Letting GO

This poor chair was altogether, until I picked it up and then the bottom fell out! It has been an outside chair the last few years, serving it's purpose as holding a pot of flowers by the front of the house and sometimes a pumpkin and then again maybe a rag doll or Christmas greens. This was always at Grandma's house on her back porch. It was painted a mustard color and the weather through the years peeled the paint off. Just maybe one person's junk is another person's treasure!





The time has come to clean the garden shed. I had taken all the things out and sorted and washed and scrubed everything before deciding what I wanted to put back. It has taken me 3 days to do this, I think I picked the hotest day to start this project.



I am so glad that this is done and will pretty much stay this way the rest of the summer. I use this garden shed almost everyday. I keep all my garden tools in here and now that all of this is washed up, it is ready to use again.

Glass Cloches

Part of my spring time ritual is getting out my glass cloches that I made many years ago. I love how they look in the landscape settings. I put them here and there just to give another texture to the area. Sometimes I use them to cover small plants just coming up, to prevent deer and bunny chews. So if you can cut class and use copper foil wrap, a soldering gun, some heavy wire you're in business. Also I might add you need a cardboard template for the mold, just use duck tape to hold the mold together.

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to share with all the Mothers that look at my blog to see what I received in the mail a couple of day ago. I can tell you I was really surprised by my Daughter to receive this wonderful cross stitch cupboard keep. It is something I will cherish forever and keep in my open cupboard to remind me of her. The card I got is one she "so knows that I love". They are dimensional and this one has a gate that you open, doesn't show it here, and you walk through, down the path and sit on the iron bench at the end. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Happy Mother's day to all of you and hope your day is filled with wonderful memories.

"Nesting" Hooked Rug

"Nesting"

I was thrilled  to see my applique Nesting wool pattern hooked in a rug. I had gotten an email from Chris Zsak asking permission to do this as a special gift for her daughter. After much thought and (and because I wanted to be the one to do this first), I decided I would let go and asked her please to send me a picture. Well not to be disappointed and to be absolutely right on target with my coloring  you can see why I am thrilled seeing the results. Good job Chris and thank you so much for sharing.

Sweet Little Shelf

This shelf, made of pine, was given to me not long ago by my Mother-In-Law. She said it was hand made by her Grandfather from the timber that is still on the farm. He was of sorts a furniture maker. I have several other pieces that he made, but really never gave any thought about him trying to make things for his wife and since town was so far away and people were still commuting by horse and buggy, this was his way to have things. I have my eye on a larger than life, flat top pine, box. Kinda like a cedar chest, but not cedar inside, just longer and taller. I think when the time is right I will ask that my name is on this beauty too! By the way my MIL is going to be 95 this year, so you now know about the age of these pieces, that are still around and in good shape. We, as care takers of these unique pieces, (one of a kind), will be handed down to another generation or two in the future.

Hardtack

This picture is from a friend who made hardtack for display in an early cabin setting. I liked it so much, she generously gave me the cutter to use and the recipe.

Hardtack was used for survival food. Know as a staple in the Civil War soldiers diet.

The recipe is, 3cups of flour,2 teaspoons salt and 1 cup of water. Mix by hand, roll out on floured board. For those of you who don't have a hardtack cutter,cut 3x3 inch squares and poke with a wooden skewer to make the holes. Kinda looks like a cracker when done. I might tell you that if you value your teeth I wouldn't be eating these. Mine are for looks only and don't plan on soaking any soon in my coffee. You can read up on the use of hardtack on line, just google hardtack and you can get all kinds of history and recipes.

Among the Topiaries

Actually, what came to mind was among the pines. But we all know better. I had saved over the years the long stems from artificial flowers and greenery and knew sometime in my crafting days I would use these for exactly what I wanted, Topiaries! I had procrastinated  all winter doing this and finally the day had come. I have to confess, there was a time that I didn't like Topiaires, but now they are another hot item in decorating and I have "let them" grow on me! Now to find homes for these tall beauties!