Vee's Note Card Party

Hey there!  I'm hooking up with Vee's note card party this month, and since it's soon to be officially autumn, think I'll do some fall decor cards with images from last year.  So hang on to your butts seats and let me search back through my blog....

My front porch October 2009

Below are some photos I took at a farmer's market in Franklin TN when we went up to Nashville to see my oldest son Adam.  This was such a neat place and really screamed  AUTUMN!!!  Tony had to drag me away. I could have stood there and looked at all day long!

Franklin, TN October 2009

October 2009

October 2009

Hope you enjoyed my cards!  Now I'm off to see the rest of yours!

If you'd care to join in the fun, here's your link ----

GIVEAWAY at River Bend Farm!

It's GIVEAWAY TIME!  Oh, not for me just yet, but for Berte at River Bend Farm!  She has reached a goal of 100 followers and she's having a contest about Blessings in your life.  She wants to bless the winner of her giveaway with one of her yellow spatterware bread pans, a cute napkin and a recipe keeper!  Jump over there and visit this wonderful Texas gal (a kindred sister :) and see for yourself what makes her so special!

I LOVE Spatterware!  So, run on over to Berte's place and sign up!

We've been so blessed these past couple of weeks with scattered showers - usually, we are not in the "scattered" areas, but recently the showers have scattered all over us!   This is my perennial garden - I know you can't really tell what's in there.  Some of it's been cut back and dead-headed - it was getting out of control.  I have some herbs like basil and rosemary and lavender, some purple coneflowers, lantana, clematis (it's little - just starting to climb that little thingie there, and some other flowers.  The lantana is still in need of a haircut so I may move it somewhere else come fall.  I don't know why the grasshoppers are eating the clematis leaves and they won't eat the lantana leaves.  That would solve a big problem!

Sunflowers are going great! They're so cheery and they make me happy!

My daughter's birthday is coming up next week, and we are planning on going out to visit her and probably take her and her boyfriend out to eat or something.  Along with her job, she is a "junkin" gal.  She likes to buy cheap, paint and fix up and sell on craigslist, ebay or her area "buy, sell & trade" facebook page.  She loves a rustic or western theme.  Doing pretty good, too!  She's very artistic and knows how to make things look good.  If she lived closer, she and I would have our own little business together - we've talked about it...it would be so fun!

Josh and Lindsey are settling in at her folks' B and B - they are staying in one of the cottages right now until they decide what they are going to do.  Job hunting starts tomorrow for Josh!  Hope he can find something pretty soon!  Lindsey's parents are re-vamping an old country house right now and I imagine Josh is going to be working on that project as well to supplement his income...I'm SO jealous of that house - it has a screened-in sleeping porch - HOW WONDERFUL!  Pictures will be forthcoming as they complete

the re-do.

We're going to Nashville in a couple of weeks to visit my oldest son, Adam. It's been awhile since we've been up there and it's time for a visit.  Sure miss that boy!

Dolores at Moving Forward With Alzheimers shared this video on her blog...

Well, back to work for me tomorrow.  Thank goodness I'm down to two days a week - which is not bad at all - but I'd like it to be a BIG FAT ZERO days a week!  One of these days...

Keep yer dress down, friends.

This evening we let our chickies out to free-range first time.  I thought if we let them out late in the evening, then it wouldn't be long before they would go back into their pen and go to bed.  And they had a BALL!  They had eaten and scratched all the grass from the pen, so they were excited to be out running around in the grass again! Even a few bugs were to be had, too.  The hornworms had arrived here on Sand Flat Farm and I've been picking them off the tomato plants and one even ate all the foliage off one of my jalapeno plants and started on a pepper!  So, the chickies have been getting some big fat green hornworms.  Actually, BB (the bully brahma) has been getting most of them.  I try to move her and give the worms to some of the others, but she manages to bully her way into the fray and grab these delicious worms away from the other girls.

Since you probably don't know what chickens look like, thought I'd share a few more shots.  We've been having fun watching our chicks.  Very relaxing in the evenings.  We had Gypsy on her leash and she slept beside our chairs.  One of the hens got too close, however, and Gypsy turned and I think she would have either grabbed it or would have taken off chasing it.  I'm trying to teach her that the chickens are MINE and she is not allowed to mess with them.

