Photos

Here is the Thanksgiving dress that I made for my granddaughter.

Here is a photo of my kids and their significant others at a Christmas party that my daughter and son-in-law had in Dallas. Oldest son on left with his gf, youngest son and his gf, and daughter and son-in-law. They are all such good-looking and sweet kids!

My Poor Posting

Yes, my posting has been poor. It just seems like I have been so busy, and really not had alot to say. Hmm... yeah, when has that stopped me? Well, if you will look below this post, I posted about redoing my son's bathroom. After I finish this project, I also am going to be having my mother a luncheon with 5-7 of her friends. This is also one of her after Christmas gifts. It is really hard to buy for her because she lives in a small apartment, so she definitely does not need any home decor. She only has so much closet space, so no new clothes for her. I did get her a charm for her Pandora bracelet. I also got her a gift card for a pedicure, and I got her a very pretty card table tablecloth with matching napkins that I purchased at the estate sale that I worked. So, after I redo the bathroom, it will be time to plan the luncheon. I also am doing another gift for my sister and my nieces. You see, I failed to mention that I got a relapse of that bronchitis about 10 days before Christmas. I was sick in the bed for 5 days with horrific coughing. I am realizing that when I am around dust, mold, or such to wear a mask!! Anyway, I have lots to do!!! I did get some towels monogrammed and my granddaughter's stocking made and monogrammed before Christmas. I also made her a cute monogrammed Christmas dress. I will post a photo on it later. I think I need to go back to work to earn some money for some of the things I want to do. My computer screen has gone out, and I am presently using my computer by being plugged into a flat-screen TV. So, at some time I will need a new computer. I am really wanting to get a Mac. I am so tired of these sorry computers that don't last very long!! Also, I want to buy a serger. Since it seems like I am doing more clothing construction, a serger would be a cool tool to have.. again- more money!! Okay, I gotta get going- gotta go get started on that bathroom!!!!

After Christmas Gift

Are you intrigued by this title of after Christmas gift. Well... I am about to give my oldest son his after Christmas gift. I got a few things for him under the tree, but I asked him about this gift beforehand.. would he be disappointed without more under the Christmas tree or did he want what I had to offer? He took my offer. He has a house that was built in I would say the early 60s. I think it has the original beaded board wainscoting in the bathroom. The wallpaper may have been more recent. Anyway... he is getting a bathroom make-over. I helped him strip some of the wallpaper, and then we hit a standstill. So, I got a contractor to come and texture the walls over the wallpaper- it worked great because the wallpaper was stuck on it so well. The contractor put up some more of the molding above the wainscoting that we tore up when removing the wallpaper. He also took down an old medicine cabinet and repaired some of the sheetrock in the tub area. This is a Hollywoood bath- two separate rooms that each have a commode and sink, and then an additional area with only a tub/shower combination. So here is my plan:
1. Spray paint the light fixtures and a mirror frame a hammered silver.
2. Use Paso to clean all the beaded board paneling.
3. Use oil base primer on the beaded board.
4. Paint the beaded board oil-based white paint with an eggshell finish.
4. Prime the sheetrock above the beaded board.
5. Paint the sheetrock a golden color.
6. Paint the cabinets hanging on the walls the same white color.
7. Paso the cabinets that holds the sinks.
8. Use a darker stain gel on those cabinets.
9. Varnish those cabinets.
10. Hang the mirrors.
11. Hang some kind of artwork or maybe even cover a canvas with some fabric and hang that.
12. New shower curtain and probably some new towels.-he might have to pay for these.
13. I forgot to mention I will have to paint the baseboards too.

So, what do you think? Pretty good gift, huh? It is going to take me at least all this week, and maybe some of next week to get it done. I am excited to see how it is going to turn out. And of course I will have to post some photos later. Right now the beaded board is a really ugly stain.
I think I spent more on him and of course my labor is free. I would say this is a great gift. Now if someone will give me the gift of redoing my flowerbeds. Maybe I can get some help on that.

Ugh

Ugh.. I am sitting here today with congestion and sore throat. I am one of those people who seldom will take a pill or go to the doctor. However, I knew when I started this coughing and had nasty stuff coming out of my lungs that if I did not go, then I would be sick next week for Thanksgiving. So yesterday I went to the doctor, and he gave me Singular and a Z pack. Last night I experienced achyness and chills. I cannot imagine how bad I was going to get if I had not started on the drugs. I have had alot in my mind that I wanted to blog about, and I should do it now since I am pretty much lying around. I have to charge the battery on my camera, and then I will post a few more blogs of what has been going on here. The temperatures have been cool here in the east Texas piney woods. I just love these kind of days. So today I am going to try to get my pepper jelly made and also saute' onions and peppers for the chili that my husband is making. He is already browning the meat at our camphouse. I would have preferred to have cooked them together, but I guess he did not know that. Now, if I can just get myself up off this sofa..

