Weekend at Casey & Holly's House

I spent the weekend at my Son and his Wife's home in the St. John's area of Portland. Those two will probably get tired of me before the year is out but I want to spend as much times as possible with them before they move on to their new life adventure together. I am very excited for them but I would call this a "bitter sweet" time in my life.

Casey and Holly are moving to Maryland around August 2010, Holly as been accepted into The University of Maryland with also other great things attached to this opportunity. I will let them talk about that because I just might not get it all right. She has worked really hard to be able to get this scholarship and she deserves the chance to learn and show them how good she is. I am so proud of Casey he has been a huge support for Holly and I know he will continue to do so in the future. It will take the two of them and they know that, they are not taking this lightly from what I can tell and the many questions I have asked them:), they have crossed every T and dotted every I one might say. Good Luck to the both of you and I know you will do well. You both make me so proud!

When I got there birthday presents were waiting for me. I was so excited to get measuring cups like I had never seen before from Casey and Holly knows just what to get me, can you believe she found season 1 and 2 of Dallas. Yes I am a Dallas (show from TV) fan from way back and it just so happens so is she. So I think I will be on the hunt for season 3 and 4 for her just to keep this fun thing going.
Portland was a beautiful and sunny day so we decided to enjoy it by going to the Japanese Gardens. Oh the colors, reds I can't even tell you all the shades, yellows the color of buttercups everywhere you looked. Boy if you live close and your week isn't going in your favor this is the place to go unwind. Really quite an experience. You can guarantee I will be going again. Here are some photos of a great weekend thanks for letting me come and I will see you two again in January if not sooner.



I really appreciate all the extra stuff Casey and Holly do for me when I visit, you could say they have a way of "spoiling" me. Thank you!

That's all Folks, at least until my next trip to Casey and Holly's House!

Grandma Violet's Steamer Trunk

Do you have the same problems I have when the season changes and you have to deal with your closet that looks like the "black hole"? This is the time of year that my Husband looses more of his closet, if I was to take more space this year he would end up in the coat closet in the living room probably not really that fair for him is it.?. So I knew I had to do something different, I looked in each closet in our house trying to see the light; 1st our 2 full size closets busting at the seams you might say, nope nothing there, then I went entered Monica's room but I stopped dead in my tracks I guess I will put it we have an understanding she keeps her door closed and I don't "grip" about the condition of her room. I do know that her closet is empty most of the time, the clothes seem to stay on the floor or on her bed but that is another story all together that I will skip... Teenagers?? Then I went to the spare room now that closet has become Glenn's "cubby" I won't say anymore about that because "I am a good Wife"!




So the next idea was to look under the beds, no! all full of very important stuff, in plastic under the bed boxes. If you were to ask me what is under there I would have to say honestly I have no idea but it is organized :)




Glenn has this steamer trunk that I have moved to different areas of the house, it is locked and has been opened once by Glenn since he has had it. He acquired it sometime out of high school. When I questioned Glenn where it came from I got the response of "well lets see it was Grandma Edna Mae, no no it was Grandpa Pete's but Edna Mae gave it to me, No that's not right either Grandma Violet yes it was at Grandma Violet's house and she gave it to me. So as you can see Glenn really doesn't remember but we are going with Grandma Violet so if anybody knows different please let us know. Sorry Glenn but really you don't remember do you?




So one night at just the right moment I asked Glenn if he could open the trunk so I could look in it. Then I told him about the seasonal closet issue he tried to understand and he tried to give me the look of concern but really he only understood I was frustrated about something to do with my clothes so he opened it. All I can say is WOW! I am not a good enough writer to explain the feeling, the smell, nor the excitement I had. The inside is amazing it has a box you lift out where "they" put jewelry, hats or purses but really who knows. The boxed is lined with a thin shelf paper or maybe wall paper that is blue checked. The smell was musty, salty sort of smell. BUT CLEAN!!




After I asked if I could use the trunk as long as he was able to keep it as his nightstand I had to figure out how without the items smelling like a very old steamer trunk. At Costco I found "space saving bags". You fill them full then you use your vacuum to take out all the air, this process keeps them air tight until you open the zip lock, and they are reusable. That's it, I know this will work! I was able to put all my summer stuff in this trunk plus some summer purses. I was so happy and yes Glenn got back his full closet, when I opened it today he is still using only one half like he has done for years. Change can be so difficult for him, but I know he can do it. Just move your pants to the other side Honey it will be OK, I promise:):) But you better hurry before I use the space!




