Cabin Fever......

Unlike this beautiful American Goldfish....haha inside joke here....

I don't tolerate the snow and cold very well.

I know you guys think I do cause I am always wanting to be a homebody and do inside things such as sewing, quilting, crocheting, knitting, decorating, painting, crafting, etc etc etc.....but when I HAVE to stay in I do not handle it very well.

It has been soooo nasty here for the past several days. Yes we had a white Christmas, but Bah Humbug on that one!!

I did have a good Christmas and I hope the children did too.

Here you see Emma with her new American Girl doll that I bought her.

Don't they look alike??

Now I have to make her some clothes for her doll, maybe some matchy matchy ones for them both!

Colton only asked for money this year so that he could buy him a really good coon hunting light
he asked everyone for money and he ended up with over $336!

He shouldn't have any trouble seeing his way around the woods now!

Morgan is now 16 and she didn't really ask for anything other than chapstick and hair products!

She got a huge box of make-up and all sorts of other girly girl personals, a foot bath, a jewelry box and hair products! She was happy!

The best gifts...well it was a hit with the kids anyway.....were fleece throws with their names embroidered on them!

I found some really nice throws at Dollar General for $12 and used the new embroidery machine to put their names on them and they were a HUGE hit!!

Colton told his mom that was the best gift that he got this year!!

WOOT WOOT!!! I was just wanting to try out the machine but I guess it was a good item to practice on, Leslie even wants one now!!

I bought myself this feeder for Christmas.....I bought all my own presents this year cause he doesn't do things like that....urgh, why is it so hard to walk into a store and say to yourself.."My wife might like this!" or "This would be something she could use!"

anywhooooo

I have had the best time birdwatching in this storm.

I have had about 35 goldfinches at one time and up to 8 purple finch males.

Many many other birds too.

It really does my heart good to be able to see these from my windows.




So I have done enough whining about the weather, a husband who doesn't love me enough to shop for me and anything else that I can gripe about.
Now I am going to turn over a new leaf.
Another new leaf!
Since I will be starting to work full time next week with my new job, I plan to put that money to some good use.
I am going to hire some things done around my house.
I have been making lists and drawing out the plans.
I will start with getting "the boys".....(the men who put our roof and vinyl siding on a few years ago, and they are needing work in this tough economy)
.......to build the steps back up into the apartment over the garage that Danny tore down 9 years ago, so that I can store things up there out of my way such as Christmas decorations. This room will eventually become a sewing/quilting studio.
They will then close my side porch in and extend my great room for some much needed space.
After that I will hire them to build my glass conservatory on the side of my home.
I have always wanted one and I will have to hire it done myself in order to get it!!
Oh well!

Maybe while Virgil and Paul are building these things, Danny can get to work on my barn?
I also have great big plans for the inside of the house.
You know how I like white, right?
Well I do love my white floors, even though I can't get people to not wear their shoes over them, and I have found that I can clean them easily with a steam mop.
I love the white so much that I will and I say I WILL paint my kitchen cabinets white!!
Watch me!!
Danny doesn't want them white but he did not want the ones at The Fairy's Rest to be painted white either. After I painted them white he loved them!!
Have you heard the old saying "If Mama ain't happy, ain't no body happy!"?
Okay then!! Nuff said?
When he starts being of concern about anything that goes on inside of this house other than a full plate of food and where the TV remote is, I will listen to his wishes, until then my paint brush handle will be warm!
I started today with the bathroom cabinet...it's all white and purty and he hasn't even noticed it yet!!!!
Go figure!!
So each evening after work I will do a dab of painting as stress relief and therapy for my SAD! That's another self diagnoses!!
Then before you know it I will have a lot of painting finished and be all the happier person!
I hope!
Wish me luck on that one!!

My dream is coming true.....

this is just a sneak preview!

I have a lot of staging to do and I'll be back!

Dumpster tables.....

.......that's what Danny called them. I bought these at a yardsale (2 for $10) last year for The Fairy's Rest and they were not pretty but I could see the potential at the time.

He could not!

He really really wanted to take these to the dumpster or better yet, cut them up and burn them in our outdoor furnace!

I got up the energy and "want to" today to finally start painting them.

I was just about to let him convince me that they were not suitable for using.

I am glad I didn't!!

