There's No Place Like Home

I spent the week with Molly and Lila in Virginia.   Her husband was on the west coast for business so I went to help out and to hang out with the girls.   While I was there Lila celebrated her 1st month anniversary!   Molly has stickers that will take her through the first year of milestones and this is her first sticker.

   I had a relaxing week, did some shopping, laundry and walking, but there is no place like home.  I left down there early on Saturday and got home in time to go to the grocery store and unpack before the Penn State game.  I'm glad to be back and have started on my "to do" list already.

She's Here!

I'm a Grandma!  Miss Lila arrived on Saturday morning about 11 am.  She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz.  Her momma and daddy are as proud as can be!  We went down Friday night to join in the festivities and returned home by Saturday evening.  A quick trip but well worth it.  She looks like her mother did,  I sent her the first photo we had of her and they look so much alike.  :)

I can't wait till they pack her up and bring her home to Pennsylvania to meet the rest of the extended family.

Welcome to the world Lila!!!

Fourth of July!!

I love the Fourth of July!  I love summer and the Fourth of July is the perfect summer holiday.

Last week I made a patriotic banner and hung it on my porch for the weekend.   Our Fourth of July picnic this year will just be for two.  Since the holiday falls in the middle of the week, Mr. Kay declined an invitation to go to a picnic and some amazing fireworks because of the traffic and the time it takes to get home following the fire works.  He has to work on Friday, I took the day off.  Since we don't have any big plans I'll be working on my "to do" list and will try to make it a productive day.

I am planning to make some grilled shrimp and baked potatoes for dinner, we will eat it outside and I'll pretend its a fun picnic!   I've got Fourth of July flowers growing in my garden this time of year and enjoy using Monarda, Larkspur, Feverfew and Baby's Breath  for the perfect holiday floral arrangement.

Enjoy your day!   Have a safe and happy one!

Baby Shower

Saturday was a very special day for my daughter...she was the guest of honor at a baby shower.  She is expecting her first child and my first grandchild in August.  I'm very excited because shopping for a little girl is such a joy!

She got a lot of lovely presents and now she can start shopping to fill in the spaces.    

I had a wonderful caterer and the food was perfect.   I made a punch and floated a rubber duck in the punch bowl. 

The guests all took home a cupcake. 

A couple of the KD girls even made the trip.  Every time they get together there is a photo shoot involved....They are all such sweet girls.  Molly is blessed to have such special friends.

Everyone had a great time....thanks to all who came and helped make the day special.

Baby Shoes

I'm hosting a baby shower for my daughter next weekend.  This weekend was all about the details.  Since I am using card tables I need a small centerpiece and so I decided to use baby shoes!  I was hoping to find vintage shoes, but since I was on a time crunch I decided to go with what was available....  here are the supplies I used: 

baby shoes, bits and pieces of lace and seam binding, buttons, beads, what ever you want....and a votive cup.  I found that a votive cup was the perfect size to slip into a shoe to hold a bouquet of flowers.
I used a glue gun to add the decorations. 

Here's the other one.  I've seen them with a pin cushion added, but I really like the fresh flowers! 

...and here's what I bought!

I love to read the blogs after everyone comes home from the Lucketts Spring Market, to hear what they liked the best and to see photos of what everyone bought.   Here's what spoke to me this past weekend.

A quilt that I purchased for my living room.  I am always drawn to the booths with textiles.  I imagine all the hand stitching that went into a quilt like this.  I love touching all the fine embroidery work on the various dresser scarves and doilies.  As one who does a bit of embroidery I can certainly appreciate the time that goes into these pieces. 


Another thing that catches my eyes is gardening "stuff".  I collect floral frogs and found a couple this past weekend that are not duplicates of what I already have so I purchased them as well as a couple cloches.  The frog with the spikes is great to hold a recipe card or a note to someone, etc.  I am always on the lookout for those.

 

I also bought a couple quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk paint....in fact, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and I will be painting something in her "pink"!   Last week I did a table in Luckett's green milk paint so this week at the yard sales I'll be looking for something to paint pink!

 

I almost forgot, there was some really great jewelry there and I found a big clunky bracelet that I liked, so that came home with me as well.    We had a lot of fun and already I'm looking forward to next year's show.

 

 

Lucketts At Last!

I had a great weekend.  Once again I spent the weekend with my daughter and son-in-law at the Luckets Spring Market outside of Leesburg Virginia.  It did not disappoint!  