 I set my scratch bowl down for just a second and see what happens?  In a minute, this bowl was full of chicken heads.  We've been giving them kitchen scraps, and I've got a little section in my garden that I've been growing greens for them.  They love fruits - especially bananas and watermelon.

I recently added a couple more hens.  They had just started laying good when I got them.  My barred rock and my Rhode Island Red.  I'm getting nearly two eggs every day.  This is so fun.  Just humor me, K?  I'll move on to something else soon...

I finally got all the front porch posts and railings painted.  I really like how it turned out.  AND, I painted the front door RED.  I love it!  Gives the porch a pop of color.  Still have some work to do, but I'll eventually get it all done.  Still have a couple of flower beds to build, but I need the husband to help me on that project and I've gotta wait til he's got the time and the inclination.

Well, it's time to call it a night.  

I'll try to do better on my blogging.  This is our busiest time of year! Sending you all a big hug from Sand Flat Farm!

PS -  SOUTH LIGHT ART BLOG HAS BEEN UPDATED TOO!  Yea, maybe I'm on a roll...

The Red Hutch

Did I show y'all my red hutch?  When I was taking some photos of my painting that I'm working on right now, I noticed it in the background.  I also noticed alot of folks talking about showing  little corners in one's home, so I thought today I'd show you blog peeps the northeast corner of my living room.

There's this flea market downtown near the old railroad station that I like to visit from time to time.  They have lots of vendors there, and they have good sales in certain booths once in awhile, and I love to go look.  There is a vendor there that I REALLY like what she collects and what she sells.  Right down my alley. Lots of ... well, let's see.  Not really primitive altho there are a few pieces that I might consider "prim".  Old kitchen stuff, rolling pins, tins, washbowls, breadboxes, kitchen stools, old canister sets, crocks, shelves, etc.  It's very well organized.  What I love about her booth is that it's clean and neat and it's got furniture in it, too, NO JUNK (well, I take that back - all this old stuff is somebody elses' junk, right?)  And no foo-foo stuff.

She does ALOT of her pieces in RED.  I'm recently falling in love with red.  My tastes are running to more primary farm colors instead of the pinks and pale greens that I first put in this little farmhouse.  Told you I was phasing out the pinks and foo-foo stuff.  A few months ago, I was there looking and she had this old, old hutch that had been painted several times.   You can still see the white layer and the vintage light green under that red.  It's very sturdy, and when you look inside the shelves and drawers you can tell it's really primitive.  I don't know if it had glass in the top doors at one time or screen.  It could have been a pie safe on top - I'm not sure.  Now it's got a bigger gauge screen in it.

I fell in love with this silly thing and knew I had to have it.  AND it was ON SALE!  So, I bought it, called Tony and had him come down with his pickup and help me get it. He just asked me, "Now what?"  It sits here in my living room with my few pieces of ironstone and a some other items in it.  Lots of storage space in the bottom is holding household bills and files that really need to be in a file cabinet (which I don't have room for and which is also ugly).   I guess I justified getting it for that reason...  But I did get it really cheap and didn't have to do a dadgum thing to it.

Oh yeah, it's got some milkglass stuff in it too, and some platters that wouldn't fit in my pie safe in the kitchen.  Can you see that little string with the tiny clothespins on it?  At Christmas time, I hung my Christmas cards across that little clothes line.  It was very cute!

Anyway, here she is and I really like her.  Plus, with me switching to the reds, greens and gold/yellow colors of farmy-decor it fits in perfect with my house.  Think I could do a little better on the sunflowers - they were some leftovers from another project.  They look a little sad, but I'll work on that later.  It's about time for me to go back to the Flea and see what else RED that I can't live without!Ok, that's all for today.  Bye!

We're Finally Home at the FARM!

Taking a break from moving to say hi and check in on all my lovely blog buddies.  I'm trying to cram 2600 sq ft of stuff into a 1200 sqft farmhouse. It's unreal.  I fear that another garage sale is in order here at the farm. I cannot keep all this junk.  But don't you think I should wait til it cools off a bit?  Just shove it all in the barn and do it in maybe October?  Thank you, I think so, too.

