Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween fellow bloggers...

As I mentioned in my last post I had to get busy making my pumpkin pies for today....I made three of them last night to usher in the fall season...


Our daughter is coming home for the weekend and I always make her one for her birthday..She don't eat that much cake..I always ask her what she wants me to make her and pumpkin pie is always the answer..so she can have her pick of three to take home with her..

















Were off to do some Christmas shopping today..so I'm wishing everyone a Happy and safe Halloween..

Hugs to all,
Trena

Friday, October 30, 2009

Old wooden coat hanger

Happy Friday everyone.

I hope all is well...

I've been finishing up on some of my wooden projects in the wood shop since the weather has been cool and rainy here all week..I figured it was a good time as any to complete what I started...

This wooden coat rack hung in my grandparent's farmhouse kitchen for as long as I can remember...I remember my pap hanging his coat on it with his hat...he always wore a hat..when he would come in from outside..


It was painted beige when I brought it home,so I just gave it a coat of flat black paint...I hung it up against the bottom piece of molding that goes around our room...and hung all black baskets on it...

Now everytime I look up at it I remember it being a part of my grandparents home...now its a part of mine..














I also finished up my towel rack and hung it directly below the baskets for some color...




















There's a few more wooden projects that I have to finish up..hopefully I can get them done sometime next week....

That will be just about all there is to post today...I am making acouple of pumpkin pies for Halloween so I better get started on them...

Wishing everyone a great weekend and Happy Halloween...

Don't forget we turn the clock's back Saturday night....we get a extra hour of sleep...


Hugs to you all,

...Trena...

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Stitching away....

Hello everyone,



Hows the weather in your neck of the woods?

We've been getting rain allot this past week here in central Pa...Just real ugly outside...


I've been working on some samplers just about every evening....these are done...I just haven't decided if I want to make them into pillows for Christmas or frame some of them...



I usually work on Christmas things year around but for some reason this year I didn't get to much accomplished..





This post is going to be short and sweet...

I have so much to do today..I can't be setting on this computer like I want to...So thanks for taking the time to stop by and wishing everyone a great day..



Hugs to all,

Trena

















































































Sunday, October 25, 2009

Dry Sink makeover

The more I looked at my dry sink today the more I was disliking the displays....



So I took my enamelware all off and put on some of my crock collection and sifters....



The enamelware was to busy for me...just to much...



Simplified it down to this....





























I'm satisfied with this look....for now...

Thanks for stopping by to see my makeover...

Hugs to you all,
Trena

Dry sink.....

Good morning everyone....



I hope you all are doing well today...



It's a beautiful Sunday here in central Pa...Sun is shinning,white puffy clouds,cool breeze,just a glorious day.



As I mentioned in a previous post I was working on a wooden project,something for my Summer Kitchen....



I always admired Linda's,Behind My Red Door's dry sink that she has in her Living Room so I thought what the heck I can try to build one for myself..



With Linda's permission I used the top portion of her design from her dry sink and built myself one....



I built the bottom of mine different than what Linda's is...I used the four legs instead of the solid boards...


For now I displayed my collection of enamelware on it...haven't decided just what I want to put on it yet...
























As you can see I made the top portion just like Linda's....the side view shows the design allot better....

























I painted it flat black...over coat of burgundy,sanded it then applied minwax walnut stain over the entire sink....I am so happy with the results...


I've been spending allot of my free time in the wood shop making things for are home....I have several projects in the works.

.
Yesterday afternoon I made one of the two towel racks.

Since its a beautiful sunny day today..I'm taking it outside in the sun to paint...It drys allot faster and I can get the project done quicker and move on to another one...

So I off to get some painting done.

I hope you all like my version of a dry sink..

Everyone have a great day and stay safe..

Hugs to you all..

...Trena...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

My baby turns 24....

Twenty four years ago today at exactly 3:40 pm I had this little bundle of joy.... I was praying for a little girl so much ..Our son was 3 1/2 and he wanted a little sister...that's all he talked about for months...he was going to be a big brother..When he got to meet her for the very first time he was beaming from ear to ear....Unforgettable moment..












































She has grown up to be a loving and kind young lady..A loyal friend that is always there in time of need..She has brought so much joy and love into my life..So very proud to call her my daughter...

