believing some things are just meant to be.Rialta

Did you ever have something happen that you think wow.
On tues. I got my hair cut.My beautician and I were talking about her days off and about where they were going in their motor home.I told her we had been looking for a small one to take on weekends and to drive to Florida for our grandson's graduation.Jan said I think my husband knows of a couple of motor homes for sale.To make this a short story we called the owner went to look at it, made an offer and will finialize the deal soon.All in 2 days.We had planned on taking Amtrack.We love the train but this happened as if it was meant to be.It was not a hard decesion to make but it was still stressful.I don't know about you all -----but spending a lot of money always gives me a stomach ache no matter how old I get.
The Rialta is going to nice when we go to visit our girls families.We will be there but still have our own bed and privacy.I am the worst travelor.That said maybe this will help me to be better at being away from home.This next trip will be a make or break.Stay tuned after our long trip I will let you know if we have a motor home for sale.

tulips/annuals

I have worked in the greenhouse floral business for 30 + years and flower beauty still amazes me.
When I was raking out my west flower bed i raked out a poor little tulip.It had 3 puny leaves and a tiny bud down in the leaves.I was going to throw it away but instead I brought it in and put it in a small bud vase.I took a picture of the poor tulip left in that bed.If i remember I will move the bulbs and give these poor guys a chance.
I will share with you something you may not know.Tulips keep growing in water.I found that out when working with cut flowers.I learned you take the tip of a sharp knife and pierce the stem just below the flower to keep it from growing in an arrangement.This puny tulip has been on my counter since a week ago wed.It has grown about 3/4 of an inch a day and now has color and it is beautiful.It is a small tulip but still a wonder.

I have a plant blooming in the shade garden but have no idea what it is.I planted it 2 years ago and it is spreading.It should be quite a show in another 2 years.









I have purchased the first 4 flats of annuals I will plant this year.It is a start.I am not a purple person.Don't care for the color in clothes or in my home but the purple petunias are my favorite petunia.they smell wonderful and are the only petunia I know of that has a scent.A large basket of petunias by your door is a great welcome.

Tea Time

Yesterday(Saturday) was the annual tea fund raiser at our local library.I have attended these teas for several years.The library group does a fantastic job. Each year I am amazed at the presentations that local people give. Yesterday was no exception.
APRONS---Now how much can you really say about an apron.
Well a lovely lady named Kay was a font of information(I always wanted to say that)
She gave us a history on the apron.She has over 60 aprons in her collection. Some styles she had I had never seen before.Some brought back memories of Grandmas, moms and aunts.The uses for the apron are so much more than protecting ones clothes.Wiping off faces, gather eggs and garden produce,keeping arms warm,dusting furniture when unexpected company was at the door. So many things Kay talked abut gave those good memories.A couple were funny looked like pants.


The hand work on many was so beautiful and makes one think of the hours that it took to make these beautiful pieces.Aprons are making a come back with young people.It is good to see.
Many brought aprons and some shared small collections.I love aprons and have a small collection.I have 2 new patterns to make more aprons.They are on my To Do list.
The tables were beautifully done.The menu was fantastic. All the food was delicious.I found a site I shared with the librarian for making an apron favor.
Ours had a wonderful piece of chocolate in the pocket.
http://www.juliabettencourt.com/blog/?p=1001

I forgot to take a before picture of my place setting.this was an after thought.

This was a very good day.

another redo small black table

Last Wed. was a beautiful day.I raked the hosta gardens, cleaned the the front porch,moved wicker out of the screened porch onto the front porch.it was a busy day and I have not been the same since.Too much in one day.I'm glad I got as much done as I did,there is still a lot more but this old body has been screaming at me for the last few days.The last thing I did that day was wash this little table and give it the first coat of paint.
Of course the weather turned hot and humid then wet and gloomy so the table is still waiting for the 2nd coat of paint and the glaze.I will get to it as soon as mother nature is smiling again.We are in a tornado watch right now. Mother nature is not happy.Those hot flashes always set her off. Some of us know how that is.

