Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sharing.....

Well, looks like the feature Friday post was a bust...or maybe folks were spending time with their families and not surfing blogs....if that's the case, then I am all for y'all missing. I'd rather ya'll be having fun with your families than being glued to the pc.


Very busy with getting things ready for putting the house on the market. Putting the FOR SALE sign out in a week. So, I have things to finish up sewing, painting and staging ....OH MY!! So, I will leave you with a few pics from our trip back in November. I didn't share all the pics with y'all back in November...just a few. Didn't want to bore y'all. But I think you will get a chuckle out of the story below along with the pics.

Well, this city/suburbs gal has never really seen a cotton field up close. So, I made the hubby stop so I could get the "KODAK" moment. I crossed over the ditch and then walked through some grass to get this pic. It didn't dawn on me until I was there getting this close up pic that there might be, oh, um, I don't know....SNAKES and who knows what other kinda critters!! Thankfully, I never saw any. But can I tell you I was petrified to walk back to the car after I took the pic. I sure was. The hubby was like, come on, it's fine. You walked out there. It's okay. I wanted to pic several pieces off of it to take home, but knew that wasn't right to do. Really, I was tresspassing and risking my life just to get this pic. Shouldn't that be enough? In the end it was.




Pic above is me standing pretty much right in front of the cotton. Close enough to touch it and zoning in to get a good pic.





This pic was taken from the "safe zone." As in at the side of the road with me zooming my camera in. I really wasn't wanting to crossover the ditch and what not, but as you read above I ended up doing that...cuz ya know, you have to do whatever needs to be done to get that KODAK moment. : )



The next photo I hope you can see. You may have to click on it to see it a little better. I didn't have a telephoto lens on my camera. Had I, this pic might have been even better. As we were on our trip we were always looking for deer. My husband had caught this group of deer out of the corner of his eye. They were way off in a field probably 200 yards from the road. Mind you we were going in one direction probably about 50 plus miles an hour and when he saw them out of the corner of his eye , he took the next available u turn area to whip us back around...cause yeah, you guessed it...it's all about the KODAK moment...again.Have a blessed day!

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Friday, April 16, 2010

IT"S FEATURE FRIDAY!!

Hello all!
Welcome to Feature Friday! Every Friday there will be a different feature and hopefully you will learn something new.

Earlier this week I received a Cath Kidston catalog and saw these in their catalog.

They are called "wellies" or Wellington boots. I wanted to know where they got their name from. Then I got an idea. I thought maybe other people are wondering like me and want to know as well. And that is how Feature Friday came about.

So, where did the name Wellington boots come from? Why do we call them Wellies? What do the original ones look like? Below is a pic of the Duke of Wellington with his boots on.

The first Duke of Wellington named Arthur Wellesly instructed his shoe maker to modify the 18th century Hessian boot after arriving back from defeating Naplolean . He found his boots to be uncomfortable and worn out. The shoe maker was instructed to make a simple modification. The original boot was made out of calfskin leather. The new boot that his shoe maker came up with was made out of rubber; hardwearing, comfy and perhaps lighter than the old Hessian boot. The boot was also treated with wax to make it waterproof. The Duke realized he had a high quality boot for his troops. Soon, these boots were widely used. They played a pivotal role in history. They worn at the Battle of Waterloo and both World Wars.


Today, fashion dictates and you can find wellies in a wonderful array of colors and patterns, but don't be fooled by the beautiful eye candy. A lot of these fashion forward wellies are made of plastic and don't stand the test of time like an original Wellington boot. If choose to buy these plastic ones you will have aching feet. When looking to purchase a Wellington boot. Look for good quality insoles and rubber heals.

Through the years the original Wellie as been updated. You can find the Wellie in fun and funky patterns and colors. Check these out. So, you don't have to sacrafice fashion to be comfy in your Wellies while you garden.
Hope you enjoyed todays Feature Friday. Sunday evening I will post about my giveaway. So check back then.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Doing a little of this.....finally.....

I have been busy doing a little of this and am here actually posting about it. I can't remember when I actually shared with you all about some actual quilting that had been going on. You know, it's only part of the title of my blog.



