A Wonderful Prim Witch Giveaway

A Rusty Thimble Giveaway

Ok, it's not often I post twice in a day. In fact I'm not sure if I ever have. But, I wanted to tell you all about a fabulous giveaway I found this afternoon. Brenda from A Rusty Thimble is offering one of her wonderful primitive witch dolls as a giveaway on her blog. I don't tell you this out of the goodness of my heart. Oh heck no! I am only sharing to increase my chances of winning. I even included a button on my side bar for yet another chance to win. So what I am really saying is "Please ignore this post and do not go to visit http://www.therustythimble.blogspot.com/ because the doll is really not that wonderful. Quite plain and dull in fact. Forget you ever saw this. Please!"

Hmmm........... I was going to post a picture of the poor sorry thing but it keeps telling me the server won't allow. Well, the photo is on my side bar or you could just take a quick peek on Brenda's blog. That's http://www.therustythimble.blogspot.com/



rescues

The Not So Humane Human Race

Maybe it's the hormonal imbalance of being peri-menapausal (like wanting another baby), or maybe it's just that I am a little more educated than I use to be on the subject thanks to PetFinder.com. But, I find myself spending hours scouring petfinders.com looking at all the lonesome little faces needing homes. More likely it's this video I just saw on Facebook of a puppy mill owner in this country, the great lengths taken to get her prosecuted, and the unbelievable injustice her poor dogs recieved in this nations court system.

I won't lie. This video is difficult to watch and I had to go back a couple times to get through it. But, I think it is vitally important for people to know where those darling little puppies in the pet stores and from on-line breeders are really coming from. Please do click on the link below and watch. It's the same footage a court judge saw before delivering his sentance. At the end they tell you the sentance this woman actually got for torturing these innocent animals to turn a quick buck.

http://bullmarketfrogs.com/blog/2011/06/where-did-your-puppy-come-from/

Please, please, please do not shop at and support any pet store selling pets. It's not just a matter of not buying a pet from them. It's important not to support their business in any way until they see the light and stop selling pets altogether. We must as nation,  join together to make our voices heard.

If you have room in your heart and in your home please go to your local shelter, humane society, look for a rescue for your breed of choice on-line, or go to http://www.petfinders.com/ to look for that special new member of your family. There are thousands in need. Large and small, young and old, pure bred and mutts. They are rescued from puppy mills and hoarders, picked up as strays who have wondered from home, or turned in to rescues when their owners have lost their jobs & their homes. They come from homes where well meaning people didn't realize the commitment and from seniors who loved their pets but found themselves physically unable to provide after a stroke or alzheimers. Some come from loving caring homes and some come from abusers. Some are strong and healthy and some have special needs. The thing they all have in common is they need loving, caring humane human beings to take them in and make them a part of their family. And if you want to help in another way, you could give financial support to a rescue for all their ever mounting vet bills. Got a stack of old towels you don't need or a pile of dog toys your fur baby has grown out of? A retired pet bed or crate stashed away in the basement? These are all items pet rescues would love to have and will put to great use. As for myself, I have sent in an application to a rescue for the opportunity to foster an unwanted pet. I can only hope and pray to be accepted and be posting my new fosters photo here soon.

Thanks for letting me rant. But then, who would dare get in the way of a peri-menapausal rant, right?   :o/

The Animals Savior by Jim Willis

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

                  

I looked at all the caged animals in the  shelter...

The cast offs of human society.

I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness and betrayal. And I was angry.

"God" I said "this is terrible! Why? Why don't you do something?"

God was silent for a moment and then he spoke softly,

"I have done something" he replied "I created you."



Make-Over Monday

Make-Over Monday

Finally! I got a make-over on my garage door. I hated the big blank white slate on the front of my garage and wanted a new carriage door from the day we moved in. Hubby couldn't get past the fact the the existing door was in excellant shape and couldn't see spending $1,200 to replace it. Men!!! So short sighted! Then one day he came home and told me about a new product the company he works for was making. Not only that, but they were having a fair to introduce the new product and offering it to employees at 1/2 the cost. It's vinyl window frames with dark smoked plexi-glass behind to look like real windows. Just measure and screw in place.

Before

After

Here is a link to the web-site for the windows Just in case anyone is interested -

http://www.coachhouseaccents.com/

The garage looked so good I decided it was about time to get a better looking vehicle to park in the drive.

Before

the Plymouth Voyager I bought used and have been driving for 10 years now. The air had quit, the wipers only worked when they wanted to, the passenger power window died,  there was a power steering leak, and every time I closed the sliding doors pieces of rust fell off. It was definately time for it to go.

