Fabric, Fabric, Fabric...

Mr. Bird Nest took me to the emergency room yesterday and my lower back is much better.  OK, it might have been the injection in my backside that made me feel better but nevertheless I am back to blogging.

Now, I know when you see this fabric below you are going to be thinking this doesn't look like anything Gretchen would have in her house.  Right?

My son dropped off this fabric from my daughter-in-law last night.  Elizabeth is a first grade teacher.  She has moved to a brand new school that is much closer to home and is excited about decorating her classroom.  I will make a valance for her window, cushions for some chairs and whatever else I can come up with.

Also, Elizabeth has a blog and I know she would love to have some people stop by.  You can see her new classroom.  Her site name is: 

http://grubefamilyblog.blogspot.com/

The lace fabric below was sent to her in error and the fabric e-store told her just to keep it and of course, she gave it to me.  Any ideas what I might do with two yards of lace.  I'm not really a"lacey" kind of girl but it is very pretty.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Unexpected tour...

I've hurt my back and I'm not sure how much blogging I'm going to be able to do over the next few days.  Between muscle relaxers and pain killers I'm a little woozey.

These are pictures of our den/library/office.  Can you tell which desk is mine and which is Mr. Bird Nest's?

I made these little cushions for my chair.  I like having a little leopard fabric in every room.  That's about as crazy as I get.

I bought this little frame unfinished at Michael's for $1.00 and then painted and framed words to live by.

It's fun to be able to look out the window when I am blogging.

Evenings you can find me curled up in the chair on the right.

The rodeo poster on the wall is from a trip Mr. Bird Nest and I made to Wyoming about 10 years ago.  We went to a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming that I had attended as a child 40 years before.

Guess who's desk this is?

I take joint ownership of this big TV.  When it comes to Steeler football the size of the TV can't be big enough for me.

Great photography!  See my glass of Coke sitting by the TV. 

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

The Auction...

This is one more item on my list of favorite things.  My brothers, sister and I got this for my mother about 25 years ago and I got to have it after my mother passed away.  It isn't an original (we couldn't afford that).

It is called "End of the Line" and was done by the artist Queena Stovall of Virginia.  She passed away in 1980 at age of 92. 

I grew up going to auctions every Saturday with my mother.  I've eaten enough sloppy joe and hot dogs (you could always buy those) to last a long time.  Her house was a treasure chest of auction finds.  A cherry dining room table with 6 leaves that she got for about $25.00 and had refinished.  A cherry corner cupboard with old glass and so much more I couldn't even begin to list it.  We almost always got there early and stayed until the bitter end and in PA it could get really bitter cold.  The end of the sale was when you got the best deals.  I can't tell you how many times we had to make a call to my dad and my brothers to bring the truck because we had too much for the station wagon.

We used to tell my mother she was the one sitting at the base of the tree with the box filled with dishes.  I got my love of Ironstone china from her.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

My Daddy...

Since I started the week with a picture, I thought I would continue the week with some more.

This is my fathers high school graduation picture and again it is in an antique frame my mother gave me.

Was he a handsome guy or what?  He was also incredibly kind, understanding and extremely polite.  My oldest son Rick looks a lot like he did.

I've tried to incorporate a lot of older family photos in my decorating.  Somehow they just make me smile when I pass by them. 

The photo below is my Daddy's high school basketball team.  He is to the left of the tallest guy.

These two photos I've hung in our library/den/office. 

In the last picture he is in the bottom center of the photo.  If you check out the basketball it was 1931.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

One of my favorite things...

My mother bought this victorian piece at an auction about 35 years ago.  She gave it to me and said I would know what to do with it.

Once I found a picture frame to put my children's picture in I knew I had a winner.  It's hung in many houses, usually in the living room but here it's in the hall.  Hence the sort of odd angle of the picture.

It's hard for me to believe those precious little guys are now 38 and 36 years old.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Storm Damage

We had someone come to our house yesterday to grind down the stumps left from the trees we recently had taken down. 

He had only been gone about 6 hours when we had a storm go through with 60 mile an hour winds.

So tomorrow our tree guy will be coming back again to trim up this tree (which he thinks he can save).

Look at that old dead tree across the street.  Why couldn't it have blown down?  Oh well.

We were planning to go to Charleston, SC for a week in October.  I see that trip getting shorter and shorter as the trees fall.  If this keeps up, we'll be going for the day.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Added Bird Nests...

There can never be too many bird nests in our house so yesterday I added a three more.

I tucked this one in where I try to hide the speakers.

This one is surrounded by ivy on the hutch and my grandmothers beautiful dogwood china.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen