Thrift Store Finds and Garden Pics

Hello!!! I felt the need to hit the thrift store today and I'm glad I did!!! I found the cutest hand painted daisy picture for $3, a salt shaker for 29 cents and a milk glass sugar and creamer set for 58 cents. They are all so cute! I had been striking out the last few times I had gone thrifting but had fun today!

Everything all together.

(Click to enlarge)

A close-up of the daisy print. I may spray paint the frame black.

An even closer shot so you can see the painting detail.
(Click to enlarge)

The salt shaker has a plastic yellow top and the glass is greenish, it says China on the bottom. I thought it would be cute filled with white and yellow buttons. :-)

A close-up of the the cream and sugar set. They are rimmed in gold. I'm not usually a gold person but I really do like these!

Here is a picture of how the garden is coming along...you can mostly see the pumpkin plants. I will have to take a pic of the other side soon!

There are 6 pumpkin plants and it looks like we will have a good number of

pumpkins again this year.

Ok, I am off to craft. I have some things to make for the Berry Swap. Hope you're all having a great day!

Hugs!

Kim

Garden

Hello! Just a quick update! The giveaway is coming along, slowly! Emma just doesn't seem to understand that those things belong to Mom and wants to whisk them away!

My garden is coming along slowly, too! The crazy weather has slowed the process. I just came up from the garden and saw PUMPKIN blossom buds!!! Woohoo! Things are picking up the pace!

I will have new pics soon...and that giveaway will happen hopefully sooner rather than later! It WILL be worth the wait! PROMISE!!!

Have a great day!
Hugs!
Kim

Catching Up

Hello! Yep, I'm still around. I've been having blogger block or just plain old lack of motivation! Let me catch you up a bit...

This is Emma over Memorial Weekend. She got so pooped out up north, she slept most of the next day! Yesterday, she got spayed. She's doing really, really well. She's my happy go-lucky baby girl!

A shot of Cocoa and Emma. Cocoa is 5 1/2 months post-op and still here! She was only expected to be here until around February 2009! We are very happy to still have her with us, Emma is too!

Our garden has been planted! The plants are all starting to get going. Unfortunately, we had frost this morning! It's June 5th...seriously what's up with the frost??? BUT it appears all plants survived!

Some pretty alliums (I believe) from my mom's garden in Caseville, MI.

A very pretty view over Comerica Park. That was a pretty sunset!

A view of Downtown Detroit. I hope the economy improves for us all! GM is very important to our area!

I will take more photos this weekend so you can see how the garden has grown! I always hope to feel crafty soon! I'm in such a craft/blog funk! Does this happen to you???

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Hugs! I've missed you!

Kim

Saturday Part 1

Hello! Here is Part 1 of our Saturday....First, Cocoa was feeling left out, so here she is!

Mom, what's so special about that puppy??? She steals my bones!

I took some pics of some flowers...

A pretty Petunia on my porch. Please excuse my frost bitten Sweet Potato Vine : ( I do live in Michigan!

This is a pretty tree in our side yard. I love this tree! So full of purple flowers!

Time to get the veggie garden finished! We have WAY TOO MANY tomatoes to plant this year. Hubby's employer had an organic gardening seminar this week for their wellness program. They gave them tomato plants for attending...he came home with 2 more!!! Yikes! Every year the garden gets bigger...I really may need to have a garage/veggie sale this year!

Adding topsoil and manure (non-stinky sterilized manure)

The trusty Mantis tilling it all up!

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That's it for Part 1...Part 2 will be veggie planting and the Detroit Tigers vs. Colorado Rockies and if I remember I bought some treasures at the thrift store on Friday! The Tigers have won 7 straight games!!! WOOHOO!!!

Have a good one! Hugs!

Kim

Our Weekend

I have been corrected that the team below is the Oakland Athletics....our tickets said LAA...I stand corrected :-) Thank you... Rechelle : )


Hello! We had a bit longer weekend, hubby worked from home on Friday : ) The weather wasn't the best but we got some things done.

My pictures uploaded backwards but here are some photos of our weekend...

This is Dallas Braden the starting pitcher for Saturday night's game. The Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Athletics. Where our seats are, we get to watch the opposing team warm up and stretch out. I thought it was cool to get a picture of him to go with the next photo...

One of the opposing teams players came out wearing a warm up jersey with no name on it. He set his things up all so neatly...very picture worthy...I seized the opportunity. When I got home I saw his name was on his mitt. I did get his photo (above) to coordinate with this photo.

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The Tigers won thankfully! We were freezing! It was windy and the temps falling, there was quite the windchill! I, luckily, had gloves in my pockets.

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The next photo was from earlier in the weekend. Hubby started enlarging the garden, we are suppose to have beautiful weather on Saturday for him to finish : )

A not so attractive photo of the drain at the end of the creek which makes it possible to have houses here. The rest of the creek runs underground and to the right. Looking forward to having the vegetables growing in the ground.

