FUN WITH WHITE PLATES AT HOME DEC. AND ARLENE'S NEW KITCHEN

Hello my lovelies! Did I ever tell you we have a "Friendship Group" here at Sun City by the name of "Home Dec" We meet in member's homes and sometimes have a speaker and sometimes just do an activity or take a field trip.  Well this month I decided we should have some "Fun with White Plates." So each member was asked to bring a colorful placemat, napkin, and small luncheon-size plate and cup or colorful glassware.  Well, here are the results of that meeting:  

Everyone set out their contributions and made place settings that were lovely.  But then, the fun began.  We all switched the plates, napkins and glassware and made more place settings!

Then we did it again...

And again!  It was so much fun to see What You Can Do with a White Plate!

Now I have to say we had 26 women milling around 4 tables so we had to be careful not to trip each other!

Two real sweethearts...

Here is a picture of two of my dear friends; Carolynn is on the left and Mary Ellen is on the right.

Sadly, Mary Ellen has just been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer so we all said a prayer and did a healing of hands for her.  She is so sweet and can use all the prayers you can give.

Some other friends were snacking in the kitchen, no doubt hearing all about Arlene's NEW KITCHEN, (Arlene is the one in the yellow tee) which is right below...

This is a "Before" shot but after new appliances were installed.  How we all thought our kitchens were just fine 16 years ago!

And this is the beautiful "After" shot.  The cabinets were painted a lovely cream color as she has the same color Corian countertops.  The painter then "Antiqued" them just a tiny bit...you have to be careful with antiquing...it can make cream or white look dirty.  Arlene's cabinets are gorgeous!

And here's another "awful" "before" shot...UGH!

Can you believe the difference!!!  Her entire home is lovely...certainly not Primitive but a wonderful mix of Colonial with a tiny bit of Oriental.  A beautiful, very comfortable home!  Arlene is an accomplished artist and has small bits of her work displayed in her home.  I wish you could see it all someday...maybe I will ask her for a "tour" for you...how about that!

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Well, my pretties, that is it for today...I am getting on a plane at 8:30 tomorrow morning to head out to Minneapolis to see one of my beautiful Grand daughters graduate (with Honors, I might add) from 

The University of Minnesota!

I am so happy for her and a proud Grandma!

Then, I will stay in Minnesota for about another week and will travel down to Ankeny, Iowa where my other daughter and family live.  There I will be treated to a marvelous "Dance Recital" in

which my 16 year old Grand daughter will perform.

It gets better than ever every year and it is so much fun.

Then back to reality on June 10, but I have to say I will be happy to see friends (including Mr. S. O.) and sleep in my own bed!

Isn't it fun to go away, but it is always nice to come home!

Keep well and thank you to all for all the sweet comments and to my followers, both old and new!

Home Tour Three AND Taking care of Business!

Well, it's about time!  Finally Home Tour Three has been a long time coming...so sorry for that!  But here it is, hopefully for your enjoyment! This is the entry hall and you can see all the way through to the sun-porch, which, since it has been a "dumping ground" this winter, I can't show it to you yet. And to the right is the kitchen which you've seen before so don't go there...

At the end of the entry we will make a left turn to the "bedroom hall" where you will see an old mid-century china cabinet I re-did...it was an ugly "orange-y" color which drove me crazy so I painted the inside with Old Village Mustard and the outside with Old Village Cranberry.  Then I removed the wooden (warped and wiggly) shelves and had glass ones made with wooden trim on the front edges (so they would look like wood from the front) and had LED lights installed at the top.  Now the whole cabinet is lighted and looks so nice at the end of the hall with my Red Transferware dishes displayed.   Do you like it?

Now, just before we get to the china cabinet, we will see the "Guest Bath" on the left.  It is an "inside" bath with no window so I had a Solar Tube Skylight installed.  Many times during the day I pass by and "try to turn off the light" but it is just the sun streaming in.  Fools guests, too!  LOL

And by the way, it doesn't show in the pictures, but the CEILING IS RED!

Fun!

Now come straight out of the bathroom and make a little jog and you can look in and see right into

THE MASTER BEDROOM!

That is a 10 foot wide bay window and the rocker is the first piece of furniture my dear husband and I bought when he got out of the Army (in 1952) for our first "real" apartment.  It was, Ethan Allen, black with beautiful stenciling but over the years it has been red, white and now I had it stripped and stained so it is dark wood grain.  The sewing cabinet, too, which is where I kept small toys at my grandmother's, has been many colors too (remember when we "antiqued" everything?)  LOL  Now it has been stripped and  re-stained back to its original walnut.  Now I keep prescriptions in it...looks like it has come FULL CIRCLE!  HA!

And here is a new view of my beloved pencil post bed.  I got the picture from a wonderful lady who had it in her home when her house was in Country Sampler.  I called and asked where she got it and it so happened she has a Country store, I think in Michigan and she got one for me!

Country people are the BEST!

So at this point you've seen straight ahead and to the left...moving to the left of the bed is the master bath (aren't baths the hardest to phograph!)  Anyway, it serves the purpose...

from the other end...(I stood in the shower!)  LOL

and the wall opposite the vanity.  It is wallpapered up to a high peg rail/shelf and I had the "bucket" bench  made by a gal in N.Y. state...

Now we will move out of the bath, turn right and you will see a favorite piece...a beautiful hand made chimney cupboard made by a darling oriental man who is close to his 90's!  He even made a tiny wooden peg that holds the door shut!

And now BOYS AND GIRLS,, MOMS AND DADS, AND ALL THE SHIPS AT SEA!!!

Here is the built-in I had made that took almost 6 months to complete!  It was a "Murphy's Law" If anything can go wrong it will and it did.  Contractor and I both had vacations planned, we changed the hinges twice (some were defective) and I couldn't choose hardware...on and on...

