Dining Room Gets a Makeover, Again

So, I'm on Dining Set # 3.

That's just since we moved in 2 years ago!

I first had this old Ethan Allen set that I bought from a neighbor about 15 years ago.

The wood chairs are the ones that go with the table.

They are all at Taylor's house now.

I replaced them with this set.

I loved this set, but didn't realize how LARGE it was til I got it home.

I had to turn the table on the diagonal, and we still had a hard time maneuvering around it.

We lived with it for a few months.

Then, yesterday Marc and I went to an Estate Sale.

They had some beautiful things.

Like the petite settee that I have absolutely no room for.

However, the Dining Room caught my attention.

The chairs were more in scale with what I wanted.

They have a French influence to them, at least I think so.

They're a Drexel Heritage set, although I don't know exactly how old .

And the seats are all needlepoint flowers.

I put a bid in on it,

and got the call yesterday afternoon to come and pick it up.

This is what it looks like now.

The room still needs a few changes, like the apple green lampshades.

It feels and functions so much better.

Set #2 was listed on CL last night.

It is now living in an older rock home by the lake.

ann marie



Birthday Words

Where did I learn to feel the breeze, nurture a flower and welcome the rain?

Where did I learn to dance with the fireflies, respect the Earth and sing with the birds?

Where did I learn to jump in, adapt to the depth and dig my toes in to the sand?

Where did I learn that the world can weep, decisions can change and things can be forgiven?

Where did I learn to honor truths, embrace challenges and appreciate grace?

When a flower is more than a developed seed

When the rain is more than the weather

When the breeze is more than the wind

You have taught me how to learn, how to love, how to laugh and how to cry

You have taught me how to appreciate, how to nurture, how to sing and how to dance

You have taught me how to hold on, how to forgive and how to change

Because of you mom, I have learned

You have taught me what it means to be a mom

And now, because of you I will teach

When I look at her I see the world-and because of you I will teach

All because of you

These words were written for me today, and I am honored.

I turned 52 today.

I feel about 28.

That can't be bad.

ann marie

The Wonderfullness of Paint

Wonderfullness.
I'm not sure it's an actual word, I think my spell check isn't working.
Anyway, that's how I feel about paint!
Some quick shots of what went on at Taylor's cottage today.

Unfortunately, the whole interior of the house was painted this dreadful flesh color.

Walls, ceiling and woodwork...everything.

This is the last door in the house to be painted.

It leads to the laundry room.

It's a decent size and will also have to function as a pantry and storage area.

The floor is in rough shape, so we decided not to tile.

Paint to the rescue.

It dried darker, thank goodness!

Now all we need is wall color and some shelving and some fabric and some baseboard.

All for another day.

I also finished painting all the baseboards that hadn't gotten done.

And I brought the bed from our house to Taylor's.

That bedroom set is a CL find and I'll post about it soon.

What can I say, it was 95 degrees outside so I decided to turn the air on and work inside today!

ann marie

Velcro Dog

This is Rizzo.

I know, not funny.

She is a mini silky wire-haired dachshund.

She has a wonderful personality.

When we moved into this house, she weighed in at 18 lbs.

That's a bit much. I'm not judging, I'm just saying...

Her ideal weight is around 12 lbs.

After a few months of chasing those dang squirrels, she now weighs around 11 lbs.

Yeah, she looks good and she knows it! 

She loves being around people, but one of her favorite peeps is Em.

She is so tolerant.

Really tolerant.

This is her "Gangsta" look.

The other girls do not mess with her when she

has this kind of attitude.

Seriously, would you?

For some bizarre reason, she likes turning her bed upside down on top of her.

She looks like a turtle waddling around

the living room.

She's weird.

And every once in awhile,

she turns superheroish.

TaDa!

Velcro Dog!

Everything sticks to her.

She's come in with feathers stuck to her.

Dried Asparagus fern fronds.

Sticks.

Unmentionable things she's rolled in.

This time, she has pollen strands from the pecan trees.

And the best part?

Everytime she comes in the house, she drops all this c**p/stuff all over the place.

So much for Spring cleaning!

Love you Rizz.

ann marie



Garden Beauties

It seems that Spring is well on its way to Summer.

We've had warm temps and no rain for quite some time.

That hasn't stopped my yard from blooming like crazy.

It probably has a lot to do with my plants becoming established.

Enjoy.

I certainly do.

My Hydrangas...

My Amaryllis.

I actually took the pink ones with me from the old house.

The red ones in the first picture were here when we bought the house.

They were in the side yard just struggling to sprout leaves.

Goodness knows how old they are, this house stood empty for 7 years.

They're a very hardy flower.

I wish you could smell these!

Gardenias

This rose was planted over 2 years ago, and I thought it died.

Until it came out of nowhere this Spring.

That's why I'll leave plants in that I think might be gone.

Sometimes they can surprise you.

My Peonies have come up again this year, but so far no blooms.

Maybe next year.

The Hollyhocks weathered the winter and have come back stronger than ever.

Never had blooms on these either.

Now all I need to find is a Lilac that will thrive here and I'll be in Paradise!

ann marie



More Cottage Progress...

OK, Taylor graduates in 4 weeks.

I have company coming out to visit the weekend before.

I'm making progress, and running out of time.

Oh well.

I've been painting the exterior this week.

When we closed on the house.

Today.

I still have the bed on the right side of the door to finish.

That's on tomorrow's list.

Here's the front entry...

We kept the door that was there, dings and all.

There is now R-30 insulation in the attic.

There wasn't any insulation at all.

The damaged sill plate was repaired and new wood siding installed.



Custom made drip thingy.

Even the overhang on the back of the house was removed.

Previous owners moved a door from the laundry room to the kitchen.

The overhang was

a: ugly

b: totally useless

and finally, I couldn't run a straight line of rain gutters!

There are now appliances...Yay for cold water!

CL find.

GE glass top stove

Whirlpool side by side

Vent hood

$450

They're not that old, the owners were updating to Stainless.

Cabinet hardware's on.

Mostly straight.

That's what you get with cheap labor- me.

Don't mind the chips (2) on the stovetop.

For someone that can figure out how to do just about anything, this was just stupid.

Yep.

Put your stove in the bed of the truck and don't tie it down because you figure it's pretty heavy and won't go anywhere.

Not so.

Once you hit 70 MPH, it goes somewhere.

It almost flew out of the truck.

I'm sure the driver behind me almost had a stroke, I know I almost did.

It tipped over in the bed.

All I could envision was a broken oven window or cooktop.

Just 2 chips.

Please learn from my idiocy.

ann marie