Home Remodeling Done?

Could it be?  Are we done?  Maybe?  Probably not...

Finally after months of ceiling & wall sheet rock repairs and fresh paint due to foundation issues, 5 rooms/hallways are done.  

Drum roll please....

 

Clean & fresh looking - open furniture flow -

 simple & uncluttered... at least for now...

Smile or tremble as Larry might feel at that thought.

Anyway working with existing furnishings, it does look different than what it did just a few months ago

We tried switching the function & furniture around between our living & dining rooms, but due to room or furniture sizes, we are limited on what fits where.

BTW, see the buffet in the center of the back wall?  You can see it needs repair & painting.  Please share you comments on how you think I should redo it this buffet.  Thanks!

Thank you for coming along our home redo journey!

You can click here to see prior posts along our repair journey 

 Find the Wonderful in today!

Karla Nathan at Karla's Cottage

It was delightful to see Karla Nathan staring out of the pages of the 2012 Spring issue of Somerset Apprentice.


Congratulations Karla - well deserved!
  

 Karla Nathan

Karla's Cottage article link

        

Somerset Apprentice

Karla offers an awesome blog full of beauty... 
beauty seen and heartfelt beauty.
Click on over and enjoy  Karla's Cottage

Memorial Day 2012

 My father, Roy Lee Jeffery - 1945 Navy

  Let us keep in our hearts those individuals that have
served to encourage freedom and peace in our world

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - to rise anew! We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields. In Flanders Fields we fought

 Moina Michael

  
 

Vintage Buttons, Pulls & More

How many of us remember we should have taken photos and written a post on our found treasures shortly after they're all tucked away?  
Well, that's usually me, but this time I did snap a few photos before I tucked them away. 

On Friday I spent the day with my dear friend Tara.  We went to Lawrence, KS to hang out.  The boutiques were fun, but their current inventory wasn't speaking to our hearts.  

Unfortunately the morning rain kept the garage sales from opening.  We gave it a good try and spent the day walking, shopping, talking, eating and enjoying our friendship together in downtown Lawrence. 

On my way home I stopped by a small antique store and was pleased they were open late.  These delightful treasures found their way home with me.

Which is your favorite...the vintage, Swedish tins?  Green wall shelf with pink glass knobs?  Child's slip?  Embossed paperboard Cameo glove box?  Small creamy white wooden stool?  Pearl button cards or maybe those pink-dyes pearl buttons?  Could it be the brass pulls or the over-sized bear postcard?

I love them all... heart smiles.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Earth Laughs in Flowers

Last Spring I purchased two amazing vintage flower urns from an estate sale.  The original owners had buried the bottom section of these urns in the ground which caused a lot of rust.

To preserve the cast iron urns I had to clean and repaint them.  I chose to paint them close to their original color which is a matte charcoal black.  They are so heavy - it takes two people to move them.

 

I meant to take before, during and after photos, but forgot and only took the after photos.  They really turned out well and should now endure many years 

Pink was the annual color that grab my heart this Spring 

"Earth Laughs in Flowers"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

As a young girl I recall Mother's Day preparations in our home were as exciting as Christmas.

 Our Dad taught us it was important to value our Mother especially on Mother's Day.

On Mother's Day we gave her hand-made cards, bouquets of flowers from our yard or the nearby field and creek.  And the only time (then) I recall our Dad cooking was to help us four daughters make Eggs A La Goldenrod for our mother and serve it to her in bed on a tray with our gathered flowers.  

We never had 'fancy' food and back then I thought Eggs A La Goldenrod was the fanciest food I had ever seen.  I'll post the recipe below - you will see it is an easy peasy recipe, but as a young girl from a very simple home, this dish represented something very special, a place of honor and love.

We celebrated our mother's homecoming to our Lord in 2006.  I miss her dearly, but know she is healed and at home with God.  That brings me great joy!

My mother - Wilma Marie Danner

My mom & me celebrating Mother's Day in 1995

 Our last Mother's Day with Mom in 2006

(Miss you!!)

Egg A La Goldenrod Recipe:

EGG A LA GOLDENROD

1 stick butter 2 tbsp. flour 2 c. milk 6 eggs 6 slices toast Melt butter and make paste with flour; add milk little at a time. Cook over medium heat until thick. Boil, peel, and separate eggs. Chop whites and add to sauce. Pour sauce mixture over toast. Press yolks through sieve and sprinkle over sauce. Garnish with parsley or orange slices. Serve hot. Pretty as well as good. May use 1 cup beef browned and drained instead of egg whites.

don't forget to add salt, pepper & paprika to taste 

Whether you are a mother or with respect to your own mother...

