A WHOLE BUNCH OF CHRISTMAS PICS FOR YOU

Well, I hope you enjoy my little bit of Christmas from this season.  After having my home on a large HOME TOUR last year and having EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY decorated I just decided enough was enough.  I looked at the 8 tubs of decorations and just closed the lids and used a few things that were readily available to put out this year.  But you know what?  Christmas came and went and it was all fine.  I just wish I could figure out how to even start disposing of all the great decorations...I have many that were my grandparents, even more from the 49 years my husband I collected before he passed, and that doesn't count the gifts or the stuffed animals that were always around the tree, table decorations, window decorations and what all.  I think I could start my own CHRISTMAS STORE!   If anyone has a great solution for me be sure to let me know  :-).   When we moved into this house 13 years ago I only brought with us our very favorites...I guess I have too many favorites!  LOL  My wish for you all is to  HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!  Hugs to all my current FOLLOWERS and any more who would care to join in!   Joy

Welcome to my home

"You Better Watch Out..."

My kitchen which looks out to the front

A little kitchen tree 

This wonderful painted-muslin goose is the only new thing this year!

Looks like this is only half done...

Yes, I should have placed some greens or batting around these candles and the scale above but I couldn't find either.  But hey!  they are those new battery candles with a timer which turns them on the off by themselves!  Who says Primitive style can't be "technical!  LOL

The standing Father Christmas plate matches my Christmas dishes...which I didn't even get out this year, but I did find the Christmas Tree design luncheon plates to match my TransferWare so what the heck, I bought 'em

Opposite the fireplace

Detail of a darling pillow from JoAnn last year!  I do get lots of things with my name on them!  LOL

Well, I guess I lied above about the goose...I also bought this pillow this year.  Colors are great!

So this is my secondary focal point in my great room.  I bought some of the pics, color-copied some of them and one is an antique calendar page from April 1946 I found in a wonderful shop 45 minutes south of Minneapolis when I visited in Oct.  

Here's that old lantern light fixture I refinished in the fall.  I got it at Habitat for Humanity for $25, I think.

Had to show you this...a gift from a dear neighbor/friend.  It is from 1905!  LOVE IT!

A Christmas shot of the fireplace all newly painted and "Prim."

A new small Feather Tree purchased from a Friend in Tennessee

A favorite pillow I splurged on last year.  (Do you see a theme going on here?  Lots of HOUSES!)

Had to show you these.  Picked up these Paper Mache Boxes and Father Christmas at TUESDAY MORNING last summer.  Another customer wanted to buy them from me right out of my cart!  Ha, ha

Notice the new Braided rug...Got a bunch from COLONIAL BRAIDED RUG COMPANY in Shelby, NC.  I love their rugs, they are georgous! 

This is the bedroom hall and the NEW BED is here, but that is for another post.  Hugs to all and thanks for visiting!  Come back soon!

Cat Naps and Hot Weather in September

I was just hangin' out on a nice old quilt

But when I saw the 106 degrees on Sept. 28th I decided it was a good day for a nap! 

The Finished Product

So here are a couple of shots of the finished product.
I LOVE IT!

The color is B.M's. TYLER TAUPE which changes color as the light in the room changes
I LOVE IT!
It looks darker in reality but doesn't really darken the room.

Let me hear what you think.  This little "project" wasn't supposed to include all this! 'There is still lots to do (groan!)
Now I need a new room size braided rug and the window treatments are coming tomorrow so I am getting there, slowly but surely.
(Now if I just figure out how to put pictures on this blog in the right order I will really be a "Happy Camper!)
Bear with me.
Going on vacation back east and won't be back till Nov 1.  See you then!  :-)
Joy

here is getting to the (UGH!) priming part.  The Benjamin Moore paint wouldn't stick on the old eggshell finish!  Hadn't planned for that...this was just going to be a LITTLE CHANGE!

More priming...I thought we would never get done!

The Big Change from"CA" to "PRIM"

Well here is the "old look" or what I call "The California Look," lots of white and light and airy.  Over the years my family had always been subject to transfer and I always had to decorate with "reselling" in mind.  When we moved to California I thought I would add a little color and a few "Prim" accessories as that was my true style.  So the house had been white walls and woodwork until about 10 years ago when I got up my courage and, starting with one room at a time, gradually added "light, neutral" colors to the walls.  

I have never lived in one house as long as this one and could feel myself getting the urge to change something!  Reading other blogs, Country Sampler, Judy Condon's books and of course, a Primitive Place I was really starting to plan what I was going to do.  

