PHM December Update Today

Hi everyone...Just a quick reminder that the Primitive Handmades Mercantile update is today and believe it or not...I was not the last one to update this month...Quite a feat for those of you who know me well. I am always behind and thought for usre I would totally miss the update...I spent most of yesterday reminding myself that I needed to stay up and do my update...it was like a mantra...all day reminding myself NOT to dare fall asleep...Yes, I know, you may be thinking to yourself "But Margie says she doesnt sleep...so whats up with that?". Well, I normally dont sleep...until I have to stay awake...GRRRR...seesm my body is constantly betraying me and sure enough I was soooooooooo sleepy last night that I could have drifted right off long before midnight but, alas, to updating I went.

OK, well that was 6 hours ago and now I am really sleep so please forgive me if I am goofier than usual. I will show you real quick a few of the items I am offering for sale on PHM this month....If anyone's interested in purchasing anything, just shoot me an email or even leave a comment below.

I did see some of the other gals updates already and they have some lovely things for sale this month too. I have taken a little break from hooking since my hands are not cooperating lately...went to see the doctor this past Wednesday (yeah, like I had time for that) and he says he has helped me as far as he can and he's sending me to see another pain specialist...GRRRRRRRR...I just want them to find out WHY I am such a mess (other than I had West Nile...hello, that was 9 years ago...can I get fixed or not ?) Ooooooh yikes I am getting crabby ...so sorry ladies. Just getting tired of the same old same old...

But, I hope you are all happy and ready for a delightful Christmas holiday...I know I might never have my house clean enough, or have enough cookies baked, have lost enough weight, found the "perfect" gift for everyone on my list, or even feel very good but I do know I need to count my blessings and be grateful for all the wonderful blessings in my life ...My son is back stateside and will be home in about 24 hours...life is good and in light of the terrible tragedy in Connecticut, my problems seem pale by comparison. I hope we can all just hug our loved ones, hold them tightly and remember that life could be so much worse...

 

On that note...merry Christmas everybody and have a happy new year !

 

Until next time,

Grace to you,

Margie

Swap Goodies

Oh my goodness...Christmas came for me just a little bit early this year when I went to get the mail and saw a GIANT box from Kendra over at The Stone House Prims...she was my swap partner in Amy's Gingerbread Swap !

Ok...first I have to tell you that Kendra lives in a little town in northern Illinois...dot on the map if truth be told but guess what ? I used to live there back in the 90's...small world right ? We knew lots of the same places and she is just the kind of person who lives there too...sweet, salt of the earth, hard working and totally awesome !!!

Well I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her during this swap and found we have TONS of things in common and I am sure once you see all the goodies she spoiled me with you will understand that this gal TOTALLY GETS ME !!! We like sooo many of the same things and it was like she was inside my head...seriously...look at all the treasures she made or chose for me...

First this big box....patience...or at least thats what I told myself as I ran for the camera...and we all know I DONT RUN !

And out of that box came gift after beautifully wrapped gift...

And ooooooooooh just look at how pretty these items are...

Plus she made me this....

and these smell yummy enough to eat !

 

I am busy finding homes for everything but did want to show you where I put a few of the things...

Funny thing...see that vintage skate with the gingerbread man ??? I actually made that for Kendra and then was reading her blog and saw that she already had one...so I thought it looked just perfect with all the things she sent me...what do you think ?

I just love this little Genoa salt glazed ornie...Kendra knew I collect salt glaze and it was just sooo thoughtful !

And isn't this ornie just too sweet ??? Oh and the candle made the house smell sooooo heavenly. Add to that some of her homemade gardners salve, cookie mix, soap and sweet grocery list and you can call me spoiled rotten...I have already told Kendra I think she over did it but I just want to publicly thank her and Amy of course for hosting another wonderful swap.

I am busy trying to finish my items for next week Primitive Handmades Mercantile update and I have lots of Before and After projects to show you all but as usual I am running behind. I am not sure how that happens...when I had 3 kids at home and worked full time I got more done !!!

