Monday, November 23, 2009

Oh How I LOVED My Auntie Frannie.... :-)


My parents moved from Michigan to the Northwest before I was born. Several years later my uncle (my dad's brother) and Auntie Frannie moved out here too. Neither family knew anyone here so we were a tight knit little group.

My Auntie Frannie and Uncle Karl had five kids and money was VERY, VERY tight.

Christmas came and the only thing I really wanted was a Barbie wedding dress.

My sweet Auntie with allllll of those little kids made me the wedding dress on the right that Christmas.

I can still remember how thrilled I was and that was FIFTY years ago. I have treasured it all of these years......even then I knew how much love had gone into it and I tear up just writing about it.

One year my Mum was in the hospital on my birthday. All six of the little pack were outside playing and my Auntie wouldn't let me come into the house. I couldn't figure out why I was banned, but I was. Several hours later she surprised me with the sweetest little birthday party and a yummy cake.

I always felt welcome and loved at their house. It was almost like another set of parents.

She was such a treasure and I loved her so much.

She passed away from Cancer about ten years ago.........about ten years after my uncle. Their sweet daughter (my favorite cousin) passed away about three years ago. All from Cancer. Cancer killed my dad as well. That's a lot of cancer for one little family, I think.


I hope you have an Auntie that you love and who loves YOU!


Bless your little pea-pickin' hearts.

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer

xoxoxoxox


Friday, November 20, 2009

Ahhhhh.......Now THIS Is Really Silly Stuff!......

Happy Pink Turkey Saturday!!!

I hope all of you sweet little chickies had a wonderful week. :-)

I got a few errands done....now, one of things I dislike doing more than ANYTHING is to run errands. I used to love to do that kind of thing when I was a spring chicken....that was a LONG time ago!

But there are Thanksgiving preparations to tend to.

Isn't this Turkey Painting just lovely? Now, personally, I think turkeys are not among God's most glorious creatures, but Robyn Rognstad did an awesome job making this little fella cute, didn't she?



Ok...........I'm reallllly wondering how they managed this little guy?

I wonder.....do you think he'll be tastier? Surely so....being pink and all.




Whew.........when I did the Pink Turkey Google search there is sure a lot of information about not eating pink turkey.

No point in making yourself sick on the big feast day!



I forgot to make a note of the gal's store where these cute little gal t's can be purchased. Wouldn't this be a cute little outfit for Thanksgiving?

I remember when I was a little girl.........(absolutely no laughing...I DID used to be a little girl.............yep, a LONG time ago smarty pants).


Anyway.....my parents didn't have a lot of money and getting a new outfit for Thanksgiving wasn't something that happened. But one year, when I was about 7 or so I got up on Thanksgiving morning with my doll laying next to me in bed with a little white blouse, brown skirt and orange ribbon around her neck......and when my Mum told me to get dressed I had the exact outfit hanging in the closet. I can remember being soooo excited. That was so sweet. My Mum sewed a LOT, but had never made me a matching dolly outfit. It was a BIG day.

It seemed like I was sick on Thanksgiving when I was growing up more than I was healthy. Usually strep throat. That can really take some of the fun out of Turkey Day.

We always spent Thanksgiving with my Dad's brother and his family....They had five kids and it was so much fun to be with them. I adored my cousins and Aunt and Uncle.

My Auntie could cook like a dream..........but one year she made Pumpkin Pie from the Halloween Pumpkins....it was TERRIBLE. I was so disappointed. It was my favorite part of the holiday. AND she baked another pie too....CHERRY.....I realllly HATE cherry pie.

Too bad that wasn't one of the years I had strep throat.



So dear and sweet girlies.....I want to wish you and your families a wonderful, safe and tasty Thanksgiving.

God bless you!

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer


Be sure to visit Beverly over at www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com
for lots more pink fun!

Thank you, Beverly for hosting our Pink Party!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Today I'm Dreaming Of........


Sweet, sweet girlie friends.....

I'm so glad you're here!


Have I told you lately how special you are to me?

Well, YOU are. :-)


Today I'm dreaming that.....

  • My car doesn't have mud splatters covering one entire side.
  • My Christmas shopping was finished.
  • It would stop raining for maybe two days?
  • I could find my e-mail contacts and my missing e-mail.
  • Someone would water the plants on my front porch.
  • I didn't have anywhere to go today.


Hmmmmmmmm........Ok.....I reviewed my list........it's pretty silly on second thought.


