I Love This Idea!

I saw this picture on Facebook today and I love it.  I've had hens and chickens planted in old shoes for a long time but have never thought of using a rubber boot.  Wouldn't it be fun to use one of the bright colored boots or maybe even polka dots?

My mission will be to find some boots a the flea market or a yard sale soon so I can get busy on this project.  There's only about three weeks left until spring and I'm looking forward to planting flowers and putting Miss Lily back  in the garden.

Bella La Vita Inn

 My daughter and a friend recently had a wonderful stay at the lovely Bella La Vita Inn in southwest Virginia.  The inn is located in Floyd, VA, very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

I love the picture below that she took of a cat door with a stuffed opossum coming through! 

They enjoyed getting to know the couple who owns the inn and Redmond, one of the fur hosts.

Antique Sugar Shaker Tassels

I recently saw in a craft book, tassels made with salt and pepper shakers or sugar shakers.  I found these shakers at an antique mall last week and thought they were so pretty.  I love lily-of-the-valley and I thought the antique button was just the right embellishment.

I used a vintage earring to decorate this one.

These will go in my Etsy shop soon.

I'm Looking For More Rabbits!

We're getting closer to spring and Easter and I'm hoping to find more of these old world rabbits. I found these two at different thrift stores about a year ago.   A friend  recently told me that they originally came from Big Lots!  Each one is about 17 inches tall and is ceramic.    Fitz and Floyd has a collection that is called "Old World Rabbits" that are similar.

I'd love to find the lady rabbit that was sold with these.

Hoping to have 3 rabbits!

Snow Fun!

We had our first significant snowfall in our area last night and it was so beautiful!  The accumulation  was  three or four inches which is melting quickly because of the above freezing temperatures.

My granddaughters built this adorable snowlady today!  Quite creative, huh?  They sure didn't have much snow to work with. 

Kristen is sunbathing with her new friend!

This afternoon I went to see The Vow with my daughter and granddaughters. We all loved it!  It's a very sweet love story based on a true story.  I saw the actual couple on the Today Show last week.

A Great Weekend!

Good morning to you!

This weekend has flown by for me!   Friday I rode to Appomattox, VA, with a friend to take a feral kitty. The kitty had been trapped, spayed and given her shots and now she'll live on a beautiful 48 acre farm and always have food and shelter.

Most of Saturday was spent going to estate sales and  I didn't find any treasures worth mentioning.  Saturday night I babysat for my friends' children.  They have one adopted daughter (12) and an adopted son (10)  These two children are biological siblings and were born in Russia.  I've know them since they were babies and I adore them!

Today I'm going to brunch with my two beautiful daughters and then come home and watch it snow.  This is our first significant snowfall of the season and everyone is excited!  The corgi girls will be happy.  They love snow!

I hope you're having a good weekend too!

Cracker Jacks and Mary Janes

Do any of you remember when Cracker Jack boxes looked like this?  I was at the Cracker Barrell last week and spied this box.  It was like seeing an old friend.  I picked up a package of Neccos (I loved the chocolate ones), some Mary Janes and a pack of Clove gum.

When I was about seven or eight, I took swimming lessons.  I had to meet a school bus at out local service station and ride about 10 miles to the Potomac River.  (There were no pools in my area in those days).  Before loading the bus, everyone would by a bag of "penny" candy for the ride.  Most of the time, I had a quarter and would buy those little wax bottles with sugary syrup inside, Squirrel Nuts, Mary Janes, etc.  Oh, I almost forgot candy cigarettes.  I hope I saved all these treats for the ride home, but if I didn't, that explains why I can't swim very well to this day!

A Beautiful Day!

Even though I had a hard time getting up this morning, I'm excited about this beautiful day and getting outside to work in my yard.  It's time to prune my crepe myrtle and get some leaves out of my flower beds.

The corgi girls will  get in the way help me.  Arabelle will  stand beside me with her frisbee in her mouth and sad eyes until I throw it.  Heidi gets excited when she sees Arabelle with the frisbee and starts pulling up grass or flowers around her.  Hanna will be walking around like a princess because she doesn't like to get dirty.  Once in a while she might assist in digging a hole if there's a mole or vole around.  It's not a Tasha Tudor kind of scene, for sure.  Her corgis always looked like garden statues.