So when the clock turns 3:40 this afternoon I'll remember that sunny fall day in October when this beautiful young lady came into my life....My life changed forever...I had my little girl...


Happy Birthday Kristin...we are so proud of the beautiful young lady that you've become and we love you so very,very much...


Love Mom and Dad....

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Holidays at Home

Happy Sunday to you all....I hope everyone is doing well today....It cold here in central Pa....we had some snow yesterday...it didn't amount to anything...thank goodness...It's expected to be back up in the 60's this coming week...looking forward to that..


When fall rolls around I always gather my GooseBerry Patch cookbooks and sit beside the coal stove to read them from cover to cover ...Autumn always brings crimson and golden leaves;crisp,cool breezes;crackling fires,hot spiced apple cider and plump pumpkins...


I thought I would share some wonderful recipes and helpful decorating tips for your home...


Decorating for Home & Hearth



I take a large grapevine wreath and tie assorted small gourds,small colorful Indian corn and a few cookie cutters to it with natural raffia and then make a large raffia bow...This wreath easily keeps from mid September through Thanksgiving and looks wonderful inside or on the front door..You can also use cinnamon sticks,fall leaves,acorns..Its quick,easy and beautiful...



From the Harvest Kitchen:



Here's a new twist on pumpkin pie...


Spicy Pumpkin Cheesecake



1 egg yolk

graham cracker pie crust,extra large

2 8-oz.pkgs.cream cheese,softened

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs
16-oz. can pumpkin

2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t.ginger

1/4 t. clove

whipped cream


Beat egg yolk and brush on crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes..Set aside. In a large mixing bowl,beat cream cheese, sugar and eggs on medium speed until smooth. Add pumpkin and spices, continue mixing until well blended. Spoon into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees until set, about 45 minutes. Cool, refrigerate several hours. Top with whipped cream...



This is the time of year when I am getting our home ready for a cold long winter...Autumn is almost over, winter is just around the corner...I've been thinking alot about Christmas decorating....I haven't decided what to do with the mantel yet...I still have alittle time...I start decorating for Christmas as soon as the Halloween decor is put away....



I always have are home decorated inside and outside by Thanksgiving....I don't turn any lights on outside until Thanksgiving evening...That way we can enjoy all the decor for over a month...



I hope you all enjoyed reading some inserts from my Holidays at Home,Gooseberry Patch cookbook...I highly recommend these books to those of you that don't own any...Alot of information on decorating your home and great recipes to try...


I wish you all a wonderful Sunday..


Hugs to all,

...Trena..

Friday, October 16, 2009

Happy Friday everyone....Woke up to a temperature of 35 this morning....Expected to have mixture of rain and snow today.....Another day of miserable weather..I guess the bright side of it is snuggling along side the coal stove to do some sewing.....



I finished up on a makeover of a set of wooden canisters I found in the attic while doing my fall cleaning...Actually I forgot they were even up there....

This is what they did looked like...so 70's don't' you think

















Just to play safe I sanded them first all over so the black paint would adhere to it...I gave them a couple coats of black paint....left them dry between coats then applied two coats of barn red....

Sanded along the edges and sealed them with minwax,walnut stain...

This is the final results....
















They look so much better than before don't you think?

There sitting proudly on the counter in my summer kitchen underneath my Mercantile sign I also made....

This is going to be a fairly short post...I have to get some cleaning done today and a few more signs made....So thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to pop in and read my blog...


Hugs to all,
...Trena....

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Been doing some tweaking.....

Hello everyone....Its a miserable day here in central Pa. today.....cold and rainy...just a dark dreary day....A good day to stay inside along side the coal stove and do some tweaking....I recently painted my burgundy step back hutch to a black.....I have dark burgundy carpet in the family room where I have my step back and it was clashing with the carpet....So outside it went and I done a makeover on it....


I'll give you a little sneak peak to what the top portion looks like so far....


















I'm still doing some arranging on the other two shelf's....haven't gotten it to where I want it to be just quite yet...


I've also been working on new signs and shelf sitters for Christmas....I went looking for my snowmen that I thought I had only to realize I sold them all over the holidays...so I'm starting to organize my patterns and write down what has to be made...So hopefully real soon I will be able to post some pictures of the snowmen that I get done and will be up for sale on my selling blog...


