It was Bound to Happen

First off, we celebrated hubby's birthday by going to one of his favorite lesser expensive places to eat, The Cotton Patch which I of course had a coupon for a free appetizer. We had his favorite, cheesy (bacon), fries.  I call it the artery clogging appetizer, but he loved it.

Back to the topic of this post.  My hubby has become quite the 'picker' and he can spot really nice antiques and collectibles and so we are getting more treasures, some of which he finds vendors for, but others we have been keeping.  If someone were to ask me even a year ago if I liked antiques I would turn up my nose and say forget it! 

But there have been some really nice pieces hubby has gotten and I found myself actually loving some of them!  We are now replacing some of our furniture that we have had for years with nice antiques and what has been really neat is that our dining room looks twice the size!  Having smaller pieces really makes a difference.  Here is a picture of the before table/chairs and huge bakers hutch (we have in the garage now), and the after pictures of an early 1900's antique table and chairs and a beautiful dark oak china cabinet that sits snugly against the far wall. We also have two vintage hand carved turquoise/leather accent chairs on either side of the cabinet that really add a eye catching touch!

 BEFORE

 AFTER

 Close up of table, with the beautiful beaded bouquet my daughter hand made (the table also has two panels that lift out to make it twice as long for when family comes to visit and we need more room than just for two people, and has no screws or hardware anywhere).

 Close up of artisan work

Close up of china cabinet which I love that is shorter than the old hutch as now the leaded glass window is totally unblocked.

  I'll show a picture of that as well so you know what I am talking about. The picture is dull but had to do it this way to make out the window better.

It is so typical!

In the middle of the night at 2:30 AM we woke to the sound of a loud beep. At first I thought it was a smoke detector but that has a higher pitched beep.  We could not figure out what it was and finally hub thought it was one of the dogs moving around in her kennel, but I was not convinced. We let it go until we heard it again. Why do these things have to happen in the middle of the night?

It turns out it was the smoke detector in the hallway that is wired in (no batteries) which is why it sounded different too. We didn't even notice it was there but it is no surprise it needed replacing since it has likely been there for 32 years.

After that it took a while to get back to sleep and wasn't until sometime after 3:00 AM. Ugh! 

Tonight we are suppose to have rain, but I am hoping won't be loud thunderstorms in the middle of the night. I would like to sleep straight through.

No big plans for the weekend. All I know is that I am not working once again! Woo hoo!  It is hubby's birthday tomorrow so we will most likely eat at one of his favorite placed for a birthday meal. 

Going to watch Grimm!

Random Pics

Ditzy

 This is a lizard that was clinging to the window (thus the screen cannot get rid of). The feet looked so interesting, especially the back ones.

 This is what we call a gecho, not sure if it is though..this was inside the house



In my garage...

So I am in the office that is in my garage, keeping all the furkids company who are also in the garage with me as someone is coming to take the black day bed from the spare bedroom (sorry Danielle, but I doubt you'll miss it).  We got an idea to turn it into a cute antique spare bedroom and hubby knew someone who wanted to buy it for their daughter, so we sold it.

I am thinking an antique brass twin bed will fit perpendicular against the wall so that we can find a small bed stand to put next to it.  We're going to move the desk out of there too as it already has that built in wall desk area and I think hubby finally has realized I am not moving my office upstairs to that room.  I love my cozy space here too much!

We are going to do things slowly though as I have bigger more urgent goals, like getting our bathroom remodeled. This house is 30 years old and the bathrooms are all original.  The tub is so stained, I cannot get it to be anything better than a dull filmy look and it never did match the tile. The toilet is also in the same cubby as the tub, crammed next to it which I have never been thrilled with. We did replace the toilet a year or so ago, so we can keep that, just maybe place it somewhere else. Or we may just leave it where it is and move the tub/shower. Actually thinking of just putting a shower in there and no tub as I do not take tub baths and the other bathroom has a tub. I wonder if that would devalue the home though. Not sure.

There is a door for privacy to that area but open it up and then there is the long double sink area (carpeted too, which is odd to me), and walk by that right to the rest of the bedroom that is in front of that wall.  I'd prefer a door there at the entrance way to the bathroom, and tile or some other floor, and we want to use part of the walk in closet for a shower.  I'm sure it won't be cheap but it really needs it so that is the main goal right now.

Hubby had drawn up a few floor plans for a bathroom remodel and I found them the other day when looking for some other documents. We were happy that we still have them.

I can tell fall is here as it is actually cool in the morning and then gets warm later in the day. It calls for layers that I can take off, but that is fine. I love having fresh air into the room at night.

Tomorrow is our 13th wedding anniversary. That is the longest I have been married, but it really doesn't seem that long.  No big plans for the day other than to spend time together.  I am not working this weekend either.

