A New Year, A New Chapter in Our Book of Life

We lost a long time pet/friend this week, with our horse being found dead on Saturday.  She was old - around 29, which is old for a horse.  

 We got her when she was a yearling, and our oldest daughter Angie, broke her to ride.  She rode her for many years in horse shows, and she 

won many, many ribbons and trophies. 

 She's been "retired" for several years, but provided many hours of entertainment for our grandchildren.  The photos show one of our grand daughters with her.  

She was amazingly tame for an older horse, and never ever got cranky or mean with the little ones around.  

 We are going to miss her a lot, she was a great pet/friend for all of our family.  

RIP Foxy Nakita, you will be forever

in our hearts!

Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a comment.

Sandi

Balloons

We spent some time at the Olathe Balloon Festival in Olathe, Kansas - a couple of weeks ago.  

The evening festivities were opened by jumpers from Ft. Benning, members of the Silver Wings.

There were 2 men, and 1 woman jumpers.  The lady had the beautiful parachute pictured above.

The American Flag coming down was beautiful.

 The balloons begin to inflate.  This is a small festival, only about 40 balloons total.

 We sat in the right spot, when they launched, they went right over the top of us.

Mr. Potato Head was popular with the kids, as

usually the figured balloons are.

 Annie, the lady bug, was over 3 stories tall when inflated.  She was RIGHT in front of us, so we were able to see how they inflate, launch, and deflate.  

 When going through the photos, I realized that the balloons just look like a bunch of Easter eggs as they are lying on the grass.

 The most popular thing are the flare ups they do in the late evening.  Of course the darker it gets,

the more amazing the light show.  

 Thanks so much for stopping by.  I always enjoy your visits and comments.  Sandi

Getting some projects DONE!!

I've spent some time at my sewing machine this week.  I've decided that I'm going to get some of those projects done, that were started, then put away, while I'm off work.  One of them is a sampler quilt that I made

the blocks for 5 years ago.  UGH!

There was a quilt shop in town that had a "block a month" club.  We were given the fabric and instructions to make one block per month for a year.  

At the end of the year, we could put the blocks together in any way we wanted, and then they were displayed in the shop.  I was amazed at the incredible talent the ladies had.  Some of them were amazing!  Mine is/was very boring in comparison, BUT I really like the way it turned out. I think I'll hang it on the wall at the Lake House.

 I found this too, while I was digging in the archives for projects.  Just thought I'd show it to you.  I stitched it 14 years ago, but didn't like the way it turned out when finished.  I used some iron on stuff to hold the stray ends in place, rather than make knots, and it's kinda stiff.  It's backed with flannel, and very cute.  

 When my youngest DD saw it, she had a fit that I hadn't given it to anyone.  So, I told her I was thinking about saving it for my Great Grands some day, and would make more and put them away.  So, I guess that's what I'm going to do.  

 Alot of stitches and a lot of time went into this one, but I really like the way it turned out.  

Thanks for stopping by, I always enjoy visitors!  

Sandi 

Finally!

After stressing over the fact that I couldn't post since March, I got help from my daughter, and she figured out what I was doing wrong.  Long story short - I'm not as tech savvy as I thought!  Ha!  Like that was news......

Anyway, I've been wanting to show you so many things, but first is my newest obsession - OLD DOORS.

The reason is below.

 I made the pillow, out of a napkin, with a plain back, so I can 

decorate it later on for the next season.

I used my DH's old lunch pail to plant photos in, and left my garden gloves and extra tools lay.  I really like the way it looks.  I'm also looking forward

to decorating it for Fall.  

Thanks for stopping by, hopefully I'll be a little bit more on the ball, now that I have this figured out!  I decided to join Friday at the Charm of Home, so please stop by there too!  

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2012/07/home-sweet-home-77.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCharmOfHome+%28The+Charm+of+Home%29

Sandi 

Ok, so I'm not a computer wiz!

After many - MANY times of trying to figure out why I couldn't get into my blog - my daughter (who IS a computer wiz) has figured it out!  Thanks Em!  I'm excited about getting back to it for now!

Vintage Coat Hooks and their Transformation!

These days, it's a popular thing to do, to have an entryway, or area by the front door to drop your "stuff". So, I got a "hair brained idea" to put one in at the lake house. Now, my DH will tell you, I'm one to put something on every wall. Can't STAND to have a blank wall. So...........

I knew I had somethings we could put together to make it just the way I wanted. We had old lumber, and these old hooks from the house that we tore down before we built our house now. I had it in my mind, now to get it done!

I had a choice between the single hooks or double hooks and chose the double. They needed to be sanded and repainted.

The finished projoect - and it's just what I wanted! I had the old bench (found in a barn), and was used in our other Lake House. It got used right away! Thanks for joining me as I participate in Vintage Thingie Thursday at the following address: http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Thanks for leaving a comment! Sandi

Getting my files organized - FINALLY!!!

