More Magagzine Pictures

Here are a couple of shots

of the dining room.

This is the Family Room

I hope you found a copy of the Romantic Country Magazine. I hope to have them for my sale the first weekend in November and then again the first weekend in December, when I have my Open House and Christmas Sale.

If you could see my house now I'm sure you would say, she'll never be ready in 2 short months. We are trying to finish the upstairs. When we moved in 12 years ago I immediately started ripping the ugly paneling off the walls. I found even more hideous walls that needed repaired and that's why a short 12 years later we are putting up the drywall, then of course the taping texturing and painting to follow. You just have to love an old house...

I hope you aren't thinking that this year there will be a tour of the upstairs. Maybe sometime but I know how my carpenter/husband works and that just won't happen... I'm just hoping to get it done in the next 12 years!!!

I have a habit of starting lots of projects and sometimes it can take several false starts before I get to the end. Now is the time to finish this project. I'm sure you know that one thing leads to another and now I'm into cleaning out all kinds of closets and years worth of 'treasures'. Most of the treasures are from three big boys that have since moved out and then back in and in various stages of both. It is hard to know what is worth keeping but I'm trying to be merciless... I am however finding it easier to throw out other peoples things than my own...

Have I mentioned before that life gets in the way of progress. This week was another, full of life's happenings...

I had a full day Monday, helping a friend and going for supplies for a dinner I was organizing for 600 later in the week. Tuesday I filled in at an auction that I attend whenever I can. That evening I helped my friend Gail with her Ladies Night event at her store 'Panache, by Yours Truly'. Wednesday I made a quick trip to Eugene to take my mom to the doctor. That worked well since I could go by Costco in Albany on the way back and pick up more supplies for the dinner and run them to Sublimity to put in a freezer. Thursday was the BUSY day, I started working on the dinner at 4am and finished about 9pm... Friday I had a play day I helped my friend Lisa redecorate her living room (A Thing for Roses). On the way home I stopped at Goodwill in Woodburn and strolled through the aisles until they closed.

The reason I had some much time to myself was that Sam and Dave were out of town for a couple of days attending a funeral. I would have normally gone with them , but I had the commitment for the dinner.

When we first moved here I was constantly surprised. Whenever I would drive up to the house after being gone, I would be shocked by what the house actually looked like. In my mind it was lovely, fresh paint, picket fence, manicured lawn and in reality it was far from it...

We really have made lots of changes and progress but I get impatient and ready for this to be done so we can do something else. I have lots of ideas and I'm sure Dave knows that so really, what's the rush?

What I Love about my Home

I wanted to be part of Karla's party today. It is almost 11pm and I am just getting started on my entry. If you haven't a clue what I am talking about check out http://www.karlascottage.typepad.com/ she is having an event that links people who enjoy their homes to each other.

I keep forgetting to mention that I am in the new issue of Romantic Country. It was suppose to come out tomorrow, September 26th. My friend Lisa told me that she read in Karla's Blog that she(Karla) was also in the same issue.. what a small web we live in.. :) I am getting 30 copies of the magazine they are to be here soon I hope, Lisa said she found it at the store today??

I'm still not sure what pictures they used. The photo shoot was from 2 Christmas's ago so it kinda looks like yesterday's news to me, since a LOT can change in 2 years. Actually a LOT can change in 2 weeks! However it is fun to see the pictures, especially professional ones of your home.

When I first saw the proofs I thought oh my gosh this looks amazing... It must be the lighting?? I do love my home. It is somewhat like a revolving door, lots of new (old) treasures in, lots of old treasures out. I am very fortunate to have a business that allows me to enjoy my inventory until I sell it.

Dave (my husband) and I bought this house, which was built in the early 1920's in the summer of 1995. We were married that year on the 4th of July!! I figured we would have it all done (including the landscaping) by Christmas... I was sooo wrong!! After 12 years and many, many thousands of dollars we are not even close to finished. I like to call it a work in progress.. I wish we could make more progress and less work, but as I often say, life gets in the way of progress.. So I guess That's Life!!

It is encouraging to look back at the first pictures and see that we have indeed made a lot of changes.

It sounds corny but what I love most about my home is the family and friends that frequent it!! I love to have people over, I especially like them to come the first time when I am expecting them so I can "tidy up" after that, come anytime the door is always open!

I'm showing a few shots that I have on file because I need to get to bed!!

My favorite things are constantly changing. I love, love, love the corner cabinet in the living room, it is old chippy paint (pink and aqua) what could be better than that?? I love the braided rug in there as well. Some brown, gold, pink and aqua.. When I first bought the corner cabinet I thought it would fit in the dining room which was then the living room, but there was no corner in there that was big enough... That was an easy fix I simply moved the dining room and the living room around!!!












