My Recent Finds

I needed a larger purse and was happy to find this one for $2.00

A pretty serving plate, $1.00

Two wooden candle holders that sit on my bookcase, $2.00.

A pair of crystal pitchers for $5.00

A pair of sconces with candelabras, $5.00

One of my favorite finds is this elephant made out of leather, $3.00.

Getting Away

Last week, my sweet husband surprised me with a night away at a little cottage about an hour away from home.  He told me before bed to have a bag packed and ready to go the next morning.  So, the next morning I packed, made some bread, cleaned the house, did some laundry and finished up a curtain project for my daughter-in-law all by late morning!  So much for "spur of the moment" and easy get away.  Moms can't just pack up and leave without lots of preparation, even if most of the five at home are grown.  I had to take a picture of my packing versus my husbands, quite funny.  

His (I kid you, not!)

Mine (A girl needs her stuff!)

Relaxing by the stream.

The happy couple.

We had a relaxing time, we were in a town of 400 posted as it's population, so it didn't have much to offer in the way of entertainment.  It was a time of being together, sitting by the little stream that ran by our cottage and catching up on some reading.  It was nice, we both agreed two nights away would have been better, but thankful for the time we had together.

A Small Project

We have four of these fans hanging from our living room ceiling.  We have lived in our home for 21 years and I can't remember not having them so they are old, but still running without a problem.   After redecorating the upstairs this past spring they really started to bug me.  They were outdated and didn't match the decor or flow of the room.  I knew to replace them was probably going to be about $75 to $100 dollars a fan so the decision was to redo instead of replace. These fans are running daily all summer long and are a must in our large living room with it's large windows covering the front of our home.  They help keep the room bearable as all the windows bring in the heat.  Chuck agreed to tackle the project, which meant taking down each one, cleaning accumulated dust of 20 plus years from the insides with his air compressor, then applying two coats of spray paint to the blades and base of the fan.  The first coat was a dark brown, and then the second coat was Rust-Oleum American Accents Stone which gives a unique textured finish.  I'm pleased with the results and the fans add  to the room instead of detracting.

This is the blade of the fan after the second coat of the textured paint. 

`            They are all up and running, again, and I love the new look.

A Nice Long Weekend

It was so nice to have a four day weekend.  We got together with family, did some work around the house and then by Monday, we decided to get the bike out and go for our first bike ride of the season.  We're a little late, but have been busy and the weather has been more rainy than usual.  The weather was wonderful and so we went for a long ride and found a walking path along the river that was shady and peaceful.  So, it turned into a bike/walk ride.  It was nice to be alone with Chuck and to be out amongst nature.  We have a greenbelt that runs throughout the city where we can bike, walk, or jog.  A large portion of it is along the river which is so pretty and home to many birds and wildlife.  On this walk we saw some swans and geese.  We also got into some interesting conversation with an older couple who told us they had lived on a sailboat for many years.  What an adventurous lifestyle that would be!  We shared with them about raising a large family which was our adventure and then we parted ways richer for our conversation.  We arrived home, refreshed, a little tired and looking forward to our next bike ride.