Today I am remembering how blessed I am and how grateful I am that I have a relationship with Jesus.


My sweet wonderful friend Sheila (aka Mrs. Magpie) sent me the MOST wonderful message....it uplifted me and gave me a whole new perspective.



In a nutshell....

I LOVE Jesus. I know He's with me ALL the time...


But this really impacted me. You know how you can KNOW something, but not really KNOW it?


Am I making sense?


Anway, my friend Sheila said that God's her BFF.....that she talks to Him all day.......oh how I wish I could explain this better. I TALK to God all day....and praise HIM alllll day....but this is different. Say you're driving along in the car and you're chatting with God exactly like you would if your Mum were there. Say you're picking out a new pair of shoes and you were to confer with God...."say....what do you think of these?.....Do you like the red ones better"? Hmmmmm...."thinking of dinner tonite....what do you think.....lasagna or roast"?....

Oh what a difference that made to me. I had just never quite thought of it like that before. A DIFFERENT kind of a closeness. What joy that brought to my heart.

I can't wait to take God shopping!

I am having an awesome day.....just God and Me...

Sooooo.......just disregard my list of dreams....THIS is my big dream after all.

God and I have things to do today, so we've gotta run!

I love you all.

God said "I love all of you too".

xoxoxoxo

Spencer and God

Oh and PS....another snippet of wisdom from the WONDERFUL Mrs. Magpie?

When I said how much I was missing my Mum she told me that God is just like having a Mum only BETTER and a DAD tooo.......and that I should buy a gift for MYSELF from my MUM for each holiday. Something she would have bought for me if she were here....with NO guilt. Isn't that soooo sweet? My MUM would LOVE that. And, she'd tell me to do it too....... :-)

Oh and PSSSSS........have you been over to see my sweet Sheila?

You really must go meet her. What a wonderful gal.

www.thequintessentialmagpie@blogspot.com

And.....I'm so happy to be OLDER THAN DIRT!!! More on that later.


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hey Sweet Chickies!!! Random Pinks for Pink Saturday!!!

Happy Pink Saturday Sweet little Chickies....

I often find gobs of lovely things when I'm poking around the net....and I can't resist saving them....Do you do that too?

Soooo....When I was trying to decide what I'd do for Pink Saturday this week I thought I'd share some of these wonderful pix with you.

They make me smile!

Which is just great about now. The new 'puter arrived. Oh how shiny and new! And, fast. But, sadly, not without problems. You know how you get all of your favorite things loaded up? Yeah, welllllll...........I don't know where some of those things went, but they're gone for sure.

My sweet computer fella came to help AGAIN tonite. We couldn't retrieve my e-mail from my main account. Yeah, I'm a little bit behind in the reading department and there were over 900 e-mails in my box..........NOT my blog account....I read every single one of those and LOVE them all! Promise. Shhhhh...........don't tell anyone I was soooo far behind. (Lots of them were ads and such...so it's really not as bad as it sounds.) I had some serious reading to do. Note: HAD. Empty mailbox now. YIKES.

And, no contacts either.



This is a little too small for me.........oh how I LOVE thrifting. How much could I jam inside this little pink cutie?


Would it be nearly as cute with all of my goodies tied on top? :-)


It makes me smile though, and I suspect I'd sing a lot driving it around. Yes, I WOULD keep the windows rolled allllll of the way up.



Dang.........I've been searching high and low for one of these! Do you think it might be a dual purpose item?



My daughter and I gave a bridal shower a couple of years ago.....we made this party hat for the bride to wear.


Pink and glitter.....oh yes.......I think I need one of these.

No, no more marriages for this girl. :-)

You KNOW they say three is a charm......I'm stickin' with that.



I'm crazy about vintage postcards....isn't this one a cutie?

I think I got many of these from Flickr....but if I got them from YOU....thank you very much. And, if you'll let me know, I'd be happy to give you credit. :-)

Now, I know you'd really love to see more great pinks!

As always, Beverly is hosting this Pink Party.

Isn't she just a peach?

You can see more over at:

www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com


I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend.

May the Lord bless you ABUNDANTLY!!!


I love alllll of you.



You're just the BEST!


Huggies and Lovies,

Spence

xoxoxox

Thursday, November 12, 2009

She's On Her Way! I'm So Excited!


