Floor Reveal

The floors at the city house make one project down and how many to go? I don't know; I've lost count. 😬 But that's ok, we're plugging along, getting them done. I've been cutting out Megan's paper flowers so she can concentrate on putting them together. I'm so proud of her and Dylan for working hard to keep the wedding at a reasonable cost! They've been awesome!

Almost have all the red ones cut out, then it will be on to the teal ones. White and yellow are done! (I think there is another white one and a purple one to do still.)

Anyway, I left you with the new floor install, promising to come back and share the final reveal. Here's the photo I shared of the floors going in:

And here's an after - Bruce jumped in and helped paint the molding so I was able to put the living and dining rooms back together:

It was nice having the spaces empty and being able to reset everything. I rather enjoyed it being pared down so I decided to keep my spaces less cluttered looking.

One area I purged was the bookshelves - and restyled with a summer look.

(We try to collect sand from each beach we visit; putting it in small glass vials that we then label with the beach location. )

But I got that sand home and put it in a vial to add to the rest! I love how different they all are.

I moved a lamp from my bedroom to the small table next to the shelves. I love the soft glow it gives off. More seashells and a lighthouse decorate it.

My big flower arrangement that used to sit on top of the tv cabinet got moved to the buffet for now. Plus I put the wine glasses from our anniversary trip there as well.

I hung several pieces of my artwork on the walls also. A small rug in front of the French doors (I found it rolled up in the entryway closet...totally forgot I had it) finishes off the dining room.

In the living room, my dad's old toy chest is used as a coffee table.  This is one surface I'm constantly battling to keep clean.

A metal basket is handy to corral all the remotes, some playing cards and coasters.

A small demilune table from Bombay Co. (remember them?) got moved from the master bedroom hallway to beside the fireplace. Another lamp adds a soft glow to this area as well.

The cabinet above it was made by my dad and holds an assortment of treasures...I'm hoping to find a good spot at the farm for this.

I've tried to keep surfaces uncluttered as I'm tired of all the stuff. With the new floors, everything looks just wonderful.

So that's my new floors. I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my last post. I appreciate your kindness more than I can say. Y'all are the best!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have more flowers to go cut out.

 😊

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Trying To Keep Up

I've been feeling overwhelmed lately and that makes me feel a little guilty. My stresses are not bad, they  are truly good things.

I'm not watching anyone struggle with a horrible illness or anything bad. Life is just going full steam ahead and I'm running as hard as I can to keep up.

The farm is truly a place I can catch my breath even though there is much going on there. There is something peaceful in the tending of flowerbeds, chopping out sticker burrs, or helping Bruce with the wedding/art studio projects.

I'm trying hard to learn the business end of my art while trying to continue to paint and be creative.

It's been overwhelming for this introvert at the sheer amount of information being thrown my way. It's good but I feel like I'm falling further and further behind. I need time to work through it at a pace that doesn't overwhelm me.

On top of that is all the things our city house needs...taking care of two places has been taxing; one always seems to suffer over the other. But I'm doing my best to refresh spaces, purge, and help Bruce where I can on the bigger things like painting the exterior (colors have been chosen and Bruce is repairing siding, etc).

Of course, the farmhouse has priority right now because of the wedding. It's fun to see it all come together.

Then there's my little blog. At least, I'm not trying to make a living off it. It's my online diary of progress at the farm. Taking pictures, editing them, and trying to come up with interesting topics takes lots of time. Things feel forced and boring right now when I want them to be interesting and amazing.

And quite frankly, all of it is just making me stressed and tired.

I guess I'm telling you all of this to ask you for grace if I post less or fall flat. I'll continue to share but I truly feel God wants me to concentrate on my art and develop that - however that looks. I won't lie - I'd love for my art to be successful and all. But it won't happen if I don't get in there and work at it.

So something needs to give. While this isn't farewell, it is a signing off of some sort. I'll still be around but less than before. I need to concentrate on my daughter and the wedding and put the time in on my artwork. Thank you for letting me be honest and for understanding. This blog wouldn't be enjoyable without all of you.

I do have a couple of posts coming up to tie some loose ends up. Then I'm going to concentrate on those important life events. Hopefully, I'll come back to blogging weekly once the wedding is over and things settle down.

