Where does the time go????

I am a terrible bad blogger!!! I have been MIA for over a month....nearly 2!! Ok I promise to try and get back into the swing of things. Don't ask me what Im doing here tonight. I had the longest day ever. It was yard sale day in my town and we decided to set up in our yard and try and get rid of unwanted items. My husband woke me at 5:30am....it was still dark! I got up and made my signs and he started hauling things outside. By 7:15 am I had a lady there looking and it just went crazy from there. Yet Im still wound up so I sat down for some much needed computer browsing time. Its been a busy summer and I apologise for not posting much. Lots of changes in my life and lots to come. I will catch you all up soon. Thank you so much to all my beloved followers who are still hanging in with me! I have kitchen reno to share soon...those cupboards are finally complete. Fence is back up after last years hurricane and I am planning a craft open house for the Christmas selling season. Look out world here I come...LOL! Love you all and thanks again for being patient and remaining a follower of my blog even when I wasnt here!

Just a little help for a friend!

Ladies you all have to check out the items my Prim Sista Debbie has added to her etsy shop! Know anyone having a baby? Need a gift? And ohhh the gorgeous HAND quilted items! Go have a look....just awesome....keep up the great work Sis!

Goat Creek Mercantile

A great Blogger Friend and a winter swap!!

Ok Winter swap first!! Its so hot lets all cool off!!! Prim Pals forum is having a winter in August swap so if you are a member go on over there and sign up! All the basic rules apply and you know we always have fun!! Cant wait to see what everyone comes up with....you have until August 1st to join. And now for my fun surprise.... hehe!

Now doesnt that sign just scream HOLLI????!! I was away working for 3 days in the miserable hot humid heat and when I came home this is what was in my mailbox! My dear sweet friend Angie from Just a lil raggedy blog sent me this and I love it. You all know I love my cowboys and this was just too cute! Its going to find a place in my office..hehe! Thanks again Angie!! Check out her blog she listed all kinds of goodies for sale!!

A little Snuggle from a friend

This was me and Chance on the back porch yesterday. He is a snuggly dog and when I sat down on the step he was right there to cuddle. I love my fur babies and just thought I would share his pic with you. Not the best one of me but he is beautiful as always!

Some backyard work and a gift!

Remember this backyard?? Well thats when the fence blew down in the storm but I am refering to the mess in the foreground. It is actually the remains of an old barn that has been there since we moved here. Pieces of cement....old railroad ties,etc. Well its finally gone!
This is what it looks like now! We had a wonderful man come in and dig it up and bury all the crap!
Now I just have to get a load of topsoil and seed it and I will finally have a complete back yard...well once the fence goes back up! Part of this is going to actually be a small garden that I have been wanting forever....I am a happy girl. Also this week I got a great package in the mail from my friend TJ at Prim Pals Forum.She knows I love crows and sent me this great plaque and also the sign. Thanks Sista your the best! Well Its a beautiful day here so I am off to do some work outside. I figure I better get at it before its too hot out there. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

A trip and a Special Bear!

I have been on the road again....I am loving the travelling this summer! This time Hubby and I went to Maine and New Hampshire. I got to meet a great blogger and Prim Pals Forum Member Jan from Primitive Outhouse! This is her and I ate her place in NH. Jan guided me to a few Prim Shops and this one is too cute so I had to share! Im sorry I dont remember the name of the town but this is Susie's Bittersweet Treasures. She took over her hubby's garage and made herself the nicest shop! This is the side of the shop on the outside. She even let me take a pic inside....look at all those prim goodies. The furniture was beautiful! And she had some great stitcheries made locally as well. And there was even an outhouse out back!! So much to look at there. You can also find Susie's on Facebook under the same name. This is a very special Bear. He was made by Traci at York Mountain Primitives and is OAK bear. This is William named after my dad. I asked Traci to make him for my moms birthday. She did such a good job and even wrote me a little story with some details I gave her about dad. Thank you again Traci he is wonderful!

I know I have been a slack blogger lately and I hope you will all forgive me. Its summer and busy around here! Well busy with me going all over the place shopping and spending money hehe! Thank you to all my followers....you are such great people and I appreciate each and every one of you.

