Merry Christmas to All

Hi y'all. I have been very blogging lazy lately as I prepare for all my famly to descend over the holidays. We've even called the painters in after 16 years of hunter and neon green bedroom walls. Say "Relaxed khaki" and shabby chic "antique white". Looks great. So fresh. When you only straighten up once or twice a year you know I have been very busy.

I did want to send warm wishes to all of you and look forward to a happy, healthy and love filled New Year. God bless you everyone. Lena

A New Holiday Tradition

A Fun Christmas Craft
Greetings blog friends. I have been a lazy blogger lately but I have enjoyed reading your blogs. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I love to decorate, bake and make crafts. I have pictured above a little crafty Christmas ornament that I adapted from a magazine.
Card Stock Ornament
1) Cut tags from card stock. (1 1/2" x 2 1/2 ")( Note picture. These will look like little houses with a steep roof)
2) Punch a hole in the tip of the tag
3) Soak the tag in coffee or tea. (Have a cup yourself!)
4) When the tags take on an aged look remove and dry on a cookie cooling rack
5) Using a fine tip permanent black Sharpie, write your chosen letter to spell whatever word you select.( Also,make little marks like stitches around the perimeter of tag) Suggestions: a person's name, a pet's name, a word- Celebrate, Joy, Peace,Love,Jesus, Santa, Snow, 2007, etc., etc.
6) Tear strips (1/2" W by the length of your fabric) from gingham or another country looking fabric and age in coffee or tea. Dry.
7) Cut 5" pieces of this fabric and thread through your punched hole in each lettered tag. Don't tie a knot yet.
8) Tear strips long enough to accommodate the letters of your word leaving space between the letters. Allow about 6" of fabric before the first and last letters.
9) Starting at about 6 " along your strip, tie the letters of your word spacing as you like.You want it readable when hung.
10) I like to tie a knot in the supporting strip about three inches in at the beginning and end to give the little paper and cloth ornament a "gripper" when hanging on a tree, wreath or around a pot of Christmas flowers.

These are easy to make and fun to do with your little ones who are learning to read, write and spell. Date them and let the child do the writing.

Well, there's more to this story. When we were gathered around the Thanksgiving table with my oldest son's in laws, I, being a former grade school teacher and counselor, had a little "bonding" activity for our clan. I had made an ornament as described above for each family member. After the food was gobbled down and our dear patriarch Rex, age 93, had shared some memories from the 1930's, I brought out this little project. Everyone, ranging in age from 19 to 93, was asked to write on the back of each letter in their name one blessing for which they were grateful to God. This was met with varying, but predictable, degrees of enthusiasm, but in the end everyone did it!!!

I plan to hang these on my Christmas tree along with the hearts made from a raggedy vintage quilt of my Nannie's. I hope that this will become a family tradition as our family adds new husbands and wives and children. Our family "love" tree.
************************************************************************************* "I hope that I will always see God's gifts upon my Christmas tree."
************************************************************************************* Now folks, I don't want to give a false impression about my brood. The Thanksgiving of '06 was a different kettle of fish altogether. The "feast" ended with some family members having words and leaving the table. This neccesitated another member doing some counseling while still another cooled off with a walk in the woods. Now you Mom's can identify with me when I say, I was pretty traumatized because a "special" family time had resulted in hurt feelings. However, by Christmas holidays, things had simmered down and we all agreed that this little plaque my daughter gave me summed it all up. Real family life is just like this. Is that your experience, too?


Happy holidays and blessings to you and yours with all our warts, moles and other imperfections. Lena

Happy Thanksgiving Y'All and A "Rug Feast" for the Eyes

Hi there. It is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I woke up with the desire to clean, clean, clean. This for me is quite uncommon. I guess it is because company is coming and I want a clean, neat, orderly house before I start my Christmas decorating. We will have a quiet Thanksgiving , but Christmas will be an extravaganza. I started polishing the silver yesterday evening. I love to polish silver. Quick results are just my style.

This will be a quick post as I am anxious to get to cleaning.

