A New Chapter

  

                   My Family....

           I have not said much about my family

                      on here before....

 

          My 3 sons.....

                    (hate this pic of me, but love it of the boys )

           

             And they are married to 3 lovely girls 

                    The one in the middle of this pic

                      is our oldest, Michael.

           Michael is such an interesting guy....
            He is an engineer for his real job....
             BUT has so many, many hobbies

                   & they are all extreme

              Yes, look closely, that is him kayaking,    

                  over a large waterfall... Yikes!!

                                        

Kiteboarding in Mexico

He does extreme skiing & snowboarding

He buys & sells tractors &

boats for a hobby.

He & his wife have lived in Mexico for a year,

they went to Africa a few yrs. ago, for a month,

just to kayak the world's biggest river. They have hiked all over.

He does hunting & fishing in a big way.

                                                                              
                    He seriously never sits still

                                   

             Picture above... Michael & Carrie in London.

     Middle of the night, in a London airport, on the way to Hungary... a few hours to kill.... don't waste them in an airport... go see something... : )

                                     

                                   

( I had to take a pic for him in front of Jerry Garcia's home in San Fransisco :)

Michael was burned pretty bad last week

He was riding & tinkering with a seadoo & it exploded

flames 10 -12 ft. in the air...

He will be OK..... but burns on his arms & face

look pretty nasty right now

(on again... after the accident...How many times do I have to say,

 "Michael, be careful" ?? :  )

 

Anyways.... why I tell you a little about Michael??

He will be the father of our 1st Grandchild.. : )

Yes.....

 Michael & Carrie told us a few weeks ago

                    And we could not be more thrilled.... : )

                                         

                                     

    

                                              

                                             

A Birthday Purse

   

                                     Maggie's Birthday

                               

                   Niece Maggie is turning 18

                   Party was planned for 5:30

                   I had already gotten a gift                       

                   But I had a free afternoon

                         SO I thought...

                     She needs a purse    :) 

                   1:30... I go thru my stash

                              

      She liked the one I had made myself last year     

          

                                           So I got to work

                        Pockets on the inside

                         

                    Full pocket across the back             

                                      

                    Pulled apart on old belt

                    

                              To use for rings & embellishments

                      

                                     Walked out the door at 5:00

                                    

                               She loved it!! 

                                      

                                   

                                   

                           

                                (no pic of her with purse.. : )     

HOT !!!

                                 My son sent this to me today...
              Just thought it was worth a smile.... : )

If you could do anything you wanted ????

                                  In your kitchen??
                 Would you play & be fun ??

              
                       Or would you go safe?
                               & do White??

   The new lake house we are purchasing

 has 2 kitchens.....

The one has new cabinets... we will leave those alone

The other kitchen needs a complete re-do

                                  (kitchen to be re-done above)
                
                         This home is a foreclosure & needs a TON of work...
                              almost all of it HAS to be re-done....
                             So without spending my arm, leg
                      & selling my 1st, 2nd & 3rd child
                           I am going to try & just do what I can
                                       with very little money

                 So we/I will be painting these cabinets for now     

                      What would you do??
                      If you had the chance??

                                                      
                              Red Perhaps??

                       
                                           A pretty soft green??

                   
                                     A Bright Lime Green??
                 (yea....That's not going to happen... : )

                                                      
                                Yellow "ish"?? Off white??
                                              

                                         
                            Brighter yellow??          
     

                                         
                     A shade of Blue??  Aqua??
              

                 
                        Black???  Too safe???

                                   I kind of like the grey???
     
                Seriously??  What would you do??
                   If you could decorate a        
                   vacation/weekend place ???
         ( & then tell me why someone would
                      have 2 kitchens?? )
                          

         linking up with Miss Mustard seed
          for Furniture Feature Friday

               
                                        
                                    

                                       

Some Color on the Front Porch

                                                          
                                         The After......
                                     

                                         The Before.....

