Americana Giveaway

~ FRIENDS ~

Walking with a friend in the dark

is better than walking alone

in the light

[Helen Keller]

The friendship I have with each of you

 has grown over the years.

Seven wonderful years! 
I have learned much about you through these years,
and enjoy reading what's going on in your lives.

It has been a rough night for me.
I received a call last night just before 10 from my sister
that my mom fell and they were rushing her to the hospital.
She called me first because the hospital 
they were taking her to was closest to me.
I left immediately and beat the ambulance there.
She broke her hip.
The worse part besides the hip being broken...
she was watering her newly planted veggie garden
and she did not realize that the hose wrapped 
around her ankles and she tripped and fell.
This happened at 2:30pm and she kept screaming
for help until her neighbor heard her at 9:00pm.
She crawled to her back door 
to try to get to her phone which was inside.
(she did not think she needed it as she was just going out
for a few minutes to water her garden)
She was outside in the heat of the muggy day
and became dehydrated. 
Surgery is tentatively scheduled for 3pm tomorrow.
Please if you can say a wee prayer for my mom.

Now onto my giveaway.

In appreciation of those who follow me,
I have created this Americana Flag pillow.
Rag stuffed it measures 7 x 4 1/2 inches

Made from red wool, vintage buttons.
Blue fabric with white stars completes this creation.

Now for the rules.
1. Must be a follower
2. You must comment that you would like to win 
on this post only.

~Extra credit~
For an extra chance to win.

With your comment 
let me know what you think this item is.
I recently purchased this for my bedroom decor.
I do know what it is, so if you do too,
you will get another chance to win my flag pillow.

I will choose a winner on Sunday sometime.
Good luck to all!
Will also let you know how things go with my mom.
It will be a long recovery.
They will be adding a rod and screw...
no hip replacement because of how she broke it.

Thank you for listening to me.
Much appreciated.

Americana Giveaway Blessings To All!
Janice

Memorial Day Reflection

~ Happy Memorial Day ~

After all of the weekend BBQ's, drinks,

 sharing with friends and even a bonfire,

it was time for me to stop and reflect.

I am reminded that we have this holiday weekend

because of the brave folks who became soldiers,

who died so that we are free,

Without them where would we be?

When the Korean War started in 1950

my dad enlisted as a Marine at the age of 21.

He served 2 years over in Korea.

He was sent back to the states after

being shot in the head. 

Fortunately he had his helmet on.

The bullet did not go through.

We have a picture of him with his helmet

on after the bullet hit.

One of the soldiers in his division took a picture

of him afterward and my mom still has it.

My dad was lucky...he made it back home.

Many many others never did.

I am very grateful for the men and women

who have made the choice to join the armed services,

and died serving our fine country

because without them we would not be able

to have the freedoms we have...

which sometimes is lost in the real meaning of

Memorial Day

Bob and Matt (son) re-built our old dilapidated wagon. 

I decided to add the banners.

It will weather as the days go on and

become our prim wagon again.

I also finally finished hooking my 

Old Glory rug.

It looks bowed to the left, 

but it is how I laid it on the sofa.

I now have to finish it....

 am debating on whether to add a border,

or leave it as is.

Any suggestions?

Memorial Day Reflections To All!

Janice

Blue and Gold

Hope everyone is enjoying their week thus far.
Tonight after work, we will be working
at our store to create our
Summer themed window.
Bob already created the other window
in a vintage retro theme.
Cannot wait to see what he did with that one.

Today I wanted to talk a bit about
crockery aka stoneware. 

American stoneware was very popular
in the 18th century.
Covered in salt glaze.
~ adding salt to the clay before firing ~

 A stylus was used to create the decorations
in the clay and then cobalt oxide was used
to create the blue designs.
Sometimes called blue slip.

This bird design is considered a blue slip.

However it also has a salt glaze towards the top.

Brown glazed stoneware on the otherhand
came from the Upper Hudson Valley
region of New York and is called Albany slip.
All eary crocks have this brown glaze inside. 

