A gathering place

Treasure Hunting

Linda — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:41:58 +0000

The sun was shining this morning and begged me to get out of the house. Snow was pretty much gone and the tug of an adventure outside these walls was too much for me to resist.

Started out heading to Gig Harbor to visit my daughter, made a little detour to Target. Found the most darling little sunshine yellow flower pillow.

So I bought it!

In Gig Harbor had a little visit with the grandkids and my daughter and she told me about this little place called Flea Market Chics in Bremerton.

So I decided to go there to check it out. I really wanted her to join me but she assured me the kiddos needed to nap and we would go together another time. So I drove off down the road alone , music blarring and sun shining. A bit too brisk to open the sunroof all the way but I just kept the heater at 75 degrees and the heated seats on.

Next stop Flea Market Chics. ( http://www.fleamarketchics.blogspot.com/ )

Cute little shop with repurposed painted furniture and vintage charm. Reasonably priced and tastefully displayed.

So here are my treasures from their little shop:

This painted vintage door with chalk board paint and fun old door knob. It’s in my kitchen nook for now .

I also found this large painted frame, love the patina and fun color, I will add a chalk board backing soon.

Then there was this funky finial or antique table leg piece. It was only $10 so I thought it had a little character and I could make it into a candle stick or lay it on it’s side and display photos in the slight crack that runs along the side. It just is fun and know I will find a place for it somewhere.

Whenever I get something new for my house it starts a whole house rearranging frenzie. Whatever it was that the new item replaced now needs a place and then when that item finds a new location something else has to be moved and so on and so on and so on. Yeah I’m thinking this weekend could be one of those times. I love it!

I had a blast’ Treasure Hunting’ today but next time I go I would love to go with a friend. Who’s game for a ‘Treasure Hunting Adventure’ ?

Have a great weekend…. I’ll be moving furniture.

Linda

Good-bye Snowmageddon!

Linda — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:46:50 +0000

Well that was an interesting week… Didn’t see that one coming!

If you live anywhere in Western Washington you are emerging from a winter blast some call ‘Snowmageddon’. Here in Olympia we had 17″-24″ depending on where you lived. The snow, while it started out all beautiful and fun, turned into an ice storm that downed trees and power lines everywhere. We lost electricity last Thursday morning and it just was restored yesterday afternoon. Our cable and Internet just repaired a few hours ago.

Thankfully we have a generator and a gas stove so we faired rather well. Kept warm, ate way too much, went snowshoeing and sledding,read, and took lots of pictures.

Ice Storm , while crazy with trees snapping and cracking all around you, still was beautiful encasing the fragile branches in glass-like ice.

Our landscaping took a beating and I lost one of my favorite trees. I planted it when it was just a stick 7 years ago.

Before After Ice Storm

Stayed warm and read while the trees were falling all around me.

Night time was kind of romantic.

Then it started melting away …

So for now it’s throwing out food that has spoiled, restocking the fridge and doing laundry, cleaning up after all the destruction and that, my friends, is going to take a while.

I hope to post soon with more of a Home Interior theme, but for now in ‘ Keeping it Real’ this is where I’m at.

Thanks for reading.

Linda

Snow Day #2

Linda — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:28:23 +0000

Well if you live in Western Washington you probably have snow at your house today. We have 15″ or more at our house and it’s still snowing.

I bought my husband and I snowshoes for Christmas and today we got to try them out. So fun. You can actually move fairly quickly in them and get a decent workout.

I never really liked snow days much before, I hate being cold, but with the right equipment I have been converted to LOVING it.

It seems so quiet blanketed all in white. Bright enough to need sunglasses, which helps those who need some form of light therapy here in the winter. It energizes me and boost my mood. Better than prozac or a venti latte!

So put your boots on and get out there! Sled down a hill, talk a quick walk, throw a snowball , or make a snowman, just bundle up and GET OUTSIDE!

Have a fun snow day!

Linda

A Walk In The Snow

Linda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:51:57 +0000

After posting about a quick Summertime Flashback, I took a walk in the snow.

The cold air and light snowfall were a quick pick me up. I love how bright it is with everything covered in a dusting of white.

So I thought I would share some pictures of my walk around our property with my dog Max.

Happy snow day!

Summertime Flashback

Linda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:46:02 +0000

Last night I was viewing some old pictures and videos when I came across this one my son-in- law made of a family vacation to Seaside ,Oregon in 2009.

With 4 inches of snow on the ground and icy roads this was enough to warm my heart.

Thanks Brad for your creativity in capturing a family time in such a fun way and reminding me of how much I treasure those times together.

I think it is time to get some family vacations on the calendar for this summer. I want to keep adding to the family photo album treasury of memories.

Do you have a family vacations planned yet? I think it is worth every penny to create those family memories.

Plan one today!

Linda

http://vimeo.com/9428406 Enjoy a little peek into our family with this video.

Clocks

Linda — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:00:37 +0000

I don’t wear a watch very often any more. I read somewhere a while back that you know you’re “old” when you still wear a watch because those that are “young” just look at time on their cell phone. Hmmmm.. I think watches are beautiful actually but I still don’t wear one much.

However evidently I have a thing for clocks. I didn’t even realize how many I have around the house until I started photographying some of my rooms to start this blog. This is not counting the ususal clock on the range , microwave, coffee maker, theromostat, or digtial one in the guest room.

I am really not that focused on "TIME" itself, just like the look of a clock.