But it is finished now and I now have storage space up the wazoo...some of the drawers and cabinets are even still empty!  There are lights at the top behind the bubble glass doors and LED's above the arch.

Six of my Ironstone pitchers are behind the upper doors and to me it looks like an old built-in that would have been in an old farmhouse!  YEA!

and here's a couple of close-ups of the family pictures I am able to display

this one, on the left is daughter's:  first day of school, Birth pictures and when they were in high school and gave us this picture for our 25th Wedding Anniversary party they threw for us.  They are still just as beautiful to me in their 50's!

Well, friends, that is the end of my little tour. There is one more room, my office/guest room which has recently been repainted and is "not ready" yet.  I promise it will happen soon...I always say that, don't I,  LOL but every day I do something in there and mess up another area...But before I leave...

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I WANT TO TAKE CARE OF SOME BUSINESS...

First of all:  A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY NEW FOLLOWERS.  If I have not contacted you to thank you and really see who you are it is because either I can't figure out how to get past Google "Friend Connect" or something.  Each time I get a new follower I "jump through Hoops" to try to thank you and I get stopped in my tracks.

So always A BIG THANK YOU TO NEW FOLLOWERS!!!

Don't laugh but I accidentally deleted my whole BLOG LIST!  I have been re-building it but if you want to be on it please e-mail me and I will put you on!

And while we are on that subject,

you will notice that I don't just have a Blog List of just Primitives.  While I was unable to post, I spent a ton of time reading blogs on other subjects and found them interesting...I have a lot of interests...so I have added them to mine. Hope you Primitive friends don't mind and will still be my friend!  

And last but certainly not least...I have had help with my Blog from redesigning it to 

"Telephone Tutorials" 

with 

Sharon 

from 

PLUMROSE LANE.

CHECK OUT HER LOGO AT THE BOTTOM OF MY BLOG

or

in my "Blog List"

She is Amazing!

All for now my lovelies

Happy Spring!

     

WHAT'S ON YOUR FLOOR?

Other than furniture with the always stubborn "Dust Bunnies?" 

 Here's a bunch of pictures of what's on mine:

A real "Sap Bucket" beautifully painted.

A favorite corner

I actually use these for storage - wooden apples and pears!

My husband's chair, daughter's Raggedy Ann

Husband made a "Pouting" chair for each of our daughters one Christmas & I made them 

18" Teddy Bears.  I talked him into a chair for me!  :)

A real cutie for our sun-porch -- heat or just flames!

Shipped this chest from Providence, R. I. one vacation.

Sheep are my thing!

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty  

The best thing is the tag that says: "Someone in Iowa Loves you!"

My attempt at a "Bucket Bench" bought on-line.

Husband also built this Firewood Box...one for each of our girls and you don't think I would let him get away without one for me, do you???

One of those corners that I feel looks too busy but in 15 years I can't figure out what to do different...you see those are place mats rolled up in the crock...why, you say?  Well, there is not a drawer in my kitchen that is wide enough for place mats!  AND, see the Dollar Store one curved in the back...well, it is hiding an electric outlet full of T.V. plugs etc.  Really UGLY!

This is my entire collection of YELLOW WARE which I dearly love.

Oh yes, I do have 3 plates!  Yippee!

And last but not least, this is the floor cloth I painted for the last Home Tour

 and the inspiration for the name of my blog!

It is the closest I will ever come to living in a real farmhouse!  (Sigh!)

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Why don't you post about WHAT'S ON YOUR FLOOR and leave me a comment so I can check your blog out...I am really nosy!  :)

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Now my apologies to you all:  I hurt my foot in September and then hurt my back so have been in pain since then...pain pills, physical therapy, etc.  but it still hurts.  An MRI and cortisone shots are on the horizon but I am toughing it out as best as I can.  But as you all know who "have been there" when you are in pain nothing much gets done, including "sitting at the computer" much at all.  So I hope you can all forgive me and I will try to do better as I get better!

Love to you all,

SUN CITY ROSEVILLE HOLIDAY HOME TOUR

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends and blog buddies!  

This post will be a little different...first of all...there are three posts and I have to admit that is because blogger gives me fits when it comes to adding 8 or more pictures.  I think I have tried all the tricks to stop that from happening but so far no luck reversing that problem...

so...("SHE," thought, (she being ME) I will fix Mr. Blogger, it HAS TO BE A MR., RIGHT?

but I digress...that is a whole new post!

Anyway, if you are truly my friends you will have to set aside some time (sorry about the busy season, etc.) and, well, get a cup of coffee. put your feet up and (continue reading) as some of those fancy blogs say...  

This is where I am fortunate enough to live...A lovely 

Retirement Community for Active Adults.  This is the Front Entrance and it is a shame it was so cloudy on that day.  In our area we average only about less than 50 days a year of 

not sunny...Of course if it rains all winter that changes.

(Sorry for the yield sign, but I wanted to show you the pansies and daisy ground cover that grows all winter.)  Are we lucky or what!

We have waterfalls on either side of the main entrance and it is so pretty.

This is a picture of our main lodge not including the Fitness Center

where some of us try to "keep fit."

And this is how you get into it...

Our beautiful Christmas Tree...but I am sure you figured that out!  DUH!

There is also a lovely fireplace right to the right of the tree but "someone" seems to have "deleted" that picture...can't say who that was, but let's just say, "I am the only one who uses this computer...must have been one of the gremlins who love to mess me up."

My house didn't get much more than my Feather Tree up..thus no Christmas picture...

I am leaving for Minnesota 

(Brrrrr) and Iowa tomorrow morning and will return early in January, So

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

and now...grab your coffee and read on...there are two more posts that go with this one

so have fun my lovelies, leave me a comment if you can

 and I will see you next year!