The little birdies are nesting.

One of the new bird couples are already making a nest. I just think that is soo cute. I was hooking on my rug and thought that they just might like a few snippets of wool to put in their nest. I put some in the cage before work.....When I came home tonight I was anxious to see if they used it....They did. This made me smile.....Does the fact that a bird uses my wool scraps for a nest and it makes me smile ...mean that I should get out more.....? hummmm. That is something for me to think about as I am hooking tonight(rug hooking that is). Hope you all had a good day! Good night.

Meet the new members of our little family

These little birdies are new to our household. I know it isn't the best of pictures. They don't listen too well. I kept telling them to say cheese and they just kept moving and saying something that sounded like beep beep. Oh well, Just thought I would post something else. I tried to leave a comment and I couldn't. It seems like when I save a post and publish it later I have never been able to accept comments then. When I publish a post right away they work fine. Any Ideas at what I might be doing wrong?

Christmas is over.

It has been a nice holiday....but I am relieved that it is over. Here is a shot of Carlee. She had fun helping Larry open his gift..so he gave her the bow. Thankfully she is better now. She was running around with Maddee up the street while Larry was plowing everyone's driveways. As she was running around she stepped on something and cut her foot pretty bad. It didn't stop her however...She was tracking blood a over the kitchen...thankfully wood floors clean up. We had to put a sock on her foot til it stopped bleeding. She is good as new.

She is already trying to figure out how to get to my Christmas presents....I got 4 finches for Christmas. They are on top of the entertainment center til we make another cage. She keeps moving the doors of the cabinet and looking behind. I know she is trying to figure out how to get them....she is a bird dog....it isn't like she can help it right?

I hope everyone has a good week. Lisa

Merry Christmas

I got it all done. whoo hooo. I didn't have any extra time.....but I got it all done. It was a good day. I am still full but I am a little board after my 2 hour nap. I just keep thinking about eating....I just got past the miserable stage. So far I have refrained....no guarantees. Is that how you spell it?

I hope you all had a great day. I think I will go up and do some hooking. I haven't done that in a while. Good night.

I am not ready...Are you?

Well, Here is some pictures of my productive evening Wed. night. I got alot of baking done. This is a tray for Larry's boss.


These are the little goodie bags I made up for the people that work in my department.

They turned out pretty cute for something I did at 2 in the morning. lol

This is one of my thrift store finds. I just thought he was cute.

This was the best deal though. It is so pretty. It has a date on the bottom that is carved into the finish. 1979. It was 3.00. Jackpot. I have got so much more to do yet.....I need to get it into gear and get going. That is if I don't want to be up til 2 am again. (or later) I hope you are all enjoying your evening. That's all for now. Hopefully I can give an update later.

Thank Goodness for a productive day.

Well, I am sure thankful that I was able to get so much done today. I am not finished by a long shot but I am in good shape for tomorrow. I hope everyone had a good day.

I was able to get my shopping done. Gifts are all purchased. Wrapping paper purchased also.
I was able to get the grocery shopping done for Christmas dinner. Yeah, I won't have to go fight the crowds.

I even had some time to go to the thrift store. Found some cute things but I am too tired after all the baking to go upstairs and take pictures. I will have to take some in the morning. I was able to get alot of my baking done. Halleluia.

Unfortunalty, I forgot to make sure I had a clean uniform for tomorrow soooo.....I am hanging out on the computer while it is washing. fun. right? Have a good night.

Boy, I need to get busy!

I have to admit that I have been in a state of denial.....I keep telling myself that I have plenty of time to get all the things done for Christmas. I think I have had a reality check today....Christmas is almost here.....yikes!!!!

I still have all my baking to do, I still have my shopping to do and I have to work on Christmas eve. I think I will have a few late nights. I do well under pressure..lol

Does anyone have a recipe for glazed nuts? I have a ton of walnuts and thought that might make a nice addition to my cookie trays. I have looked on line and didn't get too many ideas.

I hope you are all having a nice week. I was able to spend the evening with Larry and my mom and dad. We celebrated my mom's birthday. It was a nice evening. Talk to you soon.

A few more pictures

Here is Maddee sniffing around the outhouse. This is a shed that Larry and I made out of old wood from a real two seater.

This is outside the back door.

