Closet Re-Do, Halloween Past, Old Friends

Hello fellow Bloggers and all others that enjoy reading our blogs!
Well I think I’m finally over my Sinus Infection…man that was a long one – I am especially glad the headaches are gone. That was worse than the infection.

I hope your week was wonderful…mine was okay – nothing to write home about but I’m still here and kicking, so I guess that’s a good thing for me huh?

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I know there are many of you that are on your way today to Ohio for the SIMPLE GOODS SHOW…hope you all have a safe and very eventful time….there should be lots of wonderful treasures just calling your name.  Guess my name wasn’t on anything this year as I didn’t get to go…but there’s always another year God willing.

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Oh, I have a wonderful sale on my website right now until the 15th of this month.  5 Christmas Penny Rugs have been reduced 30%…never taken that much of a reduction before so I hope you will take advantage of it!   kmprimitives.com

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We are in the process of re-doing our bedroom closet…needed many years ago but like so many things in an old home you just never can keep up.

Our closet started bugging me not only because of the small size but there was a built in dresser taking up 36 inches (width) and as high as the closet…and the wood was old and really smelled old – not good!!!!
So on Monday we started ripping it all apart…goodness you never know what lurks behind old walls. Lots of gremlins waiting for us – made the job a bit harder for my husband. Bad patch jobs on the plaster, holes in the floor (under where the dresser was), and a heat pipe going straight up the middle!!!!  So we had someone come in and tear out the pipe – it led to the guest room upstairs…but not anymore (there’s another heat pipe going up there on another wall so it will be just fine). 
Just look at all the different colors that closet was painted….green, blue and gray  (and I assume the room as well) . UGH!!!!
We will be putting in new shelving and hanging units…nothing fancy but way better than what we had before.

 

See what I mean about floor boards missing and that horrible patch job on the wall….

More pictures after this weekend when the drywall is replaced and painted and new trim

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Last Saturday we had a Halloween party here with our family and to draw names for Christmas. We had snacks first and enjoyed the evening and then had dinner of Pulled Beef Sandwiches, Mostaccioli, Ham and Cheese Sliders and all the goodies to go with it.
I made a Pumpkin Bean Bag toss and there were a few rounds of it throughout the night…along with some good ole fun.
I found the game idea from PINTEREST and made my own version of it…maybe for Christmas I’ll change it out and make it a Snowman Toss.

Aidan didn’t want to play a real game but he had fun just going up to it and dropping the bags in

The kids got Glow Sticks in there treat bags and had to try them out…Aidan couldn’t get a real spin going but he had fun just the same – he just kept giggling the whole time Joe was spinning his.

For our snack table….Heather made a wonderful Mexican layered dip, MaryAnn made the Mummy Hot Dogs.
I did a bunch of other things that aren’t showing on the table…but among these are String Cheese Fingers in Marinara sauce, Vegi Dip with Carrot fingers (Almonds for fingernails)….these two were from PINTEREST as well.
I made Chocolate Cup cakes with Fluffy frosting and there were candy Eye Balls on them but I didn’t get a picture up close.  And a Cream Puff Torte with a Chocolate Spider Web on top…no picture either.

 

Snack Bags
 


 

The bunch of us…Jesse was the only one missing.
 

Brett and Heather brought this lovely little Fall flower too!  After the party I set it in the carved out Pumpkin.
 

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I received a couple of wonderful little surprises in the mail this past week – both from LINDA’S…one was from my friend in Pennsylvania – we missed seeing each other a couple weeks ago and she had a gift for me and so she mailed it off – and it’s an adorable sheep (with real sheep’s wool for his body).
Thanks so much Linda…you always know how to brighten up a blue day!

 

And from Linda Parker over at Parkers Paradise Blog http://parkersparadise.blogspot.com/  I received a wonderful surprise package…she is just the sweetest Lady in Blogland…always thinking of others and I was one of the recipients of her generosity…look at these adorable Pillow Tucks she sent – just perfect Linda…THANK YOU SO MUCH.  You are a very beautiful Lady inside and out.