Oh Girlies......This is thrilling news around my house! My computer's probably five years old or so and has been upgraded many times....still, the old girl's super slow and has a meltdown about 10 times every day....yeah, it really doesn't matter if I'm in the middle of something. She's pooped out...and I can't take it anymore. She's gotta go. :-)


I've been waiting for Windows 7 to make it's debut....and I didn't want to have to switch from Vista or another program to upgrade so I was VERY patient.

Enter......THE NEW GIRL ON THE BLOCK....

I'm going to have flames coming from my new system it's going to be so zippy...

Intel Core TWO Quad processor

EIGHT GB Memory

and

1 TB Hard drive

I can't even imagine! My WONDERFUL computer fella said this is about ten times my current computer.

I'm thrilled....and waiting.

I'll be a VERY happy blogger, and I'll be able to actually get around much easier, without the incessant crashing. Whew.....is that ever frustrating. Did I mention patience isn't my strong suit?


Hugs and kisses,
Spencer


xoxoxox

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Remembering......

I couldn't let this day go by without thanking our military for their service......both past and PRESENT.

We are very fortunate to live near a military base, so the opportunities to thank our troops are plentiful. What a blessing to me...........I often wish I'd hit a big financial windfall so I could go around doing "Random Acts of Kindness" for our military personnel. We are so blessed that so many willingly put their lives on the line for US.


I'd also like to thank their families. They too, sacrifice so much. I can't imagine having my loved one in harm's way, raising the kids alone, and missing important occasions with my beloved.

Thank you so very much.

God bless you!

And, God Bless AMERICA!

With tremendous respect, gratitude and admiration.....

Spencer and Family


Thank You Lord For Protecting My Family.....

This adorable little fixture used to be in my daughter's hallway.....As you can probably tell....not so much anymore.

My girl was in the bathroom.....just a few feet from this fixture.....doing her hair and getting ready for work this morning when flames came shooting out of this little light.

She managed to blow it out....I know....she should have called the fire department, but she was in a panic.....she realized that after she calmed down. She's a lot like I am....I don't handle panic very well either.

Fortunately they were not sleeping.

God is soooo good. Thank you Father for your protection......AGAIN.

She considered getting it repaired, but decided to just go buy a NEW fixture. Maybe she can just use this one with candles or something. She actually bought this darling little thing on eBay and had it all rewired. I don't know what caused the problem.

I'm just more than grateful that my girl and my little guy are OK....


On the colonoscopy/endoscopy front.........Glad that's over!

Here's a hot tip.......just in case one of these delightful tests is in your future...

CRYSTAL LIGHT!

My Dr. said I could mix some into that nasty GoLytely....I'd double check with your Dr. to be sure, but it helped quite a bit. It's not going to be my bevvie of choice anytime soon, but it did help.

Colonoscopy: Perfect

Endoscopy: It seems I have a little bit of narrowing in my esophagus so he stretched it a little bit. My throat's a tiny bit sore, but no big deal.

And, there were some inflamed spots in my tummy so he sent them off to be biopsied, but he's quite sure it's nothing to worry about. Best to be safe though.

And, I got to sleep LOTS yesterday without guilt. YIPPPEE!

Thank you so much for all of your kind words and prayers. Not to mention some REALLY funny comments.

What wonderful gals you are!


Have a wonderful, fabulous, terrific day!

Huggies and Lovies,
Spence


Sunday, November 8, 2009

And, The ParTEEEE Begins.....

Yipppeeeee.............. I am so excited!

I get to drink this wonderful beverage this evening....

I'm so looking forward to it.

Have you ever had a colonoscopy?

Yeah, the procedure is a piece of cake, the prep......

NOT so much.


Why do they call it GO LYTELY? Seriously? Who actually named this stuff?

I opted for Half Lytely....Do you think it tastes TWICE as bad?


Yeah, and NOTHING to eat today. And, my procedure isn't until 1:30 tomorrow. I feel a big case of grumpiness coming on.

Colonoscopy AND Endoscopy.

When the gal called to confirm she said "you're scheduled for a turn around on the ninth........"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She did NOT just say that?

So....I'll be off now....preparing to enjoy my Half Lytely for my Turn AROUND............


You know where you can find me.


I hope YOU'RE all enjoying YOUR day!


Huggies and Lovies,
Spence

xoxoxox


***
Edited to add.....I have such hilarious bloggie girlfriends.........I've loved your little bun puns...keep 'em coming...I need the laughs. :-)

xoxoxox


Saturday, November 7, 2009

Pink Saturday At Bellamere Cottage

Today I'm sharing pictures of a few little vignettes around the Cottage...