I shared several months back that a friend of mine lost her mom to cancer and had saved a few of her shirts, etc. to be turned into a quilt. It took me a while to figure out how to piece it. I wanted to use the shirts with the graphics on the best I could. So without further adieu...or is it ado???? LOL, I don't know. Here is a pic of the quilt in progress. Just a sneaky sneak peek. : )


On the home front. We had the appraisers, inspectors, realtors all here a week ago. The house looked fabulous. You know the kind of fabulous only we as moms can appreciate right then and then when noone is home to mess it up cause you know good and well as soon as every comes home they WILL LIVE in every room. You ladies can relate to that, right? I should of taken pics then...but I didn't. We have a few things to fix on our inpsect list and then I will post pics .


Spring is here in Illinois finally. I know spring is here when my daffodils come up and come up they did . Not too far behind them came the hyacinths. I love the fullness and deep coloring of the hyacinths. It's still not warm enough yet thought for my hydrangeas yet. Probably won't be till summer till they bloom. I will miss it as we are hoping to be moved by then : ( Ah well, I will have a new house to plant bulbs and shrubs and that is something to look forward to.









I also wanted to take this time to thank those of you that follow my wee li'l blog and welcome and thank the newcomers as well.

Come back later this week I will be hosting "my own" giveaway! I will also be starting a new feature. It will be called Feature Friday. I plan on featuring different things that make me wonder where they came from or how they came about. So, stay tuned for that. I think you will enjoy the first one this Friday.

Well, I have quilting to get done and that crazy dryer in the laundry is beeping . So, it's time to throw in another load.

Have a great day!
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Sunday, April 04, 2010

A home tour ..


Hello there! I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! We did. It had been a busy week last week so it was nice to just relax today and enjoy time spent with family.

I would like to introduce you to the lovely Rie and her beautiful family.



of
http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com

Here is a pic of their lovely house from the outside.



Now, let's take a looksee inside.

First up is their kitchen. When they moved into their home the kitchen had 25 ft. ceilings. They felt the high ceilings made the home feel cold. So, they set out to bring the ceiling down and do away with the half wall and the pillars by the kitchen. In so doing, they created a more open and inviting space.



photo by Rie of Home and Harmony



kitchen before pic
and here is the


afer pic of the kitchenphoto by Rie of Home and Harmony

Can you see the ceiling. They brought it down and between the boards they installed beadboard and recessed lighting. Now that the pillars and the half wall are gone, the kitchen is really opened up to the living space.

Here is another view of the kitchen. Don't you just love that island? I do. Rie talks about how she and her husband acquired it and how they tranformed it into the beautiful island you see today. You can read about the tranformation of their kitchen as well as the island here:http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/2010/02/before-and-after-kitchen.html

photo by Rie of Home and Harmony

I especially like the way she has decorated her childrens rooms. They are beautifully decorated, but not cluttered. Have color, but aren't overdone. Below is a picture of the girls room. Now what little girl wouldn't want to sleep in a dreamy bedroom like this?



photo by Rie of Home and Harmony



The room is light and airy and the pom poms suspended from the ceiling not only give the room a pop of color, but add texture. The white painted furniture and matching quilts at the foot of the bed tie everything together.



The boys room is equally well dressed. Again, we have painted furniture, but in black. Very masculine, but sophisticated so that this room will grow with the boys. No need to change out any themey accessories. Love those quilts on the bed. My son has the same one. In the boys room she uses red for the pop of color on the pillows and brings some texture in with the corduroy pillows and the basket at the foot of the bed.





photo by Rie of Home and Harmony



Next up is a pic of their living room. Rie is a big fan of slipcovers. Another thing that I would love to incorporate into my home. She really makes the room cozy with a few key pieces without making it cluttered.




There is lots more to see. Like the full redo of their kitchen in the link I provided above as well as a very creative idea Rie came up with for their dining room tablecloth which you can read about here:http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/2010/02/signature-tablecloth.html



A big thank you to Rie for allowing me to showcase her beautiful home. Please hop on over and tell Rie "hello" and surf around her blog.
http://homeandharmony.blogspot.com/

Stop by later this week I will have a room tour fit for a cowboy. You won't want to miss this theme room.




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