Fresh air and sunshine always make you rest better.  I hope your day is beautiful too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

To all my wonderful blogging friends, old and new, I hope this is a day filled with love and sunshine for you.

Sending lots of hugs and corgi kisses your way!

Whitney

In 1987, I took my daughters (10 and 13) to see Whitney Houston in concert.  She was 23 and so stunningly beautiful.  Her big hit at that time was All At Once and I still remember having chills when she hit the high notes.  Kenny G was the opening act for the concert.

I'm sorry for all the sadness she endured later in her life and sad that we lost her so early.  There will never be another voice like hers.

Whitney  recently finished the movie, Sparkle, in which she plays Jordin Spark's mother.  Jordin was the winner on American Idol a few years back.   I saw Jordin recently on one of the late night shows and she talked about what an unbelievable experience it was to work with Whitney.  The movie will be released in August. 

Spring!

Our local weather forecast calls for chilling temperatures and maybe even some snow this weekend.  It's less than six weeks until the first day of spring so I guess it's time for winter if we're going to have one.

Today I found this picture on a Pinterest board. This door decoration is beautiful and would be so easy to make.  I'm going to be checking around this weekend to see what I already have that I can use and what I'll need to buy.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Giveaway Winner

The winner of my recent giveaway is Deb from Garage Sale Gal blog.  I hope she'll like this hand towel with the embroidered Jack Russell that I made for her.  He looks very much like her dog, Jackson Brown.  Cute name, huh?  I also made her a key fob in cheerful spring colors.  The heart shaped container has rose petal soap inside and  there's a surprise in the envelope too!

Thanks for following my blog, Deb! 

Arabelle's Trip To The Groomer!

Well, I'll try to make this long story short.  I left Arabelle at the groomers around 9 a.m. and the groomer (Annie) asked me to pick her up at 1:00.  It was like leaving my child at the babysitter's the first day.  I was a wreck!  I worried about her all morning.  I was there to pick her up at 12:45 and anxiously waited for 1:00.  The door was locked to the shop because the owner was the only one working and she was in the back of the building.  She has a darling retail shop in the front and I guess she was afraid of someone coming off the street and stealing merchandise while she was grooming.  I waited and waited and around 1:30 I started to panic.  I kept thinking that maybe she left and I wouldn't be able to get Arabelle.  You all know by now that I'm crazy about my corgi girls and very protective.  I keep thinking about my baby being in there scared and tears starting falling.  At about 1:45, Annie and Arabelle came from the grooming area both smiling.  Arabelle looked like she was saying "Hi mom, what are you doing here?" Annie said "Didn't you get my message"?  She left a message on my home phone that she wouldn't be ready at 1:00 and I didn't go home.

The end of the story is Annie did a beautiful job  and got all the loose undercoat off Arabelle, which I've never been able to do. Tonight my granddaughter took this sweet picture of her.  She is exhausted and I am too!

Happy 60th Birthday!

My BFF is celebrating her 60th birthday today!  I'm meeting her this morning for breakfast to celebrate!

I'm  dropping Arabelle (the fluff) off to be groomed also.  She's almost five and I've always groomed her myself. She doesn't like to be brushed so I'm a bit anxious about how she's going to behave.  For about a week I've had painful muscle spasms in my neck so I just can't bathe her now.  I'm slowly getting better.  This ailment creeps up on me  every few years.  Just another "old age" curse, I guess.

I'll give you a full report on the trip to the groomers and announce the winner of my latest giveaway tomorrow.

400th Post Giveaway!

It's time for a  giveaway!  I've decided it would be fun to customize the gift for the person who is the winner.  I promise you'll love it! To be eligible, you have to leave a comment on this post and follow my blog.  I'll choose a winner on February 7.

Have a great weekend and hope to hear from you!

Hanover Tavern

Hanover Tavern, Hanover Courthouse, VA

This couldn't have been a more perfect day!  My cousin's wife who lives about two hours from me came for a visit.  We started our day with a trip to Hobby Lobby and then had a delicious lunch at historic Hanover Tavern which was built in the 18th century.  After lunch we stopped at a few antique shops and then it was time for her to drive home.   At our age, we always want to get home "before it gets dark".  Oh, I forgot to mention that it was sunny and 70 degrees!  Beautiful!