Friday Wise Wonderful Wanda and I went to an estate sale in a neighboring town. I got a number of small items but my big "score" was these fabulous hooked rugs for $10.00 each. I am showing the "wrong" side in these pictures. They have a few problems. The binding needs repair and the "right side" is quite soiled. The former owner was a 92 year old woman and her daughter-in-law said the estate was three generations of heirlooms. (The family took away three trucks full!) I have no idea about the age of these beauties. To me they are remarkable enough to hang on my wall. The designs are gorgeous. I can imagine a woman sitting by an open hearth in the 1800's hooking these for the wide planked floor of her homestead. This is a romanticized idea, but its mine and I am sticking to it. I think the three designs are super. I will have a hard time selling these beauties. (So for now, I won't.)

I have my booth in the mall and sell on eBay so I can justify my buying, selling and mainly keeping. Keeping is the best part.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping by. Lena

Snow In Alabama

Good Morning friends. I am writing to report an unusual phenomenon for November in Alabama. Snow fell last night at my house. Amazing?? Well, mother nature had a great deal of help from some four legged creatures. Lilly, a black lab mix and Buddy, the 16 year old yard dog, sleep in the garage. Because the temp has been dipping in the 30's I was worried that they needed something to snuggle in. I found two wonderful very large green checked pillows at a recent yard sale for 50 cents a piece. I was so proud. My pups would be comfy. This morning I was greeted by snowfall. As you can see Buddy couldn't look me in the eye. He kept his back turned. Lilly refused to have her picture taken.......It's a good thing I didn't have much invested in their doggie beds!!!
Well, I'm off to yard sales tomorrow and Saturday. My booth partner, Wise Wonderful Wanda, has moved her stuff out to a store she is starting soon. Yikes.... Now I am the sole proprietress (I love that big word) of the booth and responsible for twice the rent. Wish me luck. I will be taking two primitive cupboards up there this weekend and I hope they will be some lucky some one's Christmas present. Below is a picture of some of my treasures from last week. The glass holds the contents from a bag of buttons. The white wicker basket is for vintage bits and pieces of fabric to be used in projects. To the pretty lamp I will add, a shabby chic shade made from the aforementioned linens and also paint the black bottom stand shabby white.It is for the office/guest room that is blue,white and yellow. I have more projects than sense but I love it all.
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by....... Lena

The Mystery Revealed

As you can see, I used the container, candlesticks and produce to create a Fall/Thanksgiving center piece. I love the pineapple which is a symbol for hospitality in the American colonies. I added a fresh one from the grocery store as well as the grapes because my local produce stand doesn't carry those. The flowers are some coleus from the garden and one brown eyed Susan that has survived. I changed the finish on the container to blend with the candlesticks which are a rusty black. The materials I used are in the following picture.

My dear friend and crafter, Patsy, told me last year about this technique for instant rusting. I couldn't remember exactly what she said but I know it involved flat black spray paint and cinnamon. At any rate, I sprayed my wire container flat black and then shook ground cinnamon spice all over it. I ran out of that and so I then added allspice. The result was a rusty looking black wire "thingy" that smells heavenly.

Apparently the smell was appealing to Olivetti who stopped by to investigate. "Get off that table you nosey boy!" Please no cat hair in the food!!

On another note....... as we celebrate Veterans Day I remember my Dad and all the brave servicemen and women who have fought to defend the principles of liberty. We owe them a great debt ........... For them I give thanks to God.

Again, Happy Fall Y'all.

Lena

Country Vegetables

One of the good things about living in the country is the produce stands. I stopped by my favorite one today and loaded up.I got sweet onions, "Bama" tomatoes, tender crooked neck yellow squash, baby cucumbers, red potatoes with a little dirt still on, a pretty purple and white turnip, several sweet potatoes,a pomegranate and some ornamental gourds and Indian corn....... Veggies for supper tonight...... Baked sweet potatoes in the skin, steamed yellow squash with sweet onions and lots of butter, salt and pepper all mushed up, and a salad of "cukes" and "maters" in a wine vinegar dressing. I made some dense whole wheat bread recently (one rise only), so we are all set.

Now for a mystery......
What kind of fall, Thanksgiving decoration will I try to create using some of the produce above, and the items pictured below. Everything I hope will be from the good Lord's bounty with the exception of the candlesticks and the container. The wonderful cross stitch "Welcome" pineapple picture was done by my mother-in-law and hangs in our front hall. I love it. It is a clue. The candlesticks were a gift from the Divine Miss "M", my precious daughter-in-law. They also are a clue. Now that I have given you these clues keep checking back to see what I can come up with that is for the most part "au naturel". No, this will not be a replay of Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls. (A must see, by the way. Perfect on many levels).