I have been saving THE BEST news for last...the best Christmas gift of all time ....we just got word a few days ago that our son Kyler, the Marine who has been deployed for over 9 agonizingly long months, will be arriving at our house on December 22nd ! YIPPEE  YIPPEE  YIPPEE

I have been so depressed because his deployment had been extended and they thought he could be gone a few more months...add to that this is the first Christmas our other son, Kirk, wont be with us either. Since moving to Virginia back in June he has been home a few times but he cant get time off work over Christmas...and of course our daughter, Kait is out in Colorado so I thought we would be completely alone (and I was not really handling it very well...couldnt get in the Christmas spirit at all). Now I am in major Christmas RUSH mode...no cookies baked yet, not a single gift purchased yet and I am not sure I will ever get the outside lights up this year...At least the trees are bought and put up and I have one decorated (Light fiasco to follow another day, lol).

Well...I know this was a long post...thanks for sticking with me ! Many hugs and much love to all of you !

Grace to you,
Margie

Winner Announced

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and survived any Black Friday shopping. I wanted to thank all of you who entered my Black Friday Giveaway and announce the winner...drum roll please..and the winner is... Carmen over at www.primcats.blogspot.com . The hubs pulled her name out of the hat this morning ! Congrats Carmen !

I am hoping to get some Christmas decorating done today and then maybe work on adding labels to some great old bottles I have been collecting. Remember last year when I was decopauging everything in sight and did the tutorial on just how easy it is to get that great old fashioned look ? Remember these ...

I absolutely love adding these old labels to stacking boxes and one neat trick I sometimes do is  put a regular label on one side and a Christmas label on the otherside so all I have to do is turn them around...no storage !!!

Oh and I think one of my all time favorites was my octagonal hat box that I painted a great deep red and then added 3 great graphics that I printed out on full 8 1/2 x 11 paper and then decopauged and stained...

I just love the old world feel of this box...and its a great size at 13" tall and has 3 great labels so it looks gorgeous from any angle...Last year I had several people ask if I was willing to sell it and I wasn't but this year money is tight so I am considering selling it...so if anyone wants to make me an offer, just send me an email.
Here are 2 more views...

 

I will be posting my newest creations over the next couple of days. I have soooooo many things to add labels to and am excited to get started...I have pantry boxes, hat boxes, old crocks, wooden crates etc...fun, fun, fun !!!

Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

 

PHM Update Today $75 Prize

Just wanted to let everyone know about the Primitive Handmades Mercantile update today....And guess what ? As a special "Thank You" to all our followers we will be having a drawing for a $75.00 gift certificate, so hurry on over and sign up for our newsletter and while you're there take a look at all the great prims the gals have made....Winners will be announced around noon on Black Friday which is convenient cause thats the last day of my Black Friday Giveaway too ! Click on the buttons to the right to enter either giveaway or chck out my WOOL FOR SALE page cause I have lots of new bundles and 1/4 yard pieces. Now how's that for Christmas spirit ?

Here's a quick look at just one of the items I made for this months offerings....

I just love how this snata turned out... Robin over at Bird in The Hand gave us all a freebie pattern and asked us all to do something with it for the update, so this is my take on her creation. I have actually hooked the santa right onton a piece of comfy faded plaid wool so it has a 3-D effect. I am pretty pleased with how he came out and might just be making a few more of these guys for gifts...I thought next time instead of closing it up I would leave it open and it would make a darling wine bottle bag...nice gift idea !

Anyway...I have 2 more items over there, but you gotta go take a peak to see them.

Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

 

BLACK FRIDAY GIVEAWAY

I know, I know, I have been promising a giveaway for a very long time and today, as I sit at the car dealership with nothing but time on my hands, waiting for my oil change and inspection, I thought...just do it now...there's no time like the present.  So, I an officially announcing my  BLACK FRIDAY  GIVEAWAY  ! The winner will get this great 10" round hooked star mat hand hooked by me with  overdyed and upcycled wools that's perfect for every season of the year.

