Some Peeks At My Living Room

Hey y'all! I hope everybody had a great weekend. It was rainy in my world, perfect football watching weather and that's exactly what I did! I also did a few little things around the house since both the Hub and the Bub were gone all weekend, but mostly I just relaxed. I was hanging out in the living room Saturday night and thought to myself how I really like what I've got going on in there right now, so I thought I'd take a few pics and give you a glimpse. Enjoy!

This is my favorite wall in the living room. That huge window weighs about 100lbs, but I LOVE the blue glass. It's from a 19th century factory and the chippy finish on it is just splendid. It's a great focal and conversation piece. My proudest purchase for only $80!

I got this cute little lampshade at Tar-jay with a gift card I've had for a few months. I've been holding on to it, waiting for just the perfect thing to buy. I love the blue colors - it looks great with my window and the birds fit in quite nicely too!

This is my beloved orange chair that I got at the Salvation Army store for $40. It was practically brand new and it brought a much needed pop of color to my living room. It's my second proudest purchase! And my collection of antique mirrors looks great on the wall behind it.

Daisy thinks it's the most comfortable seat in the house! Not the best picture, but I had to take it from afar so as not to wake her precious self.

I got this gorgeous afghan at Goodwill the other day for $4.00. I love the colors - browns, oranges, blues. It's hanging on the ladder with my quilts for now.

I got this cabinet at a yard sale for $30 last summer. It was in pretty bad shape, but I cleaned it up and changed the knobs and it looks fine now. I was going to paint it, but I kinda like it dark, so for now it's staying as-is. On top are some beautiful dried hydrangeas that I got back in the fall and the deer antlers are from my Papaw's barn. That's my Dad during his tour of duty in Germany in 1956. He was 22 years old and so handsome despite those big ears! Thank goodness I didn't inherit those!!

And last, but not least is the TV area. The TV cabinet used to be in the Bub's room and is very industrial looking. I kinda like it in here with all of the more traditional furnishings - it makes me feel like a hipster. Besides making me seem all trendy and stuff, it's also quite functional. It holds our printer, DVD's, some candles, a box of instruction manuals, and assorted random remotes. It's been a great storage solution. And, of course, we have a basket of warm throws for when we get sucked into that pesky polar vortex.

I'd give you a close up of the rug, but it's in need of a serious professional cleaning thanks to our swamp of a backyard and the dogs' feet. If I were home all day every day with these dogs, I think I'd go crazy...letting them in and out and in and out, cleaning nasty feets, and keeping those two clowns entertained on rainy days! Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into my living room. A cozy space makes all the difference during these long winter months. What have you done to "cozify" your living room this year?

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Toodles,

My Winter Mantel

Hey y'all! Well, I think I have my computer issues figured out. I'm no computer guru, so sometimes it takes me a little while to get stuff straightened out. Since it's so far past Christmas now, I'd thought I'd just skip ahead and show you my Winter mantel. I'm not sure I'm totally happy with it. I think it needs something else. Maybe some pretty white plates hung on each side of the window? I think I need white candles too instead of silver. And the cords that you can see...ugh! I can't get them to stay tucked away. They just have a mind of their own! I do love the little deer babies though. I got them last year at World Market and they're just precious. The snowflake window I used as part of my Christmas decor and liked it so much, I decided to leave it that way through the winter. It was in my entryway and the first thing you saw when entering our house.

Sorry, not the best quality picture - it was taken with my phone.

Aren't they adorable?  And I just love those frosted pine cones too!

Anyway, I still might "jzush" it up a little more over the weekend. It's going to be rainy here, so I'll be stuck inside again. I'm always open to suggestions, so leave them in the comments if you like - I read every one! By the way, "jzush" is a word a friend of mine and I use - it means to fluff it, bling it, enhance it in some way. Kind of like how "skootch" over means to move over a little bit, ya know? Us southerners tend to make up a lot of words, don't we? I reckon we do!

Have a great Friday y'all and stay warm!

Toodles,

Computer issues and a little Christmas

I know I promised y'all a Christmas tour of my home several days ago, but I've been having some major computer issues. Right now, I can only access the blog and post from my phone. I'm working on figuring it out, so bear with me. 

In the meantime, here's a few pics to tide you over...

Where Have I Been?

I've been away. For a while, I know. Life kind of took a busy turn and this blog got away from me. Along with a lot of other things unfortunately. Y'all know how that is, right? There have been some minor family issues (teenagers, grrr). Those are always tough. I also had several craft shows in October and November. The Bub had football games and band competitions every weekend, then came the Christmas parades. The Hub was really busy with football, as his school's team made it to the playoffs for Division II colleges. There was the UTI that just wouldn't quit. Then there was Thanksgiving and WOW!!, now it's Christmas! Add to that a broken laptop and you have a recipe for total blog neglect. But I'm excited to be back and can't wait to show you my home decorated for Christmas.

