i have a yearning for this...

'this' is buried under the snow...

but...

i'm keepin the faith!

************

- from the pulpit -

we serve a gracious, loving God!

AMEN!

...blessedness!

ox

be assured...

...spring WILL come!

in the meanwhile, we're getting this today,

a beautiful snow!

enjoying this in a cosy, warm house!

...blessedness!

ox

house tour/bathroom

this bathroom, in it's early seventies look, was scary!

in it's rental era we painted the tile white which covered it up nicely...

for a while.

by the time we renovated it,

it was a mess of falling-out-tile, peeling-paint-tile,

and a stinking-rug-floor mess!

we gutted it, eliminated two, TWO closets in this itsy, bitsy room,

replaced the porcelain tub with new tub surround,

but kept the toilet as it was in good working condition...

plus...

                                            it had this...                                       to match this...

where old meets new!

this is what you see when the door is opened

and where the two closets were located.

the tub/shower with toile curtains from target...

(i L.O.V.E toile, but use it sparingly)

the window curtains are made from a shabby chic tablecloth,

cut in half and from target.

the toilet...

a linen cupboard redesigned from a tottery bookcase

(a later post, i promise!)

this space was where the vanity was origionally, almost on top of the pot,

and we replaced the pink tile with white beadboard (love that!).

this room has a french look...

another look i like done sparingly.

the valance topping the window is a vintage crocheted piece,

and it fits as though made for this window...ooh-la!

 i used clip-on ear rings to hide the tacks to tack it up.

looking from the tiolet/window corner...

the wine corks are a thrift buy,

 combined with pieces of old laces, 

that was purchased at a garage sale,

that was stored in a glass container,

that had a candle in it,

that took forever to burn down,

 that was purchased for pennies at a yard sale...
whew!

(this is my version of The House That Jack Esther Built!)
but honestly, this is how thrifting works...
bits here and there that make up a whole picture! :)
do i get an AMEN?!

i don't spend hours in here (duh!),
and it's not big...
but it is a lovely room and is very functional.

...blessedness

ox

take one whiteboard...

(this one came from wal-mart)

paint it with chalkboard paint (i used a spray can after this - better results)...

add a piece of toile fabric left over from another project...

(never throw small scraps away!)

and it will equal this!

ain't she lovely?!

- instructions -

- lightly sand the whiteboard

- spray paint it with chalkboard paint (gives a smoother finish)

- take your choice of fabric and tuck under the frame (i used a flathead screw driver)

- ease around corners, distributing as evenly as possible

- to finish it off at the end, fold fabric, so when it's flipped over the fold is topside

- be sure fabric is even all around and corners nicely rounded

- trim if needed, flip fabric over and glue in place in the back

ta-da!

...gotta love it!

- tips -

this is my first time working with chalk board paint

 and i didn't like the end result of painting it on with a sponge brush...

i liked the spray paint better.

the chalkboard needs to be 'seasoned'

 use chalk and chalk all of it, then wipe it off with a soft cloth.

because the whiteboard is backed by cardboard

it was easy tucking the fabric under the origional frame.

this frame needed a three inch wide fabric piece.

the glue is quick drying, purchased at wal-mart.

...blessedness!

ox

ps. i'm linking to funky junk

Kira Mary

Twelves months ago, little three year old Kira Mary

went home to be with Jesus.

Her mother, Mary Lou, was in the first Home Ec class I taught...

she was also the first of  'my girls' to get married.

Never, ever, did we know in such a short time

that death would be another 'first.'

Death was not taught in Home Ec.

Death came so sudden, so quick - it was like a bad dream.

Lying in her tiny coffin with her favorite stuffed toy snug against her face,

in a lovely dress and wrapped in a soft blanket,

it was though if you'd called her name, she'd wake up.

The past year has been a long, hard journey...

we all wanted to heal the pain for Merlin and Mary Lou,
 but no one could...
no one but God.

In June, Mary Lou and the two girls came to my house for a tea.
At first  reluctant, Marlea quickly found the playhouse to eat her ice cream cone...

and to play dress-up.

Anna played at our feet while Mary Lou and I talked about life...

and ate our dessert.

Life and death are complicated, filled with questions.

Was Kira's life wasted? Is her death wasted?

NO!

Both are a celebration...a celebration that will be complete in heaven.

A favorite bedtime song of Kira's was

'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'.

Mary Lou, by the grace of God,

sang this song at Kira's funeral service.

