Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Yard Sale Bargain....

~ It seems that I cannot drive past a yard sale without STOPPING.  You just never know what you are going to find that you might purchase for a bargain price.  I was on my way home from a bridal shower on Saturday and drove past 2 garage sales.  This mirror is one of my bargains.... (before and after pictures, of course)



I arrived home, ran inside, grabbed my camera
and took a couple of before shots. 

I knew right away when I first saw it,
it was going to be painted glossy white
and be placed on my guest room wall.



~ I fell it love with it immediately ~





Look at me, in the mirror and a few branches off the tree too.
It's not plastic, it's made of plaster and is heavy.
It looks whimsical, I love it. 

I took a picture of it outside because I was carrying it
down to the barn to wait for me... to.... do my magic. 



~ So fast forward a few days and ta dah.... I have it primed, painted and hanging in my guest room.  I'm also posting another yard sale find I picked up on Saturday ♥ I got it from a nearby neighbor. 




I'm loving the details of this frame.
I hung it in our guest bedroom. 
Look what I caught in the reflection... it is hanging on the opposite wall.
One of my former postings.

~ Here is another bargain.... picked up on Saturday also.  The person having the sale is having another sale in October, she has my PHONE NUMBER so I can attend......
I love her style and her little home is absolutely charming. 




Here is my other yard sale find! 
Now when guests stay overnight, they can lay their luggage
on here or sit on here to tie their shoes....

It was painted an ivory color but I primed it and spray painted it white. 
Now I have to do something with that seat cover. 
It's not staying, it clashes with my other colors...to pinky!

I have a valance hanging up but not using the panels in this room,
so... I could make a seat cover out of the panels to match...
or go with something totally different. 

I guess I'll add the seat cover to my "project list".

 ♥

It's early morning and I've heard it's going to get up to 95 today ....
I need to head out to the barn and get some of my work done early...
so I'm not baking in that heat later on today!


~ Thanks for stopping by ~
~ Lisa ~

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lovely Morning Bike Ride.... (or was it?)

~ My son has been storing his bike in our garage.  Kevin has taken it out a few times lately (we have been thinking/debating on getting bikes for ourselves).  So, this morning, I thought I would go for a bike ride.  Kevin assured me there were no dogs that chased him so I felt safe and energetic this morning and thought I'd go for a beautiful morning ride. 

~ Come along on this painful wonderful  ride that I took this morning.  Scenery beautiful, bike painful nice too.



My son's bike.... I am borrowing it to take a morning ride.
It's not starting off to great, there is no cup holder to hold my coffee. 
Hmmm...not good, guess the coffee has to stay home!





Oh what a lovely morning, let's get started.....





 I had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful morning glories.






Look.... another stop....several different colors of morning glories all together...







Hmmm... which way to go.  Let's go check out the creek... so we'll go straight!







We need some rain for this little creek. 
You can't really see them but there are
a couple of cows in the background, the other day,
Kevin was riding the bike and one was out on the road,
he helped "round em up" as you would say, he and 2 other men that is.






I zoomed in to get a better picture.

~ I have been riding the bike for less than 5 minutes and already my legs are like rubber and my fanny is hurting something terrible.  I don't know about this bike riding stuff.  It's been many, many years since I have been on a bike.  I think I know why I am in so much pain (at least in my fanny area)!




This is the reason, LQQK at this seat!!!
 That is why my fanny is on fire hurting!
As for the rubbery feeling in my legs,
that is probably fat jiggling all
around not knowing what the heck is going on!



 


Oh OK, let's ride a bit more... but try to head towards home,
I don't know how far I can make it!




I thought I might go East a bit...
 "keep going" I kept telling myself,
you can do it... you can do it!






OK.... heading West.... {I see my shadow}...
time to get back home before I DIE out here.






Ohhhh... I am so close to home, just over that hill,
I hope I can make it, my legs are so rubbery and
my fanny is in so much pain from that itty bitty seat!





I'm home.... I'm almost there.....
 just a few more peddles....
I am so close!





Getting closer.... {gasping for air}





Open that garage door and lets put this bike away.
I'm never going on another bike ride again unless I have a more
comfortable seat....and I have picked out the perfect seat for MY bike.




Ahhh.... cushioned, has back support, even shocks...
I think it's a perfect bike seat, don't you?






OK, so I'll be a little more realistic, perhaps I could ride a bike if it had a seat like this.

Conclusion:  I do not plan on getting a bike anytime soon after this experience....
but... I'm glad you could come along and share in the pain fun with me. 


