Friends Forever

It's Friday friends.
YAH

Today's post is about two friends.
One who travelled to Florida,
while one stayed in Michigan.

She moved to Florida to be with her other BFF. 

She will be missed by her friend here.

However her new mama will take good care of her.

Thank you again Winnie for asking me to create her.
I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this dollie 
entirely by hand the old fashion way.
There are stitches made to look raggedy.
A rusty pin attached where her dress was not sewn.
Antique buttons for eyes.

Her necklace is wooly strips 
that came from my antique rug shown above.
The vendor gave them to me.
I tried to hook back into the rug,
however it was so old and fragile
I gave up.
So repurpose I did.

I enjoyed making the first one so much,

had to make one for myself.

This is my gal. [dollie]

She will remain in Michigan.

Maybe someday 

she might visit her friend in Florida?

She is from the same pattern I drew for
Winnie's dollie... just sewn a bit different
Once again by hand.
Her frock is ripped at the top,
and I added a few buttons.
Rusty safety pin also attached to her frock
where it was not sewn on the left.
She is now residing as one of my
July 4th displays....which I will show soon.

This weekend will find me finishing up a witch.
Yes you heard me right.
I have to be a step ahead.  

What will your weekend be?
Will you find yourself relaxing or partying?
Stitching or hooking?
BBQ or eating out?

Whatever you do...have fun!

Friends Forever Blessings To All!
Janice

Natural Repellant

Good morning everyone.

Hope at some point you took the time
to remember why we have this holiday.
Freedom should not be taken for granted.  

I did decorate some patriotic displays....
and of course had some bbq's.
Although it rained each day, 
it stopped long enough for me to grill outside.

Did you know that eucalyptus 
is a natural spider repellant?
[green plant]

They hate the smell of it.

Although mine in this display
are faux and not real....
when Autumn comes, 
I lay sprigs of the real stuff near my windows.
I don't want them back inside.

Today just a sneak peek of
my blue and white bedroom.
Being of French descent on my father's side,
I fell in love with this French Enamel Pitcher.

This display is on the side
 where our closets are.

Well looking outside it looks like
I will have a rainy commute today.
I am fortunate though...
no devastating tornadoes like
in the midsection of our country.
I heard there were 231 tornadoes
in just ten days.

Crazy weather.

What did you do over the weekend?

Natural Repellant Blessings To All!
Janice

Memorial Day Blessings

In my 60 years I have

 NEVER

encountered this...but now I did.

I started out my commute to work

 the other morning

 driving in fog.

The next town up I could see

 lightning in the fog.

10 more minutes of driving 

in fog and lightning now,

the sky got this eerie color.

I cannot explain it, but it was 

a thunderstorm with fog.

Can you imagine driving in pouring rain,

lightning with fog...well I did.

It was a crazy morning that I will never forget.

So this weekend my plans will be 

getting down my patriotic decor from the attic.

Finish up my dollie.

Hopefully get in some bbq's.

Bob grilled some t-bone steaks for us last night.

We had baked potato also on the grill,

and cheesy crab stuffed mushrooms.

We don't eat fancy around here much,

but the holidays are an exception. 

Now they are talking severe weather

here all weekend.

So the barbie might be on hold.

UGH

I also need to do laundry, clean house and decorate

our humble abode in patriotic

for the Summer months.

Cannot wait to show you what 

I have planned for this year.

I also will be going to lunch

 with my friend one day

who lost her husband last month.

[Some girl time]

Do you have any plans for the Holiday weekend?

Do you make special meals for the holiday?

Please do take a moment and remember 
why we have this holiday.
Many died for the Freedom we have today.

Memorial Day Blessings To All!

Janice

May CupboardScape

Happy Wednesday everyone!
How are you all doing?
This Spring the weather across
the U. S. has been rainy, wild and crazy.
I hope all those affected by the recent flooding
and tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas are alright.
Is this global warming
 or just Mother Nature being fickle?  

I was always told when life hands you lemons.

Make lemonade.
Make lemonade I did!

It was fitting to create this vignette.

Wonderful blues and yellows.

Faux lemons except for the actual lemon on the glass

of real lemonade that I drank after taking the pics.

Mix it all with some warm wood pieces.

Wood Pie peels on the wall.

Getting the itch to put out my July 4th decor.
Me thinks I will bring down my bins
from the attic this weekend.

