Wow three posts in one week

so when has that ever happened before....ummmmmm NEVER!  But I wanted to show you guys what I have been stitching on because it's just so pretty.  This is the first time stitching Little House Needleworks patterns and now I ask myself why?  No seriously love, love, love their reproduction sampler line and I forsee a large cross stitch order in my future.  Sorry honey but 2013 was the stash diet so it's time to stash away in 2014!
THE MELICENT TURNER SAMPLER

 

So this is the finished model but I'm only about half way done but it's so pretty.  I can't wait to finish it up and get it framed.  It's even got martini glasses down in that bottom border but I swear I didn't notice that until I started stitching it.

 

 

And I also did the thrift circuit in TN last week and snagged this great little drawer/shelf.  I think I'll paint it and use it in the new kitchen to hold some of my cookbooks.  It was $2.99 so I just couldn't pass it up. It's probably 1960 to 1970 vintage but the knobs are cute and I can't pass up anything with drawers.

 

Happy Easter to everyone!

 

 

 

What a Freaking Week!!!!!!!

Ok so where to start.....hmmmmm, well Monday morning I was showing y'all my new chair and complaining that I had less than a month to get moved from Georgia then I went to take a shower.  Cue the Psycho music now and let me tell you what happened.  I was drying my hair when I got a phone call from our realtor and she had bad news.  The people in spite of having a pre-qualified letter couldn't get financing so our deal fell thru. It appears that they had a short sale in CA just 3 years ago and there is some kind of FHA ruling for CA that they can't get another loan for at least 4 years and these guys are only 3 years and 2 months into that timeline.  I cried, I yelled, I screamed and then I just sat thinking about what a pain relisting the house was gonna be and the fact that I didn't "clean" before I went back to TN last week.  Hey I straightened up but you know scrubbing the toilets and making sure the sinks were all shiny just didn't seem important since the house wasn't gonna be shown again.  Mark and I both were so upset but it's not like you can really do anything about it so we just resigned ourselves to moving on. Our realtor started calling the realtors that showed the house in the last two months  just to let them know our contract fell thru.  I decided to drive back to GA yesterday so I could clean the house and while I was on the road someone called asking to show the house.  I said sure but just ignore any mess they saw and she laughed and assured me that my house was cleaner than any other house she'd ever seen.  Sure thing lady!  Then she dropped a bombshell that her clients wrote an offer on our house the night before and she had just sent it to our realtor.  What???? Yep, they wrote it without even coming back to look at the house again.  Praise the lord!  So by the time Clarice and I drove home we were almost under contract again.  We went back and forth once and now we're closing May 12th so only 5 days after the original close date.  I'm so relieved but of course, they still have to do a home inspection and appraisal but hey, we've already done that this month so there shouldn't be any problems.  What a blessing!  So from just a happy week to a deep dark pit back to optimistically happy again.

And then I got home to find my wonderful swap partners had mailed me goodies.  What a treat that was and I just love my bloggy friends.  Amy hosts the most wonderful swaps and these gals really know how to spoil one another.  I have been blessed by making new friends and what's so wonderful is these friends I get to take with me no matter where I live.  That's the hardest part about moving around because I always leave some awesome friends behind.  Anyhoo, just still feeling a little weepy still so moving on..... I was paired with Amy,  The Grand Poobah herself.  Seriously I was thrilled at a chance to spoil her since she always hosts us.  Check out Amy's blog to see what I sent her because of course, I forgot to take pictures.    http://bumblebeelanecottage.blogspot.com
and look what Amy sent me.

I really don't take the best pictures with my phone but I really don't when I get all excited!  Can you guys see that sweet candle dish with a sheep, a metal crown and star on it.  Those are three of my all time favorite things to decorate with. 

And just look at that awesome Flower Frog (oh my I do love me some froggies) and that sweet little hanging basket but best of all a car air freshener from Yankee.  Now why is that the best you ask, well because I'm now driving Mark's old pickup truck and it smells like a boy!  Seriously has some funky smells so this will take care of that issue.  Thanks Amy!  I started finding homes for my treasures right away.  Isn't that sunflower tuck just so sweet in the dough bowl on the kitchen table with my "tomatoes and strawberries"? 

And just look at how perfect the froggy and picture look on the pie safe in the living room.

 

And these little prim eggs just look right at home on the dry sink.

 

 

Now Amy sometimes has a few extra people and I've been lucky enough in the last two swaps to get two partners.  I was also thrilled to find out that Sandi from www.theprimitiveskate.blogspot.com was also my partner and she also spoiled me way too much.

