Books I've loved in 2011

What can I say...I love books.  This year I bought myself a Kindle, but that doesn't mean that I no longer buy used books or get books from the public library...I do.  I try to keep track of what I've read on the site Goodreads.com.  So far I've listed 544 books that I've read - not all this year tho.  When I say I've read all of that author's books, that means I'm anxiously awaiting their next one.  Also, I tend to read mostly mysteries.

Here are some that I loved.
Death Along the Spirit Road
Hoof Prints: More Stories from Proud Spirit
The Horses of Proud Spirit
Cold Wind - I've read all of C.J. Box's books
The Scent of Rain and Lightning
Rain Water
Sarah's Key
The King of Lies
Heaven's Keep - I've read all of Wm. Kent Krueger's books
A Fortunate Life - I was lucky to find this book on a swapping site, otherwise it's very expensive
The Help
Feathers Brush My Heart
The Story Teller - I've read all of Margaret Coel's books
A Maiden's Grave
The Dry Grass of August
A Cold Day in Paradise - I've read all of Steve Hamilton's books
Look Again
The Soldier's Wife
Beyond Reach - I've read all of Karin Slaughter's books
The Misremembered Man

These are just a few of the books that kept me awake at night.  Hope you enjoy some of them too.

Thanks for dropping by...

Sondra

Only 15 Years

We've been in our home for over 15 years and I finally got curtains put up in our family room. No, the single window in the room wasn't totally bare all those years as blinds and a valance with my favorite Waverly fabric (that's followed me from house to house) provided privacy.  On a routine stop at Denver Fabrics, I found the perfect material for my curtains - a red check with a delicate green border.  Loved it so much that I bought what was left on the roll - about 9 yards.  Who know, there may be a chair slipcover in the future.

These were the easiest curtains to make - just used fusible webbing tape and my iron. So much faster and better than lugging the sewing machine out of the fabric cabinet.  And no stray threads to pick up!

To make it even easier, I left the selvage edge so there wasn't any hemming on the sides.  I like the rustic look the edge gives.

Cozy is how I'd describe the room now...just love my new curtains paired with my grandfather's old rocker and my basket of pillows.

They say it's your birthday

Today is the 4th birthday of my grandson, Dylan.  I hope you had a very special day, sweetie.  XOXOXO

supplies - Birthday Bash collab by Memory Scraps 

One of my favorite places is...

Pickity Place, located near Mason, NH. Lunch there features delectable food make with fresh herbs from the herb garden. My daughter, Jen, and I have lunched there several times.

On the property is Grandmother's Cottage, a red Cape Cod cottage that was featured in the 1948 Golden Books edition of Little Red Riding Hood by Elizabeth Orton Jones. Grandmother's bedroom is full of Little Red Riding Hood memorabilia. The grounds of Pickity Place are a photographer's dream - full of building, nooks and crannies, and of course the herb garden itself.

Just thinking of the great food served there makes me hungry. On Amazon I found a cookbook Country Herb Cooking: Four Seasons of Recipes from Pickity Place by Judy Walter that I promptly ordered. Can't wait for it to get here. Here are samples of what's served.

If you're in the New England area, think about visiting this jewel of a place. I'm not connected to Pickity Place in any way, just wanted to share one of my favorite places.

See ya later...
Sondra

Breakfront Beauty

This old breakfront has been in my family for some time.  My mother loved to go to farm auctions - back then, auctions were usually held when a family died off as opposed to these days when foreclosure is usually the reason. (I digress, as usual)

Anyway, Mother bought this old piece and lugged it home, much to my Dad's dismay.  She and I applied a fake golden oak grain finish to the thing probably 50 years ago.  It was in her house until she died nearly 20 years ago when I moved it to Colorado. Its finish wasn't a bad match for oak, but over the years my house filled up with wood finishes and I wanted COLOR.  Just like those in some gorgeous material I found a few years ago and made into drapes.

Enter my passion for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I figured painting the breakfront's inside with Cream and the outside with Versailles over Primer Red would be perfect.  Well, the inside looked great but the Versailles just wasn't quite right.  Next I put Chateau Grey over the front and finished with a mixture of clear and dark wax. Voila - just what I wanted.

Now some of my favorite things reside inside.  I love it!

  

Almost forgot...this label was on the breakfront's back.  Anyone have any information about the company?

Redoux Friday Link Up Party
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Friday Favorites Linkup
Shades of Amber link party

Vintage

Nate Berkus has a design personality quiz on his website here.  There were no surprises for me...I'm Vintage!

"You like decor that's one of a kind. You're a garage and thrift sale shopper who likes things with some age and you know you’re a vintage personality, you can shop in places with items that have an aged look to create rooms that feel assembled over time. You don’t go to the new modern stores and waste your time buying items that you know you’re not going to love!"

Grandma's gate leg table

One of my most prized possessions is the gate leg table that came to me from my Grandma.  Called Bobo by everyone who knew her, she had this table in her living room for as far back as I can remember...where it originated, whether from a family member or not, I don't know.  This table was painted brown until it came to me about 20 years when I  painted it two tone green with a crackle finish.  Over the years it got scuffed and stained so this year, chalk paint came to the rescue.

Hubby and I sanded the top and used a cherry stain with many coats of varnish to get the look I wanted.  Not sure what the wood is, but it had a green tone which according to the internet could be sassafras.

Duck Egg Blue was painted on the legs with accents of Aubusson followed by light wax.  Here's how the final result.

 

Quite a difference from that old brown table.  Bobo would be proud.



Shades of Amber Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Linky Party



Domestically Speaking 106th-power of paint party

Bookaholic...

Bookworm, book lover, bibliophile, reader...what do these words mean to me.