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I’m busy grunging some Warm and Natural today…I want to get some Primitive Ornaments made for Old Lady Morgan’s Ornament Exchange and I’m really pushing for time…I wonder what this will turn into!!

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GOODBYE DEAR FRIEND:
Phyllis Durrant 1930-2011
 
And last….one of our dearest friends passed away this past weekend…we have known Phyllis since 1972 when we built our house in Janesville. It was a brand new subdivision going in and we were the 7th home to build there…right next door to Phyllis and her family. We met during the days we went over there building our home…and have been friends ever since.

Long story short…we all became fast friends…if you saw them you saw us…what more can I say.

So we said goodbye to her on Tuesday…and I bawled like a baby when I greeted her husband – but not for her…she’s at peace finally and smiling and TALKING.
It was all the remembering of the laughs and good times and all those lost years.

I miss her…although the missing started 15 years ago. Phyllis got a horrible disease called Progressive Aphasia.

WHAT IS APHASIA?
Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that
impairs a person's ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence.
Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.

See why this is a horrible disease…she knew but couldn’t communicate!

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Going to our grandchildren's Church tonight for a Chili Supper…should be delicious!

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this long post…didn’t intend for it to be that way but as you all know I can be chatty!
Blessings,
Karen

Am I a Horder???? Yikes

Hi all, Yes, I’m still around…been sick for going on 3 weeks now – after 2 Dr. visits, 2 different antibiotics…yuk! Won’t bore you with details but still not better!

I know most of us have seen the TV show Hoarders…well last week I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets to re-organize and to get rid of a few things and honestly didn’t realize how many bows I had…now I collect Salt Glaze but wow..
I put them all out on the table and put them in the cabinets according to size – makes it much easier to find them and get more use out of them. I also took a few to a consignment shop and put 4 of the real large ones on the shelves in the dining room.
Now mind you…I DO USE ALMOST ALL OF MY BOWLS AT DIFFERENT TIMES…and especially the really small ones almost daily so it was hard to determine which ones ‘went’.  I even gained a bit more cabinet space!
 

  

Last weekend our sons came over to help their dad put the plastic on the screen room (necessary for our hard Winters of snow)...it would blow those screens right in if it wasn't up.

I know they all enjoyed it and it was fun seeing the guys with their dad...lots of fun and some things I won't repeat...guys you know!

Brett brought his tree trimming tools and fixed a place in the tree that had been splitting for years- hopefully it will last a while longer.

Then I got them all together (when they were finished of course….didn’t want to disrupt the flow!)

Dan, Darren, Doug, Brett….thanks guys!

Oh….I asked Brett what Joe was doing because he didn’t come with him like I thought he would…he said he was having a LEGOPALOOZA with 6 of his friends – 7 hours of non-stop LEGO building.
Heather sent me a few photos – I can imagine all the different things they built that day. Joe is the third one from left in back row.
  
 
 

I ordered a wonderful door box from Jen over at Hickory Hills Primitives…it’s solid and the finish on it is a beautiful Mustard color.
I would show you what it looks like on my door but we’re trying to find a way to display it – I can’t get a hanger to work so I’ll have to go looking for one – our door is steel so no nails!
The picture is from Jens site…but our door is red also, so you get the idea – now I need to find a 3m hanger and fill the box with my real Bittersweet that has been waiting for the box to arrive
 

And in the package Jen added these wonderful Wax Bowl Fillers with an awesome Cinnabun scent
Go on over and check out her site…all their products are made by them
http://hickoryhillprimitives.com/ 

Now I thought I didn’t have anything to post today…guess I was wrong – I can be chatty even when I don’t feel well….