I purchased this jug from an Ohio dealer
a few years ago at a show in our town.
I had never seen a blue slip salt glaze crock before....
let alone a jug.
This was an amazing find!

Have you ever seen this combination before?

In other news, I am working on a 
July 4th giveaway.
So stay tuned for this coming soon!

Also this weekend I am going to try 
to complete my bath window curtain.
I finally purchased the fabric for this project last weekend.

I was going to weed my flower garden this weekend,
however Bob and my son did that yesterday for me.
WOOHOO
now this gives me time to do other things.
Thanks guys! 

Have a great Holiday weekend my friends.
BBQ each night for dinner for us.
Hopefully a bonfire or two in the evenings...
depending on if the rain stays away.
Fingers crossed.
Whatever your plans are....
hope you have
F U N

Blue and Gold Blessings To All!
Janice

May CupboardScape

~ A MOTHER'S LOVE ~

Is a strong one indeed!

An early doll that I have had my eye on for awhile now.
Bob knew the vendor from the store I visited near work...
he traded a sign to the dealer for me to get this gal.
Bob you are the 
BEST!!

1800's Toiletry Counting Pins.

These would be used in a ladies vanity for sewing.
~ I use them to mark my cross stitching ~

I also shopped our own store and purchased
another pair of children's shoes from one of our dealers.

Added my tin punched light for this display.

Also tucked in my umbrella.

I wanted this CupboardScape

to feature mom.

The chair my doll is sitting 

was mine as a child. 

My mom gifted it back to me.

~ mother and daughter shoes ~

I fell in love with this metal heart.

Looks can be deceiving as it is really heavy.

A Mom's heart is always giving.

I included some ivy 
as it was thought to be the plant 
of fertility.

Having this new doll reminds me of my own
mom's dolls she has.
I was drawn to this one because of her
beautiful blue eyes.
The color of my own eyes.
~ I have always been an eclectic prim collector ~

May is the month of flowers...
so hopefully we can put the real umbrellas away,
and start planting the real flowers outside
for the season.
~ more rain this week ~

Thank you for all of the well wishes 
for our Grand Opening of our Candy Jar.
It was a grand success and fun was had by all!

The grands enjoyed spending grammas money too!
I gave them each $5.00 to spend...
it would not have been fair if they got it for free...
Mikayla helped Bob bag the free popcorn we provided.
Mikey showed folks where the free soda pop was.

Did you have a nice weekend?

I cannot believe it is Monday already.
I taped the Royal Wedding and watched it yesterday morning.
Duchess Meghan was beautiful in her dress!
It was nice seeing Harry say thank you to his pa.
That was so sweet!
Did anyone else watch the wedding?

May Cu[boardScape Blessings To All!
Janice

Whitening Up

~ It's Thursday ~
YAY...closer to Friday...YAY
Last night Bob and I went to dinner and a movie.
All at the same restaurant.
We wanted to go because the movie
was about haunted locations in our area.
Bob was disappointed because he wanted to see more ghosts.
I loved hearing the stories about the ghosts.
There was one part where they caught a black orb.
We both said the same thing when seeing that.
OH NO.
Black orbs are known to be evil.
It was caught in one of the rooms of the hotel
a few towns to the North of us.
We have eaten dinner there many times...
apparently there are many ghosts inside on all floors.
We NEVER knew.

Friday night the grands are coming over.
Saturday is our grand opening for 
The Candy Jar.
We have a coloring contest of our logo for all ages.
Four beach themed prizes for the winners,
with our mayor judging.
Face painting for kids.
Dollar off pound of candy.
Sales in most of the vendors antique booths.
Oh yeah and sidewalk chalk art to be done by the kids too.
We are looking forward to this.
Our local paper will also be there to write a story.

Sunday we are meeting friends to discuss
our 2nd annual Antique Vintage Marketplace 
show to be held in November.

Before I head off to work,
here is my Spring in the bedroom.
I chose white to be the flower color in here. 

I continued my white theme into the bathroom.

Plus added some pantry boxes.
The bottom wood piece is a wood sieve.