Well, it all started like this:  We have a wonderful "wholesale-to-the-public" fabric store and I just  happened to see some lovely "neutral" Casement yard goods for a fantastic price.  Well, I couldn't pass up a real bargain now, could I???   LOL  I think By the time I got it, with all the specials, discounts and deductions it was down to a tiny amount so I quickly figured up the needed yardage and away I went with my treasure.  I had just planned to change PART of my window treatments and thought: "No Big Deal."  Wrong!  I got home and REALLY LOOKED AT THE ROOM and decided that it looked too busy for me.  So down came the checked valances and the muslin side panels.  As I looked around the room with a critical eye I decided that "yes, it was too busy looking and it really needed a make-over."  

AFTER ALL, THAT IS WHAT I DO FOR OTHER PEOPLE SO WHY NOT ME!

Favorite contractors were called and my favorite seamstress got to work.

Not to mention Mr. S.O. and me!

So here the contractor had partly finished adding "bead-board" to the fireplace wall 

and.

Some Excitement At Bodega Bay

""

   

Yes, we actually "climbed" down this "cliff!"  LOL

How would you like to do this in a Jig-saw puzzle!

(This was supposed to be displayed under the "Get-A-Way Day but when I checked my blog this morning I found I had not Published it...so here it is now...that is what I get for working so late into the night.  Again, bear with me.  I am starting to get it...
After an interesting lunch in the quaint little town of Sebastapol where we enjoyed a tasty lunch of  Vegetarian Meatball Italian Sandwiches in the little restaurant where all the "locals" seemed to congregate, we decided to hit the road again and head to a favorite mini-vacation spot called Bodega Bay  After deciding there was no way we could "get down to the beach" Mr. S.O. decided to explore a little.  He found the most scary winding , less-than-one-foot-wide path that could get us there.  He came back to get me and I screamed, "Are you crazy???"  "We can never get down that path without killing ourselves."  Never to be proven wrong, he dragged me, kicking and screaming all the way and when we came to a "hairpin turn" I said,  "no way, I can't do this." but he persevered, holding my hands tight and we made it down.  (I didn't tell him but I felt quite powerful that I actually didn't kill myself!)  Ha!  We walked the beach and took pictures and I loved this seagull so I thought I would share it with you.  .

A Nice Get-Away Day

Here is Mr. Significant Other and Charlie

They're both pretty cute, huh!

And here I am giving Snoopy a little hug!

Here is a mural composed of comic strips from the newspapers all fitted together to form the coloring.  It is a work of art and I will never be able to figure out how they did that.  Must have taken months.  If you walk up really close you can even read the comic strips and I am sure you would also remember some of them if you were ever a fan of Peanuts.

Here is a mural you see when you enter the Charles Schulz Museum.  It was an interesting place to visit and see how Charles Schulz highlighted what trends were happening in the world around us to be the subject of his cartoons.

One of My Projects

This is the lantern/light fixture I found at Habitat-For-Humanity several months ago and here it is all taken apart before I started messing with it.  So I removed the glass, the candle sleeves and the reflector.  I painted the reflector metallic gold and it was toooooo bright so I sanded and sanded and even ran a little stain over it to dull it down.  I painted the (dirty) candle sleeves white and after stuffing them with rolled up paper towels, I dripped Hot Glue over the tops to (hopefully) look like candle-drips.  Then I sprayed them with Matte spray (so the Antiqueing wouldn't "grab") and Antiqued them with water-based brown antiquing and wiped it off with a damp rag so they wouldn't look dirty.  I rewired the wires sticking out the back together onto an extension cord so I could plug it in when I use it on the center of my mantle for Christmas with greens, tiny lights and apple and pear trimmed garlands.  I love the way it turned out!  LOL.

All Finished

This is how it looks now and all ready for Christmas!

Busy With Projects

Just thought I would add a pic of my "old" bed that is leaving me and moving to a ranch this week. I have loved it but can't wait for my brand new Pencil Post coming in Nov.

I put the paint bottle there to let you see how BIG this coach lamp is! It was really beat up, see the crack on the left side and the glass was broken. I think it will be great with some silicone bulbs with the reflector painted an antique gold. I will add some "hot glue drips" to the candle sleeves, too.

Hi Everyone:

Just a short message today as for the last 4 days I have not been able to access my Google account! NO LOL here...that is so frustrating; I just want to pick up the phone and yell at someone. Especially when they ask for my password a million times, among other things.

