FABULOUS 40 Today!!!!!

Wow Its finally here, the day everyone thinks will never come…middle age. Now sadly to say its my time.  Today is my 40th birthday, the big 40!! No really, it doesn't bother me one bit (maybe a little-lol).  I think of the great Blessing the Lord had given me and it humbles me to think He is soo good to me!!  I feel better than I have in years, exercising and eating right, lost all the baby weight that I accumulated these past 6  years. Mr. Postman said I look the same as the day he met me!!!How can I be anything else but happy. Plus, if what they’re saying is true….. “40 is the new 30”-LOL.

Just  planning on a usual day, cake later with kids….Mr. Postman asked what I wanted for the big day, and I said a trip to one of my favorite places..Berlin OH, so off we go in a few weeks.

My family woke me with wonderful kisses and cards, and yep Mr. Postman and my oldest Son are on the same page, they know me so well…unknowingly they both bought me Old House, Country and New England style magazines and books.  Can’t wait to sit with a Cup Of Coffee and look through them. For now, its on with school and getting the house ready to decorate for Christmas because I have to have it clean and organized before I decorate, don’t you??

Oh yeah, almost forgot..here is one of the things I did with the crocks, this is the smallest 12 gallon one…looove IT!!!!

I’ll leave you with a sneak peak at one more finishing touch for the kitchen…an you guess what its is????

God Bless all My Bloggin Friends today!!!!!

Anne

What A CROCK!!!

Ha…gottcha with that one huh?  Well, you know me and my stories, this one is no different, can only happen to me.  Was doing my usual Antique browsing on Craigslist, when I came across

 

these stoneware crocks.  Thought they were priced well, and right around the corner, so I contacted the seller, arranged time to pick them up ..oh yeah, talked him down another $20.  Got to the house which was a old farm house with a HUGE barn filled with goodies (to be sold later I was told).  I drove down the road to another barn, and saw the crocks…..great condition, but they are HUGE HUGE HUGE!!! I dont know what I was thinking DUH, a 20, 15 and 12 gallon crock will be huge.  So, being the chicken that I am, and hating most confrontation, I bought them anyway .  My son and I had to each take one end of the 20 gallon one they are sooo heavy.  Now a challenge to all you wonderful decorators…What in the world am I to do with them?  I brought the smallest inside to most likely fill with sticks and evergreen for the holidays.

 

The other two not so sure…I did like the big branch idea in CS this month, but will have to paint some branches to look like theirs, since we have none like that on our property.

Mr. Postman and my son both said “I told ya so”, they couldn't see why I would want them at all (little or big) …I do love them, but they are sooo huge.  Any ideas ladies…cmon think of some original good ones for me :)

Ok, now ask me about the kitchen floor..go ahead…Is it done?? Why no, thank you very much..its not.  Trim all needs to be done yet, and we purchased a new ceiling fan, and for some weird reason Postman's uncle said the wiring that was fine before, is now not working…..I thought this was an easy job.

I love the floor, its absolutely awesome!!  It makes the kitchen look bigger and cleaner for some reason..here is a sneak peek for ya. I’ll post more when its complete.

These are the terrific items I received from  Janet at  Olde Crow Primitives.  She sent me wonderful tarts, a bar of oatmeal soup(molded with a harvest scene and crow), some delicious candy….yes sir I cheated a bit on my diet, and some yummy jelly, all wrapped up so nicely in prim tissue paper with a lovely card..Thank You sooo much Janet!! Hope you like your swap items as much as I liked mine!!

Meanwhile, we are in the thick of homeschooling, which has been a challenge this year with Samuel and Grace both doing school, and Lily playing in the same room.  We use the Abeka curriculum.  We do the dvd program for Samuel and the live streaming for Grace.  Samuel definitely needs me there every second or he will  be up and into other things.  Grace on the other hand is perfectly fine doing most of the video on her own except spelling and  other harder things.  She is only in K-4 so its alot of singing and phonics.

