once again, I feel like a part of me is missing.  Last week it was the kids at camp, and now it’s my man.    I’m ready for my whole family to be together and stay together for more than just a few days.

 

 

This is what I am looking at while I am drinking my coffee and reading my Bible and playing on my computer. 

 

 

And this is my Bible!  This is the Word of God!  This is Truth!  This is full of His promises!

 

Right now, I am leaning on His promise to fill me and my family with strength as my mom has just, this day,  been diagnosed with breast cancer.

 

I am claiming His promise that we CAN do all things through Him who gives us strength.

 

I am believing that by the stripes on Jesus’ back, my mom IS healed!

 

I am trusting that this is the road that God wants us to travel right now and we will do it with Him holding our hands and directing us every step of the way.

 

I believe the Word when it says that with God all things are possible!

 

Can I just tell you what God is to me?

 

He is my Strength!  He is my Fortress!  He is my Peace!  He is  my Comforter!  He is my Provider!  He is my Father!  He is my Daddy!  He is full of wisdom!  He in control, and I fully trust in His perfect will!

 

He holds my mama in His hands and He knows just what she needs!

 

He knows what you need today also.  Don’t ever forget that, sweet friends.

 

 

This sign hangs on the wall in the cabin that we are staying in.  How perfect that God would put us in a cabin full of pictures and signs that speak to my family so clearly during this time.  I thank Him and praise Him for that gift.

 

I will definitely be casting my cares upon the Lord, because I know full well that He cares for me!!!

 

If you believe in the power of prayer like I do, please pray for my mom.  Her name is Judy.

 

Thank you.

 

I love you all.

Treasures From Other Etsy Shops

Hello to all of my friends!  Hope you are all doing wonderful!!

I have been so excited over the last few weeks to have found some really neat Etsy shops out there. 

Since I am now an Etsy shop owner myself, I really like to look around at what others are doing with their shops. 

Inspiration, you know!

Take a quick look at what I have found and where I have found it and then take a few minutes and check out the shops for yourself.   

 

 

I found this wonderful green wall sconce over at Blue Ridge Altered Art. 

You know I love that chippy green!

My next purchase came from another great shop called Post Road Vintage.

 

 

I got two of these flower frogs with hangers to use with my blue green jars.

Love these…

 

 

She has some great stuff in her shop!

Are you thinking that I order a lot of stuff from Etsy?  I really don’t.  I have just treated myself a little over the last month while also supporting some fellow Etsy friends.

Okay, last shop but certainly not the least one.

I ordered a beautiful little peat pot of lavender from a gorgeous shop called Junk to Joy.  Not only did I get my lovely bouquet of lavender, but Becky also included a few other little surprises.  (I think it was an early birthday gift and she didn’t even know it was my birthday) 

Look at what I got…

 

 

Can you believe all of these pretties in one package?

 

 

 

 

 

Didn’t I tell you this was a sweeeeet package from Junk to Joy?

I have found so many more shop owners out there that are just as fantastic.  I’ll introduce you to them sometime soon.

If you go visiting any of these shops, let them know Amy sent you.

Have a great Monday and God bless!

A Little Lavender Love

Today was a great day at the flea market, my friends. 

I found some neat things to add to my shop and to my house.  Love flea market days like this one.

I also love lavender.  I use lavender lotion, soap, body oil, deodorant.  I love lavender essential oil in my cleaners that I make.  If I see something fragranced with lavender, I usually buy it.  Totally love it!

I thought I would just show you a few places that I use this beautiful, fragrant flower around our home.

A field of lavender in my backyard would be an oh so wonderful thing.

Just an added note that has nothing to do with lavender…

***

I have been without two of my children this week while they have been at church camp.  Can I just tell you how lonely for them I am?  I cannot wait to pick them up tomorrow night.  My heart has two holes right now that desperately need filling.  Thankfully, I had oldest daughter and hubby here all week or I would have been pretty pitiful.

Linking up over at…Show and Tell Friday, French Country Cottage

Where Is Herley Now?

Hi friends!

Remember Herley from this post? (take a look if you have a quick sec)

Well, he  has made his way in from the dining room into the living room where we spend most all of our time.

Yep, he is moving up in this family, and no one is complaining.

See where my buddy, Herley, is now.

Isn’t he just gorgeous standing there so strong, tall and proud?

Do you remember me telling you that he came from Goodwill?  I am still thrilled that I found him.

Now I ask…how crazy is it that I have such a fond affection for this painting?