I hope all is well with y'all and remember...The glory of God in nature is all around us. Take a breath, exhale, relax and enjoy.

Home, Hearth and Candy

I am still having fun learning to use my digital camera and taking pictures to post on my blog. For the longest time I had to rely on the availability of my daughter Kate's camera, but now my sweet hubby has gotten me my own with some of his American Express Points. Because of job changes we moved from and to 3 large cities in 4 years and ended up in this sleepy, wonderful Southern town. Here we decided to buy land, build a homestead, and trust the Lord that we could stay put. Ah.....The country living in the midst of nature that this city girl had always dreamed about!!! Now sixteen years later we are still happily "put". Many dividends have come our way through this choice. We really like the privacy and all the deer, raccoon, hawks and turtles who visit. The "true " country is right down the road as my buddy Wonderful, Wise Wanda constantly reminds me . We folks live in "town". The country folks live on the farm with the cows, chickens and fields of cotton. (Don't tell Wanda but this girl here lives in the country)

Onto another subject..... These are some inside shots of my fall decorating ideas.
I love the chippy, shabby chic look around this fireplace. I just added some old white washed mirrors, some vintage white flower pots, some white washed terra cotta "cone" shaped ojbects ($5) from the yard of a junk shop, fall silk flowers from the Dollar Tree, a Fab $20 vintage ironstone pitcher from an estate sale (also a washbowl), two vintage stools from yard sales and the white metal grate from an old screen door($3 yard sale). The orange pumpkin was a gift from Tim, the grey-green from the Walmart sold by the lb. as a squash(? )and the ghost pumpkin from the local produce stand. The mantel itself came from an old, old, house over in Georgia and we were able to add to it to make it fit our country home. No regrets there.


This last display of candy uses the traditional ball canning jars and the wire implement used for dunking them in scalding water. Good fall colored candy!!!! The fabric beneath is a hint of the new table cloth I am supposed to be making for the very scarred kitchen table. I can't find the foot for the sewing machine! Did one of the pups get it? No, probably that little fellow that lives in the floorboards of my house and hides things from me. Again happy fall, y'all! Rejoice in the Lord always!

Football, Friends, Pets and Home Decor

Daughter Kate as a Flying Monkey in the Wizard of Oz



Well, I'm sad to say the Samford Bulldogs went down in defeat to the Jacksonville Gamecocks, 12 to 24. It was a perfect fall day for football in Alabama and the hotdogs in the concession stand were cooked just right. So except for the defeat, it was a wonderfully entertaining show. The Jacksonville band was over the top and put on a brilliant half-time extravaganza. Inspite of the loss, Coach Josh was in good humour and we all went out for dinner at the Japanese steakhouse! Feed a man meat and he's quick to rebound.
We returned home to watch our beloved Crimson Tide go down in defeat to LSU. Our new Coach, Nick Saben, former coach at LSU, had to watch as some of his former recruits took care of business. Just wait! The Tide will roll again.
I must admit that before my sons began to play football I had a very limited interest in the game. Once they began playing my interest became intense(largely so we would have something to talk about.... Don't ask Josh about the time I stormed the high school locker room after a game because he was in a full body cramp- It didn't bother me that his teammates were changing. I was taking care of my boy! Coach loaded him in the back of his pick-up truck and we raced to the hospital.I had to yell a little bit to get the nurses attention, but they pretty quickly got him on an IV. When I saw some of his teammates the next week they looked a little uncomfortable, but honestly their state of undress never crossed my mind. I never took my eyes off my cramping boy.)
My interest in the GAME continues to this day although their playing days are over. I am even considering drafting a fantasy football team next year. (Still need material for conversations with my boys) They are not into home decor or antiquing as I am.All three of the kids swear they were scarred by too many yard sales and antique malls in their childhood. What's a mother of three to do for entertainment when hubby is studying on weekends for the CPA exam and she has only a few coins in her pocket? Fortunately, Matt, married Martie, who loves old things and Josh appreciates the oak dresser I gave him for free. Daughter Kate, with her own apartment, loves her old trunk coffee table and the vintage cupboard in her living room. Free, cool chippy stuff is always welcomed.