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I even managed to work on my stamp/craft room this weekend. I will take pics. There's still more to do but it's a lot further along now. AND today I even made some cards but forgot to take photos but I can give you a mental visual...White cards with black polka dots (from Targets Dollar Spot 15 cards for $2.50), the back of the cards are bright pink. I made monograms like the ones I used for the Mother's Day plants. Tied bright pink ribbon around the middle of the card and topped with the monograms. Easy Peasy! If I make more, I will take a photo!

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For all you Michiganders looking for jobs:

~Good Morning America is having a Job Expo tomorrow at Cobo Hall.

~It goes from 6am-10am.

~ Parking and Admission are FREE!!!

~Take lots of resumes, dress to interview and be prepared to network!

~All the companies that will be there are from Michigan and they are hiring!

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Hope all of you are having a wonderful day!!!

Hugs!

Kim

2 Weekends Ago

Hello!!! Sorry it has been a while! I have been getting some good rest :) and am beginning to slowly feel like my normal self! Hubby didn't have to go back to Chicago until Monday morning, so that was nice.

2 weeks ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ike stopped by for a visit. He liked us so much that he left behind 6-8 inches of rain. I am so thankful that our house is built up on a hill!!!

This is a picture of our "valley" near the creek, earlier in the summer.

This is our garden during the rains of Ike. The day after this picture you couldn't see the pumpkins at all. The water went down rather quickly the next couple of days thank goodness.

This past weekend we didn't do a whole lot and that was nice. I did teach my daughter to use her new sewing machine. (I will post a photo of what she has been working on, later). I do not sew because I am terrible at it but I can teach her how to sew because believe it or not I do know how...lol. It didn't take her long to be able to sew her lines straight and get going on a project. She even plans to make a small quilt for a baby shower next week. She picked up a kit from Joann's and it seems pretty easy if you can sew a straight line! (I may have to try this sewing thing again...we'll see).

Last week, I won a giveaway!!! I will post a photo of that in the next couple of days too. I need to get a photo of it...I hate being behind on my blogging! Thank goodness my computer decided that it will cooperate and read memory cards again! I will get photos taken tomorrow of my daughter's project, my prize and a thrift find from a few weeks ago.

I sure have missed updating, thanks so much for all your continued prayers and well wishes! Have a great day everyone! Hugs!

Kim

I'll Be Back

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry for the lack of posts and lack of visiting! My fibromyalgia doesn't seem to want to let up and another one of my mystery health issues has reared it's ugly head. I get severely anemic for what appears to be no reason...I have had testing and they just aren't sure what is going on. It happens every year or 2. I get recover rather quickly but it takes a lot of sleep, red meat and prenatal vitamins (because they are high in iron and don't upset my tummy).

In other news...our creek flooded the lower part of our yard this weekend due to 6-8 inches of rain. (We call that area the valley since our house sits quite high up...thank goodness). The pumpkins still on the vine were no longer visible. The pink flamingo looked right at home! I have a photo but my computer is also sick. It has decided it doesn't want to read memory cards any more. Luckily, my daughter has one that plugs in...I will post the pic soon!

Hope you all are having a great week! Miss you all! Hugs!
Kim

What I Did on My Summer Vacation!!!

Hello! Do you remember...the first week of school and having to write about what you did on your summer vacation? Well here is what I did on my summer vacation! Hubby had 4 days off to be in Michigan!!! We did a lot and I feel like I am still recovering!

The first thing we did on Saturday was picking some of our pumpkins!!! Aren't they cute!?! Yesterday I checked on the pumpkins in the patch and we now have one rotting. How sad!

Later in the day on Saturday we headed to the Detroit Tigers game! There's Magglio Ordonez in the right field!!! Unfortunately they lost but it was still fun! The nachos were sooo good!

On Sunday we went to the apple orchard for cider and donuts. We picked up a 1/2 bushel of Jonathan apples too. Yummy!!! No pictures...sorry...what was I thinking...I forgot to take a picture!

Monday we headed up north to Caseville to visit my parents and to do some treasure hunting! I found a yard sale on my parents street and we headed to the beach for buried treasure!

We found $1.73 buried on the beach along with a pull tab and a rusty. My dad found 3 pennies and a Barbie heart charm. He would have found more but he has the gift of gab and stopped to talk to a neighbor. We had so much fun! Can't wait to go again.

At the yard sale, the lady had everything marked 1/2 off. This isn't a great picture but I found a set of 4 of these snack sets. They are in perfect condition and only cost $5! I really like this rectangular design.

Tuesday we went to lunch and packed hubby back up to leave again. It really was a nice weekend! Now it's time to get things clean and organized around here. That is going a little slow...can't use the water because of a big water main break up the road. So we have to boil water for everything...no fun! But in comparison to Louisiana I am not complaining! I hope all our blogging friends are save and doing well post hurricane! Praying for you all!