Happy Fathers Day

I know I have been such a bad blogger lately! I just wanted to share one of my most memorable pics of my dad and I. I was nearly 9 months pregnant and this is dad and I comparing bellies!
My dad has been gone 10 years this year and not a day goes by that something doesnt remind me of him. I hope all of you who still have your dads have a great day with him today. I will be back soon with pictures of my trip to Missouri and a special bear that was made for my mom by a wonderful prim artist!! Have a Happy Sunday everyone!

Long Over due!

Well I have arrived home from my trip to Missouri Safe and sound. We had a blast and I will post some pics in the days to come! I wanted to share a short post with you that is long past due! Awhile back I did a swap with Jan from Primitive Outhouse. Jan is very talented and I have wanted one of her skates for a long time. Well now its finally mine! The picture does not do it justice at all and I cannot wait for winter so I can display it!! Jan also included a cute little tea light that she grubbied up and a bookmark and a great dieter's fork which she knows I need!! hehe! Jan I love anything and Im so sorry I didnt get it posted before I went away.

I am tired from all the travelling yesterday and all the cleaning today. I dont think anyone here lifted a finger while I was gone. I also came home to a sick dog and had to take him to the vet today. He had an ear infection and an eye infection. So $175 later he should be good as new soon! Off to bed I go. I will be sure to post in the next couple days about my trip.

Im Leaving.....

Yes thats right I am leaving....on a plane to visit my Sista Debbie from Goat Creek!! I am so excited! We have been planning for awhile and TJ will also be joining us for the memorial day weekend to do the 100 mile yard sale! So if I am missing for awhile well now you will know why.

Travelling with me will be the Prim Pals Crow, Edgar Allen Crow. He and I will begin our journey with some pictures in my home town and then Deb and I will take him on a tour of her area. From there he will go home with TJ and then travel by mail to some of Prim Pals other forum members. If you would like to know more about the adventures of Edgar please have a look at his posts on the forum.
I hope you all have a great week and I will definately fill you in on my trip soon!!

Bad Blogger,PIF and swap!

Yes I have been a bad blogger!! I have been so busy I just dont seem to find the time to sit down and type. And by the time I get here I am too tired to think! I wanted to share my swap goodies from Michelle at Granny's Pantry. Michelle was my happiness partner at Prim Pals forum for May. I got these awhile ago but my lazy butt didnt get them posted! I LOVE the pineapple penny rug Michelle made me and the candles smell sooo good!She knows Mustard is one of my favorite colors so she made me a cute little bag with a sheep on it and the table runner made like a rag quilt too! Michelle I do love everything and thank you again so much!

I also wanted to mention that awhile back there was a Pay it forward going thru the blogs. I participated in this and although I never did receive anything I have sent all of my Pay it Forward gifts to those who had signed up. Thank you to all the great bloggers who posted about the little gifts I sent. I enjoy giving someone something when they arent expecting it. After all the point is to give...not to get! I do hope everyone received theirs as there were a few I did not hear from.

Prim hugs to all of you...I hope you have a great week!

Eye candy!!

I suppose ya'll were expecting some Prim eye candy....nope cowboys!! Bull Riding cowboys...my kinda Eye Candy! Last Night the PBR made a stop in our town and I had VIP tickets. What a great time. This is me with Zane Lambert he was at the top of the Canadian standings going into the event. And here he is after bucking off his bull in the championship round....not a happy cowboy. This is Rocky MacDonald who is a Mexican bullriding Champion. He was so skinny....Im sure I am double his weight! Terrible pic of me....I think I was talking.
This is Tyler Thompson better known as TNT and he was a winner last night even though he ended up with a nice ole cut on his face and lotsa blood!
And of course nothing would be complete without some cowboy butts! Gotta love em!

I hope all you moms are having a Happy Mothers Day! I sure had a quiet peaceful one and that makes me happy! I promise Prim pics next time! Kitchen is looking good but still lots of work....update on that soon.

Two weddings and a....ok just two weddings!

