Thursday, November 19, 2009

More 'Little" Things....

Hey guys!!!!! Well here we are a week away from Thanksgiving....and believe you me I have a double portion to be thankful for this year....mama & daddy are doing so good and today they informed me I don't have to come over every morning and fix breakfast for them any more! (Actually daddy has been getting up early for awhile now cooking his biscuits and fried eggs...but I think mama like the 'pampering'! lol lol) They have finally 'graduated and are on their own again!
Yesterday Bill & I unpacked the very last box in the house!...dance with me!!!! lol lol Now I just have to decide where to put things and because I know some things have to be stored...it is hard for me to choose what to leave out to decorate with...

But because I know me...it always comes back to the little things....things that have no meaning or value to anyone else but me....
things that make me smile when I look at them because of the memory they hold for me...things that take me back to a certain place and time in my life...
I knew in this house I wanted to be surrounded by such things so that each day during all this emotional time with my parents I could be surrounded by the comforts of my heart....
You don't have to be rich to have beauty around you....you don't have to have the latest trend to make yourself happy.... You don't need the finest china made to fill a cabinet...look at me...I have mine packed full of old Hulls brown dishes and the old Wheat dishes from the Duz detergent back years ago....oh I could go out and buy 'real china' but it wouldn't do a thing for me....these call me
...these let me see another time and place in my life...these let me see my cousin Peggy when we were young brides and mothers ourselves trying to always find ways to feed our kids and just survive when times were hard...and she loved my old brown dishes so much I gave her the whole set and then years later bought me another set at a trade day sale....sweet Peggy was only a year older than me...she passed away a year ago....these let me see my Aunt Odell setting the table with her Wheat dishes when I was a little girl and use to spend the night with her and Uncle James and my 3 cousins...You don't have to have custom made curtains to make a room look complete...you don't have to even have skills for this easy treatment....I just grabbed some left over check fabric and hemmed the tops and bottoms (seriously you can do this....use stitch witch and iron the hems....I used those magnetic rods that you can put on steel doors...no screws...and once I got the top hems done I just pulled the bottom of the fabric tight and held it where I wanted it on the bottom rod and stuck a pin in it for measurement and then took it off the rod and made my hem...no skills needed for this at all...then just drape a napkin over the top!)
Ceekay here is the front of the fireplace just for you girl!
I am starting to decorate the bathroom little by little.....
Here is the huge window over the tub..I knew I didn't want a curtain in here cause I love the light....so I just put some old things up here and I can change them out during the year.....So here we are turning another page in this new chapter...holidays are almost here...Bill is putting up the outside Christmas decorations this weekend...I told him I didn't want to wait til after Thanksgiving....
I just know that with every little thing I hang up or set out...I feel more and more at home here...You don't have to live in the biggest and best mansion to feel love and peace...you don't even have to own your own home for a place to be 'home' to you....we are only here for alittle while...we are just caretakers of whatever place God blesses us with....whatever you do surround yourself with love....of your family and of your life...there is no price tag for the happiness of a peaceful heart filled with thankfulness and joy....you can make your home a haven...you can't control what goes on outside your door but you do have a choice about what goes on inside and where ever you go remember this saying.....it has been our Motto since we first got married...LEAVE EVERYTHING A LITTLE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT.

Love you guys....have a fantastic weekend and get those ovens heated up for all those pies and turkeys and casseroles!!!!!


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Moving Right Along.....

Hey guys...it's the weekend already and it has been great so far....with each passing day I get to be home more....still working my way thru the boxes but I just am so happy being here that it dosen't even bother me that I have rooms still unfinished and pictures waiting to be hung...
Just seeing the change in mama & daddy this week has been a double portion blessing for me....

They celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary this past Thursday (the 12th)...we had a wonderful time going down memory lane as the three of us sat in the living room and talked about their 'courting' days! lol It is so good to be able to spend more time with Bill when he is off...knowing that mama & daddy can do some things for themselves now...below is Bill and I's comfort zone!


Ohhhh and lookie here what we got sneaking in....can you say 'Santa'!!!!!!! lol

Oh yes....I ask Bill to find one of my Christmas trees...'to air out' I explained to him! He busted out laughing and said "Hon, you don't fool me one bit! You know good 'n well that tree will be decorated and plugged up before nightfall!!!!" lol lol (Does he know me or what!!!!)
Ohhhhh glory look at the sweet little painted stocking that youngest Burly Boy made in Elementary school!!!!! This tree is loaded with old treasures! The sight of all them was more than medicine for my soul!