I Love Chickens

So you probably do not know this about me, but I love chickens. That is plural.. meaning live ones. Yes, I love to eat chicken, but I love to raise chickens. It has been many years since we have had any chickens to raise.. I had some chicks when my chicks were still here growing up. So today I went outside since it was such a nice cool day and began the task of cleaning up around my chicken pen. We thought about moving the location to raise our chickens, but I have been waiting on dh a long time to start this project. I am thinking if I depend on him for this pen, it just "ain't" gonna happen. The reason we wanted to move the pen is because it is about 40 feet into the woods, and we have a hard time with varmits- oppossum, raccoons, and ...yikes.. snakes. But I am going to get it sealed up good and take a chance that my pen will be safe and secure. So today here is what I got done- I cleared some of the trail by chopping some small trees down along with lots of thorny vines. I got a ladder and got the pine straw off the wire roof and also off the tin roof that covers the coop. I raked alot of the pine straw that is in the pen. When I finished for the day, I had scratches with blood running down my legs, lots of mosquito bites, Blisters on my hands, and sweat that soon made me cold. I guess I worked about 3 hours. Dang.. I am in poor shape. So I will have to put this project on hold for a few days because I am helping someone with an estate sale. They have everything all tagged. I just have to put a "Sold" tag on an item when a customer says they want it and put their name on that item. This is a very big sale. They have a Baker dining room hutch priced at $7,200. I think it will be fun as well as seeing lots of people. But back to the chickens.. the reason I like raising them is I love yard eggs! If you have ever eaten a fresh egg, you know the difference in taste from the eggs you buy at the grocery store. I will keep you updated on the chicken pen and hopefully have some photos to share.

Sewing and Repurposing

So lately I have been trying to do more sewing. I have sewed for a long time, and you would think that I would be better than what I am. But the truth is.. I am just not all that great at it. Well, maybe some people would think I was good, but compared to people that sew, I am just below average. I have made many quilts over the years. I have made long curtains, valances, pillows, and some clothes. When my daughter was young, I smocked several dresses for her. I will show you photos later because I kept them all. But I have recently been making jumpers for my granddaughter monogrammed with her intials or her name. I have done several wedding and graduation gifts with monograms. But lately I have become interested in making clothes. I found this great book with this fantastic designer. I have not made items from her book yet. Her name is Kay Whitt, and her book is Sew Serendipity. I love all these funky fabrics and the designer of the fabrics that I really love is Amy Butler. I also bought a book by this designer for making all kinds of bags. And I love the designer Izy and Ivy. I am including a jumper that I made from her pattern. I got the blue jeans for the jumper at Goodwill. I also repurposed a jacket for my granddaughter that came from a thrift shop. I wish I had taken a photo of the jacket before I redid it. Let me describe what it did look like. It had small embroidered flowers on the collar as well as at the top of the embroidered stems. There was pale pink ribbon and eyelet on the waistband and sleeve cuffs. Then there was little bows running down the button tab. So I made the Macy flower that Izy and Ivy designed and I sewed fabric on the waistband and cuffs. How do you like it?

Happy Fall

Wow! Don't you absolutely love this time of year? I love the coolness in the air, the beautiful color of the leaves changing, and just the smells of nature. I found out that I also loving going to Galveston in the fall. I was down there this weekend, and it was the most gorgeous visit I have ever had. I walked on the Seawall two days- 5 miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I ate boiled shrimp and also had a fish taco. Since my husband fries up catfish better than any restaurant, I am going to get him to fry some and then I am going to make my own corn tortillas and instead of lettuce, use the shredded cabbage. It will be even more delicious than the one I had at Shrimp and Stuff (my favorite restaurant on the island). After my walk one day, I got in the pool and swam laps. The pool is heated and it was not too cold outside nor too hot- just perfect!

It has been awhile since I posted because I have just been really busy. I will have to post later for y'all the jacket that I repurposed for my granddaughter. And also show you the ironing board that I made. I had visited a local quilt shop and seen this 24" by 60" pressing table. It is just that- a table! So wonderful to do all my quilting projects on. I have also been busy making my youngest son a T-shirt quilt. I need one more shirt on the front. It is not just any shirt- it is when he played baseball for Angelina College. I have several extra shirts that are going on the back, but I need this special one for the front. You see the vinyl letter shirts (which is the one that I have) just are not as pretty as the screen printed ones. I told him to get me a screeen printed one. If he doesn't, I guess I will use the one I have.

My exercise of late has been mainly walking. And I have had such pain in my feet. But today, I am actually walking around with no pain. It is not my plantar fascitis, but rather pain on top of my foot. I am wondering if it is arthritis. And also wondering if my diet is contributing to this. Or is it not hurting today because of a weather change. I don't know. But I sure hope it will go away!!

So, I am leaving you with a photo of my little granddaughter taken at the Dallas Arboretum in the pumpkin patch. She is finally getting some hair. Isn't she the sweetest thing? My daughter told her when taking her photo, " Be sweet to the pumpkin." And that is the shot she got!! So I will try to post more often, but with the holiday season on us, you know how busy we can get.