My little town

Today I only left the house to buy groceries. I took my camera along to find a pretty picture for my blog. This is one of my favorite houses in my town.... love the fall colors. I would love to own an old house like this. (click to enlarge)
Have I ever told you that I live 2-3 miles from the "king" of Nascar? This is the entrance to Richard Petty's place. We bump into him from time to time, but don't know him personally. The locals say he is a very nice man and if I ever see him when I have my camera handy, I will ask for a picture with him. :D

Below is a picture of my new roof. We finally got it finished last week. We have had so much rain, it took almost six weeks to get the guys out here to replace the shingles. It looks so much better... but of course, now, we need to spruce up the landscaping and yard to make it all look very pretty.
I've been sewing burp cloths today, while thinking of my new grandbaby. Today marks week 22 of my daughter in law's pregnancy... still no name for the little boy. I look forward to meeting him in a few more weeks!

Wednesday Smile

Today I want to share with you one of the little hidden treasures in my neighborhood. So many times, I have driven on the highway and seen this little place tucked away on a little side road. Yesterday I decided to drive off the highway and find this little place. I'm so glad I did, because I truly enjoyed seeing this charming little spot near Level Cross. As I was taking pictures, I saw an elderly gentleman, dressed in overalls, working on another barn a few buildings behind this one. He threw up his hand and waved, so I walked back to where he was, to speak to him. He was Mr. Frazier, the owner of this sweet little building.

Mr. Frazier has several barns and projects to keep him busy. He enjoys collecting old things and recreating old barns as a hobby. Don't you just love his old green truck?

Mr. Frazier was very sweet and invited me to come back "anytime except Sunday" and he would be glad to take me and my family on a tour of his buildings and collections. Sunday is church and family day.

Please click on the picture to enlarge so that you can appreciate the true beauty of Mr. Frazier's hobby. I hope this makes you smile, too.

Baby's room

This picture is so tiny, but I stole it from my daughter in law's facebook page. We went over to their house last night to see the baby's nursery. I hope you can see it well enough to see how CUTE it is!

Baby is going to be rotten!

Fall, blooming azaleas, and teeth!

It is a dreary and cool rainy day in central NC... a good day for staying inside. I do plan to hit the grocery store today for the sales, but hope to stay in and stay warm today. We've had a lot of rainy days the past month or so. I usually don't notice how much rain we get, but we have been waiting and waiting for our new shingles to be installed on our roof. We've had several scheduled dates, just to wake up with rain and have the installation postponed once again. So, it's supposed to be fall, right? Look at my azalea that sits by the front door. It has a flower on it! This side of the house gets a lot of sun... that's the only reason I can figure it bloomed. It's a cute little surprise, huh?

It's been a busy week for me so far... vet appointment, shopping, dental appointment, hair colored.... but it has been a good week. I did find out I need about $700 worth of dental work. I have broken/chipped four lower front teeth in the past few weeks. I am a clincher and the dentist thinks a bite guard may help to protect my teeth. I am a little skeptical, as I tend to think my teeth are just getting weaker with age... but I guess I'll give it a try. If it works, it'll save me $100-$150 everytime I break a tooth. I no longer have dental insurance since I started working part time, so of course, now my teeth are going to start costing me lots of money. :o(

I will do whatever I can to save my teeth... I do not want to wear dentures. Working in a nursing home, we have lots of patients without teeth... some wear dentures, most don't. I'm always amazed when we get patients who still have all their natural teeth. That's my goal... to keep those teeth so that I can amaze the nurses when I am admitted to the nursing home.

Babies... how sweet!

I continue to be amazed at the generosity of people. Bloggers are truly a great bunch! I won a giveaway at Kimberly's blog. Kimberly has a great blog (s) and is always very busy creating. Look at these adorable baby bibs she created and sent to me! My little grandson will be so cute in these next fall. (he arrives in March) Thank you Kimberly... I love the matching bags to go with them.

I have a sweet friend at church who bought me a diaper bag! Isn't this the sweetest thing ever? I really should ask my daughter in law if she would like to have it, as she will probably get more use out of it than I will. Isn't it adorable?

And speaking of babies... in my last post, I was very torn on what to do about our living situation. Yesterday morning I went for a job interview and was offered probably the best job situation I could ask for. When I left the interview, I had full intentions of taking the job and moving to a new town with hubby. After the interview, I attended a funeral with my parents, and had the privilege of standing beside a couple with twin girls. Those babies were coo'ing and chattering during the entire funeral ... making the sweetest baby noises ever! By the time I got back home, I no longer wanted a new job... I no longer wanted to move.... I just want to hold my new grandson... and hear his little coo'ing noises anytime I want! My husband rolled his eyes and told me I was the most wishy washy person he knows.... which is true... I cannot argue with that. Once again, he went along with whatever my desires are, and told me that he is perfectly fine to continue commuting... for me to stay home... and wait for the baby. :o)

Happy Birthday Mama!

Just a very quick post to say "Happy Birthday" to my mom. I hope your day is happy!! I will be over to visit late this afternoon. You're the best!!!



ps... yesterday I went with my son and his wife for a baby ultrasound. Our new grandchild (my first) will be a BOY!!!