Traci from York Mountain Mercantile had a post yesterday about her wedding in honor of the Royal wedding *fever* lots of people seem to have! I told Traci I would link up and post my wedding as well. Now as you will notice I look very different in the first pic than I do in the others! Thats cause I was married twice. This pic is one of my most treasured ones of me and my dad. And as you can see skinny little me(way back then) had the big ruffly pouffy dress and all. We had 250 people invited and it was a stressful day. Even though the marriage did not last I have the most wonderful son so I therefore wouldnt change a thing....and I do so love this pic of me and my dad! When I met hubby(still married to this one)he had never been married and had no kids. He was an only child from divorced parents. He didnt want to get married in a traditional way because he simply hates crowds and being the center of attention. So we decided to sneak away on vacation and come back married. the day we left we mailed out invitations to a *celebration of our love* at our house for the week after we returned. Of course everyone thought we were getting married then. We took our time driving and vacationing and along the way were joined by Debbie from Goat Creek and her soon to be hubby. We travelled thru the smokey mountains and into South Carolina eventually. Debbie and hubby were married the day before us in Myrtle Beach. We chose to be married on the beach...bare feet and sand and as my husband says he has bikini babes in the background of his wedding pics....what more could a man want. My dress was a light salmon color and was a crocheted lace. It was simple and suited what I wanted! The highlight of the day for my son..... we went to Hooters for dinner! Yes I had my wedding night dinner at Hooters!

He is so little in this picture!! We spent a few days there after the wedding then travelled up the coast to home. Long trip and alot of driving but I wouldnt change the way we did it at all. It was quiet and peaceful and so relaxing! And I had my best friend(sister by choice) with me! SO there thats my *royal wedding*!!! Anyone else wanna share???

Under construction...AGAIN!!

I have been waiting for awhile for this project and it is FINALLY started! Hubby and I are painting my cupboards black and getting rid of the nasty pink and blue checked wallpaper in the kitchen! We first decided to do the short row of cupboards on the opposite side to see how long it was going to take so everything got wrapped in plastic and we started sanding. We quickly realised there wasnt much varnish to sand off at all so after making him wrap everything I decided lets just get all the sanding mess over with in one day.

Below you see some of the cupboard doors we had painted on the weekend and that lovely wall paper(not) again! And this is where I made him take the plastic down and do all at once. We emptied most of the food and dishes out so my livingroom and diningroom are full of boxes of food and dishes! We took all the doors off and numbered them and the cupboards. They will be sanded outside. There were 27 doors in all! I am happy to say everything got sanded yesterday that had to be done inside. We wiped everything down and cleaned the whole kitchen and now we can paint! Im very excited! It wont be finished completely for awhile yet as I need to buy the wall paper and strip off what is there but the cupboards alone will be a big improvement! What a mess it was in the mean time!!I will post pics of my finished livingroom as soon as all the kitchen dishes and such are out of there!! Hope everyone had a great weekend! We had my mom and brother come down Saturday and stay over night. My sister joined us Sunday for a nice ham dinner. Was nice to have all of us together. Have a great week everyone...I know what I will be doing!!

Prim Pals Bingo Winnings!

Lookie what I won!! I sent my son to get the mail yesterday and there was this great package from Traci of York Mountain mercantile. I was so excited! Traci hosted a bingo game at Prim Pals forum and I won! She sent me all these great Easter Goodies. I love the little chickies and eggs! But I think my most favorite thing is the cowboy picture lol! All the girls know I love my cowboys so they feed my addiction....its worse than chocolate!

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. We are off for 4 days and I am so glad. The livingroom will get finished painting and finally put back together. Yes thats why you havent seen a finished pic yet because hubby ran out of time last weekend since we decided it needed a third coat. Plus the big entertainment unit on the end wall has to be emptied and moved... thats probably a days work right there!! We had hoped to start the kitchen cabinets this weekend too but time will tell. So much for a relaxing long weekend!

Hope the Easter Bunny finds you all! Happy Easter!

Another project in the works!

I put hubby to work again this weekend painting! We moved here 5 years ago and everything had been painted but very plain colors. I have reached a point where I want to change it all!! As you can tell I kind of like green!! My hubby thought it was funny to write that on the cream colored wall with the new paint. This is the *before* pic with all the furniture out of the HUGE room. Same room looking in the opposite direction....told you it was big! One dog laying in each end! This is the first coat...I was kinda freaking out...not exactly the color I wanted!! Its called Pineapple sage and the second coat made it not so yellow-green thank God!! As you can see its going to take a few coats. I was doing the rolling and cant reach the top lol! So today I work...and he will hopefully get finished so we can get the room back together when I get home! Finished pics to follow soon! I hope you all are having a great weekend.

