A Fresh Coat of Paint...

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do for a room!! I've seen it a gazillion times on t.v. - on the room makeover shows - and now.... I've experienced it for myself. I said it was like a facelift, but my son DT said, "No Mom, it's just makeup!"
It was very therapeutic for me to paint, much cheaper than a therapist I'm sure! Time by myself, just me and a paint brush and a wall that wasn't going anywhere - a rather captive audience!
So here's before...











And since we know the Hubby was away, I could play and leave things as messy as I wanted to and take my time...which I did. Thanks to my sweet and very understanding boys Hudman & DT for letting Mom work out her frustrations and just paint.

I chose a "natural" color - Pine Needle. It was an Eddie Bauer color at Lowe's and I had them put it in an Olympic paint rather than what it called for simply because it was less expensive.
I have searched and searched for a whopping 3 years for the "just right" color and found it in this exquisite shade of green. Just went perfectly in my humble home - with all it's cabin type, antique & hunter provided decor. (What's my style?? Oh no hesitation - EARLY CONFUSION!)

So armed with just a paint roller and accessories that I thought I needed- off I went!
After 3 short sessions, I had a nearly new kitchen! It may not have all new appliances in the latest styles and new granite counter tops, but it is just wonderful what a fresh coat of paint will do...and how it makes me feel and that's all that matters.
So Mrs. Happy Homemaker or just person wishing for a change... pick out the color that best suits your tastes, splurge a little - buy the supplies and take a few hours and change YOUR WORLD!~ Who knows - it may just give you the "face lift" you've been needing; a SMILE!

...interruped marriage...

If you look closely, you can see the little darling deer who has been hanging out in my woods lately. Although I fear his mother met her fate on this highway, he seemed to be making alright.

It's this time of year that we tend to see so many deer in our neck of the woods and sometimes, it's a welcome sight - but most of the time it's a STOMP ON THE BREAKS kinda meeting!

The official kick off of hunting season, deer hunting, began October 1st with the opening of archery. Modern gun season doesn't begin until November - that's the time I get involved.

Hubby, the great white hunter that he is, begins in September with the opening of Black Bear season...not my favorite adventure of his - but thankfully God has kept him safe now for the years that he has been sharing the woods with the bear of our great state. It's really amazing how much wildlife we really have. Growing up not to far from where I make my home now, I really don't remember seeing that many deer and certainly do not recall seeing bear!!

From my home, the Fall colors are just beautiful!!

Just let the SUN SHINE IN!!!

Fall is one of my FAVORITE times of year. It's the promise that summer's heat is nearing an end, the hope of greatly needed rainfall and the refreshing breezes brought by oncoming northerly lows. It's kind of sad, though, when I just soak in so much of the beauty of nature, only to be heartbroken when the winds take the colorful leaves from the trees and deposit them on floor of the woods. I want to scoop up those beautiful reds, oranges and golds and hold onto them for just a while longer...

As it would fall, this year is the year of the Hubby's GREAT HUNTING ADVENTURE! He and a crew of manly men left out for their westward trek in search of bigger trophies than Arkansas can provide... well at least different trophies. Elk meat is the most sought after trophy in my mind, although in Hubby's, it's the majestic trophy of the horns that appeal to him. The cool, crisp mornings that he'll be hearing the piercing bugle of the elk - I almost envy, but then knowing just how COLD that will be makes me shiver back to reality and know that HOME is the best place for this Hunter's Wife to be!!! YOU GO, HUBBY - YOU GO!

I have several projects in the back of my mind, a few of which actually have come to the forefront and have had a few motions made toward actually STARTING them! For one, my kitchen needs painting - well not NEEDS it, but I NEED to paint it! I've had the same boring eggshell color on the walls for 25 years. YES, I said 25 years!! Now, with the aid of my new found passion for COLOR - it's going to be a wonderful shade of sage green. Pine Needle to be exact - most fitting for my woods, don't you think?! It's an Eddie Bauer color (Thank you Lowe's!) and I found it after nearly 3 years of searching for the JUST RIGHT COLOR! Yup, 3 years Ladies & Gents.... It has to "speak" to me, before I'll buy it! A special "Thank You" goes to one of my church Sisters for sharing her living room color with me... it was THE ONE!

So now the paint and accessories have been purchased and now...all I need is time. I'll be posting pictures SOON... before the project starts.