OK, we're gettin' real here, people.  The farmhouse was my "playhouse" and I foo-foo-ed it up big time - now it's time for a clean sweep.  Git rid of everything that we don't need - including all the pink - in time.  This is going to be a working farmhouse - we need space, minimum foo-foo, minimum doilies, flowers and cutesy wall art.  This is a time to be practical.  Why don't you all come to my house and see what you want?  I've got to streamline - playtime is OVER. 

I'm leaning more "farm-style" now.  Pink foo-foo is over.  It'll take time to make the changes. Plus - do you know how quickly pink and light colors get dirty and stained with my guys (and gal) doing the farm thing and bringing loads of dirt into the house?  Granted, they're not all here all the time, but me and hubby are, and I must confess that I bring in dirt, too.  All the stained light blue towels and cloths are going to the rag bin.  In with the dark blue and brown.

First change I've made.  You remember my cute little glass-topped garden table and chairs in the dining area?  Well, they're OUT.  I ran across an old, old handmade farm table, bench and some odd chairs that I'm going to use in the kitchen. I was always afraid that the glass was going to get broken and it only held 4 people.  The farm table will hold 8.  It's rough cut, but smoothed by the ages and use, and I think it'll be perfect. Won't have to worry about breaking it or scratching it.  It's a work table. Only one thing ---

I sat down on the end of the bench and guess what happened???  Just like a cartoon!  Up went the other end and I landed on the floor!!!!   Stop laughing!  At least it didn't hit me in the head.  It WAS pretty funny!  We'll have to get used to doing a balancing act when using the bench!  (sorry for picture quality - phone...)

Princess wanted me to show this picture of some chairs she bought for her little apartment at college.  They were covered with burlap potato sacks!  How cute is that!

In other news, WE GOT HALF AN INCH OF RAIN!  Woo-hoo!  It's not much, but we'll take all we can get!  The ground was cracked and sandy, grassburrs were sprouting up everywhere, the garden was about gone even with watering from the water hose, the grass is all crackly and brown.  There's nothing like the Lord's natural rain to bring life back in all things growing!  And nothing like His grace and love to bring life back into our souls!

Back to unpacking, friends - take care - don't forget me!  I'll be back! Hugs to all!!!!!

Cats, Christmas and Tractor Girl

Guess what I did Saturday afternoon?  You'll never guess.  It won't be that exciting to you, but I had fun.  We had cleared some big piles of old rusted hay rings, old fencing and aluminum gates, etc., hauled all that off to the bulk metal place and gotten our little pile of money.  Then what was left was a jagged, holey and hilly landscape behind the barn - not huge, but unsightly and you couldn't drive on it easily.  So, hubby was manning the burning pile, and me?  Well, ME was manning the tractor and doing some leveling.  Moving dirt from here to there - there's a trick to handling the bucket and I think I've got it!  It's sorta fun!

None of my friends know how to run a tractor and bucket and brush hog and box blade but I do. I'm sure alot of you people do, too, especially those of you that have a farm or ranch. Imagine this - It was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing. The husband was cleaning up and piling up stuff for the burning pile (and there was alot of stuff), loading metal onto the big trailer, and here I am in my capris and flip-flops and a cap driving the tractor around dragging the bucket across big mounds of dirt to level it, picking up big loads of dirt and dropping it in the gulleys. Husband said I did a good job. Sorry I don't have a picture.

Guess I'm a farm girl now - cuz I can man the tractor  AND  I can operate that tractor in capris and flip-flops! Now how's that!  Actually, I think probably some of my friends and family think I've absolutely lost my mind, but that's okay - I'm doing exactly what I've wanted to do since I was a small kid. I'm still plotting when I'm gonna get my chickens.  I'm determined to have chickens in the spring. I'm gonna get my dad and me and him are going to get my coop built. I think I've about worn the husband down into letting me get some.

Went to the Farm/Ranch/Feed store Saturday, too, to pick up some more gopher traps. It was customer appreciation day, and Joe Bob had cooked two huge cauldrons of beef stew! Hot and mild - with big man-sized chunks of beef and vegetables, and a good seasoned broth with jalapenos and a touch of chili pepper.  MMMMMAAAAAANNNNN!  I think Joe Bob makes the best stew I've ever eaten!  I ate two bowls full! With crackers and cookies and soft drinks!  I love customer appreciation day at the Feed Store! And Joe Bob's stew!