Entries will be accepted until midnight on Black Friday and the winner will be announced on Saturday. I just wanted this to be a fun and easy giveaway as a way of saying a big "thank you" to all of my loyal followers and to maybe meet some new folks in the process.

RULES

1. Be a follower (old or new)
2. Leave a comment on THIS POST to be entered
3. Leave your name AND your email address

FOR MORE CHANCES TO WIN.... 

1. Get 1 extra entry for adding my giveaway to your sidebar
2. Get 2 extra entries for writing a post about my giveaway
3. Get 5 extra entries for every NEW follower you send my way

That's it...pretty easy right ? So spread the word and have an awesome day !

Grace to you,
Margie

PLEASE VOTE TODAY

Hi there my prim friends, just wanted to say that whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, please remember to go to the polls today and vote...We are so blessed to live in a nation where we have free and fair elections and we get to choose our leaders. Remember that THEY work for US. Sometimes I think they need a little reminder of that and election day is the best time to make your voice heard.

Nothing new here except voting...please remember too that I have loads and loads of new wool bundles and 1/4 yard pieces for sale on my Wool For Sale page.  Be sure to check back later in the week because I finally have all the details together for my next giveaway just in time for the Holidays !

Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

November Wools

Wow, I cant believe it's been another month since I last updated my blog...so much has happened in my life and in the country. First, my heart goes out to all those affected by the terrible storm that ripped through the northeastern part of the country. We had some high winds here in western Pa, but got through it ok. My prayers are with all those who are still suffering and unfortunately I think the worst may yet be to come as the clean up begins.

At the same time the devastating loss in Benghazi Libya haunts my dreams...I wont go all political or anything but we need answers...especially those in the military who lost so much.  The fall of 2012 has been a terrible one for so so many and I can only hope that winter will bring some relief. I am looking for ways to help where I can now that things have settled down with my mom (sort of). She has been home now for 2 weeks and things are still rough. I wont bore you all with the details and in comparison to what others are going through right now, well I will be just fine. The upside of this storm coming through my area is that it grounded me for a few days and I was able to get into the kitchen and dye some wool and work on some projects...I listed TONS of new wool bundles and this time I made sure I did my regular bundles and lots of 1/4 yard pieces so please be sure to check out my WOOL FOR SALE page.

I got a great little present in the mail the other day from my Aunt Linda...She saw this little penny rug in a shop while visiting Wooster Ohio and thought of me...Can you tell she knows me oh so well ???

It sure is a lot nicer than the little penny rug I tried to make earlier in October...I cant figure out how to get my stitches to stay "down"...anyone know what I am doing wrong ??? See  how my blanket stitches seem to sit on top of my pumpkins instead of being closer to the foundation piece ???

I did get to spend a little time with the hubs before the storm and we spent some time out and about...poor guy has been working non stop (wish he got paid by the hour) and he kept saying we would definately get out to see the fall leaves, which is one of our favorite things to do in the fall...well week after week went by and so we finally just went to a park near our house and just took a nice long walk in the woods...I love the smell of fall, dont you ? And the crinkling of leaves underfoot ? Oh how nice it was to spend an hour or so completely uniterrupted with just me and the hubs...he took a ton of pics but I thought this one was kind of cute..

The hubs flat out refused to let me take his picture but I did just love this one he took...overcast days are my fall favorite...

Well I have loads more to tell you and am going to REALLY try to post MUCH more often...like I said, life has settled back down and I am hopig this time to be back to blogging for good ! I would love to hear from everyone..I have missed you all very much and have been comforted by those of you who sent me little messages of encouragement when you didnt see me post for awhile....I wish I could hug you all.

I am gonna scoot for today...gotta get something to eat...I have been sitting at the computer for hours, literally in the same place and now I am sooooo stiff !!! GRRRR

Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

New Rugs Finally Done

First let me thank all of you for the prayers and kind words of encouragement for me and my mom. We have her settled into a rehab facility near our home that specializes in stroke patients and I think the staff is just fabulous. She has 3 + hours of intense therapy each day and we are hopeful of her recovery. I am exhausted from driving back and forth but it's much easier now that she's only 15 minutes away instead of having to drive into Pittsburgh everyday. I am hoping I can now get into a rhythm and be able to get back to blogging, rug making and wool dyeing and selling. Speaking of which...here are a few new rugs that are available for sale as finished products of as kits...