   
                       Much Better.... Don't you think???   : )

       This set was my Grandmother's.... it is quite old & I have recovered it more than once..... I did not store it this past winter.... it sat out in the Michigan winter.
 Notice the horrible rust & faded fabric....awful...
             One afternoon, a few weeks ago.....
                             on a whim...
     I went for some spray paint I had in the house.... some fabric I bought over a year ago... a remnant I just liked & knew I would someday use.... 
                       
            I am not entirely sure I like it....  ????
  
   We have a white house with a wrap-around porch all the way across....this sits in a corner.......I do a lot of red geraniums...  white wicker chairs....red bench....
         thought I would add  something different
                  & use red with turquoise
                        (+ I had it on hand : )  
                    sort of free make-over
              & a short afternoon of work
              
                         Like??  Not like???
      

                                                
                                 And.....
                The new cottage is almost ours..
       Just waiting on the final paperwork.... agh!!!  
                  Why is this taking so long ??? 
                          

               ( & yes.... one of the very 1st things to go
                will be the ugly front door...
              though my sons think there is
             absolutely nothing wrong with it : )
                                                                                           
                                                          

My View Today

From the upper deck of our new COTTAGE!!!!

What? I didn't tell you before??

Guess I didn't want to jinx it... : )

It will be our new "Up North Place"

It was a foreclosure... It is HUGE & needs a lot of work...

Today I sat & waited for all the inspectors to come thru...

just for our peace of mind that the structure is fine....

All is good.... : ) 

So guess what I will be doing for the next few months??

2500 sq. ft of painting, flooring.....

I think it will be fun???

On the Road Again...

   
         My up close & personal encounter with 

                               Bruce.... THE MOOSE!!! 

      Since my last post I have traveled from one end
         of the country to the other... well almost...
      
          Been in New York.... then Colorado....
   And Up north here in Michigan, on the weekends
                     we have been home.
 
                While in Colorado I met Bruce

                    
      We were near Buena Vista at Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp. We were there to participate in a work week. Each night between dinner & Worship, we had about an hour... husband & son took showers & naps, so DIL & I decided to take a short drive...
   We drove to an old Ghost town nearby...
                                 St. Elmo

                                  There was absolutely no one around

And we came across Bruce....

        We followed him around town until it started to get dark... about 45 min. (we missed worship that night : )
   When we told some folks who live there, they did not believe us until we showed our proof... they said,  
    "Can't be, there are no moose near here"
    Well, we encountered the one lone Moose....
 who must have wandered his way down from Montana.... just to give us a thrill....
  
      Now I am off to a week of fancy schmancy dinners in Washington DC.... Where they say it will be HOT, HOT, HOT.... from 2 ft. of snow in Colorado.... : )

   

   

                                                                                  
                                

                                 

Old School.... New bag

                                           
                  It has been a while... a LONG while...
  My absence involves a new phone, a slick phone salesman, a new internet connection, getting the old connection back again....
   And a whole LOT of frustration along the way...

      Anyways... this past weekend, I planned & pulled off a great    
                           surprise Birthday party...

                   And for part of her gift from me, I made this....

From this

                                        Her Old Catholic school uniform skirt.
         
       A few months ago her Mom gave me a bag of wool, sweaters & clothing.  She was cleaning & pitching things & knew that I upcycle wool into mittens, purses etc. When I showed the Birthday girl the things her mom had given me, she said, "That is my old skirt from school"
     I loved the plaid & knew that I could do something fun with it.

                                                        

             
                                                                                    
      I had already gotten her a gift, I made the food, got all the prep things needed for the party & then the day before, I decided if I could quick 
          make the bag, it would be a fun gift for this occasion.
    I washed it, & ironed out the pleats & then went with the flow... not knowing how it would turn out until I was finished.... luckily I have a VERY large fabric stash & didn't need to run out for anything to finish it.
                 Took me just the morning from start to finish...

                       It was great fun when she opened it. 
                 Her family had flown in from all over &
                         they all remembered the uniform.

         I had also gotten her a rain coat from a recent trip to New York,
                          But the bag was the hit of the party.
                                  