I just love how the "character" of the wood shows thru after painting them!!

I have to admit that they were just downright dog ugly before!!

(don't tell him that I felt that way, OK?)

I used Rustoleum High Gloss black spray paint.

Odd for me huh?

I usually paint everything white!!

I love the way they turned out and I can't wait to see them tomorrow at The Fairy's Rest with the black lamps sitting on them!!

I also can't wait to see my husbands expression when he sees them......he will probably think that I bought new tables!!

I am visioning some other items in my house coated with a little touch of color......

wink wink

more for and after's......

Looks pretty cool huh?

Nice clean white chairs on a nice clean deck in the dappled shade?

Inviting huh?

Wrong!!

It was between 97 degrees in the shade and 110 in the partial sun in Stuart Va today!!

There's no amount of cool lemonade that will quench that heat!

It was too hot to even sit and admire my very first ever Gardenia blooms!!

I was really worried that these were not even going to live let alone bloom but they did!!

They sure do smell good too!

So with the extreme heat I went inside and did some more tweaking on the place and I just have to share some more before and after's with you guys!

I know I know I know you are all sick of seeing this place, just as sick as I am of working on it!!

But here goes anyway.....

Living room before



After, I still have 2 end tables that will be painted and sit on either end of the sectional with the matching lamps. One day!

Cheap art!

My babies in black n white! Too cute!

I knocked the leg out from under the center part of the sectional and dh has to fix it, that's why it is leaning back in the pics.

See the Craigslist $50 TV DVD VCR combo plus TV stand??

"my bedroom" before

after

after

my little bathroom before

after

after

I made a curtain out of a $1 vintage flour sack towel
from a yardsale and when I hung it it was 1/2 inch too short so I hung the lace panel and made a scarf out of the towel! Cute?

another view

my favorite part the "heart of the home" before

"my big red heart of the home" after!!

These are postcards from a local artist

I love how they turned out!

The middle one is the Floyd Country Store
where the Floyd Jamboree is held every Friday night with great bluegrass music.

It is quite a fling! Folks come from all over the place.

Stars like Bill Monroe, Patsy Cline and Earl Scruggs have been here.....in my little ole town!!!

Copper stove hood turned out just right!

Added a nice touch, I think!

More cheap art!!

I think all these pics have been in previous posts on my blog and i just love all of them so I thought it only fitting to display them here!

I mean Leslie has on her beachy/vacationy tshirt in her picture!

I WILL get the chairs painted soon! I will! I promise!!

oops I told you I like these pics! hehehe

My craigslist $30 red microwave fits/blends right in!!

How about my $1 yardsale vintage tablecloth????

I know that I have been complaining alot about all the work that we have been doing there to get the place ready to rent, but I am sorta upset that it's almost done now. Well just a little upset but very very happy at the same time! I am going to find it hard to let some total strangers come into my home that I worked so hard on and tear it up in a couple days. I love to go there now because it is so pretty and clean!!! A far cry from this home!! I am sure that my spouse will be happy for someone else to be staying there for a week at a time so that his housewife will take care of his house again!!!!! We'll see about that! I am not sure what I will be doing in all my free time that's coming up. Well cleaning, gardening, canning, freezing, jelly making, milking, making butter, making cheese, feeding animals,
etc etc etc etc etc............WHAT FREE TIME????

I better be traveling up and down the mountain to clean The Fairy's Rest between overnight guests a lot too!!

My Shabby Little Shack Makeover

Let me first explain myself here......

I am so tired right now that I am in a stupor!

I have uploaded these pictures and I had forgot one so I had to add it in here at the top.

I sure as heck was not going to delete all my other pictures just to put them all in order so you guys could understand them!! Hahaha,

that would take way to much energy that I surely do not have right now!

So here goes anyway......try to follow along with me as I narrate in this dead fog......

My Shabby Little Shack was the first name for The Fairy's Rest, back when it was only going to be our retirement/vacation home and not up for nightly rental.

We are sooooooo close to being finished now that I can taste it!!

Do you have any idea how happy that makes me????

VERY HAPPY!!!

The big bathroom before......hold this thought OK?

(circa 11/2008)
The property 11/2008, we had owned it for over a year at that time and the work finally began.

Today 6/21/2010

Quite an improvement No?

Bathroom after!!!!!