Wanna see sumpin' purdy?

My roses are popping! They look great right now.  Thought you folks in the blizzard zone might like to see some flowers right about now...  It's just now starting to get cold. We've had only a couple of freezing nights or just below and the flowers are still thriving.  Here's another...

The window box is full of petunias.  The flower beds could use some attention, and the yard actually needs mowing one more time before real winter sets in.  Cain't even see the edge of the bed right now! The dadgum clover junk starts growing when it gets cool and tries to take over.  Gotta squash that quick!

I've done a good raking once already, but will have to do it again. The catawba trees are dropping their foot long bean pods and they ARE messy.  And they'll keep adroppin' 'em til spring.

Not much Christmasing going on yet.  We are having some renovations done at our house and so it puts a damper on trying to decorate - we're getting a new roof and gutters due to hail damage.  We had the outside painted, and next is the inside... May be putting the tree up on Christmas eve!!!

New topic - I'm looking for a new home for my kitty, Alice.  I've tried every way I can think of to keep her. She's having to stay in the house all the time now due to Jasper.  He beats her up if she steps one little toe out of the door.  He's been neutered, and Alice spayed, but we think he's just being territorial and agressive towards her.  He beats her up and he's so mean to her.  Otherwise, he is the sweetest and nicest cat you'd ever meet.  The other reason is that my allergies to Alice are making me sick.  I thought I was gonna have two nice outside cats, but I can't let her out or...

THIS is where she stays!  Up on the roof!  And in this weather, I just can't let her up there.  Jasper can't follow her up the big oak tree - he's too heavy, but he CAN get on the roof and chase her.  I'm scared she's gonna fall off.  AND she's not being a mouser/gopherer.  Jasper catches mice and gophers all the time! He's such a great farm cat - and HE is what I was looking for.  He eats his kills - all except the heads - he leaves them around for us to find them.  Ugh.  I've contacted family and friends and hopefully I'll be able to find a good home for Alice.

Hope your holiday busy-ness is fun and Christmasy and cozy! I appreciate you all more than you know!

Farmhouse Renovations 2

Just thought I'd post a few more peeks at the farmhouse before I go on. Then I won't force you to look at any more for a long, long time!

We had SO much fun doing the "Pink" room for my daughter.  She actually did alot of the priming, sanding, and painting by herself - walls and woodwork as well as refinishing and repurposing furniture.  I have to say that she has alot of artistic talent, and when she takes on a task like this I know I am leaving it in good hands.  She is a perfectionist like her mom, and I know that her job will be finished and perfectly accomplished!  And as you can see, she did not disappoint!!!

(above)

We found this old vanity at a garage sale already stripped and sanded for just a few dollars. Princess restored this little baby and added the fountain chair and it turned out beautifully.  She had to take the mirror apart to paint and she also added glass knobs. It's so cute!

(above) This cute little chest was in my husband's family for a long time. Not sure where it came from, but we got it sanded down and painted for the pink room, and added a shutter shelf that I bought from Margo at Margo's Junkin' Journal.  You'll also see one of Miss Sandy's beautiful shoe creations sitting on the shelf! Do you see the candlestick on the left side of the chest?  It was sent to me by Sher at Old Time Artist! If you haven't visited these lovely ladies, YOU REALLY SHOULD!!!

(above) more garage sale finds...

(above)

This beautiful Yellow/Pink/Green Wedding Ring quilt was made by my husband's grandmother. It's gorgeous and barely used. I have secretly coveted it for years and it finally came down to me last year! I'm so happy, I'm thinking of finding a place to hang it on the wall.  It's too lovely to just lay on the foot of the bed!

(above)  A few items on the vanity... old lacy gloves, a fancy floweredy hat on a hat stand, old vintage perfume bottles and little dishes that ladies love.  AND we thought the little Christmas tree was so cute there, we just left it!

A cute wall pocket

(above

The shelves by the fridge in the kitchen have collected a few more things - cookbooks, bread box, old vintage utensils, a shoe-shine kit...