Saturday's weather was not the best....I wore my raincoat most of the day, it was cool and about the time we had seen everything, it started to rain so we called it quits for the day. 

In addition to the shopping, I removed the wallpaper border from the baby's room, and help Matt hang a large mirror in their bedroom.  He put up a cute pink chandelier and did some other odd jobs around their new home.

On Sunday after we had a somewhat productive day at their house, we decided to go back to Lucketts and see what else we could find!  Sundays are great at the market because the dealers don't want to pack up their stuff so the prices often reflect that!  Molly and Matt got a great table for less than haf price, I seriously considered this cabinet to hold my jewerly....and I'm kicking myself today for not bringing it home.  Although in all honesty, I'm not sure we could have gotten everything in the back of the Jeep.

I bought a quilt from this vendor and as she was getting my credit card infor she asked my address.  Imagine my surprise when she laughed at my address and said she was from Mifflintown!  All the way to Virginia to buy a quilt I could have gotten a half hour from my home!


Another great thing about the Spring market on Sunday is that there are much less people!  It is much more relaxed.  Molly and I took our books, "Inspired You" by Miss Mustard Seed and she very graciously signed them.  She is as pleasant as she appears in her blog. 

I had a great weekend and can't wait till next year!  You can count on me being there again.  Check in on Wednesday and I'll show you what I bought!

Lucketts Green

Here's what's going into the shop this week!  I painted this table in Miss Mustard Seed's Lucketts Green Milk Paint...   yep, I've stepped out of my comfort zone and am adding a bit of green to all the white I usually sell at my shop.   This is one of my first attempts at milk paint.  I think I am somewhat of an Annie Sloan snob because I just don't get the milk paint interest at all...  This weekend I'll be taking a trip to Virginia where I will buy more Annie Sloan paint.  I really love that stuff and nothing else compares in my book.  I'd love to hear your comments on the milk paint.  I won some on a blog give-away and so I'm sure I'll be trying it again, but in the meantime you can bet I'll be checking out the chalk paint displays at the Lucketts market this weekend!

On top of the table are some newly upcycled candle sticks...  I've painted and added some bling and they are going to Street of Shops as well.  I have a few other things packed in my bag for my weekly trip to add some vintage treasures and fluff my space. 

Plant a Salad

Today the kids in my Sunday School class got to plant a salad for their mothers for Mother's Day.  I picked up the salad ingredients on Friday and had everything ready to go.  Each child got a lettuce plant, a flat parsley and two violas.  I wanted to make sure I had stuff that would be edible and fun. 

The girls were surprised to know that violas are edible.  I did caution them to put their pots outside and let them be cleaned off from the rain before eating any of it, who knows what may have been sprayed on them. 

We started by putting a coffee filter in a pot because there were drain holes in the bottom of the pots.  We didn't want the potting soil to fall out of the holes, but it is wise to have adequate drainage for the pots.

We added enough soil so that the soil level on the plants would reach the top of the pot and they would be planted at the same level in our pots as they were coming from the green house.  We opened up the roots and put the plants in each pot.

Finally we filled any holes in the pot between the plants with extra potting soil, added a tag and the girls were very proud to take their pots home for their mother's.  I hope they remember to water them!

My daughter and her husband were home to visit for the weekend.  They took Mr. Kay and I out for dinner as well as his parents.  We had a lovely lunch.  Thanks Molly and Matt!  I can't wait for next Mother's Day when we add you to the list of "mothers".

Lovin the Lilacs

I love lilacs....in fact when someone talks about their favorite flower and I think about it, I can never come up with just one flower that is my favorite.  I think that would be like asking me if I have a favorite dog or child.   Each season I have a favorite and right now it's lilacs.  Mine are starting to bloom.  Seriously, is there anything better than having bouquets of lilacs giving off their lilac fragrance in every room of the house?    I'll be picking bouquets tonight!

Yard Sale

This weekend we had a yard sale, yard sales are yearly events with my family. My mother happens to live on a fairly busy road and so we schlep everything over there for more traffic!




This year my sister participated, her daughter-in-law, my mother and my daughter all joined in the fun….. If you are not a seasoned yard sale haver, I’ve got a few tips for you.



1. Location, location, location. If you aren’t on the beaten path, make sure you have signs marking your location.

2. Have all your items priced ---remember it’s a yard sale, what you don’t sell you either bring home or donate somewhere…. Let’s get rid of it!!!!

