Swap Goodies!

I participated in a swap with Lecia and Brenda. I do believe I got the better end of the deal.

Here is what I received from Lecia, a beautiful bonnet! It looks great against the mustard yellow color of my dining room, but as soon as I get a peg rack up in my bedroom it's going in there because this shelf is not doing it justice. The walls are tan and it will truly stand out in the bedroom I think.

And look at this adorable sheep from Brenda! The tag and rusty bells are a few of my favorite things about this sheep, not to mention I just love sheep. He has found a home on my dining room table.

Thanks girls! I absolutely love my gifts!

Sickness, sadness, and lessons learned

What a week! Last week my kiddo was home sick from school all week. I picked up his homework, which he wasn't thrilled about, and he did it like a trooper and finally started feeling better Friday evening. That's convenient. : ) 

Since kiddo was feeling better, we headed out to visit a family friend who was admitted into a hospice center Friday. She was my husband's grandfather's "girlfriend." They met at their town's senior center. After my hubby's grandfather passed away, his family kind of adopted Lucy as she had no family of her own left. She came to all family events and holidays. She had MS and long-standing back pain from a surgery many, many years ago, but I never heard her complain. We visited her on Saturday and she was not the Lucy I remembered. Cancer had struck hard and quick. She could barely talk, probably due to the morphine she was on, but did her best to communicate. She knew we were there and that's all that mattered. I got a call from hubs this morning that she passed on with my in-laws with her. While the hospice center was beautiful and everyone was so nice, I'm glad she had family with her. Now she is back with her "boyfriend."   : )  We will miss her. One less guest at Easter dinner this year.

Shipping. A hard lesson to figure out. I don't like it. I'd rather just create, but unfortunately the goods have to get to the customer some how! I'm going to stick to what I've seen on other blogs....contact me with your zip code and I'll get you a quote. It seems like a hassle, for the customer especially, but I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions?

And just to end this post on a happy note, here are some new kitty pictures. These are actually about two weeks old I think. It's amazing how fast they grow! Momma moved them from the kitty condo (the white wooden house in the pictures) to the guest house (a converted Rubbermaid container with hay and blankets where the other cats were sleeping since Momma and babies took over the condo), and now they are under the deck. It's been cold and wet, but I'm sure she has her reasons for doing it. I just wish I could see them. I can hear them, but I like to see them playing on the deck and knowing they are okay. Maybe she will bring them back out again. No one is sleeping in any of the houses, lol. Silly cats.

These pictures were taken while they were still living in the kitty condo and hadn't discovered their house has a door. Well, until this day.



Hi. I'm Sugar. Aren't I cute?




Momma, can we come out and play?




Move it Nilla, I want to see too!




Poor Momma. She tried to keep them from coming out. She is going to be busy from now on!

 So that's that. Oh, I did a few swaps recently too and I will be posting about them soon.

A quick makeover



This was my first attempt at making over a thrift store item. I used too many coats of paint and didn't watch my sanding, but she is cute anyway. She was an orangish-brown color underneath with polka dots, and even with a few coats of paint you can still see the polka dots and I kinda like that. I like that you can see that color along the edges where I sanded. She had a grungy blue bow that I changed to a raggedy piece of cotton. Here is the original:

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Every time I walk past the fireplace I get a nice whiff of those grubby candles from Tonya. My son even commented on how great they smell. Yum!

~candles, doily, berries, and paddle~



So thankful!

I received a wonderful box from Tonya as part of Pay it Forward. Grubby candles that smell so good, a wooden canning jar that is being displayed on my kitchen windowsill next to my mossy jar terrarium, faux berries, a prim painted paddle, the cutest little doily, a candle holder with a nubby grubby candle, and one of her famous rice eye bags which I am going to pass on to mom as she has a few eye problems and I have no microwave to warm it up.  : (   The boys think it's time to get a new one. Maybe I will ask for one for Mother's Day. I am practical like that.   : )  

Tonya's prim painted items are perfect and I just can't get over the scent on the grubby candles!!

I can't wait to get my box out for the Pay it Forward. All I will say is that I'm busy stitching and painting.

I also posted a few sets of salt dough bowl fillers to my selling blog. Please stop by and take a look! I will be adding more throughout the weekend as well.