...haven't left yet.....

Woke up to a classic Southern Oregon Fall morning. Fifty degrees. Overcast. Drizzly. Fog rolling in over the river. Trees wet with color.

What's a girl to do?

Make one of these.

While the sweet husband is in the kitchen with these..... we ONLY buy E.B. eggs now. Must have something to do with the E and the B???? (for new readers, see my day job link below - it'll make sense then!) I'd really like farm-fresh eggs, but not quite ready for hens yet!!!!

and a little of this......

and this......

a few of these.....

a couple of these.....

What a husband, wouldn't you say?

I love me some FALL.......

Now I gotta get off the couch and change over that dreaded laundry and get to packing.....

Happy Halloween!!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

I KNOW when I'll be back again.....

Yep. Going to Vegas.

Work around the outside of the house will continue whilst I'm away. Things seem to be back on track and progressing. It's looking good. It's looking just as I had in my minds-eye. A nice rustic farmhouse on a rock foundation. Shingles on top -  stained dark. It's gonna be SO nice. Someone just may have to pinch me.

Here it is in progress. 

New door. New window. Nice room next to the garage for....Crafting? Guest room? Home office? Teenager hang-out room? Storage? Gosh, let's hope not storage!!! No plans carved in stone yet, but I'm sure it'll get used....

Then, next Spring, we'll work on paving the driveway to match the walkway. Oh, there is SO much to do, but we are definitely crossing things off the list.

New solar lights for the walkway. We chose these 'cause they're glass, not plastic. Bought eight of them. Granted, they'll look better surrounded with landscaping, but landscaping is lower on the list! In the meantime, we'll be able to see where to walk at night!

Kyle's carved pumpkin on the porch. The idea was for all of us to carve a couple of pumpkins and line the walkway, but we are behind schedule on finishing the outside by Halloween. So, his lone pumpkin will have to suffice. Thanks for the effort, Kyle. You rock! It's SO ON next year though!!!! Pumpkins ahoy.

In the house, I have some fake pumpkins though. Here is one on a large, floor candlestick. I keep seeing these everywhere online and at a friends house. Pumpkins - fake and real - elevated on candlesticks. Cute!

Here is one of my Fall plate finds from a few years back. Germany. Thirty-five cents! And a recent find. 5 pc. Pewter tea set from Holland. Quaint, $15 and too cute to pass up. More than I usually spend, but glad I did. Just the other day, I saw just the creamer for $4.50 at a second-hand store.

 

Same shelf. This white ware soup tureen. No lid, but the opening is very large and will accommodate a beautiful bouquet of flowers in the Spring.

I've been picking up white ware lately. I couldn't decide between milk glass and this stoneware. Stoneware won! I find myself being really picky though. I'm only buying the ones stamped from Italy, Germany or USA. But not USA mass produced looking pieces, like Sysco. Nothing against Sysco, but I guess I feel like those I could buy by the case, so it's more the "thrill of the kill" for those mis-matched loners. More the thick, heavy weight ones. AND definitely no MADE IN CHINA pieces.

I don't consider myself an activist, tree hugger or go-green only person, but I'm kind of leery about the finishes being lead based or something else scary. You know, like MADE IN CHINA drywall that was in the news lately. The imported, inexpensive drywall that contained sulfur and was eroding copper pipes and turning jewelry black in the homeowners houses, mostly down in the Southeast U.S., due to the fumes it was emitting! Talk about scary stuff!!!

O.K., I'm off the "box" now.

Here are the fake-pearls I found for Emily. Cute, huh? They temporarily found a home on a vintage Ball jar on the hutch.

And some beads. Another kitchy necklace. Mrs. Teapot is all dressed for Halloween.

Here is the latest up-do. Wednesday night. Got the urge to go shopping for a "room-divider" between the family room and my craft room aka: the craft room wannabe mess.

Bought a curtain rod at Ross for cheap. Would've bought the curtains there too, but alas mostly they had only one-panel selections. No go. So, off to Freddy's. These were more, of course, but at least they were 25% off!

After. Closed-off. Nice!

Here is the last of tonight's treasures. I found this up in Eugene a while back. A heavy glass Barbicide container. All sterilized, boiled, fumigated, scrubbed, etc.....Then filled to the brim with paper-wrapped red straws. I would have preferred to go with red, unwrapped straws, but I'll take it one step at a time in the "GROSS, yet kind-of cool" dept. Plus, I KNOW I saw this idea in a decorating magazine somewhere.....

That's enough for one night. I won't be blogging for a few days. Hopefully, I won't be gambling away all my treasure-hunting money either!!! Actually, I'll probably only be playing the nickel slots. I don't like to lose $$$.

How could I live with myself????

Later Gator!

Random Post....

You know those kind of days? Days where you wake up. Go to work. Come home. Eat dinner. Sit and watch T.V. Go to bed and then start all over again?

Well, that's what's been going on around here of late. My stone contractors showing up have been a hit & miss, partly due to the weather and partly due to "other" things they tell me "just came up". So, there hasn't been much stone installation - actually NONE at all, except for the front steps - which still aren't done. I think it's been like 4 or 5 weeks by now.

True, we did add some construction/de-construction to the project, but I think all told, there's not more than a couple of connected days total. It's SO hard to watch the SLOW, SLOW progress. I'm a "let's get it done" sort of girl. Well, more like "let's let someone else get it done for me" (when I'm paying them to do it!) BUT also when I'm doing the work. A MULE, I've been so graciously called by someone VERY, VERY close to me...HI, HONEY! And I'm o.k. with that.

