Stylish Blogger Award......

I Am So Excited!

 When I received this "Award" today from Olivia at CozyComfyCottage, I can not tell you how this made my day, Thank You Olivia! She is a mother of 4 beautiful children and a wife of a great chef, she and her husband make frugal choices that gives them freedom from debt, something we all dream about. 

Here it is, I am supposed to share 7 things about myself!

1. I am an early riser, most of the time before sunrise, drinking my morning cup of java and enjoying the quiet and stillness of the early morning hours.


2. I am happily married to my childhood sweetheart, soon to be 39 wonderful years.


3. We have 2 wonderful grown children, 1 daughter and 1 son.


4. We have 2 wonderful precious grandsons, 3 &  8 years old, they are the light of my life and I spend every chance I get with them.


5. I love to garden and work outside so when it is  pretty out my house does not get a lot of  attention inside. 

6. My hubby and I always have a cup of java (sometimes I have hot tea) and just 
chill out for a little while in the afternoons after work.


7. I love to read about the lives of the Amish and I dream of visiting an Amish community  some day.

Now I get to nominate 7 other great blogs to visit! 

This is the hard part.....All of the blogs I follow are the best of the best so believe me when I say it is hard to just choose only 7.

A Full Cottage
Farm Chicks Kitchen
From My Front Porch In The Mountains
Red Farm House
The Apron Goddesses
EMZ-Piney Post
Counting My Blessings

The Stylish Blogger Award Rules......

       Thank the person who gave you the Award and link back to them in your post.

 
       You must share 7 things about yourself.


       Award 7 recently discovered new blogs and contact them to let them know  
       they have been awarded.

God Bless

&

Be Safe

~Linda~

   

NOT THE REAL DEAL....

but it works the same.

I got the idea from Miriam over at Negerigeletschtempoit ......I don't know if you have paid her a visit and saw her neat little compost thingy.....but I thought it was the cutest little thing.  

This is what Miriam's compost thingy looks like.......I told you it is cute!

Internet photo

I was going to order me one but a couple of days after seeing hers I had ran into our local Goodwill Store and found mine.

Like I said it's not the REAL DEAL......

It's an Ice Bucket that has been transformed.....

BEFORE

I love this paint.....you can use it on just about anything!

AFTER

I think it looks pretty cool sitting by my sink......

very handy little bucket!

God Bless
&
Be Safe


~Linda~

SWEET DELICACY!

I ran into Wal Mart yesterday for a few things.....

needed a couple of items for our Friday night homemade pizza.

I have spoiled my hubby just a bit.....he looks forward to Friday night pizza.

I went over to the produce section to buy fruit and such......

they were out of the variety bag of peppers. 

I like the variety because its cheaper and you get 1 of each....I stood there for a moment trying to talk myself out of buying the singles....nope, I had to have 1 red pepper to put on my pizza....can't wait to get them growing in the garden!

As you all know RED peppers are an excellent source of Vitamins A & C and they contain Lycopene, which is related to beta-carotene and is a powerful anti-oxidant.

This beautiful baby cost me almost as much as the cake plate it is setting on.....no joke....I paid $2.48 for this sweet treat and I only paid $2.99 for the cake plate (bargain I posted about previously).

I was expecting GOLD to be inside when I sliced this sweet delicacy but to my surprise there was not any......how do you like that!

Our pizza was delicious and I sliced up the remaining delicacy and froze it to keep every little piece fresh for the next use....I even saved the seed to dry and plant.

Have a wonderful weekend from my home to yours!

God Bless

&

Be Safe

~Linda~

FREE GROCERIES.....

About a week ago I received this pack of coupons from Kroger Supermarket thanking me for shopping with them......

They did good!

I did good!

I used some of my coupons today.....

matter of fact I used most of them today.

Here is what I got FREE!

Lays Wavy Chips (FREE) are my hubby's favorite, the bacon (FREE) is for the grandsons next week.....I usually only buy bacon when the boys come to stay a couple of days with us.....they love bacon. We eat a lot of baby carrots (FREE) and I thought I would try the Wheat Thins (FREE and they are very good). 

My FREE items totaled $12.50

I also received a lot of coupons that were from $0.65 to $1.50 off on products I use....most of them were on sale and with the coupons I got a good savings.