As I sign off for the day - I'm reminded that all good things come to those who wait. With that thought and a prayer on my heart for Hubby & company - I hope their hunting trip is very successful, full of memories and safe and I hope my own adventure is all of those things as well.

HAPPY HUNTING Y'ALL!! and may your time in the woods be blessed!

Newly Inspired

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

SO I have a blog, me...the confused, somewhat ADD domestic diva/computer geek. I'll do the best I can, but know that some of the posts will be strictly for my mental health...it's cheap therapy I hope! I welcome comments, help & household hints and tips - and certainly once I start posting pictures of my projects or dreams - if you feel you can contribute something to make them come true, please do!

I've been newly inspired to do more creative things lately, or maybe not newly inspired but REinspired! :) One thing I have managed to do is to paint Hubby's Grandmother's bathroom. Goosey's bathroom went from a dull pinkish color to a strange color. I have bought the bucket of paint on clearance at Wallyworld thinking I might use it in my kitchen at home - then it was too blue. The best way to describe the color (without a picture) is Robin Egg Blue...that's green! :) It's been a fun project for me and I'm ALMOST finished. I want to finish as soon as possible so I can move on to Goosey's kitchen! With the help of my Sisters-In-Law and other family members, we're gonna kick this thing!

So...on to my kitchen. I have found a paint color - Pine Needle (an Eddie Bauer color from Lowes) that matches the color I have in my vision. I want to warm things up and shake it up...since it's been 25 years since paint was applied to those walls! LOL! I have wood paneling about 1/2 on the wall, bottom half and I'm considering painting that too, but color is undetermined at this point. Feel free to weigh in on colors. My flooring presently in the kitchen is the peel and stick vinyl (don't recommend that!) and it's a grey color w/brown - kind of a mock stone color. NOT my favorite, but it did what we needed it to do.

I have a love - nay - a PASSION for antiques with meaning. I don't just pick up random things, I like them to have a meaning behind them. Items that got me started on this little treasure hunt were things that my Granny or my great Aunt Esther had in their homes. I love the blue Indiana Carnival glass - grape and vine pattern?? and the forest green glass - but I'm not opposed at all for other patterns or colors. I have several items in clear glass that Hubby found for me in yard sales that I'm having a hard time parting with...and I have odd things that just jumped at me. I love roosters and chickens in my kitchen, and I really lean toward fall colors. I'd love to have more rooms in my home to decorate with all the styles that catch my eye, but alas - God let's me have 3 main rooms and 1 bathroom to play with.

My bathroom changes with the seasons - well with Summer & Fall. Fall brings out the nature girl in me and I decorate my bathroom with bears, deer - nature things! Dark Hunter Green & tans/browns are the primary colors. Summer brings out the palm trees & beach things like my sea shells from my cousin who lived near Galveston, TX at the time of my marriage 25 years ago. Yup, kept them for that long!

My bedroom is a work in progress. I hope to paint both my kitchen and one wall of my bedroom in October when Hubby goes hunting in Colorado. Won't he be surprised when HE COMES HOME?! LOL!
My bed boasts a wonderful yard sale find - a camo comforter thanks to my Seester. I have a beautiful set of furniture that my folks bought for me after she left the nest in 1981. I'm leaning toward more frames painted black or black accessories and some gold tones. I LOVE (even though some think it looks "trashy") the words that you can decorate your rooms with such as "HOPE" - or "LOVE"... and I have 3 pictures that I found at Wallyworld that are one of my walls. I have various other photos of Larry's dad and grandfather on his side...and plan to carry out that idea as well.

I now have an 'office' of sorts. I share this room currently with Hubby's gun safe (which I'm thankful we have...don't get me wrong) and with DT's only storage for his clothes - a 2 door armoire'. All of this room is paneled, but hopefully I can begin painting in there as well so I'm not suffocated in brown all the time! ha Purple is my FAVORITE color so...purple is coming in! :) I also love the flower Iris - so that also will be found in this room.

My living room - well, it's pretty much o.k. except that I need new carpet in a BAD WAY! I WILL have that carpet too, but I need to figure out for sure what I want and how to pay for it. I have a "lodge look" going on in there with the 2 3/4 bear mounts and all the deer heads - Hubby's trophies!!! I get to decorate around all of them - aren't I a lucky woman??

Wish me luck as I go on my quest for decorating perfection!! I'll update my progress as I can...and even post some pictures for those with strong stomachs!!

May God bless you all with health, much love from those YOU love and the joy of making your house a home!