My sis found me the lamp(it was in an earlier post) and I found the perfect French country silk lampshade.The shade and everything else listed here were goodwill finds. The white goblets go with the other milk glass I have. The chair is perfect for the dolls. The 2 silver pieces in front is a gravy boat(not for sure ) that says this was stolen from the hotel fort Des Moines on the bottom. The other silver is a baby cup
The glass candle holders I will glue onto the glass plate and fill with candles for the patio. I will add more candle holders as I find them. I will make a hanging planter for the patio kitchen out of the colander. The amber jar is a water jar. I need to find a big cork for it or maybe a wooden lid. the upside down metal thing(to the right) is a candle holder but i will put a garden globe on it. all for $14.50.
Friday i test drove 3 new cars.A dodge journey,a dodge caliber and a Chevy equinox.
Sat. we took a rode trip to St. Micheal Mn.I am the worst traveler. After driving the new cars--------- I have thought about it and see no reason to buy a new car when we are not going to take any long trips. 3 1/2 hours is about as long as I want to go so my PT cruiser will do just fine for that.The trip was to attend Hallie's conformation.She and another girl played amazing grace Hallie on the flute and her friend on the harp.It was beautiful and well done. The windows in the old church are beautiful.

I love being with them but really hate the trip there and back home.We have to go to Florida soon for our grand son's graduation. We WILL! be taking the train.
Last week I made Joanna a bag for her birthday.My baby is 34 Yikes!


Today I feel like I ran a marathon.I am having a pajama day.The weather is dark and gloomy and it is really windy so no yard work today. Good thing because I do not think I am up to yard work.Hope your day is good.Thanks for stopping by. j

monday night tv/short post

I am not one to watch much tv. The exception is Monday night when little people big world is on.
I really enjoy the show. I find Matt a little over the top sometimes with his ideas, and Amy is the one that holds it all together.I love Amy and the kids.She seems to love adventure and realizes the kids will be grown and gone before she knows it. Molly is such a sweet girl.Reminds me of our Hallie.Jacob went to space camp in the episode last night.Zack and Jeremy were busy with the pumpkin season.
It was gloomy all day yesterday and I was recovering from the kids being here.Little got done so today I will need to get busy.have a good week everyone.

A Happy Easter

We had a very nice quite weekend.Our oldest daughter and her 2 sons came up.We had an egg hunt.Cameron the 7 year old had a great time finding the eggs then hiding them for his big brother to find.Mason was a good sport and did find all the eggs.We had the traditional ham,cheesy potatoes, steamed veg,fruit salad, strawberry salad,deviled eggs and cheese cake for dessert.Lots of left overs went home with Mason. He claimed them before they were even cooked. He tells me the guys he lives with are not great cooks.I hope everyone had a good day.

after pictures of side tables from Carol Ann's

It finally warmed up enough to be able to paint outside.The side tables are perfect.Just what I wanted them to be.I love it when a plan comes together hahahaha.For now the dolls are keeping me company.I will change them for other things when the mood strikes me.The drawers are just right for storing all my magazines.I am a magazine aholic.Yes I admit it and I very rarely get rid of one.To me they are like a reference book and yes I re read them often.

Yesterday I met my sister at the local Fareway parking lot to pick up a lamp she found for me.
We were standing there talking when what sounded like a cannon went off.Oh my goodness I can't imagine what a bomb sounds like,this was one car hitting another.We did not see the accident but believe the black car was headed the opposite way from what it is now.It was spun around. No one appeared to be hurt but I'll bet everyone of them will hurt all over today.


The lamp my sister found at a 2nd hand store was the Wexford glass I collect.I thought at first it was a decanter that someone had drilled and made into a lamp but when I compared it to the decanter I have I don't think it ever was anything but a lamp.Boy is it dirty.I will give it a good cleaning then set out to find a lamp shade to fit.That is always a problem.


When I went in to get my groceries a friend of mine was working.She is so sweet and makes me craft things.Because I make so many things people don't give me hand made things often.I treasure every handmade thing anyone has ever made for me.This friend went out to her car and brought me a cute Easter/spring bunny.it is made from a glove.
The card reads A garden glove bunny for a garden lover buddy.She loves to garden too.
Dominoes here tonight.The menu is home made chicken and noodles,mashed potatoes,steamed veg., fruit salad and ice cream and brownies for desert. I better get cookin!
I want to wish you all a very Happy Easter.
God bless

2nd hand store find,daffodils,forsythia egg tree

Friday I stopped at one of my favorite places.Carol Ann's second hand store.She sells new too but I stop for the used things.This time I found 2 side tables.Four drawers in each one.They were really beat up but I see potential.I sanded them and they are ready to paint and glaze.I need a place to store my magazines and these will do very well.
I also cut forsythia and lilac branches.They were in the bud stage.They are blooming and look so pretty and let me know spring is just about here.We had snow again but it will not stay.
Saturday we raked and sewed grass seed under the linden tree knowing it was going to rain and snow.Last year the aphids got on the leaves and whatever it was that dripped from the tree killed the grass.We should have new grass there in a couple of weeks.
I spent the day rearranging things.Doing a bit of decorating for spring.I treated myself to daffodils and an Easter lily.I put out the blue willow dishes to use and the milk glass. It is nice to have a change.The blue and white is so pretty.