  

We are also in the process of revamping the entire website for our store, adding the earth rug line, and  alot of new goodies (some yummy new beeswax tarts, and other holiday items too).  This is such a tedious process, and I  do this at night after the orders are filled , inventory done, and kids in bed for the day. 

I feel like I’ve rambled…..hope ya stuck with me.  Remember…suggestions about the crocks..can’t wait to see what y’all have for me!!!

God Bless,

Anne

Roxy or Rocky?????

 

On the way down, we weren’t too happy…It was a Long but beautiful drive….. 

After driving for 2 hours…we were all smiles and giggles…Roxy was ours!!!!!!

We got the pup at a Amish couples farm…..way far off the beaten path!!!

Here’s something that is typical of one of my adventures………

Gracie picked the smallest puppy who was also the girl……….. she named her Roxy….too cute!!! Got her home and shortly after put kids in bed.  Mr. Postman took Roxy for a walk to go potty, it was dark out so he did not actually see her doing “business”.  He came in and asked me to look and see if her under parts were wet to make sure she went…..

Me:" Honey what's that??”  “Do you see what I see?” 

Mr. Postman: “I don’t know, lets go into the light".”

Hmmmm….well yeah….honey?  This could only happen to you…………Roxy is a BOY!!

Now we got papers for the puppy…two, one says boy and one says girl…too funny. I think the lady did this unintentionally as they were all the same price.  Oh well, he was the cutest and the most mellow, we would have picked him anyway.  He has now been named ROCKY. He has yet to have an accident in the house, very good boy.  Gracie and Samuel are great with him and he is great with them.  So far so good.

On to the floor…ughh not done yet..NEVER have family do a paid job for you…you just don’t feel free to make your requests/complaints as known. 

Remember the turtle in the toilet story?  Turns out it was not a turtle but Postman's uncle flooding the toilet with paper towels!!  $500 Plummer bill later…..Friday, his “helper” did the same thing… today called the Plummer again…..another $175 later…needless to say we were not happy.  We know it was him because my oldest son found the towels in the toilet right after they left full of stain from staining the trim in kitchen…I fished those ones out!!  Well, I’m really hoping by the end of the week everything will be done, I hate complaining, but this has been such a long process (including the porch).  And we have not saved any money having a relative do it either!  Live and learn :)

Well, off to pick up around here and prepare for school in the am.  Hopefully I can show ya my kitchen and bath soon .

God Bless,

Anne

FUll WEekEnD AHeAd ****

Hello Pips !! Its Seems Like its been awhile.  Its been as usual, nutty around here.  With Home Schooling the little ones, battling colds, and getting the new kitchen/bath floor in, I haven’t had much time to myself to say the least.

After looking in Home Depot at the wood flooring they had in stock (nothing I liked), we found that the flooring I wanted would take up to 8 weeks to arrive….NOPE, wayyyy too long.  Besides, I kept going back to the wood laminate (gave ya a sneak peek in the pic) we already bought and kept thinking”wow, I really really love this”.  You have to actually bend over and touch it to see if its real wood.That factored in with the kids, toys and scratches (and the 31 year warranty), we decided to go with the laminate.  Kath over at The Olde Weeping Cedar, and her hubby Steve installed this themselves…..Our installer says they must be VERY talented because its a royal pain to install..is it the floor or him????lol..naw he’s working hard and its almost complete.  Kath..my hat off to you guys…it looks like a tough job!!

Which brings me to the next thing…I know you prim gals won’t be to impressed but I have decided to keep the carpets and hold off on refinishing the hardwoods.  With the kids being so young and homeschooling, its too disruptive to our routine, and they need routine! When the carpets actually need to be replaced and the kids are more independent in their studies, then would be a good time.

