The Guest Room

Our guest room has had many lives. Long before we bought the house this room was part of an upstairs apartment. Three of the bedrooms upstairs are connected. You had to go through another room to get to this room. We put the boys in these rooms. Oldest boy sealed off the door to his room - so no cutting through. Youngest boy didn't care so his room was the passage for middle boy to get to this room. It was painted War Eagle orange and stayed that way for 6 years. After 2 more kids grew up and flew out of the nest we had some shifting. T moved to his sister's old room and B moved to T's old room. I got a sewing room and a guest room. We turned one doorway into a closet for this room by building a wall in B's room. We also made him a closet and a built-in desk and bookshelf area. It took 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint- Laura Ashley Spruce Frost- to cover up the orange.

This was A's vanity - it did not travel to Alaska with her. The lamps came from my Mom's childhood bedroom.

The fireplace wall had some major issues. The plaster was crumbling and the lathe had separated from the studs. DH performed a miracle by patching this wall with sheet rock. That was a perfect time to add lighting . The rest of the room still has plaster wall. My thrifting treasures gather on the mantle. We have not finished the hearth and fireplace surround with tile.

This chandelier moved from another

bedroom because it was too girly for

a boy's room.

The guest bedroom has some fun guests last week. My cousin and her husband stayed for night on their way home from Florida. What fun it was to reconnect with her and meet her husband! We had 32 years of catching up. It was proof that some things are genetic...we had so many things in common! Don't worry they didn't both have to sleep in the tiny bed-I took the pictures a while back- before we put another bed in there!

Kiss the Pugs

Since I'm just getting the hang of things in the Bloggy World, you can imagine the excitement in the Swamp when I won my first Bloggy Give-Away! I was the 50,003rd hit on RPM's site and she sent me a BOX OF GODIVA CHOCOLATE! Thanks so much RPM! She also sent the Pugs some kisses! You don't have to ask them twice! They are always ready to hand out kisses especially when Momma has chocolate breath!!
Eli gets his smooch!

Bitsey kissie, kissie!

Thanks again, RPM!!!!!!

Yard Pictures

Our house is one block from the Azalea Trail every spring in our town. I have a few scraggly Azaleas that do not choose to participate in this annual display. They only open up 2 weeks after everything is over. DH pulled a few up them up...they were embarrassing him.

I do have a few other things blooming in my yard. These camellias are the very last for the winter. We have 4 bushes. The first one begins blooming in early December.

The daffodils bloomed more this year than I remember ever since we have lived here.

The iris are multiplying.

But, only the white ones are blooming.

I had some yellow iris that have stopped blooming.

The peach trees are just starting to open up. The dogwood trees took a hit in the drought last year. Two of them are dead and the others are dull and not full.

The dogwood across the street is beautiful!

And finally...on my back porch....for my new friend "Pug Posse" I saw this little guy on her blog last year. So I searched high and low until I found one for DH. He wouldn't put it out front because it lights up at night and DH is afraid that he would get pugnapped!

Parlor Progress

The walls have a coat of primer and the fireplace surround for the tile has been constructed. We still have a few pieces of trim to strip of old paint. The ceiling has been painted and the medallion is up. Still looking for that perfect chandelier . I did find some tile on ebay and they sent a sample this week. It looks like this will work!

I've also got a project just getting started for the porch. I have a rusty, chippy ice cream shop table and four chairs that need some sprucing up. They seem to get hit hard by the rain and have gotten a little too rusty...they've gone from Shabby Chic to Just Plain Redneck this winter. I'm making a new tablecloth and some slipcovers for the chairs. I hope this weekend we can get the construction supplies off the porch and I start to put out some plants and pillows. I also found some cheerful outdoors fabric to recover cushions on the rockers and swing. I have quite a bit of sewing to do for other people...alterations, curtains, dust ruffle, pillows, embroidery......Never enough time!!!

HAPPY EASTER.....

but, I'm not going to wear these #%*& ears!

Rabbit Hunt

Jayne, 0ne of my new blogging friends has started a "Rabbit Hunt". That's just up my alley. I love collections. Here are some of my favorites from the Rabbit Collection!

These are paper mache rabbits I made after taking a class. He is Elsworth and she is Helen. They are named after my Grandparents.

This is a smaller paper mache rabbit I made. It is made from a light bulb!

Blue and white rabbits gather in our bedroom.

White rabbits gather in the kitchen.

Pastel rabbits gather in the dining room.

This is Sassy. He came home from England with me when I was 4 months old. He is a well-loved Steiff.

My boys had a Peter Rabbit nursery. Here are a few things I have saved in the wicker bassinet that I slept in (and so have all my babies!)

Finally- the Beanies wait in T's Easter basket!

The Cat

This is what my cat does all day. And yes....those were my clean towels. Today she was quite lively. I heard her calling to me so I went to see what all the racket was about. She brought me the "gift" of a large lizard. She would screech and the lizard would take off, she would catch it again in her mouth...then repeat!! I snatched her up and took her out on the porch. She is an inside cat so she was delighted to be outside. Once again she opened her mouth and in a flash the lizard was gone. He must not have been too injured!!! Back inside she was extremely displeased with me for allowing her prey to escape! Some of the many joys of an old house are the creatures that sneak in through all of the cracks-bats, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, every insect found in the South- they have all been guests. The cat earns her keep!

