Book Worm

Good thing I am one!

Because it's going to take a lot more of these:

To fill these:

But I look forward to collecting!! New and old!! 

A Love Story

Once upon a time I fell in love.  Madly in love! 

Things changed, I changed and even considered a permanent break up.

But we only separated.

And you know the saying!  Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

So now I am in love again! Madly in love!

With my table!!

Hello!

My name is Lynn and I am an addict. Seriously! 

I cannot stop buying!

Stuff!

Like this for instance!

When it is a little rough around the edges and I find it that much more charming!

And when I have the perfect place for it.

And when the price tag is $100.00.

This is going to be a hard habit for me  to break in a town with so many antiques and so many bargains!

Little hope for a full recovery!

Changes

There are more things in this house that need to be changed than I care to talk about! By changed, I mean cleaned, fixed, painted, tweaked, replaced...! And in time I will get around to each one hopefully. Some will be fun projects, others not so much. 

But a few things in this old house that I will never want to change:  

This door knob.

These floors.

This door.

This hitching post.

Hoping for a big change tomorrow as we set up camp in here to begin the transformation of this room.

I know you are probably as tired of seeing this pic as I am! The former owners used it as an office/ study. It's empty now and dark and hard to get a picture of because the light has been removed so we could paint the ceiling. There are only two walls to paint basically so I am hoping it will not take us too long. Famous last words! I know! 

Happy Friday the 13th!

On The Floor No More

B.J. and  I have slept on the floor for 11 days, ELEVEN DAYS, the entire time we have been in this house. The box springs for our mattress had to be reordered since we needed a split set so that we could get it up the stairs! It came in yesterday and I have never been so happy to make a bed! 

I spy a little poodle.

Slowly but surely getting some kind of order into our lives again.  I am a routine and organized kinda person and I am at my best when things around me have order. And I can honestly say the last two weeks have been pretty rough trying to get us settled in. Progress has been slow but it's getting there! At the speed of a turtle, but getting there! 

We also picked up my estate sale sofa from storage yesterday. It will get a make over someday, as will the floors, the mirror, the wallpaper..........

How's The House Coming Along?

That's a question I get a lot lately. And I feel like my answer should be different. I want to give them a list of all of our ongoing projects and maybe even a few completed ones. But the truth is we have been busy with nothing more than getting settled in. It's been a challenge for me to get organized in a two story house.  I am having to learn where to put our things so we are not constantly going up and down the stairs. I learn something new everyday. 

My main accomplishment last week was lining the kitchen cabinets and finding the most convenient place to put things away in there.  This week I am organizing our closets. We have made several trips back and forth to our storage unit to pick up things, so just when I think I am putting a dent in all this organizing I find myself staring at more containers full of things that need a home! And then there are the normal weekly things I have to do that are important such as grocery shopping, laundry, running errands, etc.

I sit and stare at ceiling fans and blinds that are dirty and keep telling myself in time, in time! 

Hopefully this weekend we will begin to paint! I will feel much better to finally get one room ready to live in! I like red, but this room needs to be light and bright.  The bookshelves darken it.  Someday I may paint them but not now! I am itching to make over the window seat! 

But for today, I have more closets to organize! 

Empty Nest

(I cannot believe I am writing this post for the second time as I accidentally deleted the first one. I HATE it when that happens! You would think I would have learned by now to save as I go.)

On another side note: it is storming (raining, thundering, lightning) today and that hasn't happened much since we have been in Texas. It is suppose to do this all day and I wish I could curl up with a book but that's not going to happen!! 

Ok, back to my "re-write". 

Although our two children are no longer at home, this is not the empty nest I am referring to, but rather a big old house with very little furniture. To be specific we have three bar stools that came with the house, a newly purchased mattress on a bed frame, a table, and two chairs.  That's it. The rest of our furniture is still in Mississippi. And while it will be enough to fill up this place, I still need a few items such as a new sofa and end tables for the bedroom. 