This first one I am calling "Floral Centerpiece" I had originally intended to use as a footstool cover but I mismeasured so it's up for grabs. I absolutley love the black background and I adapted the pattern from an antique rug I had seen over the summer while in Virginia visiting my son. It measures
11 x 14 and is bound with black wool. It has lovely soft, muted, prim colors and sells for $89. If you would like to order it as a kit it's $60 and comes with the pattern hand drawn on monks cloth and all the wool you need to hook it yourself. I am offering your choice of background colors and your choice of flower colors.

This next little rug mat makes a great teachers gift. The yellows, reds and blue wools are all hand dyed by me from my own dye recipes. I have used a beautiful gray and red herringbone for the background and have finished it with a gorgeous gray and red plaid wool. It  measures 10 x 17 and also sells for $89 and the kit sells for $60, again, with your choice of colors. I dont have anymore of this exact background wool but I do have lots of other gray herringbones or plaids, so just let me know. I am always willing to customize kits for just what you want or need.

OK..on to some other great little finds I have picked up over the last several weeks...I ran into Goodwill on my way to rehab the other day and look what I got...

As most of you already know I collect Pfattzgraff Folk Art dishware. Years ago when I first got sick I was forced to sell my collection piece by piece to pay for my medical bills and I have been trying to build it back up again. I almost fainted when I saw these on the shelf...Got the entire canister set for $25 !!! The sugar one has a small repair on the rim but I dont mind. I already had the butter dish.

I picked up another great chandelier to paint and make "prim". Cant wait...gonna put this one down in the new studio...pictures to follow when its installed !

Lastly I wanted to give a big shout out to my dear friend Suzan over at sjcountrycrafts who made this beautiful prim americana sheep punch needle for me. Suzan has recently learned to rug hook and has bought a few of my kits and lots of wool...she's a very talented lady and I will post a link to her site as soon as I remember how (laugh, laugh...my brain is mush right now)..I at least wanted to get a big thank you out to her !!!

Well gals, thats it for now. I have new winter wools to list and some new winter and Christmas kits. Coming soon depending on how things go with my mom.

Mom Had A Stoke

Hello there all my prim friends. Sorry I have been away so long. I wont bore you with the details but I have been having a hard time with some of the flare ups from the neuroinvasive west nile and just when I was feeling better from that my mom had a stroke so I have been at the hospital 12+ hours a day for the last week....very tired. Mom is being moved to a rehab center closer to me to I can shave over an hour off my day. She is progressing but the hard work is still ahead of us. Please keep uu in your prayers...I do have some awesome new wintry wool bundles to list and some cute holiday rug hooking kits as well....Hopefully soon !

Until then,
Grace to you,
Margie

10 Gallon Crock for a Song

Wow...this summer is sure going by quickly and I feel terrible for not checking in more often. This has been the most hectic summer with all the storms, visits, heat, etc. I know I say this all the time, but I may NEVER get caught up gals...ever ! But I have gotten a few things done and I figured I would at least tell you about those things.

First of all ...Look at this awesome 10 gallon crock I got at an estate sale a few weeks ago...Isn't she a beauty ?

She caught my eye when I went into the garage of the home...I LOVE the garages and basements at estate sales because they are often the LAST place people go, so I always head their first. I confess though, I never would have thought I would see a mint condition crock tucked into the corner of a cobweb filled garage. I spotted it out of the corner of my eye and ran, yes ran right over. I know, I know...not very good if I wanted to make a "deal" on the crock right ? I mean I was salivating by the time I got over there and turned this beauty around and then I saw those cool handles...I dont have a 10 gallon crock like this, so it was going to go home with me to add to my collection....IF I could get a good deal...

