~The Deck is DONE!~  For now....

After a few days of shopping, planting, cleaning and some painting...here it is.  I am so glad I like chippy paint!  If I didn't, boy would I be in BIG trouble!

This little swing has a story....my oldest duaghter and I lugged this thing in the box up the stairs and put it together...took it apart...put it back together...took it apart...put it back together...well you get the picture.  You see, I don't like reading directions, lol!  And let me say, it was HOT out here while doing it!  Sara was dying like the typical teenager that never likes doing anything other than what she likes to.

This table was given to me by my aunt and uncle when they moved to Florida.  It was green so guess what I did?  You got it...spray painted it white!  The chairs were a find at Walley World and got a make over too!  I found the rug at Home Goods and the wicker chair was another facebook yardsale purchase.  It needed some paint too!

Last summer the hubs and I built the so called pergola and I made a cover for it and hung the sheers.  Thsi deck gets a little hot, so we added some much needed shade to actually enjoy this space.  A few years ago, I decided to stain the boards.  BAD idea....after the first winter, it was all peeling.  I have pressure washed this sucker and stained it over and over with every stain imaginable!  This summer it isn't getting anything!

I found the mirror at Home Goods and the chair was a thrift store find.  I slipcovered it with some bedding that I no longer needed.  I just adore topiaries and when I found this one at Lowes...I knew I had to have it!

The girls and my husband bought me the pink geraniums for Mother's day.  They know mama loves PINK!

I made the shelf under the window with some book ends that I found at Home Goods.  They were a bright pink so I painted them white.  They bled and became a light pink...how neat was that?!

The chandi came from K-Mart...it got painted too!

These planters were brown when I bought them from a lady.  I love them white!

More pink geraniums!

                                               

I made a slipcover for the potted geraniums since I didn't want to paint it and ruin my pretty flowers.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed a peak of the back deck.  Ther is more around  the corner, but I am still working on it!

Always remember to live a good life and to love freely!  God is so good!

                        ~WELCOME TO OUR PORCH~

Yesterday was not a good day in the Hays home....the hubs was having some trouble putting in our hot water tank.  He had a few leaks, ran a few too many times for parts instead of buying extra (he tried to save a little money) and the stress level of having to fill and drain that sucker over and over was just not good at all!  So, like I always do, when I get a little upset, I clean.  And this is what I did......

What began as frustration turned out to me thinking..."what have I gotten myself into"  as the sweat began to roll.....

The rug came from a friend who didn't want it anymore.  All it needed was a little TLC and a good scrubbing.  I am elated with it,  Thanks Sue!  The rocker was a trash find from my sweet husband.  He knows me all too well.

I ended up carrying all of the furniture off of the porch to be sprayed down with clorox and scrubbed.  Well that ended up turning into scrubbing the whole front side of the house, lol!  We looked like Sanford and Son out front.....

All of the cushions were washed and I found some slipcovers I had made a few years back.  I drug them all out .... it was like Christmas all over again!

I had bought some flowers on Sunday and thought that I'd just put them on the porch until I planted them....now I'm thinking "how can I keep roses in pots?"   I am just so smitten with the look!

This is one of three planters that I found on facebook yardsale and painted white.  Love them!

All in all, I am lovin' the look....I have my little bit of shabbiness outside to enjoy. 

I'll be getting my ferns this week sometime.  I've been holding off because of "sweet little  Birds" love to build their nests in them.   I think their nest building is pretty much done.  I know I'll have a few stragglers, but not like I normally do.  They have all the trees in the world but they pick my ferns evrey year! 

Little Turkeys!

I spray painted the jar basket and watering can, what else of course...white!  I think I am turning into a major white lover.

This is Mamaw's chair....When she comes for a visit.  I wouldn't dare to sit there, she's totally selfish  isn't she?  Love ya Mama!

The stool was made be my Grandpa Jim....he passed away before I was born.  But I have heard so many wonderful stories about him from my whole family.  My Uncle Jack looks just like him.  So in a way I have a little part of him here on earth.  Love you Uncle Jack!

The cabinet holds all of our outside shoes.  I love things to be hidden...especially them!

See the pink pot?  My Mama brought that to me the other day....won't it be so pretty with some white impatients?

I'm planning on staining the brick...it's looking so faded and worn.  Plus I have never liked the red.  But that'll be another story...sigh...it just never ends with me.

 

It was a dreary morning, but now that I have taken the photo's and am doing this story...quess who's showing up now...

the SUN! 

But you get the picture....

                                 

I thought that I would share my recipe for meatballs.  I don't consider myself a master chef, but my family thinks I am, lol!

Here are the ingredients....

Two large packages of burger(you can use turkey too)

Two cans of Hunts for Meatloaf

1 greenpepper diced

Half  of a yellow pepper diced

2 cups of cooked rice( I use whole wheat)

2 eggs

A sprinkle of onion powder( I don't like to cut up onions)

                    

Then mix all ingredients together.

I use my hands and let me tell ya, it's a little messy.

After mixing, make into balls(it's kinda hard because thet are so mushy) and put into a glass baking dish.

You can make them as big or as little that you want.

I usually get a dish and a half with just a little left over.

That's where I get creative.  Sometimes I put it into a loaf pan or like tonight, I made it into something like sloppy joes.

I put the traditional ketchup on top.  It keeps them from drying out on top.

Bake at 350 for about an hour...give or take a little.  You definitely want to get them done. 

I have a gas stove and gas tends to take a little longer than electric.

At least it does for me.

This is a wondeful meal.  I like to make mashed potatoes and some sort of green vegetable with them.

This recipe is great for stuffing peppers too!

Well, I gotta go....

Time to eat!

