It’s Just Me!

 

It’s just me!  Poking my head out….letting you know I am still around!  I had a very nice holiday…very busy and fun, but then my husband and I got sick the week between Christmas and New Years.  We didn’t get the “sick take to bed” kind, but just enough of a head cold to make you miserable for a few days.  On New Years weekend I cracked a tooth, near the nerve(crunching away on a tortilla chip) a perfectly good tooth or a “virgin tooth” as my dentist called it.  Could not get in until the Tuesday after New Years because of the holiday and then I got the bad news.  Because it is not fixable…….grrrrr….(expensive) and because it is near the front of my mouth and you can see it when I smile I  had to have an impression made and now have to wait to have it pulled so my temporary won’t be ready until next week.  So, I get my tooth pulled and my temporary bridge “installed” on the same day.  I have been on a boatload of antibiotics, and I can’t chew on one side of my mouth and when I do it has to be very soft. (very painful) So much fun!  In the meantime, I have been just hanging out and working on some knitting I started last year.

 

 

Here is a scarf I just finished today……

 

 

 

 

It’s so soft!  Made from bamboo yarn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few years ago I “relearned” how to knit and I have been chipping away at it a little bit at a time.  It passes the time , keeps my hands busy and my mind off of my tooth.  I’ve also been doing a little bit of work and gathering ideas on my dollhouse.  I’ve also been organizing, a little cleaning and taking it easy.  Exciting , huh?  So that’s how 2012 is going for me , thus far!  Hope it is going well for you! See you all soon!

 

 

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Patti

Holiday Decorating

 

 

Welcome to my house for the holiday!  Please take a little tour of my holiday decorating!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to stir my hot chocolate with a peppermint stick!  Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I am just about ready for the holidays….time to sit back and relax and enjoy the season! 

 

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and a Happy and Healthy New Year too!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Patti

Dollhouse Is Ready for the Holidays!

 

 

 

 

Now that I have the inside of my real home decorated, I brought the dollhouse upstairs and placed it next to the fireplace.  Don’t worry, no roaring fires, just some candles occasionally behind glass doors.  As you can see, I have made  a few exterior changes to the outside.  I put fresh paint all over,including trim and I whitewashed the brick.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the greenery is wrapped and the red bows are hung and the lights are up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right now I have the inside decorated and lighted tree up on the 2nd floor in front of the big window.  In person, it is easier to see the lights on it instead of the bay window downstairs.

 

 

 

 

 

The front door looks pretty inviting to come in and maybe there is a roaring fire and a cozy place to sit and have some hot chocolate.  Unfortunately, I  am not to that place yet but hopefully after the first of the year I will be starting on inside details like the wallpaper, trims, furniture and getting a little shabby chic, french cottage look.  Right now I am still in the preholiday mode, shopping, baking, wrapping and getting ready for the big day.  Holiday decorating pics of my real house to follow soon!

 

 

 

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Patti

My Dollhouse

 

 

I made this dollhouse almost 20 years ago.  It came from a kit and for the most part I built every stick of it except for a few fancy cuts by my husband.  It took a couple of years…on and off.  It really was a labor of love!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seafoam green on the outside walls were painted before it was put together.  The outside brick was some kind of powdered mixture that was stirred up and then applied with a stencil.   I eventually bought a kit and had it electrified so all the little outside lights and inside lights would be able to be lit and look like a real house.  I bought furniture for it and also some Christmas decorations, and displayed it for the holidays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a few years, life events picked up.  My parents needed to be taken care of and at the same time grandchildren started to arrive……don’t they call that “the sandwich generation”…but in my case it was more like a “club sandwich”.  There were 4 generations going on at once and I was right in the middle.  The dollhouse took a back seat, and put in the basement for a number of years.  The granddaughters discovered it when they got to be a certain age and I let them play with it.  I would walk by it on my way to do laundry and notice it was still standing.  I had long ago put away the expensive little items I had bought for it and knew that it was safe from little hands.  Then one day recently I noticed a few blogs showing their dollhouses and it started to get me interested in my own again….”hey, I have one of those”…..so I carried it upstairs under good light and noticed that it was not in too bad of shape after all these years.  A few broken things…nothing that couldn’t be fixed …a little bit of crayon scribblings on the wall…that could be painted over.  A little bit of mildew, but nothing a good cleaning and a bit of paint couldn’t fix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside never really got finished but I plan to remedy that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually this really could be the fun part!  I am looking forward to the planning and process!  I will keep you updated from time to time and let you see my process!  This could become “Mon Petite Crystal Rose Cottage”………eventually!

 

 

Patti

The End of the Rainbow?

 

 

 

While driving home on Saturday from Columbus, we were headed down I-70.  The sun was shining but we started to see some clouds and then it was sprinkling.  The sky was blue but all of sudden we could see just a slight rainbow on the horizon ahead of us.  As we drove closer it was getting larger and taller.