I have been collecting green and pink depression glass for several years. It doesn't matter to me if they have a little chip or crack. I don't care if they are old as long as they look like they are. I like to be able to use them and not worry.



One of the other things that I especially love in my house is the linens. I have quilts that are so precious to me. Some are old and very worn others are new and made by family and friends. I also have a "thing" about vintage floral table cloths and crotchet ones as well. It is fun to layer them..

Then of course I also like clocks and clock faces... Really I like lots and lots of things and I like to change them around. I try and stay with the same soft palate of soft green, pink and creamy white and a little aqua, that way things are easy to usein any room in the house.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!! It is after 1am so I didn't make the party at Karla's. I hope she is accepting latecomers!!

Change is Good!

If you read often you will know by now that a lot can happen in a day around here. And a whole lot can happen in several days, which it has been since my last post.

Well...
You remember that my computer hates me... Only 6 years old and a mind of his own..
I have been trying for 8 years to get a mailing list that is up to date and easy to use. It has been a BIG nightmare and I usually end up writing the addresses by hand and that is a bit tedious... To make a long and very sad not to mention emotional story short. I now have a new computer, I'm sure we will be the best of friends and all my computer dilemmas and woes are over...


I spent a couple of days trying to get the living room back in order. I also have been moving the office around with the changing of computers, it seemed like a good time to dust... and you know what that leads too. Here are some of the before and during pictures of the living room.




Sam was home while I was working and he came in during the "process" he said.. I need this picked up and put away. He mentioned several things, and then he said, I want it sparkly clean.. Your friends will be so proud!

Do you think he has heard something like that from me?? I don't remember saying his friends would be proud??





I still need to work on the top right hand corner of the mantle but I will get it sooner or later...


This is actually a small corner. It looks to me in the picture that it needs more, but in real life it is plenty full... did you notice that I have thing for white buttons..



Saturday I had wonderful time at my friend Gayle McDowell's daughter Megan's wedding.
It was a beautiful day in every way. Here are a few of the moments I captured.

I first met Gayle when she was pregnant with Megan. She is a lovely girl, actually I guess at 22 years old I should say woman... Is it really possible??? Where did all those years go??






I was so happy to help Gayle implement the ideas that she and Megan spent countless hours preparing.

The candy on the cork board with a gold frame (that belongs to Lisa "A thing for Roses") was a big hit. The candy was six different kinds of pink candy in celophane bags with a "M" for their last name stamped on the label.






Portland Golf Club was a beautiful setting so very little was needed for decoration.


Todd who is Megan's new husband works for Nike so there was significance in the shoes.

The mantle was pretty, Gayle and I both brought some treasures from home. Do you recognize the white buttons??


I will leave you with this a beautiful young bride..





and a six pack of dancing ladies...



>

My sister Toni offered me some dahlias this weekend.






There was a time a few years ago when I would have said no thanks. I would have had dahlias on my least favorite list of flowers.







Have they always had this many varieties or have they "come along"? I remember when people I knew had giant dahlias the size of plates or cars they were scary. They reminded me of monsters that have taken over the garden and if they came alive who knows what they would devour. Strange that I have always loved sunflowers but everyone knows they are suppose to be big and they are very friendly...


Now I want dahlias I especially love that they are late bloomers and have soooo many blooms. They have the most beautiful colors and shapes of any flower I can think of. I still don't like the giant ones but maybe I will someday. I would still have to say peonies are even better, but that might be because they are early and I am so ready for flowers...

I absolutely love cut flowers in the house, however the house needs to be clean and tidy. I like to think of it as icing on the cake... But seriously when there is stuff everywhere, who wants more even if they are pretty? Most of the things around my house are pretty, but it looks bad when it's in shambles..





So, this was the catalyst that it took to dust and rearrange the dining room. Not a quick procedure when you consider the places and things that dust gathers on in my dining room. And of course once I start playing with my "pretties" you can see what happens. I also have been considering the idea of getting a different dining room table. I want a long narrow one, a farm table you might call it. I like to try things out if I can because sometimes I think I want something really really bad and then I get it and yikes!!! It either looks hideous or it doesn't fit. So I moved in the picnic table from the deck, covered it with a couple of table cloths and put on the vase of dahlias. Naturally I couldn't stop with that, so I added a couple of plates and you can see where it all led..