Fall on the Porch

No, I didn't fall on the porch today... thank God. But I did put out my fall decorations. You will recognize most of it from last year. I added the pumpkin topiary and the plant with the scarecrow head this year. The scarecrow head was made by Yorkie's Primitives and I received it in our fall swap this year. It smells so good! Another view below... yes, the same old tired decorations. I hope to buy new stuff at the end of the season this year. How do you like my upside down pot for the plant stand.... I need to find a clay colored one... maybe I have one out there somewhere.

Below is a closeup of my topiary. I can't remember who to give the credit to for the idea, but one of you wonderful bloggers had made one this year, and I copied you. Leave a comment if it was you, please!!

I had fun making this topiary this morning.... nothing like raffia and hot glue! I need to buy two fall flags and spruce up the flower beds... and my outside decorating will be done.

Sweet little corner

I really haven't done much fall decorating this year. I do plan to work on my porch this week. The summer stuff outside is very "tired". My livingroom colors are basically fall colors anyway, so this hangs by my back door all the time. Click on the picture to read the sign.

Yesterday's cheap thrill

Yes, I stopped by the Goodwill store yesterday when I went to buy groceries. I bought this little glass dish for .49 cents. I then bought a bag of candy pumpkins for $1.88. Isn't this cute sitting on my sewing machine table? I love cheap thrills!

Sewing room view

I finally sat down to sew yesterday for the first time in a long time. It was very enjoyable, especially with having my machine in front of a window. My livingroom is on the back side of my house, so we never see what's going on in the front. Yesterday while sewing in my son's old bedroom, I enjoyed watching traffic go by, I saw the mail lady deliver my mail, and I saw the flower delivery truck delivering flowers to a neighbor. These are things I miss by being in the back part of the house. I think I will enjoy my new sewing room view, as I do love being nosey. :o)

** Now, for the rest of the story.... can you see that red pin cushion on the sewing machine? Later in the afternoon, one of my dachshunds jumped in my sewing chair and stole the pin cushion without me knowing. It is a new pin cushion that I had just put a few pins in that morning. I was guessing I put about 20 pins in it. One of the dachshunds showed up at my feet with the pin cushion, its leaves were missing and all the pins were gone. I went into panic mode! I could only find about five of the pins ... I vacuumed and swept every floor in the house. Still in panic mode, I called the vet to see if he thought they could have eaten the pins. "Yes ma'm, dachshunds can eat anything." He recommended I bring them in for an X ray in a couple of hours. So, $240 later, my dogs are okay.... no sign of pins in their little GI tracts. The mystery still remains... where are the pins? And ... did I mention how much I enjoyed sewing yesterday? :o)

It's almost fall!

My swap partner received her goodies so now I can show you what they were. Here is a picture of what I sent to her along with some autumn recipe cards and patterns for the entire set of embroideries for her frame. (a different embroidery for each month) Unfortunately, the little brown creamer dish was broken during transit, but she was able to glue it back together. :o( Below is my Singer sewing machine table all finished and starting to be decorated for fall. Tongue in cheek.... the most expensive thing on the table was the flower pot... that I bought from Wal Mart yesterday for $5. The other things are thrift store finds (napkin, deer, little metal frame) and the rest were gifts from bloggers. Aren't blogging friends the best????

I have two boxes full of fall decorations in the garage, but cannot bring myself to start putting them out yet. The weather is gorgeous here today... cloudy, breezy, and almost cool. I think I am going to stay home all day today and sew. What a great day!

Tumpy

Have you guys ever met Tumpy? Tumpy is the newest addition to my "litter" of pups... he came to live with me about a year ago. He is a fat little dachshund who has the most precious personality ever! He makes really strange throat noises, that sometimes sound like a little kid is yelling in the room. He will lay in the floor for hours, rolling, making those noises, playing with a toy, just entertaining himself. He is squishy and loving... he loves to be held. He gets very jealous when we rub another dog and quickly goes over to bite the other dog's leg while it is being rubbed. If we rub Tumpy for a few minutes and stop, he'll whine until we start back. He cannot jump onto the bed.. he has to have a footstool. He can make it onto the couch, but sometimes has to try more than once. He is rotten! Tumpy has a weight problem... the vet sent a message to me to stop feeding him so much! I need to help little Tumpy lose weight, but it's so hard with two other dogs in the house who do not have a weight problem. I put their food out and if they choose not to eat at that moment... well Tumpy will eat it for them. I'm not sure how to fix this problem, as I don't believe in anyone ever being hungry!!! Has anyone else had this problem.... how to help one dog lose weight while making sure the other two get enough to eat? Any advice would be helpful, as I do love our little Tumpy!

ps... I have a friend who has a small dachshund like my Sweet Pea. She came over to visit the other day and brought her 13 year old daughter with her. The daughter fell in love with Tumpy. Her mom told me that since she met our Tumpy, she has been trying to "overfeed" their little dachshund because she wants him to be fat like Tumpy. So far, she said her dog has only developed diarrhea. :o)