Boy was I a spoiled housewife! Skip used to take care of all the important  decisions in our life. We always discussed things. But in the end he always made the final call and was the authority of the household. This is a new, somewhat scarey thing for me to be selling houses and hiring contractors to remodel the house I chose to keep. I am about to have a total transformation done of the exterior of the home I am in now. I thought to have a new roof put on and then MABE next year have new windows installed. You see last year I had someone show up at my door (uninvited like) and ask if they could give me an estimate for a new roof and windows. It was an outrageous amount so I assumed these projects would have to be spread out over a few years if I was lucky!!! Well that uninvited contractor was so pushy that I LOST thier number accidentally on purpose! Then this year when I was ready to get started with my long list of repairs…after praying everynight that God would guide me to make the right decisions…I requested through a website directory for roofing estimates. I was sent three contractors who gave me FAR better quotes on new roof than the one I got last year. And one particular guy who is a local resident, born and raised in this area, and I just knew was an all around good guy…and I did check his credentials and  Angies list reviews! He also gave me an estimate to include new windows, painted trim, add the trim I want over my garage, a window planterbox for my front windows…..plus more….for about half the price the uninvited contractor quoted me last summer! I think he is almost as excited to start this project as I am! I KNOW without a doubt that I made the right decision on which contractor to hire. He sees my vision. He hasn’t tried to talk me out of what I want to do with MY house…in fact he is covering some of the small details on his own because he is anxious to show before and after photos on his web site. He has just noticed little things that I have overlooked and threw them in at no extra charge like rescreening my front screendoor. Replacing light fixture covers. Spraypainting my front porch railings…things like that after giving me that first initial quote but not adding to the amount. He just wants those “after photos to look good as well as my house so we can both show it off on our web sites. We are both so excited and anxious to get this project underway. Not only do I feel like I made the right choice but I also feel like I got Skips blessing as well. You can think I am quirky or a little bit crazy but I was thinking to myself that” I hope Skip would be proud of these decisions that I am making…I hope he likes what I am planning to do with the house…I wish he was here with me.”  Just then..at that moment…I got those familiar goosebumps in my brain….I knew it was him telling me that he approved!!! He is still helping me make decisions.

SOOO…since I am having my windows replaced…I have told him (the contractor…not Skip) that I would like to keep the old windows that are currently in the house.  Not to confuse you…they will be taken out and replaced..but the old ones will be placed in my garage. OH the plans I have for those old windows!!! I am almost as excited about my plans for the old windows as I am my whole exterior home remodel.   Some ideas that I have in mind!!!!!

Mabe not so much a pot rack but a rack to hang baskets collected form the local thrift shops. One can never have too many baskets! Carry muffins to your neighbors…for a picnic in the park…use for bread rolls when having company for dinner.

Mabe hang one like this on my porch? Or use as wall art inside the house to frame favorite photos!

I could build a planter box like this to hang on the side of my garage or on the fence. Vines like morning glories could twine on the window mullions if I broke the glass out.

I could build a cold frame for young seedlings or a terrarium for  plants like this!

A mini greenhouse???

And I am picturing in my mind a conservatory for my dolls!! How perfect would that be. I have always dreamed of having a conservatory for ME! Thats one dream that will probably never come true BUT I KNOW I could create a beautiful one for my dolls! I can hardly wait to get started. I can just imagine the beautiful photographs that I could take of them among the flowers and vines that I could decorate the conservatory with. Now all I need to do is a little research into what it could look like!

OH THE POSSIBILITIES!!!

I don’t get bored very often….my brain is always busy coming up with crazy new ideas that I can’t wait to get started on. If only there were a few extra days in the week…. or weeks in the month…. or months in the year!!!

I have been interviewing roofing contractors for the past two weeks and I will be making the decision tomorrow on who gets the job. I can hardly wait for them to get started. My poor old roof should have been replaced years ago but it seemed like every time we hoped to get it done something came up to prevent it from happening. I just really want to bring this lovely old house back to it’s glory days! I will go out and take plenty of pictures before and after. It is so hard to choose what shingle to use though. Obviously I have to pick one within my budget. I also plan to have the windows redone and all the trim repainted soon too. Then it will be up to me to do all the replanting of flowers and add some new bushes. It will be a total transformation of the outside by the end of summer. And yes I am still plodding along with getting the inside fixed up too. But that work is being done by just little ole me…and some help from Shawyn too. So its a very SLOW process!