What I really wanted to do was move in a long shelf from the shop. It is about 8 feet high and about 10 feet long. It is only about 12 inches deep and it is a beautiful shade of pink on the shelves and white on the sides. I measured the room and even with the hutch that is in there it would fit... I made the mistake of asking Dave if he thought it would look like I turned the house into a store? Naturally he said it would... do you think he remembers how hard it is to move???
Why did I ask?? Actually I remember how hard it is to move too, and I do think it would look like a store, otherwise I wouldn't have asked..



Here are some of the areas that got cleaned and moved around. I have lots of dishes and glassware. I try to stay with only pink and green. I love to mix them together and I also like them separately.








The platters on the shelf are the latest of what I "need" more. I have always loved platters, so I have lots of them. I think I will only keep ironstone with flowers, pink of course and those that have the raised design. I might have to keep a few others until I get all I "need". Someone was telling me that they use platters for plates to serve meals on... Well, I have also heard that you eat less on a smaller plate so I don't think eating on platters is a good idea for my family. If we make a change it will be to saucers...






















This is the hutch where I have been putting my pink dishes. It is nice to have them behind glass. It doesn't photograph as well but it does cut down on the dust.























Today I hope to finish the dining room and move on to the living room. I am looking for inspiration... I have been known to move the rooms around making the dining room the living room and vise a versa. I don't think that is on the schedule for today.

I am still working on getting my mailing list changed to a new program. I am sure you understand that is HUGE as I don't have a very good relationship with my computer... I thought this morning my camera was going to cause me fits, but it only needed new batteries..

The funniest thing about electronic gadgets and me... I am always the last person that wants one. It started with VCR's and cell phones. Computers, digital cameras, all those crazy things, no thanks I don't want or need one. Then finally I concede that it might be nice, make things easier... And of course I love them and want the pink camera phone, laptop, and DVD player for the car!! Why don't I just get them and learn to use them when everyone else does??

Thankfully I do have a few 'real' as opposed to imaginary friends that I would like you to meet. This is my friend Pam Middlestetter. She is wearing the apron that my cousins and I made for her. It is made entirely of new fabric as she prefers new to used...Wonder why?? She owns a store, Gibson Girl downtown Silverton. We both adore our families and only have boys. Pam and her husband Doug have two big boys Mike who lives in Portland and works for Nike and Matt who owns the computer store in Silverton. Matt and his wife Melanie recently had a new baby boy named Colton. Wonder what it would take to have a baby girl in the family sometime?? Mine or hers?? Actually we are both very happy with what we have, there are many advantages to raising boys, so many in fact that I will list them in a later post...

She has these really cute baby things in her store.



She has other sweet baby things as well but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them.

She and three other women are doing business in the recently renovated Wolff Building in Silverton. There is Silverton Flower Shoppe, The Pearl District a yarn store, and Not Your Mama's Coffee, you guessed it, a coffee shop. Just to see the renovation of the Wolff Building is itself worth the trip to Silverton. The hundred year old building was falling down and about a year ago was set to be demolished. At the last minute it was bought and totally restored, it is beautiful.

Here are a few more pictures of her store. She is probably the only person I spend much time with that doesn't love old crusty treasures. She prefers clean and sparkly. I would have to say she would even enjoy buying something new....As long as it was a bargain of course..




In some ways its great to have someone you can go with that wouldn't run you over to get the best ucky thing in the bin at Goodwill Outlet, well actually only Blummie has done that. You remember Blummie from the previous post? Pam on the other hand would gladly wait in the car while I get all the best treasures and pretend she was thrilled with my newest stinky find.











I'm not the only one who has a friend named Pam. My cousin Kay introduced me to her good friend Pam Hansen. She has a beautiful home in Madera, California where she, Kay and a few other women have started an organization that sends packages to any person in the military who they are given the name and address. The idea was to reach our soldiers and sailors that may not get much mail, but they are happy to send a care package to any one they have an address for. If you know of someone who could use a thank you or would like to contribute, please contact them at www.maderanchosag.org



If you click on any picture it will enlarge.




Here is a picture of the boxes that they fill. Pam stores these in her spare bedroom. I think she should get a big thank you for that. If it was in my spare bedroom, it could be lost forever... I also wanted you to see the floor in her house it is exposed aggregate. It is so cool I haven't seen it in a house in a long time and I really like it..





The last picture I had to show you is the quilt that Cousin Kay made for her she's not only a great cousin but a great friend as well..

A Week of Big Fun!!

I'm sure you must think, why can't people post on a regular basis?

How hard could it possibly be??

It isn't so hard as time consuming and all the

stars have to line up perfectly for it to work ( I mean the computer). Well,

TODAY IS THE DAY


I'm ready to give it a go!

Saturday was the Albany Antiques in the Streets Show.


