(Almost) Happy New Year!!!

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy new year!

As ol' Ben Franklin once said, "Lost time is never found again."

So remember to cherish life, be happy and enjoy every moment.

:> )

Little George...

Last night I burned the midnight oil and finally finished my favorite president.
He may be small in stature but he's big in personality!

He'll be available this evening on Early Work Mercantile along with my Folk Art Canada Goose Decoy.



Click on the banner below to go directly to my page.



I'll be back later tonight to make my final post for 2013 so I won't say type "Happy New Year" until then.
Uh-oh. I just did.

Oh well, hope to "see" you tonight anyway!!

:> )

A sneak peek at my first 2014 offering on Early Work Mercantile tomorrow night...

My Folk Art Canada Goose Decoy.





This is my take on sweet Paula Bureman's goose pattern.

Also, I'm desperately trying to finish up another offering. Not sure if I'll get him ready for tomorrow night though. Wish me luck!

So before you ring in the new year, be sure to stop by Early Work Mercantile after 6pm and have a look!!

Be happy.
Love life.

:> )

I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas!

We sure did!

Spent time with family and friends and just enjoyed being with each other.

Hubs and I don't exchange gifts. We buy what we need throughout the year, so really there is no need to exchange gifts with each other.
HOWEVER, we tend to get (practical) gifts from our furbabies.

For example Stella and Gracie got me a couple of wonderful hoodies, a pair of insulated Mossy Oak camo pants and some working gloves.



No I don't hunt, but I plan to wear the camo when I go for walks on the trail. This way no one will be able to see me. ((giggle))
Loading firewood like I do, I was in desperate need of some good leather gloves and I got them.

Then Stella and Gracie bought my sweet hubs a nice throw to cover up on the couch with on these cold winter evenings. A farmhouse built in the late 1800's can be awfully drafty.

Which leads into his next gift.

Living in an old farmhouse occasionally brings some unwanted "visitors" of the four legged kind. I have mentioned in the past about little gray mice that tend to "stop by" in the attic.

My sweet hubs has certain jobs around the house (that I refuse to do) and mouse duty is one of them. I do love mice, but not in my home. So they've got to go.

Getting up in our attic is quite the project. No stairs. Just a small opening in the ceiling. So when he has to check the attic it's a pain in the butt. Drag out the ladder, set it up... This has been going on for 13 years.

So under the tree this Christmas for my sweet hubs was an attic extension ladder.
But you'll be surprised who it was from.

This note was on his gift...



:> )

And she brought forth her first born son...

wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room at the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock at night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger.



And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:7-14

That's what Christmas is about.

Wishing you and your family a blessed and merry Christmas.

♥

The holidays can be hectic...

Only if we allow them to be.



Remember life is never perfect, so don't stress over the little things.

Gifts are great.
But if you ask anyone about their childhood Christmas memories, they remember the time they spent together, not what they got.

So relax, have a Christmas cookie (or two), smile, make a snowman (or a sandman), sing "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" as you scrub the toilet bowl, be silly, dance (please, no twerking), reminisce, pad your bottom and learn how to ice skate, miss those no longer with us; but don't be sad (they wouldn't want to see us sad at Christmastime or any other time), drive around town and look at Christmas lights, be grateful, laugh and most important love the time you spend together with family and friends.

Oh and be merry and bright.

:> )

A good thing I'm handy with tools...

As much as I love my almost new plaid settee in the living room, it was telling me it would prefer to be in the keeping room with our Founding Fathers and great presidents.
No my furniture doesn't really talk to me. Well...



Maybe just this one time.
((hee-hee))



Like I said, a good thing I'm handy with tools. I took apart the daybed, wrestled it and the mattress upstairs, tucked it away and moved the settee all before my sweet hubs got home.

Of course, he didn't notice it right away. Men!
But when he did, he liked it much better.

So now I need to fill the gaping whole in my living room where the settee was.

Did I mention Craigslist has a tendency to talk to me too??

((giggle))


Happy Tuesday!

:> )

He said... She said...

You know how it is. You tell your hubs one thing.
"Honey, please take out the trash."
He hears something else.
"Don't worry, Honey. I'll take out the trash. You sit there and continue to watch television."

Well it's like that in the poultry world too. We just don't hear about it. Unless of course you speak poultrynese.
((giggle))

Here are my last offerings for 2013.



Click on the button to go directly to my site.



Now it's time to bake like a mad woman!
My Christmas cookie recipes are calling me.

