HOMESPUN « Ordinary daily life often made extraordinary by grandchildren

Antique Sewing Machine Part One

May 18, 2013 by Debra

When I started working on this post I realized that it would be quite long so I am breaking it up into three parts: here is part one. I’ll post the other two over the next few days.

I had no intention of purchasing an antique sewing machine.

And if I DID purchase one, I’d want one like Mabel, over at Claudia’s blog, Mockingbird Hill Cottage…something Featherweight, light….those famous Singer ones…

But here is the story:

Awhile back, the mission store had an antique china cabinet and they wanted $100.00 for it. Nope, no can do. But I decided that if that cabinet was for me, I’d go back at the end of the month when everything was half price and see if it was still there.

And it was still there that day, so I bought it. Since I don’t have a truck or SUV, the next step was to find a victim in my family that did, to come transport it to my house.

BINGO…found one. All that I had to do was wait around for 45 minutes or so. So I strolled around the store, and went to the car for some water, and then came back and studied the store windows. There was an old sewing machine case in the window. A big old wooden case covering some mystery machine.

I told myself to just let it be. I’d just waited two weeks for this antique cabinet to drop in price, and I didn’t need an old sewing machine. Heck I can barely sew on the modern one that I have!

But when you are bored, just waiting around for a ride….

May as well ask to see the machine.

So a gentleman got it out from the window, put it onto the front counter, and I lifted the wooden lid. It sort of looked like Mabel or one of those Featherweights! I fell in love instantly.

Posted in Meandering, Sewing and such | Tagged Antique Sewing Machine | Leave a Comment »

Little People Car Wash

May 17, 2013 by Debra

Last week we had a stretch of 3 or 4 warm days…

My little grandson was keeping me pretty busy on one or two of them, and I needed a breather.

One of the ways to get a breather is to dream up something to do with water….and so I did.

All that I needed was my dirty car, a toy bucket, a washcloth, dish soap, and a squirt gun.

Ah, now there would be at least 45 minutes of peace, aside from getting up to refill the squirt gun periodically.

Sharing at:

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Family Home and Life

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Grandmas Briefs

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Another great design collection and the #CB2NovogratzBrasilSweepstakes

May 16, 2013 by Debra

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CB2 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Can you imagine taking off with three friends or family members for a weeklong getaway to the vacation home of Bob and Cortney Novogratz in Brazil ? That is just what CB2 is offering in celebration of the latest collection by this famous design duo!

View the CB2 and Novogratz Collection and enter to win the trip of a lifetime CB2 and Novogratz Brasil Sweepstakes. The Sweepstakes run from May 2nd through June 3rd.

And there’s more. Ten other lucky winners will receive a CB2 gift card worth $100 along with an autographed copy of the book “Home by Novogratz”.

Travel + Leisure listed the Novogratz Brazilian vacation home as one of the “World’s Coolest Rental Homes” and this fresh and colorful CB2 exclusive collection is inspired by it! The Novogratz Facebook page reminds us that there’s a tree house as well!.

The Novogratz family includes seven children,so one can expect some playfulness in this latest collection and it is certainly there… with a whimsical Luli monkey table lamp, a chair named Breaker, and I especially love the Figueira Swing Chair.

CB2 refers to themselves as the “CB2 Family” and what better collaboration can you imagine than the CB2 family + The Novogratz family ? You can even shop for a Novogratz FAMILY rug on CB2…

And if you are lucky, you’ll be shopping for new sandals to wear in Brazil when you and three friends or family members win the trip of a lifetime, so be sure to enter the giveaway!

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

they say it is the little things in life…

May 15, 2013 by Debra

random little things giving me pleasure this week…

Garden

What I call the snowball bush is in bloom…

Inside

The contrast of the still tight buds on the lilac against the white and green blossoms are pretty; I picked some and brought them into the house to enjoy.

Critters

In the wintertime, the squirrels would come sit in a bowl ( a planter ) on a table on the porch that I had set up for them, and eat their dried corn and nuts. Now in the spring, the porch is fixed up for summer and the planter holds flowers. ( Come sit a spell on my porch with me HERE )

Yet even if I throw some peanuts over the railing onto the ground below, the squirrels still like my porch, and bring their nuts up there to eat.

One morning I noticed a little squirrel doing just that, so I slipped out quietly and sat in the chair with my camera, and scattered some more peanuts here and there. While the little squirrel ran off initially, he stayed on the ledge and soon came back.

He hung out and let me take some pictures.

Children

My little grandson likes to put peanuts out for the squirrel. But he eats most of them himself.

He also likes the sandbox out under the crab apple tree.