Have you all discovered “PINTEREST”. If you haven’t you really need to check it out!!! It’s a web site where you can set up your own personal pinboards and save pictures that you like. It’s almost like creating your very own magazine to go and look at any time you want. I am quickly becoming addicted to it. Just ONE more thing to distract me…as if I don’t have enough already. So with saying that I thought I would share some of my favorite pins that I have collected recently. Starting with some inspiration for my exterior redo.

I LOVE this English Tudor house!( Pictured above.) The first thing I did when I moved back into my house (Pictured below) last year was to go out and buy several dozen pots of ivy. I think it will take a while before it grows this much, but at least I’ve started it. I am choosing a lighter shingle with a mottled color similar to the look on this one and a shade of brown paint called sable for the windows and the rest of the trim. It’s sort of a grey brown is the only way i know how to describe it. Of course my little Tudor is red brick but I still think it’s going to look great. Some people have tried to convince me to go with white trim and windows but I have stuck to my guns and chose what I have always wanted for this house. BROWN like a traditional tudor style.

Heres a picture of my house as it looks now. I’ll walk around and take more before the work begins. It doesnt look too bad here but when you get up close you see how bad it needs some love and attention.

OK…back to some of the pretty pictures that I saved to my pinterest board for inspiration.

Above photo….the lighter brown trim  and below photo….BEAUTIFUL landscaping!!

I’m also hoping that Shawyn and I can build a nice big window box to go under those three front windows. Mabe something like this!

Ok…well that is enough dreaming for one day! I will post pictures once the project is underway!!

For those of you who enjoy my doll photos, I have just spent several hours this evening updating my Doll Page.

I am so excited for Levi and Jenni. They are still in the planning stages but one thing that we do know for sure is that they will marry this summer on the eastern shore here in Hampton Roads Virginia. Yea!

Levi proposed to Jenni in the summer of 2009. He left a message in a bottle on the beach for her to find. Isn’t that romantic!!

This is a pretty spot!

Pink roses bloom all summer at the edge of the bay.

They may choose to have the wedding set up on the lawn overlooking the water. But of course ALL eyes will be on the bride!

OR..they could choose to have the wedding at this covered pavillion.

OR…they might choose to have the wedding at the end of this long pier.

Here is a photo of another Bride and grooms happy day.

 Whatever they choose it will be BEAUTIFUL!!!

Then they might choose to have the reception in this lovely room over this restraunt.

Set up for a wedding reception it would look like this ..but with Jenni’s choice of decor!

What ever they choose to do on thier BIG day will be beautiful and create memories for a lifetime together!

Thats what it is all about at the Kentucky Derby. Someday I would love to be there in person. It would probably take me weeks to pick out the perfect hat and a dress to go with it. It is definately a case of picking the hat first and then the outfit. Then I would have to decide which horse to bet on and how much money I would dare to bet. It would only be $100. I am really not a gambling type of women. Of course I would have a nice mint julep.  Yes this is definately something that is on my list of things to do before I die. Untill it actually happens I will just live vicariously through my dolls!!

Here is my Gwendolyn and Penny at the races!

I do believe that Penny’s horse has won! Yea!

She who plants a seed beneath the sod,and waits to see, believes in God.

That is one of my favorite rhymes. It’s that time of year again! I become a CRAZY GARDEN LADY!

I have about six trays of babies to tend to. Some people may think its way too much trouble to go through when you can just go to your local home center and buy them. But I get this great feeling of accomplishment when several months to a year later, my babies are looking like this.

 Not to mention the money I save by growing them myself. I have seen these plants in the garden centers ranging between $12 and $16 a single plant.

Last year in mid June when I first moved back here I planted a tray of these Foxgloves. Now as a reward for my patience I have about a dozen of these majestic beauties around my property. And I gave about 9 plants each to two of my neighbors so it’s something nice to share too.

Not fair…his look better than mine…but he has been gardening a lot more years than I have, in fact he was a great influence on me. A person who I admired his gardens years ago and wanted beautiful flowers like the ones that he has in his yard. I’m glad that I could come back 20 yrs later and share flowers that I started.

 Some plants (annuals) you will be able to reap the rewards within a few months. Like this beautiful moon vine that I grew on my fence last year.

