A Freebie Finish and Weekend Fun!

Today I made a halloween cone from a freebie I found on the web. It is from Country Sampler and I added a link to the PDF File, since it asks you to subscribe to get it, for some reason. But, I found a direct link so you can use that and make one for yourself.

I messed up, seem to do that a lot lately, lol. I forgot to put it on the fold when I cut, so I just did a blanket stitch to sew it together. In the original, the sew line is in the back. I also added the tie and a couple of jingle bells. I had to take a photo on the floor in the kitchen so I could get better light on it.

This weekend we watched Nicholas for the day while his dad worked on their house. He played outside with grandpa and Bean and then we took him to the toy store. He used the word, Wow, a lot. I was looking for a few things so he would have toys to play with, at our house, but nothing good and we ended up going to a smaller store that carries toys and a little plastic wagon that he can use in the house. Of course he had to try out the toys in the store, I think this is, what do you mean, you aren't buying it for me, look;)

Sunday we went to the antique barn, and I was so excited when I saw a vintage tin halloween garland, then I realized, it was not for sale, errr. Since we were at the north end, we went apple picking at the orchard I went to as a child and we took our kids there. It has new owners, but the new orchard is dog friendly and Bean was in heaven. He was like a kid in a candy store, apples, people, dogs and more apples. Nothing like hundreds of round red balls on the ground to get him going.

" I think I need my own bag!"

Freebie Friday Finish!

Since I got a new computer, I don't have my old bookmarks, still trying to figure out how to transfer and the methods are not working for me, so bit by bit, I look them up and make new folders for the new computer.

One website I love to keep my eyes on is, Rusty Tin Roof. They offer a free online primitive magazine that has tips and articles and free patterns. Their fall issue is out and there are a lot of fun fall patterns, including one from Penny Lane Primitives. The pattern is for a penny rug that has cats and pumpkins and a hanging pocket. I made the hanging pocket yesterday and finished it today, so it is a simple project to do in a day, as long as you do not have an obnoxious pup trying to get you attention.

I messed it up a little bit, but it still came out nicely and a fun piece to enjoy for the fall season. I also added a little antique stain, after I took the photo.

I was playing around with Funny pho.to for my memorial photo that I do on Facebook. I did one with fall leaves to put on her page and I liked how this one came out. I think it would be a nice one to print out on photo paper and frame for the new room. I like the primitive shabby look and think it would look nice in the room.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, we will be babysitting while my son repairs a section of his house.

Monday Finish!

Yes, I actually finished something and hopefully I can get more done this season. I had big plans for Christmas, for myself and gifts, but I know I cannot do too much without overwhelming myself, so I will do what I can and not stress myself out. I still do not know what we will do for the holidays, it is going to be hard on us this year, so maybe a day with the kids and then take off for a mini vacation.

I enjoy making gifts and gifts that have meaning and inspirational sayings. This design is by Homeberries and it was fun making it and I like how it turned out. I used added some lavender with the stuffing.

This weekend I got to enjoy some time with Nicholas, while his Dad went door shopping with Grandpa. The first thing he does is, go in my bedroom and points at the recorder, he loves to play it. I bought one to practice on and then got a wooden flute, so we play and march around the house.

He is talking a lot more but his mom also talks in her native Sabhan, so it is hard to tell if he is jabbering or talking, sometimes;) He has picked up a new saying, Oh Goodness, too cute when he says it and now he seems to be a ladies man. My son took him to a party and it seems he picked up, not one, but two and they happen to be twins.

He is loving all the attention.

And here he seems to be saying, enough photos, get me outta here! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Friday finishes, or not so finished!

Another slow week, we had doc appointments and it seems the week flew by. The good news is, not only have my eyes not gotten worse, but I can now drive without glasses, so I guess the lyme treatments helped my eyesight too. I do need them for close up work and reading, for some reason that got a little worse, but I can live with that.

I wanted to find a little glass cup for the candles I got in New Hampshire. They smell nice and I want those to burn in my beach room to make it smell nicer and I think it will be calming when I am down there. The room is in the basement and no matter what, there is a basement smell so keeping the room closed and scented, seems to do the trick.