"Yoooooo Hoooooo! It's time to put on your elastic waist sweatpants and eat cookie dough..."

Shhhh!!!!

Happy Sunday, all!

Remember to be merry and bright.

Bake something too!

Heart or head...

When it comes to home renovation, which do you follow??

I would like to say most definitely I follow my head. But my nose would grow like Pinocchio if I did.

Take for example, windows.

We're considering having the rest of the windows in this old farmhouse replaced, but I am struggling with ONE window design. The window(s) above my kitchen sink.



Right now we have very dated and groovy casement windows. I am not a fan of casement windows. The wide vertical "bar" smack dab in the middle blocks my view and drives me nuts. I'm constantly bobbing and weaving to look out the window.
But I understand they are practical over a kitchen sink. Easy access. Easy to reach. Same thing with slider or awning windows. Bla, bla bla... My opinion is, I don't like them much. As my daddy used to say, "Opinions are like butt-holes, everybody has one."

I prefer my windows to reflect the style of my house. We have a farmhouse built in the late 1800's so casements and sliders are too contemporary to me however practical they may be.
I want a big ol' double hung window over my kitchen sink. You know... The kind you can place a freshly baked pie on the sill and someone comes along, lifts the window and swipes it. It happened all the time with The Little Rascals. ((giggle))

So please give me your opinions. Your pros and cons about windows. New or old.

Maybe just maybe you can talk me out of a big double hung over my kitchen sink with some good ol' common sense.

But don't bet on it. ((giggle))

Happy Saturday!!

Remember to go play outside.

Brrrr!!!

Woke up to a snowy 9 degrees outside!
But I'm definitely not complaining. I'll take the cold and snow over the heat and humidity any day! I heard some of you gasp in horror. ((giggle))
Give me the choice between Hawaii and Alaska, guess where I'd go??
MUSH!!

I am trying to finish up a Polka Dot Folk Art Rooster and Polka Dot Folk Art Hen to offer on my site in a day or two.

In the meantime, here's a few outdoor pics to share.







Enjoy your Thursday, all!

Be merry and bright!!

:> )

AND IN THIS CORNER...

Today, I went 12 rounds with...



a strand of white Christmas lights.

You would think my bout with these twinklers were trying to get them untangled.
Oh I wish it were that easy.

Nope. I couldn't get this seemingly innocent strand of lights off a small four foot section of outdoor greenery.

I knew they were going to be trouble when I hung the greenery around our porch, plugged them in and only half the strand lit up.
Why I oughta...
Thankfully, I have a few boxes of back up lights just for this kind of "occasion."

Mind you, it wasn't snowing. But is was very cold and I was sporting my red flannel PJ bottoms, a fleece shirt, a bubble vest, my Elmer Fudd hat, fingerless gloves and boots. Yes, I tend to make quite a fashion statement when doing my outdoor decor. I think I figured out why my hubs preferred not to help me.

So I get to work. Ten minutes go by and I barely made a dent. Twenty minutes into it, my hands are numb but I'm still tugging, pulling and cursing. Forty minutes later I'm standing there laughing like Tom Hanks did in the Money Pit's bathtub scene as the strand still sits quietly on the greenery.

Could I have taken wire cutters and be done with it? Sure, I could have. But by that time, it was the principle of the thing! I tell ya, I wasn't gonna let them get the best of me!

Finally an hour later I removed the strand and replaced it with a new one.

You know, I'm almost tempted to have that strand mounted and hang it above the fireplace. Wait a minute.... We don't have a fireplace. The wood stove will have to do.

((giggle))

Be merry and try not to curse when you're Christmas decorating.

:> )

You all know how I feel about forced "Political Correctness..."

But feel free to say Happy Holidays to me.
I don't mind at all.

♥


Be Merry.

:> )

Thanks TJ for sharing this.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I like to have some kind of Christmas tree in almost every room of the ol' Countryfolk homestead.



Nothing fancy or grand.



Just something simple...



and (of course) a little Americana.
Which includes a crazy, little Boston Terrier.



Be Merry.
Decorate a tree.

:> )

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Man! It's already December 4th?! I am way behind on my Christmas decorating.

I need to light a fire under my butt and get everything done! I still have a long way to go, but here's a peek at a few of my wonderful handmades from other dear artist friends I cherish so.









Here's "Twinkle Toes" Stella burning a hole through me when I was outside decorating.






Well... Back to work!
Stella is too short to help and the tree isn't going to decorate itself.

:> )

Be Merry!!