A New Find

I haven't had much time to look for any treasures in my usual haunts lately, between my grandson being born and our garage being torn down, but I did manage to stop in one store that is near my work and I found this.

I found this wicker basket/bowl, I'm not quite sure what to call it. I had the quilt in case you were wondering. I've had that beauty for years. I don't seem to be as lucky as some of my blogger friends who find quilts for next to nothing. But back to the basket-I love it's turquoise color, which is a color that is growing on me lately, and it's perfect chipped paint in all the right places. Not sure what I'll put in it but I'm sure it will rotate with the seasons. Any suggestions would always be welcome. You are all so much more creative than me which is why I am stealing ideas from you all just about every day!

A New Hen Has Found a Home

I wrote a bit ago about some hens I had from my aunt and now another hen of a sort has arrived at my house. My aunt and uncle passed away some years ago but my cousins have hung on the the house since then. But the decision was made to dispose of the property and they are in the process of emptying the house. My aunt had the habit of putting people's names on a piece of tape and attaching it to something she wanted that person to have when she was gone. This had my mom's name attached to it. So that's how I ended up with it. Now if I saw this in the thrift store I would probably pass it by but since it has some sentimental value I guess I will hang on to it. I have to admit, since it has been hanging out in my kitchen it's starting to grow on me. I can especially see it as part of a Thanksgiving display with it's fall colors.

Now on to a different subject. Thanks for all the great e-mails and comments on the previous post about men and nails. I guess my hubby is not the only one with a collection! We start our construction project this week so I will post before and after pictures as I go along. We are looking forward to having this garage and family room addition built especially since our grandson has arrived and we look forward to many more gatherings with family and perhaps more grandchildren. He came to visit yesterday and I just wanted to cuddle him all day. Luckily in NH it was nice enough to eat lunch out on the screen porch. Hard to believe that eight days earlier we had a huge snowstorm! That's just what the weather does in New England.

Why Do Men Need Nails?

I am asking this deeply philosophical question today and I hope someone can enlighten me-why do men need nails? Here's how this question came up in my household. We are about to embark on some construction at our home. We are tearing down our rickety one car garage and having a two car garage with a large family room above it built. We will be able to access the family room from our kitchen so we are excited that all the gatherings we now have won't all be jammed in the kitchen and tiny living room as they have been for the 23 years we have lived here. Part of the process of getting ready for the tear down has been cleaning out the garage. I am sure that anyone living with a male and a garage will understand how much crap a man can save in this space, as we are finding as we clean it out. He has been good about throwing a lot out but when he gets to the many, many jars of nails that he won't throw out, I find myself thinking, "I just don't get it"!! I really do want to understand why he is saving these jars of nails, some of which came from his Father, who also saved nails. If they had a use for them they would have used them by now, wouldn't they? One of my girlfriends at work summed it up simply-Men Need Nails. I am just asking why.

This brings up a whole other canyon of difference in how we see this construction project. I see it as a blank canvas for more decorating. He sees it as a bigger place to store more nails! Will we ever find common ground-stay tuned.

There's Nothing Better Than Free

I love to poke around in antique shops and thrift shops. I have found most of the furniture in my home that way. But once in a while you get lucky and get something free as I did with this little cabinet. It came from work and was about to be thrown out so I took it home. Not sure where I'll put it or what I'll use it for but what the heck-it was $0!

I haven't had much time to thrift lately because of so many things going on in my family so this was, as they say, a happy accident that I acquired it. I can't decide whether to paint it or leave it as is. I also have had, for many years, an old door that is the same old honey colored wood that I have always wanted to make some kind of console table out of. May be it's time to do that and display them together.

Sorry for all the bright spots from the flash but it is so dark and dreary here still from rain, rain and more rain that I had to use the flash. And despite what the song says, the sun does not seem to be coming out tomorrow or any other day here in NH.

Being a Grandmother is Wonderful!

I am still basking in the wonder of being a Grandmother and my grandson who has captured my heart. All my friends told me what it would be like but I didn't grasp what it would be like until it actually happenned. It seems like just yesterday that my son was that age and he is almost 29 now! I wish I could see him everyday but I'll have to be content with seeing him every week at least.