I have lots more of these started for this summer too. They bloom at twilight and smell so good! Yesterday morning, while still in my nightgown I planted some Morning Glory seeds. The seeds need to be soaked in warm water overnight before planting. Last night around 8pm when I went to turn off my grow lights over the seeds several little morning glories had already popped thier little heads through the soil. So I have covered morning and evening with flowering vines to cover my ugly fence.

I do buy some plants from the garden shops though. Tomato and herb plants for example.

I already have babies on them. I love cherry tomatoes picked fresh from the plant for my salads.

 Yes I have to say that I definately find gardening a very pleasant distraction.

I am feeling like a little girl on Christmas morning! Yes that means I bought myself another doll. I have been wanting to add a red head to my collection. I was browsing through some E-bay shops a few nights ago and spotted this lovely lass at a discount price because she was missing her clothing. WELL GEE…I can make her clothes!! So she has come to live with me!

 I was thinking of calling her Charlotte and giving her the nickname of ” Charlie”.  Well that plan went out the window when I took her out of her box. Her beautiful red hair is the color of a shiny new copper penny. SO…her name is Penelope…”Penny” for short! She has an Irish accent and is a very lucky girl!

                                             I found this adorable bicycle at a Big Lots store a few weeks ago.

                         I apoligize for the quality of these photos. I was in a hurry and my battery was about to die in my camera. But you will be seeing a lot more photos of her in the future!

         PS………I forgot to mention that she is Ellowyne Wilde ” Nothing Springs To Mind”.

http://www.wildeimagination.com/p-289-metrodolls-2010-ooak.aspx

I guess you could say that I have a bucket list of  craft projects that I have always wanted to do. I certainly hope that I don’t kick the bucket any time soon. I hope to at least be here to enjoy my future grandchildren and see my boys settle down and be happily married. So anyway…back to my subject. I have always wanted to make a YoYo quilt. I remember seeing one when I was a little girl and thought it was so pretty. If you are addicted to fabrics like I am then this is one way to get to use many pretty prints and solids. I chose as many bright colors as possible. I thought this would appeal to future grandchildren and I hope this quilt will become a family heirloom. Like I said, this has been on my mind for years. I have pulled pictures of yoyo quilts out of magazines and saved them.

This picture is in a decorating book that I have. It looks like there is a second yoyo quilt made of smaller yoyo,s thrown over the stool to the left of the bed.

I pulled this out of a magazine  years ago. This may have been my biggest influence! I just think this is beautiful! I also found some pretty ones on line…just by googleing yoyo quilts.

  So after being inspired…….I thought NOW is the time to check this project off my list once and for all. When I went to Georgia for the month of March without my sewing machine I did take my good sissors, needle and thread and my handy dandy yoyo making kit. The kit is a plastic circle that acts as a pattern for your circles and it has a stitch guide to ensure that the stitches are evenly spaced.

I spent every evening while relaxing working on my yoyo’s. When I had a basket full I would dump them out on the floor and start working out the design and figuring out how many more i needed to sew. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many yoyo’s are in this quilt but it is hundreds!!

It took me a month and a half to finish it.

I wanted to give it a name! It was reminding me of something and for some strange reason I kept craving jelly beans!

I finished it a few days after Easter. I am calling it “Jelly Beans”.

The flowers in this bud vase are from our easter church service. Some ladies at our church devide the Sunday arrangements into small boquets and give them to church members. Isn’t that sweet. I was a lucky recipient that week!

I think I like it thrown over the table better than on the bed!

                                                       DO YOU SUDDENLY CRAVE JELLY BEANS???

 And here it is thrown over a chair with Skip and Bonnie Bears! I can just picture myself teaching my grandchildren thier colors from this fun quilt!

 The next quilt on my “Bucket List” is going to be a Raggedy Quilt and then hopefully a Crazy Quilt.

Yes I am still alive and well and I will be blogging again very soon. I must confess that I contemplated quitting. Sometimes I fear that my life is becoming far too boring to blog about. But then I realize how much I miss it and how theraputic it has become to me. I will catch you up to date on what I have been up to these past two months. I can’t believe it’s been that long!

   I have done some sewing!

I have LOTS of babies to look after.

I sold a house…FINALLY!

My son and his fiance finally set a date for thier wedding.

Lets see…other than that…I have done a bit of gardening. I am working on a fun new line of clothes for my dolls as well as helping a friend out with outfits for her dolls wedding. They have NOT set a definate date yet though…so my sons wedding comes first! Check back soon for all the details on all this fun stuff that I have been busy with. I have MISSED you all SO much!