Organization

I am not one of those people that is particularly organized in regards to their pantry or staples. I had to empty out a large cupboard so that I could move it, since I was having flooring installed, and discovered that I had TWO bottles of coarse black pepper in the back of a shelf. Yes, I just purchased one at the store the other day, thinking that I was ‘out’ of pepper. I also found about three bottles of Febreze with a half inch left in them, several window cleaner bottles in the same condition, and so on.

So when I put everything back I did it alphabetically. ha ha NOT ( smile ) Though I really do think that it wouldn’t hurt to try to hunt down all of the tupperware / plastic containers stored here and there throughout the house and match up the lids some day.

At any rate, I am loving my new flooring, and the fact that the dining room is super spring cleaned right now!

Sharing at:

French Country Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Posted in 5 randoms, Home, pets and wildlife, Simple Pleasures: The Kids | 22 Comments »

Some changes in the dining room

May 14, 2013 by Debra

Approximately two years after I’d moved into this house, I tore up the carpeting downstairs and in my upstairs bedroom to reveal lovely wooden floors underneath.

I’d purchased some colorful braided rugs at Target for the living room. The main colors in the rugs were a rust or burgundy shade of red, along with gold and cream, and I ended up buying sheers in a similar shade and mixed them with a gold. After several years the rugs were worn out, I was tired of the colors, and moved to a more neutral scheme and cream colored sheers.

Meanwhile the flooring was not a hardwood, but rather a soft Southern yellow pine, original to the house. It was not holding up in the dining room any more and I took the step of having laminate installed last week. If I’d had the money, I’d have done the living room as well but for now, the dining room is what needed it the most. After the new flooring was in, and everything in the room was completely spring cleaned, I wanted something new and different in there. I remembered those old sheers and dug them out to use in the dining room for a change.

They compliment the dark red hutch cupboard and the gold pantry cupboard and darken the room a bit, which may make it seem cooler when the summer heat hits.

I had moved on to wall and window cleaning in the living room as well, and just moved things around a bit where I could…switch out a picture or lamp or little table here and there.

Spray painted the radiator covers….and then, there were two valances that I’d forgotten about; perhaps I never used them. In the end I decided to use one as a sewing machine cover until I make one ( ha…wonder when THAT will be? ) and another fit perfectly on the radiator.

I had purchased some fabric awhile ago that I thought I might use for a pillow or two in the fall…I made a quick table runner with some of it.

While I was taking pictures I thought to show a close-up of this old black chair, which is an antique that belonged to my grandparents.

I had a bouquet of roses not too long ago and let some of them dry out. A few dried blooms worked nicely in a china gravy boat.

Nothing special, but wanting something different; this got it out of my system for the moment ( smile ) and didn’t cost a thing, aside from the flooring.

As to the flooring, I purchased Pergo Presto Laminate on sale at Home Depot. Lowes had an installation special on Pergo and Armstrong, and I asked Depot to match THAT, which they did. I picked up all of the materials at the store myself, which saved money as well ( the quote charged for delivery + carry in ) so in the end I was able to knock off about 400.00 from the original quote.

Sharing at:

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Posted in Home | Tagged dining room, laminate flooring | 14 Comments »

z is for Zinnias …and goings on in the garden

May 13, 2013 by Debra

I have seeds started in pots and planters on both the front and back porch…among them are Zinnias and Sweet Pea.

Here’s a photo of the two of them from last year, with pink phlox.

Back Yard :

I suppose I’ll have to trim it into some sort of shape this year but when you consider that this snowball bush was very small, with various flowers planted around it, and now it towers over and around the clothesline pole, it is amazing how much something can grow within seven years or so.

This yard has heavy clay soil… Where did I get the energy to plant all of this stuff!

Same situation for the Lilac Bush…( in this picture it is still days or a week away from full bloom )

Off the back porch :

Here are two raised beds that I’d ordered from Home Depot last year: AND a whip it together one that I just started on :

First raised bed ( to the left ) has strawberry plants, which were planted last year in anticipation of a nice little ‘crop’ this year.

Planter: holds sunflower seeds. When they are large enough to transplant into a flower bed, it will hold a tomato plant.

Second bed: no, I am not raising playballs…they were deposited there during grass mowing. Tomatoes will be planted in there in June.

Third bed: Haphazard spend as little money as possible for the moment project comprised of on-hand materials ( aside from the dirt. ) I have cardboard covering the grass, and dirt bags holding that down. Hopefully the cardboard will kill off the grass and then I’ll dig up the dirt, and more tomatoes and vegetables will go there.

Further on down is another large pot filled with dirt that will hold green beans.

There are alot of strawberry blossoms.