Now y’all will think Im nuts… this weekend were off on Saturday to a Amish/Mennonite family’s home to pick up……………ya ready??? Am I Nuts????????????????????????????? I think I maybe to add to this already full 6 person filled home………………………….to pick up a ……………………………………cute….adorable…mischievous…………….cuddly…………..non housetrained…………lot of work………….but worth the smiles………………………PUPPY, yes indeed i am nuts!! But Gracie has been asking for a dog since she came out of the womb! So off we go …its a Poochon, mix of a Bichon and Poodle..nice and small ":) This is not the actual puppies, but just what they look like.  Cute huh? After picking up the pup..name to be determined, were off to my FIL for a visit.  Then Sunday church and hopefully putting the kitchen back in order.

Meanwhile during the week….Tuesday was little Lily’s big 2 year Birthday!! All  Lil Pill wanted was CAKE…she had a wonderful day…my sweet baby girl!! The smallest of all my babies at 8lbs 6oz…the biggest Gracie at 9lbs 15oz!!! Yikes!! Anywhooo…..She is such a sweet little cuddler!!

Well, off to see what a mess is in store for me at the end of this day in the kitchen..cant WAIT till its over !!! Hopefully I will be back shortly with pics of the kitchen and the pup !!Have a safe fun weekend!

GOD BLESS,

Anne

 

Farm Market,Floors & FRAZZLED!!

Greetings PIPS!! Well this past weekend we did indeed get to go to the pumpkin farm…It was FREEZING!! But we all had a great time!! The kids went on the zip cord ride, the tractor wheels, the HUGE slides and of course got their pumpkins and fried dough!!

   

They had tons of farm animals too, which little Lil Pil enjoyed.  We went with Mr. Postman’s Sister and family.  My Brother in Law truly is one that does not care what people think of him, so he donned on this wonderful hat made of Alpaca fur for us…too funny!!! Doesn't he look like he belongs in RUSSIA???

We never did make it out for Postman's birthday..he came home with a bug…Then I got it the next day!!! Now the kids all have colds too!!

On to the floor…ugggghhhh I hate renovations!! We were putting a wood laminate in the kitchen, but I guess my hubby’s uncle decided it was better to rip up the existing flooring instead of “floating” the new stuff on top.  It is a huge job…years of flooring on top one another, remember our house was built in the 1800’s. So needless to say it is a messy job!!

Well, Mr. Postman and the uncle got to talking and decided instead of laminate we would go with real hardwoods since it is only a few cents more per sq foot since the laminate is top of the line.  So, now I either pick new hardwoods out from the store, or wait and order online…can I actually live in a torn up kitchen with 3 kids 6 and under while homeschooling too?? I’m praying they have something in stock that I like!!! I’m thinking about this one….

Now for the FRAZZLED part….during this mess my lovely six year old thought his Ninja Turtle needed a swim so in the upstairs toilet, down he went…..yep time to pop the toilet out which would not have been a prob if I was aware that he did this BEFORE  I started plunging!!!! So now the turtle is either stuck in the trap of the septic or swimming out in the leech fields somewhere!! Did I mention we are on a country septic system????

Enjoying this ongoing saga of my floors?? Tired of it yet…IAM-LOL Hopefully in the long run it will be worth it.

Here are some of the wartty gourds I got at the farm… So ugly I love em!!

Well, off to try and make this place a little more tidy..hard as it is right now!!!

God Bless,

Anne

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Too Far From The Tree

Boy if that ain’t the truth…..Hello PIPS!!!

Let me  give you an update on my folks…Mom of course is the same, the condition she has will never get better, but progressively worse, so we cherish what we have with her now.  The hardest part for me was looking into the room and seeing her as not the same Mom, shaking from the Parkinson’s , most times sitting with a blank stare...  But you know, she still loves to get new clothes, loves her hair done, and loves her baked goods(like mother, like daughter)!!!  Loves my sisters dog too(picture above). My dads back went out again on Monday, so one of my sisters has been over helping everyday.  They go to the doctor sometime next week so thats good.

Well the title of this post is because each time I go over to their house, I see more and more of how much my  mom’s decorating influenced mine.  Growing up I really paid no attention to these things,but now I know where it comes from.

My Dad gave me one of her many decorating books..just look at this…no wonder I love the colonial look.  Duh…..I grew up with it!!