I won a Giveaway and more!

I wanted to share with you the goodies I received in the mail this past week. I am so slow getting to everything but I will get there eventually! Awhile back I won a giveaway from Kathy at My Primitive Saltbox. She was giving away this great crow and pear....then poor Kathy landed in the hospital with so health issues. Well she felt bad for not getting me my crow so she added a few goodies.While that was not necessary I have to say Im in love with everything! I just love crows and she added the great crow and sunflower mat and those easter egs are made of muslin and stuffed and painted. They found a place on my diningroom table! Thank you so much Kathy and I sure hope you get to feeling better soon! As you all know I love my babies! This is Harley all curled up in a quilt I had taken out of the dryer. I laid it in the wicker chair to do something else and when I went back to fold it this is what I found! Now how could I disturb him??? He had made a little hole and was so cosy since it was still warm from the dryer! Yesterday my son came home from university....he only has two exams left to write so my husband helped him move some of his things home. he will go back in on tuesday and then again the next tuesday and then he is finished for the summer. I am soooo excited to have him home! I miss him when he isnt here and as you can see Chance missed him too. He got right in Aidans bed for a little snuggle! Yesterday was a good day and I got lots of cleaning and organising done. Also raked some more in the yard and hopefully hubby will finish it today. I am off to work at the gift shop for the day. Hugs to you all. I hope you have a great day!

Swaps and goodies and spring!

Im such a bad blogger!!! I havent been here in over a week. Life just got in the way and I got tired and a little slack. So alot of this is being posted LATE!! This first pic is of some goodies my friend TJ from the Prim Pals Forum and Willowbend Prims sent me. The heart necklace says True Friends- True hearts and I love it and the crow candle of course is a favorite! The book you see is a glimpse of a passport for Edgar-The Prim Pals Crow. Soon you will hear all about Edgars travels! This next batch of goodies came to me all the way from the UK! I sis the spring swap at Prim Pals forum and Silvia was my partner. She made me this great prim envelope and also sent a wonderful spring scarf and a butterfly necklace. Thank you so much Silvia I love everything!! And finally I found some signs of spring in my yard! These pretty yellow crocus popped up between the old dry leaves. It supposed to be nice and warm this weekend so I hope to see a few more. My lilies are starting to come up out of the ground as well but it will be months before they actually bloom! I hope to get some more pics posted later today if we arent too busy around the house. I have to keep my husband motivated to work or nothing gets done! Have a great Saturday everyone. I hope its sunny where you are. I am off to the Post office to mail off a few things!

A little Help for My friends....

I was browsing thru blogs and over at Prim Pals forum and drooling over all the great things everyone is making. I have some very talented friends and Id like to share a few of them with you today. Most of you will know them but take a minute and check out their selling blogs or etsy shops...wow such talent among us! Check out these felt bunnies! Debbie from Goat Creek Mercantile made these and I think they are adorable! Debbie also makes beautiful table runners and chocolate bunnies and room sprays. Not to mention the penny mats! Then we have Jan from Primitive outhouse . I love these flowers and crows in Jans etsy shop! Jan also paints on old skates and they are beautiful! Check out Jans shop and her blog. I just met Traci on Prim Pals forum and I am so impressed with her work. She has so many great bears and dolls on her site I didnt know which picture to *borrow* to show ya'll!! I chose the cutest bear ever!!! Traci owns York Mountain Mercantile and she also has a website. Check out all her wonderful offerings.

These are just a few of my talented friends. There are so many of you and I hope to from time to time try to focus on each of you! There are some spring sales going on out in blog land as well. Dont forget to check out Brenda's sale at the Rusty Thimble

Thank you to all my great followers!!! I love each of you!

ALMOST a completed project!