That's my newest tole tray peeking out there. :-)

It actually has lots of pink.......naturally that didn't show up in the picture.

I wanted that little glass basket vase for YEARS. My darling daughter bought it for me. Gosh I love her.



I have little lamps EVERYWHERE....they all have teensie little bulbs in them, but they make things look so cozy, don't you think? This one is next to my kitchen sink. The DH wants to know if there will be any counter space left. HAHAHAHA!

That little plant? Wirevine. I thought maybe I could root it like ivy. Yeah, not so much. I called the local greenhouse to ask how to propagate it....you just stick a snip into the soil. I want to make a topiary with it. I'll try that next spring.



That dome-ish do-hickey? Goodwill. Oh how I do LOVE the GW. I think it was about five dollars. I've had it years.



Doesn't gingham photograph strangely? It always looks like op-art to me.

Little thrift store chair....beauty make-over. I found the needlepoint at a garage sale and I was determined to find a chair to use it on.....my kitchen is robin egg blue with bits of black.

The round topiary? Yep, coat hanger. Just bend it into a circle and add ivy.


For more DELISH Pink Posts please go see Miss Beverly at:

www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Be safe.

God bless you.

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Hi Sweeties! It's The Pillow Tutorial For You!.....FINALLY.

Ok sweet little chickie-doos....I'm going to give this another try.....Hopefully I can actually launch this little tutorial. Getting this whole shin-dig together was 10 times harder than making the pillow! :-)

Thank you so much for all of your tips with the whole Blogger thing.....Sometimes it can just up and give one fits, can't it?

Let me start by saying.....I NOT an expert seamstress. I'll share with you what I've learned through years and years of sewing. I've figured out what works best for me.......and causes me the FEWEST headaches!

Many of you are Little Suzy Seamstresses......and can probably teach me a thing or two....and won't gain anything from this little lesson, but lots of you gals expressed a desire to learn to sew and don' t know where to begin....a pillow's a great place to start. A small, simple and inexpensive project. Gotta love that.

I hope you'll go out and buy yourself a little snip of fabric and give it a go....it's not difficult and after a pillow or two you'll be a pro.

Start with whatever you'd like for the front of your pillow........a piece of quilt, one of your little one's shirts or something sentimental. I've printed a copy of a postcard that my dad actually sent to my Mum in their very early courting days. It's just so sweet, isn't it?

I'm a super thrifter and this delicious linen was actually a stitched down pleated skirt that I bought at the Goodwill for just a couple of dollars. I sat and picked out all of the pleats and hem to get a nice bit of fabric. Don't overlook anything when you're out and about....it could be a diamond in the rough.

Most of the pillows I make are vintage floral barkcloth with ruffles, so this style is a departure for me. These little numbers are for my den re-do.....simple and actually easier than ruffles.

I have a standard sewing machine. No serger or anything fancy. You'll love having a rotary cutter, ruler and mat.....well worth the investment if you don't have them, but you can do it without. They used to in the old days, right?

I'm going to call the inside of the edging cording and the finished bit trim....just to make the whole explanation easier.




As for the size of the cording.....it's about 1/4" if you're looking at it from the top. I never noticed the size on the box, I just buy the size I like. Use whatever size makes you happy.



Ok....making the bias strips to cover the cording. You'll need a square of fabric...so if you're using 54" fabric, you'll need a piece of fabric that is 54" long. That will make a TON of cording. You can use a smaller square for a small pillow. As I've said before, I often buy all cotton sheets at the thrift store for my trim.........you'll get a HUGE square out of full size sheet and won't have as many seams. Fold that square of fabric in half, corner to corner, and cut along the fold. Now, you're going to cut parallel to that cut, so lay it on your cutting mat folded up with that edge ready to zip off. I cut my strips 1 1/2"...that seems to work perfectly for me.

*If you're only going to be doing straight seams you can just cut your strips on the straight of grain. I still think cutting it on the bias is easier, but it's a shame to have to buy a big piece of fabric to cut a bit from the center.



All lined up and ready to snip.



Connecting the pieces. The little ears sticking out are about 1/4".



And, when you flip it over it will look like this. Just snip those little ears right off.

Piece as many lengths of fabric together as you'll need to go around your project........then press, press, press! I think that makes such a difference in the quality of your work.....so fire up that iron and don't be afraid to use it. A. LOT.