But, I am back and now & am in the middle of a million things. S.O. says: "What's new about that?" HA! Anyway, I need to get out out in the garage before it gets too hot (105 today!) and work on about 5 projects because I am doing some major remodeling work in my "great room" starting next week. The contractor brought the lumber early so I could get it painted before he puts it up. Nice, huh! So painting clothes will be my fashion statement for today!

Then, I sold my beautiful black bed and ordered a new one, (a totally beautiful Pencil Post...my life-long wish!) but the new one doesn't come until November so I am trying to figure out how to work around having my mattress and box spring on the FLOOR. Too hot to run around looking at G.W., etc. but I may have to...

I wanted to share with you a fabulous find from Habitat...This coach lamp that I got for a mere $25! It is huge as you can see; that baby is over 2 ft. tall. I have taken it all apart and will paint it black. The electrical wires will be repaired and I plan to use it on my mantel this Christmas with greens, etc. Can't wait to get it done (so I can move on to the next project.) More later. Hugs and thank you for stopping by!

Joy

Stephanie and Nick

Now here is the nicest news of all: remember I said all my grandchildren live in the Midwest...Iowa and Minnesota...well the other night I got a phone call from my oldest granddaughter and she almost came through the phone...she was so excited! "Grandma, Nick has asked my to MARRY HIM!!!" These kids have been together of several years, and are absolutely the cutest, sweetest couple on this earth. I love them to pieces!!! So she sent me a picture of her ring and I am including it here. The sweet story is he chose the ring after 5 or 6 trips to the store, and then took her up to Lake Superior for a hiking-weekend. She was standing on a rock, turned around only to find him on one knee ready to "pop the question." A total surprise! How cool is that! There is some good news in this world...

And now for what else has been happening in my life...!

Now here is the finished cabinet...hope you like it! Click on the photo and see that it is JOE MONTANA giving me a hug on my last day of working for the 49ers! What a guy!

Cabinet Do-Over

Well what has been taking place here

I got this old, really beat-up cabinet with rusty chicken wire a few months ago for $10. What a deal! Some women love shoes...I love old cabinets! It was really falling apart and I used tons of filler and sanding to get it even slightly ready to paint. Took the chicken wire out (and of course had JUST THROWN AWAY A BIG PIECE FROM ANOTHER PROJECT!!!) and have not added any covering to the door, just a little lace curtain tied back with twine. I hope you can see the potential as I did...

Tricks for Blogging and more

Hi Everyone and especially those who have chosen to be a follower! That is so exciting to me when I log on only to find a new name...thank you all! What fun this is!

I've been away from blogging for a couple of reasons: I have been taking an on-line class on Blogging which has been going on for several weeks now. And, if you remember I note in my profile that I am an Interior Redesigner. Usually that means I go to the home, choose colors, move furniture or do whatever it needs to make the improvements the owner wants and I am done. Well, the past month or so I have been overseeing a WHOLE HOUSE REMODEL which is way more than I am used to. It has been fun but very time consuming and lots of running around shopping, etc. (Am I lucky or what...getting paid to shop!) LOL Anyway, that project has taken up most of my time and figuring out the blogging class, almost all the rest of it. I don't know how good this class was, but I did figure out the instructor had really no recent experience with Blogger so her instructions weren't always accurate. But, I did get something out of it and my sweet S.O. is always handy to TUTOR me when I don't "get it." So, eventually I will "get it" as it is coming together, bits and pieces, (or should I say widgets and gadgets.) HA!

A while back I found some darling Prim "gadgets" and saved them but I don't remember where I saved them! MORE LOL. So bear with me...

Lake Tahoe, Golf and More

A" through the windshield" picture of climbing the mountain road to Tahoe and cooler weather.

One of the cute homes in Lake Tahoe

Another cute one, somewhat larger, eh?

Just let me move right into this one! LOL

A "Welcome Bear"...thankfully not a REAL one!

JERRY RICE, one of my 49er's

And when I spoke to him there was a

"glimmer" of recognition

from Training Camp Days.

BE STILL MY HEART

GOOD FRIENDS AND S.O. (THE CUTE ONE ON THE LEFT)

This is a pole that tells the snow plow drivers how

close the edge of the road is! Snow comes down in "feet"

not inches!

Boaters along the golf course!

And back home again:

DID I MENTION IT IS HOT HERE???