Oh the joys of home renovations! Especially when you have a husband who procrastinates. This is a picture of him finally painting the hall upstairs. It is old plaster and a few posts back I showed you the work we had done. Well this weekend we finally got to the painting stage. This is the finished color! Its a hard place to get a good pic but the color is actually called Balmoral Mist. Its a taupy tan color and good for the hall. I didnt want it too dark because the lighting up there is already bad. Now we just have to get the floor boards stained which will be waiting til summer when we get the master bedroom sanded and ready to stain at the same time. I have been so swamped with work I havent blogged or crafted much at all. I hope to get back into the swing of things this week. It should be a short week with work and I hope to sneak in a day or two off. I will be sure to post pics when I get the pictures back up on the walls and the hall more complete! Next room for a paint job is my livingroom. Hope you all had a good weekend and are headed into a great week! Holli

Weight watcher Wednesday!

Yup weigh in day....I lost just over 1 pound this week. Slow but sure! I have been away for 3 days working and promise to get in a better blog post in the next few days! Hope all is well with all my faithful blog friends. Thank you so much for following me. And thanks for the support during my weight loss!

Holli

Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone!

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

Short post on my way to work...I lost another 2 pounds at weight watchers this week! Now if I would just exercise...uugghhh!!!

Hope you all have a great day.

Remember to Say I love You

Today I want to encourage you all to remember to tell those around you how much they mean to you and how much you love them. Always remember that tomorrow isnt promised to any of us and in a moment your whole world can change.
The picture above is of a fathers hands and my post is in support of a dear friend and fellow blogger who lost her dad this weekend. TJ from Willowbend Prims and co-owner and creator of Prim Pals forum could use a few prayers from all of us. I thought of all of you and I knew as Prim Sisters and brothers we would be there for her as we always are for each other.

I lost my dad 10 years ago so I know all too well what TJ must be going thru. In her time of loss I wish her comfort and peace and love. Im going to share a poem and again remind you all Say *I love You* even when you are busy or tired or angry! You never know when you wont get to say it again.

You never said "I'm leaving"
You never said goodbye
You were gone before I knew it,
And only God knew why.

A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried
If Love alone could have saved you,
You never would have died.

In Life I loved you dearly
In death I love you still
In my heart you hold a place,
That no one could ever fill


Hugs and Prayers for TJ and family.

Pay it Forward

Pay it forward....what a wonderful concept! I have done this before and Im not sure who started it this time but I have hooked up with Kat from Primitive Echos-Treasures of the past for a Blogger Pay it Forward! Here is how it works......

The first 5 people who comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me.

In return you must FIRST write a blog post explaining Pay it Forward 2011. Then you send out a handmade gift to the first five visitors who leave a comment on your post. Take your time....you dont need to send them all out today or tomorrow.

This is a great way to connect with friends and to meet new ones...sharing something we have created with our hands and heart.

Its not the size of the gift that matters,but the spirit of paying it forward.

Lets do it friends!

Weight Watchers and giveaways!

Just a quick post to let you know a few things! I am still attending Weight Watchers and to date have lost 14 pounds. I am pleased with that but I am struggling to keep on track. I have a long ways to go yet! Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also wanted to remind you all that Prim Pals has extended the draw date on the giveaway. It will be next Monday the 14th. Stop over to the forum and sign up. You can also see a sneak peek of some of the other items being given away. And then the very next day I believe the PAFA giveaway ends! Going to be some happy winners next week woohoo!

I hope spring is arriving in your town....although its been sunny here it is still very cool. I cant wait for it to warm up!! Have a great week everyone. Its almost friday! YAY!!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Friday Everyone!! Almost time for Prim Pals to draw for this one and we only have a few signed up! Someone is going to win a $25 gift card to one of our great crafters etsy or selling blog or store!! That means you get to pick your prize! Hurry over and sign up I know lots of you are members of Prim Pals!
And just to add more fun here is a little peek at one of the other items being given away!! Come on enter the giveaway! You cant win if you dont enter!!

Its friday and I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Im home for the day and so happy about that. Its very cold here so I already have a fire roaring in the fireplace! Have a great day everyone.

Primitive and Folk Artist Giveaway

All I can say is wow!! The wonderful members of this group have out done themselves with this giveaway! Go on over to their blog and check it out! PAFA Blog

Hope everyone has had a great day...it was sunny here but soooo cold! Come on Spring!!!