The rest of my week will be a busy one.

Today am leaving work at 2:30 for a co-workers
retirement party.
He worked at the company for 40 years.
That is a very long time.
Now he plans on playing more golf and
he and his wife will spend their Winter's 
in Southern Florida.
I wish him luck in his next adventure.
~ wish it were me retiring ~

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!
No time for the weary for me. 

Whitening Up Blessings To All!
Janice

Patriotic Hooked Rug

Spring is finally here...but my mind is already
thinking about July 4th.

My drawing for this one.
I had originally thought of doing this one
as a circular chair pad....
but changed my mind.

Drawn onto linen,

this rug will only be 12 x 14

Colorful wooly worms cut
into 1/4 inch strips.
The golds on the left look more like limey green here.
The black looks gray, while the gray at the top right
looks green...what the heck camera???

This is the true color of the golds, black and gray.
I am so loving this little rug.
Also enjoy working on it with the windows open.

~Fast forward a week~

Our family likes to celebrate Mother's Day
on Saturday....and I think lately others are doing the same.
Restaurants were packed.

Bob and I went to breakfast for Mother's Day.
Then we went back to the store to bag up popcorn
my sister made and gave to us Saturday night.

I love her popcorn as it is kernel free...
and did I say addictive.
We were very good and did not eat one piece.

My daughter surprised me with a huge card.
My son gave me a funny card, a yummy candle,
and a bottle of Coca Cola.
Sometimes I just have to have my soda fix. LOL

Then in the afternoon I finished laundry, 
watched some of my taped tv shows,
while hooking more of my latest rug.

I am loving how this one is turning out!
However I would like 
to do a special finish to the edge.
I have an idea in my brain,
but would also love
suggestions from my hooking friends. 

Well Monday is here and it's off to work I go.

Patriotic Hooked Rug Blessings To All!
Janice

Creating A Spring Bedroomm

~ before I start this post~

want to wish mom of children and/ or pets a

Happy Mother's Day!

Weekend will be another busy one for me.

Tomorrow is Mikayla's birthday party.

Then of course us kids will be taking my mom out for dinner.

Today was not a Spring day at all.

We once again had sleet and then a cold rain the rest of the day.

Bob put a fire in the fireplace this evening,

just to keep us a bit more warm and cozy.

I so love the smell of different woods burning.

I also an loving what I did to our bedroom for Spring.

What I love about our red and blue bedroom,

is that it looks good for most of the seasons.

This quilt and linsey woolsey blanket

was in our in our closet.

I decided for Spring to add them here.

After all this is a quilt rack.

Summer coverlet back on the bed.

Although I still had our red flannels sheets on.

Once again Ace is in the pictures.

He is after all our investigator. LOL

Although this time Shadow approves too!

However Ace just wants me to leave, 

so he can take his afternoon nap.

Mom are you done now?

Almost Ace.

Just let me show my friends the red/ white quilts.

One more in the drysink, while another linsey wooley

on a smaller rack.

What will your weekend be?
Whatever it may be,
I hope it is a sparkly one, filled with love!

Spring Bedroom Blessings To All!
Janice

Yellow Can Be Prim

~ good morning friends ~

The color yellow reminds me of
~ gramma H's yellow Summer frock
~baby fuzzy chicks
~ goldfinches eating the seeds of sunflowers
~drinking lemonade under a warm sunny yellow sun

Can yellow be prim?
Why yes it can!

I continue with my yellow and white theme.
Yellow stone fruit with tiny white flowers.

Nighttime view.

Yes Ace

Even our sofa table is mustard yellow.

I took my gold striped flax bag 

added two pillows inside.

Yellow forsythia with pussy willows.

~sampler looks good once I added flowers to the crock~

A cozy Spring corner.
However no one is allowed to sit in this chair.
It is circa 1700's.

Real beeswax candles.

More yellow memories.

~the color of fresh laid straw
~golden wheat blowing in the breeze

Do you have any yellow memories?

Yellow Prim Blessings To All!
Janice