Just look at these sweet spring pretties. 

This nest is just so adorable. I just love it and it's just perfect in this chippy emanel  ware bowl.

And look at this cute spring sign that she painted.  Just amazing how talented she is and what do you think it's painted on? Seriously so creative!

That's right a record so how crafty is that especially because I'm such a music lover.

See that prim bunny and look at how wonderful the nest looks on the dry sink.

Did you spy the ladybug already in place when I took the pictures of Amy's sunflower? 

And here's the overall shot with my gifties from Amy and Sandi which just make me so happy.   

 

Trust me when I say these gals are all so talented and make every swap a great one!  Amy is so sweet to host it for us and if you don't follow her and swap with us, what's stopping ya?  It's more fun than I ever even dreamed it would be because it's like Christmas and your birthday all rolled into one every time a package arrives.    No wait, it's actually better than that because prim friends really get your style and understand that junk is well loved not to be discarded. 

Stop the insanity!

Wow, time is just flying by so fast and we're now less than a month until the official move.  I've been meeting with movers, selling furniture on Craig's List, dealing with renters insurance quotes, seeing dr's and basically just losing my mind! Oh well such is life and it's not like I haven't been to this rodeo many times before.  I think this time it's just that I'm not working so there is nothing to keep me distracted from stressing about the move.  I didn't even stress this much about the move to Germany so go figure.

Anywhoo, I mentioned that I've been selling furniture but I forgot to mention that I've also been buying furniture.  What???? I found the most perfect chair at Restoration Hardware outlet store and I just had to have it.  It's the perfect size so I can actually touch the floor which is amazing for short people like me.  It just called out to me and said it would become my favorite stitching chair so how could I walk away from it.  Well actually, I did walk away but took Mark back to look at it the next day.  I was so worried that it would be gone because it was 40% off retail and they had a coupon special of $25 off for every $100 spent so it was a bargain that shouldn't be passed up.  LOL!  Mark agreed so we brought her home with us and just look at this amazing chair.   Just makes me swoon!!!!! It's a deconstructed look so you see the wormy, worn wood frame, the burlap under layer, whipped stitching and just looks 100 years old.  Love it!

 

We're headed back to Atlanta on Thursday and I've got people coming to buy our living room and theater furniture.  We're only keeping the den Pottery Barn CL loveseat, Mark's old leather chair and now  my new chair.  See I told y'all I was downsizing!  We sold the pinball machines last week and I also sold a couple small tables that I had stashed away.  Now the sofas, chairs and hopefully all the tvs will be gone by this time next week.  We have several flat screens that require cable boxes so we figured if we sold all of those then we could get a new tv that doesn't need a box for the bedroom.  We're keeping the great tv from the den because it's just so amazing that we can't bear to part with it.  It's been fun listing stuff and it's really fun when people hand me cash and leave the house with the items.  It would cost me more to move and store this extra furniture than it will be to buy new stuff when we find our forever home! 

 

I've been already shopping for curtains, ect for the rental home and of course, already started my layouts of what is going where in each room.  I'm crazy I know but the more the movers can put in place when they deliver it, the less Mark and I will have to struggle with moving.  I went and took measurements of some of the walls last week so I think I'm going to have this thing ready by move in date.  This house is a split level home so we're going to live on one level and use the lower level to store everything.  I just don't like the idea of my stuff being stored by the moving company because 1) It's too expensive

2) There are too many ways that stuff could get "lost"

3) I like to see my stuff even if I can't use it yet in my home

 

Well that's about it for now friends 'cause I need to head to the city admin building to get the utilities changed over and start the post office process of changing our address.  Hope y'all  have a great week and a very Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

We sold the house!!!!!!!

Finally, we have an accepted offer on the house which was $2,000 below our asking price and a close date of May 7th.  The couple are closing on the sale of their home in NC on April 15th so let's pray that everything goes as planned.  We had no scheduled showings for Saturday so Mark and I decided to do some yard work and clean/ pack stuff in the garage so we were exhausted and filthy.  We finished up around 2:00 and went into the house to grab a snack, shower, ect.......I walked back out to the trashcan to throw stuff out and there was a car in the driveway with a realtor.  This lady announces "We're here" with a big smile and I just smiled and nodded while thinking this lady is at the wrong house.  Then she repeats "We're here" and again I nod with a smile and she finally says "we have a 2:00 showing for your home" and I replied "Your appointment is for tomorrow but if you'll give us a few minutes we'll clear out of your way". We rushed around turning on lights and the theater equipment then we left the house.....filthy dirty with mulch in our hair and everything.  Oh well I'm glad that we allowed it to be shown because they made an offer just minutes after viewing it.  Wahoo!  I had finally quit praying for the house to sale and changed my prayer to just give me peace about this entire situation so guess that was God's way of letting me know that I didn't have peace about it until then.  We also got another offer Saturday but they needed to seek a bridge loan and wanted a 90 day closing so we told our realtor that was just too risky for us and then the other couple came to view the house.  It was all in God's plan and hands.

