LOVE to Create...

    I Love to create... Love DIY....
               I love texture & color...
 
          There are few things I like better than
     to see a piece of fabric & know exactly what
                    I will do with it.

     I love to repurpose a piece of furniture...
   There are SOooo, so many projects in my head

         So being the bad blogger that I am,
  I keep waiting for something to dazzle you with...


          But.... this is what I have been up to
                                    

                                      
                    Does anybody care??   : )
                     Nothing fabulous....
  Just stuff that needs to be done at the Cottage
                     to make it liveable
                  
                   A four day weekend....
            1 coat of primer, 3 coats of paint
                       Doors are done....
           Another coat of paint in a bedroom...
      Filled in a MILLION nail holes & a final coat
                 of paint on the crown molding
                   
               While the guys did a LOT of this..

                                       
                    To catch some of these...

                   
         (well, this one got thrown back.... out
     of season & not very tasty, I am told :) 
                         
                    So doors are done.....
                Another bedroom D.O.N.E.
                     

The plastic is now removed & they look great

I was just TOO pooped to take the pic..... :)

                                     
                   

MIA once again... (or just neglecting this old blog thing )

                  With some fairly good reason

                                      
                   "Sometimes", said Pooh
                "The smallest things take up
               the biggest place in your heart"

 This sweet thing is not yet 2 weeks old & he has replaced just about everything that I once thought  
                        was important.    : )
                 Our very 1st grandchild....
    & everyone was  right, there is nothing like it.

                             
                A sweet pic of my parents...
                 Now great-grandparents   
                

                     And there was a few weeks
             in the sun before Baby S. arrived....
        (so nice to get warm & stay warm for a bit )
                                       

                     (view from our bedroom deck @ SIL's place....
                                                 nice huh? : )                        

        And I will leave you with something little
            I have  been working on in between

                                 Before....
              Remember ??  your grandmother's
                                 dining set      

                                  
                                 After
            I'll show you the entire set, soon...               
                 

Where in the World??? (have I been?? : )

Oh MY... It has been a LONG time since I posted...                                                
                       You Know... LIFE....
                

                My last post I said that a Baby was coming...

                    well that will happen in just a few weeks..
                            & we are getting excited.  
                                                 

   This past May we put an offer in on a lake house... & what a LONG summer of waiting...It was a re-po & what a LOT of hoops to jump thru & paperwork to finally take possesion, just before Labor day.

      
                                          And Boy was it a M.E.S.S.

                                
        (pic taken as we had started to take off light blue wallpaper off dark, dark paneling )

                    
                Did NOT know how much work this was going to be......
                But it is coming together......

              Getting there.... It now has white crown molding & floor moldings, new carpet & furniture.... pics soon....     
                             
          We have just started staying there...  (We have another place, just a few miles away, so we would work all day & then go back to the other place at night.... It is much nicer being all at one place, while working )
   
   It has 2 floors, each with a kitchen, living room, bedrooms & baths... The top floor is almost completely done & I will be sharing before & afters, soon....
          SOooo that is what I have been doing instead of blogging... : )
     
                   And there was a fair amount of travel.....
            There was a week at Mackinac Island, here in Michigan

                           
                            Another week in Upper Michigan.... 
        giving the Michigan tour to husband's business associates  

                                      Part of Sleeping Bear dunes....
  Yes, voted the most Beautiful place in the US by Good Morning America 

                                Then a trip to Colorado

                   Youngest son & DIL @ Rocky Mountain National park
                 
                 Then the Holidays happened & I did a lot of these again
                                                 

                                                                        

                                                       

                                                   

                                       And some of these

                                                    

                                            +++  The Holidays....

                       SOOooooo.... that is what I have been up to....

                        I have been keeping up with reading blogs,

                          just did not take the time to post myself

      Some of you have even written, asking where I have been & what I

      have been up to....Thanks for asking, It is nice to be missed.

                 

                      

      

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