{Thanks for stopping by}

~ Lisa ~

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Wild Life around The Little Yellow Home in the Country

~ I love catching photos of the wildlife around our area.  Our 2 favorite photos so far are the red head woodpecker and the owl.  We could of had one of a skunk Kevin trapped in a cage but I passed on that one.  Maybe next time, I'll get brave. 


Not a very good picture.... he was swinging and moving as I took this shot.


He was so big, he cast a shadow over the
 room when he came to the feeder to eat.


Kevin snapped this picture,
he couldn't get to close or the owl would fly off.
The birds go crazy when Mr. Owl is around, they chirp LOUD and fast....
I would too if I thought I was going to be someones dinner!



Thanks for stopping by...

~ Lisa ~

Friday, August 27, 2010

Date Night

~ It's Friday {TGIF}.... even though, since I am not currently working (outside) the home, every day seems like Friday to me.  {snickering here}  Yes, I am enjoying my time off from working.  I have been blessed with the most amazing Summer that I can remember in a long, long, loooong time and I have painted 3 rooms in our home, 2 barn doors, 2 overhead garage doors... still have the foundation of the house to paint, the front porch, MY BEDROOM.... a cedar chest, a dresser... and countless other odds and ends 'to do' on my list.... however.... tonight is a date night!

~ Guess what we are doing!  We have been waiting for perfect weather to go and I think it's finally here...and the perfect movie too (seems they been showing those vampire movies ALL Summer long). 

~ We will be seeing "Dinner for Schmucks" at the drive-in.  Should be funny... I hope the popcorn is good.  ☺


I have not been to a drive-in in let's see.... over 30 years,
I'm feeling like I'm in the movie "Happy Days". 

Thanks for stopping by....

~ Lisa ~

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Sneak Peak

~ I need to be banned from Hobby Lobby!  Every time I go in there, I just get overwhelmed with project possibilities and my mind goes into "a" wacky overload. 

~ I'm giving you a sneak peak of 6 items I purchased yesterday {regularly $3.99 each but I got them for 50% off}.  I'll post a picture of what I do with them in the near future... as I'm still completing work on 1 end table. 


These are ceramic knobs...
I have a really cute idea for them...
just wait and see.
~ Thanks for stopping by ~

~ Lisa ~

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

End Table(s) Re-Do and a Tour

~ These are 2 end tables I purchased {cheaply might I add} off of Craigslist recently.  I searched and searched to find the exact type of tables I wanted and.... if you wait long enough, God DOES answer prayers.

~ I stripped the tops, sanded...sanded...and ....sanded some more.  I then re-stained them with a medium oak stain and gave them 2 coats of polyurethane to protect the surface.  I removed the legs and sanded, primed and painted them and the base with colonial red.  I then distressed them with a mocha stain giving them an aged look.  They will be used in our extra room that we watch TV in or as we are calling it, our bonus/Patriotic room.  It's a small room but very cozy and the windows along the West wall provide such great light, our view is pine trees/cornfields. 



Before Pictures:  It didin't matter what color they were went I bought them,
they were going to be painted RED no mater what,
I just had to find the right style I wanted and make sure they were WOOD.




After Pictures:  The flash makes the table appear lighter than it is,
it is a deep red and I'm love...love...loving this color.




The top turned out fanstatic.... it should have, I used a lot of elbow grease on my sanding.
I have a placemat {that is Patriotic} that I will use on top
to help protect the finish {shhh... it's in the washer}




Remember these {earlier posting}...they now have a home to rest upon.





Wish I had a better camera to catch the beauty.
See my patriotic lamp on the table or some of it anyway?





Side view ~ I'm loving this color ♥





I thought I would give you a quick tour of my room. 
I got this magazine holder at the thrift store for $2.99. 
I didn't have to do a thing to it. 
I ♥ it and the colors matched perfectly. 






Just a few of the things I've collected from garage sales/thrift stores/friends/family.... etc
This shelf is painted in the same paint as the end table...
it was my test to see if I liked the process I used... it passed.





My valances... no curtains for these windows... we can't cover up the beautiful country view!

These are made by http://www.parkdesigns.net/Scripts/PublicSite/
I purchased these from the General Merchantile store in Nashville, IN,
she stocks Park Designs products...

This is my favorite store. Guess what color the store is?
YELLOW.... see a picture below of the store below.








 It's so quaint...and wonderful to sit outside {or inside} and enjoy lunch.
I asked the owner if I could live here.... that's how much I L*O*V*E it.

She is a charming woman, she owned several Dairy Queens in the past,
but she sold them all and bought this store and she said she works her fanny off.

It's my favorite store in the whole town! 