This is the first time in a long time I felt good about grocery shopping.....my total bill was only $29.00 and that's including tax. It would be nice if Kroger would send these coupon packs out every month......but I doubt that will ever happen.

God Bless

&

Be Safe

Linda

THRIFT STORE FINDS.....

A couple of more great finds while I was shopping last weekend in Camden. 

I love finding these small thrift stores....you never know what you will find. 

As soon as I walked in the store my eyes went to this wall sconce............

 It spoke.....

            

"COTTAGE"

then it was calling my name so I could not pass it up.

I gave $8 for it......probably not the best bargain but I did not think it was too bad.......

It's 17 inches tall and it does have that cottage look.

This little cheese dome was found in a different thrift store.....my mom got one too.....

ONLY $4....don't know yet how I am going to use it.....I have seen several of these decorated up so cute....if you have any suggestions please feel free to leave me a comment with your idea. I would love to hear from all of my crafted friends in Blog-land.

God Bless

&

Be Safe

Linda

A FEW GOOD BARGAINS.....

This time I found some great bargains in a furniture store in Camden while I was visiting with my daughter and the boys. I love this furniture store for its great decorating pieces they sell and their "Clearance" items are really clearance, not marked down just a little, I mean they are really marked down to sell. Wal Mart needs to learn from them what "clearance" means.

This is the "best" bargain of the day!

I could not believe that I found this, I needed one for my vintage floor lamp in the bedroom. This was a steal for $5 marked down from $45.....can you believe this....I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming.

Next great bargain of the day is this cake plate...

Grabbed it for $2.99 marked down from $22.99.......it is cream in color and there were 3 of them....my mom got one like mine and my daughter got a sage colored one.  Love these kind of bargains!

Last but not least....another great little buy....

 

I just had to have this to go with my "Cottage" decor......got it for $6 marked down from $16.99. 

There were so many great bargains.....wanted to buy more.....when you are on a tight budget you have to limit yourself and it was hard!

We had a great time.....we went to a few thrift stores.....I will post them at a later time.

I will be at my SIL for a couple of days and nights to help with her....she is improving, learning to get around with her walker better until she can put weight on the leg she broke (another 2 months). Keep her in your prayers..........Thank you and wishing a wonderful day to all of my  friends!

God Bless

&

Stay Safe

Linda

FULL MOON..............

Awe...........I lay sleeping last night very soundly for a change........ but not for long. 

It was good while it lasted...........

You see, I took down my window treatment in our bedroom (actually I broke the blind pulling on it) about 2 months ago and have not replaced it but.......

        that's ok, our house is surrounded with woods upon a hill so it does not bother me not having anything on my window.

I want you to know at 2 AM this morning I was awaken by the most beautiful FULL moon I have ever seen. It was shining directly, seeming so close, into our bedroom so lovely and bright.

You don't know how bad I wanted to get up and shoot photos of this beautiful creation sent from above............

Being the thoughtful person I am, I did not want to startle and disturb my hubby from his deep sleep, thinking he would think I was crazy at this time of the morning.

But get this......when I told the hubby all about this beautiful full moon he asked..............did you get a picture of it?

Now at this point and time I could kick myself.............. IF I get this chance again, believe me my camera will be clicking and the flash will be flashing!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

God Bless

&

Be Safe

Linda

BIRTHDAY GIFT.........

                     FOR A SPECIAL PERSON........

                                          OUR WONDERFUL DAUGHTER!
  We celebrated her 38th birthday (seems like yesterday she was born) over the weekend and had a wonderful time.
 
In a previous post I showed you the 3  little vintage aprons I have......
well I decided to give our daughter her first apron for a birthday gift.....she was so surprised! 

Here is what I did....boy did she love it!

First of all I wanted to display the little apron in a shadow box....I did not have one large enough....so I put my brain to the test. I went up to the attic to look around and found 2 large identical picture frames that had no glass....I bought these last year at a yard sale for $1.00 each and this is what I did.....

I cut a heavy piece of cardboard to fit one of them for the back....it fit snug as a bug in a rug!

Then..........

I added some nice decorative paper and ribbon for the background.....I was really getting excited at this point.

(Drum Roll Please)

What do you think....

 I found some really nice short poems about daughters and printed them out to attach. My hubby cut out a piece of glass at work for me (fit perfectly) and I glued the 2 frames together. 