So now we are trying to find a rental home in TN for at least a few months before we buy a house here.  I don't want to be rushed into a decision since this will be our retirement home and I want to get it right. I've also got to line up movers and storage options this week because we'll be at that closing date faster than I can blink an eye.  I've got to decide what's going into long term storage and what we'll need for the next 6 months.  Fortunately, I still have the packed boxes that were delivered from Germany that will have a lot of the stuff we need in them so it's going to be a matter of sorting thru them.  I started a list of what is needed when we moved there so I'll use that as my guideline and have a head start on it all.

Alright friends I'm off to start phone calls and start driving by rental properties. Oh and by the way, it's spitting snow here today again.  Where oh where is spring?
Donna

It's starting to look a lot like springtime around here

Yep the temperature hasn't been warm these last couple of weeks but still I smell spring in the air.  So here's a couple of quick snaps to see what y'all think.

 

 

Thrifty Thursday

Ok so as usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short but I wanted to show y'all what I picked up at GW yesterday.  I'm in TN with Mark and quite frankly, the GW here hasn't shown me too many treasures.  Every time I walk out empty handed, I swear that will be the last time I stop there but the thrill of the hunt keeps drawing me back in. And yesterday I scored! So without further ado here are my finds.

A huge  antique ironstone platter for $2.99 and I almost missed it completely because it was on the bottom shelf under a tacky, plastic turkey platter but something just made me take a second look.  Wahoo, I snatched this beauty up and clutched it tightly all the way to the checkout counter.

 

Just look at that great patina

 

My next find was this Currier and Ives "Snowy Morning' platter for $1.99. 

 

 

 

 

And finally a basket filled this this awesome goodness.  Just look at these 12 antique bottles that look like someone dug them up from their backyard.  Now I will confess this was my big splurge because I paid $12 for them.  They were wrapped so tightly with saran wrap that you could barely see what they were but I knew instantly that they would be a really great collection. 

 

Some days it just pays to go thrifting and yesterday was a banner day.

 

Have a great weekend and do something that brings a smile to your face today.  Don't forget to Spring Forward this weekend!

 

 

I'm gonna miss Atlanta estate sales!

I swear I keep telling myself, I will not go, I will not go but then an email shows up with this amazing sale and I just have to go!  Just see what I'm talking about:
http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/GA/Atlanta/30319/578898

I mean how can you miss a sale that features true, wonderful antiques like this?  And the house was amazing as well even though it was built 1980's but this couple knew how to make it feel 100 years old.  The house has sold and is closing next week so the estate sale people have to be out of there by Saturday at noon so they were wheeling and dealing.  Just my kinda sale so 25% off even though it was only 2nd day and bundling got better deals so I saved $95.  This couple painted historic colors, had gorgeous wide hardwood floors on all 3 levels and it was a collectors dream.  I spent over an hour there just making sure I didn't miss anything and I'm already wishing I'd bought a couple of things that I left behind.  Isn't that always the case?  My momma and I used to do the craft fairs every year when I lived in AR and we had a rule that if you touch it 3 times then you'd better be taking it home 'cause you'll just regret if you don't.  Plus we never wanted to double back too many times because we have no sense of direction.  LOL!

Anyhoo, I touched this basket 3 times so it had to be mine! I don't take the best pics with my phone but this basket is huge! 

 

So here's the total haul and I'm still doing the happy dance!  Of course there's a pewter baby cup to add to my ever growing collection and I'm gonna have to buy a cabinet to display them on if I keep this up.  The pipe box is a reproduction but it included 2 clay pipes and was only$7 so it came home with me. 

 

My favorite find!  It's rusty and worn just like me so you know I had to get that.

 There are 5 pewter charger plates by Towle and they were $40 total which was a major steal.  The thimbles were lined up on a windowsill forgotten in the attic space so I put them all in that little box and she sold them to me for $3.  The ironstone plate doesn't show up too well but it's so creamy and was in the bathroom with those pincushions on it which the owner of the house made. 

 

I'd love, love to go back on Friday/Saturday when they start slashing prices even more but my budget just can't handle the temptation!