So there you have it...the latest in Picketville...next week I'll be cooking for Thanksgiving and putting things in the freezer.....this is such a glorious time of year....gathering with families...memories from days gone by stirring in your hearts....excitement knowing you'll make new memories and see new loved ones that God has blessed us with.....
I know for some this is a hard time of year...having lost a loved one or suffering themselves not knowing what tomorrow might bring...yes these are hard times and yes bad things happen to good people...but there is hope...it may seem like your darkest hour.....but look hard....there is a tiny flicker....the slightest blink of a light way in the distance...it is your deliverance..it is your answer....stand stedfast dear one...God has not forgotten you....from my heart to yours...take care you guys...~Picket~ ♥

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Slinging Fabric...101

Hey guys!!!! Happy Wednesday to you! It has been a fantastic week so far...more about that later....but first some of you had ask about my 'fabric slinging' methods for making curtains...so here is a quick little class..don't bother getting a paper and pencil..you won't need it! lol This is a no brainer for sure and remember guys...this is me we are talking about...I have never been one for prim and proper and I am not a fancy kind of girl..just so you know.
Now this window is about 60 inches wide so I just cut my fabric about 1 1/2 times the width like 90 inches (maybe even close to 96 inches...doesn't have to be perfect..
I use fabric that is 45 inches wide right off the bolt..see in the above pic..you fabric is folded in half on the bolt...I just let that be the length and slide my little tensoin rod right between the fold where the fold line is...that way I have double thickness of fabric and I don't have to line it....

all in the world I did was scrunch me some fabric on both ends kinda making it even in scrunches..yes this is the way I talk!!!! lol then you will see you have straight fabric in the middle...place your tension rod in the window (no nails...no brackets...no nothing!) Now make even scruches on both ends leaving the middle good and tight....


After that I just took a little 3 ft berry vine..one of those easy bending ones and started close to one side of the scrunches..went under and come back over and under again and just bent it at the top and it holds itself...that's it..plain and simple...it just makes the little swags automatically..I'm sure you could use grapevine..or ribbons..anything you like..this is just what I choose cause this is what I found in the closet! lol

Now my side toppers were a bugger to decide on....I tried a half version of the big window....UGLY!!!!!! I tried to just make a little balloon valance....wasn't working for me! So I just cut my fabric twice the width of the little window...then cut on the fold and that gave me two 22 1/2 in pieces...I then just draped each peice over a tension rod...that gave me a 11 1/4 in valance all double fabriced like the bottom...I loved it! This was the easiest and cheapest window treatment ever!

In the above pic you can see the true color of the walls and curtains...it is Deer Path by Benjamin Moore...but I had it made at Lowes in their Valspar paint in the eggshell finish...the fabric was from Hobby Lobby $1.99 a yard!

Yep slowly but surely this place is turning into Picketville......

Day by day I notche out little corners that make me smile....the sun comes in so bright in the morning flooding the kitchen...it is hard to get a good pic with this old camera but this is my little work area...even found room for the little island Bill made me....yes it's small and cluttered and has no sense of reason...but ohhhhh it is so me!!!!!

Now for some fantastic news!!!!! Monday I talked to Daddy's doctor...He told me I could take daddy off all those strong meds from the hospital and could take him off the oxygen...all his test results were great! As soon as I got off the phone I drove over to mama and daddy's...they were sitting at the kitchen table...I told them what the doctor said and I told daddy..'you can take the oxygen off now'....he took the tube out of his nose and set it on his head like he had been doing when he was doing his breathing treatments...I said 'No...daddy..you can really take it off for good'...
What happened next was the most emotional moment and one I will never forget...for over 6 weeks daddy has been hooked to oxygen....his body weakened and frail from the damage to his lungs...his spirit crushed as he had been confined to a bed for so long and then confined to home...harnessed to this loud machine that seemed to control him and his actions....slowly he lifted the tubes from his head and set it on the table...tears flowed down his face..no words had to be spoken..it was as if shackles that had enslaved him had been broken...he lifted his hands and begin to praise God as me and mama cried and rejoiced with him..oh happy day!!!! This day had been a long time coming.....my heart is overflowing!
I hope things are just as blessed on your side of the mountain and again I can never tell you enough how thankful I am for your love and prayers....Have a great week everybody! ~Picket~♥