I am.

So, other than being focused on the lack of progress around the outside of our house, praying for nice weather on another day - other than Saturday or Sunday - when they DON'T work, I've been doing some cleaning around the house. Cleaned the Wonka-annointed rug in the family room AGAIN! No new accidents. He's been using his newly installed doggie-door, but I just wanted the carpet to be REALLY clean. So, it got shampooed again. Now, I'm not scared of it!

Cleared off the piles of "stuff" from the dining room and kitchen tables. Added a bit of Fall color. Recognize the silver pedestals? I found them a few weeks ago. Decided to leave them silver for now. No Black. No White. Just some silvered patina. Cute! Could've used a couple of larger pumpkins, but these are fake. 1/2 off at Michaels. Like $1.99 each. So, they'll  have to do!!!

Got this guy for 1/2 price at Lowe's - $4.00. His "teeth" are bad. I think it just adds character. Besides, when's the last time you saw a skull with perfect teeth?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Wonka. Pretending he's asleep in front of the fireplace. Yeah. Wonka, I can see you looking at me out of the corner of your eye....

 

Here he is outside on the new sidewalk to the back door. Doesn't he look like a staunch old man? All in charge? With a little 'tude?

This is a cup of  London Fog. Have you ever heard of that? Well, being that Kyle was a barista at Barnes and Noble, he created this for me at home. Earl Grey tea. Steamed milk (in the microwave, cause there's no

espresso maker at my house), and Vanilla extract. "Mom, it's simply a tea latte!" DUH! Like I know a latte from a....???? I'm a plain, single-shot mocha kind of girl - Simply put - a hot cocoa, a teaspoon of instant Folgers coffee and a splash of milk. Easy Peasy.

So, even though this post is SO random, that's what life around here has been. Dog. Tasty beverages. Stone, or lack of. A bit of Fall decor. AND skulls with bad teeth!!!

At the Last Retreat...

Well, not the LAST retreat, but the one we last had at the beginning of this month..

I made 20 Christmas ornaments. Sure, it's only October, but when we woke up that Saturday, there was 3-4" of snow on the ground and covering the cars! So, Christmas ornaments it was!!!

This was my "station". What a mess, huh? But, I played here for four days. Made a mess. Tidied up. Made

another mess. And so on, and so on. You get the picture.

I wasn't the only mess-maker though. Kay quilted - to my right. Judy sewed and cut out lots with her Cricut - across from Kay. And Janice - well, Janice did LOTS of things. - SHOPPED AND SHOPPED AND SHOPPED at the local quilt store, made a complete wedding scrapbook for her co-worker, scrapbooked, sewed, ironed, etc....

So, here is a photo of my new entry way ceiling. It's tongue and groove pine planks. Off the subject? Well, NO.

These are the little end cuts from when I installed the ceiling. Cute, don't ya think?

If you remember, last year, I made Christmas ornaments out of scraps. I have a ton!

So, I packed up a handful and took them with me. Along with an assortment of holiday paper, stamps, buttons, paint, Mod Podge, ribbon, etc...

Christmas Joy.

Warm Holiday Wishes.

Crinkle-torn-stamped tissue paper.

A Warm & Friendly Wish for a

Very Happy Holiday!

I Believe in Santa.

(The "dark" metal charm reads - Believe)

Merry Christmas.

Crackle finish Vintage Ad paper.

Love Stamp.

Crackle finish Teddy Bear stamp.

Naughty or Nice? Yes....

A favorite re-make from last year.

I Believe in Angels.

Lots of glass glitter, buttons, and fiber.

A Holiday Classic - Don't Peek til Xmas.

Let it SNOW!

In classic black and cream.

Who doesn't love a Snowman?

'Tis the Season.

Glass Glitter. Looks just like a sugar cookie.

Tinker Toys!!! Just what I wanted!

Crackle Finish vintage Ad paper.

Believe in Christmas Magic.

Dear Santa, I WANT.

Oh, come on. What else? Isn't that what all letters to Santa begin with???

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,

and behold, everything is softer and more Beautiful.

Star Light, Star Bright -

A Wish for Peace on Earth Tonight.

Layered paper stars.

Christmas Cheer.

Another crackle finish .2 cent stamp.

Happy Holidays.

December 25 Postcard.

Crackle finish tree stamp.

Last but not least -

SNOW!

That's it so far. I still need to drill the holes for the ribbon hangers (thus the "blank" areas at the top of each ornament), but wanted to share.....Maybe a bit prematurely, but ... oh well.

I've been asked by more than a few people if these are for another swap. Not this year. I'll be keeping these for the family tree.

You see, I swapped last year in an online ornament exchange and was less than thrilled with the majority of what I received. Granted, it's the thought that counts. But let's be honest here - it is my blog after all - with all the talent and great ideas I always see out there in blog land, and man-o-man there is talent galore, I truly did not expect to get a 1" styrofoam ball covered in dollar-store glitter with raw wood toothpicks poked in them, or a knotted (not knitted or crocheted, mind you) piece of yarn on a hook, or a bell cut out of waxxed paper - and only waxxed paper. Can anyone say...KINDERGARTEN?

I should have learned my lesson from a few years back when I did a 50 holiday card swap. Oh well....I'm still hopeful, I guess....I still have visions of opening a swap-box and being excited!!! Has any body else out there  been bummed-out by an exchange? Or is it just me???

Happy Monday!

*** Updated on 11_09_2009 Just linked up to "I Can Make That" Party.