Now, there is only one thing I love more than looking for a bargain and that's when a bargain finds me!  And that's exactly what happened over the weekend as I was casually minding my own business. Lol

BJ and I took our first stroll into town Saturday. We chatted with our neighbors, stopped at a garage sale, checked our mail at the post office, and enjoyed coffee and donuts. We did all of this on our way to the open air farmers market.  The farmers market lasts from April through October.  It is from 8 until 1 every Saturday. Two downtown streets are blocked off and some of the locals set up tables where they sell home-made pies, cookies, and soaps.  All kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables are available for purchase. Sounds quaint, doesn't it?  This little outing made my heart soar and reminded me of one of the reasons why I wanted this house in the first place. 

One particular building downtown that is usually rented out to groups for meetings and weddings was open.  The lady who manages it takes advantage of the crowds at the farmers market and sets up shop on Saturday mornings selling mainly antiques. We walked in and I spotted these two beauties:

I loved them but knew that end tables were very low on my list of wants and needs at the present. Until...I saw the price tag.  Until...she immediately came down on the price! They were originally $35.00 each and she told me I could have then for $25.00 each. Sold! 

As BJ loaded them in the car he noticed a serial number and manufacturers name ( Baker) inside the drawer. Of course I had to do some research. I found this Bakers table on E-bay. $395.00.

So...while in the process of filling up this empty house, it looks as though I just saved us approximately $750.00. Don't you just love it when that happens! ; )

A Little Brighter

I am not so sure I have not had a touch of a virus of some sorts! I got out of bed on Wednesday and Thursday feeling extremely weak and tired. Wednesday was the worse and faced with everything that needs to be done around here, it was emotionally draining, as well as, physically! I wanted to cry just thinking about doing something as simple as cleaning blinds and I have many of them and they are all filthy! 

I feel better today!  One down and, oh, I would say about 25 more to go!!

 The workers are here to help us get closer to having a comfortable room to watch tv and relax in.

The dark cloud is gone. Today the sunshine is back!!

Divide and Conquer

Late yesterday afternoon the guy from the cable company came  to hook up our internet. When he stepped into the house he immediately commented on how big the house was. And for the rest of the day I worried!! Is it too big? Can we do this?  Should we have bought something smaller, something newer, something nicer... The day ended with more discouragement and more worry through some phone calls that were placed.

I know that discouragement is brought on by fear; fear of criticism, fear of responsibility, and fear of failure. Last night we were blasted by all of those fears.  I also know that fear does not come from the One who placed us in this small town in Texas and into this 109 year old house but rather from the one who will use others to plant those seeds of discouragement and doubt.

I am still tired from the move and then to throw into the mix, I had a doctors appointment yesterday, so to say the least the day proved to be quite draining, emotionally and physically.

So...where does one begin in this BIG OLD house?  Here is my approach:  divide and conquer!

I have basically divided this house into twelve areas and  have a two to three step plan for each one. As soon as phase one is complete throughout the entire house I will move on to the next with the exception of the family room.  Sounds a little OCD, doesn't it?  I know!!

Phase 1: Clean and organize

Phase 2: Paint, window treatment, lighting, decorate...

Phase 3: Bathroom make-over, kitchen appliances, new floors in certain areas...

THE FAMILY ROOM: We need a place to retreat to so phase 1 and 2 will get done in here at the same time.  

 

 Plans: ~ Remove the popcorn ceiling (someone scheduled to come do this for us on Friday)
           ~ Paint walls, door, and trim
           ~ Replace ceiling fan
           ~ Window treatment
           ~ Buff floors
           ~ Furniture and accessories
           ~ Start collecting books LOL! Gotta fill these shelves!!

Hoping for a brighter day today!  If anyone is looking for me, my OCD self will be in ROOM 1 working on PHASE 1.

Performing Magic

I have not disappeared, but if I COULD perform magic, I might be tempted to make myself disappear!  Or I would at least wave my wand to get this house in shape! Internet will not be on until tomorrow and then I may be a while blogging! Kinda buried right now! This house is bigger than I remember! We've got our work cut out for us for a while or rather for the rest of our lives!!! Will share some pics soon!