So, that's what I did on my summer vacation! Hope you enjoyed yours too!

Hugs!

Kim

YUCK!!! And Some Pretties

Edited

*Please pray for my DD and her BF, a very close friend of theirs passed away at 7:30 this morning from Melanoma, he was only 30 . Thanks you so much!*

Morning!!! First the yuck....WHY do brown recluse spiders like MY house!?! I am certainly NOT welcoming them in! I found one in the dining room curtain and my tummy turned and the goose bumps popped! I HATE spiders...I am TERRIFIED!!!! This is the second one this summer in my house that I have had to kill by MYSELF! I sure hope my muslin curtains survived the spider spray! I could NOT bring myself to smash it in fear that it would run me down! I had hubby on the phone and spray in the other hand...screaming my head off as the ugly thing ran across the sill and back onto the curtain!!! Now I only hope that DD's BF will come to extricate the body because I WILL NOT go near it dead or alive!!!! YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!!!!!!

Enough of the YUCK!!!! How about some pretty? Here are some fall decorations and a pretty tassel hung so pretty!

I cannot remember who posted about these cute little pumpkins from the Dollar Tree!!! How cute are these!?! I love them!!!
Pretty tassel that I purchased from Susie Harris at Bienvenue. Guess what she is having a sale!!! So if you'd like a pretty tassel all your own, head on over to Susie's! The tassel is hanging on a pretty frame from Michael's...it was on clearance...yay!!! No photos in it yet...we are taking photos at the ocean in Florida this December.

More of those cute little pumpkins from the Dollar Tree.

It is really feeling like fall this morning!! Very chilly! The weeping willows across the way are turning yellow and a maple tree down the street is red already! Loving the cooler weather! Hope you all enjoy your day!!! Hugs!!!

Kim

Pumpkin Update

Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We didn't do too much this weekend which was nice and relaxing. I did take some photos of the pumpkins though. I couldn't believe it when I counted 18 pumpkins!!! All but 3 or 4 are orange already! My hubby is afraid of picking them too soon and I'm worried about not picking them before someone comes and smashes them! That side of our property is pretty dark at night and easy for people to get to. I don't like thinking bad of people but I have seen too many smashed pumpkins around the area every year. So hopefully, my "watch flamingo" will protect them until they are picked by us! :)

The "Watch Flamingo" guarding day and night!

A closer look at a big one...most of them are pretty large!

From another angle of the garden. If you look real close you can see our dog in the very upper right.

Hope you all enjoy the last week of August!!!

Hugs!

Kim

A Look at the Creek

Hello all!!! I took a walk down to the creek last night, with the dog, to see what's going on there. It is incredibly lush this year and for the first time in 6 years, I could actually say it's beautiful down there! I don't know if it's due to the cool spring we had that seemed to make everything grow like crazy or what but I was surprised. I did pick some wildflowers down there a couple of weeks ago but it has once again changed. Earlier this spring, on a whim, I sprinkled some wildflower seeds from a box I purchased at Walmart last year. I thought they may never come up but what the hay! Well to my surprise some of the seeds survived and are now pretty little plants in bloom!!! YAY!!! Hope you enjoy!!!

I saw 2 of these beauties down there. No clue what they are but boy are they pretty!

These are so pretty too, the name of these escapes me at the moment. I saw 3 of these plants in bloom.

Now this creature is a little scary yet beautiful. Some sort of waspy/hornet thing that is huge and jet black! I told my hubby about them and he said to steer clear! Luckily, they were more interested in the Joe Pye Weed than me!

Hope you enjoyed the photos! Have a wonderful day, happy treasure hunting! Hugs!!!

Kim

Computer Issues and the Pumpkin Update

Hello!

Computer Update: In my haste and frustration yesterday...I failed to mention that Blogger was indeed working on the issue of not being able to visit all the blogs...and the reason for most of my frustration was due tot the fact that I have been having issues for 2 weeks (un-Blogger related) with my computer due to Spyware and junk. Technology can sometimes frustrate me even though I do enjoy my computer and internet! So anyway, I can now visit blogs thanks to Blogger but am still working on the rest.

Delayed Pumpkin Update: It is so weird...like fall is indeed on the way. The first of the pumpkins are ripening, some of the tomatoes that normally ripen later in August are ripening too. It's still relatively hot but it just feels different...like fall-ish. A friend of mine who lives north of me was saying the same thing. She said the trees are starting to look like they are heading to change. It just seems early to us. Here are the photos of the pumpkins!!! (Notice the leaves already starting to die off. Yep, we still have mildew too).

Orange already!

One of the later pumpkins.

