ANTICIPATING SPRING

It's  been a while since my last post.  Life is so busy.... even for a "simple" girl like me.  My little man keeps me very busy.  He is in my care while his mommy works in the afternoons.








And Miss Josie keeps me hoppin'!  To be honest, there isn't a whole lot of difference between Jack and Josie!

Trash cans are so much fun!

Jack has discovered Josie's water dish, oh my!

You have to watch them like a HAWK, because they are always up to NO-GOOD!

Around these parts, we are eagerly looking forward to spring.  Hubs and I are planning our garden with great anticipation.  The seeds have been ordered and delivered, and I will soon begin starting seeds, transforming our dining room table into a plant nursery.  

My seeds and planting supplies, ready to go!

Over the weekend, I was able to begin cleanup of the flower beds.  (Begin is the key word!)  We had a VERY rainy Sunday, that ended with some unwanted sleet and snow.   I awoke to this ...............
YUK! (Notice the bird feeders are totally decimated.) This is wearing very old!





When I walked outside, I saw this....

All the chicken netting (to keep the hawks out) has been damaged from the ice. Guess I'll have to put on my handy-woman hat  today!

But alas, there are some signs of SPRING.

And check this out.  My wagon filled with the debris from cleaning out the flower bed on Saturday.

.

On the Homestead front....we have added 2 wild  turkeys  to our menagerie of animals.  I have to say, I wasn't too happy about this, since I'm the one who carries the 5 gallon buckets of water to the chicken yard everyday.  I've declared these creatures are not mine, therefore not my responsibility!  The goal is to keep them well fed for a while and then release them back into the wild with hopes they will stay around.  We'll see how that all plays out.

My girlfriend, Barb.

The title of this post is Anticipating Spring. I'm really trying to wait patiently for its arrival.  In the meantime, I have been trying to do some fun, yet simple things that will help with the winter doldrums.  So last weekend, I spent Saturday morning with a good friend.


We went for breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel and then headed out to do some "JUNKIN"!

I came across this find, just minutes into it.  Its a perfect addition to my collection of (Hall's) red poppy glassware. It gave me a little high to hold me over until spring officially arrives in just 15 days.

They say, time flies when you're having fun, so hang in there and go have some fun today!!  Spring will be here soon...... REALLY!

 May God bless you richly on this brisk Monday morning!!

TRANSFORMING SOMETHING OLD INTO SOMETHING NEW

 THE photo below is the old part of this post.  Very OLD.  So old, that I sat on this rocker when I was child.  Yep, that's right- It was my old rocker from my childhood.  Imagine the stories it could tell.  Probably best that it can't!  But thinking where a vintage piece has been is what brings richness to the item.  I love old stuff.   And speaking of old...check out the next photo.......

Now this is old!  This is the original vintage fabric that covered my little chair.  Oh how I wish I could replicate it.  But since that wasn't possible, I chose ........

.......this golden fabric.  Yellows and golds match nearly every room in the house.  So I will be able to enjoy it in any room I choose.  

 With the upholstering part completed, there's nothing left to do but clean up the wood a bit...AND....

smother my sweet little model with kisses!

THE RED POPPY PRINT

Better late than never! I had promised details on my antique store find while junking in Lancaster County....... Here it is!

I know, I know, it doesn't look like much. It's a flour sifter for heavens sake. But for me, it tickled my funny bone. I've recently decided to add to my collection (of 2). So I've been keeping an eye open in search of this poppy print~that I LOVE~ when I'm out junkin'! My love for this print by Hall's Dinnerware, goes back to my childhood. We had a Halls drip jar. We didn't use it for grease drippings though; we used it as a candy dish on our coffee table. Hence, my adoration of the red poppy (and its connection to sweet stuff!)

Isn't it funny how things that take you back to your childhood can be comforting to the soul!

My Red Poppy collection~so far! If you have a piece you'd like to part with, let me know!

A SWEET FIND and more!

My son bought an old cabin in the mountain. It was a cabin that an older gentleman had been living in. The man was deceased and his family sold the cabin "as is" to my son. So that meant there was a lot of JUNK to discard. But for "junkies" like me, it was a TREASURE TROVE of GOODS! One of the things that I found (and was allowed to keep;) was this old wooden chair. This chair had been painted that blue green color that everything was painted back in the '50's. (Sorry, but I forgot to take a before picture.) The green paint was all CRACKLED, so I just took the power washer over it to shed the chair of all peeling paint. My plan is to polyurethane it as soon as I get the chance to help preserve the wood since it will be sitting outside most of the time. I found a great use for my NEW chair........yep, you guessed it......a nifty prop for my clothes basket!

Don't you just wonder what this old chair has seen, who sat in it. And how did it end up on a heap in the garage? I guess we'll never know. But it is fun to let your mind wander.

You know how one thing just leads to the other???? Well, since we're talking clothes baskets, my mind is leading here.....

I just wanted to share a few projects was working on over the LOOOONG winter....

The first thing is this cute little clothes pin apron. FABULOUS! I got the apron pattern from MaryJanesFarm magazine, Dec '09 issue.

Secondly, is apron #2. I got this pattern off the internet at Busy Bee Quilt Designs. I'm thinkin' I need one for every holiday!

Living Simply and deliberately

Tammy