I have been thinking lately about what I do with my TIME. I want to make the most of it everyday and sometimes I fall very short of that. I know we all are given 24 hours in a day and it amazes me what some people do with their 24. I have friends that are crazy busy, in a good way, helping others, managing business’, exercising like Jillian( well not quite), studying for a new college course, and chasing toddlers. I am transitioning with my TIME, and need to fiqure out what this next season of life holds. I want to use my days to bring glory to God and minister to others and to make a little income would be an added bonus. Not sure exactly how this new stage of life for me is going to play out, but I am thankful for the one who does. Praying for the Lord’s leading and to be used of Him.

I pray you use a little of your time today to spend a moment with Him who made you who you are, with all your talents and gifts and make today a great day.

‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…

Colossians 3:23

Have a great weekend !

Linda

Word of the day…

Linda — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:53:29 +0000

I really like scrabble, not enough to get kicked off a plane for it, but I like a good game. Maybe its the typography on the little wooden tiles, or the way the color of those little pieces look on that iconic board. It could be the fact that it is fun seeing what crazy word my husband tries to pass off as a real word or some ‘unique’ spelling . We now have a scabble dictionary to solve the disagreement. I think for me it is the little wooden letter tiles that I am drawn to.

I wish I could take full credit for this idea, but I can’t. A friend who lives on the East Coast posted a picture once and I noticed it on her window sill. I had to do it.

I had an old scabble game I picked up at a garage sale a long time ago. It mostly came out when my kids were young and some storm had caused a power outage so we all huddled by the fire with hot chocolate and played scrabble on this old board. So I pulled it out of the trunk and turned it into The Word of the Day ( sometimes it’s Word of the Week). So fun to see who decides to change the word and what they change it too, as well as how long does it take to notice it’s been changed. Sometimes I have to censor my husbands ’Word of the Day’ but we have fun with it.

I bet you have an old scrabble game sitting around somewhere that would add some fun to your window sill too.

Let me know if you make this idea happen at your house.

Linda

Love is defiantly worth more than 7 points !!!

An Easy Picture Gallery

Linda — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:44:40 +0000

I would like to share an easy picture gallery display with you that I have had up for quite a while and change the pictures out with the seasons.

Step 1: Purchase picture frames of your choice. I prefer them to be all the same finish, black in my case. Similar style of molding so they look like they belong together. The frames I used are 1 1/2″ -2″ wide. I found them at Target, some have matting some do not.

You will need a curtain rod that fits the style of frames you chose. I found a small one at Lowe’s that I have extended 60″. I chose not to use the brackets that came with the rod as I wanted it mounted closer to the wall . I bought hooks that didn’t extend as far out , only 1 1/2″. In addition you will need a roll of ribbon, I used black grograin 1″ wide.

Step 2: Decide how far you want your rod to extend and how high on the wall, making sure it is level. Mark about 4″ from the end of the rod and mount your hooks making sure they too are level with each other . You can then rest the rod in the hooks.

Step 3: Lay your frames out on the floor to decide the best balance and postion for each one. I did 3 rows of frames and made sure the were fairly even at the top row. Space them an even distance veritically in each row. Cut 3 pieces of ribbon all the same length, long enough to wrap around the rod and extend beyond the last photo . Attach ribbon to the rod with either a knot or bow, whatever you like. Space the ribbon evenly across the rod. Mine were spaced 18″ apart.

Step 4: Hanging the pictures. You could at this point add the small finishing nails into the ribbon where your frames are going to hang. If you aren’t confident with that, I suggest you cut a pattern of each frame out of butcher paper or I sometimes use wrapping paper I’m not fond of. Then you can play around with where each from looks best to you and then add the nail into the ribbon where that size frame will hang. That actually works very well.

Step 5: Sit back and admire your new beautiful photo gallery.

You did it! Wasn’t that easy?

It is a cold and beautiful morning here today. This is the sunrise I woke up to…

Have a blessed day,

Linda

One more thing…

Linda — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:20:49 +0000

My Marshall’s find of the day. Looks a little like Spring doesn’t it? Not sure where it is going yet but I like it.

Let’s Be Real

Linda — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:34:22 +0000

If you are anything like me you admire, ok ,lust after the pristinely decorated homes you see in magazines,House Beautiful, Traditional Home, Cottage Living , Dwell to name a few. Then there are the HGTV homes many of which we could only dream to live in. I have also covetted many beautiful homes online that are amazing but not in my budget or realm of reality. Therefore I would like to address home decor ideas for the ‘rest’ of us. Those of us who while we admire great taste and design are not willing to forfiet all our hard earned dollars on a home alone. We have family and life that demands us to be somewhat practical. That’s where I come in.

So let’s be thankful for what we have and make the best of it. We can make changes to enhance our home as we can and enjoy it in the process.

To start with today I will be REAL and share one of our living spaces, the family room. It is open to our kitchen and breakfast nook and seems to be where we spend most of our time. Even though we have a living room, and it too is fairly casual , we linger in here because the kitchen is the hub and the fireplace is cozy this time of year.

I , like many of you, have just transitioned from Christmas decorating and need to add something, but I am not quite ready for spring decor. A quick trip to Marshall’s and gathering some things out of my decorating closet (yes I have one), and this is what it looks like today.

This is how it looks today , but once I am ready for a spring look I will change things up a bit.I love to use fruit to decorate with, and yes it is REAL,no plastic food allowed here. It is not expensive and we eat it eventually or little kids can bit into it and it is actually encouraged.

Let me challenge you to keep your home REAL and enjoy the process of making your house a home.

Tomorrow : How to create the picture wall display in my family room.

Have a great Tuesday!

Linda