After

The Nissan Cube

 Brand new and under $20,000. The best, of coarse, is the mileage. It's rated for 27 city but so far we are getting almost 34 mpg city. After nearly 18 yrs of mini vans this is soooo much fun to drive.

My Garden - The Peonies are Blooming

My Peonies

In my humble opinion one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden. If it rains the enormous blooms hang to the ground. In a heat wave the flowers only last a few short days. But what a glorious show they give when the conditions are right. Definately worth making a space at the back of the flower bed or set apart as a single breathtaking specimen.

These gorgeous bushes were one of the few plants on the property worth keeping when we moved here 3 years ago. The poor things were being choked out by landscape fabric and rock. I went around each one, pulled the 2" rocks back & cut away the landscape fabric. Then I created some planter boxes around their bases with some leftover cut rock from the walls of our koi pond we built.

Next I spread a nice layer of composted manure around each one. I suspect they have never been fed since they were planted. How could they have with all that rock and landscape fabric? And finally, I layed down 2 layers of newspaper and covered it all with some cedar mulch.

 I detest rock used as mulch in the garden. It's so hard to keep weeded and clean and the fabric beneath always breaks down after a few short years, making an even bigger mess. And then there's the escapies. The rocks that somehow make their way into the lawn for the lawn mower to hit. My first project, after painting, when we moved into this house was to rake and shovel all that rock around the pool out of there and replace it with mulch. Well, it only took me a day to realize that I was definately not up to the task. I also realized that replacing it with mulch would create a real mess in the pool on windy days. So............... rock it is.

Don't forget, you don't have to be outside to enjoy them. They also make great cut flowers. Today is 90+ degree's and a thunderstorm is forecasted for later. So, when I got up, I went out and cut a bunch. A vase for my mother, a vase for a cousin recovering for surgery, and a vase just for me.   

Frugal Friday

 Frugal Friday 

I was truely blessed today with a warm sunny morning and some fabulous frugal finds on my first garage saling day of the season. The first sale of the day was the best. It turned out to be someone I use to babysit for 34 years ago. I could see her eyeing me and trying to figure out where she knew me from. She said "No way!!!! I thought it was you but then I thought you looked 20 years too young to be you". Well, that was it. I could have gone all morning and not bought a thing and been happy as a lark, LOL. Especially nice to hear as I turned the big five O this year. I ended up buying
an old weathered old porch post ($10) an old basket with the bottom rotted out ( .75 cents), and a crib quilt (.50 cents)from her - all for a mere $11.25. Then Pat pulled out an old bird house wind chime with the greatest rusty chimes and hardware and gave it to me so it would go to a good home.
This quilt is just appliqued and machine quilted but for .50 cents I thought it might be cute in my old cradle for a while.

Just as I was about to get to work planting my basket for pictures the thunder began to rumble. I love bottomless baskets for the garden. I just mound up some soil inside to keep the basket in place and plant some annuals into it. This basket just saved me the work of having to cut the bottom out.

The free weathered wind chime is going to hang in the lower limbs of the big pine we just limbed up by my hosta garden.

Unforetunately hubby took the trailer my post is in and covered it over with a load of cedar mulch. Men! The porch post is going to get a perfectly prim white bird house on top.

 I came up empty on the next 3 sales but then I found a great sale where all the proceeds were going to send the daughter to Haiti on a mission trip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

an old quilt all hand stitched and in perfect condition - $4.00. I picture this over a wicker settee' in the pool house we are about to build.

I also got a dark red pendleton wool skirt for felting for $1

and another winter white wool skirt for .50 cents at the Haiti sale. The lady wasn't thrilled to hear I was going to felt and cut her beautiful skirts into worms for rug hooking, LOL.

To top off my fabulous morning of summer like temps and great garage sale finds, I managed to squeeze in a bit of gardening. It never looks like much when the annuals are first planted does it?  But so worth the wait for the colorful show they will provide in a few short weeks. This is just a sneak peek of one tiny little corner of the garden - hot pink, lemon yellow and some accents of bright orange this year. After the cold wet spring we've had I was ready for some hot hot colors.

I hope your Friday was as fabulous as mine!

Make-Over Monday

Make-Over Monday

Been busy busy busy around here. Trying to catch up the housework and the yard work from when I was under the weather. So much to do and so little energy. This week I managed to pull out the spray paints for just a couple of quick little make-overs between spreading wheel barrels of mulch and manure.

First is a lantern I got for $1.00 at a re-sale shop this winter. It was a cheesy copper color so I hit it with 2 shades of rusty brown and a very light over spray of black. Then I hung it on a short shepards hook in the garden by my very rustic pool shed.