Now take a look at the amazing trunk we have moved around our house completely empty and locked for all these years.

Thank you to which ever Grandparent this came from and we will take good care of it just like you did in your day.

Patio Curtains

Funky tree decoration from the Redmond Antique coop.

We are in the process of turning our patio into an outdoor living area, to be used not only in the the summer but winter as well. I was at the point where I needed to start thinking about outdoor drapes, so I set myself up with a budget and away I went shopping online and going to the local stores everything I came up with was like double+ what my budget was. I didn't want to get to discouraged right in the beginning of this quest. So I went on-line and typed in frugal outdoor drapes. Here is what popped up; (on a side note I will post the sites at the end of this post) A person who has a blog that explains how to make drapes out of medical bedsheets you order on-line from a medical supply house in qty's of a dozen. DONE! So they only come in white I wanted a tan/earthy color her suggestion was to dye them with Tea, IN THE PROCESS!


Fabric in tea dye, with a plate in the middle used as a weight.

I asked Glenn to put up the hardware for me this past weekend so it would be up when I started sewing the panels, DONE! Thanks Glenn I really like how it looks, your the best!!








Glenn helping me with the "hardware stuff".

I am on day 4 of dyeing the curtain panel's, looking on the "net" it states to leave the cloth in the tea mixture for 12 hours I am leaving it in there for 24 hours with that I am getting a very faint tan color, perfect for what I am wanting. The sheets are not a thick as I would like but I am OK with that I will have to figure out how to put weights on the bottom to hold them from blowing in the wind, and such. I guess I will try the fabric store for weights to see what they have.

It is now a week later and I am done with all the tea dyeing. I am going to the store tomorrow to purchase fishing weights, to sew on the bottoms of the drapes to keep them from blowing in the wind. Well the fishing weights work OK but I needed to add more panels so they fell closer together so back to tea dyeing 6 more sheets. When I am finished I will have used the entire dozen but it will look so pretty hanging in the winter air.

All done with the sewing I used 1 and 1/2 spools of thread, I couldn't believe it. But 90" adds up when you times it by 12 sheets right. I am so pleased with the final result of my outdoor drapes, take a look. What do you think.

Well now that I have that done I need to start thanking about what I am going to do with the lighting and the walls. I will let you know when I start on those projects but for now I will enjoy the curtains with the patio heater on high and the music of Chicago or maybe Santana playing in the background.

Grandpa and Lucy enjoying the outdoors before dinner

View from inside the house

Corner where the curtain meet.

I can't wait to see what we do for the lighting and such.

Web site I got my inspiration from;

http://frugalluxuries.blogspot.com/

Great way to end the Summer of 2009

I can't think of a better way to end the summer months of 2009 then by spending the weekend with our Family. Our house was full of love ones and their dogs, the whole dynamics brought the house to life in a different way then the normal life our household shares together. This was the last summer weekend of the season, it seems like winter hit us right when the last car drove out of the driveway taking our family back to their own homes.


I was please how everyone seem to enjoy the backyard. Glenn and I have worked very hard on our yard this summer and we still call it a work in progress, (that keeps us from going crazy about what we still want to do to complete our vision). Providing we don't change directions which we have been known to do:).

Casey & Holly, Nighttime, Kadie & Mom

Juniper Berry, Casey Holly & Lucy, Grandma Marie & Bonnie

With life, work and family I know it is hard to get everyone together at once, and I really appreciate how everyone that came was able to take time out of their own very busy lives to enjoy each other once again. Those of you that were not here let me be the 1st to tell you, You were missed!!!

Debbie and Andrew

Amanda & Monica

Thank you for being a part of Glenn & Betty's life because of you all, our life is complete!!!

Photo's are courtesy of Glenn, Holly and Myself hope you enjoy them, I can tell you I did.

Year for Change

fall is the time of year for change

change in color's of the great outdoors

change in the trees by shedding their clothes

the gardens stop all production until next year

fall is the time of year for the soothing smell of the wood stove

say hello to crisp winter nights