Now it's sandwich time. Just slip that little bit of cording inside your strip of fabric like a little hot dog and sew fairly closely to the cording inside. I have a cording foot for my machine. It's AWESOME, but you can use a zipper foot if you don't have one. I think this makes it lots easier though.



If you look very closely at this picture you can see the edges of my fabric are zig-zagged. I put a piece of quilt batting under my pillow top/front piece, pinned all around it so it was perfectly flat and zig zagged all around the edge. I ALWAYS put the quilt batting underneath. I think it gives the finished project a more finished look and makes the stuffing bit look neater too.



Ok.....the bottom layer is the quilt batting.......then the pillow front piece. I match up the edge of my trim to the edge of the pillow top edge. Always start on the bottom of the pillow top....(meaning that when the pillow is all finished that start/end will be at the bottom and will be less noticeable if it's not on the side or top). My quilt batting is sticking out a bit....that doesn't matter at all. I'm not using that as a guide....and it will be trimmed later.

Leave the first 2 inches or so free when you begin stitching. You'll see why that's helpful in just a minute here....

Now, stitch right over the line on your trim....You know....where you stitched the little hot dog together. Got that? :-)



Corners.....yep, they can be a bit testy........but you're going to give them a little snip so they'll cooperate. You'll be glad you did!

Keep going...............and stop when you're about two inches away from your beginning bit.




Ok.......you've rounded all of those bends and you're to the ending business. I don't know where I learned this little trick, but believe me........it makes for a really nice join.

See that little bit of trim on the bottom? That's the bit that you left loose when you started.

Now, the piece where you've just left off? Snip the little stitches to free that cording that's inside....don't clip the fabric, just the seam to open it up.



Now snip the inside cording so that it exactly matches up with the beginning piece....not the fabric JUST the cording.



Just a little bit of finesse here.........and you're nearly finished with this part!


See that little bit on the left folded to the inside?



You're going to tuck it around your beginning piece and stitch on your stitch line on the trim to finish it up.


Yippppppeeeeeeeeee.........Look.....that wasn't so hard, was it?

We're on the home stretch.
Yep........that little bit of fiberfill's still poking out there.....


No worries.........



Ok.........from bottom to top: The bottom layer is a piece of quilt batting. Then comes the back of the pillow.. (right side facing up).....next, your piece that you've stitched to cording onto..(right side facing down). Carefully pin all of those layers together so they're nice and neat. You're going to leave about a 6-8" opening on the bottom for the stuffing so note where the bottom of your front piece is........and stitch all around the little pile.......on THAT SAME LINE again......Can you see the pin sticking right into that line?

When you stitch exactly on that line everything's going to line up perfectly....




Ok.........you've stitched clear 'round and left your little opening...........

Now trim it all up nice and neat.

Turn it right side out and stuff.

Don't just take bits from the bag of fiberfill and stuff it into the pillow. You'll take a chunk and sort of "shread" it in between your hands to loosen it up. It makes your finished pillow look MUCH better.....You'll be glad you did that extra step.

Ahhhhhhhhhh...........look at that.......aren't you excited now?

Carefully hand stitch the opening closed and you've got a pillow.



Pat yourself on the back and show everyone you know.



See.........it's really not hard. You can do it.........

Go forth and stitch.


I hope this has helped you and allayed some of your sewing fears.

Please let me know when you post your project. I want to see it!

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Oh For Pete's Sake.....I Messed Up The Pillow Tutorial....Can Somebody Help Me???


Grrrrrrrrrr..........

I've hit a snag on the Pillow Tutorial I promised you dear girlies....yes, I do know I promised it on Sunday. I'm a bit late. :-) Oooops.

I've been sitting here for a LONG time getting it all together....got to the last two steps and backspaced to delete my text and deleted the last two photos. Now, here's my question. I uploaded the two missing pictures, but of course they appeared at the top of the post. How do I get them to the bottom where they belong? I've tried, in the past, to copy and paste to a new post..........yeah, that doesn't work. I hate to totally start over.....it's a VERY long post....

Right now I have to go to bed. I'm a bit rummy and nothing's making any sense to me.

Any help would be soooo appreciated.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer


xoxoxoxox

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Let's Take A Trip To My Beautiful Daughter's For Pink Saturday.....You'll LOVE This!

Oh my sweet and dear girlies....

I hope you've been having a wonderful week.