I was able to make swags for all my windows this year. I found the ribbon at the thrift store for 3.oo. I was planning on buying some of the garland that they had. It was 3.00 a piece. I would have had to buy quite a few and just didn't want to spend too much money so.....I went home. I was mad at myself because now I had ribbon but no garland or greenery. I was almost home...kicking myself the whole way when I happened to see something on the curb. It was a rubbermaid tub with a pole sticking out. I turned the car around...What did I find? A huge christmas tree. Jackpot. Now I had to get this huge thing in my car.

I used some old pinecones and some various evergreens that I had on hand. I was happy with the way they turned out. I figured out that I had made 6 swags for the windows, two swags for the gates for our fence, 1 on the outhouse all for under 10.00. I used the tree branches for the dining room table all over the house and I still have more in the rubbermaid tub. That must have bee a huge tree.

this is the other side of the back doors. Look more branches.

Here is a shot of Carlee with one of my birthday balloons. She will roll it around till she can grab the tied end. She carries it all over the house. I just love her. Hope you are having a nice evening!

The Living Room

Here is the beginning of the living room tour. This is the little grouping behind the loveseat. The little house was a gift from my brother and his girlfriend. I have it all sitting on my late grandmother's ironing board.

The little face on this snowman makes me smile everytime I look at him. I wish the picture was alittle clearer.

Here is the big tree in the living room. I have all snowman ornaments on this one. I wanted something alittle different this year so I added some hydrangeas and baskets.

I purchased a snowman ornament like this one and decided to make more myself. Very easy.

I found these little snowmen at the thrift store. I think I should write our names on them. I found the little blue balls at the thrift store( 75cents for all)

This too was copied from an ornament that I purchased then made more myself.

The pile of snowballs was made from styrofoam balls, sand and some patience. I hope you have enjoyed the tour. I will continue the rest of the room next time. Lisa

The tour continues

Today's tour begins on top of my cabinet in the dinning room. This is right behind the tree that I showed yesterday. Just added some pine and some cones...and a nativity.

This is our back door. I tried to take a picture of my cool yard sale finds. They are wreaths I got for a dollar a piece , just added a bow. Yeah!

This is on the wall opposite the cabinet. This is a little desk I got at the thrift store a couple years ago. This is where Larry drops all his stuff at the end of his work day. I just noticed that this picture show our very cluttered closet. Opps. I wish I had cropped that out. lol.

Oh that is nice the quilt hides the mess in this picture. lol This year I tried to use my same old Chirstmas decorations differently. I tried not to put anything in the same spot as last year. I was suprised at how much fun that turned out to be. I really didn't have that many new things this year but it all felt new since I changed things up alittle.

This is my little sewing machine beside our dinning table. I just love this quilt. This was the first quilt that I quilted on my handi- quilter. I was scared to death. I was so afraid I was going to mess it up. I just love how it turned out.

This little santa was a gift exchange gift years ago. I still love to look at it....I hope you enjoyed the tour of the dinning room. More to come..... have a good day. Lisa

Today was wonderful

Today was a day of celebration with family and friends. I was so afraid that the threat of bad weather would keep everyone away......however, we had a great turn out. Today we had a birthday party for Larry and I. My birthday was on friday and his is tomorrow. What better excuse to have people over right? Everyone brought great food to share and we had a very memorable day. I of course forgot to take pictures...the camera was even out and on the table. I just don't know if I will ever get better at this. I am pretty sure I come by it genetically. My mom is the same way....lol. But since it just isn't a fun post without some pictures.....Here is some pictures of the tree in the dinning room.
I was trying to decide what to use for a topper and thought of this pillow that was moved out of the room to make room for the Christmas stuff.

I didn't have enough ornaments so I raided my basement. I just love baskets. This one with the greenish blue was a gift from my friend Maribeth. It is a Boyd's Bear Basket. I didn't even know they did baskets.

It still needed something so I took apart an arrangement of dried yarrow and put it in the tree.

I grabbed a few birdhouses and called it a day.

Just thought I would throw one in of our "little man" He just can't get close enough to Larry. Larry has such patience.

I hope you all had as good of a day as we have had. Try to stay warm......Lisa

I miss my computer

The computer is in the shop so to speak. A friend that takes care of the computers at Larry's work is looking at our computer. He is fixing it for us. Thank goodness. I won't even get into the issues with the "geek squad" Anyway......The decorations are almost done. I hope to get some pics soon. I should have my computer back tomorrow. I have missed it. I have to admitt I do think I got more done though when it was gone. hehe. I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I am off to do some work clothes for tomorrow. Good night.