I could not find a candle holder, just wanted something simple and with a beach theme. Then I spied an ugly candle  holder on the sale shelf, it was wrapped in iridescent beads and that is definitely not my style, so I took them off. The were attached with a gummy glue on the bottom and top, so it was still tacky and I was able to wrap some jute around the glass and it stayed on. Then I used a drop glue that is reusable and removable and it held the rusty heart and the rock heart. This way it is not permanent and I can change it out if I ever want to.

For now I used the yellow plate with the rocks I found today. Maybe later I can find another blue/green shell holder to match the other one I found.

While I was digging around the drawers, looking for things, I found an old paper cutting that I made. I made this over 20 years ago and never used it, not sure what to do with it. It is starting to become unglued from the backing. Maybe I could add a saying around it and use it in the new room.

I have also been working on a small pillow as a gift. I found the pattern online from homebodies, but for some reason her site is not up anymore and I cannot find her online. The pattern was made for a charity event, years ago.

I love inspirational stitcheries that I can make as gifts. I guess I will have to try and design some of my own. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

I also want to ask, has anyone repurposed a butcher block table? I have an old picnic table with benches and I want to paint it in a primitive white style for the beach room. I will be using the room as a creative room, so I will use the table to paint on and work on designs, but there are about 16 coats of varnish on it and I am in no mood to sand all that off. Any ideas on how to refinish or paint it without too much trouble and still look nice?

Must be Monday!

It seems I do so much to get ready for a vacation that it takes all week to relax and then it is time to come home and clean up after the vacation, now I need another one;)

One thing that is fun on a vacation is shopping and buying some goodies to bring home. I spent more time outside and enjoying nature but we did hit a few stores along the way.

In Jackson, we found Flossie's General Store. They had a lot of different gifts and local items. I got some Christmas items, a miniature handmade creche and angel chimes that move with a candle flame. I also found more balsam, so I will be making lots of pillows this year. In Center Harbor I stopped at Keepsake Quilting and bought a little wool pillow kit and next door they had yarn and roving, white to dye myself and the beautiful dyed roving will go into some art projects.

On the way home we stopped at Calefs in Barrington NH, which has food related items and Bill got a sandwich and some goodies for my son. Next door is Elfmade and Company, primitive heaven, candles and scents and I was in heaven. I had to smell all the different scents, they have them in bowl fillers and the matching sprays are available so you can use that when the scent dissipates. I got lemon merringue and it smells so good, as well as coconut crunch, I love candy smells. A few small items for gifts and some scented items for my son, he loves their candles. I also got a large primitive pump bottle for the kitchen, now I have something nice to keep my dish soap in.

Across the street was a store that was like an over stock store. Lots of Carhartt clothing and miscellaneous items. I found primitive picks at a fraction of the cost and some fun potholders, great place to find some bargains. This is a great place to stop if you are in the area, a lot of fun gifts in one place.

I will use the blue picks in the basket, in the beach room.

I decided I wanted to put some of the scented filler in the beach room, but I didn't have something to hold it in. After church we went down to a gift store that sells a lot of beach items and I almost gave up, when I spotted this shell shaped pottery dish, hidden behind some other items. It is the perfect blue green shade for the room.

And a few more photos from our trip. This was a stop along the Kancamagus, a historical homestead with a walk through the woods to a pond and you can visit the home and grounds, as well. This was such a peaceful place, I would love to live here.

And for those of you who have never gone over a covered bridge, this is what they look like in the inside. If  you ever travel along the Kancamagus, you must stop at the ranger station and pick up a map. It is only two dollars and it shows all of the scenic points and trails along the way.

We are home!

It was a wonderful week with new adventures but I also seemed to be fighting off a bug, since I left with it and it hit me again yesterday. I just crashed and was ready to go home but I really wanted to visit the presidential range and the waterfalls I read about, so I decided to go out for the day and see how it went.

We went to a few gift shops and got some items which I can show monday, but today I will show you some highlights from the day. My photos do not seem to come out as they usually do and I also have a new computer and photoshop online, so I am still getting used to the differences.

The nice thing about driving along the scenic routes in New Hampshire is, there is beauty, everywhere. We just enjoyed the ride and the views of the mountains as we headed toward Mount Washington. The day was cloudy and we could not see the higher mountains, they were shrouded in misty clouds.