Lots going on here at the cottage. I'm actually making some progress on the den. It's small stuff, but any progress is great in my book.....so I'm THRILLED....

I think you're going to LOVE this little tour. My precious daughter has such a way of setting up her little vignettes.........she loves to do it and it shows! She is such a special girl....totally delightful, and funny....oh my.....she's REALLY funny........hilarious, in fact. :-)

She sort of takes after me in the collecting department. Yeah, she's not a minimalist either....empty spots? Oh heavens no! :-)



There's a little picture of my dad.....see him in his uniform??......Quite a long time ago I shared a picture of this darling girl with my dad. She was CRAZY about her grandpa and he was totally taken with her. It was wonderful to see........so sweet.

After my Mum's funeral we went to the graveside.....just my girl and I....My Mum is buried next to my dad. Those dice were on his grave. We have no idea how they got there. How strange. Anyway......we saved them....



We both collect these pictures..........they're called "The Light Of The World" by C. Bosseron Chambers. We both realize that one is probably enough, but we both have LOADS of them...

They're so precious, aren't they?

My girl adds a little do-dad to nearly everything....a flower, ribbon, bow....tassel, whatever. She loves adornments. Me too! :-) She's MUCH better at it than I am.



My daughter's house is quite old....I think it was built in the 20's. It's DELISH!

She has this little faux fireplace.....original to the house........it had one of those little niches where the mirror is. For years I suggested a mantle there and something large to cover the hole. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but one day she relented. I built it for her and it's one of her favorite things to decorate. I don't think she could fit another thing on it. I LOVE all of her pretties and look at them every time I visit.

The little banner is hard to see, but it says F.L.O.W.E.R.S



Several years ago Pottery Barn had a vintage wooden folding yardstick fashioned into a crown. We were all over that and both did one....see it standing up behind the crown picture? Yes...crowns are the theme....and she IS a princess. The cranberry glass belonged to my Mum and that's her in the tiny, round frame in front of it.

You can see the reflection of her old light fixture in the mirror. It belonged to her husband's grandmother.



This shelf looks much brighter than it is...it's actually a very pale robin's egg blue....I made it for them when they bought the house.

Her little pup is a Westie (Trixie Belle), so she collects vintage Westie things.......



I hope you've enjoyed the little tour. I'll take more pix so I can show you more. Doesn't she have a knack for display?


From the time she was just a little girl I put YMLY on EVERYTHING for her...her lunch sacks, notes, handmade items.........it means "Your Mama loves you"....

So............Sweet girl............YMLY!
I am so blessed and couldn't have asked for more.


Now, I know you're just itchin' to see more lovely pinks, right?


Beverly is hosting this fabulous event and you can visit her at:

www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com

She's asked that we actually link to the Pink Saturday post, but I can't figure out how to do it. I'm sorry. :-(


Have a wonderful weekend darling girlies!

God bless you!

Huggies and Lovies,
Spencer


xoxoxox

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Catching A Few Rays!

Ahhhhh.......my sweet little Ruby. She LOVES a bit of sunshine...and will look everywhere for a snippet of it.



"Rise above the storm and you will find sunshine".
Mario Fernandez



I'm working on a pillow tutorial for you sweet little chickies.

I know many of you have pillows down pat...but for those of you who are learning your way around the 'ol sewing machine.....this one's for you!

I think I should have it together on Sunday or so...

Love to all!

You're such a blessing to me.


May your day be filled with loads of sunshine!

Huggies and Lovies,
S

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Help Sweet Girlies! I Need A Solution!



Yes, as I've said before I can be a little bit (just a little bit) OCD...

Right now I'm on a quest to find a little cart.

I actually just love those new ones at Safeway...have you used them? They're about 1/3 the size of a regular shopping cart with an upper and a lower basket? They're so darn handy.


Well.........if you've read MY STORY....you'll know why I NEED this. My darling husband isn't seeing it, but I KNOW...

I have TONS and I do mean TONS of china. When I'm doing a BIG cleaning I'll take it alllll to the kitchen sink and wash every single piece. Now, the cottage is VERY tiny, but it still means a gazillion steps to get all of this crap.......I mean beautiful collectibles.........to the sink. In the past, I've used an old metal tea cart with a big plastic tub on top. The problem with that is that the wheels aren't as great as they once were so it's hard to steer. Ever notice how easily you can zip a grocery cart around?

Soooooo.........I've been searching and searching and searching for a solution.

