Close Ups Part II

June is one day away from being July.
Me, I am happy to see it go.
It was the rainiest one here
 in our neck of the woods.
Just hoping July will not be the same.
Speaking of July,
the next posts after this one will all
feature my July 4th decor for 2019.
Since I really did not decorate last July,
I went all out this year....

Today however,
more close ups of our blue and white
Summer bedroom.

After I made the bed with the last post,
I realized I forgot to add this wedding ring quilt
I had purchased.

This is our headboard.
A quilt rack with a blanket and coverlet.

Our bed dust ruffle is a blue/ white ticked one.

This is where you will find Ace every day. 

The first time this quilt is on the bed.

Do you like the new quilt Ace?

Seems so as he did not blink an eye
when I was taking these pics.

Today you will find me working on
a new witch pillow.
I started working on her yesterday.

What will you be doing today?

Ace Approved Blessings To All!
Janice

Summer Living

Happy Thursday my friends!
Well last evening we went to dinner
with my daughter Michele and the grands.
My grandson Mike will be 16 in August and Michele is
looking for a car.
Mikayla is 12 going on 18 and talking about boys.
Geez where did the time fly?

Bob and I were just saying that Summer just began,
but we think it is half over already...
only because the days are getting shorter
and next week is July.

A turtle was spotted the other day laying
eggs in my neighbors yard across the street.
One usually lays them in our yard...
but this year our yard is like walking on a sponge.
If she tried to lay them in our yard,
they would not make it...just too much water.

We need 
S U N S H I N E
and lots of it.

Today am showing pics of our living room.
Hope you enjoy even though the pics
are a bit dark.
Not sure what happened?

This is our ceiling light.

I wanted the medallion as it reminded me

of the plaster ones gramma H had in her farmhouse.

I do notice the cobweb now.

Have to get rid of them. UGH. Oh well.

Summer Living Blessings To All!

Janice

Close ups

Hello friends!

This weekend was the first one without rain.

I was outside for quite a bit.

Being outside you get to see lots around you

that you normally don't see.

The Crows, Grackles and Blackbirds 

greeted the morning with great fanfare.

The piping calls of the Woodpecker
had me looking up as well.
It was a Redheaded one that flew near me.

While the Mourning Doves

echoed their sentiment.

A Bald Eagle flew his domain back and forth

above me. What an awesome sight that was,

as we normally do not see these majestic birds

this time of the year. 

We know there are 7 pairs that live here 

all year long, but in the Summer months,

they usually stick to the islands where the 

ducks hang out.

Entertaining me 

were the black and gray squirrels. 

They would grab the maple seeds

[helicopters as we call them]

hold them in their hands and break them open

with their teeth to eat the seed.

Then I was spooked by a squirrel 

who joined me on the porch.

Not sure who was more scared...me or the squirrel.

He/ she was trying to get more helicopters.

He scurried to our pear tree where

the wrens were not too happy with the presence either.

Each morning the freighters would blow

their horn 5 times warning

 the fisherman in the river to

"GET OUT OF THE WAY"

Then I noticed two planes who crossed paths

directly above me at different altitudes.

Those who visited the birdbath were the Bluejays,

Robins, House Wrens, Sparrows and Cardinals.

A  Yellow Goldfinch paid a visit as well.

The Bumblebees and Hummers took turns

eating the nectar from the Honeysuckle vine.

Then the Northern Flicker landed in our yard.

Once he saw me, he flew away showing off

his white butt as he left.

The bunnies continue to feed off the clover
that appeared in our grass.
We even have a baby one this year.

The Ribbon Snake gave me a fright as
I went out back to start the grill for our dinner.
They only get 3 ft and are non poisonous.
They keep the mice in check.

Towards the evening 

the Dragonflies made an appearance. 

Then the the Heron flew by heading back

 towards the water for his evening feeding.

The Tree frog and Leopard Frog sang together. 

The Crickets began their evening song...

and the mosquitoes chased us back inside

after dinner each night.

Hope you can take the time to get outside.
One never knows what is right out there
under your nose and up in the sky.