She sang with grace and pain and power...

it was filled with the presence of God!

Mary Lou, I know this past year has been really, really hard,

filled with pain...

But I see God in you every time you share pieces of this pain in your blog.

You bless me with your honesty,

challenging me to honesty,

thus exalting God - be it in life or be it in death!

...blessedness!

ox

house tour/ office

lest you think every room is white, pretty and perfect organized in a casual, liveable way

it's not...

this room is hubs' office,

the only room left in it's origional state. 

it's a ten x ten foot room but holds a lot of stuff.

it's the place to cram the 'junk-before-company-comes' room.

and it's the room where the grandkids visit everytime they come

because of this...

yep...these have a huge pull!

(hubs is also the 'smarty man' at church so he buys in bulk)

he's a hero in letting me have my corner that looks like this...

with my mess on the floor

where my very small collection of craft stuff is.

this is the 'before' look...my, my!

it now looks like this...

yeah, another 'my, my'...

some of it mine.

the exercise ball is an experiment to use as a seat

when i use the 'puter but it's too low,

and the chair is going to get a re-do soon sometime.

hubs is an avid hunter,

but loves his wife more.

he's a volunteer fire police.

his space only looks disorganized, but he knows where everything is.

i only dust it, very occasionally!

when the door is closed,

it looks like this...

yeah...sick!

ALL the doors and ALL the woodwork looked like this throughout the house...

no longer!

on a 'sometime post' i'll show you what i did to get the same doors like this...

ta-da!

...blessedness!

ox

new look

after fooling around with the colors of my blog i settled for another classic...

white...

hard to beat the classics...

black or white!

i think it's a keeper - for a while, at least...

"This is the day the LORD hath made -

I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

...blessedness!

ox

my blog affairs

  tuesday evening of this week in my writing class, taught by Shawn Smucker,

Bryan Allain gave some very useful pointers to create a 'blah to bling' site.
teaching a link was one of them, and...ta-da!...i did it!
coming home from the class, was another VERY helpful tutorial on a blog,
 by Make Mine Beautiful, who promised to do one on a button the next time.
it's been an exciting blog week for me!

a few pieces from my thrifting this week...

my DIL has an angel like this which i admire everytime i see it...
and feeling a little envious, 
i grabbed it...
not really, but i did do a dash!

after seeing Dreamy Whites blues i decided to collect only a few some.
 she is also putting on a fabulous give-away...
her site is beautiful - check it out!

the five inch flower frog was an unexpected bargain and is under a cloche,
holding vintage calling cards.

the cloche, by the way, is one of the glass cheese keepers

that can be picked up at GW but are usually cheaper at yard sales.

yes, indeed, a delightful week in blogland this week!

...blessedness!

ox

house tour/livingroom

today i invite you on a tour in our living room

i love this room!

it's cheerful, calming, cozy and so, so liveable!

it's a place where one can put their feet up and throw a 'cozy' around their shoulders.

- the only 'before' picture i have -

today, the room looks like this...

a glimpse of the dinning room on the left -

and the 'other' front door on the right.

the wall was blank until we put up the fireplace mantel.

the cabinet on the right belonged to a kitchen and was a garage sale find -

i gave it my favorite treatment.

as you step inside the 'other' front door you see this...

and this...our game table, new placement since christmas.

before we did a facelift, there was a wall where the couch is

with a l-o-n-g hallway.

removing that l-o-n-g hallway really opened the room,

turning it into a light-filled room.

there is hardwood flooring (really banged-up hardwood) under the carpet...

we both preferred the carpeting.

a view from the bedroom door...

the game table corner where there's a glimpse of the dinning room

and a short hallway into the kitchen.

the chandelier light came from tuesday morning...

it was a REALLY ugly gold w/gold shades -

i gave it my usual touch.

the couch and chair came from a garage sale and looks like this in it's

'before coming to this house.'

i created a pattern out of newspaper, did a mock-up,

then used matelassé coverlets for the real thing.

it is holding up very well, takes a lot of useage and washes like a dream.

on the wall between dinning room /office doorway

(i'm thinking of painting the sconces black)

dishes above the two doorways from GW.

family record, a gift from our children and crafted by a local amish woman.

a table below the used-to-be clock that was purchased at GW without-a-face, now a curio cabinet.

i hope you enjoyed stepping into our house!

...blessedness!

ox

ps. the office is next and oh, my, my...!