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed weekend.

hugs,
Cecilia
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Updates on Wedding Spot and Studio

I thought I'd show you what the Wedding Spot is looking like nowadays...we mow each time we're there. Megan and Dylan will stand under the two big trees with the chairs set up along the flat area in front:

Here's what the area where the chairs will be set up looks like looking out from the trees:

Unfortunately, there are plenty of these in the non mowed areas and why we are telling people to not wear shoes with open toes:

 Sticker burrs! They hurt! But I've been chopping them out on the hill and Megan and Dylan came up and also chopped them out along the pathway. It's hot, sweaty work but very satisfying! ha. I hate sticker burrs! We'll get them yet. And the whole area will be mowed right before the wedding so they should, at least, not be sticking up.

the red ones are dry and hard

 Bruce mows along the grapevine row where the reception tent is going plus all the pathways as well:

The fence is the backyard fence. Things are green and growing. It's all coming together! So exciting. 😊

In other news, on Sunday Bruce and Dylan finished up the insulation in the studio. The electricity is also connected! Bruce hung a temporary light up so he could work in there and he got the electrical boxes wired!

He even got the sheetrock up on the ceiling!

Can you see my ceiling beam? 😮 I'm also talking Bruce into putting corrugated tin on the ceiling!

The outside light works! Woohoo!

 Look how pretty it is all lit up at night!

We're still trying to come up with a door for the back part of the studio. Once that's in, the ac unit can be installed. It's coming together faster now - I'm so excited I just might bust! Then once Bruce is done with his part, I can start on mine - the painting, planning the space, and creating the perfect studio. I have quite the stash of things to use...shelves, old doors, rusty crusty things, siding for the walls, and so on. It's going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

Speaking of amazing, I'm really enjoying being part of KariAnne's (of Thistlewood Farm) book launch team. Her book "So Close to Amazing" is a fun read - it's full of wisdom and DIY projects at the end of the chapters. If you'd like to pre-order a copy, you can do so at this link.

Be amazing! Pre-order your copy today!

A Texas Anniversary Trip - Part 2

So last week, I left y'all at the end of day 1 of our trip and with the promise to show you our cottage. Y'all. It was too cute for words! I found it online. Here she is: Abby's Guesthouse!

 There's a lot of pictures of the inside so I'll share most of them in a collage. Here's how the website describes the cottage: Abby's melds the French seaside with modern and vintage design for the perfect calming getaway.

Here's what you see when you walk in the front door:

A bigger picture of the living room

And a close up of the shells/starfish hanging beside the large picture:

 The bedroom was just dreamy. That chandelier! It reminded me of a jellyfish (but in a good way!):

 It had a cute kitchenette:

And a pool in the backyard for guests to use! Since it's only for two people, we had the pool to ourselves. What a treat! It was close enough to downtown shopping and restaurants but far enough down to be quiet. We loved it!

The 2nd day after we ate breakfast, we headed to Wildseed Farms.  The fields had been harvested but there was plenty to see in the nursery area. This photo is from trip advisor.

source

We bought several packets of seeds to sow in the Fall. Excited about that...can't wait to see what will bloom.

Then we visited another winery: Grape Creek Vineyards. Another bottle of wine came home with us. It was a pretty vineyard too!

 There's so many wineries and vineyards in the area. We could have spent an entire day visiting all of them (they do offer tours so someone else is driving!) but we wanted to wander downtown Fredericksburg.

As we came back toward town, we saw this:

Not knowing what it was, plus it was cool looking, we decided to stop. I was hoping for a junk market. Alas, it wasn't. They had clothes but the grounds and building was simply amazing!

 I admit I was disappointed it was a junk market.

On to town for lunch...today it was Fredericksburg Brewing Co.

Fredericksburg Brewing Co.

Again, the food was excellent and the beer tasty. I had a Rueben Sandwich that was probably one of the best I'd ever had!

We drove around some and shopped at an antique place. I found a couple of Black Stallion books. I adored that series when I was growing up. I'm trying to collect as many as I can find, so I was thrilled!

Supper (for our actual anniversary) was at Crossroads Saloon & Steakhouse. It was steak night so I got a steak. Bruce got something else as beef isn't his best friend.

Crossroads Saloon & Steakhouse

Again, outstanding!

Monday, we headed back home. On the way we stopped at LBJ State Park and the Ranch. The State Park side had a cool Living Farm where you could watch and interact with people. The time period was 1915.

Next to the farmhouse was a log cabin...somehow I didn't get a picture of that. We talked to a woman scrubbing clothes on a washboard. She was really in character! It was really interesting thinking about what it was like to live during that time. The house was surprisingly cool inside. I'd like a dog trot porch. What a nice place to sit during the heat of the day.

We then headed across the river to the LBJ Ranch. Here we got to tour the "Texas Whitehouse".

Texas Whitehouse

It was all done up in 1960s style to reflect LBJ's time in office. Quite the kick seeing the old style tvs and telephones plus other decor.

Airforce One-half is also on site along with several cars LBJ drove.

 We really enjoyed out trip to Fredericksburg! We needed a trip where we could relax a bit. We thought about going to the farm but knew we would end up working so this was really nice. I hope you enjoyed coming along.

Until the next time,
Cecilia

winecup