Rainy Day

I should have walked the dogs yesterday, but just wanted to take my solo walk last night. It isn't that I do not want to walk the dogs, but I walk close to a mile and a half and the one or two dogs I would take because they can handle it, I am afraid may get into a confrontation with another dog.

Often down the street there is one or two dogs LOOSE that I would not want to chance any confrontation, as my dogs are very aggressive, even though they are just shelties. Instead of backing down if another dog was around, these two would likely bark their heads off and pull the leash which I'm afraid would only antagonize another dog. There are people that just don't care if their dog is loose because they won't run 'away' and have managed to not get hit by any vehicles. It would be different if they stayed on their yard ONLY, but they will come out to the street, even wander the street.

I recently had a chat with a nice lady who has a small older dog that got attacked by a large dog down the street and although she successfully got the other dog to lay off her dog before any biting, I know all too well about dog attacks after our Shelby was attacked back in PA. And anyone who thinks they could break up a dog fight should think twice, because when two dogs are rolling around and biting fast, it is not something you'd want to through your arm into. Since then I've read that picking up the attacking dogs hind legs up in the air (together) will make them stop biting and supposedly they cannot reach back and bite you either since their back legs are up. But I hope I never have to try to stop a dog fight.

So I thought I would just walk them today after my morning exercise routine but it is raining, and the forecast is for rain all day.  But we need it so I can't complain. I plan to make some pumpkin bread muffins today as my mom loves them and when I go to visit and give my dad the things I got, I want to at least take something for my mom. I may also make the Strawberry/Lemonade Pie and add a bit of frozen fruit I have in the freezer (bananas, strawberries, peaches), but I'm not sure yet. I sure love my Southernbellegourmet (gourmet cupboard) food. Even if I only ever buy it for my own use, it is well worth it to me!

So baking and watching movies are in store for today!  Off to get a bite for breakfast and get my shower.

Lazy Day

This photo of our Merlin says it all, doesn't it?

This is the third or fourth weekend in a row that I actually have not worked and it is great, although weird.  I was so used to working all the time that I sort of feel guilty for not working, but there isn't a lot of extra work right now anyway, so that is one reason why I haven't bothered, that and the first couple weekends, just took a break from working so much.

This morning hubby and I went to the Caring Place store to see what sort of treasures we could find. I got 3 very soft and unstained handkerchiefs for my dad and a neat little jelly/dip spreader that had a handle made with tiny playing cards (hard to explain) but I think he'll like it. He can take it to the bridge games he directs as he puts out snacks usually too so if there is some chips and dip he can put it out.  I actually was looking for some nice handkerchiefs for my mom as she likes the old fashion soft cotton type, but I didn't see any nice ones for women. I got a cute little tea container made out of wood, shaped like a little cottage that has Tea Time Cottage written on one side for my green tea bags. I also got two baskets, one which I put in the spare bathroom for my youngest's toiletries that were just scattered on the counter.  The other basket I don't really have placed yet but it is hand painted with little flowers on it and the top has a thin wooden painted trim strip that LOOKS....like a ribbon tied around it.  Here, I'll post a picture of it. See?  It looks like a ribbon. Everything I got was only $6!

I made some of my SouthernBelleGourmet oatmeal cookies (without the raisins) after we got home. Yum!!

Now we are watching A League of Their Own, a classic in my opinion.  I am planning on walking the dogs later on, if the rain holds off. We actually got a decent amount of rain yesterday and there is a chance of rain through tomorrow I think.


 

My mini loupe

I already posted this on Facebook but wanted to post this here as well. My summer garden is winding down, although I do have some peppers left. I had to take this cantaloupe off the vine as the vine was brown and not going to give this little thing any more nourishment.

So I waited about a week to see if it would ripen up any.  Although the seeds look impressive, I only got about a spoonful of cantaloupe.  But it was cute at least!  I have one more small cantaloupe (not quite as small as this one) and I am going to try to plant some of its seeds to see if I can get any fall crops.

My allergies have really been kicking in recently, probably due to ragweed being high. I hate that clogged up feeling, especially when I lean over!  I always have some allergies but not this bad. Guess I should start taking some over the counter allergy meds since I do have them.  Little late in the evening to take one now, so I'll take one tomorrow morning to see if it helps me get through tomorrow without so much hacking and such.  Haven't sung much lately either due to hacking so much, already hoarse so hard to be in the mood to sing much.

Dizty..

Okay I got on my desktop instead of laptop because its been bugging me that the photo I posted of Ditzy on the red chair was not up to par for my standards. So here it is again after cropping and resizing :)

Also got her in a different chair, a 'hand' chair if you will... so cute!  Hey, at least I don't dress her up in little doggie clothes!  :)