Like a Gerbil

I feel like everyone is watching me and I just want to be...but I gotta DO!!

I just want to curl up in a ball in Beagle Run Cottage and hang out.  But, Hubby insists on a moving truck Friday like the minute we close.  Lots, lots, lots to do. 

Moving cages or moving houses is busy, busy, busy.  No time to soak in the sun, no time to lunch with a friend, no time to put a great blogging post together. 

I'll be back soon and can show some of what has happened with the move.

Cross-stitch finds

Is anyone else out there in LOVE with stitch work?  Some of ya'll are stitching away as we speak. lol  I am not doing any pieces lately but can hardly walk away from orphaned pieces.  I've been scouting my local antique shops for furniture pieces for our home and have come across some great shots.

Hope today finds you Live'n and Dream'n for tomorrow!!

Happy 3 or more Tuesday at The Gypsy's Corner..it is her 100th!!

Aaaayyy Mateys

Lil guy got sick this past week and hung out with Momma for a few days watching movies and drinking lots of water.  We watched many movies at way too high of a volumn for my taste. lol  I was ready on the day he bounded across the field back to school. :D
I wanted to share with ya'll the Dr. office mural that is the most recent addition to their facility.

Grab your snorkel and fins Gals..

great calming and relaxing environment to sit in or play in before going in to the Dr.

Every room has a diff theme and we've never been in this room before..

Treasure Island.

I got this shot of my boys bounding across the elementary school yard that we've lived to the side of for 17 years.  My boys have been going there for a total of 10 years.  Big Bro walked lil guy over to the book fair/open house to get the books he was dreaming of owning.  I must say Good-bye to these days and embrace our new home next week.  Closing is this Friday am.  The Lord has been so faithful to our family and generous to us as his humble servants.

Have a blessed Happy Blue Monday day!!

Go see the other blue posts too.

DeniseMarie

Updated Doors

I'm on door and window trim duty at Beagle Run Cottage.  All the lil details of stuff that needs to happen when you are trying to get to 100% completeness are tedious, tiresome and can seem over-whelming to a flighty gal like me.  We are the best at getting stuff 89% complete and then running off to play and never look back to complete our task.  Beagle Run Cottage is full up of not quite done projects!!  But, you cannot sell a house like that.

We took all of the doorknobs (Antique Brass..not Oil-Rubbed Bronze) off of the core doors and replaced our brown 70's doors with new 6 panel white doors we always thought we'd have for ourselves.  :S  These doors are only $25 each now.  I think they use to be like $60 each and we never wanted to spend that much.  We sure are hoping that making sure all the doors match and are "updated" is gonna help for a quick sale.  It's gotta get off our books and onto someone else's.

See my PINK jacket in the middle of all the boy jackets?

So, while the doors are off I gotta paint all the trim and finish transforming the living room over to Compatible Creme by Sherwin Williams.  We worked off of that paint chip to do the coloring of this home.  We did the Butternut Squash for the kitchen and got the white color off of that same chip for the vent hood cabinet.  It all coordinates well.  I'll show ya'll more as I finish each project. :)  Doesn't this whole corner look just lovely?  lol

I find irony in the floors needing to be wood now and the walls and wood has to be neutral.  This all instead of wooden walls and neutral carpet that use to be in style.  I guess you still have balance of light and dark?  Peeps expect and demand perfection!!  No one is a do-it-yourself'r any more.  No one wants to make it happen along and along with each passing pay check.  It has to be move-in-ready!


I'm taking stuff off the walls too and plugging nail holes.  I'm trying to let go of 17 years of love poured into this home and off to the next 1.  We may try to later flip a house to pay our son's 1st year of college tuition.  But, that is a long way off.  If  we can learn to not leave stuff 89% done we might be on our way towards that dream. lol

It is Pink Saturday at Bev's again.

DeniseMarie

Gate Thankful

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

 and his courts with praise!
 Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
           ~ Psalm 100:4 (ESV)

Absolutely 1 of my fav verses. 
The mantra of Thankful Thursday.  Looks like we gotta head here for the latest entries.  This is my 1st week here.



