Celebrating A Milestone and a Giveaway!

 I recently hit the 100+ follower mark and I am humbled beyond anything!

After all, when I started this blog, I never in a million years thought anyone beyond a few friends and family members would want to read along. It was just a way to document our progress as we turned our neglected little farm into our someday home.

Back of house when we first bought it

The front 

But along the way, I learned a lot about blogging and made some incredible new friends.

Y'all encouraged me when things were not going well and cheered me on when they were good.

I was and am extremely blessed by each of you!

So I just want to say "Thank you!!"

 To celebrate I'd like to give one lucky reader a set of my Christmas cards (4 of each design).

The new design will be a Texas Santa to go with the cowboy snowman.

Just leave a comment below by November 9th to be included in the drawing. Then I'll announce the winner the following Monday. Good luck and thank you for following along!

Hugs,
Cecilia

"Life On Willie Mae Lane" and her 2nd Annual Ornament Exchange

Sweet Vicky at "Life On Willie Mae Lane" is hosting her annual Christmas Ornament Exchange again.

I can't tell you how much fun it was to participate last year. You don't even have to have a blog to join. It was fun to receive an ornament from a new friend and then a great enjoyment to get to know someone and send them one. I highly recommend it!

What are you waiting for? Hop on over to Vicky's blog (here) and sign up! You'll be glad you did!

See you at the party!

hugs,
Cecilia

Turning a Dresser Into A Media Console

My schedule the past month has been crazy. I took a photography class to learn how to use my camera and get comfortable with it,

plus I work out with a personal trainer 3x a week - twice for strength training and one for boxing (great stress reliever!), a Bible class. and of course, art class.

It wasn't leaving much time for me to get things done around the house or to work on projects needing to be done. I finally had to rework my schedule to allow some breathing room. Fortunately, the photography class ended and I was able to move my Tuesday workout to another day. Now I have some big blocks of time open for house stuff and projects. whew!

One of my projects is this dresser:

It belonged to my son, but when he moved, it was too big for his apartment. I thought we'd sold it a couple of times, but they each fell through. Then a friend just happened to mention she was looking for a long dresser or buffet to turn into a TV console.

Hm, what size? Well, this one was almost exactly the size she was looking for! I sent her a picture and she decided yes! She then asked if I'd paint it for her. Sure!

She wanted red which thrills me...I love red! She chose Dark Crimson. I think it's going to be beautiful!

She wants shelves where the two top middle drawers are so I went yesterday with my measurements and got the wood for them. Fortunately, the drawer glides were easy to remove. And I got everything sanded so it's ready for paint.

I can't wait to start the actual painting! I know those other steps are important but I'm eager to see how it turns out. So tomorrow I'm priming it and hopefully getting the first coat of red on. I should have it done by Tuesday of next week. Stay tuned for the final reveal.

Until the next time - have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

October Canton Finds

I went to Canton with some friends the first weekend in October. We left the husbands at the farm. 

This guy's trailer always cracks me up. It's quite the tower of stuff. I asked him what he would do if I wanted something way down on the bottom of that trailer. He said someone offered him $100 once to  

get something. So I guess for a price, he'll dig it out. :o)

I found some fun things elsewhere.

Mrs. Yellow Chicken...she was a bargain and cute to boot!

Rooster place card holders:

I intend to make tags with single letters and spell out words using these guys:

Lovely rusty tin ceiling tiles...I have a couple of different ideas for these but it will be awhile before I get to them:

A metal whirly:

 It's double sided:

 and brightly painted:

 I was really excited to find it for $60 as most cost over $150. It was my most expensive purchase.

This wonderful metal basket:

It's pretty big...I can see it holding a large pot of flowers in the future.

2 red glass teacups - they will be used on a upcoming project.

This pretty bracelet:

and these three pins to dress up my scarves this winter. I love all three but oh! that circus pony!

The weather was perfect for a day of shopping and shop we did! Afterwards, we all went to dinner at the vineyard next door to our farm. It was so good - Simon outdid himself. He made us the most heavenly meal. Yum. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. Oh well, we were too busy stuffing ourselves! LOL.

It was a perfect weekend with fun shopping and time spent with wonderful friends. Looking forward to the next friend coming to visit!

Rainy Weekend

I intended to do some painting this past weekend. I have this wonderful bench I bought from a friend:

But the weather didn't cooperate at all as it rained the entire weekend! I didn't mind really - it was very relaxing - and I was able to decorate for Halloween too.

First up was flipping my double-sided sign over and adding a bow to the top:

Then I redid the entryway table. I added my ceramic pumpkin and crow, along with a clock about to strike midnight, the pumpkin with mice, a flameless candle and crow plate;

Then I started playing with my camera. I learned some really cool techniques this past week:

 Spooky!

 I just moved the camera while firing the shutter and had it on a slow shutter speed. I love how it looks like the light is flowing out of the mouth. :o)

Then I focused on the clock and zoomed while firing the shutter. Can you see the large clock shadow?

I've really enjoyed the photography class - the teacher is so nice and very informative! I am finally feeling comfortable using my camera plus I've learned those fun techniques. :o)

Outside, during a lull in the rain, I got some nice photos.

Acorns on the driveway:

American Beautyberry bushes with their pretty berries:

Had fun photographing the raindrops dripping off:

The lantana is still in full bloom:

More raindrops on these pretty yellow wildflowers:

Loads of mushrooms everywhere - most were white but I found these red ones peeking out:

The surprise lilies heavy from the rain:

And I managed to get a good sunburst picture through the trees:

The dogs loved the pond having water in it again:

Time to head back to the house:

I enjoyed the rain and playing with my camera. It was a relaxing weekend and those are always nice!

Have a wonderful week!
Cecilia

I'm Seeing Red

I'm seeing red but not in a bad way!

As in red furniture!

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Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I love red!

So why am I looking at red furniture? Well, I have a friend who is thinking of buying my son's old dresser to use as a tv stand and she asked if I could paint it for her - you guessed it! - red. Why yes, I can! :o)

So, I've been on Pinterest pinning away.

This one is a duller red but I still like it!

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 Then there's this buffet with the stained top. Love the combo!

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 Then be still my heart! Red chairs!

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I need to paint my bar stools red for the kitchen bar, I think!

My dining room table in the city needs a new finish. Hmm, maybe red?
Stay tuned for its makeover and the dresser into tv stand makeover! One will be red for sure, the other is a strong possibility!!

Oh! And the barstools...let's not forget those. :o) Guess what I'm doing this weekend at the farm? LOL.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'll be painting the town (or really, furniture) red!

Cecilia