Here is a view of the a corner of the room... see the lazy boy... uh... that is NOT mine
I painted the walls a beige color after I did a knock-down texture on them.
{Another project I did.... that took lots of back breaking, elbow grease}
 ☺
100 year old walls can be imperfect but they are PERFECT now!
This shelf... also painted with the same paint I used on the end table, it was a garage sale find.
The flag {which is a heavy metal} and the eagle decoration came from the Antique Store.
Oh...and all the outlet covers which are wooden... done in the same process RED paint!




Yes... even a patriotic clock... it was originally $30 but got it for $11 on clearance at Staples. 
I refinished the clock in the same blue I used on the lamp and distressed the clock. 
It has a flag picture and that is what I like about it.
I had to get some BLUE in this room too. 




The bicentennial plate was a gift from my Mother in-law,
the glass candle holder which is red white and blue {thrift store find YAY} was only $1.99. 
The shelf is from a store in Nashville, the star was dark brown,
Kevin painted it ...{c'mon...what color}... RED the same color we used on the lamps,
the shelves, the end table and soon...
a cedar chest {another project} ☺




This is my little bench, {no not for time-out}...well maybe. 
I sat the remote on it to show the actual size, it's perfect to prop your feet up on...
set your iced tea or coffee on, set the remote on if I ever got it that is
{for some reason, it's always in someone else's hands when HE is home}. 
It was $20 from the antique store....and already painted the perfect colors.
It was a real steal....




I saw this in a magazine, "Terry's Village" I think it was, it was $7.99... so I purchased it. 
I couldn't resist... it was too cute!




Even the bird feeder just outside the window has some Patriotic decor.... 




And... let's not forget.... our Patriotic birdhouse, you can see this birdhouse
as you sit in our "Patriotic" room.  It is still for rent...
we have not seen any activity in it yet...
however, it was just hung last weekend.  {Thank you Kevin}

~ Thanks for stopping by..... hope you enjoyed the tour!

~ Lisa ~

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Roaming Outdoors

~ I walked outside just after sunrise this morning to water what flowers/plants are still living, this was my view as I looked out of the garage, so peaceful and serene and a bit foggy.... come visit and walk with me....


Off in the distance you can barely see more trees


I love my little yellow home in the country!


I dont' know how this wave petunia has survived the HOT Summer heat,
I just gave it a HUGE drink of rain water... I enjoy the beauty of the deep purple flowers.

It seems this tree has a personality with his facial features,
I can enjoy him as I sit on my porch swing or looking out my kitchen window, he is fun!
I purchased his face from Meijer and helped him to come alive,
he reminds me of a snowman but only he is a tree.

Even though her legs were broken by a snow plow in Winter 2009,
she still is beautiful and watches over the little yellow home in the country ♥
I got her from a garage sale years ago and she has traveled many places with me.

Hummingbirds will start migrating soon, I've filled up the feeder for the last time this season,
I'll soon wash it and store it away for next Spring.


This picture doesn't show the colors of this birdhouse very good,
I decided to hang in on the side of the tree instead of up in the tree so we can enjoy it's beauty. 

I got this little goodie at a thrift store this year for .99 Cents,
I hung it on a tree and it fills up with rain water for the birds...
with this heat, it's needed a little help from me. 
Every time I water flowers, I put some water in it as well.
Our garden is about done producing for the season,
I can tell you that I've had the best "fried green tomatoes" ever
{SEVERAL TIMES} for lunch.  ☺

It has been one of the best Summer's of my life this year.

This is our mini-forest of pines trees. 
Not so fun to mow around but hiding deep inside is {Shhhhh} a hammock,
Kevin likes to take his paper out there and read and relax...
I like to take my favorite decorating magazine out there and do the same!


This is our barn...and oh how I love red barns.
Oh what a peaceful scenery this is..... but inside is where
I like to hang out and work on my projects.
Can you see the windmill tower?  The windmill is gone but the tower still stands strong.
We have approximately 12 birdhouses now to hang up on the tower. 
I will share pictures after that project is done.

This is the playhouse.  It needs to be repainted {another project on my list}.  The grandkids love to hang out here, inside is a little kitchen with a table and chairs, stove, refrigerator, sink... fake food, dishes.... dolls, etc.  It even has a loft.... you can see the staircase through the door... AND it has SPIDERS... .so I am making a habit of spraying it when I spray inside my home.  The grandkids AND I...well, we don't like SPIDERS!

This is where Kevin and I relax after a LONG day...
or... on a Saturday or Sunday morning enjoying coffee. 
It's our favorite spot to be! 
Just a swang-en....and watching 1, 2 or maybe 3 cars drive by all night. 
Ahhhh.... lovin my little yellow home in the country ☺

~ Lisa ~