I'm finishing up on my wood project that I mention in my last post...I'm really happy with how it turned out.....I'll give you all a hint to where it is going.....Proudly displayed in my summer kitchen...


This is all for now....I have so much work to get done yet today and its not getting done with me setting here..So I wish everyone a great day....stay warm and thanks for dropping by..


Hugs to you all

...Trena....

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fall pictures

I thought I would share some pictures of what I get to look at everyday on my daily walk...Some of the tree's are turning there vibrant colors,others are still green...We live out in the country so this is just one of the luxury's I get to see everyday...


I am lucky enough to enjoy this view from my front yard....So beautiful this time of year...













































































I hope you enjoyed the fall pictures,hopefully I can get some more taken as they turn colors...


Thanks for stopping by and check back soon...I'm working on a wooden project that hopefully will be finished up within the next couple of day...


Have a great day...


Hugs to all.....Trena

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Bittersweet galore....

Hello everyone.....Just thought I would drop in and show you all what I found in my neighbor's back yard...


Bittersweet everywhere.....



It all started when Hubby and I were taking are evening walk earlier in the week and I noticed some bittersweet in are neighbor's driveway...The next day I took my clippers and a garbage bag with me...cut down what was there...enough to fill up a Hefty,30 gallon garbage bag.....






While I'm bagging up my find our other neighbor Lynette is out taking her evening walk and stopped to see what we were doing...Well she goes on to tell me that another neighbor up the road has bittersweet growing all over her lower end of her yard....


So off we go.....



In the mean time hubby comes home and gets the pickup....easier to load it up instead of putting it in garbage bags...


My lovely neighbor Deb...the one with the mother load of bittersweet told me to take as much as I wanted....I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into her back yard and seen bittersweet as far as you could see....unbelievable....





Both neighbors, Lynette and Deb... and Hubby and I cut two garbage bags full....dumped it into the back of our pickup ....Thanked Lynette and Deb and headed back home while it was just getting dark....What an event full evening....



I'm always looking for all kinds of berries and things to add to my grapevine wreaths while we are on are daily walks....We are so blessed to have a beautiful back road to walk on and truly blessed to have such wonderful neighbors...




I wrapped my light with it last night before we went to bed and this morning this is what it looks like....all the little pods opened up to a bright orange...isn't it gorgeous.....

























I have to deleaf the rest of my bundle today before the rain comes tonight so I'm off to get that done....I hope everyone enjoyed my bittersweet story.....thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to drop in for a visit...


Until next time....

....Hugs to you all......Trena
























Thursday, October 1, 2009

Some fall decor...outside

As promised on my last post a few outside pictures of my fall decor....I'll start with my driveway display...I change this arrangement out with the seasons....Nice to look at as your pull into our driveway....The flag is new this year...I wanted something with more color to it..it stands out really well with the mums and pumpkins...




















































































This wreath I made for on my sun room door..I just used a grapevine wreath and hot glued fall flowers all the way around...I then took a medium size artificial pumpkin and glued it into the center of the wreath...
























I done the same with this wreath for my French doors only used two small artificial pumpkins in the center..


















I hope you enjoyed looking at my fall pics...I didn't decorate as much this year as I usually do...I just don't have the time with working on the outside of the house..

I wish everyone a great day...Stay warm and stay safe...

Until next time....Trena

Happy October 1....

Good morning everyone....Its a cold day in Central Pa..today...woke up to a low of 44...The high is supposed to get up in the 60's ...I just don't see that happening....What ever happened to easing into fall...

I been extremely busy here on Covered bridge Road....I can't believe its been two weeks since I last posted anything...How time flyes..Were finishing up on the stone work on our home...the south side is 90% finished...the octagon window is the next step...

This picture is of the front of our home that is completed....












This is of our addition of the sun room...















We've hoping to get everything finished up before winter sets in....if the weather holds out without any really cold temperatures it should be finished up within the month..


I've got alittle fall decorating done....I really scaled back this year....I done the entryway of the driveway and put a fall wreath on the sun room door and put some fall flowers in my front door basket....that's about it...


I try to get some pictures taken and post them later on today of my fall decor..
So everyone have a great day...
Hugs to you....Trena