Happiest of Mother's Day to you!

Bird Song II, Part 3

In an earlier post I shared my Bird Song II swap creations.  

These are the swaps I received.

In the SING banner swap there were four different groups with four participants in each group. You received one of the letters you were assigned as well as three other letters to complete your

SING banner.

This is my group 

Carol created the letter "S"

Laurie created the letter "I"

Lynn created the letter "N"

I created the letter "G"

* SING *

Using decorated clothes pins and ribbon,

I strung my beautiful SING banner

I was the recipient of Maxine's gorgeous Matchbox swap

  Maxine filled my matchbox with goodies I adore!

Do you adore them too?      

Participants in the Nature Journal Page swap created six pages.  Each participant randomly received six pages in-exchange.

These are the pages I received

Our front cover was created by swap host Beth Leintz

Nora Neeley's darling rebus page

Great colors and texture layers in Barb Buckton's awesome page

 This lovely SING page was not signed... if you are the artist of this page please contact me and let me know... it is beautiful!

Lovin' the glitter here on Marj Sell's page...

My final page is also by Beth Leintz and features vintage wallpaper including flocked wallpaper for the bird

They are all so delightful!

Anxiously waiting

It's been awhile since I last posted about our home repairs.  My hubby finished work on a neighbor's home, went canoeing and started a new career as a part-time plumber... our home repairs have been on hold.  

Larry retired in February, but wanted a part-time job following his retirement.  He has done volunteer handyman charity work for years, focusing the past three years on plumbing.  What a change from being a scientist to being a plumber, but I think he is going to like it.  

OK now for the updates...

Once upon a time our living room looked basically like this

(changing decor with holidays/seasons)

  

Then lately it looked like this

and this

and now it looks like this

the sheet rock repairs have been completed & freshly painted by my wonderful hubby, and as you can see, the living room is now crammed full as we work on the adjacent dining room

I am so thankful Larry is skilled to do all these repairs as well as saving us tons of money... but I want organization back to my home (smile).

It will be like Christmas unpacking my boxes of goodies to decorate once all is done.  

Here's our decorating thoughts... interchange the use our our adjoining living & dining rooms.  Our dining room table is too wide for our dining room, so we are contemplating moving it to north end of our living room, keep the sofa, a small chair & coffee-style table towards the south end and move the remaining furniture into the dining room to create a more secluded

reading room.

At least that is what is running through our thoughts... may not look as good or be functional, but you don't know till you try it.  Hope to share those changes with you soon.   

Thanks for your visit.  Please leave me a comment and let my know you dropped by.

Enjoy your day, Tami

 

Bird Song II - Part Two

Twenty-eight women gathered recently to learn, teach and be blessed with kindred spirit at 
Bird Song II - as one Peep said 

"I've found my people"

 The day before Bird Song II - 

Rebecca, Laurie, me & Suzanne went treasure hunting

 Our amazing teachers 

Beth, Karla and Lisa

These gals are full of creative inspiration and so willing to share it! 

The Peeps

 

 

 Our classes were held in Karla's beautiful studio

(one can only be inspired from its beauty & creativity)

Day One 

 Beth's class - Nature Collage Assemblage

My collage includes a 1925 Kansas City newspaper featuring the Grain Market Review and an ad for Emery, Bird & Thayer, a store I remember from childhood on the Country Club Plaza.  The bottom right corner is a decoupaged napkin from our morning coffee - way too sweet for coffee use, so I used it on my collage.  It was a hit, several other Peeps uniquely used a napkin in their collages

Karla's class - Woodland Sprite

We created the mushrooms out of screen, duct tape, and then paper-mached the mushroom with vintage paper, included a frozen Charlotte all gussied up as a fairy, vintage millinery
and natural items

Day Two 
Lisa's class - The Faerie Theatre

I chose to use a photo of myself at age two to create my fairy.  Lisa taught us how to use wire, fabric and hot beeswax to create our fairy wings

Karla's class - Handmade Vintage Necklace 

Karla provided us with lovely vintage beads & watch faces to create our lovely necklaces.  This was my first time ever to create from scratch a necklace... after awhile my arthritis took over my fingers, my eyes grew tied, so I decided to finish my necklace at home...
still need to do that (!)

Here's Karla's example necklace, lovely isn't it?

   Still have oodles to share with you, so please check back again to see more of Bird Song II.

Till then, Find the wonderful in today!