We found two waterfalls to visit, easy access and short walks. The first one was Glenn Ellis falls. We walked in tunnel under the road and followed the falls until we got to the end and were rewarded with a beautiful cascade coming over the rocks.

The next waterfall was in Pinkham Notch, along the route to Tuckerman's Ravine. These are Crystal falls. We walked along a path that was a slight climb and saw a beautiful bridge over the falls and thought we had come to our destination. But I noticed how the trail went up and around, so we went to the corner and looked up and saw a stone area and knew there was something up there, so we climbed, me being pulled by bean and pushed a bit by Bill to get up the steeper area. It was well worth the climb, easy on a good day, not so easy when my legs are jello.

I think I could have spent the whole day, just sitting at these falls. Beautiful ravine and the cool breezes from the falls and trees was refreshing.

I decided I should rest at this point and maybe go shopping at the outlets, but gave up on that idea and just wanted to go back to camp and think about whether I wanted to stay. Going home at night is not fun, all we do is drive, but if I got worse, hated to stay and wake up sicker. I decided to stay and luckily I was feeling good enough to stop at my favorite store, it was still open and had even more goodies, so I will tell you about that, next week.

Since we stayed and the sky finally cleared, I wanted to see one last sunset at the lake. I wasn't disappointed, it isn't a sky full of color, it is a sky that is calming and a great place to just sit and relax. A nice way to end our day. I hope everyone had a good week.

A day of going no where?

Today I planned a short ride that looped around a small town, to see a covered bridge and a church. We saw the church and I took a few shots, then we drove on the the bridge. Well, we drove for a long time down a long road and no sign of the covered bridge.

We passed by a farm with goats and sheep and beautiful views of the mountain ranges, but no bridge.

Then we came around to the other side of the road and we saw another farm with cows and obnoxious dogs that jumped on our car, and more beautiful views of mountains on the opposite side, but no bridge.

At that point, I gave up and said, lets go back the way we came, hit the main highway and look for the road that leads to the bridge. That worked, we found the bridge and came back the way we came in, so we didn't get lost in the mountains again. It took more time than we planned but well worth the adventure and the views.

It was then that we realized, we were close to the town of Sandwich and I wanted to visit a store that sold items made by local artisans. I saw a lot of beautiful pottery and unique items, but prices way above what I wanted to pay. Since we were close to Center Harbor, we decided to stay in the area and visit Keepsake Quilting and Patternworks. I got a small wool kit to make gifts for Christmas and some beautiful roving to work with. We stopped at the pier to take in the views of Lake Winnipesaukee before heading back to camp.

I took this photo with my iPhone and the panoramic shot, great for getting views of an entire area.

Vacation Fun!

Yes, we are actually having fun this time. It is hot and we are wearing ourselves out, but in a good way and we need that. Yesterday we spent the day riding down the Kancamagus Highway and hitting every scenic point, waterfall, covered bridge and park that we saw, way too many;) We only visited them and walked on the short ones, too hot for long hikes.

Since we have been traveling around in circles, up and down the roads, we have seen a lot of beautiful places and just enjoyed the ride and being in the moment, so I will share a few of our highlights.

You cannot capture the pure beauty of the mountains or the feeling of being up on a mountain top, staring out at nothing but mountains and valleys, it is breathtaking and awe inspiring.

One place I wanted to visit was a river walk, where we took the kids. This is where I took the photo of the family, walking down the path and Danielle turned and looked back, we used that photo as our good bye photo at the wake. I felt a sense of peace and joy, being in an area where we once were together and I know she was with us in spirit.

We had a long day and I was tired and over heated, and the sun was coming down. It was so close to setting that I wanted to stop at the lake to watch it. Bill took the wrong road but we found it led to a public swimming area. So while I was taking photos, Bill jumped in with Bean and I went in too. I think this was the best part of the day, watching the sunset and swimming together in the lake as it made it's final descent.

Bean of course loved it too, he finally got to swim with us and no leash.

Today we went for a ride in our area, around some back roads, to see an old church and some lakes. The area was beautiful and it was a wonderful church on the water, but no place to stop or stand for a photo.

