So I had this window see...

*I'm re-posting this at Funky Junk Interiors: sat nite special  #120- old windows

which is perfect-- because this post is about Old windows! 

It came out of my house originally. 

I've had it UP FOR YEARS...

AND YEARS 

AND YEARS. 

YES, I DID. 

Then I started seeing something around blog land...

EvERY body has a window that gets put up on a wall. 

So then I got a "SUPER-DUPER-OOPER-SCHMOOPER-BIG-IDEA"  

and I decided I'd do something like this in my newly painted Living room... 

Yeah, that is better! 

 I attached hooks to the top and used a little Jute string and hung my cross collection from that window. The lower left hand cross I wrapped with JUTE string and used an 'L' brackets and mounted it that way... 

Oh yeah,  I'm thinking I like this  A LOT! 

Now my WINDOW is starting LOOK different FROM ....

UNTIL!.... 

WAIT A MINUTE -WHAT'S THIS? 

Yes!  Did I see Miss Polly  (whom I happen to think is great!) with her  "SUPER-DUPER-OOPER-SCHMOOPER-BIG-IDEA" 

(sorry, too much Sid the Science Kid with the 2 year old Grand-girl!) 

Yes. I. Did. 

How sweet is that? 

With all those little birdie things? 

Then quite to my surprise-- 

Donna went and had a party~ 

 

...like she does every week!  

(smile) 

and I saw these great ideas for windows. 

from the Exchange

AND THIS!

from My Not So Shabby Life

And I saw another really cool window that was used with chicken wire instead of glass and in it's 

totally chippy glory-- 

I didn't save the spot, a photo, or anything... 

(now I'm wishing I had!) 

But it was really great. 

So, you can just imagine it... 

*** edited to say here it is I found it again! 

from Rusty Rooster Vintage 

and this one from belonging to her friend Jodi 

Aren't they great? 

So...I'm posting this to say... 

I thought I was onto something. 

Take my old idea of using and old chippy window, 

and remake it into something NEW..

you know where you use an OLD window 

and arrange it with some old collection of stuff you have laying around that needs to be hung back up on your bare walls... 

Then I see ... it's an OLD idea ALREADY! 

I'm such a trend setter. 