See that little dandy on the top? Red? Yes, I know....it would be soooo much cuter in pink. I wonder how that Krylon paint would work on these?....yeah, that doesn't really have anything to do with the whole business here, does it?

Well..........it's $99.00. Yeah, that's not too bad....especially when I consider how many steps it will save me........but the shipping? Yeah, I nearly keeled over when I read this little bit of info.........


THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS!!!

FOR ONE CART?

Oh my....that's just not going to work. How ridiculous.

So, I'm thinking one of you little sweeties just may know where I could find something that would work? I don't mind putting a little plastic tub on top to hold all of the little beauties, but it does need to be able to fit around the teensie beensie cottage.........and roll easily over carpet.

I'd so appreciate any hot little tips you might have?

I know you gals are one big 'ol wealth of information.

Let me have it! :-)

Huggies and Lovies to ALL....

xoxoxox
Spencer


***Cart update.......My darling hubbs suggested a little market on the other end of town....he thought they would know where I could find one like they have...Wellllll......they're actually getting new carts and let me buy one of the old ones for 25 dollars! How awesome is that? It's like the top one but the baskets go the other way on the cart. It will be perfect. I'm thrilled.

God answers prayers. These are my very favorite answers to prayer. Isn't He amazing? A cart is such a small thing in the scheme of life, but He even cares about a cart! WOW!....I am feeling so blessed today. Thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions.

Much love to all of you!

Spencer
xoxoxox

Monday, October 26, 2009

And, The Pillow Makin' Continues.....

Oh YUM......how totally delicious is this old linen tablecloth? It's the most beautiful linen I've ever found. A lovely "hand" to it....and look at this yummy embroidery. It was handmade, for sure. It actually had a seam down the center of the cloth!

Now, I don't normally cut up ANYTHING that's in perfect condition....but whack this I did!




I thought it would really be better to cut it up and enjoy it than to stick it in a drawer unused.

Right? Yeah, maybe not, but I soooo wanted pillows out of it.



Thankfully an old tip from high school came back to me. Now, that in and of itself is a REAL miracle. That was a LONG time ago! :-)

If you try to cut linen it just gets all wonky. That would never do. If you pull a thread it will leave a perfect little line in the fabric. If you cut right on that line it's a sure bet it won't be wonky....in fact, it will be PERFECT.



I cut off the bits on the sides that had the hemstitching on it....and crocheted little vintage buttons across the edge....

I can't really tell you how I did it....I don't really know myself. I'm a lousy crochet-er....and just sort of faked the whole thing. Shhhh....I'm not really admitting that. Not here on the www. :-)




I wanted to be able to get full use of the entire tablecloth so I incorporated that little bit of lovely embroidery. Isn't it sooo pretty. I think the woman who made this would be happy to see her glorious work displayed.



Stitch that little gal up with a bit of piping and voila!.....Looks like a pillow to me!

More coming soon. I'm going to finish this darn den, come heck or high water.

What does that mean anyway? Anybody know?


So my sweet little chickie friends....

Thanks again for coming to see what I've been up to.

God bless all of you. ABUNDANTLY!

Big smoochies!

xoxoxox

Spence


Friday, October 23, 2009

It's A Lovely Pink Saturday!

Oh my gosh! I WON!!!

And, I am just tickled pink about it too!



Yep, this little dandy's going to get LOTS of use here at the cottage!

As I've said before my Darling Hubbs was born and raised in Hawaii. He's quite a surfer....not that I ever saw him on his board in the old days, but I've heard. :-)

So, when you grow up on the ocean, surfing every single day you don't spend much time learning to change the oil, build a cabinet or repair ANYTHING....so that would be MY job! No, I can't build a cabinet, but I can fix lots of things......and I CANNOT surf! In fact, I got caught in the undertow in Hawaii and it scared the bee-jeebies out of me. My DH insists I was FINE, but I sure don't think so.

Anyway, back to this fancy little girlie toolbelt. It has pockets for allll of the necessary fix-it stuff AND my cell phone! How cool is that?

I even think it would be handy for crafting stuff. All the tools at the ready? WOW!

If you haven't been over to visit Flea Market Style Magazine's blog you really should zip right on over. It's a wonderful place to visit. And, their magazine? OH HOW DELISH! The perfect mag for we girlies who love to JUNK!

www.fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com



But wait! There's MORE!

That sweet little Stephanie over at Rose Petals and Rust had a giveaway too....