I know this is an awful pic of a dining room in the book, but these chairs are almost identical to my Windsor chairs!!

MINE

We lived in the country in a really old SaltBox house (never understood why my mom was so proud to own such a place..now I know).  I was telling my dad about ripping up the carpets to refinish the hardwoods, he laughed and said…" “do you remember the time I was at work and came home and your mother ripped up all the carpets because she wanted the hardwoods refinished”?? LOL- she always started a project when he was at work so he would have no choice but to finish it..My My the apple does not fall too far from the tree!!!

Love this bedroom!!

Love this old House!!!!

Well speaking of hardwoods…the kitchen is a no go…they are too damaged to refinsh, so we will use the laminate flooring we bought..I still looove this!!!!  The living room is not do-able either….too much damage that they put plywood over.  Dining room and family room are a go…yippie!! So, we should be able to get started early next week. Now to juggle construction with homeschooling!!!

Well, its Mr Postman’s birthday on Sat.  so we are going to dinner tomorrow night..without the kids..our older son is watching the younger ones!!  My hubby is still so young…yes ladies………..I robbed the cradle, he is 6 years my JR……coo coo cachoo Mrs Robinson-lol

Sat. I think we may go to this awesome fall pumpkin/Christmas tree farm, they have a ton of stuff to do ..its awesome. I will post pics if we go..ya gotta see this place!!

By The Way…the little girl on the horse in my header pic is my mom with her two brothers.  Not long after, the brother sitting with her passed away due to swollen glands.. I guess this was common back then…thank God for modern medicine!!

God Bless,

Anne

 

Role Reversals, and Rainy Days

Its rainy, rainy, rainy..cold cold cold!!! But I still wouldn't  trade it for steamy hot weather.  This weekend is our town’s annual Apple Fest..literally thousands come to it each year since we are in NY premier apple growing area. Its called the Hilton Apple Festival.  Hopefully we will get a chance to go, but not sure with the weather and other turn of events…

My folks are not doing well, My Mom as I mentioned before has Dementia with Lewy Bodies..In essence this is similar to Alzheimer's, with Parkinson’s.  Dad has been so faithful in being her sole caregiver, but he is 81, and over Labor Day weekend his back got so bad form arthritis, wearing down the cushion between disks that he could not even get out of bed.  This left no one to help mom, as she is at the stage that she can’t do the simplest of tasks anymore. Dad cant lift her, too much for him.  My sisters have been great with going over and helping, as they have older kids that don't need their attention anymore. There will be visiting nurse coming soon a couple days a week, insurance does not afford anymore days than that. This week starting tomorrow, my one sister is going on vacation, so I will go over in the mornings to get mom dressed, cleaned up and ready for the day. I’m nervous about bathing her as the Parkinson's makes her so unstable on her feet. Wow……THIS pardon my French …..SUCKS!!! Not helping,….seeing your parents  go through this.

My dad broke down last week and was remembering the woman she used to be, how great of a wife, and mother to us eight kids she was…I was crying like a baby…still do when I think about them.  They have been married for 59 years, and I know he is grieving for the loss of what once was. As we all are.  Funny how things change and sometimes we take care of the ones who so lovingly and selflessly took care of us.

So that's the plan for the next week or so.  I will have to juggle this with the kids and babysitters for them. Hopefully we can enlist the help of the brothers and their families too, if they are willing.

Sooo,  sorry to be a downer……the first pic is of the scarecrow I made with the kids…..trying to decorate outside for fall a little, haven’t been in the decorating mood so much.

These antique boxes I purchased from a lady one county over…..she says she has another one, I would like to pick it up for the front porch soon.

Sales are going well, with the ad in CS this month.  We are expecting a pretty big shipment of Christmas merchandise soon.  We are also going to be selling Earth Rugs(braided rugs), this line will be added to the website hopefully by the end of next week. 

Well on to pick up and prepare dinner for the kids, bath them and start thinking about bed….it will be an early day tomorrow…..till next time,

Anne