Hope you are all doing great and staying cool and having fun this summer! 

Blessings to you all!

Partying at Marty's tonight for her Tabletop Tuesday party.

Also headed over to Capers of the Vintage Vixens for a great party where etsy shop owners are given a place to advertsie their shop for FREE!!  Hooray for free advertising and for friends who make that available.  Thanks so much.

Also headed over to share this treasure at White Ironstone Cottage for her Treasure Chest Friday

What’s For Lunch?

First of all, can I just tell you that at this very minute, it is raining outside.

Rain, my friends, rain!  Hallelujah!  We, my garden, people’s crops, everything, needs it right now.

It’s funny though because I was just fixing to head outside with a basket full of laundry to hang on the line and then down came the rain.

I am not complaining!

Anyway…

Back to what’s for lunch at our house.

My sweet, beautiful, oldest daughter, Beth, has started making pasta salad for us and it is delicious.

Would you believe it if I told you I have never fixed pasta salad except from a box and that was years ago?  I actually don’t buy many boxed foods at all anymore.  I figure that most convenience foods are way too expensive and probably not very good for you so I try to make most things from scratch and just eat lots of natural stuff.

Beth’s pasta salad recipe is wonderful and I want to share it with you right after I share a few pictures of lunch at my house yesterday.

These are some of the ingredients she uses.  She did respectfully inform me, however, that she would not use this kind of noodles in her pasta, but it’s what I chose for my photo because they looked good in the jar.

Doesn’t it look yummy?  A few little cherry tomatoes thrown in and ooo la la.  (my two youngest kids don’t typically like tomatoes, so those are just in my imagination)

This is where I had my scrumptious lunch, right here on this scrumptious table. 

My friends, I love my table.  I eat a lot of my breakfast and lunch meals here, work on my Bible study here, and do a lot of my etsy shop and blogging stuff here.  It makes me feel good to be in this room.  Does that make any sense at all?

Now for the recipe…

Beth’s Pasta Salad

Pasta noodles

1 TB vinegar

1/2 cup of  mayonnaise

1/2 cup milk

1 package of Knorr vegetable dip mix (shown above)

Ranch dressing to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

(she also added fresh peas that were given to us from a friend’s garden)

Easy peasy, right?

I know, most of you make pasta salad all of the time, but humor me and act like you are a beginner like me.

Now, I can whip you up a big pot of good old pinto beans that taste like your grandmother’s or fry you up a mess of okra straight from the garden.  But, pasta salad, I  just haven’t done.  And since Beth can do it so well, don’t you think I should just let her continue?

***

Two added notes…(STICK WITH ME, PLEASE)

The rain has now stopped.  Short but sweet!

********Second thing…I have to share with you something that I am so excited about.

My friend Becky over at Buckets of Burlap, is planning to open an online shop very soon. 

She is shopping, photographing and getting everything just perfect for all of us to go shopping with her.

She is carefully selecting items that she knows we will all love.

Let me tell you about her.   She is wonderful, sweet and can decorate a home like nobody’s business.  I am  talking beautiful, classy, unique, time worn, farmhouse decorating going on in her home.  And, what that says to me is that she will be looking for similar items to stock her shop with.  YAY!

Can you tell I am excited?  I’m excited because she means so much to me but also because I’m thinking there is going to be some great stuff to fill our homes with that she finds at those fantastic flea markets in Louisiana and Texas.

Keep an eye out over at her place for her grand opening!

***

Now off to hang my clothes on the line.

Thanks for hanging (no pun intended) with me till the end of this extremely long post.  (my kids think I am so strange sometimes and this probably proves it)

***

I have done some major price reducing in my Etsy Shop to make room for more items that will be going in soon.  I am headed to the Nashville Flea Market this week and can't wait to find some new treasures for us all.  Go take a look around the shop and see if anything suits your fancy.

Guest Room Ready

Hello all my sweet friends!  How are you? 

I am great because one of my best friends just came from Georgia for a visit and we had a blast together with our children and some other close friends.

I love having an extra bedroom for our guests to sleep in when they come for a visit.  That way,  everyone else gets to keep their room which means that everyone gets a good night’s sleep.

Our guest room is not very large but has everything it needs to make it comfy and cozy.

I love using the scrabble tiles to leave little messages.  Aren’t they fun to use throughout the house?

The beautiful clay tag was a sweet gift from Laurie over at Heaven's Walk.  (go see her lovely farmhouse..gorgeous)

The vintage white gloves belonged to my mother, I think.