and

Y'all catch on so quickly! 

~~~~~God Bless you and Thanks for Reading.~~~~~

Help STOP De~CLUTTERING!

I've been reading around blog-land the last couple of days.

While peeking at what everyone else is doing~  DE-CLUTTERING;  I can't help it, my mind wanders to other parts of my home, thinking- 

"I should get up from here", "I should be doing this, that or the other thing"; 

the whole while not able to pull myself away! 

"Somewhere there is a base-board that needs washing." 

I have an urgency to be de-cluttering ...as it is now called. I can't help but wonder...

"The bathroom  needs a good scouring and refreshing." 

What was it called before now? Before the Millennium?


What was it called when our mothers were doing it ...

"open the windows and let in the light and fresh air"

or when our Grandmothers did it?

Did they declutter?
Did they have to?

"Put  fresh linens on the beds"

Weren't they more sensible than us? Did they have to worry with all the little things?
Where to put the china?
Where to put the lace?
Where to put the extra?

"Mop the floors

Probably not. Their purchases were more thought out, I'm sure.
They were more practical than that, weren't they?

"Rearrange the living room to catch the best breeze."

Why? Why did they (whomever They are) have to take a such beautiful thing LIKE SPRING CLEANING and make it dirty? 

What was WRONG with SPRING CLEANING? 

HELP STOP DE-CLUTTERING!
Let's make "KEEPING OUR HOMES" beautiful AGAIN.
and let's get busy and SPRING CLEAN!!

***THIS CONCLUDES THIS TEST  RANT OF THE EMERGENCY BROAD CAST SYSTEM...THIS BLOGGER WAS CONDUCTING THIS TEST IN VOLUNTARY COOPERATION WITH other bloggers who find the overuse of the word DE~CLUTTER  ANNOYING!...
IF THIS HAD BEEN AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED WHERE TO 'click'  FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."

NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULE BLOGGING!!!!

God Bless You
and
Thanks for reading!

* All photos courtesy of Country Living (dot) com

Finally Got my Lamps Done!

When I first saw this.... 

(Polly's work of art)

I knew immediately that I wanted to copy THAT idea with THIS LAMP....

We inherited a pair of these from my MIL's home after she passed... 

I love the amber hobnail glass bowl but wasn't wild about the wood and brass pedestal... 

So I wrapped 'em up ~ yeah, like a present to me!  (yes! that is christmas wrap- we were all out of newspaper- I know.) 

Then I painted them with this...

I am using this whole can of Hammered Bronze from  Rustoleum  

EV-ER-Y WHERE... 

I didn't get a picture of the shade before; but I only spent $1 on the pair (at my favorite place to shop~~BargainLand,USA) 

Now~~ they both well, one of them looks like this!!! 

 So pretty! 

This is the close up of the shade...  Like Polly, I used an old piece of lace. I didn't Tea Stain mine; instead I went with it as is because it was already a bit yellow in color. (not ecru, but yellowish)  

This is my lamp with the light on... Isn't that AMBER Hobnail pretty?   I just love it!!!  
All the little gadgets and accouterments are from MIL stash - costume jewelry box and my FIL's tie clips and an old button box from her house, too.  My favorite was her little watch held on by his cuff links... 
It made Honey smile too! 


I have to say THANKS POLLY!  For showing us this lovely idea- Because I really wanted to use these lamps in my living room RE-DO and just wasn't sure how to make them look pretty again.


So all in all it was a fun project. I still have to finish the second one. I'm just glad to Gitt'r Done~~But I wanted to hurry and post this- cause it was just so pretty! 
** I finally got the second lamp finished and snap a quick pic- of the two together. 

Though I don't know if they'll be sitting together or not. They actually look pretty together, huh?  I'm not sure which way I like them yet. Anyway... 


God Bless you
and
Thanks for reading!


 **When the time comes I may post this at Songbird's Gitt'r Done party-- cause I'm proud I finally got something marked off the list and can say I Gott'r done! 

~~Valentines Tulips~~

My youngest dd got me these pretty tulips for Valentines Day this week~

I wanted to take a picture of them before they fade. 

 

Aren't they pretty? 

~~God Bless you~~

and 

~~Thanks for reading~~

How Do you Measure Up?

When you are working around your place whether gardening- 

painting, building, decorating; what do you use as a gauge?

What do you see when you look at this picture?
A measuring stick?


We are all much like little birds doing our best to build our homes and make them 'right'...whatever right may be. 

Even if it's 'not 30 inches off the ground'

Do we take what we are given and use it to the best of our abilities? 

(free lumber)

Do we make do and use wisely items of necessity?

(veggies garden- with free lumber and dirt! )

Do we toss and throw away frivolously with out care?
I must admit- I do get caught up in the game. The next big ticket item, new way to use old things,new trends in decor -the HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS. 
                                  (ie: wild-life as ART!) 

($1 -flea-frame)

But when it boils right down to it-- I try to take what I've been given and cherish it and be a good steward of it as though it were a prized possession being put into my care. I try to make it the very best it can be.
                              
                           Ah, much better!

(free frame GIFTED to me!)

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:17

When people come to my home I hope they can see that I'm proud and blessed by God~ to have my little home in the country -- it is a cherished gift and I love 
to share it with my guests.


I've been trying to get this posted a couple of days now~~ 
already this morning I've seen several others have published similar posts.  Brenda