I'll have the tour posted in a day or two. I'm still working on getting all the photos I want in the best light possible - it's tricky when you're gone all day and it's nearly dark when you get home. Plus, I have a furniture change taking place in my bedroom this weekend that I want to include in the tour. I have a few shots that are ready and I'll share a sneak peek with you tomorrow. For now, I'd just like to say Merry Christmas and I hope you and your family are having a great holiday season so far. Please join me tomorrow for the sneak peek and later for the full tour. Have an awesome day everybody!

Toodles,

Trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway and a Brush With Death!

Hey Y'all! Well, after a VERY rough week last week, I am finally feeling better. I returned to the living yesterday just in time to take a short day trip to the mountains with the Hub for our anniversary. It started out as quite the adventure, I must say. The Hub did his graduate work in Sports Medicine at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC and since we were headed up that way, he wanted to stop by the field house to check out their new weight room and say hello to a few people. Alumni are always welcome at ASU. But being Sunday, the field house was completely deserted. Much to the Hub's delight though, it was unlocked! We went inside and looked around for folks, but ended up just going out the back door to check out the football stadium. The Hub was SUPPOSED to stand there and hold the door while I took a look, but as soon as I turned the corner, I heard the door slam shut and his footsteps behind me. I asked him if we could get back in that door and he said "Probably not, but we'll just go out the gate on the side". The stadium looked great with the backdrop of gorgeous fall trees behind it. Just take a look...

Splendid, yes? Not so splendid however, was the fact that NONE of the gates were open and the place was locked up tighter than Ft. Knox! What were we going to do?! Not to worry - the Hub set off to figure a way out. For the half hour that I waited alone to be rescued, I sunned myself a little in the stands, admired the trees and enjoyed the cool mountain breeze, and drooled over this gorgeous hydrangea bush. Just look at this beauty! And the close-up is just yummy...

So eventually, the Hub shows up to let me back in the building. He takes me around to the front of the stadium to show me how he got out. This is where the brush with death comes in, in case you were wondering. He had to scale these fences and shimmy down a 30 foot drop to get out. Notice the spikes on top of the black fence? He said he questioned whether his footing was going to hold a couple of times, but he had to carry on so that he could rescue his damsel in distress (that's me). Check out how high this is...the picture doesn't even do it justice. Mostly because it's a really bad picture, mostly because we needed to high-tail it outta there!

Wouldn't that have been the BEST. ANNIVERSARY. EVER?!! The Hub in ICU and me in jail for trespassing? And larceny. Yes, I have a confession to make. Please don't let my indiscretion permanently cloud your opinion of me - I'm a good girl, I really am! You see, I just couldn't resist those enormous hydrangea blooms! They were gonna die on the bush anyway, and no one would miss them, it's not like I was in a National Park or anything, and I deserved a reward for my untimely incarceration didn't I? John couldn't believe I had snatched the blooms. He really couldn't help but laugh at me, but he was a little nervous as we walked out of the building and across the lot to the car. He was keeping a sharp eye out for campus security! My theory was - if we're going out, might as well go out in a blaze of glory, right? Okay, that's a little melodramatic - stolen hydrangeas do not equal a blaze of glory. It was a moment of weakness that I've already asked forgiveness for. It won't happen again. But look how pretty they look drying in this pitcher I got at the Goodwill for a dollar...

Now, on to the rest of our trip...the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk sounded like fun, but get this - it cost $15 just to park. To PARK!!! So we spent a couple of hours riding on the Parkway - for FREE, no less! It was so crowded that we couldn't pull over at most of the overlooks, and I didn't feel quite like parking and walking a long way. I didn't get many pictures, but that was okay. It's difficult for me to capture that kind of beauty with a camera because I'm not as talented as my Dad, and sometimes I'd rather experience it moment to moment. I love how it takes your breath away as you round each curve and look out over the foothills. Here are a couple of the shots I did manage to get...

After the Parkway, we stopped at an antique place that was having a little outdoor market. Not much to see outside, but inside there were two booths with all kinds of antiques imported from France. Books from the late 18th century, old tins, exquisite enamelware that I would have loved to have had a piece of, linens, furniture - I was in heaven! All the things I love and would love to surround myself with in my own home. Sadly, the only thing I could afford were three bars of French lavender soap! I've learned that antiques brought from overseas are so expensive because of the cost in shipping them back to the States. If it doesn't fit in your suitcase, it will cost you a pretty penny to get it home! I bought a few inexpensive typography items when we were on our honeymoon that I didn't want to get squished on our way home, so I had them sent snail mail because it was the only method we could afford. We beat them home by several days and it cost way more than I paid for them to send them! At least I can come back to this shop anytime and dream, right? Then we were off to an early dinner at the Daniel Boone Inn. It's a family style restaurant where they bring bowls of home cooked food to your table and it is famous in these here parts! The line was long but it was so worth it. I haven't eaten much over the past week and I was starving. On the menu was fried chicken, country style steak, country ham biscuits, fried apples, corn, green beans, real mashed potatoes, cole slaw, gravy, more biscuits, strawberry shortcake, and banana pudding. I didn't even think about taking a picture of the food! That would have been so unfair to my poor readers though - my mouth is watering just thinking about it again. They bring you a little bit of everything to start and more of anything else you want. Man, that fried chicken was gooooood! So were the country ham biscuits. Oh, and the cherry preserves - mmm mmmm!! I was too full when we left, but it felt good to eat again. It was the perfect ending to a great day. I'll leave you with a few pics of the beautiful ferns and flowers on the porch of the Inn...