I still have to make the cushion for the little bench out of the fabric that is laying on it now.
Did you know that I like toile??

after

The armoire is getting ready to turn white and Danny is going to build me some shelves in it to house linens. I can't wait for that!!

Laundry before

after!!

wootwoot

I LIKE IT!!!

I love love love (in case you didn't already know that about me) white paint!!

On everything!!

{{{smile}}}

OMG I love it so much, I could just stand and look at it all day!

I have to make some more curtains for the door.

I robbed these from the kitchen to help keep the sun out today while I worked.

(92 degrees there today)

We replaced the old door with a new one but Danny tore the other new mini blinds when he took them down.....urgh!!!
That's OK cause I got a new door!

Master Bedroom before.

Now, Kerri this ones for you!!!

This was Kerri's bed that she left me in the home when we bought it from her!

I couldn't wait to paint it cause I knew it would be gorgeous, and she couldn't wait to see the room after it was painted. I am not sure why she didn't like the wallpaper in this room????

after....

Morning Fog Blue bed and dresser to match that still has to be moved.

Also the nightstand is on my todo list for paint!!

The room is now white!!

I do have to say the whole room is so much prettier than I ever imagined it could be!!

The bed I knew would be just perfect and it is in my book!!

Robin embroidered this pillow top for me back in the winter and I finally got the pillow made last week. The back of the pillow is Waverly in a blue and light cream toile and I made a valance for the window out of the same fabric. The front of the pillow is made from an old mattesse bed coverlet that I bought at an antique store a while back.

hallway before

Hallway after!!!

I think I have put just the right amount of "shabbiness" on the place.

I didn't want to scare anyone off ;-)))

We are really only a few hours away from the finish line!!

I will be so glad when that checkered flag is dropped too.

It will be so nice to go there and not have to do so much work all the time.

I want to be a guest at The Fairy's Rest one day too!!

enough white already....

outside and in. I still love an all white interior decor but

I am so sick of an all white outside decor!!

I can't seem to be able to change the outside

but I can change the inside up a little.

I just needed a little more color in my life!!

I loved the foyer white back in the summer and fall.

This picture was taken back in the fall when I had my

sewing room in there ;-)))

(Terri, here's that drop leaf table and one of it's many uses.)

I had to dig out some Easter goodies today.

This quilt bunny was made by Danny's cousin.

She purchased some of Danny's Mother's old quilts from the estate sale

and then made up little stuffed animals out of them.

She gave them back to the children and grandchildren at baby and wedding showers

until most all of them had one.

Cause she was very smart that way ;-))

She also painted the carrots all over that egg!

They sure make me smile!

Over the years I have lost the little sign that the rabbit was holding

that said "Think Spring"

Well it makes me think about Spring!

My poor ole innocent husband came home from work early today.

He made the mistake of telling me that he was coming in around noon.

I had a lot of little odd jobs literally waiting by the door for him!!

I have had this yardsale door up for several years now and I have had the kickplate sitting by the door for as long. I made him get to that today before he even set his lunchbox down!!

Color!




I know this is a (dirty4 letter word here...."SNOW" figurine) but it has a Springy attitude with the Cardinal at the birdbath. I think the Garden Cloche
makes it look springy too.





A little greenery.

Garden Central!

I told you this table has many jobs throughout the year.

Right now it holds the heat mat and some very struggling seedlings.

They are trying.

I had these valances in the kitchen but in my quest to gain some color I thought they may do here for now.

The shutters were just sitting in my closet for a couple years now trying to figure out where they wanted to live.

See all that white outside? Yuck!!!

Night time shot and you can still see the snow.

The black lamp is supposed to be at The Fairy's Rest but I thought it may play in here for the time being. I think I like the look with the black valances.

This dresser houses all our DVD's

my silver flatware, tablecloths and napkins.

I sanded it a tad to try and shabby it up a little today.

I think it needs a little more.

A few crooked pictures. I have a lot more to hang back up in there.

When we first moved I had all the walls in the foyer lined with pictures

in all sorts of frames. I took them down to paint one time and didn't hang them back up,

but I think I want to now.
It is just a hodgepodge of colors right now,

but it's a start.

When I can move the plants out of there it will look better.

Needs a lot of tweaking but

it is making me smile already and that's

all that matters!!
Here's wishing you some color in your life!