Exactly what went thru my mind a few weeks ago as I stood at the other side of this gate with my Hubby and Real Estate agent/friend.  This home called out to me more than the other 30 we walked thru.  Hubby noticed that I only reacted so much to this home.  I felt like I was having a heart attack when we went back out the front door after seeing the whole property, I had to lean over for a minute and Praise the Lord.  I also had an "electric charge" feeling go thu me standing at the back of that gate, like a YES and AMEN..I quoted that verse above.  The Lord knows how much I love gates and iron and lanterns and brick columns.  He sees the desires of our hearts.  I believe He longs at the proper time to bless us with good gifts..if we do not become weary in doing good and do not faint from hopes seemingly un-met.  I don't NEED this...but what if He wants it for me and I keep my hands clenched and do not receive his good gifts?
That is how I've been my whole life.  I struggle to believe about myself what He sees in me.  I'm thankful he is so patient and merciful and his love is soooo deep.

I'm so incredibly thankful to show ya'll my soon to be new driveway.  I will have to operate this gate to get into the driveway and into the backdoor of our new home. 

The previous owners put a ton of stone work into the landscaping.  I would never have had that money or ingenuity to do this task in such a fine way.  It looks stunning.

This is the lil side gate to get in after walking Jack Beagle around the new hood. :b  That lil window is out my laundry room.  I think a company came thru 14 years ago when this neighborhood was built and offered a discount for the gates as they were doing other neighbors.  Several peeps have this same set-up.

I'm in awe and wonder that we are making a move.  We are very frugal, hardly ever go on vaca, never splurge on fine things, never assume we deserve anything.  Hubby says this will be our vacaction having a pool.  The Lord seems to have directed our path here.  We are putting the finishing touches on Beagle Run Cottage so a new family can enjoy it's beauty and I'm having a rough time letting go.

I'm Thankful that the Lord will help me say good-bye to the past, let go and move forward into my destiny here on earth until the trumpet blast sounds.

 xox, DeniseMarie

Waste Not Want Not Wed #4

I guess my Meme may just be a once a month idea kinda thing.  Maybe it is the super savy and the super creative that get lots of linkers.  Have you ever wondered what seed will grow...you scatter them and don't know if they'll all be blessed and grow or which few will prosper.  I think I'm learning why some Bloggers just drop out for no apparent reason and you never see another post from them and miss them??  I go to tie in my link at some fav's and there are 234 peeps already there and I even like when there are 21 already there.  I was excited to get like 8 links last month to Christmas Collector's Alley!

This is my meme that is coming up soon on my Christmas bloggie.  By then, more peeps will at least be thinking Christmas but maybe not until Dec??  I'll be full up in the middle of moving stuff out of Beagle Run Cottage to our new digs.

Welcome to Waste Not Want Not Wednesday #4

I'm showing something that I shared before because it hit me and always delights my heart to think of how good God is!!  I have a dear friend from church that celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary this past Spring.  I was gonna make her a name frame but saw this at Goodwill (someone let it go).  I blogged originally about it here.

How could anyone throw out a pitcher with their last name on it??  Who knows what happened.  But, I rescued her and added fresh flowers and bling and brought it to my friend. 
She still can't believe it, it delighted her heart. 
It is perfect for her and her cottage and it makes me think of how much the Lord loves us and cares for us and delights for these kinda special moments to capture our hearts.

DeniseMarie

Will you be mine?

I wanted to share with ya'll a yummy box that I saw out antiquing/junking in Jefferson, TX.

I wanted $10 worth of these!!  They were awesome!  I totally forgot to take more shots because this guy was the topic of the hour..

He was only $100, Nutcracker Humungo!!  That is a lot of $$ but he could fetch like $500 around here.  I've never seen anything like him at the door of any neighbors so I wish I could have strapped him on the roof of our car for the 5 hour drive back home.  But, alas...I didn't have $100 to spend.  I didn't NEED any more Christmas decor either. 
(Standing in the store, that Tiki didn't bother me so much.  Yikes!)

That Nutcracker was standing right there at the entrance of the antique mall...right there where I was sorting thru Valentines and olden post cards at the desk while my buddy chatted with the owner. 

We went back 2 days in a row and I STILL forgot to get my Valentines.  I know... how does that happen?  But the owner had put back all the postcards and valentines that I had hand selected and put in a pile the 1st day!  I thought they'd hold them but they must have gotten upset that I didn't go ahead and purchase the 1st time. lol  I remembered some of the post cards but they put the Val's back way in the back of the room and I forgot them.  So, I only spent $5 in here.  

Big OOPS, forgot my Valentines!