        I wish you could have been there....she was so thrilled. She walked all through her house trying to find the "perfect" place for it....she decided to hang it in the kitchen and it looked so good with her kitchen decor.

NOW.......I also made her a new apron because she loves her aprons.

 I am so glad she had a wonderful birthday.....but I don't know if I will ever be able to top this gift.

God Bless

& 

Stay Safe

Linda

CAN IT BE.........

THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING!!

This is only the beginning........

Don't you just love Spring!!

It has been absolutely beautiful here in our little part of country.....temps have been in the low 60's with lots of SUNSHINE!!!

(can you tell I am just a little excited)

I hope we continue to get this beautiful weather that we have had for the past 2 days......

  I hope all of my great friends in blog-land are getting some of the same.

Hope everyone has a "sweet" and Happy Valentines Day!

God Bless You All

Linda

NEW LOOK

 By all means I am NOT a decorator......

I would like to say "Thank You" for all the suggestions and tips from my great friends in blog-land.

I will show the "BEFORE" picture and then the "AFTER" picture and please feel free to leave your comments.

OK, here it is................

THE BEFORE

Very blah after taking down all the Christmas decorations.

It needed......"HELP".

THE AFTER

OK..what do you think..........come on give it to me straight!

After posting this and looking at the picture I am thinking about adding more flowers to the top of the wreath.........what do you think?

God Bless

Stay Warm

&

Be Safe

Linda

"LAST SNOW"

Ok....it's time.........

                 It's time for "ALL" of the beautiful white snow to go "hibernate" until December.

I went out twice this morning to take the last of snow pictures until next winter. 

That's it.............I am done!

I love shooting photos of this beautiful white stuff but..............

ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

Please enjoy...... this is it until next winter.......I hope!

This is one of my bird baths.

An old wagon wheel.

Lots of animal tracks.....they were stirring a lot last night.....found them all over and around the house. I love the shadow effects in this pic.

One of my bird houses.

This is a stump that I am wanting to put in one of my flower beds....I think it looks pretty cool.

"Smokie"

Woods back by the lake.

Speaking of shadows....

I love the way the snow and sun produces shadows so I shot several neat photos this morning.

This is a reflection of the dog fence and metal post.

Shadows on steps to front porch.

This is "me"....shooting my own shadow.

Me & my shadow in black & white.

Me & my shadow......playing around with lighting effects.

 Me & my shadow in Black & White "waving goodbye" to the snow!

God Bless

Stay Warm

&

Be Safe

Linda

APRON MEMORIES

                     About my new book...."The Apron Book"

I am just so excited about this book......

as I was reading through it.......

My heart was filled with wonderful memories.

I went to the cedar chest (that was once my parents) and took a trip down memory lane....

Wait, I would love for you to join me on this trip..........so lets get going......

First I came across an small apron that my mother-in-law had made for our daughter when she was about 3 yrs old (she will be 38 Saturday the 12th), I even found a small piece of crayon still in one of the little pockets.

Then I came across an apron I had made our daughter when she was about 5 yrs old, it also had little pockets for crayons, pencils, small notepad and whatever else she wanted to put in them. You can tell I was not an experienced seamstress then, I did get better as the years went on.

Last but not least.........I found the little apron I made when I was about 8 yrs old and was in a Brownie Troop (kind of like Girl Scouts). This apron is made of domestic fabric and I decorated it with crayons and markers and even put my initials on it, as you can see on the waist band. This was my first sewing project.........Now that was a long long time ago! 

Wow! What a trip and I am glad you came along..............such sweet memories to hold on to. 

God Bless

Stay Warm & Safe

Your Friend,

Linda

I GOT IT....I GOT IT....I GOT IT!
                                     I am so excited........
                                              I just received my new book in the mail........

                                    You know....."The Apron Book"
                                                                         by.....EllynAnne Geisel

See.......

Can't wait to sit down and go through "All" of it.....right after dinner.

                            

                      I know it is late to be having dinner but..........

    I have been busy reading and trying to catch up on some blogging. 

Here is a sneak peak of  a couple of  pages......

 

 Now do you see why I am sooooo excited?

 

I love it...I love it...I love it!!

                                

See I told you I am excited..............

       

Can't wait to get started on one of these aprons......I will be posting more about it later.......

 

gotta go eat now and sit down with my new book!

God Bless

&

Stay Warm

Your Friend,

 

Linda