I didn't plan on going to see them this weekend to let them get settled and bond in their home with each other. But I got a phone call Saturday morning suggesting that I visit. Seems like the baby did not give them a good night's rest and they were overwhelmed and tired and needed some motherly advice. So I went to their house for the morning and early afternoon and her mother and father showed up later to cook them supper. I think I helped. I do remember that feeling, as if someone had plucked me from my home and put me in the middle of China and I didn't speak the language and somehow I had to communicate with this little person who didn't understand me! It's quite a shock at first. But I know they'll be fine-they just have to go through this new parent's hazing ritual.

I was shaken awake this morning at 3:30 by another tree coming down and knocking out power in this tremendous storm we are having in the Northeast and I had trouble getting back to sleep. So as tired as I will be today I know there are two new parents that are much more tired than I am. But enough already with this weather! It seems we are to skip Spring altogether this year. It was snowing yesterday but at least it changed to rain. I think my feet are starting to get webbed!

I'm a Grandmother!

Well, finally yesterday, 8 days overdue my first grandchild arrived! We have a grandson who entered the world yesterday afternoon at a whopping 10 pounds 5 ounces. Of course he is the most beautiful baby in the world-no really he is. My son and daughter in law prefer not to have his picture out here so I am abiding by their wishes and showing you the beautiful Willow Tree grandmother figurine that my dear DIL gave both me and her mother at her baby shower. Isn't she the best? The baby and his parents are doing fine and he is a very calm baby, just like my son was so hopefully he will continue to be this way. My son was very relaxed and mellow as a baby and was a great sleeper so we'll see how his son does. In the meantime I am just soaking in all the wonderfull baby smells and touching his soft, soft skin. The best medicine ever created.

Still Waiting......

Waiting-I'm not the most patient person on earth although I have been better in recent years. So we are waiting for Spring to arrive here in NH which looks like it may be a little longer since they are predicting another snowstorm on Thursday like my previous post. Maybe this time a tree will fall on my garage that we are having demolished and rebuilt anyway. Then at least we could get some insurance money out of it.

And we are still waiting for our grandchild to arrive. He/she is now overdue and I can hardly wait to meet him/her. So in the meantime I guess I'll just have to find my inner calm and wait because there's not a thing I can do about it. Maybe some tea in my favorite teapot will help.

Ah......Spring in New England

We had a little snow last night-not much, just about 4 inches. But it was was very heavy and wet. We were startled awake at 4:00 am by this.

This is was what we thought was a healthy, strong maple tree but the wet snow was just too much for it and it split in half. Luckily it didn't fall towards the driveway where the two cars were but fell on the lawn, barely grazing the house.

It missed my brand new front door.

Any bulbs that were poking up through the ground are now under the snow along with bushes being buried in snow.

So all you bloggers out there publishing pictures of your flowers, please stop. It's just cruel and inhuman punishment for us poor New Englanders. I promise not to publish how beautiful it is in the summer here while you're all dying of the heat and humidity.

We're on Grandchild Watch

My son and daughter-in-law are going to be having their first child and my first grandchild very soon. Their due date is this week so we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our grandson or grandaughter-they did not want to know ahead of time. I can hardly stand the wait!

This sweet little egg with the bunny on it is actually quite old-like me-not really-I'm a young 53! This was given to my Mom by my Dad filled with flowers when I was born. It always amazes me that she held onto it all these years and it never got broken in the process. I always put it out at Easter and I love it. I also happen to have a similar container that my Mom sent to me in the hospital in Colorado when I had my son almost 29 years ago. So I have it all ready to go to the florist, as soon as we get the baby news, to be filled with flowers and passed on to my daughter-in-law. I hope I am around years from now to see it passed along one more time to another generation.

Back to Normal

I think we are back to normal here after last weekend's drama. My hubby is good as new and there has been no repeat of the passing out. I can't tell you all the things that went through my mind as I drove him to the hospital. Thank you all for all the prayers and good wishes. I felt them all.Now on to happier topics like quilting! Here is another Spring quilt that I have up. I made this one from a commercial pattern a few years ago and just love it. It was hand appliqued and hand quilted. I wish I had the time now to do all that hand work because I love to do it but time seems to be in short supply lately so I tend to use my sewing machine more. I wish time wasn't so fleeting. It always seems likes I am fighting to find extra time to do this or that. But after my hubby's hospital stay of last weekend I am trying to learn to cherish every minute and not worry about the lack of time. It will take me a while to get there but hopefully I'll find this a little easier. Have a great week.