A Day to be Thankful

Today was a wonderful day. I enjoyed time spent with my family and all the good food. I thought I would show you how the decorating turned out. I planned on taking pictures while everyone was eating but got so busy talking and eating that I forgot. So here are some pictures before the guests arrived.

The dessert table....My mom actually brought a coconut cream pie and a pecan pie. And my brother Tim and his girlfriend Sally brought a coconut cake. They were all yummy! I had a black cherry cheesecake and pumpkin pie, pecan tart and some cookies.

Here is a shot of the table. It looked so nice with all the food. I can't believe I was so worked up that I forgot to take more pictures. I was so worried that I woulded get everything done in time.

A close up

I was wondering what I could put in these baskets to line them. I got some nice ideas from my blog friends...I decided to use burlap...I have a ton of it...It is cheap...So if it got grease stains from the cookies...All is good.

I just cut a circle...sewed around the edge a half inch in and then frayed the edges. I love how it turned out. I also love the iced tea container that I got a while back. It worked wonderfully. I made ice cubes out of iced tea so that the tea wouldn't get watered down. The plan was to make a bunch of them...one batch made then I forgot until very late. Went into the freezer to empty the trays and try to make more in time and what did I find? Larry had made a bunch for me while I was at work on that long 16 hour day. I almost cried when I saw them. He is soooo good to me. I know that it is just ice cubes but to me it was so special that he is always there to help me when I need it. I have so many wonderful things in my life that I am thankful for...so many things that make me smile....The fact that God has brought this wonderful man into my life....For this I am truely thankful. I hope you too are enjoying a day to be thankful.

Here is a final shot...Carlee has been watching the cooking process so long that she has worked up a thirst. Marlee is eyeing the desserts. Funny dogs...They all got baths the other day with the hopes that they would stay pretty and clean for today....Well...Larry was just getting out of the shower this morning and he asked me...Where are those too? Meaning-Carlee and Maddee. He said I haven't seen them for a while. He looked outside the back doors to see them both digging by the outhouse(shed) and the dirt was just flying. Soooo...two hours before the guests arrive those two nuckleheads got a shower. Then of course had to clean the muddy foot prints. Dogs are so much fun. I have to admit there weren't that many smiles going around right about then though. Neither us or them. (Do dogs smile?)

What a Lonnngggg Day

Today we had to assemble the Thanksgiving Dinners that the customers will pick up in the morning. So my day started at 10am and ended at 1:50 am. Fun right? I got to sit down for a 10 minute break at 7:30pm. The rest of the time I was the final check for the dinners. So I stood on my feet all day and had to concentrate so much. Bummer. I got home and grabbed a bag of chips and sat in front of the computer. Now I am afraid that I might not be able to get up from this chair let alone make it up the steps. The sleeping bag that the dogs lay on down here is looking pretty good. Since I can barely keep my eyes open, I am going to try to make it upstairs. Wish me luck. I hope you had a nice day today!

It has been a good day

You might remember one of my latest thrift store finds. I just love it and am planning to have it on the dessert table for Thanksgiving. I think I am going to put some cookies in it. I just have to figure out what kind of liner I want to put in the bottom of the baskets. Any ideas?

I decided to make some of the cookies today since I had some free time. I made some pecan tarts, snowballs and some with andres mint chips.

Yummmmmmm. I am also planning on making a black cherry cheesecake, coconut macaroon brownies and of course, pumpkin pie.

In between baking and picking up the house I had to take a look at the new Country Sampler.

I thought I would show some of my progress on the rug. I am enjoying the border alot more than I thought I would. In the grass and sky areas I did it in chucks, the border I am trying to do it more spread out. I don't know if that makes any sense.... I like the borders this way.

I hope you had a nice weekend! Thanks for stopping by and for the comments. I enjoy them. See ya soon!

My First Hook In!

Today I went to my first hookin. I had a blast. I have seen the pictures of other hook ins and have always been so envious of the ladies that can go to these. Now I know what it is like. I am so thankful to Alice for sharing it on her blog and then being so nice to allow me to join in the fun.
The ladies were so nice and welcomed this newbee so graciously. I was pretty nervous. When I got home I decided to felt some more wool. This is some of the latest thrift store finds. The rest are still in the washer and the dryer. They look so much better in person.