The last time I was in Hobby Lobby i picked up the glass you see on the center of buffet.I think it is upside down but it worked really well as a dome for a nest with robin egg blue candy eggs.Remember I said I would find a use for the glass ashtray I found at goodwill last week.It is the base for the nest and dome.I love it when things just seem to work out.The peter rabbit planter was a gift last year from my boss at the flower shop.It is perfect for the daffodils.



The rule is if I bring home something I need to get rid of something.This week I did very well.I brought home the tables.I got rid of a blue plaid chair to my friend Mikki.She wanted a small sewing chair.I also gifted a medicine cabinet and a marble looking sink to folks that can use them in their house redo.well enough for now.Hope you all have a great week.

Gourds/Gourd Doll

I was asked to give a talk on gourds to the local garden club.I am a member and the program was to be given by someone else on making gourd bird houses.I have been doing things with gourds for over 10 years.I grew gourds,only, one year. they grew up onto the trellis at the end of the porch. This was before we put on the porch roof, it had lattice work then. The gourds grew up and over the top.They looked like alien pods hanging down through the lattice.It was a fun project.I did buy gourds after that. I do not have enough room to grow all the varieties I wanted.Friends of ours grew some bushel basket gourds in an old cattle yard and they had beautiful gourds.Many are now,hanging in my back porch waiting for me to do yet another project.I did wash several for the demonstration. Of course I had to have dolls in the presentation.The sitting doll in the picture was made by my friend Kate. The doll has a gourd head. The other doll made by Kate is holding a small gourd.The plant is sitting in a gourd planter.The snowman and santa are nite lights.

The weeks seem to fly by.1/4 of 2009 is already gone by.So many things to do. The tulips are up.I hope they do not freeze off like they did last year.The morning doves are here along with lots more robins.
enough blogging time for supper.

Goodwill finds.

What a good day I had on Tuesday.I was almost doing a happy dance right there in the good will store.They had 6 amber glasses,an amber glass pitcher with an ice lip and 8 amber sherbets.I also got a very nice green vase, a piece of teal colored pottery like I have in the bathroom/ good for soap.2 boxes of envelopes .99 each box(good buy)
The glass piece in the front matches other pieces of that pattern I have and ash trays are a thing of the past.I will use it for things not ashes.I saw buckets planted with herbs on another blog and thought this one would work well with my red/white and blue on the porch for summer.Summer is going to come eventually.We have a winter storm warning for this weekend here in Iowa.

100th post.FREE pattern

I was thinking for this 100th post that I would share a pattern I made a few years ago.A friend even put it into a pdf file for me but I can't figure out how to share it here.
If anyone reads this blog besides my friend Vicki, let me know if this works for you.I sent this to my dh computer and it seemed to work.It did not work on the blog.So I am going to post the whole thing here to see how it goes.Any questions just ask I will try to help.

pattern directions for bunny and scarecrow pin dolls.
supplies
muslin
scrapes of fabric for clothes
2 black seed beads
fiber fill
necessary supplies for sewing.I use a machine but it could be sewn by hand.

Layer 4 pieces of muslin fabric. This doll is not turned. The raw edges show
Trace pattern piece onto top piece of the 4 muslin pieces.
Stitch on the dotted line leaving bottom open for stuffing.
Stuff with fiber fill between the middle 2 layers.I use my hemostats.It takes very little fiber fill.
Stitch across the bottom on the dotted line.
Trim around bunny or scarecrow leaving 1/4 inch to fluff
Now you are going to cut through all 4 layers to make the frayed feet/legs and arms.Cut from the ends of the arm/legs to 1/4 inch of the stitch line,making 1/4 inch wide stripes.Tie each arm and leg with string to make the ankle and wrist.

The clothes are very basic with very little sewing.No hems raw edges showing.
The clothes measurements are on the pattern pieces.
Embellish with what ever you choose.I added bows and bits for patches on the scare crow.
Faces can be drawn on or stitched if you like.
I used seed beads for the bunny eyes but just drew the scarecrow face on with pens.





I have been putting off blogging because I needed to write up the pattern.It is interesting how involved, a really simple thing to make,can be.