Enjoy

I thought that I would fill you all in on a little secret, well not really a secret anymore....

I am starting my very own little Cottage shop that I have dreamed about for years now.  It's amazing how things have happened since I came home from the hospital last September.  It started with me worrying about not having the desire for decorating and creating. 

I had to do physical therapy to get my left arm to work properly and have been faced with all sorst of sickness and death in my family.  So many bad things were happening to us and I could not figure out why in the world it seemed like a dam had busted.  God was hearing from me a lot, lol!  I knew that God didn't save my life to take my loved ones away from me or to let me just fall on my face.  I knew He had something in store for me, just didn't know what.

After friends from facebook telling me that I needed to start a blog, I finally decided to do it.  Boy, was it hard!  I felt like I would lose my mind while doing it, but now it seems like so long ago and I am finally comfortable with it now.  After starting a blog, I was told that I needed to start a facebook fan page....well that was another fun and stressful thing to do, lol!  But now I love it!

I have made so many woderful aquaintences on there and so many have inspired me!  So many wonderful blogs were found and  some were opening up their very own shops.  This made me really think!

I had dreamed for years about having my very own place to share my creations with people plus make a little bit of money(just a perk to me).  The sharing was what I had dreamed about.    The hubs and I had talked about it through the years, but it just never seemed like the right time or we didn't have the money.  Plus our girls are almost grown.  So....I guess now it's my turn to get to be me and do what I love doing!

I am opening up my very own shop....hopefully to be built and ready by the end of summer.  I would so love it if it were done before then though!  I have been buying things left and right, some to sell and some to decorate with.

Here are a few photo's of what I've found....

Some things I have already been working on since I get so excited.  My vision is to have white beadboard with beautiful mouldings, an angled ceiling with this chandi all painted and sparkled up hanging from it.  The fireplace mantle will be redone and a focal point when first walking in.  The desk is mine to sit at with the chair that's been redone already.  Shelving will be painted and shabby'd up for all of the lovelies that I have already.  And that beautiful headboard will be made into a bench.  I am thinking of painting the floors in a diamond checkerboard in an aqua with cream.  May change my mind on that, but hey, it's fun dreaming!  I am still thinking about colors for the outside...maybe PINK!  I'll fianlly have that pink house that I've been dreaming about, tee he he! 

I hope to share this wonderful road that I am going down with all of you.  I haven't gotten a good night sleep from all of the dreaming I do every night and all of the talks that God and I have been having.  I thank Him so much for this dream of mine to fianlly be able to come true.  I know He's in it!

                                                                                               

~Hannah's new room~

Hannah and I finally agree'd on a paint color for her walls and bedding after two years of undecidedness....I never thought that we would , or should I say, "I" would get it done.  She has asked me on numerous occassions throughout those two years when I was going to do her room.  Endless nights on the internet searching for that perfect fabric with the right shade of blue and without the pink being the main color seemed to never come to a decision that we both seemed to agree on.  But after a shopping trip for an Easter dress for my oldest, I found it!  I know it had to be meant for us to go into this store that we usually never go into!  As I was waiting on Sara to try on her dress....I spotted it!  I can almost swear that there was a ray of light shining down on it, and I don't swear! lol  I bought a throw pillow to take home and talk over with Hannah.  She loved it, so then the next day we were off to purchase the set and get the paint for her walls....this was just the beginning of the four days that I worked on it.  Hope you like it as much as we do!  here are some photo's of the before....

This room has gone under many little transformations since she moved into here.  I've changed the carpet from blue to white, from one twin bed to two, then a to full bed, bought a new bed and as you might be able to tell, I move the furniture around quite a bit.  But now....her room is just perfect!

She absolutely loves it!  And I must say I do to!  She has the first room in the whole house that is white....hmm...may be doing some more in the future.  But not the near future....I'm tired!  I cut the twin comforter in half(using the other half for some sewing projects in here later) and used part of the dust ruffle to cover the cornices.

The little door knob shelf above the closet was given to me by a dear friend that was done up in the primitive look.  It got a makeover and so did my head as I was hanging it.  I have a knot the size of a quarter!

I used the flat sheet that came with the set for making a skirt for the top of the plywood shelf on Hannah's keyboard.  I hated that little black metal stand...now it looks so much better!  Plus she can hide her junk under the skirt!!!  I also painted the little heart plates, the mattes on her pictures and made the ones beside her bed from some extra bedding. 

She shares the love for the Beatles with her big sis so I had to give her a little space for this huge poster. I found an old frame, painted it and then put in the poster. I used an old picture that Mom was selling in our garage sale and made the board above it for all the little pictures that she had previously taped to the wall(something that drives me nuts).

The shelf was a facebook yardsale find that I originally thought about doing a conopy with over Hannah's bed...but the sucker is a little heavy.  I worried about if possibly falling on her poor little head.  My bestest friend gave me the plate years ago and I found the pitcher at a flea market.  The frame came from a junk store and I added the beadboard for a back.  Everything has been painted, I'm sure that comes to no surprise.  I said when I die, just creamate me and add me to some paint, then use me on something, lol!

I painted the lamp and recovered the lampshade with some tulle.  I just love  the blue with the white...it's so peaceful!

The little dress came from a doll, isn't it just the prettiest?!  The screen got some new paint and a glass knob added.  It gives the corner some height since the chair is so dainty.

A free printable that was the perfect shade.  I just switched out the print.  Love it!

I love how these little pictures came out with the mattes painted blue and added fabric. 

And this was all done for guess who.....I love my girls!

And one added note....

I spilled less than a half a gallon of paint on her carpet!

The family all came together quite nicely and we got it out, thank the good Lord!