And, my lucky number came up! Oh, how exciting! I've been wanting some of these lovely vintage balls. I don't use ANY red at Christmas....my little cottage is just too pastel for it....so I'm always looking for pink pretties. These are going to be lovely in a big hurricane, don't you think?

Thank you so much Stephanie. What a sweet giveaway!

Surely you've visited with this sweet gal, but just in case you haven't ....don't waste another minute. You will LOVE her blog....promise!

www.stephanie-rosepetalsandrust.blogspot.com

Ok, after you've visited these two fabulous blogs, be sure to visit with Miss Beverly at

www.howsweetthesound.typepad.com

to see all of the other sweet and lovely pinks!


Have a wonderful weekend.

I hope you know how much you all mean to me.

Huggies and Lovies,
Spence


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Sisters, Oregon.....What A Fun Place To Visit!


Darling Girlies!

Happy Friday!


My darling Hubbs and I just spent a restful and beautiful week in Bend, Oregon for our anniversary. We've gone to Oregon every year since our honeymoon in 1997...except last year. (We went to Hawaii instead).

We always take a day to visit Sisters, about 20 miles west of Bend.

It's known as The Gateway to the Cascade Mountains, and was established in 1875.

It is THE cutest little town.

We ALWAYS get a nice cup of coffee at Sisters Coffee Company. When we first started going there the store was a TEENY little place, but they've since built a heavenly building with a big fireplace and cozy furniture. Why didn't I take pictures of it? Crazy!



Darn it all...this is the only picture I got of the fireplace.



There are loads of little shops and we took a bit of time to peek around a few.

While we were driving down one of the back roads we saw these little guys. Aren't the sooo cute?


We pulled over to the side of the road to watch them, and get a few pictures.


They were under a huge apple tree.....getting a bit of lunch!



This little fella strolled up and checked out the fence. "Dang it....how did my buddies get in there"?


And then............



No problem!.....

I couldn't believe I actually got the shot! Isn't that a hoot! Now I know why people complain about the deer eating their gardens. Might as well just skip the fence!

Have you ever seen a deer jump? They're sooooo graceful! It's a sight to behold.



They have a large quilt shop too..............I like to go peek around....good for inspiration!

I NEVER buy anything there.....and don't ask any questions either. They're not the cheeriest people in that store! YIKES!


We had such a great week. I love the down time....and actually got a bit of stitchery done. It seems I never have time to do it at home. It's quite a long drive so I had hours in the car to stitch and listen to a book on tape. Not to mention just BE with the Darling Hubbs.

Happy Anniversary Muffin!

I love you.

Kisses from the Missus.


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Huggies and Lovies,
Spence
xoxoxox


Yipppeee! I'm Finally Feeling Ever So Much Better!


I have the sweetest Blogging Friends....

I LOVE you!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and get well wishes.

I'm feeling lots better.

Nearly normal. Normal you say? What is that?

I know my Darling Hubbs would love an answer to that one. :-)

I'll be back posting a regular post tomorrow, but wanted you
to see this great giveaway.

Look at all of that delish fabric. Maybe you'd like to whip something wonderful right up?

Here's where to go to enter:

www.pumpkinpatchprimitivequiltshoppe.blogspot.com


Again, my little sweeties....thanks for your concern.

Big sloppy hugs....but no kisses..........you don't want the crud, do you? :-)

Spencer
xoxoxo

Monday, October 19, 2009

AGAIN?

Oh, for Pete's sake.........AGAIN?

It seems like I just got well from the punies about a month ago....

Darn it all.

My Darling Hubbs and I just spent a wonderful and refreshing week in Bend, Oregon to celebrate our anniversary. (Yes, I got sick there). I have pix and lots to say. I ALWAYS have a lot to say! :-)

I'll be back....chatting like crazy as soon as I can...

Huggies and LOVIES to all.

Spencer
xoxoxo

Friday, October 16, 2009

I'm Soooo Far Behind.....Sending Out An SOS To All Of My Sweet Friends.....HELP!

Each and every one of you mean so much to me...

I try to stay on top of my replies.....but I'm a bit behind right now. For that I apologize. I've been working on it. :-)


So, why do I need your help?

I've tried to keep my Favorite Girlies list up to date, but I have failed. Miserably.


If you're one of the sweet ladies I've somehow missed, could you please let me know so I can add you to my list?


God bless each and every one of you!!

Huggies and Lovies to you!

Spencer
xoxoxox