As I am new to blogging I thought I would share some ramdom pictures of my fall decorating, my precious pets and my darling children and friends. I appreciate all my new blog friends stopping by and leaving comments. I am becoming quite delighted with blogging. Whenever I run into a glitch I call my dearest bud Wanda at Excuse While I Buy This Junk and she leads me through the tangle I have created and out the other end. She is brilliant on the computer. We share a booth in a nearby mall, but sadly that will end as she is soon to open a shop in our sleepy town. (A dream come true for her) (My dream is to travel all over the country and world buying.... then selling enough... to finance my next trip).

My ebay sales have picked up lately, as Wonderful Wise Wanda said they would in preparation for Christmas. My balance in my paypal account is growing and I feel rich!!! Stop by my ebay store at White Cat Antiques when you do your Christmas shopping. I need to add more inventory!!!!! Again happy fall y'all.

One Eyed Wolfie



Stella Bella Fall Punkins'

Football and Bulldogs

We are off to Birmingham to watch Samford U play Jacksonville U. My son, Josh, is the assistant defensive line coach. This is a fierce rivalry and the Samford Bulldogs haven't won in a long time. In honor of Josh I am posting a picture of his bulldog, Sacha, who is spending football season with us. She is only a pup of six months and quite a charmer. Takes after her master. I hope everyone is having a blessed fall. God is good all the time. Life is hard and without Him, for me, impossible. Give thanks for cool days and glorious sunshine. The leaves down our lane have't changed yet, but I did find some spots of color in the countryside. Enjoy the splendor!

Yard Sales and Junk Stores

Friday Yard Sales or Feeding the Collector's Habit



Today was sort of slow for yard or estate sales around this sleepy Southern town. I did find a few interesting items. Some are to keep and some to sell. I stopped off at my favorite junk store and found the nice, crackley salt and pepper shakers. I have been into metal lately and picked up the little silver metal tree at a church yard sale. It will look nice with some tiny vintage ornaments. The dark metal pot with lid is from India and will be added to my collection of quadruple silver. The vintage juice glasses (5) are so cute and were only 25 cents apiece. Aren't they candlewick? I love my sweet, shabby lid tops and the plastic pink soap dish they are leaning against. I had one similar to this for girl scout camp in the 5o's. The small silver birdcage has a holder for a votive candle and may become shabby white and glittery for the holidays. The tiny hen is a salt shaker with cork and will go with my growing collection of chickens in my pine hutch. The little angel from the 50's will go in a Christmas scene on the chippy white shelf in the laundry room. I'll have to include a picture of that soon.To top the morning off I stopped by Burger King and got some French toast sticks and an iced cup of Mocha Joe. Aaahhh ........All is well with the world.

Early fall in Alabama

Cool nights hint that fall is finally coming here to Alabama, but the leaves aren't showing their usual display of color. My husband, Tim and I, live high on a hill in a copper beech forest and so enjoy the changing panorama of the leaves. Not much happening there this year. So far they are still a dark green. The few dogwoods we have have changed a dull red, not the usual brilliant crimson. The hickory tree is shedding its black shelled nuts all over the driveway, but the leaves are staying green instead of the usual gold. We have had a drought here all summer and some very hot days. The corn and tomatoes grown by the local farmers have really suffered. I've noticed that the cotton is hanging in there and looks ready to harvest. I do love to see the white fields of cotton right before it is picked. It looks as close to snow as we generally get this far down South.

I am dog sitting our granddog, Sasha for the duration of the college football season. Thank the Lord, only three more games to go. Number two son Josh, 26, coaching football in Birmingham, adopted her from the animal shelter against our advice right before the season started. Guess who keeps the lovely Sacha, American bulldog mix, for the away games? Our children have inherited our love of animals and we are the proud parents of 4 dogs and 12 cats. Because we live down a dirt road in the woods the neighbors don't complain. I adopted three of these animals intentionally. All the others are strays brought home by the kids or children of those strays. Everyone (pets) is neutered or spayed so I'm hoping for grandchildren rather than more pets.

Married son Matt and wife Martie, age thirty, are the most likely prospects. Single daughter Kate is still in school . Coach Josh, single, is too busy to date.

I am a collector of animals, interesting vintage items, and friends. This blog will be devoted to my experiences as I and my husband Tim adjust to our empty nest in this house on the hill surrounded by furkids and beech trees.