 at Cozy Little House posted ~What does your home say about you~  here. 
She inspired me to get this posted. 
If you haven't read it go there-- her home is gorgeous and Cozy just like her blog title implies; and she is a gracious hostess too. 


Have a great day~ 
God Bless you
and 
Thanks for reading! 

My Free~Cycle Rug Stinks!

* affiliate link to follow

Ok, It's not as bad as you may be thinking. 

  

The actual rug is in excellent shape. It has a few furniture dents. 

No spots, no tears, no burns and NO stains. 

It's a beautiful rug! 

I went and picked it up today. Along with a fence panel. (more on that later) 

I subscribe to free~cycle in my local area online. I got my rug for free-- but you get one just like it here.

YES! It's called CELERY... and it's gorgeous. 
 My rug is  an 8' X 10' sized rug. 

The label is still on it and it is 100% wool. 

Can I just say?  I love FREE CYCLE! 

Here is my problem. 

It stinks! 

Not like   ICKY -gross or "Who knows Who did what ?" on- this- rug- Kind- of- Stinks... 

No, it is an industrial, warehouse, petroleum based...chemical smell. 

Like -- glue or something. 

In all fairness and honesty- let me just say, the very nice lady that placed the Free Ad on Free-cycle said, "It has a glue smell" and " If you don't mind the smell, it's yours"

Now, when she posted this ad-- she gave no pictures or detailed description. 

I had no way of knowing what color it was unless I asked.  Just saying, because I didn't take the free rug, because of the expense, color or anything like that. 

 She only mentioned it had a smell. 

I WANTED IT BECAUSE IT WAS WOOL.  I could only think how warm it would be under my feet in the winter time.  TRUE. 

So, of course I thought, 'how bad could it be?' and maybe she just has a sensitive nose to these type of things. 

But NO! She was right! 

It SMELLS!!!!!! 

SO....  How about it? 

Any suggestions? 

Any of you out there have any I-good-deas AT ALL? 

Anything? 

How to remove this ODOR? 

It's what they call now a-days... Off Gassing.

I know~ because I think it is giving me a head-ache.  

Seriously, I THINK THAT IS WHAT IT IS! 

I just want it to stop~ So I can keep this nice, NEW, pretty ,expensive; more than I'd ever pay for a rug- Rug. 

I'm going to try FE BREEZE or maybe baking soda...can you shampoo a wool rug? 

I'll take whatever you got,k? 
*************************

*edited to say~ 
I'm joining this party today-- 

God bless you 

and 

Thanks for reading! 

dO oVeR- sUBway aRt

Y'all remember my  RANSOM NOTE ~~SUBWAY ART~~ FAIL  right?  
Previously posted here.


You can see in the above photo the glue dried in a horrible SMUDGE.  I didn't have Mod Podge...so I used glue and a small amount of water.  Definite fail. 


I had to remake it. 

Wasn't terribly hard to do. I wet the entire thing with a clean sponge.  Once I gently scraped the newspaper letters off the board I let them dry. I thought I was going to reuse them. I wanted the newspaper effect, you know? I placed them on my printer/ copier,  made a copy ,cut them out and re-attached them to the board. 

While getting them off-- some of the paint on my board peeled (don't ask me why I didn't just chunk it all in the burn bin...I'm a glutton for punishment, that's why)  

So rather than toss-- I sanded those spots with light sand paper. 

It looks a little distressed now.  The glue and water went on smoother and dried a little better this time. Kind of has a matte finish. 

Also, when I copied the letters onto paper-- the back side of the newspaper showed through-- so you can still tell it is from the newspaper!  I kept it that way~ it's different you know? 

I hung it near the door to take these pictures don't know if I'll be keeping it here or if I'll be moving it. 
In other news... 
This is what I'm working on now. 

Actually I'm working on a pair of these. But I only have a 'before' picture of one of them. 
I'm working up some new shades and then I'll post the 'after' pictures. 


That's all for now. 


God Bless you 
and
Thanks for reading! 

Thanks!

I've recently had a JUMP in new followers and new comments...Is there no way of seeing a date of when someone begins to follow my blog? I try to keep up. But not sure sometimes who the newest followers might be!!! The widget doesn't seem to add followers in the order they are received... does that make sense? 

You know who you are...(smiles) 


Just wanted to say Thank you for becoming  a follower...I appreciate that you come here and read my blog! 


********************************************
Non-Sequitur photo to follow~ 

The sun made this weird 'SHAFT OF LIGHT' as it was setting. I took these from the moving car across an open field.  (it's grainy and not good quality) I liked it. -dated Jan 23,2011






God bless you 
and 
Thanks for reading! 

Isn't there something to be said about IRONY?

...When a whole week is 

PLANNED 

around 

RANDOMNESS?  

Random Act of Kindness Week 

Feb. 14-20 

For more info you can go here.

What has this world come to, when you have to tell people to be kind to one another? 

Be kind rewind ...folks! 

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

*************************************

Non-sequitur photo to follow: 

************************************

God Bless You 

and 

Thanks for Reading! 

**********************************

Q & A regarding my Chambers Range~

I sometimes post pictures of my Range in my kitchen; and when I do I always get lots of comments  or questions on it. 


In the past Lezlee at   Prior said...

It looks awesome and your 1956 Chambers Range is quite amazing

And 'quite amazing' it is~ I love my Chambers Range! 

Granny said...I still drool over that stove. I'd so love to have one like that.   Mary Ellen said...I am so wanting your cookstove-! Love it!

Granny and Mary Ellen-  