(above) 

This picture and the next are for Vee at A Haven for Vee.  She kinda got me started on this apron on the door thing a couple of years ago.  I didn't know I was going to collect vintage aprons, but I started seeing them at sales and I found a few in my grandmother's and Tony's grandmother's things.  Next thing I know, I've got a dozen or so, and decided to display them on the back of the door. Now, when we have guests and church get-togethers, I have all the ladies that want to don a vintage apron to help with kitchen preparations!  It's fun, and I think they all enjoy it, too!  I make everyone eat on different vintage plates as well. It does make us have to wash dishes but it's so much "cooler" than eating off of styrofoam!!!

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This little shabby bookshelf was also a garage sale find.  It's hard to tell, but it IS pink and it holds some fun things and old books that I've run across.  I've got quite a few vintage books, but I don't buy books that I know nothing about. I like to buy old ones that I've read, or vintage kids' books.

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This beautiful cross stitch came from a garage sale, too.  There was a very old man having the sale at his home. He had this and also some beautiful porcelain birds (which I bought for my sister). I asked him about all the lovely things that he was selling, and he said "well, my wife left me..."

And then he paused, and I was about to say, "oh I'm sorry." 

Then he said, "Yes, she left me to go be with the Lord in heaven and I'm gonna join her someday soon."

He wanted to start getting rid of things and "let somebody else enjoy them". Sweet dear man...

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This beautiful old pie safe was built by Old Great Uncle Claude who built this little farmhouse back in the '30's.  It's all hand done.  I thought about painting it at one time, but I decided that it needed to stay just like it was!

(below) This cute little floor clock in my hallway was a gift that one of my dear friends ran across at Canton.  She HAD to buy it for me!  I absolutely love it!  And it's that beautiful vintage aqua green color!

(above) 

A ladder holds a bunch of my vintage linens and you can also see more old family quilts from my husband's grandmothers...

(above)

This super neat old screened window was a purchase from Margo, also. She added shelves and I added a piece of old quilt behind it.  It covers an ugle breaker box on the bedroom wall!

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See this old familiar print? I've run across it a couple of times in my junk shopping. It fits right in with my farmhouse theme. Know where I got it?
From the dumpster at my self-storage office! Yeppers, I'm a dumpster diver - actually a dumpster-reacher-inner - I won't get into the dumpster.  But anything I can reach or fish out with my nifty homemade "hook" is mine for the taking! This print had a banged up frame and it was almost too dirty and dusty to even make out the picture. But after cleaning it off and giving it a barnwood frame, I loved it! (my daughter hates that I get stuff out of the dumpster - she hopes no one ever sees me!)

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BUT>>>>  see the white floor lamp in the living room?  Again, vintage floor lamp in the dumpster! It was already painted white! All I added was a  beaded shade!

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Here's another shot of the living room fireplace and my $4 TV cabinet.  We're looking around my dumpster floor lamp...

And last but certainly not least are the two farm kitties - Alice and Sam - their names have morphed into Ali and Sambo. Ali is a sweet kitty and she will let you know when she wants to be petted.  She's very much a princess diva cat.

Sambo, on the other hand, is all over you all the time.  He's one of those cats you see little kids carrying around all floppy and he could care less what you do to him.  He NEVER gets upset, he never grabs your hand and kicks with his back feet.  He wants to be in your lap at all times.  He walks up your chest and licks your chin and then wants to nibble.  He licks your hands and arms - don't know if he likes the salt or what. He has a very loud "motor" and it runs non-stop! Ali will get into your lap for a few minutes and then she finds something else to do.  We've started calling them "the dogs".  They follow us all over the farm. They both want to be right in the middle of whatever we're doing. So fun to watch! I love cats and it's good to have them again!  Sam likes to squash my potted plants... I guess the dirt is cool... Another month, and then it's off to the vet to get them both "fixed"!

Ok people - that's all the farmhouse renovations. We'll move on to another subject next time! Thanks for taking the time to look - this has been a job and a joy to fix up the farmhouse.  Don't know if I'd do it again - well, maybe ...  Have a wonderful day and go by and visit the ladies I've mentioned today! I'll get by to do some visitin' myself today I hope!