3. Keep a box in your home that is designated for yard sale items. As you put things in the box, price them right away so the day you are getting ready for the sale all you need to do is put the priced items on the tables. If you are having a sale with others, don’t forget to initial all your tags so you are sure to get credit for all your quarters!

4. Advertise at all the free newspapers, bulletin boards, etc. or even better, pick the day your community is having their community yard sales to guarantee lots of customers.

5. Have plenty of change, dollar bills, fives and tens. It seems everyone has a $20 to start the day.

6. Wear sunscreen. I’m adding that since most of us got sunburned!

7. If you are using a canopy to protect yourself or your merchandise from the weather, make sure you tie it down! We had one gust of wind in two days that took both canopies up in the air. One of the canopies landed in the tall shrubbery along the side of the house. The other one knocked over a very nice glass coffee table that belonged to my daughter, it shattered!  It ruined the whole day for her and could have been prevented had we had the forethought to think that even one gust of wind can be a disaster!

8. Talk to your customers, at the very least, say hello!

9. Don't forget to have a free box.  It's amazing how many people love to dig around in those.

10.  Pack a lunch and snacks and something to do!   There will be slow times so if you don't have friends to entertain you, bring something to do so you don't resent the time you are sitting there not doing anything.  We stayed open on Friday night till almost 7 pm and had customers all day.

We had a successful weekend, got rid of a lot of stuff and blessed a lot of people with good quality clothes, etc. that were all reasonably priced.   Let me know if any of my tips are helpful for you.

Have Fun!!!

May Day Basket

Happy May Day....  I thought this day would never get here, but here in Central PA we finally have some beautiful spring weather.  Being the first day of May, what better time than to pick some flowers and gift them to a special friend. 

Our Women's Ministry at church exchanged names and are remembering each other each month with a little surprise.  My "secret sister" received this May basket today!   Shhhhhhh, I don't think she reads my blog. 

I made the bloom box out of some old wooden fencing designed to go around a border.  The pieces of wood were just the right size to nail together to form a little box.  I then added a wire hanger and a plastic drinking cup to contain the flowers.   The tag you can find at Skip to my Lou. I have one of these hanging on my gate all summer and I cut whatever's growing in the garden at the time.

Happy May!

Weekend's Project

A few weeks ago I was browsing at a shop and found this interesting piece.  I could hardly wait to start its tranformation.  I took off the hardware and removed the glass from the door, got out the Annie Sloan paint and painted and waxed....  Friday night we took it over to the shop. 

Next project is a dresser with a great mirror!!!  Unfortunately the wood around the mirror needs repaired and I'll have to wait for Mr. Kay to be in the mood to decide the best way to repair it.  Stay tuned!

Quote of the Day!

Beautiful day today, and the temps are sorta supposed to rise..... slowly.  I pulled some weeds in the garden over my lunch hour today, hoping to make a dent in it this weekend.

Here's a quote that speaks to me!  Give it some thought this week. 

Signs of Spring

I can't wait for spring weather to get here....  I've seen the signs, so I know it's coming,  but I'm getting impatient with mother nature this year!

Anyone else as anxious as I am?  I am watching the bulbs emerge from the ground and I have heard my friends talking about having seen robins in the area.  One thing I look forward to each season is purchasing a bunch of pussy willows.  I remember my mother having a pussy willow tree for most of my childhood and when we moved to our present location, I also planted a pussy willow tree. A few years ago it died and hasn't been replaced yet.   They are so easy to root in water and I'd love to have another one, so if anyone has one and can cut a piece for me, I'd be really happy!!!

Yesterday while I was out I found a bunch of pussy willows which brought back memories of spring and I purchased another hyacinth for this season.  Hycinths are my favorite flower this time of year.  I LOVE their fragrance.

What are the signs to you that spring is just around the corner?

Happy New Year

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to do more blogging!  Here it is the 2nd week in January and I am just now getting to the blogging part of the New Year's Resolutions!  On a positive note, I have been exercising and going to the gym so I'm on track with that one. 

Another goal is to learn how to use my new camera.  I bought a SLR Canon Rebel a few months ago and I'd really like to improve my photo skills as I do more blogging. 

I'm looking forward to a new year and a new chance to get my life organized, and to make all those little changes in my life that will make me a better person.

Here's to a Happy New Year for everyone!!!