Well, imagine my shock when the sticker said $35...YEP, $35 smackers....can you believe it ? The crock with the star above was a birthday gift and had a $125 price tag...the one on the left was also right around $100 so I was doing the happy dance except now I had my composure back and needed to get my name on that crock. But, being the savvy shopper I am, I asked, politely if they would take any less for it ....I know, audacious of me right ? Well, imagine my suprise when the gal said how about $30...I was amazed. I mean it was only about 10:30 am and she was ready to deal on an item that was already priced too low. I said YES YES YES (ok, I only said the one YES outloud, but you know what I mean). The even more unbelievable thing is that everything inside the house was priced WAY too high and was a real waste of time, but man oh man, I was thrilled to get this awesome find.

OK, I will calm down now. I did want to show another item I got awhile back and I cant remember if I shared it with you...my very first real bee skep.

I got this little beauty at a garage sale for less than $3, so it was another great find.

I have been trying to work on getting some hooking done, even though I generally dont hook too much in the summer because it s way too hot. I am trying to use up some of my small pieces of monks cloth, linen and burlap...Heres what I am working on right now...

I plan on using this to cover a little deep red footstool that I have had for years and I just love the way it's turning out. It's a little tedious to do such intricate work when using burlap but since this is done with almost all left over wool its practically free to me...I might change the stripes on the bowl...I am not sure I like them.

I did want to remind everyone that I have lots of wool for sale on my WOOL FOR SALE page and will be adding some new fall & winter kits soon. I have decided to make this pumpkin mat available as a kit since I just love it and its a great beginner's kit, so if you are thinking about starting to rug hook, check out my FOR SALE pages and you can be hooking in just a few days. This pumpkin mat measures 10.5 x 14 and will come with the pattern drawn on monks cloth, all the wool to complete it cut at a #8 (1/4") and full color directions. $50 gets you started ...Need a rug hook ? If you buy any kit I will throw in a primitive rug hook for just $5.00.

Well gals, I need to get back to work finishing my new work space...pictures to come soon. I am almost ready to start moving stuff in..HOORAY !!!

Hugs to all of you !
Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

PHM Update Today

Hello everyone...I am so sorry for disappearing for a bit. Life has been, well, interesting lately to say the least. These storms just seem to keep coming and right now I am dealing with insurance companies and adjusters and contractors...Not my favorite thing. My roof is leaking from the hail damage from the first storm and we have had 2 more hail storms just this past week. At least they weren't as bad, but they have kept me away from all of you and for that, well, I am a little ticked.
I did want to remind you all that the selling group I belong to , Primitive Handmades Mercantile, had its July update this morning and there are some very lovely things available this month...I am so humbled to be included in this great group of primitive artists. Here's a quick peak at what I worked on for this months offering....

Its a 3 legged milking stool that I painted a very primitive mustard, then beat the heck out of it with heavy distressing and then sealed it with a great walnut poly/stain. Then I hooked this 10" circle mat to sit on top. It really came out nice and it has a very old and time worn look to it...as you can tell I am torn between selling and keeping, haha, but alas, it is for sale, so if you're interested head over to PHM by using the button listed on the right side of my blog page and it will take you there. This is kind of a long post, so bear with me...more pics of projects near the end !

I did want to thank all of you who have been praying for my son who is deployed in the middle east right now. We got a letter and a phone call from him just the other day and he seems to be doing very well. Right now , as many of you may know, they are building up our troop levels in the middle east since Iran is threatening to close the Straight of Hurmoz (which would cut off 20% of the worlds oil) and they are going to be joining 20 other nations in the largest joint exercise ever conducted coming up in Septemeber to remove Iranian mines from the sea bed....Its a scarey time for sure as things look pretty dicey over there right now, but I know you guys will continue to pray for their safety. My son is just thankful to be getting a little relief from the heat right now in Kuwait. They just finished up a mission where they were 5 weeks in the Jordanian desert...no showers that whole time. No air conditioning that whole time. MRE's to eat that whole time. Oh and did I mention that it was 120 degrees and they had full military gear on...you know, long sleeves, long pants, heavy combat boots and their packs that weigh over 100 pounds ? Kind of makes me feel pretty lame when I am complaining about how hot it has been here this summer. Even when our troops aren't being shot at, life is hard and the sacrifices they make for us are incredible. If any of you would like to send a card or a package to my son, please email me for his address. The mail is VERY slow there and they literally look forward to mail call every day and they are desperate for anything that reminds them of home and to keep them connected and inspired. Here's a few pictures of my sweet son Kyler over in the hotbed of the middle east...