Do you remember like way back to the beginning of Spring I think it was – maybe before that even…I was getting into rug hooking – well I bought a chair pad kit and finally got the hooking part of it finished last week. I’m slow with it because I’m not good at it but it’s my actual first one – got two others in the process but I don’t like them so maybe will take them apart.  I need to back this and put ties on it (maybe) and it will be ready to use.  I’m rather proud of it!

And then there’s my two kitties – normally they don’t get this close to each other and I’m not sure why Baby is peeking through the island legs at Lola – I think she’s wondering ‘where’s my food’!
 

Enjoy the rest of your week and hope you all have a great Halloween … for us we’re having a party here at the house with the kids.  Not doing much but it still should be fun.

 Booooooooo!   Karen……..

Apples and Black Walnuts

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE…This weekend was one of the most beautiful so far this month…well the whole last two weeks were as well but I so enjoyed the weekend.
We spent lots of our down time in the screen room – not many of those kinds of days left to sit out there.  We enjoyed watching the Brewer’s and the Packers do their thing…like they do!!!!  Yeah…they both won!
And I made some awesome Baby Back Ribs and these delights below!

I had a need to make something with Apples so I made some Apple Dumplings – they turned out good but not great. I don’t think I had enough sugar inside but it certainly didn’t stop me from eating mine.
They were calling my name even before they got baked

Here’s mine just waiting for the special sweet Vanilla sauce
 

 
Doesn’t it look awesome!  Yep, it was.

 

On Thursday I went Black Walnut picking…right out my front door (well, IN THE STREET, across the street).
These came from the road – there are so many you don’t need to search or even go into the grass area and the best part is the cars that hit them have popped the skins on them so that saved me tons of time and stained hands.  These are also the culprits that kill all our tomatoes, and most of the flowering plants we plant…there’s a tree in back and one in front…we are doomed.
 
Now mind you I finally did get stained fingers – I lifted up the bag they were in without thinking. Do you know how long the stain stays…I have a tinge yet this morning.

I put them in a pillowcase (no I will not wash them and use them again on the bed!) and in pans then covered them with very hot water and almost immediately it started  to show some color.
I let them soak for a couple days

And no finished photo to show you…I was so busy helping Doug get these bags out of the pans and not get any of it on the driveway (death would have occurred instantly because this was all done against his will).
We put the stain in a large covered bucket and he carried it oh so carefully to the basement where I will have to use it…no stain upstairs in the kitchen sink.

Now…will someone tell me how to use this stain…do I use it like I do my coffee mixture?
And…if I boil it down some to condense it will it still work so I can get a darker color?
I thank you in advance.

Goodness I just have to share this.  I purchased a Kindle edition of the new book by Amy Clipston called ‘Naomi’s Gift ‘ (another wonderful Amish Fiction – part of Kauffman’s Amish Bakery series) and not too far into it I found an error…double words so that left part of the sentence off…but I kept reading…a few pages later, more double words…this repeated itself through the entire book.  36 KNOWN DOUBLE WORD ERRORS/PARTS OF SENTENCES LEFT OFF in the book (that I noticed anyway).

I reported this to Amazon (along with a detailed description of EACH ERROR AND PAGE it was on (at their request) and they immediately refunded the price (but also removed the book from my kindle - Boy, they sure could have let me have the inferior edition for heavens sake)!
And I e-mailed Amy as well…she replied back with a huge thank you.

THIS IS A SERIES WORTH BUYING AND READING.
 
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series
Book One:  A Gift of Grace
Book Two: A Promise of Hope
Book Three: A Place of Peace
Book Four: A Life of Joy (available Jan. 24, 2012)
Book Five: Naomi’s Gift
   

 

 

So how many of you are on PINTEREST?  I love that site.  I have found so many wonderful ideas and recipes – it’s like having your own online journal of all things you like…so if you want to follow me and join yourself let me know…I’ll send you an invite. You can find it on the right sidebar at the top.

Now that’s not much from here but it’s all I got for ya! 

P.S. I want to say thank you to WENDY for becoming my 800th follower today! Wow…thanks Wendy.

Karen~