Happy Blue Monday

Happy 2nd Time Around Tuesday

Happy Rednesday

DeniseMarie

a Muslim & a Blondie

Happy Sunday!

I wanted to show you 2 buddies that melt my heart.

They were instant friends in 3rd grade on the day that our neighbor came into oldest son's classroom.  Now, they are 8th graders and are still in-separable.

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."     1 John 4:11

I'm bearing my soul today because it is Sunday.

Have you ever wondered WHY stuff happens that is NOT fun, NOT pleasant and NOT easy to keep mustering thru?!  I have.  I don't always understand stuff, or know what God's plans are but know I'm to obey Him, love others and leave some stuff in his hands.

I had a terrible and very painful break from a friend that lives about 8 houses down the street.  I have to drive to the stop sign and can see her home right up the street and sometimes pass her by in the car as she swiftly turns away like I'm horrendous in her sight.

Whatever happened to old-fashioned Love?  Kindness?  Compassion?

(I found these Valentines in Jefferson, TX junk shop) 

Here is the scoop:

Both our blondie sons got in a tiff and we had to make a split and drive to the same school separately.  But, thru this pain...I've been happy to reach out to our Muslim neighbor whom my son adores.  You can imagine he is stuck in the middle between his beloved neighbors but he NOW gets to ride with us to school and we can show Christian LOVE to him, acceptance, comfort, joy for him.  He was riding the bus because the other blondie's momma had told him that there was NO room for him in the carpool.  He was riding 2 buses and waiting an hour to catch the bus home with the other intermediate school that we are zoned to.  It made for a long and wearisome day for him.

He is soooo happy every day to come to my car with his buddies.  To be accepted and fit in.

Maybe this was the Lord's plan all along to make sure our Muslim neighbor got included. Hmmmmmm.

That other mom might not ever speak to me again...but our blondie boys play basketball in my driveway with our Muslim neighbor.  I might not be comfortable with how it all laid out in real-time but I'm pleased with the results.

Just contemplating out loud,

DeniseMarie

Wonder what else is going on at Spiritual Sunday.

Pink chairs love

Isn't this a nice vignette....like it was meant to be??
Ya'll would LOVE everything in my MILs home. 

OK...I'm ready to confess and laugh at myself in Blogland for what happened to me this summer.

I ordered something for myself...my house off of Overstock.com.

I'm waiting and waiting...

instead of a pkg at my door I got a thank you call from Mother in Love. lol

I got distracted by several different things while placing the order and missed that the shipping address was still mother-in-loves home address.  I had sent her a package for mother's day and it was still altered to that address.  OMGoodness!!

Yes..that is it, in-between those 2 velveteen pink Victorian chairs.  That cute round barrel table was suppose to go with my brown leather couch so I could get my big bulky tables to the new spot and showcase Beagle Run Cottage For Sale.

Instead, it is in her beloved spare room waiting for guests to admire. lol

Things happen, she liked it...we flew in this summer instead of driving so we couldn't shove it into our car.  So, we gifted it to her and all laughed it off.  She must like it because she made hubby burn the box it came in.  lol

Maybe the Lord wanted to bless her with it??  lol   I'm certainly not gonna order myself another one after getting laughed at so much from all the family. :D 

Visiting a few memes:

Show n Tell Friday

Pink Saturday

DeniseMarie

Jefferson Express

Enjoyed a weekend in olden Jefferson, TX.  Had to capture these images for Hubby who is an avid train enthusiast.

It was on the wall of the local BBQ place in town where you get your pulled pork sandwich with a side of fried okra or sweet potato fries. :) ..Yes, I did!!

I had my buddy take a pic down this lane in town of all the discarded doors, windows, railing that have been salvaged off of nearby homes or businesses in town.   Why do I think this kinda stuff is cool...I don't know but I do.  Remember what I did with MIL's olden window for her front entry?  That railing could be a window or Master Bedroom pedament and the old doors could make a great teenager's headboard.  Awwww, just love Vintage Thingies.

Colorado Lady is hosting Vintage Thingy Thursday, let's go see what has been found by others.

DeniseMarie

Fall get-a-way

I got away for a girls weekend.

Look at this cute scarecrow. 

It is a Renuizit.  I should have bought him to change out the bottom every Fall in the boys bathroom.  Great free-cycle painting surface, huh.