These are some pictures from Albany, many of the items have gone to new homes. The aprons were a big hit.

This is a picture of Leslie-Ann wearing her new purchase.

The weather was wonderful, a little on the warm side but that is much preferred to rain!!








I met lots of nice people and many of them were my "neighbors". I did get a picture of Diane. She had her booth next to mine.







I always intend to do more shopping while I am a show. It takes me forever, it seems to get my things organized and then people start coming and next thing I know I'm packing up to go home...



Sunday was lots of fun as well. I met my friends Martha, of Vintage Trifles and Cindy ,of Tarte (no she's not) in Coburg. It is about 45 minutes South of Albany.
Dave Sam and I were there just a few minutes before 4am. Did you know I am a morning person??

We had a great location at the Coburg Antique Sale. They put "crafters" in a new spot all together. We were on a corner across from the park. This show is always the Sunday after Labor Day.

Cindy and I did take a few minutes in the afternoon to walk around and see what was left. We were busy in our booth the whole time. We actually had three booths all in a row.














Here you can see Dave doing his favorite part. Unloading the trailer. It's a good thing he is a morning person too. He on the other hand needs to be a evening person as well, since he also gets to load the trailer and drive us home. While I on the other hand, am done, done, done and sleep very prettily as you might imagine the whole way home...






















The following day was Sam's first day of Kindergarten. I have never seen anyone as excited, when the bus finally got to the end of our driveway he was literally jumping up and down. When it stopped he clapped his hands. Some might say it is a good thing he is going to school since he has spent a little too much time with his mom and has a few of her "quirks"..






I did kind of hate for it all to begin the 13 years of school, just to get to college... Even though all kids are different I have been down this path three times already, and I know that the time you get to yourself while they are at school doesn't come without a price... homework, schedules, not to mention all the big boy behavior that comes from peers... My sister laughs because he has the personality of a 50 year old woman in a 6 year old boy.. I know its not natural, but he is so sweet! He also has imaginary friends, that will probably be replaced with real ones..no doubt he will blame his bad behavior on them now instead of Pusher and Guester his makebelive buddies.. I guess we all grow up. My playmate was Blummy. Wonder what he's doing these days, now that the boys are gone I might need someone to talk to ??




My cousins Kay and Judy were here Monday afternoon. They had brought my Aunt Jean to my mom's house in Junction City and then came to visit. We had lots of fun. We shopped and sewed. They left this morning to head back to Central California.

My mom said that she and her sister had a wonderful visit. What is more precious than family???

What's for lunch?

Dusty made this sandwich for himself the other day. He said "Mom look at this it is the ultimate sandwich!" I wanted to take his picture with it but he declined.





So here is a picture of him earlier this summer with his brother Sam. The ultimate big brother little brother.. I have loved having him home. He actually lives in Sublimity and we see him often. He just completed 5 years in the Navy and will start college in a couple of weeks.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

We had a beautiful Labor Day Weekend on the Oregon Coast. We had a great time with our hosts the Goossen's and our friends the Gibb's, both couples are from Oregon City. The picture above is the dock at Newport taken from the window of our living room.





The weather was perfect unlike I have ever experienced at the Oregon Coast. I thought I must be in Hawaii, that is until I had my feet in the water.... Oh my goodness is that ever COLD!! Sam had a great time in the waves. I kept saying not too far... I did not want to go running in after him. BRRRR!! Do children not feel cold?? His feet were freezing but he didn't seem to mind.


Dave and Sam had a great time flying the kite. It was fun to watch. The kite would go to the ground and Sam would hold it high (about 4 feet) then let it go, run back to Dave and grab the strings. The kite would go to the ground in a minute and off Sam would go again... After awhile Dave would hold up the kite (about 8 feet with his long arms) let it go run back to Sam and help him keep it in the air. What fun!!






This is a picture finally, of my treasure from the Oregon City Antique Faire. I love it and I will keep it for my own forever and ever, okay I will keep it for a very long time.. I want to use it in my office, for papers and other messy things or in the bathroom for the hundred things that cover the counter. The problem is once it is in there I might forget I have it... Oh well I'll make it work.


/



This other "Shoe Bag" I bought new at the Seattle Gift Show. I was planning to use it for what I will now use the other one. Thankfully I have lots of walls and if you've been to my house or shop you KNOW that I have lots of "treasures" that I can store in these wonderful organizers. I can rationalize keeping both. It is funny how you look forever to find something, at the right price of course, and then you find several all at once...





Here are some pictures from my living room. I'm getting ready to clean house, so that means when I dust it will get moved around. I have enjoyed it this way so I have hesitated to clean house...






On second thought maybe I will wait awhile to dust...