*that is exactly what I thought when I met a friend years ago that had one! 

Incidentally, my Granny Jo had a really old model 

(similar to this one, in my recollection)

when I was a child, as well as my Grandmother.

(like Grandmother's) 

 My dad has hers and it is currently in storage.  My daughter hopes to inherit it someday. (All of my kiddos learned to cook on this range) 

nannykim said...

Well, you need to tell us about the stove. It is quite different. How old is that piece and does it work? Is that two ovens I see?

NannyKim, 

*My range is a Model C Chambers Range--

 Mine  is about 1956 model. It has a unique feature on it called the Thermal Eye which helps to date my stove. (more on that in a bit)  

*YES! It works and I cook on it everyday.  I love my range. (and I'm not much of a cook meaning, I cook to eat, not because I love to cook, but I love to eat!)  

*No. That is not 2 ovens.  The left is the oven. The right is storage. Not a warming oven like some people think.  There was certain equipment that came with the stove originally, and this space was used to store those pieces and  as an access area to make adjustments to the stove. 

***ON FRUGAL -Economical TERMS***

This particular stove is designed in such a way that you can actually begin cooking and turn the Gas off and still cook your food.   In fact it says it right on the inside of the oven door. 

Cooking with the GAS turned off!

So it saves gas ~ which is energy~ which is GREEN! if being green means something to you...then cool!  I just like to save on the gas bill! 


**ON PRACTICAL TERMS**

The oven is said to be small by some people-- and compared to a lot of ovens today, it is small. However~ 

I've cooked my Thanksgiving Dinner in my oven for the last 14 years! 

There is a deepwell on this stove; it is used much like a crock pot or slow-cooker.   I don' t have the pilot lit on mine and the Gas is turned off to that part.  Just because I don't use it that often,we lost a part and never got a replacement. However~  I used to use it.  The stove comes with a pot that fits down inside  and you can cook stew down in there pretty fast. This deepwell also has the OPTION OF COOKING WITH THE GAS TURNED OFF. 

 One Thankgiving I made  mashed potatoes early and placed them down inside there to keep them warm until dinner. When they came out they were piping hot!


Mine also has what is called a thermo -baker (the part I lost was the rack for the thermo baker).  This is used to bake cakes and pies.  I've made a cherry pie with mine. And it was YUMMIE!  So, while the oven may be small you have another means of getting the dinner cooked. 

My own model C has the Roberstshaw Thermal eye-- 

Now I don't own an owners manual on this. But I'll tell you how I use it. It has a thermostat on it. You can set it to about 212° (which is boiling point for water) and it shuts itself off!  Mine is pretty accurate.  This would come in handy for candy making, boiling water (science projects~remember we home-schooled), and for me keeping the pot from boiling over if I'm away from the stove. I'm sure it had and INTENDED PURPOSE...but I'm not sure what that was...(smile) 

One of my favorite featrues is the "IN-A-TOP" broiler and griddle. I don't post pictures of it because MINE usually looks dirty.  I like to say that my griddle is just very "well seasoned".  When I get sick of looking at it-- i cover it with foil.  Probably about 2-3 times a year Honey will use the drill and wire brush attachment and shine it up for me.  
As for cooking on the broiler- griddle.  I can make up to 8 grilled cheese sandwiches at once.  I can make a mess of pancakes. I can also cook some really nice steaks inside; complete with veggies!

** On Aesthetic Terms**
 There is a copper model.  Mine is not copper. It is copper-tone, maybe? For lack of a better decription-- I say it looks like Milk Chocolate.I've never EVER seen one the color of mine and it isn't listed in any catalogs as a color either.

They came in Red,Black,White, baby blue, yellow, and light green.  Never seen a Brown one.Originally, I wanted a white one.  Milk Chocolate is hard to co-ordinate in the kitchen in the days of White, Almond or Black.  But, I've learned to deal with it. The stove already draws your attention in the kitchen, that is why I decided to build the mantle over it- to give it a more commanding presence. 


I was glad when the Stainless Steel appliances made it to the seen-- the top of my stove is stainless- and we've slowly added in a few stainless pieces to the kitchen to bring it all together.  Honey has been a Stainless Steel worker his whole career-- and really didn't want it in the kitchen. But he's made a few concessions for me! (smile)

Here's a list of  links if you'd like to learn more about Chambers Ranges.  

http://www.oldstoveman.com

http://www.chamberstoves.net/Models.html

You can find them for sale  on ebay and craigslist---

WHY? 

I DON'T KNOW!!! 

Why would anyone want to get rid of this hardworking piece of equipment?  I've cooked on other gas stoves and I've cooked on electric.  I don't want to cook on anything but this ~EVER! 

I've read that Rachael Ray has a Chambers Stove on her set although I've not seen pictures. I don't watch her show; however when I looked to confirm it, all I found was the Orange O'Keeffe Merit stove that is there. If you have pictures or know of where some might be posted send me the link. I'd like to see it.  

** This is me putting the word out.  I'm looking for A REPLACEMENT EMBLEM. (as seen on the White Model-C above)  
Mine is missing the Emblem-- well, I have HALF AN EMBLEM... 
There were several types...mine looks like this. 

I'm sure there is a lot more to tell about these stoves.  I am very fond of mine and as I've already said, I come from a line of Chambers Stove users! 
I know I almost wrote a book so-- 
God Bless you
and
Thanks for reading!