Close Up Blessings To All!
Janice

Spring And Summer Bedroom Reveal

Well friends,
this week we have had 4 more days of rain.
Our dock now is level with the river.
Some folks have electricity that 
runs along their docks for lights.
Now because of the water levels,
our officials are warning everyone not to go into
the water near docks that are electrified.
If you do, you may be electrocuted.
We do not have electricity on our dock....
but there are some up and down river from us.
So now we have to find out how far away
you have to be from those docks to swim.
YIKES

Hopefully with Summer now being
 the first day today the rains will go away.

As promised
our blue and white bedroom.
I have always loved the colors
of red and blue.
This Spring/ Summer I decided to pull in 
my blue and white items for 
this change up.
Mixed in with some wood.

I will let the pictures tell the story.

Hope you enjoyed our bedroom reveal.

Next post I will show more 

up close pics of the blues and whites.

Tonight we will be viewing some fireworks

across the river that our

Canadian friends put on for the

first day of Summer.

Have a marvelous weekend my friends!

I will have a hook in my hand this weekend...

and then change up with a needle.

Working on more hooked rug mats,

and another witch 

AKA

Helga Hag

Blue And White Blessings To All!

Janice

A Love Of Linen

 Gramma H. grew to love linen.

Her birth name was Ilda.

She was of German descent.

She married my paternal Grandpa in 1928.

Charles [Charlie] was of French descent.

Born in 1899 he was a farmer as was his father. 

With many sister in laws,

gramma began to love the French traditions.

One of them changing up her curtains

in Spring with airy white linen ones.

Lately I have been remembering more

of my Gramma's farmhouse traditions.

I had these large antique buttons.

Purchased this fabric for $20.33 with tax. 

Since this fabric is not very thick,

I left the frayed edges in tact.

I folded the fabric over 

then hand sewed the buttons on.

Five buttons for each curtain.

One completed and hanging in our bedroom.

White and airy.

Love how these curtains billow with the wind.

Red curtain on the right

 is what I previously had hanging.

The three curtains finished.
So for $20.33 it cost me about
$7.00 per curtain as the buttons were free.
Not a bad investment for these.

I think gramma would be proud.

It is nice having the windows open

at night with the breeze coming in.

 With the old curtains,

the breeze did not come in as much.

However more rain is coming in 
for the next three days.
Will it ever end?
The canals just up the road have risen
with the water coming over the streets.
Those folks are stranded now....
stranded between the canal and the big river 
we live by.

My next post will be of our Summer

blue and white bedroom.

Stay tuned.

White Curtain Blessings To All!

Janice

June CupboardScape

Happy Saturday my friends!

Well it will be a wet weekend for us.

For those new tomy blog, 

I spent my Summer months on both

set of grandparents dairy farms.

Both were quite unique.

Paternal grandparents had 350 acres.

Maternal grandparents had 80 acres.

I loved them both 

even though it was hard work at times.

Today's CupboardScape brings in 

items  that reminded me of each.

Daisies were abundant in the fields.

The milk skimmer was used to 

separate the curds/ whey from the milk.

Gramma B used sad irons right off the

wood stove. [pictured to the right]

Kerosene lanterns were everywhere....

until electricity came,

I remember drinking from the buckets with

our enamel ladles.

Feed sacks were in all of the barns.

Grampa B loved his Jack Daniels,

while Grampa H used his shaving mirror each day.

Gramma H loved her Blue Ribbon spices,

while Gramma B loved her yellowware.

Gramma H changed out the Winter quilts,

and placed the white Summer linens throughout.

She always wore a bonnet.

While both Gramma's had these small brooms

for quick cleanups.

Putting this CupboardScape together

reminded me of the simple life we had on

those farms.

TV was hardly ever on.

We listened to the radio more.

We had no weatherman to tell us

 what the day would bring.

The trees and animals predicted the weather.

The cloud patterns in the sky 

told us when rain was moving in.

I still know rain is coming in with that one

pattern of clouds.

Bob thinks I am crazy...but am always right.

I love the rural life.

Even though we do not live on a farm,

here along the river it is nice.

Because the State land is nearby,

the deer, turkeys, and fox come visit.

Birds are abundant.

The turtles lay their eggs in our grass...

and the occasional snake makes an appearance.

Then of course we have the freighters.

Which I keep a log of.

Yep, I love it here now....

but still have fond memories of the farm.

Well off to take FIL grocery shopping with me.

Then will be working on my own 

Summer curtains for our bedroom.

What will your weekend find you doing?

Spring Farm Life Blessings To All!

Janice