Of course, every guest room needs fresh flowers and I love to get the $5.00 bouquets at Wal-Mart and divide them up around our house.

Do you see the little black watch?  That belonged to my sweet grandmother.

I picked up this electric “oil” lamp at Goodwill a few weeks ago.  Love it!  I also added a small candle and some matches just in case the electricity went out.  Best to be  prepared, right!

I have this little basket filled with a few things that my guests might need. 

A few reading books lie close by the bed in case there is time to sit and relax and read.

This little corner is not very exciting and  has very little in it because it needs to be functional. 

I do want my guests to know how special they are, so this chalkboard message is the first thing they see when they walk in the room.

This luggage rack is a nice way to get your suitcase off of the ground and make it easier to get to your clothes.

Wondering at all why there is a curtain on the wall behind the luggage rack?

Let me show you the not so pretty part of this room…the reality part…

Yep, that’s a big hole in the wall that my husband had to cut out to fix a problem with the plumbing in the adjoining bathroom.

He has not had a chance to fix the wall and it sure isn’t pretty…thus…the curtain to hide it.

I hung this pretty little girl’s dress on my metal shopping cart.  It  just adds a  little  interest to this window.  The shopping cart comes out on flea market weekends.

Just a note to all guests staying in this room…you  WILL be woken up by our rooster, Boots, crowing  in the wee morning hours.  So sorry…

I use this old shutter that I found in a pile of trash as  a ladder sort of thing.  I took most of the slats out of it so that I could use it like this. 

The coverlet for my antique bed came from my mother’s mom.    It is beautiful and old.

I was so excited to find two king size pillow shams from the Shabby Chic Line from Target.   Another Goodwill score!

I always have an extra blanket or quilt lying around in case it gets cold at night.  

I so want our guests to feel welcome when they come for a visit.  My desire is for them to feel like our home is a second home.  I want them to be able to rest and relax and be comfortable.

Ok, I have to say that when my friends come bearing gifts, that just makes it so much fun.  Just sayin.  Remember, gifts are part of my love language.

Let me show you what my sweet friend brought me when she came this week.

Is this not great!!  I wonder how she knew that I liked anything white. 

And, she made it, which makes it 1000 times better.  Thanks to my sweet friend.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our guest room.  Small, but sweet and welcoming, I hope.

***

I have added lots of new things to my Etsy shop.  Go over and take a look if you have a few extra minutes.

Farmhouse Table

Hello my sweet friends!  I hope life is wonderful for you all right now.

I have to share with you my latest find…

I have had my heart set on someday finding an old farm table that I could afford to bring home with me.

A week ago, I found it!  Actually, my uncle found it for me and I bought it from him.

It is evidently from around the 1800’s and has all kinds of wonderful markings on it that show the use over the years.  There are saw marks, iron marks, paint and other wonderful little signs of age.  I love every mark on it!

I brought it home with red legs, but didn’t want them to stay that way because red just doesn’t match very well in our home.

This is what it looked like in red…

I primed my legs and then painted them with Behr Spring Hill Paint (a beautiful green) and then with a white paint I had on hand.   I then sanded them down so that some of the red and green would show through.

It’s so hard for me to take a photo where you can see the green.  (photography lessons needed, I know)

I am looking for odd chairs to use around my table.

I decided that the two taller ones, after a little TLC,  would be a good start for my table.

I used an old grain sack to cover my two chairs.

I ended up not having quite enough fabric to cover this one so I decided to make it work however I could. 

It’s not centered because it couldn’t be.  I ended up punching holes on the sides of the fabric and putting twine through them to hold the sides together.  It works!

Because of the length of my new table, 7 feet, I had to move out a small server that held extra dishes and glasses in it.

What’s a girl to do with all that stuff now??

Yep, put it in old crates.  Not only do these crates look good, but they are very handy for storage.

How many times can I show you my jelly cabinet?

I know you can’t tell real well, but this plant stand is my favorite chippy green.

I also lightened up the round mirror a couple of weeks ago by painting it white.  Isn’t paint a wonderful friend to have?

I am so enjoying my new farm table.  I go in there and have my coffee and work on my computer and just soak in the memories that surround it. 

Are you like me and love to imagine the people that sat around a table like this?  The conversations that were had?  The meals that were served?

Now, my family gets to make our own memories.

I am going to link up over at:

No Minimalist Here

Common Ground

At the Picket Fence

Cherished Treasures

Funky Junk Interiors