 

 

 

 

This wasn’t a full rainbow….the sky was very blue above the clouds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, there is another slight rainbow just to the right of the other one….but I have never seen the bottom of a rainbow that close and that vibrant!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See how the bottom of the rainbow just seems to dive into the ground?  I wish I had been able to capture a photo as we moved passed that bush, but I was looking at it with my own eyes and not though a lens and was kind of awestruck of how golden it “glowed.”  Then, suddenly it was gone….. All of this was taken with my Iphone…not the best quality and we were driving 65mph and I was trying to snap between wiper swipes!

 

 

Hope everyone has a fun Halloween…looks like it could be a dark, dreary and drizzly day here….

 

 

Patti

Rural Society Antiques and Apple Butter Stirrin Festival and Wild Animals on the Run!

 

 

Excitement from my part of the world!  Some of you may have heard about the wild animals loose in Ohio on the national news this morning.  We live about 5 miles from the farm where it happened and we are staying in side until they have assessed the situation.  Now that it is daylight, hopefully they will be able to get any of the more dangerous animals that are still on the run.  They are all carnivores and a cheetah can run pretty fast and they could be hungry.  I am looking out the windows frequently and not letting my little Chihuahuas outside or myself for that matter!

 

Saturday we had a wonderful Fall day and started out at the Rural Antique Society show in Mt Vernon, Ohio.

 

 

 

This pic was taken from the car as we were pulling up the gravel road to the farm.

 

 

I didn’t get a lot of pics of the actual show and farm but I did run into a couple of Ohio blogger friends!  This is Debby from Cozy Blanket and we were comparing notes on what we were buying and what not to miss!  See that big tole painted tray I am holding?  That is one of 2 items that I bought.  Great price on this tray too!  I want to hang it on the wall….anyone have any ideas on the best way to do this?  I would like the flat of the tray to be flat to the wall.  What about those adhesive thingies with the hooks???  I have never used one of those before and don’t know their strength and reliability.  (I don’t know why my shoes are glowing??)

 

 

This is Pam from Frippery who was a vendor at the show.  (I am sorry Pam but for some reason I could not insert the hyperlink to your blog here).  We just met that day and she and her husband are so nice!  I bought one more thing that is in the bag I am holding but I will show that in another post.

 

After we  left the antique show we headed on down to Coshocton, Ohio and to the “Apple Butter Stirrin Festival.”  We always try to get to this fall event every year.  It is at the historic village of Roscoe Village and is a restored canal town.  It is full of speciality shops and some restaurants and historic buildings.

 

 

 

 

It was a super windy day but seeing the colorful fall leaf colors swirling around made it all the more beautiful!  I got a bag of kettle corn and the hubby and I walked around and enjoyed the sights and smells and music!

 

 

Love to hear the crunch of leaves under my feet this time of year!

 

 

 

 

Lots of crafts and people watching!

 

 

 

That’s a replica of an old canal boat…at least I think it is a replica.(could be the real deal).that is sitting up on the hill above that white tent.  I love my genealogy and found out that my great grandfather had a canal boat back in the 1800’s and his family would entertain people along stops in southern Ohio.  “The Hunter Family Band”…they all played instruments!  I apparently didn’t inherit that gene….I love to listen to music but can’t read it or play a musical instrument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could have taken more photos but I didn’t bring my camera and all pics were taken with my IPhone.  I am glad I got out for these dwindling days of Fall colors and enjoyed myself.  In the meantime, it is a soggy, chilly day here and we are on wild animal watch!

 

 

  Patti

Harp Table Redone

 

 

 

Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely Fall weather we are having!  Where I live the leaf colors are just now coming alive!  I want to show another piece of furniture that I got done recently.  I just moved it indoors today.  Here is the before photo:

 

 

 

As you can see, it had a lot of water damage on the top surface.  I sanded and sanded an when I painted with the Old White Chalk paint it still bled through so I had to wax and then apply another layer of paint.  That seemed to do the trick but it is just slightly noticeable.  Here are the results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My husband wants to find a piece of glass to go on top…..

 

Another little table I picked up around the same time got a makeover too.  Here is it’s before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one needed some major structural work done it.  Hubby had to take it apart and glue and nail it back together.  Here it is finished:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did this one in Paris Gray with Old White dry brushed on top.  I feel like I painted most of this past summer!  I still have 2 more tables to do out in the garage but it is not going to get done this year.  Now that we are into Fall my mind is turning more toward sewing and attempting those slipcovers I keep thinking about.  One last picture…..I wanted you to see my Fall mantle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think I will make myself a cup of tea and contemplate the rest of the day.  Have a good one!

 

 

Patti