One of my very favorite magazines these days is "Storage", it is put out by Better Homes and Gardens and is marked on the front as a "Special Interest Publication". I have looked online and can't find anything about it, but it is WONDERFUL. One of my biggest problems was my file drawers. I had files, had things in the files, but didn't have a rhyme or reason to what I was keeping and where, therefore everything was very hard to find. The Spring 2012 issue has an article on "Conquering Paper Pileup". Aha! Speaking right to my heart! I read it probably 10 times, and it made so much sense!!! The page heading says - "4 must-have sections for your file cabinet". And there it was - my rhyme AND my reason!!!! Before you think this was all so easy, you have to know that I have PLENTY of file folders. I didn't want to buy a lot to get this done. So when it said to use green folders for anything pertaining to money, I used green tags instead. I used blue for anything pertaining to me - red for anything pertaining to DH.
I created my own headings, etc., and it all makes sense to me. I reused many of the brown folders, but stuck with the same theory of marking them as I had the other stuff. I am so tickled to have it done, and the times I've needed something out of the files, they are easy to figure out. Just what I needed. The drawer in the top photo doesn't even look full, but that's because there's so much stuff just crammed in the back of the drawer that I didn't have filed yet.

This all made such perfect sense to me, once I got started. I'm so incredibly happy to have this done!!!

I'm joining up with Organize With Sandy, hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

http://www.organizewithsandy.com/2012/02/27/organizing-diy-link-party-week-9/

Tea for One

The flowers were a gift from our pastor's Mom. She was thanking me for taking Pastor to the hospital last week (after she fell in the middle of the night and broke her arm). The biscuits are homemade, and of course some of my homemade jam too! I'm going to sit and enjoy the quiet
for awhile, hope you don't mind.

The tea cups and saucers are pre-war Japanese china. I got 5 cups and 5 saucers in a box of junk at an auction, years ago. I had 3 of them filled with flowers and gave them to my friends for mothers day one year. At the time, I didn't know they were worth anything. I paid a $1 for the whole box of junk! The detail on the tea cups is exquisite. I have 2 cups and 2 saucers left, and they stay in my collectible cabinet.

I'm joining 2 different parties this week. Please leave a message of encouragement as you drop in and visit. Everyone loves comments! You can find more fun at the below links:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com

Metamorphosis Monday - vintage footstool!

I have an awesome metamorphosis this week!

At "junk day", in a little town north of here, we found this footstool along the curb. The fabric was in perfect condition, although a bit out of style. My DH thought it would take some work, but would be pretty again, with out help!

Torn apart, it needed a lot of TLC - but the bones were good. Even the springs were individually wrapped.

DH had a some major glue and nails business to attend to, but it worked!

The cotton looks awful, but it just had a little rust on it. I wanted to reuse it though, it fit

perfectly.

Old fabric on the right, new fabric on the left.

It's beginning to look better already. The next step though, we were wondering how to make a clean, straight line at the top.

So, we took a yard stick and split it in half length ways, then cut it to fit the sides. Amazing as it seems - it was exactly 72" around the stool, so it fit perfectly.

I hot glued the fabric to the stick...........

Then tacked the stick to the stool. We tried using a staple gun, but the wood filler was too hard, so we ended up using the air powered nail gun. Then, turned it upside down and tacked it down. I went around the edged with the glue gun to make sure everything was going to stay in place.

The final step with ANYTHING fabric that we are going to use around the house - whether it's a new couch/chair, mattress - I always use Scotchguard to protect. Even new tennis shoes! (no paid ad here folks, it's just the truth!)

I can't wait to get it to the lake house and use it! It will be perfect for my bedroom reading area/computer area. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I'm joining everyone at Metamorphosis Monday at the below link:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Quarterly projects

At this time of the year, I have a couple of "quarterly" upkeeping that I do. The first one is to clean my dryer filter. I've made it a habit to clean mine about every four months, using a soft brush, warm water, and some dish soap. If you want to know if your dryer filter is dirty - just take it to the sink and run water on it. If the water puddles up and doesn't run through, then it needs cleaned. The "waxy" substance on our dryer sheets sticks to the filter, and keeps the air from being able to move through like it should. It helps to make our dryer run more efficiently, and does a better job in shorter time, in some instances.

The other thing I do quarterly, is add yeast to the septic tank. We've been in this house for 29 years this year, and I've done this since we moved in. About 15 years ago, we were doing some work (adding on), and had the yard torn up. My DH decided at that time since the yard was a mess anyway, that he would call in the "Honey Wagon" to clean out the septic tank. The "Honey Man" was impressed to find no solids in our septic tank at all. He advised that we should keep doing whatever we were doing, because it was working! My DH was impressed, since he always thought I was kinds "touched in the head" with the yeast thing. (go me!)

In the front cover of Martha Stewarts magazine, she has an organization calendar, and I've been using it to do the "extra stuff" that usually gets forgotten. Try it if you need motivation.

Have a wonderful week, and a blessed NEW YEAR!!!