They mean stacks and stacks of books waiting to be read, traded, given away or returned to the library.  When will I ever find the time to read them all?  Books make me happy, content, and relaxed so I'm not bothered by all the books laying around the house.  This stack of books on my night stand include the top three paperbacks that were just waiting for me at the local Goodwill store.  Yes, that's a Kindle you see. The convenience it offers is wonderful but...there's still something about holding a book.

It saddens me to hear children say they hate to read and books are a waste of time.  Oh the adventures they will miss!  Some of my favorite books are those I read as a child; I'm so happy that my children are sharing the same books with their own children and their niece and nephews that I shared with them so many years ago.

Chalk paint x2

Several months ago, I discovered Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint through several of the blogs that I follow.  Knowing that this paint was something I had to try, I found a stockist, Shades of Amber, located in Monument, Colorado which is about 50 miles from my home.  My daughter, 2 grandbabies and I were planning a visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs so I made arrangements to pick up some paint from Brad and Amber.  My first try was this mirror inherited from my mother;  it was originally my grandmother's mirror that was hung over a beautiful quarter sawn oak dresser.  Through the years some wear and tear had occurred.

Before

My first attempt to paint the mirror with Old White went fine until I applied the dark wax much too heavy.  The wax made the curliques and swirls on the mirror look dusty and dingy; the mirror was placed over the table in my entry hall until I decided what to do next.

version 1

Enter a new mini-stockist located close to my home...Little Black Chair.  Going to their storefront to pay for a beginning Chalk Paint class, I spied a beautiful night stand painted in Chateau Grey with accents done in Paris Grey...gorgeous, simply gorgeous.

That color combination was so lovely that my mirror called for a change.  Using Chateau Grey as a base with accents of Duck Egg Blue and a grey I mixed, I know my mom and grandma would be proud.

version 2

Lovely, don't you think?  I'm as proud as punch...


linked to:  Miss Mustard Seed,  Shades of Amber,  Remodelaholic

The Colors of October - My camera is always ready

I’m so glad I like in a world where there are Octobers.

~ L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables ~

“Autumn the year’s last and loveliest smile.”  ~William Cullen Bryant~ 

“Oh Autumn how I have missed you.  Cool nights, sunny days, school starts and summer fades.” ~Caroline Glen

"The chile, it seems to me, is one of the few foods that has its own goddess." - Diana Kennedy, cookbook author

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree
by Joyce Kilmer


Thank you Miss Reed, my 8th grade teacher, for making your classes memorize this poem.





All photos by little ole me

Blueberries, Queen Anne's Lace and wooden bridges

I love to visit New England and photograph all the beauty there. The fact that I have two grandsons there  doesn't figure into it of course.

One blistering hot summer day, we went to a truck farm to pick blueberries 'cause Grandma (me) had never done that.  We got lots of berries and summer vegies, but I also got beautiful photos from there.

Julie from Sherwood Studio at thedigichick.com has a new kit coming out called "Quite Contrary".  I used it
for this layout.

A Moment in Time...

that's how I think of my photography.  Many years ago as a little girl I started out with a Brownie camera and flash (with those awful flash bulbs);  I loves the idea of taking photo, but hated the terrible ones that came from that little camera - more expensive cameras were out of the question for our family finances.  Back then I knew nothing of composition, angle, rule of three, etc. so I got discouraged and quit.

Then life intervened.  College, marriage, 3 little ones, jobs...you know the routine.  I barely had time for anything, much less documenting my life.  Now that I'm a "senior" it seems that with age comes the freedom to rediscover old loves; I first found the point and shoot cameras, then digital SLRs.  Now it thrills me to see my 7 year old granddaughter use her mother's DSLR.

I'm still not the photographer I want to be nor the one I dream of being but what the heck.  Let's enjoy the journey.

I found some old favorites of mine taken with that little point & shoot.  They're grainy, out of focus, but they're my memories.  Taken from a trip to Santa Fe about 10 years ago, the photos have been edited with photoshop art filters.

Chilly Cheeks

Today is Baby Max's first birthday...that year sure has passed quickly.  Last Sunday he enjoyed the family sledding outing until he fell off the sled and got cold.  He's not very happy in this photo.



supplies used

WinterKiss template 4 by Jenn CK
Idea Notebook Jan. 2011 by Digital Design Essentials

Dylan's big day

With all the big snowstorms in the Northeast, my grandson had a big sledding day last weekend.  Dylan, Mommy, Daddy and little brother Max went to a big hill close to their house in suburban Boston and enjoyed the day before the big football games started.  My son and daughter in law are huge football fans so they had to get home in time to watch their favorite teams.  The day went well until both boys took face plants and then they were pretty unhappy, cold and tired.



supplies used:  Summer template 15 by Tiffany Tillman
Bella Joy and Bella Natale kits by Randi Oh

Winter in Colorado

Julie from Sherwood Studio has some new kits in her shop at The Digichick.  I've kinda lost my scrapping mojo lately so I spent today making two layouts for Julie.  The first one is called Winter - original, eh?

Winter Solitude by Sherwood Studio
Clean It Up by Sherwood Studio (staples)
Template 117 by Lindsay J Designs

 

Winter Solitude by Sherwood Studio

Brigadoon

When I visit family in New England - which is frequently to see my grandbabies - we always spend one day on a photoshoot. My son Chris, daughter Jen and son-in-law Bob and I go to various places in New Hampshire and Maine. Some time ago we were driving down a two lane road when we passed a reconstructed village alongside an antique store. Quickly turning around, we headed back to photograph this great find. It was sleeting and snowing so we couldn't spend too much time there, but did manage to get some great shots.

By the way, we call it Brigadoon because we've gone up and down that same highway and never found the place again.