Gosh I sure do miss him...but I did get to spend an entire week with my older son, Kirk, which was very nice. I was suprised when he said he was coming home for a visit so soon after moving to Virginia, but it didnt take long to figure it out...he started dating a girl before he left and apparently its gotten pretty serious because she's been down to see him once already and he literally spent every waking minute she wasnt working with her while he was home, haha. Well, we finally got to meet her last Friday night when we all went out for dinner. Her name is Nicole and she is a lovely girl who is smart, pretty and has a wonderfully good heart...She has been on several mission trips and most recently she spent a few weeks building homes for displaced victims of the massive storms and then on to feeding the homeless...WOW, does God know how to answer a mothers prayer or what ? I have been praying for the "right" girl to come into his life since he was a baby (the same for all my kiddos) but especially lately I have had more on en emphasis because I was worried about him being sort of lonely...I will continue to pray for this particular relationship cause gosh she is just too sweet for words. Here's a picture of the two of them from last week...

It seems like just yesterday those boys of mine were getting into all kinds of mischief and now , here they are, all grown up ! I couldn't be any prouder of the young men they have become and I am so grateful to God for giving me such sweet blessings (yes, I am crying).

Gosh, sorry to share so much personal information right now. OK...onto other things. I wanted to show you a few of the other things I have been working ...

I finally got around to painting that firkin I got at Goodwill for $2.00 and I also painted this little shelf thingy with  a ton of different mustards and creams over a base of dark brown and then heavily distressed it and then stained/sealed it....I am pretty happy with how both items turned out...oh and thats a candle I redipped to make look primitive...it was a garage sale find in a hideous color but for 25 cents and a little time in my mini crock pot I have a nice addition to my prim collection.

Later today I am working on all those small bottles I got last year...gonna put some vintage labels and stuff on them. I also have these little copper tin molds that I am not sure what to do with....any one have any ideas for me ?

It's a wonder I can find anything in this house right now...between the roof, painting my new work room (paint does NOT dry when its this humid...I am assuming it will eventually) and the many, many boxes filled with stuff in preparation for our semi annual neighborhood yard sale, its hard to even find all the things I want to work on let alone all the stuff I need to move around just to start anything ! Oh well, at least I did gets lots of wool dyed recently and am almost done listing it all...I have a few more mustards, pumpkins and fall colors to get listed, but be sure to let me know if you are in need of anything. I am getting ready to place an order with Dorr Wool since I cant keep up with just found wool...I am happy to try to accomodate your wool needs and have even been trying to list larger pieces for those of you who do penny rugs and the like.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am set to hit 5, yes 5, estate sales tomorrow so who knows, perhaps a little blog garage sale will be happening soon. I am hoping to find a perfect giveaway prize (I know, I know, I keep promising another giveaway but life keeps getting in the way) ! Wish me luck and I will post pics of my finds as soon as I can !

Until next time,
Garce to you,
Margie

Mother Natures Fury

Well I know I should count myself lucky since we just had wind and hail damage, but Lordy Hannah, what a mess. My son down in Virginia has been out of power for a week and got caught between downed trees for hours until he finally made it home and he says the devastation is everywhere around him. Our Independence Day had hail that was the size of large golf balls and it came down sooooo fast, hard and long that it damaged our roof, pool, cars and even my garden...here are a few pictures just to show you, but I am grateful that we are all ok !!!

The power blew our motion light right outof the stone !!!! And look at the holes in our pool posts....