I sometimes buy jackets if I like the colors. They are more work and there is alot of waste. The back has interfacing on it so it isn't any good for hooking. I was getting a pretty nice stack. The intention was to make a tree skirt with the pieces of wool with the interfacing on it. This is my first attempt. I cut the squares 3". It is a little tree. I think it turned out cute. I was glad I got alittle bit of sewing in since it is Friday night Sew in. Did you get any sewing done tonight? I would love to see what you did.

I hope you had as nice of a day as I had. Thanks again Alice. You made my day....maybe it will last all next week. lol....

Sorry for the crappy picture. This is my first attempt at making a cloth acorn. I wish I could remember the site that I got the idea from. I thought I saved it in my favs. but when I tried to find it to refresh my memory....I couldn't find it. I thought it was such a cute idea. She made hers out of cotton where I made mine out of wool. I think it would be easier without the bulk of the wool. This picture is before I hot glued the cap on. I will be able to get the cap smoshed on better when I glue it. However, I don't think I will be making them for the napkins. I just have too many other things to get done. I thought it would be fun to make wire napkin rings....as you can see I decided that I would just use a wool strip and attach a little gourd or two. I think it will be fine.
I got out of bed cuz I wasn't sleepy and thought I would come down and work with the wool I found...Instead I spent more time looking at other sites. I think there is some kind of magnet in this computer or something. Oh well off to work on the wool. Have a good nite/day.

Some Thanksgiving Preparations

Well.....There has been a change in plans. Don't you love change?.... I was planning on making placemats for under my new cream plates..... The plan...take the brown material and put it in the handi -quilter and do a simple stipple pattern and then cut it into placemats. So last night in the handi -quilter it went and when I was done....I didn't like it. So...needless to say I went to bed a little discouraged. Now what....So this morning I got some of my everyday dishes out of the cupboard and used them as a charger. It helped to make the cream dishes stand out on the cream tablecloth. I had found these cute little yellow plates tuesday night at the thrift store. They were 25 cents each. woo hoo!


I only have three green and three yellow dishes from my everyday set as chargers. So now we have 3 sets like the above set and 3 like the set below.

I went to Joann Fabrics for something to make some napkins out of and couldn't come up with anything inexpensive so.... off to the other thrift store this morning. I was able to find a table cloth for 2.00. I decided to make them out of it.

Here are the six napkins and I even had enough left over for a small tablecloth to put on the dessert table. yay.

Now I am off to work on the napkin rings. I want to try to make some cloth acorns out of wool and I collected some real acorn caps to put on them. Wish me luck.

Thrift store finds

The plan---find some new plates for our thanksgiving dinner. We will need six plates. I was hoping to find some plain cream color plates and a fall type plate to sit on top. Here is what I found. What do you think. I got 4 salad/dessert type Fall plates for 2.00. I was only able to find 5 cream color plates but they were exactly what I was looking for. They were 2.50 for 5.

Since I still needed one more I went to the goodwill store and thought I would check their selection. What do you know. I found a plate the same shade the same size and the same shape for a dollar. It doesn't have the design but beggers can't be choosers. right?

The first store also had these two small bowl with the same type of design. They were .90 for both.

A few days earlier I had gone to another thrift store and found this 3 tier basket/stand thing. I just love it. It looks distressed. I love it. $3.00. By the way don't mind the mess of things all over my table. I was trying out different centerpieces and still have a mess all over.

I also found these pyrex bowls. They are in good condition. I got both for $4.00. I don't know if that was a good deal. It seemed like it was but I don't usually buy pyrex . We will see. I also liked the fern that is just behind the bowls.

I found this little welcome lite for a dollar. I plan on putting it in the window of our shed out by the pond.

Last but not least I found this canister/decanter thingy. I just love it. I plan to put my iced tea in it for thanksgiving.

Well now the only decision I have to make is what to do with the table. I have a quilt that I made into a table covering. I wish I had taken a better picture of it. You can see the table a little better in the pics above. I also have this piece of brown fabric that I found at the thrift store for a couple dollars. I need to decide if I should keep it one piece as it is now or should I make placemats. I think I would have enough to make 8. I thought I could quilt the placemats and then bind them with a fall color. I like to get the tablescape stuff done early other wise I run out of time. If I don't make up my mind I still might run out of time.

I hope you had a nice weekend. See you soon.