Her name is Seven. She was named after a Star Trek character, Seven of Nine.

Showing off!

Seven is in need of a companion. She lost her pal last summer. He was old and cranky, but he cuddled up with her and kept her warm. This winter she has had to share space next to the heater with the Pugs. We have had our eye out for a rescue that would fit in the family.

All My Children

I didn't really plan on writing much about the children on this blog out of respect for their privacy. But to understand why we moved into a big.old house, you have to know there are children...5 of them. We have been working on the house 7 years. So in that time 3 of the kids have grown up and become independent adults!! So very proud of that!!!! Two are still in the nest and one of those has one foot out of the door. The two oldest boys are Auburn graduates. They both worked and put themselves through college.

A1 is an English major bookworm who works at a golf club.

J is my outdoors boy, a Fisheries Biology major, who works for a pond management company.

Next is the only girl - A2 is a recent bride. Her new husband is in the Army and they are stationed in ALASKA!!!

At home we have B, high school senior and already in the National Guard. He spent last summer in Basic Training and will finish this summer.

Last but not least, T-man, a 6th grader, into tennis and computers. He keeps us young.

Laundry Room

The first rooms we worked on were the smallest of the house -the bathrooms and the laundry room. These were critical areas of the house for me and in the worst shape. The laundry room is between the kitchen and master bedroom. At one time there were 3 doors leading out of the laundry room. Over the years different owners did some questionable remodeling! One door was closed off and a pantry was built on that wall. We found the door trim in the wall and saved it for future use. The door to the kitchen was " plywooded" over. The only working door led to the master bedroom. The problem there was children trudging through the bedroom with dirty clothes. And if I needed any food to cook a meal I had to walk out of the kitchen - go through the bedroom- get the food- and back around to the kitchen! So DH to the rescue. He opened up the door to the kitchen and closed the opening to the bedroom. You would never know a door had been there. We think at one time the laundry room had been a back porch- there is still siding on the wall. So we made it a little outdoorsy with a brick floor, wrought iron and birdcages. The paint color is the same as the kitchen - Laura Ashley Dark Green 3- it looks good with jade-ite. Our old house was very country style. I had watermelons everywhere. I still have some -but I have downsized the collection. The chandelier came from my old kitchen. DH also added doors to the cabinets above the washer and dryer. He put a shelf over the window to elevate my clutter. I made the balloon shade and curtains to cover more storage above the pantry.

Close Ups of My Easter Eggs

Easter Projects

Last year Martha Stewart had these cuties in her magazine so I had to try them out. Carrots made of clay, wrapped in orange floss with felt leaves!

And little baskets made of pipe cleaners! They look so cute on my feather tree.

More of my paper mache eggs are on the tree and in egg cups here and there.

The paper mache eggs are an easy (but messy) project that I have done with third graders. They are plastic eggs covered with torn paper towels dipped in wallpaper paste. After drying I cover them with a layer of torn Easter napkins dipped in more wallpaper paste. The final step is spraying with spray adhesive and sprinkling with clear glitter. If you want them to hang - glue a ribbon loop on the plastic egg before the first layer of paper towels.

Three Word Sunday

Three words are not enough...words can not do justice...such senseless tragedy...such a sad week...both of my schools.......

The Main Hall and Stairs

When we first looked at the house, the stairs sold us. Yes, they were covered in inches of white paint with black, yucky varnish and decorated for Christmas (in February) but they said, "This is your home!" After a year of hard work they look like I imagined them. Why did anyone paint these white? The walls were a dirty tan color. The ceiling was a 50's tile stuff - with a few missing and others that dangled by a thread. We love the new paint color - Laura Ashley Gold 4. It changes color with the light from sunny gold upstairs by the window to deep gold downstairs by lamplight. The worst part of the renovation was paint removal. Many hours with dental tools, the heat gun and stripper..... The big wall had cracked, patched plaster and peeling paint. I would never have believed the husband could work such magic and repair it. Some of the plaster walls in the house are too far gone and they have to go- but we like to save them if possible.

The new ceiling downstairs is pressed tin and so much better!

The chandelier was here when we bought the house. The wiring was so old we had it disconnected until it could be rewired when we put in the new ceiling.

The rocking chair and the mirror were here when we bought the house. We added the picture molding and crown molding.

The gallery of children going upstairs.

Same children -just younger - in these pictures.

And the entryway woodwork - pay no attention to the plastic sheeting behind it! That is the parlor renovation going on as I write..... We knew that some of this wood was not old and some was original. As we removed the paint, there were some mysterious hinge marks....??????

The mystery was solved one day when a lady knocked on the door and told me she lived here in the early 70's. There were French doors between the parlor and hallway. Her husband took down the doors and a wall and look what they found....

HIDDEN INSIDE THE WALL!!!!!