                The party was great fun!!  Her husband asked me to do this,
                      & we pulled it off... She was surprised.... : )

(I was so busy, making sure that all was perfect, I didn't take any pics....: )
                                  

             
               Joining these Parties... Thanking these hostesses       
         - Sarah over @ Thrifty Decor chic for her Before & After Party
         - Susan over @ Between Naps on The Porch for Met Mondays
      - Pam over @ Becolorful for Motivated Monday
      - Cindy over @ Skip to My Lou for Made by you Monday    
                              
      - Stephanie over @ Under the Table & Dreaming for Sunday   
       Showcase                                           
        - Linda over @ Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
      - Judy over @ DIY By Design for Swing into Spring   
                                          

                               
              

Upholstery job.... DONE & DELIVERED !!!!!!!!

                 This job kicked my back side to the curb & back again.....

                            The Before.... there was 2 of them
                                         with the ottoman

                                                   
                             She said that she was in no hurry....
                                        They were just starting the remodel job.....
                             It would be more than a few months.....

                                       yea.... no kidding.....
                                   It took me that long.........
             
                            I started last fall & took them apart        
                        
                Then the mitten business took over my entire life
                Remember??  How I whined about it back over here
                         
                      So... after the Holidays, I got back to the job.....

                               She told me to be creative....  Do what I wanted....
            The fabric was reversible & she wanted me to use both sides.
                     & She did not want the skirts back on the chairs.
                          
                  BUT... BUT... BUT.... It all had to match..... AGH!!!
                   & then there was not quite enough fabric.... AGH!!!!
                             because of the repeat in the fabric
                   I did what I thought looked best & tried to match
      Thinking..."well, you would want the brown where your head rests"
                 "& brown near the floor, where dirt would gather"
                        "& brown where your hands would rest"
               SOoooo I just went with it, adding as I went along...
                 not sure what it would look like, until I was finished.
                                 Because that's how I roll.....

                        
                                           So, the seat cushions are reversible
                  Then I thought it was kind of boring, so I added the 4 in.
                             border, blue in front, brown in back.
                            So adding & subtracting as I went....
                          but because of no skirts, I had to hand sew
                 the border & welt on, there was nothing to nail it to....
                      again.... going with the flow, not planning it out
                                            ahead of time

                                             
              This set is going in her new 800 sq. ft. bedroom.
                               They will set by the fireplace.
                             So she wanted pillows for the bed

                                                
                            Did you read that?? 800 sq. ft.??
                                As big as our 1st house....  : )
                    SOooo I finish this job, I am taking pics to show you

                                  
                              And then to my GREAT HORROR!!!
              Do you see it??? The dumbest mistake I have EVER made.....
                     I had sewn welting in the seams on the back of
                                one chair & not the other  
                                 How ever did I do that???     
              I guess, when you go with the flow & add here & there
                            And you are rushing.... AGH!!!!    
                 So now what to do???  It would mean taking the
                           whole chair apart again... OH NO!!!!
                       I seriously thought about glueing it on ....   :) 
                        (would she notice?? If I left as is?? :)
                So after some careful consideration & thought...
                                 I hand stitched it on.

     
                                             I delivered them a few days ago
                                  And she was very pleased

                   And just the day before I delivered them, I couldn't    
                 leave well enough alone & quickly made a few throw
                                    pillows for the chairs    

                                                    

                                                    
                 I am not by any means a professional upholsterer...
        And I have done jobs like this before..... For myself... :)            
                          BUT this one just about did me in.
       Did you see how many miles & miles of welting there is on these? :)
              You really could not pay me enough to do this one again
                   (she is a friend or I would have had to charge as
                          much as she spent on the remodel :)            

                                                    

                                                 BUT
                               I have another chair sitting here,
                                      for someone else
                                     waiting to be done...
                                 (with no matching AT ALL :)

            Linking up to
          -Pam over @ Becolorful, for Motivated Monday
          -Susan for Met Mondays @ Between Naps on The Porch
          -Debbie's @ Debbie's Blogging & Blabbing for her Newbie Party
          -Skip to My Lou for Made by you Monday
          -Judy over @ Diy By Design for Swing into Spring 
          -Jen over @ The Thrifty Home for her Penny Pinching Party
          -Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday
          -Linda @ Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
          -Traci @ Beneath My Heart for Best DIY Projects of March