Yard Work

While I was off having fabulous fun at Road to California, Seth was finishing up a project he had started last summer. A much needed project. You can see the beginning of this project here. So I am thrilled to have another project done. Maybe this summer we will have grapes again. Thanks Seth for all your hard work. You did a great job. Now let's hope the grape cooperates and can be retrained. 

Now the fun begins. Finally I'll get my flower beds back. We also still have to level the yard. This is the mess we were left with after the contractor got done building the guest house. Not pretty.

Edited to add:

Hey I'm linking up to Make Your Monday over at the Twice Remembered Cottage. 

Road to California 2010

Of course this past weekend was Road to California - great girlfriend escape weekend. We had a blast. No husbands, no kids and lots of vendors and quilts. So Saturday very early like 6:15 a.m. my best friend Kelly pulls into my driveway to pick me up. We stop to pick up our other best friend to complete our group. Off we go to Ontario on our annual get away weekend.

Janie on left
Kelly on right
After a really long day at the quilt show










I surprised both of them with this cute little goodie for our trip. I made each of us one out of the same Robert Kaufman fabric using the free Lazy Girl design Sew Sweet Satchel. You can get it here.

The quilts were amazing and there's no way I'll be able to post all the awesomeness that was at this show. The talent is just amazing. The majority of these quilts are works of art not something you put on your bed. They are stunning and incredible. I'll just post a few of the ones that wowed me. The first picture is actually part of the Hoffman challenge. It was a quilted jacket and was just incredible. The Lord of the Rings quilt was stunning and my personal favorite being a Tolkien  fan. I will post later this week what got done at home while I was gone. I'm just thrilled. Thanks for stopping by. {{HUGS}} Amanda      P.S. as you can tell I'm still figuring out this new blogger editor. :(

Kitchen Closure

Allison and Manuela, could you please give me your mailing address information? You can contact me through my e-mail listed on my profile page. Thank you! Oh yeah, you're the winners. Anna, I know where you live so I'll see you soon to give you yours. {{HUGS}}.
So I go to work Tuesday with my kitchen looking like this

For the past three years this pantry unit has just bugged me. My cabinet maker that I hired to do the cabinets would not listen to me and told me that I would really like this better. Well excuse me, but I think I know what I want. I've hated this cabinet forever or so it seems. Not only was it not what I wanted, but it's falling apart already. This was not a cheap unit, trust me. The drawers were pushing against the sides due to their weight therefore they wouldn't roll open without falling off the runners so had that fixed. Then the doors except for one have busted. So long story short (sorry about the rant) I came home to a very busy girl Tuesday evening and to this (no my kitchen does not normally look like this.)

I'm very pleased with Tina's progress. Don't know where she got the energy ( I personally think that children suck it out of us at night while we're sleeping, LOL) or the drive but I'm glad she did. Wednesday her dad and her put in the base unit which was acting as the island and the old upper cabinet. We had originally put them here in the very beginning but decided we needed a pantry (that wasn't built to my specifications) and so back we go to what we started with. Now all I have to do is put it all away because she thinks her job is done now. Oh well. Now what will I use for an island? Hmm maybe I'll get the carpenter (Seth) to do something for me.

Wednesday Review

I really like how a lot of blogs have different days that everyone can linky and visit around seeing what each is doing. My thing right now is being free to do that. December 18th we pulled Tina out of the charter school we have been attending for the last 10 years. It was a hard decision to make. We've been there since their doors opened. But it just hasn't been the same ever since our Shirley left. So Tina and I are flying solo for the next 5 months until she graduates. I've done it before but it does take commitment and determination to stay on track. So it'll be hard to join such fun festivities. With that said I thought I would just do my own days with different things going on.
So for this week's Wednesday review I thought I would share Moda's web site which is such a delight especially if you're a quilter. The free patterns are just awesome and you can't beat free. So check out Moda's site and even if you're not a quilter you might be inspired to become one.
Enjoy your day!!!

Another New Day

The House is so peaceful this morning. Hubby has gone to work and the kids are still sleeping, even the dogs are still sleeping. I can just see the sun beginning to peek through some clouds. It's amazing. Such a great time to meditate and think.
Hope everyone else's day is just as great.

I've had a migraine since last Friday so everything is not all fancied up or anything yet. This is my first day without a headache. YES!!!!!

Okay so here we go. The first give away is .....

this cute little journal, pen, garden stakes and stamps. I thought some of you might be pining for spring already and you could use this to jump start your garden plans for this year.

Next is ..... another little garden set. So two lucky people will get this cute little gift. I'll wrap it up all pretty when I send it your way. :-)

The next three gifts are these cute potholders and magnets. Two sets are pink and one set is blue. You'll get two potholders and these cute magnets to go in your kitchen. I crocheted them myself and they are the best potholders. My granny taught me this when I was young. They're not fancy but they work great and last forever.

I'm having problems with this silly Blogger thing and pictures. I'll just list the prizes we have so far and hope to post pictures and other prizes soon.

So far we have

12. Garden journal set

11. Garden journal set

10. Potholders and magnets - pink

9. Potholders and magnets - pink

8. Potholders and magnets - blue

So be sure to leave a way that I can contact you if you win. I'll pull out names Wednesday of next week so that everyone has a chance to enter. I can't wait to share the pictures of the other things.

12 Days of Christmas Give Away

Okay, Okay. I didn't have time this morning before work and I'll post pictures as soon as I wrestle the computer away from my hubby. I'm on Seth's computer and he doesn't have my camera software on his laptop. Ugh. Delays!!! You'll have several days to leave a comment for a chance to win. Of course you all know I've been working on aprons lately so just guess what a couple of the presents are???

Changes

Okay bear with me. I'm trying to "redecorate" the blog. Trying out some new things and switching things up. I've only got a couple months left of being a homeschool mom so thought after three years it was probably time to update our profile, etc. I found the pretty rose background at Cutest Blog on the Block which you can click on on the left. I would love to learn how to do my own backgrounds. Maybe that is the new skill I will gain this year. A friend of ours teaches computer classes at the local junior college. Maybe I'll see if he has classes on html, blogging or something. That way I can match my background to my theme of morning glories. It's hard to find images, backgrounds and other things with morning glories. At least I haven't found any yet.
Hope everyone's New Year got off to a good start. Be sure to check back next Tuesday for the giveaway.

New Year's Resolutions

I was reading Fresh Home recently and really liked what they had to say about New Year's resolutions. Though not really my style of decorating I really like a lot of the projects and tips they offer. We also get their Family Handyman magazine. Seth just loves that one. 

Anyways here's what they had to say in their winter issue, pg 15:

"Too many New Year's resolutions are about stopping or losing something. Instead, resolve to gain something, like a new skill. Take a tiling class or decorative paint workshop at a local home improvement store and get ready for your next big project." 

So what do you resolve to gain this year? How about taking a quilting or sewing class? Crocheting? Baking or cooking? 

Hope that your New Year is happy and bright.