$1.00 and a proverb...

This is another of the $1.00 frames I got at Michaels.  I've inserted a proverb I think you will appreciate.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Hutch...

This is the hutch in my kitchen.  You'll probably see it 1000 times on my blog because I love to redecorate it over and over again.  This is my china I use everyday, along with some of my other favorite things.

In this one small space I've managed to include five birds and bird nests.  Can you find them all?

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Kitchen tour...

I don't think I have ever posted any pictures of my kitchen.  This tour won't take long because, like most of the rooms in my house, it is small.

Yes, I know I still haven't painted the little island I bought.  It may stay like this till Labor Day weekend because I just don't know how I'll get it done before that. Sanding, priming and painting just can't happen in an evening.

My kitchen may be small but we can cook and entertain easily from here.  Two years ago we had 35 people for dinner and a pool party.  Fortunately for me, Mr. Bird Nest is a terrific cook and between the two of us we can make just about anything.

When our youngest son Chris got married to Elizabeth, we had the rehearsal dinner at our house for seventy-five people.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful May evening, we had little tables set up in the yard and the caterer did fabulous appetizers, a delicious meal and a grooms cake shaped like a fish (The grooms cake is a Southern tradition that we incorporated into the planning).  The caterer also had huge fresh strawberries that she dipped in chocolate.  They were just to die for!    

Most of my cooking is done on the weekends.  Fortunately for me, Mr. Bird Nest gets done with work about 3:00 each day, so he cooks dinner during the week.

The counter-tops are laminate but I do like the color.  We want to tear this all out sometime and start over, but that's a few years away.  I also know that I'm lucky to have a kitchen as nice as this and I try to be thankful for it. 

We really like the stainless steel appliances we have.  The best part of the stove is that it has a top that is easy to clean, a regular oven, a convection oven and a warming drawer. 

I don't know how people keep their counters cleaned off all the time but mine never are.  That may be because I'm a collector.  I have a big pantry (about 4 x 9) and it's full too.  It could be my addiction to buying more and more stuff but let's not get into all that at the end of this nice tour. 

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

   

Shell Cross...

I arrived home from work today to find a package waiting for me with this beautiful cross and a lovely note from Dawn.  I ordered it from Dawn of the  http://gahangirls.blogspot.com/ .  Isn't it incredible?  I have a very special place I'm planning to hang it and when it's on the wall, I will post a picture. 

Thanks Dawn for all the time you spent making this.  I will always treasure it.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

Remember the urn...

I posted this urn on the right a few weeks ago and at that time I hadn't decided how to paint it or what to do with it.

I finally settled on painting it white and then rubbed on some black stain.

Yesterday, as I was going thru HL looking for something else, I had a brainstorm.  OK in the floral department they had something like this already made up and I copied it.

The perfect fall arrangement for my house.  I didn't glue it to the urn and that way I can continue to use the urn the rest of the year.

Now, I wonder what I could do with it for Christmas????

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen

The candy corn saga...

If you read my blog last week, you know that my plan was to make paper mache candy corn for fall.  Well, the process has begun.

My daughter-in-law Elizabeth (the first grade teacher) came over, with grandson Carson, to get started making the candy corn.

I bought this sheet of styrofoam to use as the form.  We made a pattern of smaller and larger candy corn, traced them and then cut them out.  I found a recipe for the paste on the internet, cooked it and then we got started.

About 5 minutes into the process, Carson decided it was too sticky and messy, so Elizabeth and I continued on alone.  We tore strips of paper, put them in the paste and then wrapped them around the cut-outs.

Mr. Bird Nest made himself scarce during this whole process.  I think he thought if we wanted candy corn it would have been a lot easier to buy it.

Since Mr. Bird Nest was at his desk, Carson took over Papa's chair to watch the Olympics and enjoy some pretzels.

Carson's favorite TV show is "How's It Made".  Oh yeah, he's four and smart as can be!  I see a Power Ranger too so that must have been for the commercial breaks.

This is what our final candy corn looked like.  It's now drying on a tray on the screened porch and we'll complete the painting this next weekend. 

I'll prime them this week and give them one coat of paint before they come back to finish these up. 

I think Elizabeth and I had more fun than Carson!

Thanks to all of you who sent me such kind notes after my post on Friday.  I must have been having a bad day because I usually keep most of my feelings to myself.  I guess I want people to know that life isn't always perfect but if we trudge on, it will get better.  So many people have lives more difficult than mine and I know what a good life I have.

Thanks for reading,

Gretchen