Next is a hand woven egg basket plus a wall pocket. I paid a whopping .49 cents for the egg basket and .25 cents for the other. The egg basket had faded peach stripe on one side and a bright peach stripe on the other. I just painted over the entire basket with a nutmeg and then a light over spray of  darker rust brown.

I'm also working on a little re-decorating in my bathroom. The fixtures and hardware are all a bright shiny chrome and brass. Dreadful!!!! To try and save a couple bucks I decided try sanding and painting the tissue holder and towel bar. I got the tissue holder done this weekend and it looks pretty promising.
Yikes!!!

After sanding it looked like brushed nickel. Already an improvement.

Perfect! Now if only I could just spray the ugly wall tile.

 Next week's makeover   -   the built in china cabinet

Make-over Monday

Make-over Monday

Ok, I take echinacea and vitamin D and I eat heaps of fruits and veggies. I never touch a grocery cart without wiping it down with an anti-bacterial wipe and I always replace my toothbrush after a cold. I am a finatic about wiping down the keyboard and mouse of the computer. But once again I have managed to get sick. So I am digging back for a make-over this round.

When we moved into our 70's ranch almost 3 years ago it had a tiny livingroom which was separated from a front hall by some waist high walls. The livingroom had navy carpet that showed every bit of shedding pomeranian and lint and the hall had stick on laminate tiles. Last year we pulled it out, 1/2 walls and all, including the baseboards. I found a great great web-site called True Hardwoods http://www.truehardwoods.com/home.html that offered hugely discounted wood floors. Without them I could never have afforded hand scraped, wide planks. The retail price of the flooring was $8.99 and Real Hardwoods price was $4.90. And get this - the cost of shipping was less than what I would have paid in MI state sales tax. What a difference!
Before

During

After

Now if only True Hardwoods sold doors, windows, and crown moulding I would have this room complete.

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Frugal Friday

My fabulously frugal finds this week. Unforetunately I was hit with the flu on Friday so this week it's Frugal Friday on Saturday.

My lovely auntie has a beautiful rose garden. Whenever someone she knows is sick or in the hospital during the summer months she brings them a little vase with some of her roses. So, when I come across a good deal on a pretty little vase I pick them up for her. She has MS so getting out to shop is getting harder for her.

.25 cents 

The perfect size basket (.75 cents) to fill with a pot of flowers on my old chair plus a second covered basket (.25 cents)

that looks like it was made to match. They may or may not get painted. The nest on the chair is the robins 3rd attempt to build a nest on my porch light. They got this one mudded before I discovered it.

I have an open back 8x10 frame that I needed a piece of non-glare glass for. And who knows what I might do to the dreary little sampler to make it usable. I've already started picking it apart with a seam ripper.

.50 cents

I have been looking for quite a while for a staight sided, cut glass vessel with pretty design to make some colonial shortbread cookies that I came across while surfing blogs.

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2009/12/dear-heartes-pressed-glass-shortbread.html

$1.99

I thought these little pieces might also make some pretty cookies. I just love this 1st one.

.25 cents

.25 cents

A little copper colored lantern in need of a makeover

.99 cents

And of coarse some more clothing for my wool collection. From the white one down, I got them all cut apart. Everything above still needs pulling apart.

.49 - $1.50 each

Monday Make-Over's

Monday Make-Over's

It's that time of year when the weather is warming up, the snow is gone, the garage sales are beginning, and I am itching to get out for some re-sale shopping and country auctions. Warmer weather is also the time for some messy make-over jobs that are better done out of doors. My big plan was to start posting a new make-over every Monday. Then, don't ya know, the batteries in the camera needed a re-charge and I couldn't find the battery charger. Hard to post a make-over post with no pics. Luckily I found it the charger while cleaning some drawers this week and now I am back on track. So, this week I am sharing my bedroom make-over.

We have been in this house for 3 years now. Before we moved in hubby promised we could take out an inconvenient bedroom window. So, I have been waiting and waiting for that window to go away before I stenciled. I have finally given up and found a new solution to work around that window.

"Before Pictures"

"After Picture's"

The bedroom make-over also includes a gorgeous new Drexel Heritage 4 poster rice bed from Craig's List for $350 and I got them to throw in the night stand for free.

As for that window that has been holding up the stenciling? It is right behind the left side of the headboard - out of sight. I bought new window treatments for the other window but not for this one since I "believed" it was going to be gone soon. Well, that will be another Monday, hopefully sooner than later. A cliff-hanger to be answered by summer's end - finger's crossed.