Yesterday we went to the Blueberry Festival for the first time. We went with some friends who live in Leonard, MI. I was surprised...not many blueberry treats at all. One of the ice cream stores did have blueberry pie though. From what we hear, the event was a lot smaller than last year. We walked around the flea market...only 6 vendors, antique store (very cute, forgot to take a picture), had some ice cream and watched the cloggers. The clogging was fun, I clogged when I was younger, so it was neat to see.

Cloggers, so fun to watch! Poor things though...it was hot out there!

Well, I think that's all for now. I should get to making some yo-yo's and other things around here. Hope you all are having a great time this weekend!

Hugs!

Kim

Garden Fresh Picks!

Morning! Here is a picture of our first picking from our garden!!! Everything is sooo yummy! There is nothing like fresh fruits and vegetables out of the garden! (Except the farmers produce up the road...he has these same things plus the most wonderful sweet corn!) My tomato plants are so big and heavy with fruit that they are starting to topple over! DD and I were out there last night staking up their fences again.


My yo-yo project should be done this afternoon and then I will email the pictures to Donna at
DONNA'S-In The Attic, who is hosting the yo-yo challenge. After she posts the pictures, I will post them on my blog. I hope you will like it. I have a few more projects coming down the pipeline soon! More yo-yo's and some cards!

I should be treasure hunting again soon. I have been so busy here. I would like to go to the flea market but I'm not sure we will make it this weekend.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Happy treasure hunting and hugs!
Kim

A WINNER and a pumpkin update!!!

Morning everyone!!! Sorry this is a day late! I have been having some computer updating issues and we had a busy Saturday! But...before we went to our BBQ...hubby helped me pick a winner!!! (Hubby keeps asking...what is this for???...why are you doing this???...I don't get this blogging thing...LOL...silly hubby!). Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate to have my giveaway drawing in the pumpkin patch by the pink flamingo.

That's hubby holding the drawing bowl...and the winner IS....

Jill at Jill's Junk to Jewels!!!! Congratulations Jill!!!!

I will send you a message about getting your address.

Turning orange now!!!

Now onto the pumpkin update...look how big it's getting! I think pumpkin number 1 is done growing now because it's already turning orange! I was really surprised to see the orange peeking through! Some of the leaves have powdery mildew...so today I will spray them with the fungicide that's safe for vegetables. (DD's boyfriend brought some home for me from the garden center he works at.) There are several pumpkins out there now...I just hope they don't ALL turn orange too early...I know we didn't plant them too early. Hmm...a learning experience for sure.

A little bit of a yo-yo update...my project will be done this week!!! So there will be a photo soon...I think I like my project, hope you do too! I bought some more fabric to make more
yo-yo's for Christmas gifts...I have a couple of ideas floating around. They are addictive to make but oh "sew" easy!!

Well that's all for now! I hope you all are having a blessed and wonderful weekend! Thanks ever so much for stopping by!!! Happy treasure hunting and hugs!!!

Kim

Saturday pumpkin update, over 1000 visits to my blog and my first giveaway!!!

Hello everyone! Here is the Saturday pumpkin update....every Saturday I have been tracking the growth of our first pumpkin. This week it has really grown! We have had hot and humid weather and these pumpkins seem to LOVE it! My hubby was teasing me this morning...asking when we were going to get the nasty letter from the Home Owners Association. I told him they can't say anything because there is nothing in the bylaws about gardens...then my DD chimes in "yeah, but does it say anything about having a farm?" Sheesh! They won't be teasing me when fall comes and we have lots of pumpkins that only cost a couple dollars!

"The Farm"...looks more impressive when you're up close...lol!

When I started this blog, I had no idea I would get over 1000 hits so quickly!!! And my plan was to have a giveaway at 1000 hits!!! Well today I hit that goal! Thank you to all my blog world friends for stopping by and leaving me such awesome comments, encouragement and blogging advice! I enjoy reading each and every comment and try to send a note to thank you! So to further thank you...it is time for my first giveaway!!! Monday I will post a picture of the giveaway (sorry no time this weekend...family coming in tomorrow from out of state). All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and on Saturday, July 26 I will draw the lucky winner!!! YAY!!!

Have a great weekend!!! Oh and I have some treasures to show you on Monday too!!! Hugs and happy treasure hunting!!!

Kim

Just some random garden pics

Hello all! Today I wanted to show you some other garden happenings...we are growing things other than pumpkins...lol! Tomorrow I should have some treasures to show you. I picked up one thing at the Salvation Army on Monday but still need to take a pic. So on with the garden pictures.

Beef Steak Tomatoes

Yellow Mexican Hot Peppers

A shabby sunflower (that the birds planted in the crack on the patio)

next to my shabby/chippy pink lawn chair.

One of my frogs at the pond. They get comfortable

with people as the summer goes on.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer so far! Have a great day and hugs!

Kim