Also working on 2 more dollies.
One for Winnie which is finished,
and one for me 
to be included in my July 4th decor.
Both are hand sewn the old fashion way.
Will show Winnie's off once she receives it...
as I want her to be surprised in the final finish.

Will you be bringing out any Patriotic displays?

Lemonade Blessings To All!
Janice

My Love Of Baskets

Bob and I are back from our bi-yearly buying trip.

On our way down we stopped at the Toledo Zoo.

we were able to see a baby gorilla who was so cute.

He was very active and doing what kids do.

His mom was nearby making sure us humans 

would not come through the glass.

Then we saw a baby polar bear who was sleeping

next to his mom.

Southern Ohio the rivers were running fast

and high, with flooding in some places.

Tornado warnings were issued in Indiana

where we stopped in Ohio on Thursday night.

Thunderstorms could be heard all night.

In the morning we woke up 

to 4 inches of rain that fell overnight.

The venue we go to, lots of vendors

were under water...their goods which were

set up were ruined. 

It was a big old mess.

However, we still continued to shop...

and shop we did.

By Saturday afternoon our van was full...

we were tired and decided to head back home.

We were able to buy things 

for both Back Porch and The Urban Garage,

but no prims.

The only prim item that was within my budget,

was an old book,

which I will keep for Christmas as it 

is a Psalms & Hymn book.

I paid only $1.00 because both covers were gone.

Still good for my small book collection.

This book dates at 1846.

Still a beauty in my eyes.

If you have been noticing the pics

in this post...

I have quite an extensive collection of baskets.

These are only a few.

I have many more.

You might say I am a hoarder of them.

They are everywhere.

Including our bathroom.

Well friends I have much needed laundry to do.

Will visit you all later on 

and answer my comments later too.

We may have some storms move in later today.

Going through the marsh yesterday

South of us...homes were already flooded,

while others the water was inching closer.

I have never seen the water levels this high.

They expect the levels will not recede until

September or October, so they have put

residents on notice to be able to evacuate 

at a moments notice.

So sad.

We are safe right now.

TA TA for now.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Love of Basket Blessings To All!

Janice

Old Is New Again

Hi all!
Well my Mother's Day weekend was not the best.
My granddaughters birthday was Saturday.
Happy 12th birthday Mikayla!
The bad news was her other gramma passed 
this past Saturday too.
My daughter did not want to ruin her birthday,
so she told her kids on Sunday night.
The news was devastating to them both.

Then my washer of 25 years died.
Monday I had a flood in both the laundry room
and kitchen.

Dinner with my mom, siblings, 
BIL, SIL & Bob was good though.
Everyone enjoyed their food.

Sunday I did absolutely nothing.
My daughter was out of town and my son brought
lunch over for me.

The other day I asked Bob to move
the white cabinet and in its place
move this brown one.

He moved the white one in our bedroom

where this one was.

At least this one fits better,

and anyone can walk 

 into our back room easily now.

Remember this early rug?

I finally decided where it should go.

So love the muted colors.

I also created this little display

on top of my apothecary cabinet.

This will stay through the Summer....

and maybe longer.

Would still like to find another white cabinet.

However do like this one here now.
It may grow on me.

Did you ever purchase something
with buyers remorse...
and then grew to love it?

Old Is New Again Blessings To All!
Janice 

Flowers For Mom

It was when I was 14

that my mom  taught me about flowers.

I helped her weed the flower beds each year.

Perused through all of her garden books 

in the Winter months, learning all I could

about all of the varieties of annual and perennial

flowers that would grown here in MIchigan.

I share here my Spring garden.

Thank you mom for teaching me about flowers,

trees and plants.

Flowering pear tree.

Autumn Joy Sedum.

Redbud Tree Blossoms.

Honeysuckle Vine

My bunny is loving the Spring weather.

You know me and bunnies.

A lone yellow tulip.

Purple violets.

Left is my red twig dogwood blooming out.

To the right my hydrangea.

Last but not least, my kiwi vine.

In the Summer these leaves will turn

pink and white. 

We took my mom out for dinner last night.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Now that you all know

 where I get my flower talent from

please share what your mom taught you.

Happy Mother's Day 

to all you moms of children and fur babies.

Flowers For Mom Blessings To All!

Janice