It was so nice to be in an olden town with a dear friend.  This is the porch of her momma's home.  Look at the cute scarecrow that they sold at her momma's church country store.  Her mom helped do the painting so she bought 1.  I got some painted treasures too. 

Here is today's share: 

I'm showing off my Tom Turkey at 2nd time around Tuesday with Diane.

He's a piece of fallen timber.  I loved his patina and the colors of the painted feathers.  I'm gonna make him a sign that says...Eat More Ham. lol

Next time you see him...he'll be in place at my front door.

Edit: Wednesday

Here is Mr Linky...look again at my amazing find of Mr. Scarecrow Renuizit for inspriation.

 

DeniseMarie

Waste NotWNWed #3

There is PINK, orange, turquoise and purple in this cute post.
For this Meme I like to share my ideas of things that could have been thrown out but were made into something useful or beautiful..

This week I'm posting my Waste Not Want Not Meme for a contribution to

Pretty Packages Party at The Blackberry Vine.

&

Me and My Bucket..What UR working with Wednesday

 Pink Saturday with Beverly and gang.

Ok, I know some of you have heard me talk about my Sonic drink holder trick.  But, just in case you hadn't caught on to that trick here is a pretty example of what I love to do with them.  I love to get the 2 bay and 4 bay drink holders and use them for gift giving if they don't get soiled or squished in the car by boys feet or baseball bags thrown into your car before you can rescue them. lol

Ya'll know my motto...and it goes along with these drink holders.  Sonic pays good money for these holders and they are sturdy enough for 4 Route 44 Cherry Limeades.  Are ya just gonna throw it out???  I simply CANNOT do that.  Here is 1 story of what I've done with these cast-aways:

This is a 4 bay drink holder from SONIC.

I chose to use it for a gift holder for the dear girl next door.
She just turned 10 this week.

I took scrapbook paper and cut it and double stick taped it to cover the SONIC company logo.  I've seen them totally covered in pretty paper but I don't bother.  I kinda like the paper sack texture/look. 

This is the loot that needs to look pretty when I hand the carrier to her.  BTW, I saw her yesterday wearing the flip flops and had to smile...so cute.

I used my tag punch to cut a piece to coordinate to the top of the box.  I also put a remnant piece of paper to the side...whatever you want to do.  I took a previously cut out scallop that was rescued from a gift catalog cover and used an orange sharpie marker to add her initial, M.  I pop dot taped it on for a 3-d effect.  Those are x and o's all around the scallop.

I then looked thru my gorgeous ribbon stash to pick 3 pieces for the hand holder.

This is the back of the box.  I added tissue into 1 of the bays. This is a pk of 2 colorful head-bands and a terry cloth dress.

Here is the front.  I ran out of energy to do any other 3-d effects over the scrapbook paper.  I thought it was cute enough and tied into all the colors of the gifts.  These 2 items in the front are flip-flops and a pillowcase with scripture for her sleep-overs.  I personally love for the gift to be peeking out at ya.

Here she is!!  Happy 10 year old. 
Yes, she had been sucking on a piece of turquois colored candy so her mouth matched the flipflops I got her. lol
What can you show us that you refused to Waste??

Happy Fall Ya'll

Happy Seasonal Sunday .

The weather here has been unbelievable! 

Cool, Sunny...Fall at it's best.

Has anyone seen cute costume ideas??  This is sooooo cute..look at the colander hats for the shakers.  I saw this in a mag. this week.  Salt and Pepper shakers, packing peanuts for the salt...too cute.  With this same concept I've seen a fish bowl, a jelly bean bowl, a bunch of grapes, gumball machine.

We finally put the pedament top to our kitchie cabinets.  I've only waited like 1.5 - 2 years for him to finish this project.  It went really well for us.  He was scared but we rocked it out!  Just like that.

Here you can see the cabinet without it's top hat.

Hubby..aka Coach held a pitcher~catcher practice yesterday out our back gate.  There is an elementary baseball backstop.  We have enjoyed this feature soooooo much.

I have my eye on this incredible antique table.  It is soooo solid and beefy, has history and a marble top table that has a great patina on it.  It could be my open house present from Hubby if we really do move.  I can snag it 1/2 price.  It could go behind our couch (I've never had a piece behind a couch), could go in our entry hall or in the mastersuite.

great fall give-away

What are ya'll up to?? 

I'm heading over to
The Tablescaper
Metamorphis Monday
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday
to see what else is going on.

DeniseMarie