Happy Fall Y'all!

Toodles,

Feelin' Puny

Hey Y'all. I've been feelimg kind of puny for a couple of weeks now and couldn't quite put my finger on exactly why I didn't feel so hot. But I had craft shows to do, so I kept going, hoping I would get to feeling better. I've had Insulin Dependant Diabetes since I was a teenager, so I always try to be careful about getting sick. To make a long story short, two mornings of blood sugars near 400 and I knew I'd better get to the doctor. It turns out I have had a UTI, probably all this time. No symptoms except not feeling quite right and eventually my blood sugar tipped me off to an infection of some sort. The worst part though, has been the antibiotic. I have what's called Multiple Antibiotic Allergy Syndrome - they think it's an autoimmune response in the body just like Diabetes is. There are few antibiotics I can take that don't give me hives or cause full-blown anaphylaxis. That's not good for a diabetic. So for my problem, I was given an antibiotic that I'm not allergic to, but which makes me sick on my stomach. And when I say sick, I mean VERY sick. I've been laying around in bed a lot this week because getting up and moving around makes it worse. I did try to work a couple of half days, but just couldn't make it all day. I can work through pain and most other illnesses, but nausea makes me totally worthless and non-functional. Yesterday was the worst - on top of the nausea and vomiting, I was sweaty but freezing even though I didn't have a fever, and I couldn't stop shaking for like three hours. So I got on the horn to the doctor. They changed my antibiotic to something else that's not as strong and that I'll have to take for ten days instead of five. Today, I'm still fighting the nausea and the chills/sweating, but it's not as bad. I hope it's just the old antibiotic still working its way out of my system and that I don't have to feel like this for another week.

Anyway, here's been my silver lining...

Yes, it's Sir Howard Ducksworth of Yonder Winston-Salemshire (I did not make up that name - the Bub did, I swear),RN. The RN stands for Registered Nugget. He has barely left my side all week. Only to go outside with the Hub to play football for a little while in the evenings. He has snuggled with me when I've had chills, given me sweet little hugs (yes, my dog "hugs" me), and plenty of soft licks to let me know he's taking good care of me. His skills are quite impressive, I must say. But I'm ready for him to get back to his usual lack of responsibility and for me to be back on my feet. Fingers (and paws) crossed for the new antibiotic to be more gentle on my stomach!

Toodles,

I'm Still Here and Cat Labor Laws

Somebody's gotta keep an eye on quality.  I deserve a nap and a treat after my shift!

Hey Y'all! Did you think I forgot about you? I promise I haven't! I've just been so busy getting ready for the three day craft show we did this past weekend that I haven't had a whole lot of time. My kitty love, Fonzie, supervised all of my work - I think he's put himself in charge of quality control. His new nickname is "Inspector 12". He watched me paint for three solid hours - which makes me wonder, are there cat labor laws that I need to be observing? He seemed awfully tired afterwards and he only got to sleep 18 out of 24 hours that day. Poor baby! We sold a lot at the show we did the weekend before, so I had to get busy working on some new stuff for this show. It was pretty much a bust due to the cloudy, sprinkly weather. So, we didn't make a whole lot of money, but we were set up right next to my Dad and that was fun. I love to hear people gush over my Dad's photography. He's so talented and it just makes me proud!

We have one more show and it's not until mid-November, so I have a little bit of a break. Tomorrow is mine and the Hub's anniversary and we're planning to take a day trip to the mountains to see the leaves and drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway on Sunday. I'm so excited! His football schedule is going to make it hard to do anything for our anniversay from now on, so I'm glad he's managed to get one day off. But I do have to get lots of Christmas stuff made for the next show, so I'll be back at work crafting and creating after this weekend. First though, I have to get my house cleaned up and put back together this week, so I'm taking a couple of days off work later in the week. I make a *little* bit of a mess when I'm frantically crafting before a show and my house is a DISASTER. Laundry everywhere, mail piled up, just clutter, clutter, clutter (and plenty of dirt too)! I'm sure Inspector 12 will be right behind me doing the white glove test. But it should also give me the chance to finally get some things posted here that I've been wanting to share or if I'm too tired, maybe Fonz can post an inspection update.

I hope everybody has a great, productive week!

Toodles,