We took the road along the backside of the Saco river today and got to enjoy being close up to mountains and cliffs, towering over the farmlands below. I saw a sign for the ledges and thought, why not check it out. I am deathly afraid of riding up mountains where there are ledges and steep drops, but the road  up was all through wooded areas and it was wonderful. I was able to stand at the top of the ledges and look down on the valley and the distant mountains.

We got to our main activity for the day. Diana's Baths. It was an easy hike along a well maintained path to the falls. We walked along the paths until we found the perfect spot, nicely shaded for sitting and a small pool to cool down in. Of course Bean was in Heaven, he wanted to play in the water all day, but it is cold and he was shivering, so we had to make him play in the shallower water for awhile. It was the perfect place to spend and end the day, just sitting and relaxing with views of the falls and mountains.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our adventures, tomorrow is another day, we shall see where the road leads us.

We Made it!

After a slow start this morning, we made it to New Hampshire. This morning we both felt horrid, think it was what we ate, so that food got trashed and that meant no first night meal. Luckily I had eggs and we had scrambled eggs and rice cakes for dinner, tomorrow we will go shopping.

The second thing was Bean, his foot was red and warm, so Bill took him to the pet hospital, they are open every day and night. Nothing serious, seems Bean has allergies to something and he is taking meds to help clear it up.

The ride up was nice, the traffic going up was lighter so we had not delays but with the late start, no stops on the way.

The camp is very nice, I kept my expectations low and I didn't need to. The site is large and we have a beautiful deck area and a lower level with a fireplace, over looking the pond. Bean loves that he can play in front of the camp. He even got to chase a big old frog.

The photos are from my phone, so I hope you can see them, even though they are a bit dark in areas.

After we set up, Bill took a break and enjoyed a rest.

I took a swim at the beach and we also went for a walk to check out the area. The dog beach was wonderful, sandy spot where Bean can play and swim, off leash, he loved it. There are nice trails and the doggy park, so we can relax and Bean can have fun. Tomorrow we plan on heading to Conway, lots of places to shop and waterfalls, so with the heat, that is a good way to spend the day and take it easy. I will try and post throughout the week, we do have good wifi from our campsite.

I hope everyone had a wonderful labor day weekend.

Friday Finish!

This week I wanted to make a piece to go with a basket I bought. Since it goes in the beach room, I wanted to do a beach theme and I wanted it to be my own design. I used a photo I took from a kayaking trip and modified it a bit for the design. I also did it in 6 strands, so not a lot of detail though there is more than shows in the photo. I guess it is semi-releastic.

I had to redo a few colors, some got lost with the same color values and I really didn't look at the sky before I finished it, otherwise I would have made the clouds better, but it will do for now. I attached it with double backed tape, so I can change out the design, in the future.

Here is a closer look at the punched piece. I do like how the seagull came out, simple enough to do in 6 strands, but enough detail to look like a real seagull.

Another thing I got this week was, a new table. It is a grayish shade and rough wood, so it fits in nicely with the beach room. The reason I loved it was, it has a tray style top, so it was perfect to display the rock and shell collection and place the candles and painting with them. Not the best angle to get a nice shot, but you can see how the room is coming along. I may change my mind later, but for now, it makes me happier to go in the room and now I can get to painting the walls. After that, I will start work on the mural.

I am also getting ready for out trip, though I am not really ready. My brain has been on hold lately, I cannot concentrate or think too long, so I keep busy with other things. Luckily Bill has the weekend off so he can help with packing and cook dinner and I can concentrate on making sure we don't forget anything and make more cookies. Today I made two batches and I need at least two more, I eat a lot of them;)

I found this photo of a trip we took to New Hampshire with the kids. We hiked along this trail and I want to go back and try to hike to the waterfall. It is 3 miles one way, so it will depend on how I feel and the heat. We will at least stroll along the river trail and just enjoy the walk and the views, I know Bean will love it. The trail is wide and easy, so I could do it on our bikes, but I have not had time to train Bean with a bike, so just walking for now.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. We should be in New Hampshire monday night, so as long as the Wi-fi works, I will be posting from there.