It took the paint right off the deck too and shot right through my peppers in my garden....It destroyed about 2/3 of my blackberries too.

After 30 minutes of pelting hail this is what our driveaway looked like :

Our new car must have over 100 quarter sized dent from the giant hail too...

Well, like I said...glad we are all ok and since we were out of power for hours it really opened my eyes to how difficult life would be if we do ever get some type of solar flare or EMP that takes out our electricity for extended amounts of time...great learning experience for sure !!!

Thought I would show you what I ahve been working on too...I am paiting a little milking stool a great mustard and then distressing and staining then topping with this hooking....

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I also listed over 30 new wools on my wool for sale page and , yes, all you gals who have been asking for larger pieces for your pillowbacks and penny rugs, I heard you....I have several pieces of wool all the way up to 1/4 yard so go check them out if you ahve time.

I am trying to keep cool here with these record temps and hope you are too...
Until next time,
Grace to you,
Margie

Garden Post

Well, I took these pics last week of my little kitchen garden thats right outside my door and everything has grown so much already but I would love advice by any of you garderners out there....

Here's my tomotaoes and peppers, 6 of each....

Then I have some basil in a pot that I need to add some mint and parsely to and I have a little pot of lavendar that I got from Monticello when we visited....I want to add more lavendar to my hillside by the pool as soo as I get it weeded (YUCK).

I aslo bought one of those topsy turvey hanging plant holders for my strawberries (havent seen any berries yet) and they say I can take it down and hang it in the garage near a window in the winter and keep it damp and it will come back next year....please any advice here would be soooo appreciated ...

Then we gte to my first window box of come and cut again lettuce....we eat a TON of salads and spend almost $40 per moneth just on lettuce. I think I may have planted them too close though....I used a whole packet for this one window box....again any advice ? I have 2 more planters to plant si we can stagger the yield.

This is actually WAY fuller already and is getting pretty high so I hope I didnt screw up here.

The above picture was a grassy area bu the pool that I finally am dloing something with....my inlaws have given me a few hostas and I have more flagstone to add and maybe a few flowers for some color.

This is our lower yard where my family jokes that I have never actually been all the way to the bottom of the steps. To the left of the little deck we have a TON of blackberry plants and even some raspberry plants but they are hard to get to....but I dearly love homemade jellies, jams, granitas on hot summer days and even syrups and the hubs loves rsapberry tea.....any advice here ? They seem to have taken over that back hillside but someone suggested transplanting them along the porperty line and along our fence ??????

We are having 3 tons of gravel delivered tomorrow to fill in our old extra parking spce that now holds our wood for our woodburner (bikes are going in garage sale) and we just got a bid to reseal the driveway ($1600....YIKES....we might have to do it ourselves)

Here is a picture of our pool, which I have yet to be able to have time to get in and do anything but clean it !!!! GRRRR Now to the right of the pool is a small hillside with a flagstone retaining wall that is starting to come down (of course) and is over-run with weeds and yucky plants that are too heavy....so I want to take it all down and fill the hillside with lavendar becaue it makes a nice ground cover, wont be too taxing on the hill and put too much pressure on the rock wall (once I rebuild it) and it will smell heavenly. Of course that means transplanting a rhodedendron, a holly bush and the rest is just ugly, stinky box wood....I wish the family who lived here before us had taken a little better care on the upkeep of all the landscaping because it ALL needs redone...and can you believe we had terrace lights all over the hillside and electrical outlets for the pool and lights etc and they CUT them all....I guess we will go with solar lights.

The last picture is of the patio which is our fvorite place in the summer but I have got to get it "primmed" up for sure. I am painting the floor soon....thinking either a brick red or a colonial blue ???? Suggestions are always welcome.

Well thats it for now and no I have NOT forgotten about my promise of a giveaway...I will have it up soon I promise...I also have some great before and after projects to show you all. What would you think of something easy like a gift certificate giveaway or is that too lame ???? Give me some suggestions for what you guys would like to win.

OK gals, I am off to watch tv with the hubs and try to get cooled off !!!

Grace to you,
Margie